Amidst the massive aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami being discussed in this thread, the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plants continues to unfold. For objective information, discussion, and analysis of the ongoing efforts to stabilize the fuel cores in the boiling water reactors of the type in Fukushima, nuclear engineers such as @arclight are providing laypeople with a much needed crash course on the inner workings of nuclear reactors.
posted to MetaFilter by Dr. Zira at 9:06 PM on March 12, 2011 (3070 comments)

"A 5-minute framework for fostering better conversations in comments sections." NPR's Matt Thompson interviews Jessamyn about why a thread about the assault on reporter Lara Logan turned so ugly on NPR's site, but didn't on the blue.
posted to MetaTalk by Horace Rumpole at 8:59 AM on March 7, 2011 (90 comments)

Documentaries/movies like Babies for 2-year-old?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by k8t at 8:14 AM on February 26, 2011 (7 comments)

I have an opportunity to give the most terrible scientific presentation I can possibly muster. Tell me how to make it awesomely bad.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by heyforfour at 12:48 PM on January 19, 2011 (143 comments)

Nonfiction book recommendations for books that both 1) explain the why behind things and 2) list specific things that you can do to learn the idea (not just “read along with me).
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Wolfster at 1:42 PM on February 21, 2011 (6 comments)

Please identify the source of this painting of a cat being crowned and robed by cherubs.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by zamboni at 7:01 AM on February 14, 2011 (9 comments)

Stephen Biesty is an award-winning British illustrator famous for his bestselling "Incredible" series of engineering art books: Incredible Cross-Sections, Incredible Explosions, Incredible Body, and many more. A master draftsman, Biesty does not use computers or even rulers in composing his intricate and imaginative drawings, relying on nothing more than pen and ink, watercolor, and a steady hand. Over the years, he's adapted his work to many other mediums, including pop-up books, educational games (video), interactive history sites, and animation. You can view much of his work in the zoomable galleries on his professional page, or click inside for a full listing of direct links to high-resolution, desktop-quality copies from his and other sites, including several with written commentary from collaborator Richard Platt [site, .mp3 chat].
posted to MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 4:40 PM on February 4, 2011 (24 comments)

Stanford's Visualization Group has produced a data cleanup web app called Wrangler that works like straight up magic.
posted to MetaFilter by chunking express at 8:18 AM on February 4, 2011 (32 comments)

I've decided I love graphic novels. What should I read next?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by lhude sing cuccu at 7:10 PM on January 22, 2011 (63 comments)

Parent-filter: In our household we expect our toddler to eat the same food as we eat, or at least eat a certain number of bites before leaving the table. This is rewarded with dessert. For new or exotic things, we also expect them to 'try' the food before opting out. A close friend considers the above expectations to be 'forcing' a child to eat, and that it 'makes her sick to her stomach.' She instead suggests that the proper approach is to always have on hand foods that the child is known to like, and to provide these upon prompting.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by leotrotsky at 7:46 PM on January 19, 2011 (126 comments)

Buried deep in the Bill Zeller obit thread is this (new?) gem from the Mefi Wiki: There is Help.
posted to MetaTalk by nevercalm at 3:13 PM on January 18, 2011 (25 comments)

Guitarfilter: Looking for the best online guitar instruction sites.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by kjl291 at 8:39 PM on September 10, 2008 (6 comments)

What's the best non-in-person way to learn guitar? I'm looking for either web-based lessons or a DVD.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by GilloD at 12:04 AM on January 3, 2010 (8 comments)

I'm an okay guitar player. How can I become a good one?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by synecdoche at 12:34 PM on January 24, 2010 (17 comments)

What are some good resources for finding out about recent/new/upcoming non-fiction books that discuss the web or the internet?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by cortex at 1:02 PM on January 7, 2011 (20 comments)

The Wikileaks Cablegate scandal is the most exciting and interesting hacker scandal ever. I rather commonly write about such things, and I’m surrounded by online acquaintances who take a burning interest in every little jot and tittle of this ongoing saga. So it’s going to take me a while to explain why this highly newsworthy event fills me with such a chilly, deadening sense of Edgar Allen Poe melancholia.

But it sure does.

