March 26, 2019

"Twitter, I have a weird favor to ask…"

Cassandra Khaw asked her Twitter followers a question:
I have a college of resurrectionists to write, and I need departments and schools of thought. We have golemancers, necromancers, osteomancers, clockwork engineers who think the soul is best housed in brass. What else should I have?
The replies are delightful.
posted by Lexica at 10:43 PM PST - 27 comments

From New Mexico to Silicon Valley, UFOs represent the religion of tech

Belief in aliens could be America’s next religion (The Outline). American Cosmic explores how the once-fringe phenomenon has taken root among the powerful, with "alien locations" as new holy sites, by Dr. Diana Pasulka, Professor of Religious Studies and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, who cites the New York Times cover article from 2017 (previously) as to bringing credibility to this general study, and Jacques Vallée (Wikipedia) as a credible ufologist with a lengthy history of research. Lengthy interview on Spaced Out Radio (YouTube).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:06 PM PST - 67 comments

Female vs Male Dieting

Ketogentic diets are more effective for men than women Hormones, specifically estrogen, plays a role in weight loss.
posted by Yellow at 6:28 PM PST - 50 comments

Homemade Modern

"It is desirable to people and institutions that have lots of options, and it's attainable to people who don't."
Ben Uyeda stopped designing sustainable mansions to instead create designs for people to make at home. His products are beautiful, his videos are perfect, and he gives away all his designs for free.
posted by rebent at 6:13 PM PST - 14 comments

Forgotten New York is almost old enough to drink

Forgotten New York is 20 years old today. In that time, its proprietor has toured many a corner of NYC. [more inside]
posted by ferret branca at 5:59 PM PST - 3 comments

Louisiana's land-loss crisis

Since the nineteen-thirties, Louisiana has shrunk by more than two thousand square miles. If Delaware or Rhode Island had lost that much territory, the U.S. would have only 49 states. [more inside]
posted by hydra77 at 5:09 PM PST - 11 comments

Remarkable for their gull-ability

European Gull Screeching Championship has folks squawking 'the sound of the sea' (SL CBC).
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:49 PM PST - 8 comments

Women like physics just fine; Strumia we could do without.

Alessandro Strumia (previously) after being suspended and then fired from CERN due to his sexist comments, has doubled down on his comments in an article in the Sunday Times. Shannon Palus for Slate has annotated the article accordingly. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 2:55 PM PST - 10 comments

So Danish!

Copenhagen Wants to Show How Cities Can Fight Climate Change "Mr. Jensen said mayors, more than national politicians, felt the pressure to take action. “We are directly responsible for our cities and our citizens, and they expect us to act,” he said." NYT By Somini Sengupta Photographs by Charlotte de la Fuente
posted by bq at 12:26 PM PST - 1 comments

0db PC

On building a completely silent PC with passive cooling and no moving parts. [more inside]
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 11:51 AM PST - 56 comments

ɾ, ɹ, l, ɫ

Why some Asian accents swap Ls and Rs in English a video by Vox's Joss Fong explores the different ways people use their pink trombone
posted by gwint at 11:40 AM PST - 31 comments

“This motley collection of visions and medication-fueled delusions...”

The Dreams Of A Man Asleep For Three Weeks [Kotaku] “On March 22, 2018, I was rushed to the hospital for life-saving surgery. Due to complications with the procedure, I didn’t regain full, coherent consciousness until the second week in April. For three weeks I was stuck inside my own mind, subject to a seemingly unending series of dreams. Dreams covering on a variety of themes, some light and hopeful, others dark and dismal. I dreamed the end of my life over and over. I was a hero and a villain. Sometimes, but not often, I was Michael Fahey.”
posted by Fizz at 11:22 AM PST - 16 comments

At first blush this might sound stupid. But, counterpoint: no it isn’t.

