@Sheril@mastodon.social
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Sheril

@Sheril@mastodon.social

Author. Scientist. Host of PBS Serving Up Science. Sustainability, Politics & Science Communication at Michigan State. #HistoryRemix for stories of diverse trailblazers in science & the arts. #SharedPlanet to explore biodiversity

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Every day should be 🌏

The History of Earth as a 24 hr clock via UW-Madison geology. We’ve only just arrived.

Sheril, to random
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Astute observation by Dr. Wendy Hasson:

Sheril, to random
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Cleopatra VII died a little over 2,000 years ago.

But the Great Pyramid of Giza was completed ~2560 BCE.

So you & I live closer in time to Cleopatra VII than she did to the Great Pyramid.

Sheril, to nature
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Today this waterfall in Milford Sound took my breath away.

Sheril,
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

@flyingsquidwithgoggles Yes! Seals, dolphins & so many beautiful - but threatened - species of birds. Still hoping to spot a penguin this week.

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Have you ever thought about visiting all of the national parks in the U.S. in one epic road trip?

In 2016, data scientist Randy Olson optimized the route of 14,498 miles (23,333 km) which would take 2+ months. He even designed the journey as a circle so you can begin at any point & direction.

All the details: https://randalolson.com/2016/07/30/the-optimal-u-s-national-parks-centennial-road-trip/

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Stressed ‘cry’ — and some animals can probably hear them

Fascinating new research using microphones captured ultrasonic crackles from plants that are water-deprived or injured. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00890-9

Sheril, to random
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

“This is a ringing victory for democracy… The government cannot tell citizens what they can or can’t read. Our nation was founded on the free exchange of ideas, and banning books you disagree with is a direct attack on our most basic liberties.”

Yes! https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/01/us/texas-book-ban-removed-library-replaced-judge/index.html Judge orders books removed from Texas public libraries due to LGBTQ and racial content must be returned within 24 hours

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

We often ignore agriculture in conversations about .

The carbon footprint of farming meat for human consumption is estimated to be over 7.1 billion tonnes CO2 equivalent - accounting for 14.5% of all human caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Sheril, to space
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

If we calculate how many grains are in a teaspoon of sand (an average) & multiply that by the amount of sand estimated on every beach & desert in the world, we get (roughly) seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains of sand on Earth. https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/09/17/161096233/which-is-greater-the-number-of-sand-grains-on-earth-or-stars-in-the-sky

Meanwhile, there are ~70 thousand million, million, million stars in the observable universe - a figure vastly surpassing all of those grains of sand. The universe is immense, breathtaking & beyond imagination ✨

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Meat industry blocked the IPCC’s attempt to recommend a plant-based diet

“A leak of a draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on () report..has been particularly enlightening when it comes to just how much how delegations negotiate, watered down & delete scientists’ findings.”

https://qz.com/ipcc-report-on-climate-change-meat-industry-1850261179

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Born in 1750, Caroline Herschel worked as assistant to her astronomer brother William. But she also made her own discoveries of nebulae, stars & 8(!) comets.

In 1787, King George III employed Caroline as her brother's assistant, including a small salary that made her one of the first women paid for their contributions to #science.

Caroline submitted over 550 stars to the existing star catalog & received honorary membership in the Royal Society. https://www.space.com/17439-caroline-herschel.html #history #HistoryRemix

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

12 years ago, my 2nd book, The Science of Kissing (Hachette, 2011) came out. It’s about the neuroscience, biology, evolution, history, real chemistry & potential future of connection.

With around the corner, would fellow & nerds on be interested in a few facts & stories from the book?

Sheril,
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

A Science of Kissing thread it is! I’ll add to this 🧵 until Valentines Day:

  1. Lips are the body’s most exposed erogenous zone. Unlike in other animals, human lips are uniquely everted, meaning they purse outwardly.

Kissing is about more than romance or bacterial exchange. Our 1st experiences with love, security & closeness often involve lip pressure & stimulation through nursing or bottle feeding. This lays down neural pathways in a baby’s brain that associate kissing with positive emotions.

Sheril,
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar
  1. The first literary evidence for kissing dates back thousands of years to India’s Vedic Sanskrit texts in moments such as lovers “setting mouth to mouth” & a man “drinking the moisture of the lips” of a woman.

Even Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary biology, was fascinated by kissing across cultures. He discussed what he observed in his 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man & Animals, concluding that the drive for humans to “kiss” in some form appears to be innate.

Sheril,
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar
  1. Do other animals kiss?

