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H5N1 bird flu is spreading to mammals, killing huge numbers.
H5N1 bird flu has begun spreading between mammals, leaving coastlines dotted with the bodies of birds, seals, and sea lions. Agriculture increases human- animal contact. On the bright side, the human history of infection with other flu viruses may confer some resistance to H5N1. (Gift NYT article)
"It's almost like the oceans are getting ready for a heart attack."
A new study published in Nature says that the overall oxygen content of the ocean has declined by 2% over the past 50 years. Because oxygen is always unevenly distributed in the ocean, that 2% average represents a larger drop in some areas than others. Bacteria in areas of low oxygen tend to produce nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas that has risen in a way similar to CO2 over the decades since the industrial revolution. Low O2 leading to more N2O from the ocean is another likely global warming feedback loop. Projections indicate that we could lose 7% of the ocean's oxygen by 2100.
How to stop an autocracy
The danger isn’t that Trump will build an autocracy. It’s that congressional Republicans will let him. "If Congress, tomorrow, wanted to compel Trump to release his tax returns, they could. If Congress, tomorrow, wanted to impeach Trump unless he agreed to turn his assets over to a blind trust, they could. If Congress, tomorrow, wanted to take Trump’s power to choose who can and cannot enter the country, they could." The problem is that the different branches of government, instead of balancing things out by being important checks on each other's power, have instead become simply different manifestations of one of two major parties. Our granfalloons are out of alignment.
The Trump roundup
"Yes, all this happened." NPR's good, brief summary of the events of each day of Trump's first two weeks in office. There's a flurry of news and discussion about the new president, and I appreciate efforts to streamline and make sense of it. So here's three. #2: On Reddit, there is a good overview of how critics would respond to the question, "What's so bad about Donald Trump?"--broken down by category. #3: The Summary section of Indivisible is the best overview I've seen of methods for concerned US citizens to become politically active in this new era.
Bannon now on National Sec. Council; professionals demoted to make room
Steve Bannon has been elevated to a position on the National Security Council, while the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence have been demoted. They will attend NSC meetings only when "issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed." Bannon is an radical ideologue; his position in a place where decisions about war and peace are made could be the beginning of something major.
I bought a domain. Now I'm getting scam phone calls. How do I stop them?
I signed up for a domain name and Web hosting for the first time ever. I haven't set up the Web site yet, but my name, e-mail and phone number must have been added to some database that scammers scrape. Almost every day I get a new robocall from a new number based in a different state. Also shortly after signing up I got some e-mails from strangers offering help with setting up my new Web site. I don't care about the e-mails, but how can I stop the robocalls?
House GOP votes to gut independent ethics office
House Republicans voted in a closed-door meeting Monday night to strip the independent Office of Congressional Ethics of its powers to speak publicly, report crimes, get anonymous tips, and act independently. If this amendment is passed, the Office will now be under the control of the House Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee is run by members of the House, the body that the Office was intended to investigate.
Can you mail a copy of a book to an author & ask them to sign it?
I remember reading a short piece by Isaac Asimov talking about people sending him books asking him to sign them. That was a long time ago. Is it still common practice to do this? Can I just send an admired author fan-mail that includes a copy of the book and return postage? Or do most authors nowadays only do that at designated book-signings? Are there any standards of etiquette in making such a request that I should know about?
From Russia, with love.
The CIA has concluded that Russia intervened to help Trump win the US election. It's part of a long game.
What are some cool things to do with a 3D "printer pen"?
I'm helping buy a 3d printer pen (sort of like this) for my niece for Christmas. I feel like suggesting some cool stuff that she can do with her 3d pen. There are lots of guides for cool stuff you can do with a 3d printer, like this one. Are there any similar guides exploring the possibilities for a 3D pen?
Do you want a pet tardigrade? They're basically tiny Pokemon.
Tardigrades or "waterbears" are cute tiny nigh-indestructible 10-legged beasts that prefer to live in wet environments but can also survive the hard vacuum of space. They sound exotic, but they're probably right there in your own backyard. The Stanford Tardigrade Project has an easy guide for finding your own pet waterbears. There are several videos showing what you will see when you find them.
Any research on why high-population-density areas are more liberal?
I'm trying to find serious, scholarly studies on why areas with high population density tend to be more politically liberal in the U.S. All I've found so far is just speculation. Have sociologists addressed this question, and I've just missed it?
What should I do with a presumably fraudulent thumb drive?
I found a thumb drive online claiming to hold 2 terabytes for $16. For no good reason, I bought it. It must be a fraud, and now I'm afraid to even plug it in.
How do I avoid the troll picks in the Hugo nominees?
I want to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Anticholinergics linked to dementia
Drugs in the class "Anticholinergics", which includes Benadryl, Dramamine, and an ingredient in Tylenol PM, have been associated with increased risk of dementia or other cognitive impairment.
Mikhail Lesin was bludgeoned to death.
Four months after Lesin's death, a US coroner reports that former Russian media oligarch Mikhail Lesin died of blunt trauma to the head, neck, torso, arms, and legs--not a heart attack. At the time of his death in a Washington, D.C. hotel, it was reported that there was "no evidence of foul play".
Is there a way to let my family (& only them) tag family photos online?
After my Grandma died recently, I went to her house and scanned every family photo she was in so everyone in the family could have a digital copy. There are a lot of people I can't identify in these pictures. I'm wondering if there's a way I could put the whole folder of them online in a password-protected or invite-only place that lets family members tag the pictures so anyone who knows who these people are can identify them. I don't want to put them online somewhere where just anyone could see them.
Another basic vulnerability found in Linux
One of the Internet's core building blocks has a vulnerability that leaves hundreds or thousands of apps and hardware devices vulnerable to attacks that can take complete control over them. There is a patch available for Linux-based devices that do domain-name lookups, but it will take time to patch them all.
Cyberattacks are increasingly common. The power grid is vulnerable.
Cybersecurity is an increasingly important concern. The Washington Post recently ran a great special series on the issue. The rate of major hacks is growing. The power grid is especially vulnerable, and a hack on it will be especially damaging. It's not a question of if, but when.
Joe Biden is officially not running for President.
This closes the door on one of the biggest potential challenges to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s second attempt at capturing the Democratic nomination. Back in August, Mr. Biden was already running for president in the invisible primary. Like most candidates who test the waters, he didn’t find enough support to justify entering the race.
Next time NASA lands on Mars, they want your name on the lander.
Your name could be on Mars in the next several months. You've already paid for it, so you might as well go. In March 2016, NASA is launching its Insight lander, which will be the first Mars mission to probe beneath the surface of the Red Planet and explore its interior in-depth. (In-depth, get it? Nevermind) They're offering to micro-etch the name of any Earthling who wishes on the lander. Here's where to sign up.
What activities can students do with astronomy apart from stargazing?
I'm trying to think of hands-on things that both kids and adults might like doing with astronomy apart from stargazing.
Why would a tiny dose of estrogen derivative cause infertility, anyway?
Catholic Bishops In Kenya Call For A Boycott Of Polio Vaccines Fearing a UN plot to sterilize the populace with vaccines containing estrogen derivatives, Bishop Philip Anyolo and others have been encouraging others not to immunize their children.
Can you help me set my friend's mind at ease about ebola?
My friend, who lives in a very safe place in the United States, is unusually scared about ebola. More than really makes any sense. Ebola has appeared sporadically every several years since it was discovered in the 70s. Most years, there are zero cases worldwide. Is it right to say that the current outbreak is likely to be another case of ebola flaring up and then disappearing?
From "Not The Onion"
NSA Tried To Delete Court Transcript In Lawsuit Over Deleting Evidence On three separate occasions in the Jewel V. NSA case, the NSA sought to delete evidence. Then it sought to redact the transcript.
Saudi Arabia declares atheists and political activists “terrorists”
The Sunni Islamic monarchy/theocracy's restrictive laws on political expression have become even stricter this year. This is in response to potentially dangerous dissidents returning to Saudi Arabia from the Syrian civil war. But the categories of offenses are so broad as to define virtually any non-Muslim as a terrorist, and to ban all independent political expression.
Ebola spreads to new territory
There's been an ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. With 122 cases so far, this is the worst outbreak since 2007's 264-case outbreak. The worst outbreak was 2000-2001's 425 cases. What makes this one different is the way it has spread so widely.
How do I develop an interest in football?
I'm a dork who's never been interested in any sports at all. I've never played or watched any sport. I don't see why it's so interesting. But sports, especially football, is one of the most-watched type of show on television. The Superbowl is like a national holiday. I feel like I'm missing out on something big. How do I develop an interest in football (or other sports) after a lifetime of disinterest? What makes football exciting that should be obvious?
NSA may have secretly made major mathematics breakthrough
If the NSA is able to break through banks' computer security, does that mean it solved the prime factorization problem? The New York Times reported recently that “the agency has circumvented or cracked much of the encryption, or digital scrambling, that guards global commerce and banking systems.” Since banks' encryption codes rely on the fact that nobody knows how to find the prime factors of really large numbers, it could mean that the NSA has found a way to do that. Or it could mean that the NSA has simply gotten lots of banks to give up their information, or found other ways around their encryption. But if they've cracked this long-standing math problem, might the secret leak? What would be the effects?
Man creates own credit card, sues bank for not respecting its terms
Banks usually reserve the right to change the rules or rates for credit cards they issue at any time, and the only notice given is buried in a long legal document. Russian Dmitry Argarkov turned this on its head: After he received a junk-mail credit card offer, he modified the document to include terms ridiculously in his favor and sent it back. The bank signed and certified it without looking at it, and sent him a credit card.
Remind me again, why are dinosaurs awesome?
When I was a kid, I was totally enamored of dinosaurs. I seem to have lost my affinity for them in the years since. I quit paying attention to developments in paleontology. Apparently there's been a lot that I missed, like that the dominant theory now is that modern birds are descended from a dinosaur species (I think?). And I hear velociraptors had feathers. So I need not just updates, but a good primer for adults because I've forgotten everything I used to know about them.
Can anyone recommend some good modern books or documentaries on dinosaurs to rekindle the flame of dino-love?
Where to get tape of Nixon aides plotting murder?
According to the Washington Post, the famous White House tape recordings that Nixon kept include recordings of aides G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt seriously plotting to assassinate muckraking journalist Jack Anderson in 1972. They were only stopped because the Watergate fiasco got in the way. Where can I get that recording?
Stop the killer robots before it's too late!
Nobel laureate's campaign calls for pre-emptive ban on autonomous weapons. As our technology advances, it becomes more and more feasible to give more and more autonomy to our drones. A new campaign led by 1997 Nobel laureate Jody Williams calls for an international ban on the design of autonomous weaponized drones.
CO2 to hit 400 parts per million next month, highest since the Pliocene
Scripps Institute of Oceanography projects that next month its monitoring station will for the first time measure CO2 at 400 parts per million. Atmospheric CO2 has risen from 280 parts per million before the Industrial Revolution. 400 ppm is an arbitrary milestone that we'll blow right past on our way to 450 ppm within a few decades. This is an unprecedentedly fast rate of increase and it's getting faster. Not all measuring stations are exactly the same: A NOAA station in the Arctic measured CO2 at 400 ppm last year.
Where can one donate to Iraqi and Afghan victims of violence?
Are there any organizations I can donate to or help with that are devoted to cleaning up the messes we made in Afghanistan and Iraq? I keep seeing news of American and allied bombings accidentally killing children and civilians, and it seems like all these require something more than just an "oopsie!" or indifferent silence.
NATO airstrikes kill 12 children in Kunar, Afghanistan
On April 7, an airstrike on a Taliban commander killed him and a total of 16 civilians, 12 of them children. Hamid Karzai condemns the attack and says that the CIA is carelessly planning these airstrikes that go awry far too often. Kunar district was the site of another airstrike that killed civilians in February.
The alchemists of Wall Street are at it again.
Wall Street begins playing again with the same matches that burned the economy in 2008 From the New York Times: "The banks that created risky amalgams of mortgages and loans during the boom — the kind that went so wrong during the bust — are busily reviving the same types of investments that many thought were gone for good. Once more, arcane-sounding financial products like collateralized debt obligations are being minted on Wall Street. "
(View article on a single page)
IRS Claims Authority to Read Your E-Mail Without A Warrant
The ACLU reports that the IRS claims in an internal document that it has the authority to access citizens' online communications without a warrant. The IRS claimed in a 2009 document that "the Fourth Amendment does not protect communications held in electronic storage, such as email messages stored on a server, because internet users do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such communications." It still retains that position even after the 2010 case of US v Warshak which determined that citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such communications.
