The Science Circle Video: "How We Got To Where We Are"

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 

From The Science Circle on March 2016, "Growth of Human Being and Biological Thought by Stephen L. Gasior." While the Science Circle may have closed, it turns out there's records of many of it's discussions in the past decade. 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 Saturday December 30

    ~*~

    

    At 10 AM PST   

    Field Trip: The Human Jungle

    Organizer: Chantal Jager

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/field-trip-5/

 

    The Science Circle (139, 112, 23)

      

    ~*~

 

    At 9 PM PST   

    A Well Deserved Holiday (no event)

    No organizer

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/well-deserved-holiday-2/

 

 

    ~*~

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

  Saturday November 18

    ~*~

    

    At 10 AM PST   

    Human Migration: What Can It Tell Us About Our Past And Future

    By Linday Kelley and Merrill Johnson

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/human-migration/

 

    The Science Circle (72,129,30)

      

    ~*~

 

    At 9 PM PST   

    World Television Day

    Jes Stannard

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/world-television-day/

    

    The Science Circle (72,129,30)

 

 

    ~*~

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

Relay's Team Sunbeamers Reach Ruby Fundraising Level

 

 

 It was a question that was asked more than once by the more optimistic Sunbeamers for a few months, "Can we reach not only Emerald, but Ruby this year?" And when the team reached the million Linden mark earlier than any other year, on May 26, it looked within grasp. And on Friday June 2, Rita announced to the group that it was, but would need a push.

Both Brian and I are willing to chip in some heavy money to push us towards RUBY, but it will now be enough from just the two of us. We will need help.

 

"Ask and you shall receive" so goes the saying. And a donor who helped out at the Relaystock event, Charlee Shuftan (Charlee Amethyst), stepped in again. And Rita soon made another announcement.

 

 

SUNBEAMERS ARE NOW RUBY!

Hi Beamers:  Thanks to the efforts and donations for Charlee Shuftan and myself., plus some nice remotes. WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY RUBY, at $5042US.  Love to you all.

But, there was one small commitment our fearless leader had to own up to.

A Bet is a Bet

Beamers, I promised to go PINK for a month if we made RUBY! *gag me with a spoon* I AM PINK!  "MY EYES!"  Both Charlee and Bixyl bet to go HUMAN, those are naturally PINK. WE have three suffering for you now. Love you all anyways.

And so Rita owned up to her word, down to getting a pink Luskwood skunk avatar as well. But as she stated, she wasn't the only one with a different look for a while. Charlee and I had a talk, and decided to go human, or rather, neko and kitsune, for a month. There was a joke somewhere that the reason some guys don female avatars was so they wouldn't have to stare at a male butt all day, and that with a tail in the way I wouldn't have that problem. 

The team has continued to collect donations. As of the writing of this article, the 'beamer's total raised for this year is 1,260,000 L, and in the top ten fundraising teams, eleven of which have raised a million Linden dollars or more. 

It should be noted that the Sunbeamers were founded ten years ago in 2013. Compared to the amounts our predecessor team, the Passionate Redheads, brought in, our initial year brought in a small total. "We are a small team," it was explained. But over the years, the totals have gotten larger and larger. Over the years, some teams that once made the top ten have gone back a bit to smaller but still impressive levels. And some like the Redheads and the Relay Wizards have closed down altogether. But the "Sunnies," like some others such as the Relay Rockers and Team ACTS, continue to be top performers year after year.

The small team became "the little team that could," and now, "the little team that does, again and again."

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

Wedding Bells

 

 

 On Thursday February 16, Chuul.King (ChuulKing Resident) and Sophitia.Queen (SophitiaEqui Resident) exchanged vows at a virtual wedding. While the Newser has covered weddings before, it's uncommon that the groom is a human and the bride is a furry.

 

Before the event, the groomsmen and bridesmaids were in separate rooms, but still able to talk to one another through extended chat. At one point, one of the girls showed the others a picture of the five of them she had taken, then "Oops, Chuul don't open that! (I) forgot the guys would see it too," her thinking of the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride on the day of the wedding before the ceremony. There were jokes about having Sophita casting kobol magic to make him forget the image. But Chuul responded, "No magic could make me forget you, Love."

The ceremony was conducted by Lance Horsley, "We are here today as the result of the love that Sophi and Chuul have found with each other and this ceremony is the joining together of their two hearts and souls in marriage. ,,, Is there anyone present here that knows of any reason why  Sophi and Chuul may not be joined together in marriage? No? Excellent. Then we will proceed ..."

Lance Horsley: Sophi do you take Chuul to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?
 

SophitiaEqui Resident: I do.
 

