Humanist Animal

@humanistanimal.bsky.social

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Animals, history, philosophy, ecology, veganism, food, science, art, design, photography, music, politics, poetry, psychology, books, oceans, law, activism, secularism, space, storms. Assorted combinations thereof. Cats.

A photo of a whale's head, mouth open, emerging from the choppy water, with the skyline of Manhattan and clouds in the background. By Chris St Lawrence/gothamwhale.org
A screen grab from the image at the article, focusing on what appear to be uncomfortable or disdainful reactions to the speaker. Four councillors sit in two rows with the back row elevated. The two men in the front row have expressions of cringe and weariness. The man and woman in the back row have their heads down. His left hand covers his face, while hers covers her forehead. She might be laughing.
Czech Republic - EUROPA 2025 The stamp design features one of the most famous archaeological finds in the Czech Republic, the sandstone head of a Celt from Mšecké Žehrovice. The designer has placed it in a stylised display case, symbolising museum exhibition practices. The blue sky in the background alludes to the spiritual and even transcendent dimension of the artifact. As the only example of monumental Celtic sculpture found in the Czech Republic, this head stands as an unparalleled archaeological discovery. The artwork is inspired by the sculpture and incorporates the painting technique that leans towards realism and almost achieves photorealism in its depiction. The sculptural representation immediately captures attention with its illusion of depth and sense of space. The artist chose a classic layered oil painting technique on paper, with pencil underdrawing and acrylic underpainting to allow for quicker layering and material flexibility.
Heavy, swirling, dramatic lavender-grey and orange clouds above a line of evergreen trees and a clear blue sky. "Explanation: What kind of clouds are these? Although their cause is presently unknown, such unusual atmospheric structures, as menacing as they might seem, do not appear to be harbingers of meteorological doom. Formally recognized as a distinct cloud type only last year, asperitas clouds can be stunning in appearance, unusual in occurrence, and are relatively unstudied. Whereas most low cloud decks are flat bottomed, asperitas clouds appear to have significant vertical structure underneath. Speculation therefore holds that asperitas clouds might be related to lenticular clouds that form near mountains, or mammatus clouds associated with thunderstorms, or perhaps a foehn -- a type of dry downward wind that flows off mountains. Clouds from such a wind called the Canterbury arch stream toward the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. The featured image, taken above Hanmer Springs in Canterbury, New Zealand in 2005, shows great detail partly because sunlight illuminates the undulating clouds from the side."
Millionaire trophy hunter Asher Watkins poses in front of some scrubby trees. He is kneeling on one knee, wearing a necklace of at least seven beautiful ducks he has presumably murdered, hanging by their necks. Next to him sits a dog who looks like a black lab or black lab mix, staring directly into the camera and the conscience of the viewer.
Globular Cluster Omega Centauri A photograph of densely packed stars, appearing as yellow and light blue dots, in dark space. The center of the image is brighter and the stars even more densely packed. "Explanation: Globular star cluster Omega Centauri packs about 10 million stars much older than the Sun into a volume some 150 light-years in diameter. Also known as NGC 5139, at a distance of 15,000 light-years it's the largest and brightest of 200 or so known globular clusters that roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Though most star clusters consist of stars with the same age and composition, the enigmatic Omega Cen exhibits the presence of different stellar populations with a spread of ages and chemical abundances. In fact, Omega Cen may be the remnant core of a small galaxy merging with the Milky Way. With a yellowish hue, Omega Centauri's red giant stars are easy to pick out in this sharp telescopic view. A two-decade-long exploration of the dense star cluster with the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed evidence for a massive black hole near the center of Omega Centauri."
"Eileen Gray's most well known work, E-1027, which was meticulously renovated and reopened to visitors in 2021 (Image credit: Manuel Bougot)." A white concrete modernist building with rectangular lines, raised above ground with a staircase leading up to a terrace with a bright blue front and matching awnings. Behind the house is a hill with Mediterranean foliage and a blue sky with some light clouds. Another building can be seen above on the hill.
The spiral Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31 (M31), is pictured, viewed on a diagonal from the lower left to the upper right of the frame against a background of black space with multiple points of colored light of varying sizes. The center of the galaxy is bright whitish pink, and as it spirals out the colors deepen to lavender and then to magenta in the outermost loops. To the left of the galaxy is a streak of transparent blue - I don't know what it is.
After the war, McCardell noticed the increasing backlash against women working in fashion. The question of whether a woman should work at all after the war was far from settled; in fact, it had once again become a vigorous debate. “You can’t go back,” she told Friedan. “You have to design for the lives American women lead today.” Of course, it’s Dior’s name we all remember, even though the clothes that we wear daily are thanks to McCardell. I wanted to explore why that is in my book, and part of it is that there was a concerted effort to shut women out of the narrative. There was an epic media spat between McCardell and the male Parisian haute couture designers, which I write about in my book. McCardell was having none of it.
"In this Hubble Space Telescope image the bright, spiky stars lie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellation Perseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy. In sharp focus beyond is UGC 2885, a giant spiral galaxy about 232 million light-years distant. Some 800,000 light-years across compared to the Milky Way's diameter of 100,000 light-years or so, it has around 1 trillion stars. That's about 10 times as many stars as the Milky Way. Part of an investigation to understand how galaxies can grow to such enormous sizes, UGC 2885 was also part of An Interesting Voyage and American astronomer Vera Rubin's pioneering study of the rotation of spiral galaxies. Her work was the first to convincingly demonstrate the dominating presence of dark matter in our universe. A new U.S. coin has been issued to honor Vera Rubin, while the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is scheduled to unveil images from its first look at the cosmos on June 23."
Israel’s defence minister orders military to stop Madleen from reaching Gaza Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says he has instructed the military to act to prevent the Madleen from reaching Gaza. “The State of Israel will not allow anyone to violate the naval blockade on Gaza,” said Katz in a statement carried by The Times of Israel. Addressing the activists directly, Katz said: “You should turn back because you will not reach Gaza”, and described them as “antisemitic”.
Photo of a roadside billboard with a drawing of DxE activist Zoe Rosenberg in a dark green t-shirt cradling a chicken. Next to the drawing, it reads "Should she go to prison for rescuing a chicken? www.RightToRescue.com"
Baby goat standing in a wire cart, a still from Severance on Apple TV+
Une illustration d'artiste, dont la date n'est pas précisée, montre le parc à thème Disney que la Walt Disney Company et Miral prévoient de construire à Abu Dhabi, aux Émirats arabes unis. © Walt Disney Imagineering via Reuters
Cyclones at Jupiter's North Pole
Baby goat Lulu in plaid coat at Farm Sanctuary