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“I wanted to use the intermediate value theorem but it just wasn’t happening.” MIT undergrad Zach Wener-Fligner reports from this year's William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, the nation's premier math contest for college students, a test so hard that the median score is often zero.
posted by escabeche at 8:58 PM PST - 38 comments

Internet personality Neil Cicierega (previously) has released a new mashup album based on Smash Mouth, "Smooth," "The Power of Love," Daft Punk, and other stuff: Mouth Sounds.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:46 PM PST - 36 comments

In England coats of arms and other issues of heraldry are registered and administered by the College of Arms. But what if some base scoundrel displays your family's ancient and noble coat of arms without the right to do so? You sue them in the Court of Chivalry. [more inside]
posted by jedicus at 8:20 PM PST - 21 comments

In 1997, Art Bell, of "Coast to Coast AM," the popular syndicated late night radio talk show, received a fax from a man named Mel Waters.
posted by AtoBtoA at 7:23 PM PST - 73 comments

Michael Faraday's chemical chest, 19th century.
The end of Darwin's walking stick.
Galileo’s original telescope.
Napoleon’s toothbrush, c 1795 (with engraved "N“ at bottom).
Carved Olive Pit, China (1737).
Throne of Charlemagne (790). Until 1531, it served as the coronation throne the Kings of Germany, being used at a total of thirty-one coronations.
Ishtar Gate, ca 575 BC. Built on the orders of Nebuchadnezzar II, it was a gate to the inner city of Babylon.
Tolkien's service weapon from WWI.
Breastplate, North Peru - A.D. 1000/1470. [more inside]
posted by growabrain at 6:11 PM PST - 35 comments

Two essays on death before time.
posted by IndigoJones at 4:34 PM PST - 16 comments

In an unlikely advertisement for Dove, a forensic artist draws men's testicles as they see themselves and then again as others see them. [sfw]
posted by quin at 4:15 PM PST - 112 comments

Auditioning for the MET Orchestra: "Why is there so much pressure? In part, because the candidates must prepare an exhaustive list of some of the most important and demanding parts ever written for their instrument. For Boris’ audition, the list included a solo concerto plus eighteen excerpts from fourteen operas. Rob’s audition included even more excerpts from both the symphonic and operatic repertoire, in which he had to demonstrate his abilities on no fewer than nine different instruments." [more inside]
posted by not_the_water at 3:27 PM PST - 10 comments

'DuckTales' As A Slow Jam: [SLYT]
posted by Fizz at 2:28 PM PST - 25 comments

(NSFW) Dan Bilzerian is ". . . a high-stakes gambler who drives an Italian supercar with a license plate that reads SUCK IT."
posted by jason's_planet at 11:22 AM PST - 55 comments

"Objectifying men who objectify women in 3 easy steps:

1. Man sends crude opening line via internet.
2. Draw him naked.
3. Send portrait to lucky man and enjoy results."

I bring you: Instagranniepants. Very NSFW.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:32 AM PST - 208 comments

This year's Time 100 List is out: conspicuously missing is trans activist and actor Laverne Cox, who had been consistently on the top of the poll. Many online are deeply unhappy, calling it a snub against trans women of colour (though not everyone agrees). Time has not responded; Laverne Cox is gracious and thankful.
posted by divabat at 10:03 AM PST - 63 comments

In advance of the HBO release of "The Normal Heart", Frank Bruni writes about Larry Kramer in today's New York Times.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:35 AM PST - 4 comments

The 2014 Lyttle Lytton winners are here. (Previously - 2013)
posted by LSK at 8:45 AM PST - 19 comments

Curious Alice is a 1971 anti-drug film produced by the National Institute for Mental Health. Meant to reach children 8-10 years old, the film didn't really get it's intended message across. You can read more about it at the National Archives.
posted by dortmunder at 6:55 AM PST - 33 comments

"Work is a large component of many types of game. The professional chess player competing in a tournament game does not have the carefree, leisurely attitude sometimes implied by the term “playing”: she is performing massive amounts of cognitive work. Similarly with poker players or tennis players: they are not merely fooling around but labouring mightily. [...] But videogames seem more and more to resemble work in a different sense: working for the Man ." [Previously]
posted by postcommunism at 6:53 AM PST - 41 comments

Geo-Cosmos is one of the three interactive features that are part of the Tsunagari display at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, simply known as the Miraikan, in Tokyo. Geo-Cosmos consists of OLED squares configured a 6m (~19.7 ft) diameter spherical display of over 10 million pixels, which can map out clouds as captured by weather satellites, the expanding effects of the March 11 earthquake in Japan (Audience video), or pretty much anything you want to see on a spherical display.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:53 AM PST - 5 comments

someone ate this is a food blog that celebrates the hilarity of cooking mishaps, bad food photography, and the grossest things people shove down their throats. [more inside]
posted by and they trembled before her fury at 5:21 AM PST - 50 comments

I didn’t know I was a boy until my younger brother called me one. -- Meredith Talusan talks about her childhood growing up in the Philippines without knowing her gender. (Trans 101.)
posted by MartinWisse at 2:04 AM PST - 30 comments

Donald Sterling (previously), owner of the Clippers, recently had a conversation with his girlfriend, where he complained about the photo she posted to Instagram of her with a black man, who happened to be Magic Johnson. Reaction from players, former players, and coaches has been strong. From the owners? Not so much. The league? They want to wait and see. [more inside]
posted by Ghidorah at 1:47 AM PST - 283 comments