Go White Boy Goooo

being an extremely light sleeper who doesn't go to bed until 3-4 am so no matter where i live my roommates & friends say stuff like, "wake us up if the tornado sirens go off, "wake us up if the tsunami sirens go off," "wake us up if that bear comes back by camp,"

when people say these things i can't help but feel i'm satisfying my evolutionary purpose as night guard. it's just easier now than it would've been for me 10,000 years ago bc i have a flashlight and a weather app.

Crash Course by Complexly is a great resource of subject area specific YouTube videos: https://complexly.com/shows/crash-course/

and Khan Academy is another great resource of k-12+ educational videos and lessons in all subjects: https://www.khanacademy.org

also Autodesk Instructables has some great STEM lessons, but can be a bit confusing to navigate sometimes: https://www.instructables.com/teachers/

for K-12 Stem education Autodesk softwares are provided free to students, and Autodesk has a wide variety of tutorials on learning CAD https://www.autodesk.com/education/home

Free Educational Resources for Teachers and Students

With Trump's talk of eliminating the US Department of Education, I want to compile a list of free and accessible materials for students, educators, and continuous learners.

Project Gutenburg has a library of over 70,000 free eBooks and audiobooks, with particular emphasis on those in the Public Domain.

The California Department of Education has compiled a list of Free Educational Resources that were originally meant for distance learning during Covid. I think these are primarily for grades K-12.

Library Finder is a free website that can point you in the direction of your closest local library. Libraries are an amazing resource for literacy programs, community outreach, computer access, and much more.

The University of San Diego has compiled a list of Top 24 Educational Resources for Teachers. Most of these are free, free with ads, or free with an account.

National Geographic has a list of Education Resources on their website. I highly encourage everyone to explore the website on their own time.

PBS has a bunch of different educational resources on their website that you can browse easily by subject and grade level.

Please add more resources if you come across them. This is by no means a comprehensive list.

Education is a right, not a privilege.

New Year’s Resolutions and Girl Scout Cookies

Now, you may be thinking, hmmm, those things don’t go together. Unless your resolution was support female entrepreneurs, in which case carry on. No, what I’m talking about is the big New Year’s Resolution I’ve heard about since I was little - weight loss. Whether it’s losing the few pounds you put on with holiday food or a grander goal, many people look to the new year to lose weight.

I’m here to tell you not to tell impressionable young girls who are selling Girl Scout cookies about your weight loss or dieting. In fact, don’t talk to any kids or teens about weight loss.

I don’t care how good your intentions are, how much you think you need it, whatever generation you were raised in, etc. This is not the time for weight loss talk. Did you know that 46% of 9-11 year olds are “sometimes or often” on diets? (x) What about that 50% of teenage girls (and 30% of teenage boys) restrict calories to lose weight? At critical developmental stages, these kiddos are losing vital nutrients and calories that help them grow, their brains develop, and help them develop eating habits for life. From the Mayo Clinic: “In fact, weight talk — both the teasing and the well-intentioned comment — is associated with continued weight problems, increased weight, unhealthy dieting habits and a risk of eating disorders.”

The Girl Scout cookie program is designed to teach valuable skills like business ethics, communication, and confidence. Don’t corrupt something that we all love by talking about your weight.

Turtle Moon and Back

I’ve been listing to “Turtles all the Way Down” on audio book from the library, and as someone with OCD who has avoiding reading the book for a long time, I have found it absolutely wonderful, hilarious, relatable, and just deeply enjoyable. The title reminded me of the space turtle episode of dear Hank and John, which I always see in my head as a turtle hugging the moon.

Pizza Potato. Becuase hope is still the correct response to the miracle of dog consciousness.

I have been really enjoying learning illistrator, and drawing many many dogs.

have you raised enough money to keep the hotlines and skype-a-scientist yet? Cause I Will buy another avent calender if i must

We've sold 2025 so far, and to fund the program for 2025 (ok, weird that it's same number, but that's literally the number we sold as of 5pm Eastern lmao), we need to sell about 5000 total. Pretty unlikely that's going to happen but... I can try!

Support Skype a Scientist with the Squid Facts shop!

Support Skype a Scientist with the Squid Facts shop!

The Squid Facts shop supports Skype a Scientist! We match scientists with classrooms, scout troops, and libraries. We also connect people wi

Tell your friends. Get some frog facts 😎

The Cool Down

Study uncovers surprising fact about wildflowers in urban areas: 'No difference … between the meadow types'

Researchers found that small patches of wildflowers can foster the same biodiversity as entire meadows.

A caveat to this study: the researchers were primarily looking at insect pollinator biodiversity. Planting a few native wildflowers in your garden will not suddenly cause unusual megafauna from the surrounding hinterlands to crowd onto your porch.

That being said, this study backs up Douglas Tallamy's optimistic vision of Homegrown National Park, which calls for people in communities of all sizes to dedicate some of their yard (or porch or balcony) to native plants. This creates a patchwork of microhabitats that can support more mobile insect life and other small beings, which is particularly crucial in areas where habitat fragmentation is severe. This patchwork can create migration corridors, at least for smaller, very mobile species, between larger areas of habitat that were previously cut off from each other.

It may not seem like much to have a few pots of native flowers on your tiny little balcony compared to someone who can rewild acres of land, but it makes more of a difference than you may realize. You may just be creating a place where a pollinating insect flying by can get some nectar, or lay her eggs. Moreover, by planting native species you're showing your neighbors these plants can be just as beautiful as non-native ornamentals, and they may follow suit.

In a time when habitat loss is the single biggest cause of species endangerment and extinction, every bit of native habitat restored makes a difference.

please enjoy this "vintage movie poster" I saw in a dream which was so funny to my subconscious that I immediately woke myself up to write it down for later

I really liked this design, and also I didn’t own any plates (bc bowls are awesome), so I made this! It was a lot of fun lol!

Turtle Moon and Back

I’ve been listing to “Turtles all the Way Down” on audio book from the library, and as someone with OCD who has avoiding reading the book for a long time, I have found it absolutely wonderful, hilarious, relatable, and just deeply enjoyable. The title reminded me of the space turtle episode of dear Hank and John, which I always see in my head as a turtle hugging the moon.