The Cosmic Butterfly

Freeway: Crack in the System

Viola Davis

(via capleesi)

BOOM 💣

In honor of World Elephant Day, we present you with 12 little known facts about one of our favorite creatures…in GIFs, of course.

1. Elephants know every member of their herd and are able to recognize up to 30 companions by sight or smell. 

2. They can remember and distinguish particular cues that signal danger and can recall locations long after their last visit.

3. An elephant’s memory is not limited to its herd, nor is it limited to its species. In one instance, two circus elephants that performed together rejoiced when crossing paths 23 years later. Elephants have also recognized humans that they once bonded with after decades apart. 4. 

4. The elephant boasts the largest brain of any land mammal as well as an impressive encephalization quotient (the size of the animal’s brain relative to its body size). The elephant’s EQ is nearly as high as a chimpanzee’s.

5. The elephant brain is remarkably similar to the human brain, with as many neurons and synapses, as well as a highly developed hippocampus and cerebral cortex.

6. Elephants are one of the few non-human animals to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

7. Elephants are creative problem solvers. 

8. Don’t try to outsmart an elephant! They have an understanding of basic arithmetic and can even keep track of relative quantities.

9. Elephants communicate using everything from body signals to infrared rumbles that can be heard from kilometers away. Their understanding of syntax suggests that they have their own language and grammar. 

10. Elephants can recognize 12 distinct tones of music and recreate melodies.

11. Elephants are the only non-human animals to mourn their dead, performing burial rituals and returning to visit graves. 

12. Elephants are one of the few species who can recognize themselves in the mirror.

Given what we now know about elephants, and what they continue to teach us about animal intelligence, it is more important than ever to make sure that these magnificent creatures do not vanish.

Check out some more fun elephant facts here and be sure to watch the TED-Ed Lesson Why elephants never forget - Alex Gendler

“i don’t know what to draw”

“i always mess up”

“BUT I SUCK”

Tagging is largely the oppressed claiming space, space for themselves and space for their art. It’s not meant to make anyone feel comfortable. The fact that the very same people who think that black people’s live are worth so little embrace Banksy is proof of this. 

One of the things that’s recently pissed a lot of taggers off is, he’s not part of the tagger community and doesn’t know the rules, doesn’t follow them. NYC is locals only when it comes to graffiti, since they’re the ones whose space it is.

Like. He went to East NYC, predominately black and Latinx, majority poor, where there are a TON of local taggers, and claimed areas as his, Instagrammed the general area so people (mainly white middle to upper class) could come flocking He’s going to poor parts of NY–areas where taggers flourish–and waltzing in and claiming space as his. 

He’s also like, peak liberal. ‘Down with the system!’ while being the very system itself. ‘Destroy capitalism!’ while doing everything he can to capitalize. Literally ‘If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes politics’ while being someone who benefits from the horrors committed.