Lance Horsley: And Chuul do you take Sophi to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?
 

Chuul.King (ChuulKing Resident): I do.

The pair then exchanged rings.

Lance Horsley: Before these witnesses, you have pledged your love and to be joined in marriage. You have now sealed this pledge with your wedding rings. By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. ... Congratulations to you both. Chuul you may now kiss your bride! Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to present to you Mr King and Mrs Queen."

Following the ceremony was the reception, with dancing and dinner. And of course the throwing of the boquet, which was caught by Luna Sakurano (LunaSakurano Resident).

Chuul and Sophita can occasionally be found at Club Cutlass and the Happy Vixen. While Sophita has several avatars, she's best known for her kobold.

Bixyl Shuftan

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

Saturday, February 11

 

    ~*~

    

    At 10 AM PST   

    Virtual Institutions from the Perspectives of a Geographer and Biologist

    By Stephen L. Gasior, PHD and Merrill Johnson PHD

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/a-geographer-and-biologist/

 

   The Science Circle (72,129,30)

      

    ~*~

 

    At 9 PM PST   

    Re-purposing Human Talent

    By Jes Stannard

   https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/re-purposing-human-talent/

 

   The Science Circle (72,129,30)

 

    ~*~

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

Reader Submitted Picture: "And They Call Furries Weird?"

 

 

Taken by Cynthia Farshore. At the filming of the First Lap of the Relay, one guy in a human avatar was, oddly dressed, "And they call furries weird? Suuuuuuuure."

 

Announcement: "THE HUMAN ODYSSEY" At Theatre On The Hill

 

Iasfy Zepp, author and producer,
the management team of The Theatre On The Hill,
the performers and technical team are very pleased
to invite you to the show :

"THE HUMAN ODYSSEY"

To be held on Friday 13 of may 2022 at 12:30 SLT

Landmark coordinates : TheaterOn The Hill (60, 19, 1501)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/TheaterOn%20The%20Hill/193/72/21
 

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Club Cutlass. So what would it be like for a human to date a furry, in this case a wah/red panda? Well, it's best not to assume certain things.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Burn2

By Bixyl Shuftan

Being Human, Part Deuce

In Second Life, one can take on more or less whatever appearance they want to. But the most common avatars are human ones. So what happens when someone who usually appears nonhuman goes about in a human avatar for a while? Bixyl Shuftan gave it a try as a result of a Relay for Life fundraiser a few years ago. When he got requests to try another "Bid Me Human," he did so and was without his usually foxy look for a while. So how did people react?

Read Bixyl's story in People.

RFL Team Sunbeamers "Bid Me" Results

Last month, Team Sunbeamers, the Relay for Life team for the Sunweaver community, started it's first two events: "Bid Me Human" and "Bid Me Goat," with yours truly Bixyl Shuftan and fellow vulpine Liska Fuchs as the volunteers. On Friday March 15 at 8PM, team captain Rita Mariner calculated the totals at Club Cutlass.

Results:
LISKA: Fox      2500L
             Deer  13,600L

 Liska goes Venison, I mean Deer for 5 Weeks,

 BIXYL: Fox:          2550L
              Human:  27,000L

 Bixyl goes Human for 5 weeks.                        

So it looks like Liska will be dealing with a few "buck stops here" jokes and yours truly will be furless, at least for a few weeks. Being a journalist however, I can switch back to my usual self when doing an interview, or something else related to the paper. But other times, I'm without the pointed ears and tail.

And yes, it's not the same human avatar after the first couple "Bid Me Human" events. I figured two rounds of "Blazing Saddles" jokes was enough, so went with an Asian avie instead.


In the meantime, the fundraising by Team Sunbeamers continues. There will soon be another round of "Bid Me" volunteers.  The team itself has climbed to almost 64,000 Lindens, passing the halfway mark to Gold. After that is Platinum, in which I appear as something special for a week. The first couple times, it was a look I hadn't gone about before. What will it be this time? You'll see.

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

RFL Team Sunbearmer's "Bid Me Human" and "Bid Me Deer"

With the Relay for Life's season underway, Team Sunbeamers has launched the first of this season's "Bid Me" events. First, the team is running a "Bid Me Human." The volunteer putting his looks on the line: yours truly.

Beamers:  We have our first victim, I mean volunteer, Bixyl.  Hoe offered to go Human for a week, per 5000L+ raised.  The Bid Me will Run thru the middle of MARCH.  So Bid Early and Often.  Kiosks can be found at Club Cutlass..

