MetaFilter

"As he’s fond of saying, he has no interest in being average. [Dave] Asprey, who is 45, has made the widely publicized claim that he expects to live to 180. To that end, he plans to get his own stem cells injected into him every six months, take 100 supplements a day, follow a strict diet, bathe in infrared light, hang out in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and wear goofy yellow-lensed glasses every time he gets on an airplane. So far, Asprey says he’s spent at least a million dollars hacking his own biology, and making it to 2153 will certainly take several million more." [more inside]
posted by Grandysaur at 9:57 PM PST - 84 comments

Feng E is an 11 year old from Taiwan and a spectacular musical talent. He went viral last summer playing Classical Gas in a park. He has appeared on Ellen and in Asia's Got Talent. But the real gold is his YouTube channel. Come for an ethereal rendition of The Cranberries' Zombie, stay for a great cover of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and much much more. Finally, go back to see where the talent got started in the very first video on the channel, Hey Jude, probably when he was around 5 years old, just starting to learn to play and already darn good.
posted by Long Way To Go at 9:45 PM PST - 6 comments

Of the many unlikeable and inaccurate stereotypes maintained about animals in popular consciousness, among the most frustrating is what I term “old man turtle”. This is the idea that turtles (by which I mean, all members of Testudines) are like decrepit, weak, bony little old men housed inside a box. It’s not fair, and it’s not at all accurate. Here we look at just one aspect of turtle anatomy. In keeping with the stupid “old man turtle” idea, popular culture would have it that turtles are weak, flaccid, crappy organisms with dull social lives, stunted and barely functional internal organs and undersized sex organs. Well, wait a goddam minute… Warning: the following article may be considered unsuitable for viewing by minors.
posted by sciatrix at 8:08 PM PST - 17 comments

James Blake' Assume Form: a big, glitchy, swooning, hyper-modern declaration of love [The Guardian] “It’s not hard to see why someone might fall in love with Jameela Jamil – the star around which James Blake’s fourth album, Assume Form, orbits. [...] If one were to pitch Blake’s latest album in a Hollywood elevator, it would be that Assume Form is a soundtrack to that slow reveal: a loved-up paean to finding oneself in another. In that respect, it’s like Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear, stripped of its cynicism and soft porn. (“I’ll use both hands,” is about as far as Blake goes here.) It’s Nick Cave’s The Boatman’s Call – the Bad Seeds’ thinly disguised suite of love songs to PJ Harvey – with way more guest rappers.” [YouTube]["Where's The Catch"]["Mile High"]["Tell Them"]["Don't Miss It"] [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 7:10 PM PST - 4 comments

Composer and YouTuber Alex Ball explores the neglected genre of 40s and 50s orchestral Light Music in his continuing series, My Utterly Spiffing Guide to Light Music: Part 1: Harmony Overview, Part 2: Block chords, Part 3: Complex Harmony, Part 4: Woodwinds. [more inside]
posted by mubba at 3:30 PM PST - 13 comments

Dolphins beat up octopuses before eating them, and the reason is kind of horrifying: "Dolphins have two basic tactics here. One is to hold the octopus in their mouths, swim up out of the water, then slam back down to force the octopus’ body apart. The second is for the dolphin to move their head sideways and throw the octopus, essentially achieving the same slamming effect. Their reward for this trick is a high-protein meal, which is apparently worth the energy it takes to fully disarm dinner first." [study PDF]
posted by not_the_water at 2:54 PM PST - 40 comments

"As the U.K. wrestles with issues of identity and nationalism around Brexit, a new exhibit is putting fresh faces on the region's ancient residents." The sculptural facial reconstructions by Oscar Nilsson include the lovely Whitehawk Woman and the piratical Stafford Road Man. [more inside]
posted by Countess Elena at 1:50 PM PST - 23 comments

The Treasure Behind the Wall: Something in the new Oscar de la Renta boutique in Paris was not what it seemed.
posted by bq at 1:14 PM PST - 10 comments

