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The human population of Earth has almost always been about 50,000. [more inside]
posted by grobstein at 11:50 PM PST - 85 comments

The Taiwanese have once again distilled one of the most important issues of the day into an easy to understand video
posted by delmoi at 11:15 PM PST - 22 comments

John Sayles, writer and director of critically acclaimed and socially conscious films like Passion Fish and Lone Star, writer of trashier fare including Piranha and Battle Beyond the Stars, director of a couple music videos you might remember, and award-winning short-story writer and novelist, is working on a new project about the beginnings of the Philippine-American War. His long-time partner and producer Maggie Renzie and other crew are blogging the project as it is in progress.
posted by serazin at 10:10 PM PST - 27 comments

One of the great things about Google Earth is how extensible it is using KML. You can use it to show off placemarks, build 3D structures, track wildfires or hurricanes, and much more. Google Earth can be used as a scientific visualization platform. OpenEarth is an open source initiative that archives, hosts and disseminates Data, Models and Tools for marine and coastal scientists and engineers. Their KML data visualizations using Google Earth display some of the possibilities. [via] [more inside]
posted by netbros at 7:19 PM PST - 14 comments

Republican Scott Brown has defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's former senate seat. [more inside]
posted by notswedish at 7:14 PM PST - 626 comments

LGBT Immigration Some countries such as Australia and Canada already allow same sex couples to immigrate. In the United States Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has said he will introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill early this year. A window is opening to pass the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)....
posted by ginky at 5:53 PM PST - 26 comments

If you live in a sufficiently old city in the U.S.,Canada, or the UK you've probably seen these set into concrete sidewalks or the panels of cast iron steps. Termed vault lights in the U.S., pavement lights in the UK, and sidewalk prisms in Canada, the glass insets were originally clear and intended to produce daylighting in subterranean spaces. The ethereal purple color results from the glass's manganese content being exposed to ultraviolet light over time. Many vault lights or sidewalk prisms are in poor condition, but some are being repaired.
posted by bad grammar at 5:18 PM PST - 46 comments

That's Why I chose Appalachian State Yale! Only 5 years after the original, an Ivy League school discovers the "brilliant" internet meme and decides to go for it no holds barred!
posted by zany pita at 4:30 PM PST - 57 comments

Every year since 1949, an unidentified man has visited the grave of Edgar Allan Poe on the 19th of January (Poe's birthday) and presented cognac and three red roses in the writer's honor. This year, for no known reason, the "Poe Toaster" did not make an appearance. One possible explanation for his absence has already emerged. (Previously and previouslier.) [more inside]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:23 PM PST - 55 comments

Interested in making the Best Fried Chicken Ever? You'd start with a brine, perhaps the one Thomas Keller uses, which has lemon, honey, herbs and peppercorns. Harlem's master chicken fryer Charles Gabriel prefers a dry brine and the legendary Edna Lewis would have you brine the chicken a second time in buttermilk. [more inside]
posted by AceRock at 3:38 PM PST - 47 comments

A review of Fritz Lang's film Metropolis by H. G. Wells, published in the April 17, 1927 issue of the New York Times and reprinted in his essay collection The Way the World is Going.
posted by Prospero at 3:15 PM PST - 39 comments

In July 2006, they began in Alaska and have since pedaled over 34,000 kilometers, passed through 14 countries, and arrived in Ushuaia after 3.5 years of travel. [more inside]
posted by nestor_makhno at 3:07 PM PST - 11 comments

Oceans of liquid diamond, filled with solid diamond icebergs, could be floating on Neptune and Uranus, according to a recent article in the journal Nature Physics. The research, based on the first detailed measurements of the melting point of diamond, found diamond behaves like water during freezing and melting, with solid forms floating atop liquid forms.
posted by billysumday at 1:16 PM PST - 97 comments

Prostitutes in New Orleans are being categorized as “sex offenders.” [via]
posted by Caduceus at 12:16 PM PST - 153 comments

Trans-Siberian Rail Journeys...follows the route of the Trans-Siberian Railroad which connects the newly opened regions of Russia, China and Mongolia. The seven-day train trip begins in Moscow and ends in Bejing. Also includes Russian archival footage that traces the 25 years (1891-1916) that it took to build the railroad. (PBS, 1996, 2 hours)
posted by vronsky at 12:00 PM PST - 12 comments

