“When my husband died, because he was so famous & known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me — it still sometimes happens — & ask me if Carl changed at the end & converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage & never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief & precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive & we were together was miraculous — not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance… That pure chance could be so generous & so kind… That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space & the immensity of time… That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me & it’s much more meaningful…
The way he treated me & the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other & our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don’t think I’ll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful.“
Ann Druyan, talking about her husband, Carl Sagan
(Source: briangetsclarity)
Ana Julia Torres kisses Jupiter, a lion who was rescued from a circus 12 years ago, at Villa Lorena shelter, in Cali, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia. Torres, a 52 year-old teacher, founded the Villa Lorena animal shelter 17 years ago. It protects about 600 animals seized from drug traffickers, circuses, animal traffickers or abandoned by their owners.
Picture: LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images (via Pictures of the day: 19 September 2011 - Telegraph)
Glow-in-the-Dark Cats may help cure AIDS.
Genetic engineering is one of those things that gets a bad rap despite being a rather natural occurrence in bacteria and even certain higher organisms. Also it gives us cats that glow in the dark, which is totally freaking awesome!
The cat seen above wasn’t just created for shits and giggles though. There’s a more serious reason behind this fluorescent feline: battling AIDS. Currently there’s two AIDS pandemics in the world: the human one with the better PR team and the feline version. As such scientists have created Glow-in-the-Dark cats as a way of exploring the genetic system of cats in order to better understand how to combat the genetic aspect of the AIDS/HIV virus.
In genetic modification of this type cat DNA is inserted with a set of two genes, one from rhesus monkey that conveys resilience to HIV and one from jellyfish that gives them the eerie glow. The idea behind this is that if the cat glows it’s also highly likely to have the viral resistance gene as well.
BLOGGING via TYPEWRITER.: A message from the President as we mark ten years since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Tomorrow, on the tenth anniversary of the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, we will mourn the innocent lives lost, honor the heroic first responders who rushed to the scene, and pay tribute to our troops and military families who have served over the past ten years to keep us safe and…
Magazines are one thing internet people may not take advantage of enough. Sometimes, they’re so “on the internet” that they forget that there’s tons of stuff in GQ, Details and Esquire every month. Every magazine has so much, if you find one and can’t harvest it for something interesting for a blog, you’re crazy. Usually, I’ll get around to reading them on weekends. But, if you’re a professional blogger, it’s a good break in the afternoon when you suddenly sit up and realize you should eat something and then you have all these magazines around. Those two activities (eating and reading) go together very naturally.
Choire Sicha, co-founder of The Awl, lays out his media consumption habits. Read the rest at The Atlantic Wire. (via theatlantic)
Bang Goes the Theory: Evolution Made Simple (by TreVelocita)
Dr Yan attempts to demonstrate evolution by drawing a couple of lines.
LessBlue Sky.Comet IkeyaZhang.235215-R1-E017_017.PIKNIK EDIT REMIX LOL.If you add a favorite, I respectfully request a courtesy comment about the photo. Thank you, Chris (by chrisgrohusko)
RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms
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Uploaded by theRSAorg on Oct 14, 2010
This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award.
For more information on Sir Ken’s work visit: http://www.sirkenrobinson.com”
