MetaFilter

In the dubious tradition of "What X Are You?" quizzes, National Geographic asks Which Of These Tiny Countries Fits You Best? (a potentially useful tool if youknowwho wins the election, right?)
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:03 PM PST - 45 comments

An animated explanation for how newer vending machine detect fake coins and keep your treat from getting stuck.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:24 PM PST - 35 comments

Tomorrow - or possibly today - is World Pinhole Photography Day! All around the world, people will be making cameras , which can be simple or complex; you can hack your DSLR or just use an Altoids tin. There are workshops & events happening all over the place, - if your town isn't listed there, Google, because there are a lot of things going on. Previously on Metafilter with some quite awesome and helpful links!
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:20 PM PST - 12 comments

It's Not The Dark That Kills You A very moving and well-written article (with videos) about a terrible problem in isolated Arctic communities. This long article is about Nuuk and Tassilak, on opposite coasts of Greenland, but it could easily have been about Attawapiskat in Canada's North. [more inside]
posted by seawallrunner at 7:03 PM PST - 16 comments

Deirdre McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication University of Illinois at Chicago, published The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce in 2007. [more inside]
posted by bukvich at 4:43 PM PST - 37 comments

"These charts will come in handy when trying to explain the book nerd existence to your bibliophobic friends."
posted by marienbad at 3:46 PM PST - 35 comments

William Shakespeare, playwright and poet, is dead at 52 of causes unknown. Shakespeare often meditated upon death in his works, once stating "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more." In one of his last recorded texts, he urged sympathy for immigrants. [more inside]
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:14 PM PST - 96 comments

...Pearl Mackie as Bill. Dr Who's new companion is revealed. [more inside]
posted by biffa at 2:17 PM PST - 76 comments

Flying around the world on solar power has proven challenging. 2007: "Meanwhile in Switzerland, development continues on the Solar Impulse, which has a goal of flying around the world, manned(!), by 2010." 2010: "The Solar Impulse took flight today... with the goal of flying around the world in 2012." 2015: "The Solar Impulse... is currently in the midst of the longest leg in its pioneering round-the-world journey — China to Hawaii." Today: Watch a live stream of the Hawaii to California flight. Things are going okay so far.
posted by clawsoon at 8:55 AM PST - 30 comments

Blake Ross: "I have never visualized anything in my entire life. I can’t 'see' my father’s face or a bouncing blue ball, my childhood bedroom or the run I went on ten minutes ago. I thought 'counting sheep' was a metaphor. I’m 30 years old and I never knew a human could do any of this. And it is blowing my goddamned mind."
posted by How the runs scored at 4:54 AM PST - 236 comments