Bruce Sterling on the world of post-Wikileaks diplomacy.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 5:12 PM on December 22, 2010 (394 comments)

Now chipmunk-free.
posted to MeFi Music by chococat at 3:28 PM on December 15, 2010 (8 comments)

A special encore performance by Christopher Walken and the Lounge Fellas.
posted to MeFi Music by cortex at 1:18 PM on December 21, 2010 (3 comments)

Full Utah Phillips concert from 2007: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. If you don't know who Utah Phillips is, be prepared to meet one of the great performers of our age, telling funny stories and cracking jokes, singing great songs, and generally being a world treasure. If you want to know more about this great singer, songwriter, and peace and labor activist, you can watch an hour long documentary on him from Democracy Now that was made after he passed away in 2008. [previously]
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 4:45 PM on December 15, 2010 (25 comments)

I thought I'd cross-post this here, since it's hard to hear 50's television / Ren and Stimpy style "light music" without feeling at least a little bit better about your day. PLUS, it's the latest in my series of songs I've written for my dog, and there's a happy story to go along with it.
posted to MeFi Music by jake at 5:00 PM on November 30, 2010 (24 comments)

Here, because I didn't sleep well last night, is a look at the use of the rhetorical device "[verb/adjective/descriptor] much?" on Metafilter. Specifically, on the blue, the grey, and the green.
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 12:35 PM on December 8, 2010 (92 comments)

How to make Google beatbox for you. shorter version: go here, hit listen.
posted to MetaFilter by juv3nal at 2:21 PM on November 29, 2010 (62 comments)

This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant; that's just the name of the song, and that's why I call the song Alice's Restaurant.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:32 PM on November 24, 2010 (159 comments)

November Music Challenge. A cappella rendition of a boards of canada song.
posted to MeFi Music by onehalfjunco at 12:31 PM on November 18, 2010 (7 comments)

always win.
posted to MeFi Music by chococat at 3:13 PM on November 15, 2010 (47 comments)

Hey there, butt puzzles, here's me and jessamyn rattling off insulting nicknames for your entertainment.
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 4:31 PM on November 16, 2010 (167 comments)

Fascinating account (w/ pix) of a motorcycle journey through Angola. Stumbled onto this from the Black Flag forums and have not been able to stop reading it.
posted to MetaFilter by jcruelty at 9:29 PM on May 26, 2008 (40 comments)

Arthur Rimbaud Documentary [via pb] is an impressionistic tour of Rimbaud's life, from a provincial upbringing, through his teenage poetic revolution, to his world travels and moderately successful business career in the Horn of Africa, featuring contemporary photographs, some taken by Rimbaud, and readings by Joan Baez. His poems (English translations, French, with some translated into English, earlier translations, with French originals) were fundamental in overthrowing the established traditions of writing and his personal story has long been an inspiration to those who chafe under the strictures of society. Ruth Franklin wrote about the whole arc of Rimbaud's life in The New Yorker, while Edmund White focuses on Rimbaud's bull-in-a-china-shop entrance into fellow poet Paul Verlaine's bourgeois existence in The Guardian. You can also read earlier biographical writings on Rimbaud, including his sister Isabelle's hagiographic account. Rimbaud's poetry has been set to music, perhaps most notably by electronic musician Hector Zazou and chansonnier Léo Ferré (links to music below the cut).
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 9:29 AM on November 7, 2010 (13 comments)

There's never been a better time to be a curious classical pianist. A few YouTube users have been uploading synchronized scores to dozens of interesting pieces, usually virtuosic and/or obscure, and often out of print or otherwise unavailable. There are all sorts of treasures, but perhaps the most notable scores are those of a lost generation of post-Scriabin Russian composers whose avant-garde output was later suppressed by the Soviet government.
posted to MetaFilter by dfan at 7:03 PM on November 4, 2010 (15 comments)

Help me start an annual 'birthday interview' tradition with my soon-to-be two-year-old. What questions should I ask her?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by nuffsaid at 10:58 AM on September 25, 2010 (15 comments)

I often use exposure bracketing with my Panasonic DMC-FX01. But now I have a problem, a huge chunk of my iPhoto library is taken up by trios of the same shot only one of which is actually needed for my archive. Is there some easy way to review bracketed sets and select one while deleting the rest?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by pasd at 8:58 AM on September 25, 2010 (5 comments)

How do I convince school administration a rule is bad?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 9:47 AM on September 8, 2010 (42 comments)

How a watch works in the clear, precise 1949 informational style.
posted to MetaFilter by DU at 4:57 AM on September 8, 2010 (20 comments)

Snippets of poetry from the Imperium; a sample folk tale from the Oral History; brief biographies of over a dozen Duncan Idahos; two differing approaches to Paul Muad'Dib himself and to his son Leto II; Fremen recipes; Fremen history; secrets of the Bene Gesserit; the songs of Gurney Halleck -- these are just some of the treasures found when an earthmover fell into the God Emperor's no-room at Dar-es-Balat. Out of print for more than two decades, disavowed by Frank Herbert's estate, and highly sought-after by fans, the legendary Dune Encyclopedia is now available online as a fully illustrated and searchable PDF [direct link].
posted to MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 4:30 PM on September 1, 2010 (55 comments)

