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This is Nigeria. [more inside]
posted by MartinWisse at 8:20 AM - 0 comments

Is nature continuous or discrete? - "Lucretius could easily have used the Latin words atomus (smallest particle) or particula (particle), but he went out of his way not to. Despite his best efforts, however, the two very different Latin terms he did use, corpora (matters) and rerum (things), were routinely translated and interpreted as synonymous with discrete 'atoms'. Further, the moderns either translated out or ignored altogether the nearly ubiquitous language of continuum and folding used throughout his book, in phrases such as 'solida primordia simplicitate' (simplex continuum)."
posted by kliuless at 6:54 AM - 4 comments

Dabney had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer in late 2017, and, according to friends, decided against treatment after being told he had eight months to live. [more inside]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:00 AM - 6 comments

Philanthrocapitalism - The trouble with charitable billionaires
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:20 AM - 5 comments

Cherie Priest: Things overheard whilst a zippy Pomeranian named "Chunk" escaped his yard and chased after me while I walked Greyson and Lucy this morning. A thread: Twitter | Threadreader
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:48 PM - 12 comments

How to make the sharpest jello kitchen knife in the world (SLYT).
posted by yasaman at 7:19 PM - 48 comments

AWAKEN AKIRA [YouTube][Trailer][Concept] Created by two friends, Ash Thorp and Zaoeyo (XiaoLin Zeng), who wanted to collaborate on a tribute to the iconic anime, Akira, by Katsuhiro Otomo, it's creation took over a year.
posted by Fizz at 6:43 PM - 7 comments

“the most common arguments for technology optimism do not stand up to scrutiny”/“automation is very good for growth and very bad for equality”
posted by spaceburglar at 6:25 PM - 17 comments

What Ever Happened To The Sun-Dried Tomato?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:37 PM - 58 comments

DRINK! by They Might Be Giants. (previously) [more inside]
posted by Caduceus at 4:46 PM - 74 comments

Libertarian economist Alex Tabarrok set out to discover to what degree increasing government regulation was responsible for the 40-year decline in economic dynamism in the United States. Turns out it isn't. Washington Monthly has a celebratory article about the study. Reason asks if he's the most honest economist in academia. Tabarrok says there's nothing to get worked up about. [more inside]
posted by clawsoon at 2:40 PM - 16 comments

When is centrism useful?
posted by Artw at 12:34 PM - 82 comments

Alan Bean, astronaut and artist, died today. [more inside]
posted by Thorzdad at 12:18 PM - 38 comments

Elizabeth Hernandez, reporter for the Denver Post, got a press release announcing an attempt to break the Guinness world record for waffle stacking. Then things got awesome. (sltwitterthread)
posted by Etrigan at 12:00 PM - 33 comments

She is a comedy great, even if she insists she isn’t.
posted by MovableBookLady at 10:07 AM - 13 comments

"Don't give up." From the vidder who brought us Starships (previously), a celebration.
posted by sciatrix at 10:03 AM - 5 comments

To Build Truly Intelligent Machines, Teach Them Cause and Effect (Quanta) - "Judea Pearl, a pioneering figure in artificial intelligence, argues that AI has been stuck in a decades-long rut. His prescription for progress? Teach machines to understand the question why." [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 4:56 AM - 46 comments

Scottish independence is back in the news... and the hunt is back on for an illusive Scottish icon, Nessie (or may be just its dandruff)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:13 AM - 14 comments

The collection of photographs [by Jayanti Seiler] are part of a photographic essay that began in 2013 titled, “Of One and The Other”, which seeks to inspire consideration of the complexity and depth found in the relationships between animals and humans from all points along a spectrum that spans the chasm from lifesaving to exploitation.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:28 PM - 5 comments

Language welcomes, but it also excludes. The fundamental injustice of the baby sign-language trend is that our culture touts the benefits of signing for hearing children, but disregards A.S.L. for the deaf children who need it the most. [more inside]
posted by Toddles at 9:50 PM - 17 comments

World War II made paperback novels popular in the U.S. thanks to Armed Service Editions, which evolved from earlier failed book drives. G.I.s came back home with their little books, and wanted more. After pulp magazines died off (because of the war efforts), pulp paperbacks flourished, first with hardcover titles repackaged for an audience grown used to portable Army editions, but soon came the "lascivious and streetwise stories that made steady work for a generation of writers," including potboilers and pin-ups that showed gay and bisexual women they were not alone. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:05 PM - 10 comments

If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing it would be this: “Abby, you were never Little Red Riding Hood; you were always the wolf.” So when I was entrusted with the honor of speaking here today, I decided that the most important thing for me to say to you is this: BARNARD WOMEN—CLASS OF 2018—WE. ARE. THE. WOLVES.