We see many kissing-like behaviors in all sorts of species, but we don't call it “kissing” because scientists don't want to anthropomorphize & don’t know what motivates an animal. That said, these behaviors are always about a socially significant connection.

https://youtu.be/7ykfQANwS_w

Sheril,
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar
  1. During a passionate kiss, our blood vessels dilate & we receive more oxygen to the brain. Our breathing can deepen & become irregular. Our cheeks flush & our pulse quickens.

And our pupils dilate, which may be one reason so many of us close our eyes.
Artist: Wim Delvoye.

Sheril, to random
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

“If the World were 100 People”

25 are children
75 are adults (9 are 65+)

60 Asians
16 Africans
14 people from the Americas
10 Europeans

31 Christians
23 Muslims
16 people w/o religion
15 Hindus
7 Buddhists
8 other

Languages:
12 Chinese
6 Spanish
5 English
4 Hindi
3 Arabic
3 Bengali
3 Portuguese
2 Russian
2 Japanese
60 other

86 can read & write
7 have a college degree
40 have Internet
78 have shelter
91 have access to safe drinking water

Source: 100people.org based on 2016

Sheril, to history
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Marianne North traveled to 6 continents & 17 countries, painting exotic plants in remote & hazardous jungles… all while traveling alone in Victorian dress in the 1800s.

North depicted over 1,000 scientifically accurate pitcher plants, orchids, ferns & more. Her oil paintings introduced botanists to multiple previously unidentified species & several are named after her.

Her art has its own gallery at Kew Royal Botanical Gardens. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/marianne-north-an-unsung-pioneer-of-botanical-art-kew-royal-botanic-gardens/OQVB7c9EslEtHQ?hl=en

A New Pitcher Plant from the Limestone Mountains of Sarawak, Borneo. By Marianne North. Public domain.
Olearia argophylla. By Marianne North. Public domain.

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

About 250M years ago, 90% of species on Earth died during the Permian extinction. All of that loss created a lot of vacant niches to fill.

And not long after, the first mammals, our ancestors, appeared.

I find it comforting to remember that life on this pale blue dot will be resilient - whether we’re part of it or not.

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Dragons are real. And they live in the ocean.

Blue Glaucus or “the blue dragon” is a brightly colored nudibranch that incorporates toxic chemicals & stinging cells from prey into its skin as a defense against predation.

And in my humble opinion, it’s more spectacular than anything ever imagined in Westeros. Image: Sylke Rohrlach

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Henrietta Lacks was a poor, Black, young mother diagnosed cervical cancer in 1951. When her cells were collected w/o consent, scientists saw they multiplied fast.

“HeLa” cells changed . They’re used globally to study viruses, drugs, hormones, genes, diseases & develop vaccines. Lacks passed away at 31 w no recognition.

Rebecca Skloot’s beautiful book about her life & legacy is changing that. Now her statue will replace Robert E. Lee in VA. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/20/us/henrietta-lacks-statue-roanoke-virginia.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Rosalind Franklin’s research was crucial to discovering DNA’s double helix structure 🧬 but it was James Watson & Francis Crick who received the credit & Nobel Prize.

Unknown to Franklin, the pair saw her unpublished data & X-ray diffraction images, inspiring their model. They never acknowledged her contribution until after her death.

How many discoveries & innovations of do we attribute to the men who took credit for their ideas?

https://theconversation.com/sexism-pushed-rosalind-franklin-toward-the-scientific-sidelines-during-her-short-life-but-her-work-still-shines-on-her-100th-birthday-139249

Sheril, to science
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

This quote by Carl Sagan hangs in my office. #science

Sheril, to random
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

Did you know Monopoly was invented by a woman named Elizabeth Magie in 1903?

Originally ‘The Landlord’s Game,’ it was designed as a protest against the big monopolists like Carnegie & Rockefeller.

But it was Charles Darrow, an unemployed salesman, who eventually sold it to Parker Brothers after playing a version.

Parker Brothers credited Monopoly with saving their company. Magie died in 1948 without recognition. Darrow became very wealthy & his legend lives on.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • GTA5RPClips
  • DreamBathrooms
  • everett
  • magazineikmin
  • Durango
  • InstantRegret
  • Youngstown
  • mdbf
  • slotface
  • rosin
  • thenastyranch
  • kavyap
  • ethstaker
  • megavids
  • tacticalgear
  • cubers
  • cisconetworking
  • osvaldo12
  • khanakhh
  • ngwrru68w68
  • modclub
  • tester
  • anitta
  • normalnudes
  • Leos
  • provamag3
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •