~metafilter | Bookmarks (953)

Many small mirrors reflect light to a giant mirror wedged into the side of an office block, and back to a target which gets to over 3000C. Even before the oil crises of the 1970s drove additional funding to R&D in renewable energy, a French research programme led by Prof. Felix Trombe was investigating the potential for energy from the sun. The furnace consists...

"Helen Nearing felt that she should be the last person on earth to write a cookbook, but she also felt intrigued. 'I am a library inebriate,' she said. 'I began spending long hours in the rare book room of the New York Public Library every time Scott and I were in New York. I made my way through the introductions of 14,000 old cookbooks...

"What does one say about a poet who, having left his wife and daughter for another marriage, then titles a book with their names, and goes on to appropriate his ex-wife's letters written under stress and pain of desertion, into a book of poems nominally addressed to his new wife?" Rich wrote in The American Poetry Review, before revealing she had a suggestion of...

Whale songs follow a lot of the same rules as human language. Scientists have discovered that human language and whale songs have remarkable similarities in the way they are segmented and structured.

Operation Whirlwind. "A federal prosecutor and President Donald Trump ally who made it his mission to safeguard DOGE has escalated his scrutiny of officials who criticize the agency's leader, Elon Musk, in a letter to a California congressman this week. ... "Some" people interpreted Garcia's remarks as a threat to Musk and his staff, Martin wrote in his letter, describing Musk as "an appointed...

In my dreams (no pun intended), I play rock guitar like George Lynch.You could copy his guitars, effects, amps, and licks, but you're not going to play like this. They don't call him Mr. Scary for nothing.

Feeling heartbroken by the greed and selfishness in our world? Though the systems we live in prioritize profits, we can choose giving and generosity as an antidote to fear and isolation - looking for the helpers and becoming them ourselves.Learning about gift economy and gift thinking may help challenge the scarcity mindset and increase our awareness of alternative possible realities. Those who are interested...

Please enjoy the joyous Indian Folk Metal of Tadka by Bloodywood.If you have 93 spare minutes, you might enjoy Raj Against the Machine - The Documentary.

A secret move some Linux and Unix users know is that typing special characters needn't be a chore involving Alt codes or a character map application. You go into keyboard settings (on KDE go under Keyboard then Key Bindings; on Gnome you'll have to install Tweaks) and pick a key to be the compose key (I suggest Caps Lock). Then press it, then a...

An early favourite for this year's Eurovision Song Contest is the entry from Finland: Ich komme, by Erika Vikman. Wikipedia: The lyrics reflect "the joyous message of pleasure, ecstasy and a state of trance" and sexual pleasure and reaching the climax, reflected in its structure, which corresponds to the way a sexual climax is reached. Eurovision World: Erika herself says about her song for...

'What if I were to tell you about an obscure clique of consultants that concoct dubious economic analysis to convince regulators to side with corporations, enabling a massive rip-off of ordinary Americans? I think your curious, cautious response might be, "You're going to have to be more specific." OK, so this obscure clique has a name. They're called the Society of Utility and Regulatory...

"Though frequently remembered as a pornographer, Roth importantly shaped the Modernist movement by compelling many of its key players to think more seriously about issues of censorship, artistic freedom, and literature's relationship to the law. Roth dedicated the first issue of Two Worlds Monthly to Joyce, "who will probably plead the cause of our time at the bar of posterity." And indeed, Ulysses has...

Tassie devil trapped by mistake released into the wild. Wildlife researchers say they have never come across a male Tasmanian devil with such markings. A Tasmanian devil with highly uncommon markings has been spotted after it mistakenly wandered into a private landowner's trap. Due to its unusual appearance, the devil was taken to a wildlife park on Tasmania's east coast and checked for signs...

The MetaFilter Moderation Oversight Committee is looking for a few interviewees to test out our intake form. Please consider signing up! This process is a part of user-centred design, which has been around for a long time. But in the age of AI, human-centred design may be more important than ever.- Five reasons to test even when you "know" the answer (video) - Why...

60 years a martyr: on this day in 1965 CE, Malcolm X was shot by assassins. On February 21, 1965, two men shot El Hajj Malik El Shabbaz (Malcolm X) in New York City.Many people come to know of Malcolm X via his indelible Autobiography, on which he collaborated with writer Alex Haley (who went on to worldwide fame for his groundbreaking book about...

What distinguished Landi from a run-of-the-mill fraudster, though, was the outlandishness of his maneuvers, which exploited every loophole the globe had to offer. Landi was a libertarian who sought freedom from meddling governments and their cumbersome regulations, but in a select few nations, he found willing accomplices. Landi hid money in Switzerland, skated around extradition treaties while living comfortably in Dubai, registered companies in...

Canada wins the 4 Nations Face-Off final after Connor McDavid scores in overtime.. Trump's teams keep losing.

"One of the sources of richness within the medium [of comics] has long been the play between creators who favor naturalism versus absurdity. Coming down squarely in the latter camp is Bob Burden who dreamt up one of the most surreal series in comics' history: Flaming Carrot Comics."Chronicling the mundane and outrageous adventures of its titular hero, Burden crafted a book that defies reason....

The first kangaroo embryo has been produced through IVF. An IVF breakthrough could prove crucial for some of Australia's most iconic species.

FISH IS BACK Sam Pocker is an American Artist. His main medium is Fast Food. Steak, Egg, and Cheese Bagel Extra Sauce Costs Extra Long John Silver's Lobster Bites Tail Pack Hungry Howie's Chicken and Waffles Pizza Do you want fries with that? Bonus: Architectural review

In a time of absurdity, sometimes you need a comic that is slightly more absurd than life. You should read the words surrounding the drawings of Rory Blank. His website is called King of Blood and even though I have been scrolling a while I have not yet found said King (just a mind wizard).

As various countries announce their entrants for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, there is controversy over Estonia's entry by Tommy Cash (also known as Kayne East, real name Tomas Tammemets). "Espresso Macchiato" (live performance, lyrics) won the qualifying Eesti Laul with 83% of the final round vote. The song is sung in an interesting linguistic manner, while Mr Cash drinks an Espresso Macchiato. The...

We have demonstrated that, as is common in sustainability, appealingly simple narratives give way to complexity when you scratch the surface. Online energy consumption is full of trade-offs, and there are rarely one-size-fits all solutions. Interventions that reduce energy in one scenario may not be effective in another. from Does what you scroll burn coal? [BBC]