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Giant jewel encrusted fruit sculptures by Kathleen Ryan
posted by lucidium on Sep 13 at 4:55 PM - 8 comments

The 2024 Ig Nobel Prizes have been announced! This year's theme: Murphy's Law. Death by pigeon! Life imitating artificial life! Hair swirls! Improving placebos! Dead fish swimming! Reverse farting? Coin flip odds! Drunk earthworms! Old people and bad record keeping! Cows spewing milk! [more inside]
posted by Pronoiac on Sep 13 at 12:25 PM - 21 comments

It locks them into an e-book ecosystem designed to extract as much money as possible while harvesting (and reselling) reader data en masse. "This decision harms libraries. It locks them into an e-book ecosystem designed to extract as much money as possible while harvesting (and reselling) reader data en masse. " [more inside]
posted by mecran01 on Sep 13 at 11:02 AM - 25 comments

Science communicator Rebecca Watson pointed out that what J D Vance and Donald Trump repeated and amplified about supposed Haitain Immigrants eating people's pets are not just lies... but historical Nazi "blood libel"... started by ACTUAL current Neo-Nazis in Springfield (at Anti-Haitian Rallies)... they've dragged grieving parents into the hate campaign as well. You can find the transcript of that Youtube episode here, but I'll summarize the points below... [more inside]
posted by kschang on Sep 13 at 10:27 AM - 96 comments

"An international team of geneticists has found evidence that this famous cautionary tale never actually happened. The true story of Rapa Nui (named Easter Island by colonial Europeans) is not one of self-inflicted population collapse, the new findings suggest, but of cultural resilience. In the 1600s, it seems that the ancient people of Rapa Nui were not utterly isolated on their island, and it is clear that they did not overexploit their resources to the point of 'ecocide'." Genetic Evidence Overrules Ecocide Theory of Easter Island Once And For All.
posted by mittens on Sep 13 at 8:58 AM - 48 comments

Help Fund Metafilter! In its typical low-key style, this middle-aged online community launched its annual fundraiser last month. You can contribute to a cookbook, set up a recurring contribution, or donate via GoFundMe. [more inside]
posted by Winnie the Proust on Sep 13 at 7:59 AM - 32 comments

Here is what we know about the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision curtailing race-based admissions at selective universities. And why many experts and administrators are baffled. By Anemona Hartocollis and Stephanie Saul (Gift link).
posted by bq on Sep 13 at 7:27 AM - 56 comments

If the Wind Tree is deemed tall and large to occupy an allotted space, Wind Palm may be an ideal alternative. It is made up of three to five steel trunks & branches with 18 to 30 rotating leaves[ ]with the option of adding the solar panels at the bottom of the leaves for extra energy generation [designboom] [more inside]
posted by HearHere on Sep 13 at 7:25 AM - 12 comments

SCROLLBARS – A guide on overriding native scroll behavior to provide your own objectively better experience. [more inside]
posted by Wolfdog on Sep 13 at 6:22 AM - 24 comments

Once destined for the tip, these low-grade blueberries are being turned into wine. A food recycling charity has taken blueberries destined for the tip to create a zero-alcohol wine alternative, which is now being served in restaurants and ultimately helping feed more people.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries on Sep 13 at 2:30 AM - 15 comments

Fire has been our primary source of energy for over a million years, providing the essential heat needed to survive. This reliance on fire made sense when our principal energy needs were purely for heat. However, today’s energy demands have evolved far beyond this primal necessity. Unlike in past millennia, we now require more work than heat: we desire mobility, motors, electrical appliances, and data processing in greater quantities than we do warmth. Despite this transformation over the past century from heat demand to work demand, our fundamental energy supply methods have not changed much, and are still mostly heat generation. This has led to incredible inefficiency.... We need energy sources fit for an era of work demand, not heat demand. Fortunately, thanks to the rapid growth and cost decline of solar, wind, and electrification, “firepower” faces inexorable decline. from Energy after Fire [Rocky Mountain Institute]
posted by chavenet on Sep 13 at 1:01 AM - 11 comments

“To hear Helen speak for herself is wild,” says Andrea Patterson, who plays Helen [getty] [more inside]
posted by HearHere on Sep 12 at 7:41 PM - 7 comments

Fracking ban takes effect in Queensland's Channel Country, protecting one of the most unique river systems in the world. It took 10 years, but Channel Country communities say they're relieved and overwhelmed as a promised ban to prevent future fracking projects in the precious river system becomes official.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries on Sep 12 at 3:25 PM - 2 comments

Meet DebunkBot: an AI chat bot that provides factual explanations and counter-evidence for these conspiratorial events. It's strength appears to be that the LLM is inexhaustible and will argue indefinitely. They found that the targeted dialogues resulted in a relatively durable 20% decrease in the misinformed beliefs, which is better than similar dialogues with humans. Science has published the paper, Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI as well as a perspective on this research. [more inside]
posted by zenon on Sep 12 at 1:50 PM - 32 comments

Bike Flip on a Moving Train (SLYT)
posted by box on Sep 12 at 12:55 PM - 28 comments

I Stayed at This Coast Guard Station in the Middle of the Ocean. So Can You. [Outside; ungated]
posted by chavenet on Sep 12 at 12:14 PM - 27 comments

Wrecked rain gauges. Whistleblowers. Million-dollar payouts and manhunts. Then a Colorado crop fraud got really crazy. The sordid story of two ranchers who conspired to falsify drought numbers by tampering with rain gauges on the plains of Colorado and Kansas, resulting in millions in false insurance claims. By Michael Booth for the Colorado Sun.
posted by bq on Sep 12 at 10:43 AM - 8 comments

One day, James Williams —the former Google strategist I met—addressed an audience of hundreds of leading tech designers and asked them a simple question: “How many of you want to live in the world you are designing?” There was a silence in the room. People looked around them. Nobody put up their hand.
posted by signsofrain on Sep 12 at 7:26 AM - 48 comments

The Washington Post challenges Biden's claim that Turkish-American activist Aysenur Eygi's death was due to an accidental ricochet with new video and eyewitnesses. (archive.is) The Biden administration has released $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt, overriding human rights concerns, citing Egypt's assistance with Gaza talks. Brown University held the first of two forums on the issue of divestment and the advisory committee is expected to issue a recommendation within the next three weeks, to be voted on in October. Various colleges and universities have issued new restrictions on protest and free expression on their campuses, including limiting the use of masks, ban on encampments, and more. (archive.is) UC Berkeley is launching a new Palestinian and Arab studies program this fall due to demand.
posted by toastyk on Sep 12 at 7:08 AM - 91 comments

iPhones are allergic to helium
posted by lucidium on Sep 12 at 6:43 AM - 21 comments