Regina Joseph
Stories (7/0)
Why Is It So Hard To Break a Bad Habit?
Billions of individuals deal with a nail-biting habit at some point in their lives. Many will go to great lengths to try to quit, employing strategies like rubbing chili peppers on their cuticles, wearing gloves all day, dipping their hands in salt, and even imagining germs crawling on their fingers. And while not all of us are nail-biters, most of us do have a habit we would like to kick. So, what’s the most effective way to break one?
By Regina Joseph8 months ago in Lifehack
The One Thing Stopping Jellyfish from Taking Over
Over the past few decades, jellyfish have begun to dominate our oceans. In New Zealand, divers encounter thousands of stinging jellyfish, each no larger than a grain of pepper. In Sweden, a massive swarm of moon jellyfish shut down one of the world’s largest nuclear reactors by clogging the plant’s main intake pipes. And in the Sea of Japan, thousands of 200-kilogram Nomura’s jellyfish with bells two meters in diameter swarm fishermen, snapping nets and devouring local fish. All around the world, these creatures voraciously consume fish eggs and larvae, often undermining marine farming efforts, and outcompeting adult fish by consuming the resources they need to survive. If things continue on their current trajectory, we could be headed for a future where the entire ocean is teeming with jellyfish.
By Regina Joseph8 months ago in Earth
One of the Most Banned Books of All Time
In 1998, a Maryland school district removed one of American literature’s most acclaimed works from its curriculum. Parents advocating for the ban argued that the book was both “physically explicit” and “anti-white.” Following protests from other parents and educators, the decision was eventually reversed. However, this was neither the first nor the last attack on Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.” Few books have been challenged more frequently than Angelou’s memoir. While book banning decisions typically aren’t made at the state or national level, most of the schools and libraries that have banned Angelou’s book have cited similar reasons. Most commonly, they argue that the memoir’s account of rape and the violence of US racism are inappropriate for young readers. But these concerns miss the point of Angelou’s story, which uses these very themes to explore the dangers of control and silence in the lives of children.
By Regina Joseph8 months ago in BookClub
What is Happening to the Earth’s Core?
A hydrogen molecule soars high within the Earth’s peripheral atmosphere. This particular molecule had previously entered the exosphere a long time ago, and during its stay on Earth, it has spent time in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, the soil of the Amazon, and even in the steam rising from a boiling pot of spaghetti. However, today, traveling at speeds multiple times faster than the speed of sound, it overcomes Earth’s gravitational pull and escapes, joining the approximately 90 tons of material that break free from our atmosphere every day. This daily, whale-sized atmospheric loss is just one example of how Earth is leaking. Atoms, energy, and particles leak from one layer of the planet to another. And for Earth, whose protection is vital for sustaining life, these leaks can be concerning.
By Regina Joseph8 months ago in Earth
One of History’s Most Dangerous Myths
From the 1650s through the latter part of the 1800s, European pioneers descended upon South Africa. Initially, Dutch and later English powers sought to claim the region for themselves, and their aggression intensified upon the discovery of the area’s abundant natural resources. In their ruthless scramble, both colonial powers forcibly displaced numerous Native communities from their ancestral lands. However, despite these conflicts, the colonizers often asserted that they were settling in vacant land without any presence of local people. These claims found support in letters and travel logs written by various administrators, soldiers, and missionaries. Maps were created to reflect these assertions, and prominent English historians endorsed this narrative. Publications promoting the so-called “Empty Land Hypothesis” rested on three central arguments. First, they claimed that most of the land being settled by Europeans had no established communities or agricultural systems. Second, they argued that any African communities present in those regions had arrived concurrently with Europeans, thus lacking a genetic claim to the land. Third, they contended that since these African communities had likely taken the land from earlier, no longer existing Native populations, Europeans were justified in displacing these African settlers. The issue is that all three of these arguments were entirely false. Virtually no part of this land was vacant, and Africans had lived here for centuries. Native South Africans simply had a different concept of land ownership from the Dutch and English. Land belonged to families or groups, not individuals, and this ownership was more focused on the land’s agricultural produce rather than the land itself. Community leaders would grant seasonal land rights, allowing various nomadic groups to graze cattle or forage for vegetation. Even the groups residing in large agricultural settlements did not fully believe they owned the land as private property. However, the colonizing Europeans disregarded this ownership system, assuming that the land belonged to no one and could therefore be divided among themselves. In this context, claims that the land was “empty” were a misinformed distortion of a much more complex reality. Nevertheless, the Empty Land Hypothesis allowed English academics to rewrite history and downplay native populations. In 1894, the European parliament in Cape Town took this exploitation further by passing the Glen Dark Act. This act made it nearly impossible for native Africans to own land, undermining the system of collective tribal ownership and creating a class of landless people. To justify the theft, Europeans portrayed natives as savages lacking the capacity for reason and better off under colonial rule. This process of depriving natives of their rights to tribal lands and depicting them as savages has been employed by many colonizers. Now known as the Empty Land Myth, this is a deeply entrenched strategy in the colonial playbook, and its impact can be found throughout the histories of numerous countries, including Australia, Canada, and the US. In South Africa, the influence of this narrative can be directly traced to a cruel campaign of institutionalized racism. Exiled from their lands, the once-independent population toiled as migrant laborers and miners on European-owned property. The law barred them from working certain skilled jobs and forced Africans to reside in racially segregated areas. Over time, these racist policies escalated, enforcing segregation in urban areas, restricting voting rights, and eventually culminating in apartheid. Under this system, African people had no voting rights, and the education of native Africans was revamped to emphasize their legal and social subservience to white settlers. This state of legally enforced racism persisted into the early 1990s, and throughout this period, colonizers frequently invoked the Empty Land Hypothesis to justify the unequal distribution of land. South African resistance movements fought throughout the 20th century to attain political and economic freedom. Since the 1980s, South African scholars have used archaeological evidence to correct the historical record. Today, South African schools are finally teaching the region’s true history. However, the legacy of the Empty Land Myth still endures as one of the most damaging narratives ever told.
By Regina Joseph8 months ago in History
The Universe has 11 Dimensions According to Quantum Physics
As they delved deeply into their research, they arrived at a profound understanding: their existence unfolded within an intricate universe. This universe comprised at least 11 aspects; otherwise, it would inevitably collapse. Each aspect formed a 90-degree angle above the next, compactified to sit directly atop one another. So, within the space right above them, another aspect existed, hosting an entirely separate universe concurrently with their own. It was a concept so mind-boggling, it defied easy comprehension.
By Regina Joseph8 months ago in Education
Scary Mysteries, Paranormal Stories & Haunted Locations.
This is ‘Excessively Up Close and Personal,’ the video series in which we uncover dreadful, puzzling, and unexplained stories from our supporters’ hometowns. Are you inquisitive about the spooky events that might have occurred in your old hometown? Well, join the ‘Excessively Up Close and Personal Video’ club, and our team of talented scientists will uncover tormenting stories, eerie encounters, UFO sightings, and genuine crime events within a 20-mile radius of your location. Once we gather all the information, we will then narrate the findings in an ‘Excessively Up Close and Personal Video,’ allowing you a chance to explore the darker side of your town. Additionally, the reported events will be added to the ‘Excessively Up Close and Personal’ interactive map, so you and others can access them anytime. So why wait? Join the ‘Excessively Up Close and Personal’ guide section membership and dig into the chilling history of your own backyard.
By Regina Joseph8 months ago in Horror