MetaFilter

Bad allergies? Take 10 Hookworm Larvae and Call Me in the Morning.
posted by spock at 11:19 PM PST - 30 comments

Saying His Peace: Rare Recording of Speech by Gandhi Landed in Safe, if Unknowing, Hands. [Via Linkfilter]
posted by homunculus at 10:40 PM PST - 6 comments

Character actor Don S. Davis, known for his portrayal of Dana Scully's father Captain Scully on The X Files, Major Garland Briggs on Twin Peaks, and Colonel George Hammond on Stargate, passed away Sunday at the age of 65. Even if you don't remember him from those roles, if you take a look at his IMDB page, you will probably recognize him from something. He had a gift for taking stereotypical military roles and bringing a warmth and gentleness to them. One of his final roles was in the Stargate movie Continuum, which will premiere on DVD this month.
posted by rednikki at 9:38 PM PST - 68 comments

For over a thousand years, fishermen all over the world have been using cormorants to help them fish in lakes and rivers. In Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, cormorant fishing on the Nagara river has continued uninterrupted for the past 1,300 years. In Guilin and Yangshuo, China, cormorant birds are famous for fishing on the shallow Lijiang River. The islands of the Beaver Island archipelago in Northern Lake Michigan host what may be the densest concentration of the big, black diving birds on the continent, an estimated 50,000 that eat about 9 million pounds of fish from the surrounding waters from spring through fall. Fishermen and tourism interests want the state and federal governments to cut the number of double-crested cormorants around the Beaver Island group by half, raising the ire of bird lovers and animal-rights activists who say the cormorants aren't at the root of the problem.
posted by mrducts at 9:11 PM PST - 13 comments

Apparently, no clothing is more exciting or controversial than an ankle-length skirt and puffed sleeves. The FLDS has launched an online store where members of the general public can purchase the dresses, long underwear, and other ranch-wear "as seen on TV." [more inside]
posted by cereselle at 7:51 PM PST - 73 comments

Early in July of 1895, a grand jury convened and returned an indictment against Michael Cleary of Ballyvadlea, Co. Tipperary, for the murder of his wife, Bridget. Bridget Cleary had been set on fire and burned to death in the hearth of the Cleary house, in front of family and friends, because Michael Cleary said she was a fairy changeling, and not his wife at all. That night, he sat for hours near a Kylenagranagh cairn with a silver knife, insisting the true Bridget would soon ride past on a white horse, and he could cut her bonds and set her free. [more inside]
posted by Countess Elena at 6:34 PM PST - 22 comments

The functional giant Kelpie heads would rock backwards and forwards as part of a mechanism allowing boats to move through Scotland's lowland canal network. "Although the Kelpie legend does talk of the mythical creatures luring seafarers into the water, British Waterways is quick to point out that anyone travelling through the boat lift will be given a small bridle which according to legend would tame the creature and allow safe passage." (via they must need bears)
posted by joannemerriam at 4:52 PM PST - 3 comments

Man saves bear from drowning.
posted by Citizen Premier at 4:06 PM PST - 88 comments

Zombies vs Chainsaw Maid! (NSFW, surprisingly disgusting). More fun here. [via]
posted by Armitage Shanks at 3:28 PM PST - 21 comments

Bringing Down Bear Stearns, from Vanity Fair's August issue.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 3:22 PM PST - 17 comments

A liquid mirror telescope is made by spinning a reflective fluid, such as mercury, at a constant rate. This rotation produces a parabolic surface, which is an ideal shape for a telescope mirror. (You can try this yourself.) While these mirrors can be built to be large and orders of magnitude cheaper than solid mirrors, they have the disadvantage that they can only look straight up. Creating mirrors this way is not new; they have a history [.ps] that dates back to Newton. However, they have recently regained attention as the technology behind proposals to build an enormous (20m+) telescope on the moon. (A less technical treatment here.)
posted by Upton O'Good at 3:08 PM PST - 36 comments

The Tunguska Event. A century ago, something exploded over Russia... [more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:47 PM PST - 22 comments

"We're not building a themed adventure for Mega Man; just kill him!" Where does Mega Man's nemesis get his wonderful toys? How much does it cost to construct big spikes? Can one add ice blocks to the magnet level without violating a building code? It's not easy being in the Dr. Wily business.
posted by Servo5678 at 2:47 PM PST - 43 comments

Terence Gray was an English born aristocrat of an Irish family. He tried his hand at Egyptology, drama and theater, but gave it up to keep the family vineyards in the Monaco. He owned the winner of the 1957 Ascot Gold cup. He also became a mystic. [more inside]
posted by fcummins at 12:58 PM PST - 9 comments

