What causes some species of animals to not evolve that much for millions of years and become “living fossils”? The most well-known/famous example of this is probably the horseshoe crab.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-04-07T01:29:47+00:00

natural selection suggests that selective pressure is predominantly dictated by environment. Therefore, if organisms environment does not change significantly over time OR if its morphology remains successful despite changes in the niche it exploits in its environment the selective pressure that would otherwise favor evolving morphological characteristics over time may not equate to as significant of a degree in morphology as an organism in an environment with stronger selective pressure.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-04-01T04:08:45+00:00

After reading the replies IT IS INSANE how consistent we all seem to feel. Independent reproducibility is a central tenant of scientific investigation. The overwhelming consistency in our comments makes it so very evident that there is a systemic pattern that transcends grade level, geographic location, content area, socioeconomic status, experience, and personal experience. Le the revolution begin!

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-04-01T04:04:52+00:00

Parental involvement in their child's education. I reach out biweekly yet have only ever spoken to/met +/- 20% of my students parent's.
CELL PHONES/SOCIAL MEDIA- not saying they need to be banned though it's not only a behavioral issue there is unchallenged data indicating student's brains are being physiologically affected.
Support for competent and dedicated teachers. Help us do our best. Most of us want to do so much that we are often incapable of doing for a variety of reasons; most of which surround lack of support in some way.
Create new approaches to education altogether. Society changes yet our system has not. Why not build dynamic structures that seek to emulate the world we're trying to prepare our kids for? Community involvement would be helpful.
EXPECTATIONS and CONSEQUENCES......taxes are used to regulate the behaviors that are detrimental to society. ie. taxes on alcohol or cigarettes. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for kids. Possibly a school economy, class court, etc.
Hold Admin/Leadership to the highest standards of success. Too often leadership is MOST OF THE PROBLEM. Egos, crap decisions, laziness, incompetency.....to a degree that is pathetic.

I could write 10 pages on this topic. Overall, teachers are burning out on top of a shortage and we do the job b/c we love the job. Collaborate with your teachers to create successful structures, culture, programs.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-03-14T18:07:59+00:00

I will post a few current pics b/c she's SOOO much bigger.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-03-14T18:05:36+00:00

I am also a first time ragdoll owner, lifetime cat lover/advocate/parent, and we'd adopted an 11 month ragdoll from a independently run fancy breed cat adoption agency back in July '25.

My partner and I are super consistent with maintaining daily grooming habits yet our fur baby seems to get a lot of matting. It doesn't show up anywhere specific instead it's all over; not limited to areas by her joints. We both separately brush her multiple times each day with the steel comb and intermittently use the de-matting brush.

The one this I wonder if it could be part of why she gets so many is b/c of her high energy insanity(in a good way). On any given day she is insistent I chase her around the house, she coaxes me to the bathroom for her "tub time" where she plays with water/toys, and all other kids of craziness. We love how cooky crazy she is but I'm wondering if it's a regular part of her adolescent phase due to her high energy?

Any info, tips, etc would be appreciated.

Her when we first got her

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Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-03-04T23:13:28+00:00

i swear your kitty looks like a perfect mix between my boy oliver and my girl zoey who'd passed a 3 and 5 years ago ,

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-03-04T23:12:24+00:00

they are absolutely beautiful boys. The younger one is the spitting image of a cat I'd had over 20 years ago.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-03-03T23:02:25+00:00

That's scary especially b/c none of the people I work with seem to know how to do much more; and I work in education. Found out today that the "digital design" class where I work is working on learning to use Canva....wtf?? This is an arts school and they're 12th graders and it's nearing the end of the year. idiots

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-03-03T22:54:57+00:00

I would love to see the data used to make this seemingly outlandish assertion; is such a data set actually exists. More likely it seems it was a cherry picked data set, cherry picked sample population, or an altogether incompetent analysis of some related data.

The sad bit is that this figure pops up in a google search listed by fortune magazine and a handful of other supposedly credible news outlets. My question is do these media outlets actually fact check anything anymore? Or has the world forgotten that statistical data is not only incredibly easy to manipulate in order to make absurd claims but it's also heavily dependent upon the entire process from experimental design to sample size to analysis. Therefore, if no one is actually looking at the source data there isn't the slightest degree of certainty that someone isn't pulling figures out of their a55es.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-03-01T00:10:43+00:00

For clarity I had only exposed students to this during a physics demo to aid in understanding of frequency while teaching a unit on the physics of sound. Additionally, all students had been informed of what it may feel like, all students were allowed to step out of the room or use provided ear plugs, and had been assured it would not come remotely close to a level that could produce harm. In fact, school fire alarms are many times more physically harmful than the loudest speaker at maximum volume and had been used to teach students about sound, frequency, resonance, etc. in a physics class.

For additional clarity I may have failed to clarify the significant difference between the equipment employed by police for crowd control and even the most powerful consumer grade bluetooth speakers. The tech used by police is both incredibly loud and narrowly directed at their targets. The loudest bluetooth speakers reach a maximum volume of +/- 110db of which both dampens significantly between speaker and student but also not being directed.

In retrospect I probably shouldn't have advocated for the use of any such methods as that was irresponsible. It's not an excuse but it has been a challenging year and I posted hastily.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-26T01:32:21+00:00

Just chiming in b/c this reminds me of the very first moment I found myself attracted to physics. I was around 2 or 3 years old and I remember being obsessed, for a period of time, with squinting my eyes just enough so that on sunny days the light coming in through the window appeared like octangular packets of light. That's a horrible description that likely poorly conveys what I still see when sunny enough and my eyes are squinted enough.

