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WikiDelia - an exhaustive wiki devoted to electronic musician Delia Derbyshire, best known for her work for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, including the Doctor Who theme tune (with Ron Grainger). Includes many links to her work through her career.
(Previously, previously, previously, previously)
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:43 PM PST - 5 comments

There are around 500 species of Meliponini stingless bees (Wikipedia), which are found in tropical and subtropical areas around the world. 47 live in Mexico, and the most famous bee in the Yucatán peninsula is Melipona beecheii (Apicultura fandom in Spanish, Google auto-translate), known by the Mayans as Xunan Kab, or the Regal Lady Bee. The hives of these and other bees are more frequently found in urban areas, including homes and businesses, in Playa del Carmen. Enter Efrain Cab, third generation bee keeper and the protector of Mexico’s hidden hives of stingless bees (Atlas Obscura). [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:12 PM PST - 2 comments

"All you do is place coloured blocks, then Townscaper translates them into apartments, steps, terraces, gardens, towers, and so on based on the shapes they form with other nearby blocks, then fill the whole place with lovely little decorative details." (Rock Paper Shotgun review) (Youtube Trailer)(Steam early access)
posted by rebent at 6:15 PM PST - 27 comments

Ten Simple Rules for Building an Anti-Racist Research Lab

As the societal reckoning over systemic racism reaches into the halls of universities, two researchers, who are heads of ecology and Earth science labs, wrote a paper with recommendations for how professors can take steps to protect their students and create a more welcoming environment. The paper, "Ten simple rules for building an anti-racist lab," is currently in review with PLOS Computational Biology. The authors, V. Bala Chaudhary and Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, emphasise that the list is a simple starting point and not meant to be comprehensive.

[more inside]
posted by Lexica at 3:11 PM PST - 7 comments

Ghost of Tsushima, an open-world adventure where you play a samurai during the first Mongol invasion of Japan, launched today [Eurogamer, Polygon, Guardian reviews]. One of the last major PS4 exclusives, it's been praised for its beautiful art but criticised for rote game design. Unusually, the game features Kurosawa Mode, a black-and-white filter “inspired by the movies of legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa."
posted by adrianhon at 2:03 PM PST - 21 comments

GPT-3 Creative Fiction: Writer/researcher Gwern Branwen showcases the capabilities of OpenAI's GPT-3 model, including dialogue, jokes, poetry and fiction in the style of particular authors, and much, much more.
posted by Cash4Lead at 1:50 PM PST - 16 comments

World Population Could Peak Decades Ahead of U.N. Forecast, Study Asserts (NYTimes) A study published in The Lancet Tuesday (link to press release, not paywalled), suggests that the forecasts used by the UN till now, predicting a peak in the global population at just under 11 billion in 2100, may not be accurate. Instead the population may peak already in 2064 at 9.7 billion and decline to 8.8 billion by 2100. In some countries, the populations will also age considerably. [more inside]
posted by mumimor at 9:44 AM PST - 51 comments

Oliver Sacks remembers his bodybuilding days on Venice, California’s Muscle Beach. (Via)
posted by growabrain at 9:37 AM PST - 25 comments

Code-loving designer J. Peter presents A Graphical Analysis of Women's Tops Sold on Goodwill's Website.
posted by jedicus at 8:31 AM PST - 13 comments