The Battle of Gettysburg started on this day in 1863. Here are some essays on Gettysburg from MilitaryHistoryOnline. Here is a virtual tour with photos and maps.
posted by RussHy at 12:46 PM PST - 22 comments

The environmental cost of large-scale pot farming
posted by serazin at 12:39 PM PST - 63 comments

Happy 100th Birthday to SOS. “Send SOS,” one of the Titanic’s radio operators supposedly said to another after the famous ship struck that infamous iceberg. “It’s the new call and besides this may be your last chance to send it.” That “new call” is 100 years old today... (via the J-Walk blog)
posted by caddis at 12:10 PM PST - 27 comments

A new WHO study finds that Americans by far lead the world in rates of illegal drug use, despite America's crusading role in prosecuting the Global War on Drugs. [more inside]
posted by saulgoodman at 12:02 PM PST - 33 comments

While the latest Pixar/Disney animated film, Wall-E (teasers, trailers and clips) debuted as the No. 1 movie this past weekend and has been met with critical acclaim, including a 97% "Fresh Rating" at RottenTomatoes and a 93% ranking by critics and 90% by viewers at MetaCritic, the film has outraged the radical right. "[M]y kids were bombarded with leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind..." "...I will do my part to avoid future environmental armageddon by boycotting any and all WALL-E merchandise and I hope others join my crusade." "I agree that the Malthusian fear mongering was annoying."^* [more inside]
posted by ericb at 11:41 AM PST - 253 comments

Billy Hughes at War ― As Australia’s prime minister for most of the First World War, he steered the nation through the horrors of the war and the debates of the peace settlement. You can enter the conscription debate and examine political cartoons from the era. Billy Hughes provided Australia an independent voice on the world stage. [more inside]
posted by netbros at 11:18 AM PST - 8 comments

Stingrays Migrate, apparently.
posted by weston at 10:12 AM PST - 45 comments

Paintings... with ducks added.
posted by Ms. Saint at 9:11 AM PST - 31 comments

"Nothing in the history of the Rebellion has equaled in inhumanity and atrocity the horrid butchery at Fort Pillow, on the 13th of April, 1864. In no other school than slavery could human beings have been trained to such readiness for cruelties like these. Accustomed to brutality and bestiality all their lives, it was easy for them to perpetrate the atrocities which will startle the civilized foreign world, as they have awakened the indignation of our own people."
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:53 AM PST - 38 comments

The swingin' sounds of Spider-Man! After years of searching, Kliph Nesteroff found original reels of the incidental music to the classic Ralph Bakshi Spider-Man cartoon, and has included most of the masters in his podcast. [more inside]
posted by Shepherd at 8:50 AM PST - 25 comments

Pluribo is a way-cool Firefox extension that automagically summarises Amazon product reviews.
posted by matthewr at 7:15 AM PST - 25 comments

"Food Party is a (would-be) TV cooking show with a spicy saigon kitchen-witch as your hostess, a cast of unruly puppets as culinary advisors, and a cavalcade of hip-hop/sports world celebrities as surprise dinner guests. Shot on location in a technicolor cardboard kitchen, each episode will instruct you on how to prepare wild gourmet multi-course meals with ingredients you probably have on hand in your kitchen already, such as pretzel rods, cheese puffs, eggs, sugar, secret ingredients, and pizza. After all, you never know who might show up for dinner." [more inside]
posted by cog_nate at 6:21 AM PST - 14 comments

dawn Landes & the We Sorta Tried Bluegrass Band perform a rather charming version of Peter, Bjorn and John's Young Folks [SLYT]. [more inside]
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 5:01 AM PST - 15 comments

They were Britain's pop culture pioneers, bringing back American music and fashions to a nation still starved by post-war rationing and austerity. They paved the way for The Beatles. Meet the Liverpool Merchant Seamen known as the Cunard Yanks.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:49 AM PST - 20 comments

Bicycle Lock / Planter This is a very simple invention. It is a big planter that you put in the waste of space at the front of your house and lock your bike to it. I had seen them popping up here and there in London but only found out today where they came from. Great video of the strength test - esp the freeze and then hit with a big hammer.
posted by priorpark17 at 2:32 AM PST - 44 comments

Mexican Aerophones are wind musical instruments or artifacts that can generate sounds or noise with air jets and one or several resonator chambers of globular, tubular and other shapes. Roberto Velasquez, a mechanical engineer, has recreated some of these aerophones. Example sounds: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (.wav files)
posted by dhruva at 1:28 AM PST - 6 comments