MetaFilter

In 1896, Swedish physical chemist and Nobel laureate Svante Arrhenius calculated that doubling CO₂ in the atmosphere would raise Earth's temperature 5-6°C. The idea didn't get traction at the time, in part because many believed it impossible for humanity to affect the climate (sound familiar?), but Arrhenius might have been on to something. Historian and physicist Spencer Weart's history of the century-long scientific investigation and popular debate will re-frame your perspective on today's crisis and arm you to educate the uninformed. If you don't know the history, you are probably repeating it. [After I-don't-know-how-many years, my first FPP]
comment posted at 12:01 PM on Mar-8-10

350 ppm
comment posted at 7:57 AM on Oct-2-09

Most people have heard about how rising CO2 levels are resulting in a changing global climate. Fewer have heard about the other consequence of rising CO2 levels- when the CO2 is absorbed into the oceans, it disassociates into carbonic acid. This alters the pH of our world's oceans, and it's called "Ocean Acidification". This changing ocean chemistry has many important and devastating consequences.
comment posted at 10:13 AM on Sep-9-09

The fine folks at OkCupid, the dating site, have begun to analyze aggregate data from the questions their users answer to form dating profiles, revealing, among other things, that users in Nevada are more open to rape fanstasies than those from Michigan.
comment posted at 1:55 PM on Jun-30-09
comment posted at 1:58 PM on Jun-30-09

Simon Singh, author of Fermat's Last Theorem and The Code Book, was sued for libel by The British Chiropractic Association for comments he wrote in a column in The Guardian:
comment posted at 9:40 PM on May-9-09

"Throwing the octopus is easy. More difficult is concealing the eight-legged creature until the toss is at hand, a skill that requires determination, luck and the ability to walk normally with 4 pounds of slimy cephalopod stuffed down your pants."
comment posted at 1:16 PM on Apr-23-09

A new 'prose translation' of Milton's classic poem has been written by Prof Dennis Danielson in an effort to help make it available to a wider audience, if they find the original language too difficult. Apparently he wasn't the first to think of it, but considers his a translation rather than a retelling, and it is printed as a dual edition / parallel text.
comment posted at 1:13 PM on Dec-2-08

It's morning in America again -- but for the thousands of committed gay couples who got married in California [warning: Dan Fogelberg music, sweet visuals], the long nightmare of intolerance and hate is not yet over with the probable victory of Proposition 8. Supported by the anti-equality stances of Sarah Palin and "divinely" inspired others, and paid for by members of the Mormon Church and the mother of Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, many of the ads for Prop. 8 featured the faces of Obama and Joe Biden, who declared their opposition to the initiative but refused to support equal marriage rights for all, preferring to talk about "civil unions." Even excellent Democratic-leaning politics sites like Talking Points Memo were saturated with the deceptive ads, which overwhelmed those comparing the proposition to other forms of discrimination in California's history.
comment posted at 8:38 AM on Nov-5-08

The Pisces Effect is a statistician's find that birth sign may predict likelihood of Olympics medal victories relating to Zodiacal attributes. Past statistical studies indicate Pisceans may be bad drivers...with perhaps some fluctuation for hemisphere. One columnist feels Washington, D.C.'s problems (and potential) may be attributable to being Pisces. Maybe Pisceans [flash; auto/unstoppable sound] have more luck as horses. Previously: [post] [comments]
comment posted at 12:13 PM on Aug-20-08

Today is the first birthday of Galaxy Zoo. The largest astronomical collaboration in history, Galaxy Zoo has enlisted nearly a 150,000 volunteers to help classify over a million galaxies and released four science papers. It's made a number of interesting discoveries such as a large number of ring galaxies, Hanny’s Voorwerp, and a large number of visually (but not physically) overlapping galaxies. You can help classify galaxies or classify galaxy mergers. Don't miss the visual catalog of over 250 Objects of the Day--pretty much every one of them stunning.
comment posted at 1:51 PM on Jul-11-08

Fascinating 3D renderings of different processes inside of a human body. Yes, the style is quite similar to The Inner Life of The Cell, but this one is different. Dissolving of the pills was definitely entertaining. It would be great if a doctor could comment on the other processes that are displayed.
comment posted at 12:17 PM on Jul-9-08

