Links to make you think.

emergentfutures:

The Cause of High Blood Pressure Revealed By Computer Modelling

Full Story: Technology Review
Computer simulations show that high blood pressure can be entirely explained by arterial stiffening as we age, say researchers

The Cause of High Blood Pressure Revealed By Computer Modelling

Full Story: Technology Review

Computer simulations show that high blood pressure can be entirely explained by arterial stiffening as we age, say researchers

emergentfutures:

That’s a ‘Depression’: Europe’s Double-Dip Is Officially Longer Than Its Great Recession

The latest GDP numbers for the euro zone were brutal as usual. The 17-nation economy contracted for the sixth consecutive quarter in the beginning of 2013 — longer even than in 2008-09 — as it fell 0.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012. The entire bloc is either in a long recession, a new recession, or almost so. Indeed, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy continued their neverending slumps; Cyprus, the Netherlands, Finland and France fell into new slumps (and Slovenia likely would have too if it had reported numbers); while Austria, Belgium, and Germany only just avoided new slumps by growing 0.1 percent in the first quarter.

Full Story: The Atlantic

parislemon:

Matt Novak:

It’s easy to forget — even for a Disney nerd like myself — that before Walt Disney died of lung cancer in December of 1966, EPCOT (the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) was supposed to be a real city. The code name “Project X” was given to the undertaking that would eventually become Walt Disney World, which today includes the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom parks.

Fascinating. And the rabbit hole goes deeper still.

[via Tim Maly]

Oh wow! I did not know any of that.

The everyday grind: Did you know... »

iamthegarebear:

The world’s most venomous spider is what i would also deem the most humiliating one and is simply nicknamed the Brazilian Wandering Spider.

The venom has some typical properties that you would expect from something so deadly; the venom itself attacks our nervous system causing paralysis of muscles (more noteably the diaphram, the muscles in charge of your breathing) and intense pain due to inflammation around the bitten area.

The peculiar part however comes in it’s ability to cause priapism in male humans. Now, for those of you who dont know what that means, it’s simply a state in which a person has a massive and uncontrollable erection, usually for hours at a time.

This little fucker not only bites you putting you into a state of excruciating pain; leaves you partially or completely paralyzed; on the verge of asphyxiating and dying from lack of air; but also your dick is left standing at attention. This spider makes your dick wave around as your white flag of surrender. You lie there on the ground begging someone not to come save you from your horrible fate because they’ll probably be completely taken aback at your erect penile.

Needless to say, getting bit by one of these wanderers can be one of the most horrible and humiliating ways to die.

Daaamn! just ride me until its over LOL

get-sherlock-s-arse:

didney-worl-no-uta:

admiralrainbow:

rirygoesrawr:

cyanide-poisoning:

Men Experiencing Labor Pains

With their wives supporting them.

HAHAHHAHAHA TOO GOOD

I bet a kick in the balls would feel real good right about then.

“Men can handle anything”

“Women exaggerate everything”

And then they realized just how wrong they were

Can I show this to everyone? Not even just people who think men are the superior gender. Just everyone.

Wow.

the-science-llama:

Reflection and Emission Nebulas
— Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex

Credit: Gerald Rhemann // Astrostudio

$thescienceofreality: Science or Fiction? In the new ‘Star Trek’ film, Spock stops an active volcano. Is that possible? “In the opening scenes of Star Trek Into Darkness, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is dropped in the middle of an active volcano. His mission? To stop the volcano from exploding before it destroys everything in its path. His equipment? A suitcase-sized “cold fusion” device, designed to destroy the volcano — and nothing else. Is this even possible? NG staffer Melody Kramer caught up with Dr. David Ferguson, (@volcanotweet) a volcanologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University to ask him about the possible ramifications of stopping liquid hot magma in its tracks. Spock performs his mission while standing on a tiny platform inside the volcano, surrounded by liquid magma. Would a non-half-Vulcan be able to survive standing on a platform in the middle of an active volcano? That lava would be something like 1100-1200 degrees Celsius. You’ve seen footage of people in silver suits next to lava fields. Outside of those suits, it would be far too hot. And one other thing you realize if you’re near lava is that it really stinks. There’s all sorts of noxious gases. I can’t speak for Spock, but without any kind of protective clothing and breathing devices, a human probably wouldn’t be able to survive. Spock stopped the volcano with a “cold fusion device.” Is it possible to drop something in a volcano that would stop it from erupting? There are examples of people who have tried to stop lava flows from harming anyone by dropping bombs on them. In the 1930s and 1940s in Hawaii, they tried to bomb some lava flows. They also tried this in Italy, at Mount Etna in 1992. What’s the thought process behind bombing the lava flows? When the lava erupts, it hardens around itself and forms a tube. The lava inside the tube is therefore insulated and can flow for several kilometers. So the thought was that if you drop a bomb on a lava tube, the bomb would smash the insulated tube and cool the lava. Could anything bad happen as a result of bombing a volcano directly? If you were to drop a bomb on a volcano, the best case scenario is nothing would happen. The worst, of course, is that the volcano would erupt. If you were to bomb a volcano in the right way, you would basically do the work for it, by fracturing the volcanic rock and allowing magma to escape.” Read more…$

thescienceofreality:

Science or Fiction? In the new ‘Star Trek’ film, Spock stops an active volcano. Is that possible?

“In the opening scenes of Star Trek Into Darkness, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is dropped in the middle of an active volcano. His mission? To stop the volcano from exploding before it destroys everything in its path. His equipment? A suitcase-sized “cold fusion” device, designed to destroy the volcano — and nothing else.

Is this even possible? NG staffer Melody Kramer caught up with Dr. David Ferguson, (@volcanotweet) a volcanologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University to ask him about the possible ramifications of stopping liquid hot magma in its tracks.

Spock performs his mission while standing on a tiny platform inside the volcano, surrounded by liquid magma. Would a non-half-Vulcan be able to survive standing on a platform in the middle of an active volcano?

That lava would be something like 1100-1200 degrees Celsius. You’ve seen footage of people in silver suits next to lava fields. Outside of those suits, it would be far too hot. And one other thing you realize if you’re near lava is that it really stinks. There’s all sorts of noxious gases. I can’t speak for Spock, but without any kind of protective clothing and breathing devices, a human probably wouldn’t be able to survive.

Spock stopped the volcano with a “cold fusion device.” Is it possible to drop something in a volcano that would stop it from erupting?

There are examples of people who have tried to stop lava flows from harming anyone by dropping bombs on them. In the 1930s and 1940s in Hawaii, they tried to bomb some lava flows. They also tried this in Italy, at Mount Etna in 1992.

What’s the thought process behind bombing the lava flows?

When the lava erupts, it hardens around itself and forms a tube. The lava inside the tube is therefore insulated and can flow for several kilometers. So the thought was that if you drop a bomb on a lava tube, the bomb would smash the insulated tube and cool the lava.

Could anything bad happen as a result of bombing a volcano directly?

If you were to drop a bomb on a volcano, the best case scenario is nothing would happen. The worst, of course, is that the volcano would erupt. If you were to bomb a volcano in the right way, you would basically do the work for it, by fracturing the volcanic rock and allowing magma to escape.”

Read more…