Based on the "Bid Me Bald" events popularized by Trader Whiplash, in this fundraiser someone known for being in a nonhuman avatar offers to go about in one for a set period of time. For this event, there are two kiosks in the back of Club Cutlass, the one on the left to bid yours truly sans fur, and the other to keep him as is. If 5000 Linden dollars is donated, yours truly will be not so foxy for a week. For every additional 5000L, rounded up, the time period is extended another week. For example, 9999 Linden dollars would mean one week while 10,000L would mean two. If the amount in the "stay foxy" kiosk is higher, then I walk away with my fur intact.

As before, there is one "out." As I'm a journalist in Second Life, I get to go back to my usual looks briefly when going about my duties, such as interviews.

Liska Fuchs' "Bid Me Goat" last year was such a hit, she's doing another one. This time, she's offering to be in a doe avatar for a while with "Bid Me Deer." As with "Bid Me Human," there's two kiosks, one to keep her as is, the other to change her to a deer avatar for a period of time. The rate is 2500 Linden dollars for the first week and 2500L for each additional week of vegan menus and "nice rack" jokes.

As of the writing of this announcement, Team Sunbeamers has gone over the 15,000 Linden mark and into Bronze level. The Linden dollar amounts to reach each rank are a little higher than those of last year in the Jade rank and higher. Plus there are two new ranks, Topaz and Diamond. As before, the highest rank is Purple which takes 3,750,000L, almost four million Linden dollars.

Last year, the team pulled out all the stops and made it to Emerald rank for the first time. How high will the 'beamers reach this year? We'll see. For now, I'm already getting questions as to what I'll do should the team reach Platinum rank.

People have until 8PM on Friday March 15 to donate to the kiosks. At the end of the party that night, the totals are finalized and the time period for the Bid Me (assuming the "Stay Foxy" kiosks doesn't win out) begins.

The kiosks are near the Club Cutlass entry point at Sunweaver Bay (114/117/757).

Correction: When told Liska was doing another Bid-Me, I had the impression she was doing another with her goat avatar. It turned out it's not another "Bid Me Goat", but a "Bid Me Deer."

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Geekspeak, "Will Dataism kill Humanism?"

Will Dataism kill Humanism?

We humans are, in this day and age, human-centric. But there is a time coming when Big Data will be the center of all our actions and decisions. Algorithms will make all our decisions for us. They will decide whom we will marry, whom we will vote for. Algorithms will know so much more about us than we know about ourselves.

When will we realize that we are not completely human anymore? When will ‘human’ mean something different? When will we be ruled by the algorithm? Will Dataism become a new religion? When will you be happy to give your life over to Google?

Come and discuss the transition from biological algorithms to electronic ones. Bring your brain processing unit.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

Announcement: This Week in The Science Circle - “The Common and Misplaced Racism of... "

“The Common and Misplaced Racism of David Duke, Hitler, and Darwin: The Value of Diversity in Human Interactions”

by Dr. Stephen L. Gasior

"Racism is the worst idea ever in its impact on the evolution of the human species and its longterm survival. Yet, it is a persistent and strong perspective that has early roots in our evolution that has continued through the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution, and modern day. This talk covers the biological basics of human genetic diversity as it pertains to race and some historical perspectives of notable individuals and how that has impacted culture. A more in-depth presentation on population genetics and interesting genetic traits will finish the discussion with a thought on how a rational anti-racism is beneficial in the continued evolution of Homo sapience."

January 13th 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST

For more information, click here: https://www.sciencecircle.org/events/2018-01-13/

The Science Circle (61/126/32) 

Back to Normal: A Look Back At The "Bid Me Human" and "Platinum Challenge"

Do you ever feel like you're not quite yourself? For over two weeks, the Editor was in two avatars quite different from his normal look. First as part of a Relay for Life "Bid Me," he went about a ethnic human appearance. Then when his Relay team reached Platinum level fundraising, he had to make good on an "avatar challenge," going female for a week. So how did his time of going furless, then of the fairer sex turn out?

Read Bixyl's story in People.

RFL Team Sunbeamer "Bid Me Pink" and "Bid Me Human" Results

The two "Bid Me" events being run by the Relay for Life's Team Sunbeamers have now been finalized and the totals made official. 7,050 Lindens were raised in both events combined. Rita announced the results in the Sunbeamer group.

Beamers:  The BID MES are over and here are the totals.

RITA: 3000L on PINK, so I go PINK for a WEEK

BIWYL - 4050L on HUMAN, so Bixyl goes HUMAN for 2 WEEKS.

I'd volunteered for one several years ago, so here I go again. Unlike last time, it's for a couple weeks instead of a month. There are a few exceptions for the time period, such as interviews. But for most of the time period stuck as a 6' 7" "baldie." So far, the reactions have mostly been surprise, although one girl thought it reminded her of the "John Henry" American West fable.