The earliest when. "This is a list of earliests. The earliest it can be when as many women as men have won Best Director at the Oscars is 2111. The earliest it can be when as many women as men have won Best Director at the BAFTAs is 2068. The earliest it can be when as many women as men have..." [via mefi projects]
posted by Anonymous at 12:54 PM PST - 11 comments

Memories of Irish Birdsong "He must have thought I had looked at his sister funny, as he snarled “kerrx-kerrx” at me and started to fling his droppings. I was told afterwards that the whole family was mad. Brothers all musicians in America."
Flash fiction by Liam Heneghan in the Irish Times.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 12:13 PM PST - 2 comments

US Federal District Judge Beth Labson Freeman unseals internal Facebook documents related to a class action lawsuit over a game called "Ninja Saga". [more inside]
posted by tobascodagama at 12:04 PM PST - 26 comments

Haruomi Hosono (Wiki), of Yellow Magic Orchestra fame, produced two minimal electronic pieces for Muji, released on a cassette (Discogs) as Watering a Flower (YT) in 1984. Just yesterday (Jan. 24, 2019), Vampire Weekend released a song titled 2021, sampling the start of the first Muji-inspired song, along with a second track, Harmony Hall, from their forthcoming album. Bonus Vampire Weekend: 120 minutes of Harmony Hall guitars (YT x 3) Extra freebie: Chaz Bear, aka Toro y Moi, has released a surprise new project labeled “SOUL TRASH V1” (Spin) on Dropbox via an Instagram post. Want some noise to scrub your ears, or some more mellowness? Hacker Farm has both, under the tagline "Make do and mend. Broken music for a broken Britain" (Soundcloud, YouTube) [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 12:00 PM PST - 5 comments

Myra has missed 30 years of her life, due to a coma, but has found a new friendship with her young neighbor, Ossie. Together, they both are searching for their place in this world. What'd I Miss? is a comic by R. Alan Brooks and Cori Redford, published weekly in the Colorado Sun.
posted by asperity at 10:56 AM PST - 5 comments

Facebook's messaging services - Whatsapp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger - will be "integrated" over the next year to make them interoperable. It seems this has been a long-term plan of Zuck's and a core reason for the abrupt departures of the founders of Instagram and WhatsApp over the last twelve months. [more inside]
posted by humuhumu at 7:49 AM PST - 141 comments

This article is part 1 of a 4-part essay about the informal economy by Pascale Joassart, co-producer of "City Rising: The Informal Economy." Read Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
posted by infini at 6:22 AM PST - 13 comments

"One problem with ecological urban development is that it is too often disjointed and tokenistic. Hipster equivalents of Dig for Victory, however commendable, will not save us. Development needs to be rolled out on city-wide scales; every possible street, rooftop, block utilised. Sustainable building and the use of recycling to move towards a zero-waste culture is admirable but arguably still insufficient." An Architecture That Is More Than Just Green
posted by The Whelk at 3:09 AM PST - 8 comments

"It startles me that Australians think of their beaches and red deserts, but they don't know about this other part of their landscape." Surrounded by storms, riven by volcanic blasts, Heard Island is a place that few, ironically, have heard of.
posted by smoke at 2:48 AM PST - 12 comments

Does your MeFitePoop resemble rabbit droppings or chicken nuggets? Perhaps Galaxy Ripple? The Bristol Stool Chart (or scale, or form scale) is a visual way of describing your poop. (Recipe) There are seven classifications of stool, covering a spectrum from Maltesers to chocolate bar to river-running-through-you. Devised in Bristol and referenced in many medical papers, type 3 or 4 (sausage or snake) are the aspirational classes. However, other factors such as color and poop time, and impacts such as diet and hydration are also important. Edible. (If you pass this stool then seek medical assistance)
posted by Wordshore at 2:09 AM PST - 81 comments