MetaFilter

The Kroombit tinker frog is critically endangered with just 150 frogs left in the wild. After years of research, scientists have released the first captive-bred frogs. The Kroombit tinker frog is largely nocturnal and difficult to breed because it is secretive and can be located only by its distinctive call that sounds like someone tapping a glass bottle. QPWS has also deployed bio-acoustic recorders through most of the Kroombit tinker frog's range to monitor populations of the species. Mr Vella said the frogs' survival in the wild was being measured by the number of calls recorded.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:09 PM PST - 9 comments

Are you a music lover? Are you a live music lover? Tell us about your experiences! What was your first concert? Have you ever played (or helped a band play) live? How many shows have you been to over the years? And which ones stick most in your mind, whether recorded or seen in person?
posted by Rhaomi at 11:33 AM PST - 235 comments

Can Happiness Be Taught? This is a review of a book by Harvard Business School professor Arthur C. Brooks, promoting his perspective and approach to increasing one's happiness. With a few pithy contributions from Oprah, the book probably is/will be a best-seller. Some of the points Brooks makes seem sound and valid. But how evidenced-based are the recommended techniques? Anthony Lane has opinions about that and is not afraid to share them. If the length of the review is daunting, perhaps knowing it contains a fair bit of humor and snark will tempt you into reading.
posted by interbeing at 10:46 AM PST - 46 comments

In another set of Stories From The Readership at Ask A Manager, site owner Alison Green asked for tales of odd office traditions, resulting in tales of office blankets, epic snack battles, and the monthly Office Space printer scene re-enactment. (SLAsk A Manager)
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:39 AM PST - 25 comments

We believe the time has come for scholars across fields to reorient their work around the question of ‘ends’. This need not mean acquiescence to the logics of either economic utilitarianism or partisan fealty that have already proved so damaging to 21st-century institutions. But avoiding the question will not solve the problem. If we want the university to remain a viable space for knowledge production, then scholars across disciplines must be able to identify the goal of their work – in part to advance the Enlightenment project of ‘useful knowledge’ and in part to defend themselves from public and political mischaracterisation. from The ends of knowledge
posted by chavenet at 6:43 AM PST - 63 comments

📣📣🫱🏿👋🏽🖐🏼✋Hi everyone,✋🖐🏼👋🏽🫱🏿📣📣

MetaFilter is beginning the transition to becoming a non-profit (seee this thread ) and to begin that process, a temporary transitional board is needed. This board of volunteers would establish a basic framework for the future site, along with defining what to look for in an Executive Director

We have several volunteers already, but most are based in the United States and have similar backgrounds, so we’re casting our net wider to encourage a more globally diverse board.

Interested? Let us know in the October 18, 2023 MetaTalk thread about changing the site to nonprofit.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:45 AM PST - 8 comments

It all started with a perfectly reasonable proposition. Sheffield’s roads were in a bad state, and its pavements were wonky. In order to fix this, with no money available due to Tory government cuts, Sheffield City Council (Labour run through the duration of this saga) decided the solution was to cut down the trees whose roots appeared to be pushing up the asphalt and causing this damage. They seemed not to take into account that residents loved their tree lined streets. Years of protest and conflict ensued as the council didn't back down. [more inside]
posted by ambrosen at 5:04 AM PST - 19 comments

Today Icelandic women and non-binary people will strike against gender inequality highlighting the gender pay gap [NYT, archive], gendered violence, and the status of immigrant women. This is the seventh women’s strike in Icelandic history, and the first whole-day action since the first one in 1975 [NYT, archive link]. The Guardian’s Miranda Bryant writes about the history of women’s strikes in Iceland.
posted by Kattullus at 1:21 AM PST - 12 comments