~metafilter | Bookmarks (989)

The Pivotal Importance of Air Quality and Ventilation (podcast with transcript). See also environmental engineering professor Linsey Marr's work, who was inspired to focus on bioaerosols after their kid came home with an awful cold. Joseph G Allen's paper Recommitting to Ventilation Standards for Healthy Indoor Air Quality

"Please save it for me": Scientist carbon dates his own kidney stone to find out when it formed. Kidney stones are an annoying, painful condition that affects many of us, but it's not easy to tell when they form. A scientist who carbon dates objects for a living decided to work out the age of his kidney stone.

"It's different than knowing you can get women, or wanting to control women, or even loving women. He likes them. He appreciates them. He enjoys their company. Tom Cruise doesn't like women. Neither does Miles Teller. Channing Tatum likes women. So does Ryan Gosling. Brad Pitt used to like women but doesn't anymore.""But isn't that pretty basic? Don't most men like women?"

For several seasons, I have been making surprising discoveries in the dark, surrounded by animals that rise with the moon—creatures such as owls, salamanders, and glowworms. Is there anything more moving than awaking to wonders that you have been wandering among all your life unaware? Is there anything more hopeful than realizing that you've always been surrounded by sublime scenes, even when you were...

Maybe you've heard of the game where you start on a random Wikipedia article and then follow the first link repeatedly. It almost always ends at the 'Philosophy' page. But why? What does it say about the structure of the site? Can we visualize it somehow? What about second or third or fifth links? Does graph theory provide any tools to help? Oh look...

The recent court-martial of a US Navy Chief Petty Officer revealed how the senior enlisted crew of the USS Manchester conspired to install a Starlink-based WiFi network aboard ship.

While students recognise him, the Slovenian media ignores him and so, increasingly, does the mainstream left-wing press internationally. Žižek is in a strange place in 2024. Jokes are innate to his political pessimism, and his pessimism is offset by his energy; while humour drives his work, it also undermines its seriousness. "The fans are attracted to my dirty jokes, the idea that I am...

The giant gurgling earthworms of Gippsland. The secrets of giant earthworms that live beneath the rolling hills of eastern Victoria — where they can be heard but are rarely seen — are set to be revealed in new research. This is a species of annelid worm called the giant Gippsland earthworm (Megascolides australis). It earns the name giant because an average adult is a...

Sergio Mendes, global ambassador of Brazilian bossa nova, has died in Los Angeles.Born in southern Brazil in the 1940s, Mendes was on his way to becoming a concert pianist when he started noticing jazz instead - in particular bossa nova, a laid-back jazzy take on the traditional Brazilian samba. After touring Brazil as a backup pianist for other American jazz artists, Mendes formed his...

Webbed Briefs are brief videos about the web, its technologies, and how to make the most of them. They're packed with information, fun times(TM), and actual goats.I particularly liked Why the Indieweb and What's the Deal with Large Language Models.

Firsts: The History of Computing from the Paul G. Allen Collection. Items are currently being auctioned at Christie's. In addition: Pushing Boundaries: Ingenuity from the Paul G. Allen Collection and Over the Horizon: Art of the Future from the Paul G. Allen Collection

I had never cried so much. Nor had I ever masturbated so much, with such regularity, with so much calm, so much enjoyment. I expelled an excess of tears because thinking about plural love, parenting, or solitary pleasure sometimes leads us to imagine scenes we had never imagined for ourselves. Because thinking about your present wellbeing also means rethinking past humiliation — 'your silence...

If you've seen a bird looking worse than usual or maybe just a little out of sorts for its species, there's a good chance it's molting season for that particular bird, especially as summer winds down. Penguins may experience molts of wrath or just look a bit moth-eaten.Adventures in bird molt, a lecture. Title of post taken from the molts of wrath link.

How the quiet war against press freedom could come to America (Washington Post editorial from A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, commentary by Kevin Kruse)

What should you do if you're attacked by a kangaroo? The answer might surprise you. A woman who came face-to-face with an aggressive kangaroo while on a run in Victoria, and a passer-by who came to help her, spent 40 frightening minutes trying to escape. So how should you deal with an angry roo? Wildlife carers share some tips.

After a more than a decade of work (previously and previously on the blue) Bret Victor has unveiled his vision of a Communal Science Lab and a tactile, collaborative computing-without-computers environment called Dynamicland.

Although archaeologists have yet to thoroughly study Kastelli, its architectural similarities to the mythical maze, combined with evidence of ceremonial offerings and communal feasting found at the site, may suggest that it was part of the story's origin [Smithsonian]

Balatro Mobile announced - But what is Balatro? A deckbuilding poker roguelite, with a blaseball-esque feel (RIV), and distinctive pixel art style. It's all fun and games until you figure out your first combo invoking scientific notation. Then it's math and fun and games.The Nerve of Balatro For Being This Good Can I Get Better At Balatro Without Being Weird About It? - Aftermath

Nobody Reads Ads. "A small archive of old and new print & outdoor ads + ONE thing each ad does well. Curated and snackable copywriting breakdowns by Miguel Ferreira."

None of what follows will make sense absent a single social fact: The field of paleontology is mean. It has always been mean. It is, in the words of Uppsala University professor Per Ahlberg, "a honeypot of narcissists." It is "a snake pit of personality disorders." "An especially nasty area of academia," the Field Museum's Jingmai O'Connor calls it. ... It would take years...

With semi-finals today at the 2024 Paralympics, you might want to get caught up through the 3rd day of scheduled matches . Are you like me and wondering how this incredible feat of human ability is played? NBC has answers for you: Each team is made up of four outfielders, all of whom must be visually impaired, and a goalkeeper who must be partially...

Rare Endangered Lynx Spotted in Vermont for the First Time Since 2018. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has only confirmed seven sightings of the wildcats since 2016. "Canada lynx are endangered in Vermont and threatened nationally," Brehan Furfey, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, says in the statement. "That makes any verifiable lynx sighting in our state important. This...