#A Level Science

[blue2dawn]

sometimes my chemistry teacher will drop bombs like “simple covalent molecules don’t exist” and we just run with it

[winchestergifs]

STACKEDNATURAL ⇉ 182/327 (part 1)

7.13 The Slice Girls Written by Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner Directed by Jerry Wanek Original Air Date: February 3, 2012

[seahorsepencils]

Thinking about the poorly executed political and social commentary of this most recent episode of Doctor Who, and this is the question I keep asking: how much harder would it have been to tell this story right?

If I had a student write that episode for a class, I would have said, "Hey, I see what you're trying to get at. And I think there are some moments where you're on the right path, but in order to make this message land and tell this story in a more nuanced and ethical way, some big things need to change. So let's brainstorm how you can fix it."

Because there are absolutely moments where it has the right idea. I thought it was a smart choice to have the Doctor essentially verbalize the fact that he feels authorized in an act of violence because his planet was subjected to a form of genocide. That's one of Netanyahu's main propaganda tactics and it's similar to the logic that's being used in the US right now to smear anti-genocide protesters with accusations of antisemitism. I think it's smart and helpful to show a representation of that logic as a reminder that it's a huge red flag and we need to question it whenever we see it. But the episode didn't take time to explain why that logic doesn't make sense. It didn't show someone calling the Doctor out on it. If the writer doesn't thread in that message meaningfully, you risk the viewer missing it altogether, or getting the opposite message.

I also appreciated the episode raising the question "what is the moral liability of the characters who are watching this broadcast?" while airing the episode on the same day as Eurovision. That was kind of a badass move. But, again, they didn't clearly ask that question or deal with it in the narrative in a meaningful way, so by the end of the episode we're just thinking "yay, the viewers didn't die!" There were other good ideas in there, but they were completely lost in the piss-poor and ultimately problematic execution of the story.

Writing TV for social justice and threading in political commentary is hard to do right. Doing it right usually requires collaboration. It requires extensive workshopping, research, sometimes conversations with experts. But DW has the time and money to do that. If TV shows can hire intimacy coordinators and stunt coordinators to ensure the safety of their actors, there's no reason they can't hire sensitivity readers, dramaturgs, and topic experts or consultants to help workshop scripts and make sure the intended social or political commentary is being done right.

It sucks that they didn't do that, because they had a really good opportunity to pull this off and to say something important, and they blew it.

[thegloriouspapernapkin]

please ignore any mistakes i am eepy

(also, the templates are by @awfulalignmentcharts )

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 338

So the GIW is the Ghost Investigation Ward and not the Ghost Extermination Ward, yes? Hear me out, hm? 

See, it’s really hard to study ecto-entities when they’re going all over in and out of the world. Really hard! And of course they aren’t like, sentient, studies for years before the boom in this one town showed this! But, the overgrown not-birds (they’re still debating that) are really hard to watch doing their natural thing when they naturally mimic people around them! 

So! They got this idea, right? Their operatives can capture some! They’ve even made enclosures based off of what they currently know! It’s like containing crows, down to the mimicry & puzzle solving just er, with opposable thumbs and intangibility. 

And they don’t succeed first tries of course (Wow were said operatives frustrated and maybe cursing a bit that might be a bit violently) but then they get some assistance from the Fentons! Trying to hit an ecto-entities’ wings in a way to not permanently injure them is hard, but the new net canons that a ghost can’t pass through? Perfect! 

They have so many specimens now! They even released a few that were very much uncontainable- they rely on technology a bit and that entity kept unlocking all the doors. So catch and release with that one it is!  

They even managed to catch the white-haired ghost! In double! Which might not seem that important, but! As they realize during intake & initial examination (wow are they bitey) the two appear to be young! Something their ectobiologists only theorized about but oh are they excited! (Now if only the two would stop trying to escape their enclosure that’d be swell! Look, toys! Foo- oh dear God that baby ecto-entity is melting- Oh few, okay note taken to raise ambient ecto levels in that room dear god that was horrifying and stressful. … Maybe get some feelers out for feeding unstable energy entities…) 

[phastels]

STEM resources🔬🪐🦠

Resources for STEM subjects ▪︎ A-levels ▪︎ IB ▪︎ University entrance exam prep ▪︎ STEM book reviews ▪︎CV help

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Articles to read

Sideroblastic anaemia

Rabies

Arctic Springtail

Topology

Story of the atom

Allergies

Genetic diagnosis with AI

[asgardian--angels]

mage viktor discourse again on twitter and all i can say in my little corner over here once again is, I don't know why the entire fandom takes it as canon that mage Viktor failed to save every world he manipulated.

Canon does not provide evidence of this. This is fanon speculation. It's a fine headcanon to have, but everyone talks about it like it's canon when it isn't. Canon is ambiguous about the outcome of the timelines mage Viktor altered. The little nods we are given point, in my opinion, towards the opposite conclusion, that he successfully averted destruction.

