November 4, 2020

A Twenty-Year (And Counting) Mission

Amid all the terrestrial chaos, an anniversary slipped past almost unnoticed: humans have occupied space for a solid twenty years, courtesy of the International Space Station, a joint project of NASA, Roscosmos, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (ASC or CSA, depending). Since 2000, over two hundred astronauts, cosmonauts, and space tourists from various nations have taken turns flying above our heads. [more inside]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:27 PM PST - 6 comments

No More Presidents

Do we need a head of state? Does the United States of America need a president? Renegade Cut: In the US the president is both the head of state (the public representative whose duties vary depending on the nation's constitution) and the head of government (the chief officer of the executive branch). This is unusual, even unique, in the Global North (the term associated with rich nations) this consolidation makes the president arguably the most powerful and influential individual in the world. [more inside]
posted by AlSweigart at 5:17 PM PST - 46 comments

Be still, my beating heart!

Heartstopper is a webcomic -- and now series of books -- by Alice Oseman. It tells the story of Charlie and Nick, two teenage boys at an all-boys school in the UK who fall in giddily in love -- though the story is as much about their worlds and how their unfolding relationship fits into those worlds as it is about the relationship itself. While the tone is generally gentle and upbeat, it does delve into issues of bullying, self-harm, and eating disorders (and episodes that might be have upsetting content have warnings at the top). [more inside]
posted by treepour at 1:36 PM PST - 15 comments

US Election Day 2020: The Sequel

Because of the ongoing vote counting in the US Elections which may take additional days to resolve, and the groaning size of the original US Election 2020 thread (excellent FPP here), this post is “Part Deux”. Let the MeFi servers and mobile devices everywhere rejoice!
posted by darkstar at 12:09 PM PST - 1800 comments

Spoopy Streaming Sensation

Phasmophobia (Win/VR via Steam Early Access) is the latest Twitch videogame sensation, “a truly terrifying psychological online co-op ghost hunting experience” (PC Gamer), “a nice, cozy kind of horror that’s light on gore but still offers genuine thrills and chills” (The Verge).
posted by adrianhon at 6:14 AM PST - 10 comments

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