Right now, the Sunbeamers have started work on their build for their camp on the Relay Weekend track, which takes place about a month from now on July 15 and 16. There's also some planning behind the scenes for one big event involving at least one other Relay team. It's all on the table, so we'll announce it when things are official.

As for me and what the next two weeks will bring, we'll see. I don't know for sure. After all, I'm only human.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Furry Fashion

By Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Judging on Apperances

In real life this week, the United States says goodbye to President Obama, the country's first from an ethnic minority. While he accomplished a few things, such as the "Affordable Health Care Act," his term was also noted for initial hopes of a nation finally free of racism dashed as his political opponents were charged with bias and in turn his most vocal supporters were accused of it as well. In Second Life, as we can all look like whatever we want to, one might think an avatar's appearance wouldn't be a big deal. As it turns out, there are a few places that are likely to hassle you for being the wrong kind. But how widespread is the problem?

Read more in People.

Three "Bid Me" Events By Team Sunbeamers

Following the "Fox Avatar Challenge" and "Bid Dusk Something," Team Sunbeamers is currently having not one, but three "Bid Me" events to raise funds for the Relay for Life. The three are "Bid Me Human" for DJ Rose, "Bid Me Bald" for the Newser's own Becky Shamen, and the Sunbeamer leader is putting herself on the line with "Bid Me Pink." All three events have their kiosks at Club Cutlass, which will be totaled after the club's Wednesday night party on June 1st.

Rose Evans, a resident of Purrfection, is best known for her tunes as DJ Rose at the Happy Vixen. Talking to her, she told me no one talked her into this, but volunteered on her own, wanting to do something to help. Normally a white tigress, she offered to put her fur on the line, and be stuck as a brown-haired human for a while. As of the writing of this article, residents have contributed 700 Lindens to keep her fur intact, but 5050 to make her tailless for a while.

Becky "Sha" Shamen, the Newser reporter making her home in the Sunweaver Estates, has opted for the traditional "Bid Me Bald" challenge. While many furred avatars have their prim hair fixed to their scalp so it can't be removed, this isn't the case with her mesh bunny. So she's put her hair on the line.

Sunnies/Beamers!  Becky Shamen, aka Sha has offered herself up to get shaved, to raise donations for the Sunbeamers and the RFL   You can find the kiosks in the Club Cutlass lounge area, so bid high and often.  Sha has been very supportive of the Team and the RFL, let's support her.

As word's gotten around, other Relayers have been getting into the act. Trader Whiplash, the man considered to have started the original "Bid Me Bald" contributed a barber chair and a pair of scissors to the event. So on the night of June 1st, poor Becky could very well be facing a "hare cut." Who will be behind the pair of scissors is yet to be determined.

As of the writing of this article, 100 Lindens have been donated to keep Becky as is, with 5,550 donated for the "harecut," making for a total of 5650 and so far the most successful of the three events.

And last but hardly least is Rita Mariner, the chieftess of the Sunweaver community and the leader of it's Relay team the Sunbeamers, whom volunteered for a "Bid Me Pink."

Sunnies:  I have put myself up for a BID ME,  You can choose to keep me my cute, sweet, white bunny, or turn me into an EBIL, PINK BUNNY!  I dislike pink on me!  So here is your chance at REVENGE!  Kiosks are in the Club Cutlass Lounge, along with the other 2 Bid Mes.

Remember I change and stay for a week for each 5K L raised. So far you only got me for a week.

 Over the years, Rita has been in a number of "Bid Me" events for both the Passionate Redheads and Sunbeamer Teams. In 2011, she did a "Bid Me Human" that netted 75,000 Lindens. In 2014 was the "Man Up Rita" event that brought over 72,000 Lindens that resulted in her looking like Pepe Le Pew for a while (an avatar some commented she was overqualified for).

Will Rita be facing a "Bubblegum Crisis" on the night of June 1? So far, 1100 Lindens have been donated to keep her a white bunny, with 2000 to make her "pretty in pink." While so far the smallest total, there's little doubt the amount will increase as the Sunnies, and their friends, get to have a little fun with the "killer rabbit." Whether or not at the close of the June 1 party at Cutlass the DJ plays "White Rabbit" or a song from the band "Pink" is anyone's guess.

As for as the writer knows, all three events are 5,000 Lindens for the first week, and an additional week for the next 5,000 raised.

Club Cutlass is at Sunweaver Bay (115, 107, 157) with the kiosks in the lobby behind the dance floor and DJ booth.

Bixyl Shuftan