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A tour inside a Hammond Solovox circa 1940s, a monophonic synth/organ and "a scaled down mono version of the 170-tube 500-some-pound Hammond Novacord", by Bob Weigel. via
posted by Ardiril at 11:29 PM PST - 9 comments

In the 1940s Barbara McClintock discovered the remarkable phenomenon of mobile genetic elements, or transposons: parasitic DNA that makes up a significant fraction of the human genome. (Here is a video segment about McClintock: Part 1 & 2.) The discovery remains highly important: we now know that transposons play a role in driving genome evolution. Where do they come from? A compelling hypothesis is that some evolved from viruses.

Now a marine biology group at UBC has found a virus whose closest genetic relative is a type of transposon. (The paywalled paper's abstract is here.) But that is not even the interesting part. [more inside]
posted by jjray at 10:47 PM PST - 35 comments

(SLYT) -- Suppose you are a pop star out on tour. Suppose that one night, your flight gets cancelled, stranding you -- and lots of other passengers -- and that subsequent flights also get cancelled and delayed, and that the other passengers are starting to get really angry, to the point that some tempers are starting to flare. What do you do? Well, if you're Cyndi Lauper, you get one of the airport mikes and lead a singalong.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:44 PM PST - 56 comments

The Program for Public Consultation carried out a different kind of budget poll -- they asked each of their respondents to generate a package of tax increases and spending cuts sufficient for substantial deficit reduction, then averaged the results. The outcome was not what you might expect. The mean package included twice as much tax increase as spending cut: big deficit-reducing moves included substantial income tax increases for the highest brackets and deep cuts in defense spending. Republicans cut less spending than Democrats, as did people who identified as "very sympathetic to the Tea Party." Hardly anybody likes the reduction of the estate tax. Why is the public consensus so different from the Washington consensus? Read the full report (.pdf) Or try the interactive budget exercise.
posted by escabeche at 8:07 PM PST - 52 comments

Exactly 94 years ago today the American philosopher Donald Davidson (1917-2003) was born. [more inside]
posted by The Emperor of Ice Cream at 7:53 PM PST - 7 comments

The Story So Far: Calamity of Challenge is a comic (plus ads) by Matthew Allison concerning a very different kind of superfigure: CANKOR. (possibly NSFW or at least lunch)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:46 PM PST - 11 comments

Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer. "Computers mimic human reasoning by building on simple rules and statistical averages. Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence. Choose from two different modes: novice, where the computer learns to play from scratch, and veteran, where the computer pits over 200,000 rounds of previous experience against you."
posted by bwg at 4:46 PM PST - 74 comments

Do The Decemberists have too many songs about rape?
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:26 PM PST - 119 comments

Twtspire uses the twitter search api to find tweets with key phrases like "I wish there was a site that..." and collects these ideas for your perusal. (via Hacker News)
posted by The Devil Tesla at 3:56 PM PST - 17 comments

Can Metal, specifically Iron Maiden, cross cultural boundaries and help build world peace? So asks Mark LeVine in AlJazeera. When some of the biggest names in Metal during the 80s performed at the Moscow Peace Festival in 1989 lots of critics gave a shrug. Iron Maiden, which has a following the world over, could be part of an unsung musical movement that is providing home for a community that crosses national and cultural lines.
posted by kmartino at 3:40 PM PST - 38 comments

Among the anime films by Hayao Miyazaki made available in English translation, Spirited Away contains the most folk and Shrine Shinto motifs. The central locale of the film is a bathhouse where a great variety of creatures, including kami, come to bathe and be refreshed. This feature, plus the portrayal of various other folk beliefs and Shrine Shinto perspectives, suggests that Miyazaki is affirming some basic Japanese cultural values which can be a source of confidence and renewal for contemporary viewers.
posted by hippybear at 3:36 PM PST - 56 comments

Author Shlomi Fish offers advice on how to more effectively disarm Internet trolls using techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
posted by ChrisHartley at 3:32 PM PST - 56 comments

