MetaFilter

Split-screen tonight in America: The first Republican presidential primary debate of 2024 starting in 10 minutes (moderated by Sean Hannity and featuring DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Pence, Haley, Christie, Scott, Hutchinson, and Burgum) vs. a counterprogramming interview between Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump on Twitter starting in 5. Live resources: Brian Tyler Cohen's debate livestream (with commentary) - Nitter mirror of @TuckerCarlson for those not wanting to patronize Musk/bowtie - FiveThirtyEight liveblog - NYT liveblog - Debate bingo and drinking game - MeFi chat for real-time discussion
posted by Rhaomi at 5:50 PM PST - 137 comments

The underwater Amazon off Australia's coast that could help tackle climate change. New research shows the climate benefits of protecting and restoring underwater kelp forests could be equivalent to planting a billion trees.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 5:25 PM PST - 5 comments

Since 2020, Americans have experienced rising food prices while farm closures have ticked steadily upward. Inflation and supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic have been explicitly or implicitly blamed in the news. However, the inflation narrative overlooks a more endemic, structural problem with the industry at large. from The Cartel That Controls the US Meat Industry
posted by chavenet at 3:51 PM PST - 9 comments

Sir John Eliot Gardiner has reportedly struck a singer after a performance of Berlioz's Les Troyens at the Berlioz Festival in France. "According to our informants, and with confirmation by a person authorised to speak on Gardiner’s behalf, Gardiner was annoyed that the English bass singer, William Thomas, 29, left the podium on the wrong side. Backstage, in the wings and out of sight of the audience, Gardiner, 80, rebuked Thomas in front of the cast, then slapped and punched him in the face." [more inside]
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:25 PM PST - 32 comments

BBC: Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin presumed dead after Russia plane crash [more inside]
posted by Major Clanger at 11:17 AM PST - 445 comments

A zoo in Tennessee says it has welcomed a rare giraffe that does not have any spots. The spotless giraffe was born at Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee, on July 31 and the zoo says experts believe she is the only solid-colored reticulated giraffe on the planet.
posted by Etrigan at 10:11 AM PST - 30 comments

A home for retired playground animals just opened in NYC. "The ‘retired’ animals were put in parks across NYC under former parks commissioner Henry Stern, who asked designers to incorporate animal art into every new playground in those decades. Some of them, like the frog, were made in-house, but the others were prefabricated. Once these playgrounds were renovated with new and accessible play features, the need for these animals disappeared. Until now, these animals were just thrown out, but starting now, they'll be added to the 'retirement home' at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park."
posted by moonmilk at 8:35 AM PST - 20 comments

The Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander has successfully touched down near the moon's south pole. This video of the ISRO control center during Vikram's descent and soft landing from earlier today is tense and joyous.
posted by mhoye at 7:23 AM PST - 52 comments

With Oppenheimer quickly becoming one of the biggest [heh] movies of all time, there has been a lot of discussion about film format floating around lately. Here with a complete explainer about film formats is Analogue Resurgence with 70mm: From Oklahoma to Oppenheimer (Or, How Very Big Film Was Used to Make Very Big Movies) [46m]. It's a romp across cinema through the lens of, well, the lenses. And the film stock. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 5:12 AM PST - 15 comments

How the Pre-Raphaelites Became Obsessed with the Wombat. Angus Trumble at the Public Domain Review on 'Dante Gabriel Rossetti and company's curious but longstanding fixation with the furry oddity that is the wombat — that "most beautiful of God's creatures" which found its way into their poems, their art, and even, for a brief while, their homes.'
posted by misteraitch at 3:43 AM PST - 27 comments

Last month, the Panama Maritime Authority published its final report [pdf] into the 2021 grounding of the Ever Given (MeFi previously). Mike Schuler summarised the findings at gCaptain, noting that:

The report was highly critical of navigation decisions made by the SCA pilots. According to the report, they did not take bad weather conditions into account, gave improper instructions to the helmsman, and did not communicate effectively with the bridge team due to language difficulties. The vessel was also traveling faster than the maximum speed, which the report noted is common.

Some lessons clearly remain to be learned though, because today, the 300m LNG carrier BW Lesmes also got itself jammed sideways in the canal, and the Cayman Islands tanker Burri ran into it. This time however, both ships were freed within a few hours.
posted by automatronic at 1:22 AM PST - 9 comments

Idaho Legislature’s decision to disband board came as two hospitals that serve rural areas announced they would stop providing services for expectant mothers From the Idaho Capital Sun [more inside]
posted by mumimor at 12:30 AM PST - 35 comments