Former U.S. soccer star Abby Wambach delivers the commencement address at Barnard College. Transcript. via.
posted by Rumple at 7:31 PM - 16 comments

An appreciation of in-game shopkeepers [Engadget] “In-game shops are more than handy outlets to transform random metal scraps and tired old gear into new and useful items. Shops offer a reprieve from the action of whichever digital world you've entered, allowing you to take a moment, breathe and consider the situation from afar. Do you want to play as a gun-toting tank or a sneaky spy? Is your bow powerful enough for the battles ahead? Do you have enough health potions? Does your character look better in green or purple? Only the shop can provide the answers. Overseeing all of these calculations -- and guarding stores' impossibly large piles of loot -- are the shopkeepers.” [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 5:21 PM - 56 comments

What to do when there's a bear in your yard? As in any other interpersonal/ursine situation, communication is the key. Here are some practical demonstrations on how to establish boundaries with your furry neighbors. Canadians like to do it politely, while we Finns like to be a bit more assertive. Via SATW.
posted by severiina at 4:43 PM - 25 comments

ULC-ordained mother-to-be performs maternity ward ceremony from her hospital bed. Adorable photos of both babies included within.
posted by jacquilynne at 4:28 PM - 9 comments

America’s Version of Capitalism Is Incompatible With Democracy "American democracy is unwell; on this much, President Trump’s detractors can agree. But when they turn to the tasks of identifying our republic’s symptoms, naming its illness, and writing a prescription, different factions of “the resistance” produce divergent diagnoses." [more inside]
posted by bookman117 at 3:32 PM - 13 comments

Emilia Clarke launches a new career in stock photos (slyt)
posted by octothorpe at 2:33 PM - 16 comments

The Tastes of Summer, Ranked: Peach vs. watermelon. Kielbasa vs. hot dog. Fudgsicle vs. Chipwich. New York Times food critics and writers assess the season’s peak pleasures. [No fire wall]
posted by Room 641-A at 1:23 PM - 57 comments

Cardgames.io: your one-stop shop for rounds of cribbage, euchre, gin rummy, hearts, idiot, manni, classic rummy, spades, spit, switch, whist, and more. No bells, few whistles, mostly cards (plus backgammon, checkers, and Yahtzee). [more inside]
posted by Iridic at 1:17 PM - 49 comments

A Gandhian Stand Against the Culture of Cruelty. An essay by Pankaj Mishra on the importance of compassion in public life, and its absence today. "More ominously, this moral calamity in the world’s largest democracy is part of a global rout of such basic human emotions as empathy, compassion, and pity."
posted by russilwvong at 1:15 PM - 4 comments

From healthcare to tax and immigration, Rev William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign are driven by faith to focus on the disadvantaged ‘Jesus never charged a leper co-pay’ (The Guardian). The revitalized Poor People’s Campaign calls for ‘a moral agenda based on fundamental rights.’ THE SOULS OF POOR FOLK is an audit of the state of poverty, systemic racism, and militarism since the last campaign 50 years ago. Find a campaign event near you.
posted by The Whelk at 12:58 PM - 5 comments

Idle Animations, depending on who you ask, are either the animation a video game character plays when no input is given, or the animation played when no input has been received for while. Read what a number of game developers have to say about their favorites, or maybe you'd just like to sit through 20-odd minutes of sprites killing time.
posted by subocoyne at 10:38 AM - 23 comments

Beth Lesser's cool photographs on the Greek website, Lifo. During the 1980s, my husband and I traveled frequently to Kingston, Jamaica and Brooklyn, NY from our home in Toronto, Canada to follow the changing reggae scene. At the time, we were publishing Reggae Quarterly magazine and Dave was hosting Reggae Showcase on CKLN radio. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye at 10:19 AM - 1 comment

A couple of days ago, I captured an especially dramatic act of thievery...
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 9:53 AM - 28 comments

She has an astonishing resume, starting with her current job as vet to Emirati royalty's animals. Here's her Linkedin list: Stewart at linkedin And here's one of her YouTube videos from Hawaii: Hollis on Whales
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:13 AM - 1 comment