I've written meta on this before but in summary:

1) 'In all timelines, in all possibilities' is worded precisely, it's not 'out of all timelines'; the implication is that every time, Jayce brings Viktor back from the brink, not just in our timeline. 'Only you' doesn't refer to our timeline's Jayce, it refers to all Jayces. Jayce always brings him home. If Viktor continuously put the fate of each timeline in Jayce's hands and Jayce failed over and over, I don't think he'd say those words. And the way he says them matters. His words are tinged with wonder, not sorrow. As if over and over again, he is shown that Jayce saves him, and it continues to amaze him. He doesn't sound defeated, like this is the next in a long line of Jayces he's sending off to die. The feeling is that Viktor's faith in Jayce has not been misplaced.

2) If mage Viktor doomed every timeline, there would be hundreds (or more) mage Viktors. All running around manipulating timelines. I highly doubt the writers wanted to get into that kind of sticky situation. The tragedy of mage Viktor is that he is singular. Alone. Burdened with the responsibility of the multiverse. The emotional gut punch of his fate is ruined if other timelines led to the same outcome, and from a practical standpoint, having multiple reality-bending omniscient mages would rip apart the fabric of the arcane.

There are other points, such as there being only one corrupted Mercury Hammer and our Jayce is the only one to receive it, and the fact that if mage Viktor is as omniscient as he is implied to be, he could easily step back into other timelines and correct course, because it's highly unlikely he could sit still and watch things go down in flames. But these things can be argued elsewhere.

While I love conversations about mage Viktor's motives and selfishness vs altruism, the writers & artbook have expressed that Jayce and Viktor care greatly about Runeterra and want to fix their mistakes to save it, and that their reconciliation is symbolic of Piltover and Zaun coming together as well. Yes, they make disastrous decisions towards each other, making choices for the other or without the other, which has negative consequences for their relationship and for Runeterra - but I think fandom pushes their selfishness even past what's canon sometimes, as if their entire goal hadn't always been to selflessly help the world around them. Their final reconciliation is about bridging the gap that grew between them - the pain and grief and secrets, betraying themselves and each other - to mutually choose each other openly and honestly. Part of the beauty of their story, as expressed by the creators, is that in their final moments, they chose each other and took responsibility for their actions by sacrificing themselves to end what they started, together - and that choosing each other saved the world. TPTB have stated this - that Jayce and Viktor are the glue holding civilization together, and when they come back to each other, they can restore balance. It's when they're apart, when they hurt each other and miscommunicate, when they abandon their commitment to each other and their dream, that the greater world suffers. Their strife is mirrored in the story-world at large.

Mage Viktor is framed as a solitary penitent figure, damned to an eternity of atoning for his mistakes. He paid the ultimate price and now is forced to live his personal nightmare of exactly what he was trying to avoid for himself with the glorious evolution. The narrative clues we're given point more in the direction that he saves timelines rather than dooms them. If Viktor's actions kept killing Jayce, the very boy he couldn't bear to not save each time, it would undermine these narrative choices. Yes, Viktor couldn't stand to live in a world where he never meets Jayce, so he ensures it keeps happening. But in that same breath, he couldn't bear to see a world where his actions continue to destroy Jayce and destroy Runeterra. His entire arc in s2 is born of his selfless desire to help humanity, help individual people. He would not lightly destroy entire worlds. That's his original grief multiplied a thousandfold, and narratively it would lessen the impact of the one, true loss he did suffer, his own Jayce. It wouldn't make sense for him to be alright with damning other timelines to suffer the same catastrophic tragedy that created him. I mean, maybe I'm delusional here, but is that not the entire point? Because that's what I took away when I watched the show.

As I said, I love discussions about mage Viktor, as there's a lot to play with. All I wish is that the fandom at large would not just assume or accept the Mage Viktor Dooms Every Timeline idea as canon, when there is nothing in the actual canon that confirms this. Maybe people need to just, go back and rewatch the actual episode, to recall how mage Viktor is presented to us, and what it's implied we're supposed to take away from his scenes, and separate that from the layers of headcanon the fandom has constructed.

[megalommi]

I think the most intimidating thing is that legitimate scientists, doctors and therapists follow me.

I'm sorry for when I write/draw inaccuracies 🙏 I am but a simple artist

Having said that, I would absolutely listen to your suggestions, knowledge or info dumps because I find these topics legitimately interesting and I love to learn 👀

[vimbry-moved]

the best pokedex descriptions are the ones that make them sound completely incompatible with the world suggested by the gameplay mechanics. "a stuffed toy that was thrown away and became possessed, ever searching for the one who threw it away so it can exact its revenge." ok well um. why would this fight for me

[despazito]

>breed population has low diversity with most individuals as genetically close as siblings

> breed health issue identified

> fund research to isolate responsible gene(s) for the disease

> remove affected dogs and carriers from gene pool

> remove aesthetically unfavorable dogs from gene pool

> only let small percentile of animals reproduce

>let favourite sires reproduce a lot

> inbreeding line goes up

> breed health issue identified

> fund research to isolate responsible gene(s) for the disease

> remove affected dogs and carriers from gene pool

> remove aesthetically unfavorable dogs from gene pool

> only let small percentile of animals reproduce

>let favourite sires reproduce a lot

> inbreeding line goe-

[yeoldenews]

A mother's word for word transcription of the imaginary phone call her four-year-old made to Santa Claus in 1911.

