Star Systems Follow A Standard Blueprint That Keeps Their Orbits Stable.  They Are Organized In A Hierarchical

No you’re thinking of San Antonio. Sanrio is an Afro-Cuban religion

sanrio? you mean the guy with the coat and mittens?

typewriter!

An Astronaut’s Tips For Living in Confined Spaces

One thing astronauts have to be good at: living in confined spaces for long periods of time. 

Nearly 20 years successfully living on the International Space Station and more than 50 flying in space did not happen by accident. Our astronauts and psychologists have examined what human behaviors create a healthy culture for living and working remotely in small groups. They narrowed it to five general skills and defined the associated behaviors for each skill. 

For many of us in a similar scenario, here are the skills as shared by astronaut Anne McClain: 

Skill 1, Communication

Share information and feelings freely. 

Talk about your intentions before taking action. 

Discuss when your or others’ actions were not as expected. 

Take time to debrief after success or conflict. 

Admit when you are wrong.

Skill 2, Self-Care

Balance work, rest, and personal time. Be organized.

Realistically assess your own strengths and weaknesses, and their influence on the group.

Identify personal tendencies and their influence on your success or failure. Learn from mistakes. 

Be open about your weaknesses and feelings. 

Take action to mitigate your own stress or negativity (don’t pass it on to the group). 

Skill 3, Team Care

Demonstrate patience and respect. Encourage others. 

Monitor your team (or friends and family) for signs of stress or fatigue. 

Encourage participation in team (or virtual) activities. 

Volunteer for the unpleasant tasks. Offer and accept help. 

Share credit; take the blame.

Skill 4, Group Living

Cooperate rather than compete. 

Actively cultivate group culture (use each individual’s culture to build the whole). 

Respect roles, responsibilities and workload. 

Take accountability; give praise freely. Then work to ensure a positive team attitude. 

Keep calm in conflict.

Skill 5, Leadership/Followership

Accept responsibility.

Adjust your style to your environment.

Assign tasks and set goals.

Lead by example. Give direction, information, feedback, coaching and encouragement.

Talk when something isn’t right. Ask questions.

We are all in this together on this spaceship we call Earth! These five skills are just reminders to help cultivate good mental and physical health while we all adjust to being indoors. Take care of yourself and dive deeper into these skills HERE. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

Teach ME a new word, please! Make it one nobody has said before.

[in my head] “snek.”

WHAT

I said it in the notes on the last post but I’m gonna say it again.

I’m married to someone with severe memory problems. Automation of household appliances & systems helps him a lot and helps me a lot because it reduces the number of things I have to keep in my brain at all times. I love doors that lock themselves, being able to schedule dog food being delivered, a thermostat I can manipulate from wherever. Beyond my little bubble it should be noted that voice controlled appliances can be really good for people with mobility concerns. Appliances that can measure and talk and remember little tasks can be such a blessing for people.

I will never forgive Amazon and Google for taking technologies that could be really helpful and weaponizing them, and fuck everybody who acts like its some kind of conspiracy theory that those devices are spying on you. You absolutely should be distrustful of those devices but just make sure you’re getting angry at the right people.

Heard some important information on Twitter today, and thought I’d post it here for anyone who may not have heard it. This is actually a thing, devised by a human rights organisation called Karma Nirvana.

Reblog to save a life?

Emil Doerstling: Preußisches Liebesglück (Prussian Happiness in Love) – Gustav Sabac el Cher und Gertrud Perlig.

Gustav Sabac el Cher (10 March 1868 - 4 October 1934) was an Afro-German imperial bandmaster in the Kingdom of Prussia. His father, August Albrecht Sabac el Cher (born in 1836 in Kurdufan, now Sudan) had a long and remarkable career as a valet to the Prussian Prince Albert, was one of the first representatives of African diaspora in Berlin and together with Anton Wilhelm Amo, one of the first socially integrated Afro-German citizens.

Sabac el Cher was good at the violin and had a prominent career as a bandmaster and played for the royalty of Europe. He stopped in 1909 to work instead as a freelance conductor. In the 1920s he even worked in the then-new radio broadcasting business. He was loyal to the Kaiser and welcomed the rise of fascism until the appearance of the Nazis on the political scene. In 1933 his restaurant business was condemned by the Nazis and it was forced to close after a short time. He died in Berlin at 66 years old, in 1934. The Kaiser sent his condolences from his exile in Holland.

In this painting (1890) Gustav Sabac el Cher wears a Prussian infantry uniform. He was probably one of the first Africans to do so. He married Gertrud Perlig in 1901 and they had two sons together. Reportedly Sabac el Cher’s grandsons were unaware of their mixed-race ancestry until they were contacted by historians in 1999 as they tried to find the story behind this beautiful and light-hearted portrait.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

if your feminism doesn’t include the rats in my sleeves it’s not feminist

Happy Apollo Day!