Clapton Moura 🌿

Exploring the world of plant systematics, biogeography, science education, and nature photography. Doctor of Botany (University of Brasília).

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“The ultimate aim of government is not to rule, or restrain by fear, nor to exact obedience, but contrariwise, to free every man from fear... In fact, the true aim of government is liberty.”

— Baruch Spinoza

[Saganism @Saganismm]

"If religion is about saying how the natural world is, then to be successful it must adopt the methods, procedures, techniques of science and then become indistinguishable from science. By no means does it follow that that's all that religion is about. And I tried to indicate at the end of my last lecture some of the many areas in which religion could provide a useful role in contemporary society and where religions, by and large, are not. But that's very different from saying how the world is or came to be.

And there the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions have simply adopted the best science of the time. But it was a long time ago, the time of sixth-century B.C., during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. That's where the science of the Old Testament comes from. And it seems to me important that the religions accommodate to what has been learned in the twenty-six centuries since. Some have, of course, to varying degrees; many have not."

— Carl Sagan

[Ubirajara Oliveira @ubiogeografia]

In a new paper, we reconstructed tropical vegetation over the last 3.3 million years, mapping changes over time and identifying stable areas. We also modeled how climate change may alter vegetation in the future. https://t.co/PCgmAcGCYI

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“We are liquidating the Earth’s natural capital. We are tearing down the biological library before we have even read the books. No amount of economic growth can compensate for the loss of a self-sustaining biosphere.”

— E.O. Wilson

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”

— Sir David Attenborough

[Clapton Moura 🌿 @ClaptonMoura]

@pravda_br Achei mais real do que a interpretação original

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.”

— Carl Sagan

[Dr. Jonathan N. Stea @jonathanstea]

Today is World Homeopathy Day.

In its honor, let’s remember that time The Amazing James Randi overdosed on homeopathy and lived to tell about it.

[Saganism @Saganismm]

Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the 'Momentary' masters of a 'Fraction' of a 'Dot'

— Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatic ethnic or religious or national identifications are a little difficult to support when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light”

— Carl Sagan

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“What's wrong with admitting that we don't know something? Is our self-esteem so fragile?”

— Carl Sagan

[Mathonymics @Mathonymics]

“I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.”
― Johannes Kepler

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“If we’re going to survive as a civilization, we have to choose reason over superstition and evidence over ideology.”

— Brian Cox

[Dr Juliet Turner @juliet_turner6]

I really hate to ruin a feel-good story like this but this is an example of how good intentions can be misguided.

It’s not what I would call a “pollinator sanctuary” if it is consists of 30 hives of a non-native farm animal— the honeybee.

Honeybees are wonderful, but they were introduced to the United States by humans who were farming them.

Keeping honeybee hives does not protect the wild pollinators that are actually declining. It’s a bit like saying you’re conserving wolves by getting a pet dog, or conserving bison by buying a herd of dairy cows.

Domestic Honeybees are new in this environment and managed artificially. They can even cause harm to wild bees by outcompeting them or spreading disease.

Honeybees are not endangered. They are one of the most abundant animals on earth. Meanwhile, there are countless other pollinating insects such as flies, wasps, moths, and beetles, as well as ~4,000 of bee that are native to the US, and many of these are declining.

The best way to help wild pollinators is by protecting their habitats, ensuring an availability of native flowering plants, and reducing or eliminating pesticide use. 🐝

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“Isn't it sad that you can tell people that the ozone layer is being depleted, the forests are being cut down, the deserts are advancing steadily, that the greenhouse effect will raise the sea level 200 feet, that overpopulation is choking us, that pollution is killing us, that nuclear war may destroy us - and they yawn and settle back for a comfortable nap. But tell them that the Martians are landing, and they scream and run.”

— Isaac Asimov

[Prof. Feynman @ProfFeynman]

Be a free thinker and don't accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in.

-- Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)

[Hesse Philosophy @HermannHessed]

“He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch.”

— Jean-Luc Godard

[Natural Philosophy @Naturalphilosy]

“I am not at all sure of myself. But when I walk alone in the woods or lie in the meadows, all is well.”

— Franz Kafka

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“We have the money, the power, the medical understanding, the scientific know-how, the love and the community to produce a kind of human paradise. But we are led by the least among us – the least intelligent, the least noble, the least visionary.”

— Terence McKenna