Philip Pullman interviewed about the ideas behind "His Dark Materials" [YT,1 hour, South Bank Show,parts 2,3,4,5,6,7]. Inside, and hidden from those who don't want spoilers, are links relating to the ideas raised and about the books generally.
comment posted at 3:17 PM on Jun-26-08
comment posted at 3:27 PM on Jun-26-08

Abrupt climate change is popularly thought of in the movies. But new Greenland ice core findings show two huge Northern Hemisphere temperature spikes occured prior to the close of the last ice age some 11,500 years ago, with a 22-degree-Fahrenheit spike in just 50 years. These followed a massive "reorganization" of atmospheric circulation taking just one or two years. "We know such events are in Earth's future, but we don't know when .. we are speeding blindly down a narrow road, hoping there are no curves ahead."
comment posted at 3:22 PM on Jun-24-08

When programmers kill. [pdf] In 1982, Atomic Energy Canada, Limited, introduced the now-infamous Therac-25, a solely software-driven successor to its earlier medical linear accelerators. Six patients received massive amounts of radiation, and three died, before AECL was compelled to supplement the (faulty) software-only error-checking with hardware interlocks to prevent overexposure.
comment posted at 11:45 AM on May-26-08
comment posted at 11:50 AM on May-26-08

It turns out if it looks like a duck it's partly a duck. A bunch of scientist got together and set about to decode the platypus genome, and guess what!?! "What we found was the genome, just like the animal, is an amazing amalgam of reptilian and mammal characteristics with quite a few unique platypus characteristics as well". “You have got these reptilian repeat patterns and these more recently evolved milk genes and independent evolution of the venom. It all points to how idiosyncratic evolution is.” “We have microRNAs that are shared with chickens and not mammals as well as ones that are shared with mammals, but not chickens.” Also, apparently, male platypi have venomous spikes on their heels that can kill dogs!
comment posted at 7:15 AM on May-9-08

Global Warming Video, From Still Images Twenty days. Twenty thousand still images. A single message. Toronto Star photographer Lucas Oleniuk captures the issue of global warming in a video created entirely by using still images.
comment posted at 11:37 AM on Apr-3-08
comment posted at 11:40 AM on Apr-3-08
comment posted at 11:43 AM on Apr-3-08

Google Sky we'll help us find our way, someday.
comment posted at 10:21 AM on Mar-14-08

The space shuttle does a back flip while the earth races by underneath.
comment posted at 8:45 AM on Feb-11-08

ResetDOC asks: "What is democracy?"
comment posted at 6:58 AM on Jan-16-08

The Entire Federal Government in Six Square Feet
comment posted at 1:36 PM on Jan-15-08

Russos takes photos of Moscow Metro construction. Also of a half-abandoned river port, a cool bridge being put together, and an old underground nuclear submarine base. But mostly of the Metro, behind the scenes. (Don't ask me how he gets access.)
comment posted at 12:13 PM on Dec-8-07

Juststolen.net "was created by police officers to provide the best possible asset tracking and property recovery services in the world. JustStolen.net is an innovative tool designed to easily register assets in order to facilitate their recovery if they are lost or stolen. JustStolen.net joins forces with online auctions to help identify stolen property."
comment posted at 7:03 AM on Dec-7-07

Ever wondered if and where a specific set of numbers could be found in pi? Maybe you'd like to know where your birthday is? Or maybe just something funny. [prev. here, here]
comment posted at 7:55 AM on Dec-5-07

Top 10 most viewed pages on Conservapedia. What's going on with this site?
comment posted at 10:09 AM on Nov-21-07

Walter Wolfgang, 82, was ejected from the Labour Party conference and stopped by police under the Anti-terrorism Act, for heckling Jack Straw. But when he spoke in Oxford... a Barbershop Quintet struck a blow for freedom of speech.
comment posted at 7:27 AM on Nov-19-07

Your Rights As A Photographer: As most of us are no doubt aware, the right to take photographs in the United States is being challenged more than ever--people are being stopped, harassed, and even intimidated into handing over their personal property simply because they were taking photographs of subjects that made other people uncomfortable. Recent examples have included photographing industrial plants, bridges, buildings, trains, and bus stations. Print and carry this pamphlet in your wallet, pocket, or camera bag to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning confrontations over photography. [via]
comment posted at 11:29 AM on Nov-9-07

What do you know? Just when I thought ships were the way to go, I learned that global emissions of carbon dioxide from shipping are twice the level of aviation, one of the maritime industry's key bodies has said It came out on the BBC News this week.
comment posted at 4:14 PM on Oct-20-07