Can you collect meteorite dust in your backyard? How?
I've been told recently that collecting micrometeorites is as easy, basically, as placing a clean surface outside and picking through the debris you collect because thousands of tons of space dust and debris fall to Earth every day. That can't be all there is to it, can it? How do you know whether you're looking at Earth dust or space dust?
What a thought looks like
Researchers at Japan's National Institute of Genetics have succeeded in imaging neuronal activity in a fish's brain. They showed a genetically modified (to enable easier imaging) fish some food and "correlate[d] neuronal activity in the brain with prey capture behavior." The video is short but cool. (A link to the study abstract in Current Biology)
Ted Chiang interview
Ted Chiang interview. Metafilter's own Ken Chen recently arranged an interview with author Ted Chiang, who's decorated like a Christmas tree with Nebula, Hugo, Locus, and other coveted sci-fi awards. (Previously on Metafilter: Chiang was the subject of what is so far the most popular Metafilter post of all time.) [via mefi projects]
Electronic surveillance skyrockets in the US
The Justice Department, after a legal battle with the ACLU to avoid having to admit it, recently released documents showing that the federal government’s use of warrantless “pen register” and “tap and trace” surveillance has multiplied over the past decade. But the Justice Department is small potatoes. Every day, the NSA intercepts and stores 1.7 billion emails, phone calls, texts, and other electronic communications.
Can I easily retrieve the HTML of a deleted post?
You tell me how to retrieve the HTML from a post that got deleted plz kthx? (I posted something on the front page last night, and it got deleted for too much personal commentary. I'm fine with that.) User Goofyy and deleting admin kaz suggested that I re-post sans commentary. This is moderation, it's not racism. So is there an easy way to get the HTML of my post back, or will I have to just re-type it all?
Is there any software that will dynamically re-project a map as you click-and-drag it?
Is there any software that will dynamically re-project a map as you click-and-drag it?
Humans are less human than we thought.
Icky face-pooping flesh mites are only the tip of the iceberg. You've heard that your gut bacteria are necessary to help you digest, meaning not all germs are bad. Without them, we couldn't digest healthily. But stop and look at how far our interconnectedness with other forms of life goes: 1. Human DNA itself is at least 8.3% ancient viruses; without one of these viruses you could never have been born. 2. Mitochondria in human cells originated when the same type of bacteria that causes typhus disease raided one of our cellular ancestors and instead of hijacking it was pressed into service. (The same origin as chloroplasts in plants from cyanobacteria). 3. Far more of the cells in your body are non-human microorganisms than actual human cells. This relationship is not just interconnectedness. This is integration.
Why don't most guns have loaded chamber indicators?
When listening to the Open Yale Courses class The Psychology, Biology, and Politics of Food I learned about another public-health issue: Firearm safety. The way the guest lecturer describes it, there's no good reason why firearms shouldn't have a loaded chamber indicator, but most don't. Ever since listening to this lecture a few years ago, I've periodicallyGoogled "child accidentally shot" and every time, I've found fresh news stories of children getting shot when somebody didn't realize there was a bullet in a gun's chamber. So why don't they have these loaded chamber indicators?
Who can recommend Spanish-language music and PC games?
I like PC games and metal music. I also need to learn Spanish. I'd like to use Spanish-language media. Can anyone recommend any good Spanish-language PC games? Or bands similar to Bad Religion in Spanish?
What came before Pangea? What comes next?
A history of the world. As seen from space. Over a really long stretch of time. If the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, and Pangea split up only about 200 million years ago, what happened before then? I never knew that geologists could reconstruct the continents' movements from before Pangea. Not only that, but they can give us a preview of what comes next. Here's three possible ways the continents might be joined in 250 million years. In the big picture, researchers from U.C. Lancashire have just finished a model of the way the Milky Way Galaxy formed.
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