This Panic Happens Like Every Few Months.

A lot of people have been mislead by a post that talks about the “lumpy” Earth, and unfortunately it seems that people genuinely believe the Earth is this shape. As one person pointed out, we have images of the Earth from space, and while it would be disingenuous to refer to it as a perfect sphere, it very much is spherical. A rudimentary reverse Google image search tells me that the image in the misleading post is a simulation of the Earth without water… which is just plain wrong.

In fact, the shape you’re seeing is a geoid, which is a simulation of what Earth would look like if you neglected the influence of anything other than rotation and gravity. A geoid is a dynamic equipotential surface, which means that every point on the surface has the same gravitational potential.

Since it was recently NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, this seems like a good opportunity to talk about a geoid that is something more than a context-less gif: the Potsdam Gravity Potato, pictured above. It’s the result of efforts by a group at Helmholtz Centre Potsdam to create a highly detailed map of the Earth’s gravitational field. Like in a heat map, red elevated levels indicate stronger gravitational effects, and depressed blue levels indicate that they’re lower. The potato-like shape occurs due to the Earth’s uneven gravitational field. This is why high places such as the Himalayas coincide with local maxima on the geoid—but of course not all maxima and minima are the result of noticeable physical features; the Earth has inhomogeneous variations in its density, which account for much of the gravitational difference.

For further reading, check out this article.

 “You know, Aang and Zuko were close friends. Their relationship started off a little rocky but they grew to become lifelong friends.“ (1.13 vs 3.21)

This is how I hold a pen in case you were wondering

memes from Estonia

Tony Hawk lands a 900 at age 48!

🐐🐐🐐

Is it ever okay to rip your shirt off at work?

Beulah W. Miner, Human Tactics Strategist

I was giving a talk at a business conference in Las Vegas last week when I got asked a very interesting question: “Is it ever okay to rip your clothes off at work? And if so, when?”

It’s a fascinating question, and one that can be answered in a lot of different ways depending on the situation—your relationship with your coworkers, whether there are any cameras on you, and whether you expect to be called out by some punk loser later on that day. That last one is a major sticking point. It’s bad news brown if you rip your shirt before you’re ready for your big meeting.

After pausing for a few seconds to lick my lips and look around at the audience, I said that when it comes to ripping off your clothes at work, always be respectful of the big boss man’s rules. But now that I have time to elaborate, here are three things I’ve learned from years of pushing my chest through shirts:

Never tear off any clothes while walking through a cloud of smoke, always make sure the camera has a clear line of sight. 

Remember that you only have one shirt, so save it till the end of your speech for dramatic effect.

Avoid having a shirt around your neck if your co-presenter is known for atomic drops—it could quickly become a choking hazard.

The fact of the matter is, there are tag teams that really embrace shirt ripping and tag teams where it just doesn’t make sense. One team I worked with would throw chairs, smash people into posts, and spin each other around by their ankles—just to make their point. But what worked for them doesn’t work for everyone. They got results, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters in the wrestling business. Whether you shred your shirts or press them, the important thing is to know your team and know your opponent. 

Bible version: a king lusts after another man's wife

Veggie Tales version: a king wants another man's rubber duck

Bible version: threat of genocide

Veggie Tales version: threat of banishment to the island of perpetual tickling

Bible version: since they won't bow down before an idol, the king has them burned alive

Veggie Tales version: since they won't bow down before a chocolate bunny, the manager has them burned alive

I have a feeling this will become iconic in due time.  

People now are like, “Your right to free speech doesn’t mean you can express an offensive opinion” Like what the fuck does right to free speech mean, then?