The Daily Show online. Over 13,000 segments going back to 1999. [CNET story]
comment posted at 9:09 PM on Oct-18-07

For those times when MeFi isn't enough on its own: Google Reader has just started showing the number of subscribers to various blogs, adding hard numbers to the existing top blog listings, which use links to measure popularity. Here is a detailed comparison between TechMeme's Top 100 and actual subscribers, as well as a list of top blogs by subscriber in a neat embedded spreadsheet. They offer a good way to find interesting things to read.
comment posted at 2:04 PM on Oct-15-07

Hillary Clinton Falling In pantsuit or Bikini. Made by Planet Dan. That is all. (Previous empty suit)
comment posted at 3:33 PM on Oct-9-07

Think you're smart? Apply for a Prize Fellowship at Oxford's All Souls College. [via adrianhon]
comment posted at 8:01 PM on Sep-12-07

"In an average August between 1979 and 2000, the Arctic Ocean was covered with about 3 million square miles of sea ice, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. By Labor Day this year, the total had shrunk to a little more than half that, shattering the previous record low set in 2005."
comment posted at 11:21 PM on Sep-7-07

Dr. Strangelove's Doomsday device may be more fact than fiction. We've had doomsday stories here before, but what if dead hand control of nuclear devices is real? Perhaps live-hand control is better. You could always try your hand at a nuclear apocalypse.
comment posted at 12:36 PM on Sep-3-07

Derinkuyu wasn't discovered until 1965, when a resident cleaning the back wall of his cave house broke through a wall and discovered behind it a room that he'd never seen, which led to still another, and another. Eventually, spelunking archeologists found a maze of connecting chambers that descended at least 18 stories and 280 feet beneath the surface, ample enough to hold 30,000 people. [flickr]. [wiki].
comment posted at 8:44 AM on Aug-31-07

As the global climate changes, agriculture is sure to be affected. The Stern Review explains that "developing countries - in particular the poorest - are heavily dependent on agriculture, the most climate-sensitive of all economic sectors." Working Group II of the IPCC says that: "Smallholder and subsistence farmers, pastoralists and artisanal fisherfolk will suffer complex, localised impacts of climate change (high confidence)." Meanwhile, some important staple crops are especially threatened by rising temperatures (though genetic engineering may help). You can experience a taste of it yourself, with a climate change awareness fast, taking place on Tuesday, September 4th.
comment posted at 8:17 PM on Aug-30-07
comment posted at 9:48 PM on Aug-30-07

Aerogel Update Originally posted back in '02 by adrianhon this crazy new material looks to be on the verge of mass production. Currently used in homes for insulation & for winter clothes that are too warm to wear, this is a truly amazing technology. Want to know how to make it? Want to buy some? Here is a pic to help you believe it's real. More here. Aspen Aerogel is currently in production.
comment posted at 6:22 PM on Aug-19-07

I love my friends...My friends love me...We're just as friendly...As friends can be...And just because...We really care... Whatever we get, we share.
comment posted at 6:57 AM on Jul-1-07

Scientists will use perfect silicon spheres to determine how many silicon atoms make up a kilogram, and this will be used as the new international prototype — bringing the kilogram into line with other base units such as the meter. The current international prototype, a lump of platinum and iridium, is securely tucked away inside a French vault.
comment posted at 4:41 PM on Jun-15-07

Personally, I always thought the whole global warming thing was a little bit overblown. Got to admit this guy makes a very compelling argument without debating any details. (via)
comment posted at 3:17 PM on Jun-15-07
comment posted at 4:15 PM on Jun-15-07

James Burke does Youtube. A very conscientious fan has begun creating a wonderful collection of two of James Burke's shows on youtube. There are many episodes up and more to come of both Connections and The Day The Universe Changed. Catch them while you can.
comment posted at 2:14 PM on Jun-11-07

Richard Rorty, American Pragmatist philosopher, has died of pancreatic cancer.
comment posted at 9:36 AM on Jun-10-07

"Why would you need to rig the voting machines if you'd already rigged the election by making seats safe?" A new shareware game shows how drawing district lines can influence elections. Computer-aided gerrymandering has resulted in wildly shaped districts and made incumbents safer than ever, causing calls for reform. The original gerrymander is commemorated in Boston.
comment posted at 2:37 PM on Jun-9-07
comment posted at 2:39 PM on Jun-9-07