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The average human eye has three types of cone cells, each of which is sensitive to a different wavelength range of visible light. The difference in the relative signal from the three cones allows us to distinguish colors. Unfortunately, since these sensitivity ranges overlap, there are some combinations of signals from the cones that can't be created by light emitted from a real object. These are the so-called "imaginary colors". However, by selectively overstimulating one or more types of cone, we can still perceive these colors; this is the principle behind the Eclipse of Titan, an optical illusion which produces both a green and a cyan that don't otherwise appear in nature. (Similar effects can be seen in the Eclipses of Mars, Neptune, and Triton.) [more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good at 9:01 PM PST - 64 comments

Father and Son Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam
posted by HuronBob at 8:34 PM PST - 85 comments

In the wake of the release of Lucid Lynx, the latest version of Ubuntu ("Perfect", "Mactastic"), Canonical have unveiled Unity and Ubuntu Light, a new desktop environment and implementgation of Ubuntu aimed at the netbook and tablet market as well as offering an "instant web" experience that can either be stand-alone or on a dual booting device. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth discusses the design process behind Unity. Ars Technica Hands on. (last two links via)
posted by Artw at 5:35 PM PST - 267 comments

THEORY, LITERATURE, HOAX (in the style of Borges)
posted by puny human at 5:22 PM PST - 35 comments

16 years after the end of apartheid in South Africa and one month before the first ever World Cup to be held in Africa begins, Raymond Whitaker writes about his memories of football (not rugby) in South Africa in the 60s and 70s. [more inside]
posted by WalterMitty at 3:42 PM PST - 3 comments

Autonomous Car Learns To Powerslide Into Parking Spot. via IEEE Spectrum.
posted by GuyZero at 2:50 PM PST - 53 comments

'GET OUT OF THERE!': The Video. [more inside]
posted by ericb at 2:30 PM PST - 34 comments

Kenny Strasser : YoYo Master
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 1:44 PM PST - 36 comments

Modesty Blaise was one of the greatest newspaper comics ever. Modesty was a take-no-prisoners adventuress. Easily one of the best drawn and scripted newspaper continuities.
posted by TDavis at 1:22 PM PST - 20 comments

Whatever Happened to N.W.A's Posse? L.A. Weekly tracks down the people featured on the cover of "N.W.A and the Posse."
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:13 PM PST - 43 comments

Frank Frazetta, was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1928. He rose to fame first for his work with comic books in the 1940s and 50s, then for his iconic fantasy art from the 1960s on. Frazetta was the inspiration behind Zelda artist Yusuke Nakano, and Frazetta's artwork for the "Famous Funnies" were an inspiration for Star Wars. Frank Frazetta died today, at the age of 82. More history, eulogies and links inside. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 1:05 PM PST - 85 comments

Bono and Bob Geldof worked in The Globe and Mail newsroom on Saturday to guest-edit a special edition of the paper on the future of Africa for today... Monday, May 10, in advance of the G8/G20 summit in Huntsville, Ontario, from June 25-27, 2010.
posted by netbros at 11:53 AM PST - 38 comments

During WWII Allied soldiers were taught how to smash jawbones while gouging eyes, crush windpipes and snap necks, and generally apply deadly force to the weakest, most vulnerable parts of the human anatomy in order to kill or disable the enemy quickly and efficiently. Current American military unarmed combat is heavily influenced by the popularity of mixed martial-arts and puts great emphasis on grappling with/controlling the enemy. Not a single neck-snapping technique is taught. Some current members of the military think that this is teaching our soldiers to die rather than kill the enemy, and that it would be better if our soldiers were taught to straight up kill the enemy rather than try to wrestle him to the ground while wearing 70+ pounds of gear. [more inside]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 10:55 AM PST - 125 comments

Thousands of people flee Somalia every year in rusty fishing boats. Here's a photo essay of one of those journeys. By the always-excellent Ed Ou.
posted by awenner at 10:17 AM PST - 17 comments

"A growing body of evidence suggests that humans have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life... Some sense of good and evil seems to be bred in the bone... [But] the sense of right and wrong that [babies] naturally possess diverges in important ways from what we adults would want it to be."
posted by AceRock at 9:58 AM PST - 91 comments

"We’re living in a disposable world. It’s just not worth it to repair things; it’s not worth it to build things from scratch. The magic of that seems to have passed.” The death of Radio Shack. [more inside]
posted by woodjockey at 9:50 AM PST - 123 comments

Last Wednesday, Hibernian and Motherwell played their penultimate game in the Scottish Premier League. It ended in a 6-6 draw, equalling the record for the highest score draw in the history of professional football. (YT highlights for those who can't get iPlayer.) [more inside]
posted by Dim Siawns at 8:58 AM PST - 27 comments

Joe Pop-O-Pie led his San Francisco punk band Pop-O-Pies through countless performances of the band's "hit", an idiosyncratic cover of the Grateful Dead's Truckin'. As the 1980's closed, Joe fell off the map while his other projects went mainstream, but last month the Pop-O-Pies reunited for one more Truckin' performance.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot at 8:44 AM PST - 15 comments

I'm just not sure that "happiness" is supposed to be the stable human condition, and I think it's punishing that we're constantly being pushed to achieve it. Screw Happiness, an essay on the folly of using happiness as a measure to define women's lives.
posted by desjardins at 8:18 AM PST - 84 comments

Science fiction and quantum mechanics on Rudy Rucker's blog.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:09 AM PST - 29 comments

"There was a hobbit, who didn't even know how to return home. He lived in a hole in the ground, and didn't know where he came from or where he was going to. He even didn't know why he had become a hobbit. This was Hogwartz School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 5th year apprentice Harry Potter. " 11 fake Harry Potter books from China.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:52 AM PST - 37 comments

The tree of Ténéré was the most isolated tree in the world. Standing there in the Sahara Desert, it had once been part of a lush and populated forest, but as fortunes changed and other trees disappeared, it stood alone in a barren desert, 120 miles from any other tree, an isolated landmark for caravan routes for hundreds for years (1, 2, 3, 4).
 
Until... [more inside]
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:26 AM PST - 38 comments

Lena Horne dies at 92.
posted by iviken at 4:15 AM PST - 68 comments

MeetingWords is an online collaborative text editor. [more inside]
posted by mhjb at 12:14 AM PST - 17 comments

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. In a few hours, I will destroy the Greek economy. Unless, that is, you give me the sum of...one trillion dollars! (SLNYT, but with this much money I can afford to look frumpy)
posted by anigbrowl at 12:11 AM PST - 61 comments