"If I make enough money now, I can quit and do what I really love later." "If I just think hard enough, I'll finally figure out what I want to do with my life." "I know people in this career path lose their souls, but I'll be different." "What if I try a new career, and it turns out I don't like it?" Po Bronson tackles some of the thoughts that keep people from pursuing a career they would really love. The article (one-page version) is based on his New York Times bestseller, What Should I Do With My Life? The writing is several years old, but the question seems to spring eternal.
posted to MetaFilter by vytae at 9:45 AM on June 26, 2008 (195 comments)

Heavens Above! This is a pretty neat website for anybody interested in astronomy. Give it your location (City names work, even my white bread red-neck plains town did) and it'll give you star maps, fly by times and viewing instructions for satellites and so on.
posted to MetaFilter by substrate at 9:12 AM on September 10, 2004 (6 comments)

A selection of eyeglasses for $8. (That's including your lens prescription.) Or if that's not to your liking, there's $39.
posted to MetaFilter by Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson at 8:24 PM on September 19, 2007 (81 comments)

Nomic, as introduced by inventor Peter Suber (homepage): a game of self-modification—every move is an attempt to alter the rules governing how the game is played. Further from wikipedia. [A great deal more within.]
posted to MetaFilter by cortex at 8:57 PM on August 27, 2007 (59 comments)

nanoHUB is an information goldmine, aimed primarily at scientists and engineers engaged under the broad umbrella of nanotechnology research, funded by the NSF, and based at Purdue University. Start with a series of nano tutorial lessons at the undergraduate or graduate level. Move on to seminars from top researchers on a variety of topics, or try some self-paced learning modules. Then run (real, useful) simulations in your browser. [some stuff requires free registration]
posted to MetaFilter by sergeant sandwich at 2:30 PM on August 25, 2007 (2 comments)

Is there an adult equivalent of a modular construction set (Erector Set, fischertechnik, K'Nex, Tinker Toys, etc.,) suitable for building more serious projects (desks, projector enclosures, tables)?
posted to Ask Metafilter by ostranenie at 8:01 AM on March 28, 2007 (13 comments)

Neither my boyfriend nor I have a particularly high libido, and we make love once every few weeks or so. We've discovered, though, that we really enjoy watching good movies that are also....well....hot. And I do mean good films -- not porn -- that also are sexual. (Sex & Lucia, Shortbus, etc.) We enjoy watching a film, find it arousing, and then we have great sex! I'm curious what other films are out there that tell a good story....have strong character development....and are sexy. Any recommendations?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 6:37 AM on March 27, 2007 (73 comments)

Project Nekton — Take Mt. Everest, add a mile to the top, and turn it upside down. That's how far oceanic explorers Jacques Piccard and USN Lt. Donald Walsh descended on January 23, 1960 into the Pacific's Challenger Deep, the lowest spot in Earth's oceans. Their submersible, the second-generation bathyscape Trieste, was designed by Swiss balloonist Auguste Piccard (Jacques' father) and built in Italy. This underwater balloon was buoyed by 70 tons of gasoline, ballasted by nine tons of steel shot, and dangled a cramped, six-foot diameter, 14 ton observation gondola underneath it [more Trieste photos here]. It took Piccard and Walsh nearly five hours to touch bottom 35,800 feet down in the Mariana Trench. Their unique voyage still stands 46 years later: no one has gone back—except by ROV—and more people have landed on the Moon.
posted to MetaFilter by cenoxo at 11:06 PM on May 28, 2006 (28 comments)