Space Station Science: Biological Research

Brexit makes a trip to the UK a great travel deal

The collapsing value of the pound in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union is frightening news for the country’s economy — but great news for Americans itching to plan a last minute summer vacation.

When you’re a 17 year-old Dalit girl, your teacher will rape you, the school warden will encourage it, and the admin will collude to hide your murdered body

Delta Meghwal was a 17 year old student at the Jain Adarsh Teacher Training Institute for Girls in Bikaner, a small district in Rajatsthan, India. She was an artist, a brilliant student and an ambitious young woman with big dreams. She also happened to be Dalit. Which is why, her school warden, Priya Shukla, had sent her to ‘clean’ the PT instructor Vijender Singh’s room. Her being Dalit makes it okay for the warden to use her as unpaid labor. It also makes it okay for the said instructor to rape her, in that same room. Her Dalit stauts stops the school from taking any action against the teacher who just raped a student. But it doesn’t not prevent them from forcing her to sign a letter saying the rape was in fact, mutual. That too, only after the terrified child called her father to inform him of the horror. Her ‘lower caste’ guarantees that her dead body will be found in an enclosed, reportedly shallow water tank the next day. And that it will be labeled as suicide. It will also give the ‘school’ permission to have her body be taken away in a GARBAGE TRUCK. Without any evidence or record. Her Dalit identity qualifies the mainstream media to look away, for us to not care, for the insttitution her parents entrusted her safety with to rape and murder her. 

Because it’s normal for Dalits to be treated like this. Because Dalit women’s bodies are never their own. They can be used, abused and killed by any upper caste man, at this will. His caste though, makes sure he gets away. That he is able to do it again. To some other Dalit 17-year-old girl, in another school. Because Dalits, we are used to it.

Delta’s award-winning painting 

Inside the new MTA K-9 training center in Stormville, New York

At a sprawling campus north of New York City, a 3-year-old German Shepherd named Johnny frantically sniffed through seats and luggage bins on an out-of-service commuter rail train trying to catch a whiff of hidden explosive.

When Johnny found a black bag with the faint scent of C-4, commonly used to blow up buildings, he sat statue-still at attention, alerting handler Kevin Pimpinelli of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority police to his discovery. In return, Pimpinelli rewarded him with a prized chew toy.

“In the real world, he can find the explosive before it gets on the train,” Pimpinelli said. "Our job is to try to prevent that device getting in.”

Johnny is one of 50 of the transit authority’s police dogs being trained at its $13 million, 72-acre training center in Stormville, New York, about 70 miles (113 km) north of New York City.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority operates subways, buses, and railroads in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and provides more than 2.7 billion trips each year to travelers, according to the agency’s website.

The canine training center, the biggest facility of its kind in the United States, begins full operations on June 8, 2016,  and will train dogs used by police across the nation.

Amid attacks including the March bombing of a Brussels train station and airport, which killed 32 people, U.S. police agencies see highly trained dogs as key to maintaining security in large public spaces.

Their sharp sense of smell exceeds the ability of humans and machines to detect explosives and track suspects.

“The importance of this facility is growing daily because we get more threats daily,” said MTA Police Lieutenant John Kerwick, who oversees the agency’s police-dog training operations.

The dogs are carefully selected. Only about one in 30 dogs assessed at breeders are chosen for the canine police force. The dogs are mainly German Shepherds like Johnny or Belgian Malinois, high-energy breeds known for a strong desire to work.

HIGHLY TRAINED SNIFFERS

Those handpicked few are trained to detect threats such as explosives or contraband including narcotics, said David Ferland, who heads the United States Police Canine Association (USPCA).

The MTA dog training facility includes rooms modeled after classrooms and bus stations, 26 kennels and a veterinary clinic. Outside, there are nine buses, ponds and train cars at the end of a retired Metro North railroad track. All are used to train the dogs.

While there is no central database tracking the number of police dogs in service in the United States, the USPCA estimates the figure at about 10,000.

Ferland said interest in training police dogs has risen dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, evidence of a sense of urgency in combating similar threats.

“Before 9/11, there were only a handful of these training sites,” Ferland said. “Now, there are training facilities an hour’s drive from every major city in the U.S.”

The Stormville facility will offer initial 12-week courses where dogs learn to detect explosives and the refresher courses that dogs are required to take each month.

The canines are exposed to heights, loud noises, fumes, moving vehicles and other distractions they would face on the job.

Typically they work until about the age of 10, after which they normally go on to live as pets in their primary handlers’ homes.

“They’re like family,” said Officer Keith Flood with his three-year-old black Shepherd-Malinois mix named Doc, after finishing a training exercise. (Reuters)

See more images of the K-9 training center on Yahoo News!

To those who celebrate it, Happy Independence Day! Enjoy the parabolic envelopes that form while those bright, sparkling, parabolic curves are etched into the sky tonight…

How many plus-size male models can you name off the top of your head? Probably not many — and that’s a problem. Luckily there are some guys leading the charge. Like Zach Miko and Jamaal Carroll, who are taking the plus-size menswear revolution into their own hands.

10 Ways to Look After Your Mental Wellbeing (with added kitties)

1. Talk about your feelings

Talking about your feelings can help you stay in good mental health and deal with times when you feel troubled.

2. Keep active

Regular exercise can boost your self-esteem and can help you concentrate, sleep, and look and feel better. Exercise keeps the brain and your other vital organs healthy, and is also a significant benefit towards improving your mental health.

3. Eat well

Your brain needs a mix of nutrients in order to stay healthy and function well, just like the other organs in your body. A diet that’s good for your physical health is also good for your mental health.

4. Drink sensibly

We often drink alcohol to change our mood. Some people drink to deal with fear or loneliness, but the effect is only temporary.