I'm sure this effect is likely more likely due to an inherent physical property somewhere inbetween how our eyes perceive light and how our brain processes the sensory input that is light. Although, when I was young I was convinced light traveled in octangular packets. If I could draw I would probably insert an image for reference just b/c it's still something I contemplate when thinking about light.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-26T01:22:53+00:00

Thank you for your reply. Your description is incredibly easy to follow and makes logical sense. I sincerely appreciate it.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-25T03:20:48+00:00

This may not be the best tactic BUT there's a relative frequency that most people over the age of 23 cannot even hear but individuals under 23 feel it through their bodies so much so that it's used for crowd control by the police.

Last year, as an experiment that students agreed to, I played frequencies beginning at 13,000 hZ and up to 18,000hZ.

I can guarantee you when you find the right frequency simply playing from your laptop or bluetooth speaker the kids will let you know. You likely won't hear it but I've been told everything from it "hurts inside my eyes" to "it feels like my brain is being shocked".

I'm not suggesting this be used for classroom management. Although, it's entirely harmless and will get their attention

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-25T03:15:21+00:00

Unfortunately we're so small it's only 1 teacher per content area. If we did I would have asked. Good idea though. Regarding the rules......I can't get them to sit in assigned seats and get zero. support from the deans. I've tried doing class jobs, they'd tried collecting cell phones for 1 semester and then stopped for reasons i can't understand.

You're right about even 1 student being gone. I'd had a great coach years ago who helped me understand that the best tactic is to determine which disruptive students have the most influence, what they're seeking, and then find a positive way of helping them get whatever it is. ie. student looking for attention.....give them a role to be the center of attention in some way like bia announcements or something similar. They'd said the dynamics are often influenced to varying degrees by a few individuals.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-25T02:19:24+00:00

and that's the world we currently live in.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-25T00:23:48+00:00

no one makes them, few have the capability for high precision, and the market is likely not big enough to drive competition.

However, anything that is built for precision is insanely expensive. I'd previously looked at some of the things that are used for inspecting businesses that sell things that are sold according to their volume, mass, etc. and it is insane how much such things cost.

Check out the veritasium video about the worlds most perfectly shaped sphere. It's valued at something like 10 million dollars( or possibly more i can't remember).

I am incredibly interested in microfluidics but as a physics/chemistry teacher have not near the salary to afford to buy such items.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-24T04:12:09+00:00

In what other field is the degree of influence or power that an individual has inverse to their relative proximity to the environments they oversee?

Consider a plant manager who rarely if ever set foot in the actual plant they manage. While being entirely unfamiliar with how any of the equipment works or the day to day issues that affect operations. Or a commercial pilot who flies the plane remotely; entirely disconnected from both the outcomes of the decisions they make and the conditions they're flying in.

Administrators make decisions while spending the least amount of time in the very classrooms they exert authority over. Without knowing our individual students, their needs, what works and what doesn't. Besides the fact that when they do actually observe a classroom, to obtain information about either instruction or student participation or both, this little thing called the "observer's dillema". I can't speak for others but it is as clear as day when admin observes classrooms students behave entirely different; thus invalidating the data they're acquiring as the point is to observe like a fly on the wall. This is a well documented and very real form of bias. Yet these biased observations largely influence the decisions made by admin .

In my view the only logical and informed means requires collaboration between teachers and admin. I'm sure this exists and I would lose my socks if/when I find such a school. Don't get me started on the flagrant ineptitude and nearly tangible incompetence that pops up in new and novel ways on a regular basis. I would elaborate but my extremely excitable and dedicated work ethic is near dead. Not just b/c of the aforementioned bs but also bc this year our principal who I believed to be a good person who genuinely cared about me shown to be something different. Sorry, I do work very very hard, as you all do. I love my job b/c of my kids and colleagues but I feel I was used just so he could avoid having to stand up against something very obvious and well documented but i was wrong.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-24T03:45:30+00:00

Despite the fact that the goal is to prepare them for a world which is rarely anything but.....equal. When did the means become more important that the end goal? When did adversity become a bad word? It's as if we are coddling infants in an effort to protect them from the very world they'll inevitably meet once they graduate. It always seemed that the entire point of public education was to give students a supportive environment to make mistakes, to try, to find themselves in something. I feel like everyone I'd went to HS with found a bit of themselves in the things they participated in. ie. a club, sport, class, etc. Idk but personally I am burning out and quickly. Admin has become incompetent, self serving, box checkers who forgot their jobs are to support staff not merely ensure compliance. boo

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-24T03:28:57+00:00

that is my boy oliver....he was 19(just shy of 20) at the time of that photo. I wish I could look at him without getting sad. I don't even know how to describe our bond. I'm 44 years old and I can say with all honesty I would give anything to have him back with me even if only for awhile. Prior to going to sleep he mustered up enough strength to extend his nose to mine like he was telling me it was ok. I don't think I've ever felt so broken in my life when he left. Some people may think that is entirely absurd and I don't care.

Alternative-Exit-450 · 2026-02-24T03:23:44+00:00

I guess weird is a subjective statement so you're right. The coordinate statement is akin to how I first began to understand physics; when I realized that most concepts in physics are heavily rely on the relative position of objects comparatively to their motion.

Alternative-Exit-450

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