How Soul Music Became "Soul Music." A writer takes the occasion of the release of Adele's new album, 21, to explore the popularity and implications of the young British soul singers. "Because if we're truly living in an age that defies stereotypes and explodes clichés, where distances of all kinds have been virtually obliterated, then everything—timbre, blue notes, pronunciation, timing, diction—is available as stylistic options." [more inside]
posted by beisny at 1:50 PM PST - 36 comments

Mariella Frostrup on International Women's Day, feminism and the emancipation of women in the developing world.
posted by Artw at 12:42 PM PST - 10 comments

An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science 8 videos in which SisyphusRedeemed, academic philosopher, attempts to explain what science is, how it got to be that way, and why it works. [more inside]
posted by Obscure Reference at 12:15 PM PST - 12 comments

The Hungry Owl Project has rescued a couple of Barn Owlets and has placed them in a nest box complete with camera for your viewing pleasure on the grounds of the Marin Art and Garden Center. It is the 3rd cam at the bottom of the page. I have donated to Wildcare (their parent organization) but am not otherwise affliated with this program.
posted by agatha_magatha at 11:12 AM PST - 9 comments

The Billionaire Who Is Planning His 125th Birthday. Also: The Die-Later Diet [more inside]
posted by zarq at 11:06 AM PST - 66 comments

Mozilla's HTML 5 Circus rolls into town. The emergence of HTML 5 is marked by, among others, emerging browsers (or browser versions). The soon to be released Firefox 4, often delayed, mirrors the slow march to an HTML 5 Flash reduced web. Like others, Mozilla feels the need to sell HTML 5. We also have Chrome Experiments, Canvas Demos, IE HTML 5 demos and Never Mind the Bullets, and Apple's (warning: sniffer protected) HTML 5 showcase. [more inside]
posted by juiceCake at 9:40 AM PST - 102 comments

May 21, 2011 (not September 6, 1994, as once thought) is the big one, and Project Caravan -- not to be confused with the Caravan Project -- is rolling your way, albeit on a path suspiciously coincident with the Gasparilla Pirate Fest. Family Radio will bring the message to those not on the route, but the caravan is bringing the message along more than 30,000 miles of road. "Everybody's desperate trying to make ends meet/Work all day, still can't pay the price of gasoline and meat/Alas, they drive . . . in big RVs."
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 9:38 AM PST - 17 comments

Between 1887 and 1892, John C.H. Grabill sent 188 photographs to the Library of Congress for copyright protection. Grabill is known as a western photographer, documenting many aspects of frontier life – hunting, mining, western town landscapes and white settlers’ relationships with Native Americans.
posted by The Whelk at 9:33 AM PST - 30 comments

Vintage Brazilian Carnaval seen through old family album pictures. SLGallery. SFW.
posted by Tom-B at 9:16 AM PST - 2 comments

An essay in two parts on the pilcrow (¶) kicks off a new blog called Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:03 AM PST - 17 comments

It's sometimes argued that people use the internet as an "echo chamber" to reinforce their own views. Scientific American magazine blog editor Bora Zivkovic argues that the web breaks echo chambers in a way unlike offline communities and traditional media.
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:54 AM PST - 33 comments

"Our Census Business Practice successes include the U.S. 2000 Census, the United Kingdom’s 2001 Census, and Canada’s 2006 Census..." [more inside]
posted by ReWayne at 7:36 AM PST - 14 comments

"When [700] hundred years old *you* reach, look as good *you* will not, hmm? " Face of incredibly preserved 700-year-old mummy found by chance by Chinese road workers.
posted by Fizz at 6:30 AM PST - 30 comments

Across the internet, over the shouts of "First!" can be heard thecries of "Ad hominem!" shamefully and ignorantly used against disagreeing attacks most who call this out fall victim of the dreaded Ad Hominem Fallacy Fallacy [more inside]
posted by AndrewKemendo at 3:53 AM PST - 112 comments