Bobby Charles 1938-2010. Songwriter, musician's musician and cultural treasure, he died on last Thursday in Abbeville,Lousiana. In the 1950s, he wrote Fats Domino's Walking to New Orleans, Bill Haley and the Comet's See You Later, Alligator and recorded for Chess records. His eponymous Bearsville album recorded in Woodstock in 1972 has been described as the best Band album released under another name.(Check out Small Town Talk there.) He appeared as well in the Band's farewell concert filmed as The Last Waltz. He made an enormous contribution to American popular music. [more inside]
posted by y2karl at 11:43 AM PST - 25 comments

Passport photos of famous artists, 1915-1925. Collection gleaned from passport applications files of writers actors, poets, artists, photographers. Also, Hollywood stars and other notables of the era.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:38 AM PST - 23 comments

Dan du Vaul turned his family ranch into a homeless shelter and started making a difference. For this he ran afoul of the county and ended up in jail. [more inside]
posted by empty vessel at 11:36 AM PST - 78 comments

Robert B. Parker, prolific crime-novel author, creator of Spenser, Sunny Randall, and Virgil Cole, among others, has died with his boots on.
posted by PsychoTherapist at 11:30 AM PST - 44 comments

America Bowl: U.S. Presidents vs. Super Bowls. "44 Presidents. 44 Super Bowls. Finally they battle head-to-head." For example, Abraham Lincoln vs. Super Bowl XVI: "Super Bowl XVI was pretty good. President 16 was pretty great. With malice toward none -- and in this we include the Bengals -- it's Abraham Lincoln in a walkover."
posted by kirkaracha at 11:07 AM PST - 28 comments

The FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. telephone call records between 2002 and 2006 by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist or simply persuading phone companies to provide records, according to internal bureau memos and interviews. FBI officials issued approvals after the fact to justify their actions. E-mails obtained by The Washington Post detail how counterterrorism officials inside FBI headquarters did not follow their own procedures that were put in place to protect civil liberties. The stream of urgent requests for phone records also overwhelmed the FBI communications analysis unit with work that ultimately was not connected to imminent threats. A Justice Department inspector general's report due out this month is expected to conclude that the FBI frequently violated the law with its emergency requests, bureau officials confirmed. Among those whose phone records were searched improperly were journalists for The Washington Post and the New York Times, according to interviews with government officials. [more inside]
posted by VikingSword at 9:42 AM PST - 93 comments

Folk singer Kate McGarrigle succumbs to cancer. Perhaps best known for her work with sister Anna, Kate was also the mother of performers Martha Wainwright and Rufus Wainwright. Kate and Anna's music was covered by more popular (in the US) performers, such as Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, and others. My favorite thing they did is "The Log Drivers Waltz", available as a video from the National Film Board of Canada. It always takes me back to my mother's house in the Canada. The McGarrigle website has lots of news, information, and links on the performers.
posted by paddbear at 5:48 AM PST - 82 comments

Damian from OK Go, explains why their music videos cannot be embedded. Specifically their new music video for This Too Shall Pass.
posted by zerobyproxy at 5:43 AM PST - 199 comments

Coroner's reports 1896-1935 Monroe County, Indiana. Strange, spare and haunting. The economy of description here makes each death a condensed, mysterious story; it's an addictive glimpse into an America with different expectations of life and death reminiscent, to me, of Wisconsin Death Trip as seen on a previous thread.
posted by fullofragerie at 5:26 AM PST - 110 comments

Martin Bromage, 49, took off yesterday morning but contact with him was lost over the Channel. His body was found by a French patrol boat at 10pm last night, two miles from Boulogne. His website remains up and his GPS location tracker is still working...
posted by A189Nut at 4:59 AM PST - 51 comments

Meet The Lady : A tumblr blog of ladies you may want to meet. No captions. No explanations. Possibly NSFW..[via mefi projects]
posted by The Whelk at 4:51 AM PST - 33 comments

Exploration of Beatles music through infographics.
posted by chillmost at 3:14 AM PST - 92 comments

'John Barleycorn' by Carol Ann Duffy From BBC2's 'The Culture Show', aired 26th November 2009. A lament for, and a celebration of, the Great British Pub.
posted by srboisvert at 2:23 AM PST - 26 comments