(source: The Harbor Beach Times, December 22, 1911.)

Through some outrageous case of serendipity I found a recording of another phone call this same child made 60 years later. Though I have to say his choice of conversational partner is a definite downgrade from the first call.

[lets-get-ready-to-ramble]

Do you think in like, an urban fantasy setting, with a modern lab and chemistry knowledge you could brew super specific potions? Imagine getting a C on your lab final for Potions 238 because you didn’t balance your equation correctly and accidentally added 4 mols of salamander blood when you only needed 2. You lose points for incorrect titration, leading your potion of invisibility to last 10 minutes instead of 20. Would you treat each magical component as its own element/ compound or would you have to break it down into organic molecules? What does “enchanted” MEAN in terms of reactance!!! These are the real questions!!

[sciencewife]

Why I love the old Aperture levels in Portal 2:

the 50s and 70s aesthetics

The LORE

Yayyyy asbestos

the old CEO babbling about his wacky science projects

CAROLINE

bouncy gel, speedy gel, and portal gel

A potato’s journey of self-discovery

[spidermansballs]

ok so yk how felicias hair is purple and vi and jinxs hair is pink and blue, and their father seems to have brown hair. well colored hair seems to be one of the dominant traits of their haircolor pool, and as all haircolor is, this is a polygenic gene pool. now felicia seems to have a codominant gene with one allele for pink and one allele for blue, like this:

like a wildflower.

this:

would be the chart for vi and jinx's genes, PB being felicia (pink and blue) and BrBr being their father (brown, which is still a dominant trait, but yields to these other colors). when you chart it the genes exhibit that pink is dominant over brown and blue is dominant over brown, (and it doesnt matter what the fathers genes were, as in if he was carrying a recessive gene, it would still get overpowered by pink/blue)

there was always a 50% chance their child would have blue hair and a 50% chance their child would have pink hair

so clearly felicia has dominant traits, as hers are easily seen within both her daughters, although we dont see much of their father (like one drawing) and their physical appearances are very influenced by their environments (as we see in the happy au, with powder's skin being much healthier and not as sickly as jinx's)

this is also shown in the kirammans as caitlyn and her father both have dark blue hair and her mother has brown, greying hair, blue is either dominant or her mother carries a recessive blue allele.

i would be able to provide more examples but we dont see many peoples parents in this show. it is curious how "colored" hair (at least pink and blue) must be dominant even though there are less people with these traits, like straight hair vs curly hair, curly is dominant but not as common.

honestly the arcane genes are extremely fascinating and if i knew more that would be fabulous

[wataksampingan]

I'm not in the US nor am I a US citizen, but the Weather & Climate Livestream has been very informative.

Currently there's a presentation about coral bleaching and what sort of data are collected and used in an effort to save them, or slow down the bleaching events. Coral reefs and their survival are personally important to me, so I'm paying attention.

All this to say: Hey Americans, I'm just a filthy nobody from the other end of the world. But corals are a cause close to my heart and this made me want to yell for it, and for this livestream that's trying to gain traction (and media attention).

You've got very cool, important work being done even now - which will affect the rest of us in the world, for better or worse - and you have very cool, enthusiastic people doing the work, like the specific scientist in the screenshots, Mariya Galochkina, even now. If corals aren't your thing, there have been and will be other topics covered e.g. agriculture and climate, typhoons, floods, extreme heat, water quality etc.

We can help you with views, but your own scientists and researchers need you to yell for them.

From the WCS website (which has its whole schedule and certain highlights up):

From Wednesday, May 28th to Sunday, June 1st, join meteorologists and climate scientists from across the US as we share our work, and show you what makes it so vital. We will clarify the impact of the cuts on this research, and answer your questions about weather and climate research in the US.

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO WATCH (Hour 43 /100 at time of posting).

(Yes other non-US people, it's US-centric but I'm willing to bet my own country and many other's coral scientists and researchers rely on/work with the NOAA's data and maps to try and save our own reefs. If that goes down, research and conservation/preservation/regeneration is going to be more difficult than it already is. And I'm not giving up our corals without a damn fight, in whatever capacity.)

Shoutout to @thrivingisthegoal for the original post calling for attention to the livestream! Loads of people in the livestream chat came in via your post; more power to you 💪

[aithusiel]

Now that Phineas and Ferb is trending this is a great time to remind you all:

Platypus' are ACTUALLY TEAL under UV light. This was discovered AFTER the show aired.

Look at the boi go. Just a regular platypus.