Give the Nobel Prize in Literature to Dril
posted by JimBennett at 10:37 AM PST - 107 comments

A Future Worth Fighting For

“Excess profits would no longer benefit only the rich and powerful, and the benefits of holding capital would be shared across society. The funds would be controlled by workers within entire branches of industry, thereby ensuring that they would not provide an unequal benefit to workers in the most profitable companies and not contribute to increased differences in wages between workers — unlike other profit-sharing schemes bound to specific companies as have periodically been seen in the US and other countries in the past.” Revisiting the Meidner Plan, what we can learn from the 1970s Swedish effort to gradually socialize ownership.
posted by The Whelk at 9:26 AM PST - 3 comments

the house with a mainframe in its walls

Is This Harvard Prototype the Greenest House in America? HouseZero, the headquarters for the Center For Green Building And Cities was extensively retrofitted by Snøhetta and Skanska Teknikk, even to the point of having no HVAC system. The Brain in The Basement controls temperature and ventilation.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:24 AM PST - 19 comments

Aphex Infinitum

Have you ever heard a song you liked so much you wished it would last forever?
posted by borkencode at 8:54 AM PST - 42 comments

Trigger Warnings

Trigger warnings do not work. "Trigger warnings are, at best, trivially helpful," writes a research team led by psychologist Mevagh Sanson of the University of Waikato. The paper finds they "have no effect, or might even work slightly in the direction of causing harm."
posted by certs at 8:34 AM PST - 77 comments

At least it's an ethos.

A Visual Guide to the Big Lebowski. "The Big Lebowski's world is eclectic, diffuse, and supersaturated. Its plot, its soundtrack, its cast of characters, and their conversations: these elements are not centered and uniform but diverse and divergent. As Lebowski fans might put it, there is no rug that ties the room together. How, then, might viewers orient themselves within the film?" This visualization provides a means of exploring this question, for those who are devoted fans, casually acquainted with the film, or simply interested in visual representations of temporal forms. (From Steven Geofrey Braun, information designer.)
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:28 AM PST - 23 comments

A Knife in Every Pocket

How Everyday Carry Took Over Men's Media
posted by backseatpilot at 7:41 AM PST - 218 comments

EU Approves the EU Copyright Directive

Long debated, the EU Copyright Directive is a mammoth piece of legislation revamping copyright law across the EU. Of particular concern to many activists, in addition to the general trend of tightening copyright restrictions and increasing penalties, are Article 11 and Article 13.
posted by sotonohito at 7:32 AM PST - 25 comments

Come for the politics, stay for the blossoms

Peak bloom is arriving soon in Washington, DC. The National Park Service predicts the historical cherry blossom trees along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC will burst into beautiful peak bloom next week. Casey Trees, established in 2002, is committed to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the nation’s capital. They have published an updated ArcGIS map that shows, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, where to find the different varieties of the famous cherry trees. Local resident tip: go far from the madding crowd. [more inside]
posted by wicked_sassy at 6:19 AM PST - 16 comments

Safer boozing through chemistry

A team in London, led by David Nutt, is developing a synthetic alcohol substitute for beverages. Named Alcarelle, the synthetic molecule will bind to the Gaba receptors in the brain, giving the effect of tipsiness caused by alcohol, whilst not metabolising into the byproducts that cause hangovers and increase risks of cancer, stroke or heart disease. The design of the molecule will also allow a peak effect to be built in, regulating the amount of inebriation possible, and opening the possibility of variants for different situations, from parties to business lunches. [more inside]
posted by acb at 3:59 AM PST - 70 comments

“Jules, you know what they call a grilled burrito in Paris?”

Guardian: “The French taco, which bears little resemblance to anything Mexican, is a cross between a grilled panini, wrap and kebab, with everything sealed inside a vast rectangular parcel - fries included.” More similar to a pressed burrito, panini, or perhaps a Glaswegian munchy box encased in pastry or a wrapped Teesside Parmesan, this savoury dish usually consists of “a flour tortilla grilled and folded around a filling of French fries, cheese, and meat, among other deli ingredients”. Also available in Morocco and Canada. Hungry? Try the Gigatacos in Brooklyn.
posted by Wordshore at 2:36 AM PST - 47 comments

Who invented the dishwasher, windshield wiper, caller ID?

Women created these 50 inventions
...
19. The First Monopoly Game
Inventor: Elizabeth Magie
Year / period: 1904
Originally designed to demonstrate the evils of unchecked capitalism, Magie's "The Landlord's Game," was patented in 1904, 30 years before a man patented a very similar game called Monopoly and sold it to Parker Brothers.
...
posted by kliuless at 12:34 AM PST - 15 comments

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