I'm looking for some good books about jazz.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by The Card Cheat at 12:02 PM on August 27, 2010 (23 comments)

100 Helpful Photography Tutorials for Beginners and Professionals. Photography as both a profession and a hobby is an expansive topic that covers a vast range of subjects from science and art. No matter where you lie on the spectrum, there is always more to learn. From the folks at Tuts+.
posted to MetaFilter by netbros at 7:34 AM on August 22, 2010 (15 comments)

What to do about Meetup member that ruins everything?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by idle at 8:02 AM on August 16, 2010 (24 comments)

Please tell me alllllllll about potty training.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by A Terrible Llama at 2:43 PM on August 5, 2010 (37 comments)

Tarkovsky films. All of them. Free. Online. via @brainygamer
posted to MetaFilter by juv3nal at 3:05 PM on July 13, 2010 (133 comments)

Help me dress like a grown up. I'm tired of looking boyish on days that I don't wear a suit and a tie. What can a wear out around town, doing errands, at restaurants that says "Yes, I am an adult. Yes, I care about the way I look. No, I didn't wear this to work."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Drama Penguin at 9:07 PM on July 4, 2010 (35 comments)

This July 17th, in Portland, OR, is going to be an 11th Anniversary Meetup. Be here or be square.
posted to MeFi IRL by pb at 4:05 PM on June 16, 2010

What English-language science fiction books would you recommend I teach to Japanese high school students?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by MShades at 3:52 AM on June 23, 2010 (36 comments)

designgeekfilter: What are the most beautiful household products you own/use frequently/wish you owned?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rory Marinich at 4:02 PM on June 8, 2010 (67 comments)

The US Navy in 1915, a short film.
posted to MetaFilter by Chocolate Pickle at 9:03 AM on June 9, 2010 (14 comments)

I love going to museums and galleries and looking at art, but somehow never got around to taking an art history class in college. I'm looking for a book that will give me a good basic grounding in art history. Suggestions, please?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Messily at 8:52 AM on May 13, 2010 (21 comments)

This that you call Ursus maritimus, this polar bear. This is a being who came from somewhere and is going somewhere. It's not locked in time. And that—the great resistance to Darwin is, I think, he told us that it's all moving. And it's headed in no particular place. And then particular physics comes along. And quantum mechanics come along. And these physicists tell us the same thing. "It's really fuzzy out there."

A few days ago, without much notice, PBS broadcast the final episode of the Bill Moyers Journal. Moyers devoted his final segment to an interview with essayist Barry Lopez—whose writing, Moyers said, has "set the gold standard for all of us whose work it is to explain those things we don't understand." (Transcript.)
posted to MetaFilter by cirripede at 8:55 AM on May 3, 2010 (33 comments)

When I was a kid, my local library had a great selection of illustrated books focusing on the hypothectical future of space travel, life in space stations, space craft, planetary exploration. Some were pretty far out, but the most memorable were kind of "2001" in their theme and a bit more serious. After several google missions, and a swing through amazon's used and rare books, I've come up pretty much empty handed. Anyone else out there remember flipping through these books and planning your first trip to mars? Titles, authors, links or any hint what so ever would be appreciated!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by thehickmans at 8:30 PM on July 6, 2007 (17 comments)

In 1957, Frank Herbert was a journalist and writer of short stories, on his way to Florence, Oregon to do an article about the U. S. Department of Agriculture's attempts to control sand dunes that were shifting. The USDA was searching for something to stabilize the dunes, and they came upon European beach grass. Herbert's research was for an article tentatively titled "They Stopped The Moving Sands." The article was never completed, but his research of dune stabilization lead to larger ecological matters, and eventually the novel Dune. This year marks the 45th anniversary that novel. The world of dunes, both fictional and real, has changed quite a bit in the years.
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 2:11 PM on April 22, 2010 (99 comments)

Daniel Leonard Everett is a linguistics professor best known for his study of the Amazon Basin's Pirahã people and their language. "Influenced by the Pirahã's concept of truth, he slowly lost his Christian faith and became an atheist." Radio NZ hast a 90 minute interview with him. This is a shorter introduction if you prefer
posted to MetaFilter by nola at 8:39 PM on March 26, 2010 (35 comments)

How can I keep track of all the people I meet, and things I know about them? There are so many people.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by lakerk at 10:32 AM on February 19, 2010 (16 comments)