"...I'm here to present to you - not lectures that are part of some curriculum; but in fact, I've combed the universe for my favorite subjects, and I'm going to spend twelve lectures bringing those favorite subjects to you." Renowned astrophysicist and television host Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the various aspects of our universe in twelve separate half-hour long lectures (MLYT). [more inside]
posted by Evernix at 10:26 PM PST - 41 comments

Was Dominique Strauss Kahn set up? This recent NYRB article suggests that there was some serious skullduggery going on, although that doesn't mean that DSK isn't guilty of something.
posted by cell divide at 8:52 PM PST - 141 comments

Azealia Banks (a 20-year-old lyricist from Harlem, NYC) 212 Ft. Lazy Jay (NSFW, explicit lyrics ... implicit too) [more inside]
posted by phoque at 8:29 PM PST - 15 comments

Serum hemoglobin is related to endurance running performance. Smoking is known to enhance serum hemoglobin levels ... alcohol may further enhance this beneficial adaptation.

A recent paper by Kenneth Myers in the Canadian Medical Association Journal reviews the potential benefits of smoking for endurance atheletes. [more inside]
posted by nangar at 5:17 PM PST - 36 comments

Alan Moore discusses current use of the V for Vendetta mask as a symbol of protest. After Frank Miller attacks the Occupy movement (previously), another giant of the comic book world gives his own, rather more nuanced, view of the protests.
posted by howfar at 4:17 PM PST - 121 comments

Shattered Families, a new report from the Applied Research Center, has found that there are at least 5,100 children currently living in foster care who are prevented from uniting with their detained or deported parents. Executive Summary(PDF) and Full Report(PDF) [more inside]
posted by Blasdelb at 2:06 PM PST - 21 comments

Japanese Horror Film Ghoul Makes a Friend, [SLYT] all thanks to Winnipeg's Hot Thespian Action. [Earworm-trigger warning: Hall & Oates]
posted by wreckingball at 1:43 PM PST - 11 comments

Planking with Nick Offerman. (MLYT) [more inside]
posted by yellowbinder at 1:18 PM PST - 25 comments

TIME magazine really dumbs it down for American subscribers.
posted by Renoroc at 11:46 AM PST - 94 comments

Back in 2006, a red sketch book started a journey around the world, traveling not through the mail, but from artist to artist. The idea came from Dice Tsutsumi and Gérald Guerlais, two animators at Blue Sky Studios. They compiled a list of 71 artists, personal friends and influential people they would like to have involved in their traveling sketch book. Dice and Gérald thought they could get it done in a year, but the book is now full, five years later. Another component of the project was to auction off the completed book and 9 reproductions, which was done in October, 2011, collecting more than 76,000 euros (100,000 US$) for the Room to Read international library-building organization. You can browse through the past travels on the Sketchtravel blog, view the participants by name or location on Sketchtravel.tv, along with video interviews and clips with 15 of the 71 artists. There are even more videos in Curio's Vimeo collection, and two informative interviews with Gérald Guerlais on NoWatch.net. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 11:02 AM PST - 1 comments

The BBC broadcasted the science and technology showcase show Tomorrow's World (titles on piano) on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. Unlike the boosterism of US science programs, Tomorrow's World was more famous for it's live stunts and wry outlook ( James Burke experiences the "convenient" office of the future and the future of home gardening and crushing ennui). The BBC has an archive of episodes and clips for UK visitors, everyone else will have to be content with clips concerning Home Computers, New Banking, Nellie The School Computer, The Elliot Light Pen, Mobile Phones, and Moog Synthesizers.
posted by The Whelk at 10:18 AM PST - 17 comments

Curiosity launched today and is on its way to Mars!
posted by Tom-B at 10:09 AM PST - 61 comments

In summer 2011 The Flaming Lips released collaborative vinyl EPs with Lightning Bolt, Neon Indian and Prefuse 73. The 'starter blob' of vinyl for each disc was assembled by hand using random amounts of different vinyl colors, ensuring that every record would be unique. Here are a couple of Flickr photosets of the finished products (and a bit of the process) as they came off the presses. [more inside]
posted by mintcake! at 9:01 AM PST - 15 comments

Steal this record. A 1-CD (with DVD, vinyl EP, book, poster and other collectables) edition of live recordings from Elvis Costello's most recent tour is being released as a limited edition - for around $260, with free Super Saver shipping. Expensive special editions aren't new, but this one seems to have caught even Costello by surprise; his official website is advising fans not to buy it, and to get a box set of Louis Armstrong records instead. [more inside]
posted by running order squabble fest at 8:12 AM PST - 43 comments

The Internet is Made of Cats! Lolcats and kittens chasing string and singing kitties. Sometimes, kitties singing some silly original songs; other times, they cover songs by other people. (Warning: all the work of the idiosyncratic Joel Veitch, he of We Like The Moon and A Frightened Boy and Tales of the Blode infamy.)
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:42 AM PST - 10 comments

Gaga singing into my vagina: [SLYT] "Ok, it was my sister's and my dad's birthday the day I met Gaga. So I asked her if she could wish them a happy birthday into my crotch, because we couldn't bring phones up and I snuck it into my pants. This is what she said, well sang. _{Not my vagina. The poster of this video.}
posted by Fizz at 7:33 AM PST - 62 comments

Tom Wicker, Times Journalist, Dies at 85 (obvious NYT link), best known and most often noted for covering the assassination of President Kennedy, but also a columnist for 25 years and 6 Presidents as contrasted with today's NYT columnists by the always-critical NYTimes eXaminer.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:02 AM PST - 7 comments

How Money Corrupts Congress (previously) - John Baez sez: "It's easy to get distracted in a thicket of issues. Thoreau said 'There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.' But what's the root? Watch this video for Lawrence Lessig's answer."
posted by kliuless at 6:09 AM PST - 32 comments

The Master Game was a BBC production of televised chess tournaments that ran for seven series on BBC2 from 1976 to 1982. [more inside]
posted by night_train at 4:47 AM PST - 7 comments

Brian Greene's Fabric of the Cosmos is online in its entirety on NOVA's website, in four one-hour episodes. Time, Space, Quantum Mechanics, Multiverses.
posted by empath at 1:43 AM PST - 32 comments