MetaFilter

Liam Neeson Wants to Branch Out. [SLYT]
comment posted at 5:27 PM on Nov-11-11

In 1982, Daniel Shechtman was on sabbatical at Johns Hopkins University studying aluminum-manganese alloys, and discovered that the resulting crystalline patterns of the alloy resulted in five-way symmetry, much like the famed Penrose Tiles. The resulting publication of these "quasicrystals" resulted in scathing ridicule from most of the scientific community, including Linus Pauling saying "There is no such thing as quasicrystals, only quasi-scientists.", and his research director claiming he had "Brought disgrace" upon their program. However, by 1987 he had managed to grow large enough crystals to be imaged with electron microscopy, verifying his results. His subsequent studies of quasicrystals eventually earned him the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
comment posted at 2:59 PM on Nov-8-11

Why Reality TV works.
comment posted at 5:32 AM on Nov-22-10

Philosopher Alvin Plantinga discusses the evolutionary argument against naturalism with philosopher Stephen Law. Plantinga, now retired from his position at Notre Dame, is one of the most well known analytic philosophers of recent times. The podcast is targeted at a non academic audience and keeps things on a fairly basic level in non-technical language. Plantinga and Law conduct a congenial, mutually respectful discussion of the issue. Previously.
comment posted at 1:56 PM on Nov-19-10
comment posted at 2:03 PM on Nov-19-10
comment posted at 3:07 PM on Nov-19-10
comment posted at 3:27 PM on Nov-19-10
comment posted at 4:27 PM on Nov-19-10
comment posted at 7:27 PM on Nov-19-10
comment posted at 7:46 PM on Nov-19-10

If your brain and body were separated, which one would be "you?" Philosopher Daniel Dennett explores what might happen in that event. (Previously)
comment posted at 11:54 AM on Aug-26-10
comment posted at 4:47 AM on Aug-27-10
comment posted at 6:59 AM on Aug-27-10
comment posted at 1:14 PM on Aug-28-10
comment posted at 1:27 PM on Aug-28-10
comment posted at 3:18 PM on Aug-28-10
comment posted at 3:30 PM on Aug-28-10
comment posted at 3:36 PM on Aug-28-10

Justin Bieber's 'U Smile', played 800 time slower. Sounds like Sigur Ros doing Vangelis covers in a cathedral being washed away by the sea. The original song.
comment posted at 5:30 AM on Aug-17-10

The Guardian has an article on Pimm's, a traditional gin-based English summer drink. Invented by one James Pimm in London in 1840, Pimm's soon became associated with upper-class institutions and the British Empire; its popularity declined somewhat in the decades following World War 2 (apart from a few revivals as part of ironic constructions of "Britishness"), though it has recently experienced a resurgence in popularity. Recipes for serving Pimm's vary, though they typically involve mixing it with lemonade and/or ginger beer in a jug and adding oranges, strawberries, sliced cucumber and mint. While the formula remains a secret, knockoffs do exist (both Sainsbury's and Aldi sell their own substitutes, though Sainsbury's had to change the label on its to look less like the original), or you could try making your own.
comment posted at 1:19 AM on May-20-10
comment posted at 1:32 AM on May-20-10

Conan@Google A 45 minute Q&A session Conan O'Brien at Google HQ. If thought the 60 minutes interview (previously) wasn't funny enough, this is definitely for you.
comment posted at 12:52 PM on May-11-10

On a snowy Valentine's Day weekend in Michigan Sid Meier creates a game in 48 hours called Escape from Zombie Hotel! He's there to judge a 48 hour game design contest at his alma mater, University of Michigan but decides to also work on a game alongside the student teams. He also talks about his career, focusing on his early days. This is the third installment of motherboard.tv's Oral History of Gaming series. The first profiles Ralph Baer, the inventor of the first home gaming console, and the second is about Eric Zimmerman, designer of Sissyfight. Sadly, the awesome-looking Escape from Zombie Hotel has note been released, but the oher games designed during the contest are available here. [via Rock Paper Shotgun]
comment posted at 11:29 AM on Apr-21-10

Saul Bass + Tron = Retro Tron
comment posted at 7:08 PM on Mar-26-10

Most people assumed the Tories would walk the coming election. But with their poll lead evaporating, what would a Conservative defeat mean for Britain – and David Cameron? What happens if David Cameron loses?
comment posted at 2:59 PM on Mar-26-10
comment posted at 7:31 PM on Mar-26-10

On February 3, 2010, Autechre celebrated the month-early release of their new album Oversteps with a 12-hour netradio broadcast.
comment posted at 12:04 PM on Mar-18-10
comment posted at 1:35 PM on Mar-18-10
comment posted at 2:48 PM on Mar-18-10
comment posted at 3:08 PM on Mar-18-10
comment posted at 3:23 PM on Mar-18-10
comment posted at 3:37 PM on Mar-18-10
comment posted at 4:09 PM on Mar-18-10
comment posted at 4:45 PM on Mar-18-10

A one-hour dramatic television series.
Action - Adventure - Science Fiction.
The first such concept with strong central leas characters plus other continuing regulars.

Gene Roddenberry's original pitchfor Star Trek (.pdf) - featuring Robert M. April, captain of the S.S. Yorktown. (via)
comment posted at 1:26 PM on Mar-15-10

Verne revisited. Issac guesses.
comment posted at 3:57 AM on Mar-13-10
comment posted at 5:31 AM on Mar-13-10

BEHOLD: The Grand Orbital Table (single link pretty picture)
comment posted at 1:43 AM on Feb-23-10

Don't just shorten your URL, make it suspicious and frightening.
comment posted at 5:41 AM on Feb-19-10

Vivienne Westwood unveils homeless chic at Milan Fashion Week in a Zoolander joke brought to life. Fashion blog Project Rungay says, "Darlings, you just can't make this shit up." From The Times Online: "Some carried bedrolls. Another emerged from his cardboard box with a sleeping bag, slung it around his neck and quickly walked away." And there were shopping carts...
comment posted at 5:12 PM on Jan-18-10

Artwork by Denis Zilber (NSFW) which will make you want to do some drawing.
comment posted at 6:57 AM on Jan-16-10

Do you want to personally verify climate science? You can, with open source data and algorithms. OpenTemp.org: An Open Analysis of the Historical Temperature Record. Clear Climate Code: Python reimplementation of GISTEMP, the NASA GISS surface temperature analysis. EDGCM: a research-grade Global Climate Model (GCM) with a user-friendly interface that can be run on a desktop computer.
comment posted at 2:22 PM on Jan-15-10
comment posted at 6:34 PM on Jan-15-10
comment posted at 6:46 PM on Jan-15-10
comment posted at 7:03 PM on Jan-15-10
comment posted at 7:17 PM on Jan-15-10
comment posted at 7:18 PM on Jan-15-10
comment posted at 7:48 PM on Jan-15-10
comment posted at 7:49 PM on Jan-15-10

A "Dow Jones Index for Climate Change". The IGBP Climate-Change Index distills complex climate change factors into a single number, like how the Dow Jones distills the markets to a single number, and visually graphs it over time.
comment posted at 12:10 PM on Dec-13-09