When the drink wears off, you feel worse because of the way the alcohol has affected your brain and the rest of your body. Drinking is not a good way to manage difficult feelings.

5. Keep in touch

There’s nothing better than catching up with someone face to face, but that’s not always possible. You can also give them a call, drop them a note, or chat to them online instead. Keep the lines of communication open: it’s good for you!

6. Ask for help

None of us are superhuman. We all sometimes get tired or overwhelmed by how we feel or when things don’t go to plan.

If things are getting too much for you and you feel you can’t cope, ask for help. Your family or friends may be able to offer practical help or a listening ear.

Local services are there to help you.

7. Take a break

A change of scene or a change of pace is good for your mental health.

It could be a five-minute pause from cleaning your kitchen, a half-hour lunch break at work, or a weekend exploring somewhere new. A few minutes can be enough to de-stress you. Give yourself some ‘me time’.

8. Do something you’re good at

What do you love doing? What activities can you lose yourself in? What did you love doing in the past?

Enjoying yourself can help beat stress. Doing an activity you enjoy probably means you’re good at it, and achieving something boosts your self-esteem.

9. Accept who you are

We’re all different. It’s much healthier to accept that you’re unique than to wish you were more like someone else. Feeling good about yourself boosts your confidence to learn new skills, visit new places and make new friends. Good self-esteem helps you cope when life takes a difficult turn.

10. Care for others

‘Friends are really important… We help each other whenever we can, so it’s a two-way street, and supporting them uplifts me.’

Caring for others is often an important part of keeping up relationships with people close to you. It can even bring you closer together.

(Source: mentalhealth.org.uk)

The Surprising And Varying Kinds Of Intelligence- Which One Is Yours?

In our modern day society we find that the educational system has a very narrow perspective of intelligence, mostly linguistics and logical knowledge. The groups who fall within the parameter of these intelligence sectors, can prize themselves  as lucky.

What happens when our schooling system mostly focuses on these sectors? Well,  a very big percentage of the people gets left out. By doing so, there is a big possibility that this group gets labeled as less intelligent, while the truth can be very much the opposite. Their intelligence may just lie in a different category.

The theory of multiple intelligence was first published by Howard Gardner in 1983. In his book called Frames of mind, he describes seven different intelligence categories. Over the years a couple additional categories has been added, with the latest suggestion for an addition in the beginning of this year.

With this theory Gardner wants to show that the norm of what is called ‘intelligence’ in our society is too narrow. People can be highly intelligent in other areas.  Which one of the next categories applies to you?

Keep reading

Defining "rape culture"

A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women.

It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself.

A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.

~ Rape culture is encouraging male sexual aggression.

~ Rape culture is regarding violence as sexy and sexuality as violent.

~ Rape culture is treating rape as a compliment, as the unbridled passion stirred in a healthy man by a beautiful woman, making irresistible the urge to rip open her bodice or slam her against a wall, or a wrought-iron fence, or a car hood, or pull her by her hair, or shove her onto a bed, or any one of a million other images of fight-fucking in movies and television shows and on the covers of romance novels that convey violent urges are inextricably linked with (straight) sexuality.

~ Rape culture is encouraging men to use the language of rape to establish dominance over one another ("I'll make you my bitch").

~ Rape culture is making rape a ubiquitous part of male-exclusive bonding.

I’m 16 and I’m pregnant. My mother doesn’t believe in abortion. What do I do?

Someone asked us:

I’m 16 and pregnant. I hate to say it but I wasn’t smart when it came to protection. The problem is, my mom doesn’t believe in abortion. What are my options. I’m so scared that I’m going to be forced to have a baby I’m not ready for. I’m 16. I don’t even have a drivers license yet. How am I suppose to raise a baby. My mom is very unsupportive. How am I going to do this?! What are my options. If I do have to have this baby what can I do?? I’m so scared. I feel like my life is falling apart.

I know that’s hard to believe right now, but you’ll get through this. You’re in a tough situation — no doubt about it. But you’re already reaching out for help. That’s a great first step, and we’re here to help you.

When you’re in a situation that feels overwhelming it helps to take things one step at a time. It sounds like the first thing you need to do is talk with someone in person about your options. You seem pretty sure that your mother doesn’t believe in abortion and wouldn’t support you if you wanted to have one. I can’t tell from your message what exactly you want to do — if you want to keep the pregnancy and become a parent, have an abortion, or give the baby for adoption — but if talking with your mother won’t be helpful, talking with the staff at your nearest Planned Parenthood health center will be. First they can talk through your options with you, and then get you started on the right option for you depending on what you decide (prenatal care or abortion).

If you want to have an abortion, you may not need your mother’s permission. That depends somewhat on where you live. Some states don’t require permission from your parents at all. Other states do. But even most of those states have a way for you to have an abortion without a parent or guardian. That process is called judicial bypass: It’s when a judge says it’s okay for you to get an abortion without involving your parents in your decision.

It may sound scary, but the staff at your nearest Planned Parenthood health center can help with that process. So call them and make an appointment.

Once you’ve made your appointment, your second step is to find a way to get there. You said that you don’t have a driver’s license. For that and other practical reasons, you may need to let someone in your life that you trust know what’s going on, someone who can give you a ride. Otherwise, can you walk or take public transportation? Can you take a taxi? The health center staff you speak with on the phone may have some suggestions or directions for getting there.

The rest of the steps you need to take are going to depend on what you decide to do. But remember, the staff at your nearest Planned Parenthood health center will help you every step of the way.

Last piece of advice: don’t delay! If you’re pregnant, regardless of whether you’re going to have an abortion or stay pregnant, it’s important to get started on that path ASAP, to make sure you stay healthy. You can do this!

-Emily at Planned Parenthood