Found Functions
“Nevertheless, the fact is that there is nothing as dreamy and poetic, nothing as radical, subversive, and psychedelic, as mathematics. It is every bit as mind blowing as cosmology or physics… and allows more freedom of expression than poetry, art, or music… Mathematics is the purest of the arts, as well as the most misunderstood.” - Paul Lockhart
Now that I get math, this is beautiful.
Green Day always works for me. That is all.
“Never Read the Comments”
It’s a warning that’s evolved into somewhat of a meme of late, even spawning a Twitter account that provides constant reminders of comment danger. And one visit to a controversial Reddit thread or YouTube video reinforces that idea pretty well, because ick.
Now there’s some research to support the idea that comment trolling can prevent people from viewing a subject objectively. Chris Mooney has the details at Mother Jones. In essence, we arrive at any article/argument/website as both emotional and rational creatures. But our emotions kick in first, and if readers see a fiery exchange in comment threads, they are primed to be defensive and protect their beliefs in the face of otherwise convincing information.
It’s part of a psychological phenomenon called “motivated reasoning”. It’s behind a great deal of that frustration you feel when people deny strong science positions (and other stuff, like politics) based on their previously-held beliefs. It’s fascinatingly frustrating stuff, and it’s the major hurdle in communicating things like climate change to skeptics.
The challenge of overcoming motivated reasoning isn’t going anywhere, but it appears that reading comment trolls and emotional tirades can make it an even more difficult mountain to climb. Protip: When scrolling down, exercise extreme intellectual caution.
This awesome Christmas tree can be found right here in Seattle. A clever and clearly quite playful gentleman named Patrick Kruger cut the top of his Christmas Tree and attached it to his roof, effectively creating the illusion that his tree had broken through the ceiling and roof of his home.
“I built the prop using a quarter sheet of plywood, sheathing and spare roofing tile,” said Kruger. “I then bought a 14-foot tree and cut the top 6 feet off and mounted it to the prop. The first attempt was blown off the roof, so I bolted it down with the help of my buddy, Scott Douglas.”
Patrick Kruger, the Geyser of Awesome salutes you!
[via King5.com]
Photographer Richard Peters sat in his car and from a distance watched the fox hunting, just enjoying the performance. The fox was listening for rodents under the snow, then leaping high to pounce down on the unsuspecting prey. It was too far away to photograph, and so when it disappeared and suddenly reappeared, on a snow bank level with the car window, Richard was taken by surprise. “It was already in pounce position, and I barely had time to lift the camera before it leapt up into the air almost clean out of my field of view. I managed to get a sequence of the leap, but I love this quirky image best, which gives a real sense of just how high these wonderful animals can jump.”
(via theanimalblog)
(Source: ymerc123, via surviving-science)
