July 20, 2020
Michael Brooks has passed away.
Remembering Michael Brooks; Rest in Power, Brother In some devastating news, Michael Brooks has passed away due to a sudden illness. He has followers here on Metafilter where he has been quoted and referred to with respect, and has united thinking and feeling people across the world.
The True True Truth
Because “now, more than ever, it might be important for you to try” to reach loved ones deep in the web of conspiracy theories, John Cena, Catherine O'Hara, Billy Porter, Paul Rudd, and Alex Trebek have worked with John Oliver to create videos asking people to think more critically about information they find on the internet.
2020: the gift that simply cannot stop giving
Scientists accidentally create 'impossible' hybrid fish They call it the sturddlefish. [SLLiveScience, short-ish read]
Let's drill!
A couple of developers (Johan & Johan) have made Pico Driller, a free, simplified rendition of arcade classic Mr. Driller, in Pico8! It's a good introduction to the Ways of the Drill. Good luck! [more inside]
.... the irony of seeing a monk, robe and all, beatboxing ...
Yogetsu Akasaka is a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk who creates music for meditations. But not the kind most people are familiar with. In videos uploaded on YouTube, he stands in the middle of a white background, grabs a mic, and beatboxes to a loop machine.
Clams!
Dan Killiam lays out some wild clam facts and some tricky clam research. Ecology, paleogeobiochemistry, stable isotope fractionation, some great pictures.
Reproducing racism
As racial disparities in health come into the spotlight amid COVID-19, we explore how the legacy of racism affects maternal health in the United States. [more inside]
Six Cats Under
Oh my goodness gracious! How clumsy of me. Reading is more dangerous than I thought. Oh no… What about my precious kitties! Stuck in this apartment , how will they survive? I must get the front door open so they can run free!
In the little point-and-click browser game Six Cats Under, you must resolve your unfinished business on this plane by helping Frederick, Mr. Spock, Baroness, Pumpkin, Ponyo, Clancy, Pickle, Geoffrey, Edgar, Sniffles, Rufus, and Deborah escape your home.
By Miles Äijälä, Robin Swift, Tomas Beržinskas, and Alex Martin.
In the little point-and-click browser game Six Cats Under, you must resolve your unfinished business on this plane by helping Frederick, Mr. Spock, Baroness, Pumpkin, Ponyo, Clancy, Pickle, Geoffrey, Edgar, Sniffles, Rufus, and Deborah escape your home.
By Miles Äijälä, Robin Swift, Tomas Beržinskas, and Alex Martin.
Everyday life in Tokyo, 1913-1915
So much for the unalloyed enthusiasm for the metric system
OnThisDay 1973: Willie Rushton railed against the Metrication Board, who had come for his beloved British yard. (SL Twitter)
Poking the bear.
We thought this bear was out cold. We were mistaken. Changing the radio collar on a 350-pound hibernating bear should have been a routine task—if he'd been sleeping soundly.
We don’t know what this is or what it was used for.
The Science Museum in London has a question for the public: "Do you know what this is? No, seriously, can you tell us?" [more inside]
The Most Important Scientist You Have Never Heard Of
The hero and the villain of this story are both scientists. It's a parable about the importance of careful and precise work, of not fooling yourself.
It's the true story of why we no longer use leaded gasoline, and how the oil industry resisted that change. And in the end the hero almost certainly prevented more murders and violent crimes than any law enforcement officer in history or most superheroes in fantasy.
A model for reparations programs around the country
Asheville, North Carolina, approves reparations for Black residents - "In a historic move, the city of Asheville, North Carolina, voted unanimously this past week to approve a reparations resolution for Black residents and formally apologized for the role it played in slavery and implementing racist policies." (via) [more inside]
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