(Source: catatomic, via bionicspacejelly)

unfriendlyatheist:

Well shit, I wonder why.

(via unfriendlyatheist-deactivated20)

(Source: bouncingdodecahedrons)

depressingfacts:

hopsitally:

Have you heard of the argument that the human eye is such a sophisticated and perfect organ, it must have had a designer? Despite that description, evolutionary biologist George Williams has passed it off as “stupidly designed”, and for good reason:

1. The photoreceptors (ie. rods and cones) have very delicate and hairy nerve endings, meaning they can’t be anchored firmly into place. Instead they are loosely joined to the “retinal pigment epithelium”, a layer of cells lining the wall of the eye. Although this layer is essential for the eye (it contains blood vessels and absorbs extra photons so they don’t bounce back to the photoreceptors and blur the image), the connection between the retinal pigment epithelium and the retina is so fragile, a simple blow to the head would detach the retina.
2. The neurons in the retina are actually pointed backward…in other words, it’s as if we’re gazing into our brains. Light has to thread its way through layers of capillaries and neurons to get to the nerve endings, increasing the time it takes for the image to get to our brains.
3. The layers of capillaries and neurons “mask” out the light, degrading the image the photoreceptors receive. To make up for this, our eyes are constantly moving around in tiny movements so that we receive many images. Our brain then has to combine those images, take away the shading and can only then present us with a clear picture.

(Information courtesy of the book Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea, by Carl Zimmer.)

The eye~ It’s so complex~ 

No, really, it’s complex, but it’s far from perfect in even the most liberal use of the word “perfect”.

Eyes really are over-romanticized quite a bit.  They really are very shoddy organs.  And they wear out so fast.  I’ve had 20/20 vision all my life, but because I like minutae and reading so much, I’m scared I’m going to have to get glasses soon.  Everyone keeps warning me that once you hit 40 your vision gets worse.

(via dkyubey)

sciencecenter:

Are humans the only animals that keep livestock?

If the best guess of biologists proves to be true, the answer is a surprising ‘no.’ We already know that ants practice a primitive form of agriculture - collecting leaf fragments to grow tasty fungus - and even cultivate aphids in order to ‘milk’ them of their honeydew, as seen in the above picture. However, an amazing discovery could mean that ants raise other insects for meat in a manner directly analogous to humans raising cattle. Melissotarsus ants share their colonies with ‘scale insects’ that neither secrete milk nor have an edible outer covering. Therefore, scientists suggest that the ants raise the scale insects explicitly in order to eat them, potentially the best example of true domestication outside of humans and crops. The ants are highly secretive, so the carnivorous activity hasn’t been directly observed yet. Even still, this finding offers a tantalizing example of the amazing spectrum of nature’s animal behavior.

(via glittertitties-deactivated20130)

sciencecenter:

Science confirms it: this thing is the most annoying sound in the world

Not nails on a blackboard. Not sirens. Nope, whining children take the cake as the most distracting noise, in a study conducted by a SUNY and Clark University team. Evolution may be to blame; the researchers suggest that humans evolved to pay special attention to discomfort in young children.

THANK YOU SCIENCE

FOR TELLING THE PEOPLE

WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG