In The Mineralogist’s Defense, That’s Much Tidier Than Trying To Eat Watermelon On Its Own.

So I stumbled onto the Etsy shop of this academic who–in real life–is an expert on cuneiform–and on the side, makes little trinkets with Sumerian on them and OH MAN THIS SHOP HAS MADE MY ENTIRE WEEK For the price of about thirty bucks, you too can have a clay necklace that says “Like a farting butt, the mouth brings forth too many words” in the oldest written language on earth https://www.etsy.com/listing/537034173/choose-your-words-carefully-like-a?ref=shop_home_active_23

Or a necklace that declares “I have ferocious features that exude sexiness” https://www.etsy.com/listing/540406774/i-have-ferocious-features-that-exude?ref=shop_home_active_54 Or be the ultimate hipster and anti-capitalist before capitalism even existed with “Wanting more riches when already wealthy offends the gods”  https://www.etsy.com/listing/543598245/wanting-more-riches-when-already-wealthy?ref=shop_home_active_6

Sumerian erotic poetry? Got it. Sumerian drinking songs? Yep. A little something for everyone on your Akitu gift list.

hi! this is very random, but i found your tumblr just now and decided just to go for it and ask you a question about studying anthropology. I am kinda new to the whole subject, but I am interested in social studies, linguistics and the whole process called evolution. I know that the subject is so so so much more, but perhaps you would like to tell me how did you know that it was THE THING you wanted to pursue and maybe what qualities should an anthropologist have?

Hi!! You’re not random at all. It’s always good to ask questions, and I’m happy to answer any that I can! (: 

So, I think I need to start by saying that people can choose anthropology for SOOOOO many different reasons, because there are really endless things you can do with this subject (your interests are right on point though!). Personally, I originally was drawn to it because of forensic anthropology, and my love for bones, dead things, and solving mysteries. When I decided to study anthropology to go into forensics, my reason for doing so was because it was the one thing I’d studied that really…lit me up inside. Like, it felt like my neurons were firing at a million miles an hour whenever I was learning something about biological anthropology or forensics. As it turns out, I get that same feeling when studying cultural anthropology too. I ended up switching gears from forensic anthro to cultural anthropology because it is very important to me that what I do help people, and make a difference in the world. I felt like the best way to do that while still getting that ~crazy neuron party~ feeling was to study cultural anthropology and help people through my research. So…I guess the short answer to your question is that I knew it was THE THING because of how it made me feel, the way it woke up this intense curiosity in me. No other subject makes me want to devour it the way anthropology does, and I am a very curious person, so that’s saying something. It also is the perfect subject for a curious person, because you can have a bunch of different interests and somehow they all fall under the field of anthropology, so you aren’t limited by much. 

As far as the qualities, it definitely depends on the subfield, but here are a couple I feel might be most important overall:

have an interest in studying SOMETHING about humans. anthropology is literally the study of humans so that’s number one. 

be open-minded. part of studying anthropology is learning to see the world in a completely new way, and you have to be able to get out of your own head and away from your own biases to do that.

enjoy studying other cultures. no matter what you end up doing with anthropology, you’re going to need to value and enjoy learning about other people/cultures in order to be an anthropologist.

be ready for graduate school. i’m not saying you HAVE to go to grad school to be an anthropologist, but…to do most things in anthropology you’ll at least need a Master’s.

enjoy traveling. this depends on your subfield for sure, but a lot of anthropologists spend months or years at a time living in other cultures, or at dig sites, etc. because we are all about understanding things first hand.

I’m sure there are more, but those 5 seem like a good start. I hope this was helpful, and I definitely encourage you to keep looking into the field more! Don’t worry about exactly what you would want to do with it, just try to get an understanding of what anthropology is overall. If you’re in college, take a couple introductory courses that can also satisfy your gen eds. And I’m happy to answer any other questions you might have!

X-ray binary (black hole devouring a star)

X-ray binaries are a class of binary stars that are luminous in X-rays. The X-rays are produced by matter falling from one component, called the donor (usually a relatively normal star), to the other component, called the accretor, which is very compact: a neutron star or black hole. The infalling matter releases gravitational potential energy, up to several tenths of its rest mass, as X-rays. (Hydrogen fusion releases only about 0.7 percent of rest mass.) The lifetime and the mass-transfer rate in an X-ray binary depends on the evolutionary status of the donor star, the mass ratio between the stellar components, and their orbital separation.

An estimated 1041 positrons escape per second from a typical low-mass X-ray binary.

source

animation

Scientists Are Turning Nuclear Waste Into Super-Efficient Diamond Batteries

With a half-life of 5,730 years.

Scientists have figured out how to use nuclear waste as an energy source, converting radioactive gas into artificial diamonds that could be used as batteries.

These diamonds, which are able to generate their own electrical current, could potentially provide a power source for thousands of years, due to the longstanding half-life of the radioactive substances they’re made from.

“There are no moving parts involved, no emissions generated, and no maintenance required, just direct electricity generation,” says geochemist Tom Scott from the University of Bristol in the UK.

“By encapsulating radioactive material inside diamonds, we turn a long-term problem of nuclear waste into a nuclear-powered battery and a long-term supply of clean energy.”

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Matt Hovland - Land of Hov

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

Zora Neale Hurston (via berghahnbooks)

Sharpless 249 and the Jellyfish Nebula

Image Credit & Copyright: Albert Barr

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news report: survey says

me: what was the sample size? the distribution? the demographic??? this is meaningless. you could have asks two people in line at starbucks

Reasons niobium should be the official nonbinary element:

Its atomic symbol is Nb

It’s a transition metal 

Shiny 

Comes in many colors, including yellow, purple, black, and white