Tokyo is home to the world’s busiest train stations, handling a combined 13 billion passenger trips annually. Beneath the bustle, unobtrusive features are designed to unconsciously manipulate passenger behavior, via light, sound, and other means. [more inside]
posted by carter at 9:02 AM - 15 comments

In the last several decades, performance art—or at least the evocation of “performance art”—has somewhat unexpectedly wormed its way into popular music.
posted by spaceburglar at 7:40 AM - 21 comments

"One crucial function of the brain is the retention of traumatic events and the feelings associated with them. Theoretically the function is designed to prevent us from repeating our mistakes, but more often than not it just means a flashback in the middle of Whole Foods to that one time in first grade when you called your teacher “Mom.” Certain scenarios are ripe for producing those decadeslong cringes, but the arena of childhood sports might combine all the elements necessary for a permanent scar: audiences composed of peers and strangers, shows of dexterity, the agony of adolescence." What Childhood Sports Failures Keep You Up at Night?
posted by everybody had matching towels at 6:28 AM - 81 comments

The EU's General Data Protection Regulation has gone live today. Some American newspapers have decided that it's easier to block European users than comply. Having had two years to prepare, they say that they continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. What is the goal of the GDPR, and what impact will it have? [more inside]
posted by clawsoon at 5:53 AM - 119 comments

Mate, I really don't care. The issue of Brexit was settled almost two years ago. We have ten years from the point at which we leave the European Union to negotiate a free trade agreement. Your next ten years are irrelevant. I was not prepared to end up with absolutely the most harmful outcome imaginable. If they don't support and help Theresa May to get a deal, there is the risk of having somebody much, much more aggressive. You're deluded if you think you'll be able to blame the debacle just on them. I'm beginning to think I may have voted the wrong way. [more inside]
posted by rory at 5:24 AM - 98 comments

Working with "Amazing Grace", musician Jacob Collier discusses and demonstrates five levels of understanding of harmony - from child level to expert (with an expert who I'll leave as a surprise). [more inside]
posted by rongorongo at 3:55 AM - 12 comments

Question Your Answers is a series of short films that 'challenge our certainties'. Michael K. Williams ‘Typecast’, Jeffrey Wright ‘Should I Be Scared?’ (mlyt)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:43 AM - 10 comments

Frederik the Great is a Friesian stallion who may be the most handsome horse in the world. More evidence at Pinnacle Friesians.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:29 PM - 39 comments

What Does Ruby Chocolate Taste Like? Although the article says there are no recipes online, there is one now - from MasterChef Australia, a component of Nigella's Chocolate Feast.
posted by unliteral at 6:35 PM - 39 comments

Coyote killing competitions, where contestants vie to shoot the most animals, are held throughout the U.S. But some hunting groups are denouncing these events as unethical, and states from New Mexico to New York are considering bans on these and other wildlife killing contests. In 2014, Vice Magazine reporters went undercover on such an event.
posted by Rumple at 6:33 PM - 47 comments

Uber’s Self-Driving Car Didn’t Malfunction, It Was Just Bad. There were no software glitches or sensor breakdowns that led to a fatal crash, merely poor object recognition, emergency planning, system design, testing methodology, and human operation. [more inside]
posted by peeedro at 6:31 PM - 121 comments

Genna Bain tweeted: Rest in Peace my Dearest Love John @Totalbiscuit Bain July 8, 1984 - May 24, 2018 [more inside]
posted by andycyca at 6:11 PM - 38 comments

“The dude who helped make ‘umami’ a household word, Adam Fleischman, along with LA-based writer (and former Food Republic contributor) Tien Nguyen, bring us Flavor Bombs, the cookbook dedicated to adding that fifth dimension of flavor to every dish possible.” How To Build The Umami Pantry [more inside]
posted by not_the_water at 5:09 PM - 21 comments

At first glance, her new book, Natural Causes, is a polemic against wellness culture and the institutions that sustain it. It opens with her decision to reject a series of medical interventions. [more inside]
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 3:23 PM - 45 comments

In this bicentenary of Marx’s birth, one aspect of his thought and work that requires attention is his attitude toward nature and mankind’s place within it. There are in fact several recent works that examine Marx’s views on the biosphere: Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis by Chris Williams (Excerpt), “Karl Marx, radical environmentalist” by Phil Gasper, and “Twenty-First Century Species-Being” by Nick Dyer-Witheford. [more inside]
posted by No Robots at 2:27 PM - 2 comments