Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
Recently honored in the ABC series “When We Rise”, the openly gay artist is remembered for designing the unifying symbol of the LGBT community and movement.
The rainbow flag was first designed and handmade in 1978. A rainbow was used to reflect the fact that LGBT people are of natural beauty. The first flag was flown on June 25, 1978 at San Francisco Pride, with 8 colors. Each had its own meaning: hot pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic/art, blue for harmony, and violet for the spirit. Following the assassination of influential leader Harvey Milk, the flag was in high demand and was revised to retain efficiency. Nowadays, the flag is shown as having 6 evens colors, having dropped hot pink and turquoise.
(Original flag design, 1978)
Now we must remember Mr. Baker as designing the seminal symbol for our people. Gone are the days of the pink triangle–we define ourselves. Thank you for giving us this beautiful symbol. The Pride Flag is something that has given us the image for our pride and community. There is nothing I would rather assign myself to more than the rainbow. We will always remember you.
Renowned astrophysicist and National Medal of Science awardee Vera Rubin passed away in Princeton N.J., the evening of December 25, 2016, at the age of 88. Rubin confirmed the existence of dark matter—the invisible material that makes up more than 90% of the mass of the universe. She was a retired staff astronomer at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, D.C.
“Vera Rubin was a national treasure as an accomplished astronomer and a wonderful role model for young scientists,” remarked Carnegie president Matthew Scott. “We are very saddened by this loss.”
In the 1960s, Rubin’s interest in how stars orbit their galactic centers led her and colleague Kent Ford to study the Andromeda galaxy, M31, a nearby spiral. The two scientists wanted to determine the distribution of mass in M31 by looking at the orbital speeds of stars and gas at varying distances from the galactic center. They expected the speeds to conform to Newtonian gravitational theory, whereby an object farther from its central mass orbits slower than those closer in. To their surprise, the scientists found that stars far from the center traveled as fast as those near the center.
After observing dozens more galaxies by the 1970s, Rubin and colleagues found that something other than the visible mass was responsible for the stars’ motions. Each spiral galaxy is embedded in a “halo” of dark matter—material that does not emit light and extends beyond the optical galaxy. They found it contains 5 to 10 times as much mass as the luminous galaxy. As a result of Rubin’s groundbreaking work, it has become apparent that more than 90% of the universe is composed of this invisible material. The first inkling that dark matter existed came in 1933 when Swiss astrophysicist Franz Zwicky of Caltech proposed it. But it was not until Rubin’s work that dark matter was confirmed.
Besides her remarkable scientific contributions, as noted by colleague Neta Bahcall of Princeton University: “Vera was an amazing scientist and an amazing human being. A pioneering astronomer, the ‘mother’ of flat rotation curves and dark-matter, a champion of women in science, a mentor and role model to generations of astronomers.”
She was an ardent feminist, advocating for women observers at the Palomar Observatory, women at the Cosmos Club, Princeton, and she even advised the Pope to have more women on his committee.
Rubin was born July 23, 1928. She arrived at Carnegie’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, D.C., in 1965. A Washington native, she graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School and went on to receive her B.A. from Vassar College. She obtained her M.A. from Cornell University and her Ph.D. from Georgetown University, where she then taught for 10 years. Rubin was the first woman allowed to observe at the Palomar Observatory.
In 1993 Vera Rubin received the National Medal of Science—the nation’s highest scientific award. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1981, and in 1996 became the first woman to receive the Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal since Caroline Hershel, who was awarded the prize in 1828. Rubin’s husband Robert J. Rubin, a mathematician and physicist, died in 2008. The couple’s four children all acquired Ph.Ds. in the sciences or mathematics: David Rubin is a geologist; Judy Young, who died in 2014, was an astronomer; Karl Rubin is a mathematician; and Allan Rubin is a geologist.
As thousands take to social media to mourn the death of Wham! star George Michael, some have opened up about millions of pounds he donated in secret to good causes.
Michael was found dead in his home on Christmas Day, and it was later confirmed that he suffered heart failure.
But many have now opened up about donations the star secretly made to countless good causes while insisting that he remained anonymous.
Dame Esther Rantzen said Michael “gave millions” to Childline, of which she is the founder a president, but that he donated the money on the condition of anonymity while he was alive.
“For years now he has been the most extraordinarily generous philanthropist, giving money to Childline, but he was determined not to make his generosity public so no-one outside the charity knew how much he gave to the nation’s most vulnerable children,” sad Dame Esther.
Richard Osman, who co-hosts Pointless, also opened up saying he had given £15,000 to a contestant on Deal or No Deal who needed the money for IVF.
Others included the Terrence Higgins Trust, which said Michael had given “experiences and gifts” to the charity over the years.
““His donations contributed to a vision of a world where people living with HIV live healthy lives free from prejudice and discrimination,” said Jane Barron of THT.
“Thanks to George’s legacy, we are a step closer to that world and we are so grateful for his support and friendship over the years.”
Other stories included that Michael had given a £25,000 cheque to a woman who he heard crying over debt in a cafe, asking the waitress to hand it over once he had left.
Another came from radio DJ Mick Brown, who opened up about an annual £100,000 donation made by Michael to Capital FM’s Christmas charity drive.
Journalist Sali Hughes took to Twitter to say she had written a story about a celebrity who had given £5,000 to a barmaid who was a student nurse in debt, revealing that it was Michael.
Many more stories including offering a free concert to NHS nurses who cared for his late mother, and volunteering at a homeless shelter, poured out as thousands mourned the death of the Wham! star.
This is in addition to his performances on charity singles like ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, donating royalties from his Elton John duet ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me’ to an AIDS hospice, and much other public charity work.
Astronaut and Senator John Glenn, 7/18/1921 - 12/08/2016
We are saddened to learn of the passing of Astronaut and Senator John Glenn earlier today. Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7 as one of @nasa’s original “Mercury Seven” astronauts, served as a United States Senator from Ohio from 1974 - 1999, and was the oldest human to go into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-95 in 1998 at age 77.
Darren Seals, Ferguson activist, was found shot to death in burning car
Darren Seals, a prominent Ferguson, Missouri, activist, was found shot to death inside a burning car Tuesday morning, The 29-year-old’s body was found inside the charred vehicle on Diamond Street, 12 miles from where he lived, after the flames were extinguished.
Seals’ death is being investigated as a homicide. According to the Times, Seals led protests with the activist group Hands Up United. Seals was oftentimes critical of the Black Lives Matter movement.Described as an assembly line worker and hip-hop artist by the Washington Post in a 2014 profile, Seals was active on Twitter under the username King D Seals, often tweeting about police brutality. Very recently, Seals had spoken out on the Kaepernick controversy.
Gene Wilder, who regularly stole the show in such comedic gems as “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Stir Crazy,” died Monday at…
