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Large scans of plates, largely for Robert Plot’s Natural History of Staffordshire (1686). You can view more of Burghers work here.
posted by tellurian at 11:49 PM PST - 6 comments

Six places to nuke when you're serious
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 11:27 PM PST - 75 comments

ShakeMovie The Near Real Time Simulation of Southern California Seismic Events Portal. Earthquake animations from Caltech.
"These movies are the results of simulations carried out on a large computer cluster. Earthquake movies will be available for download approximately 45 mins after the occurrence of a quake of magnitude 3.5 or greater."
posted by thatwhichfalls at 10:50 PM PST - 2 comments

John Powers: Analog recursion. via dataisnature.
posted by signal at 10:19 PM PST - 13 comments

David Rice Atchison is claimed by some to have been President for one day, Sunday, March 4, 1849, since the incoming president, Zachary Taylor, was a religious man who refused to take the Oath of Office on the Sabbath. Even the inscribers of his gravestone thought so. The truth, however, is somewhat more subtle.
posted by starkeffect at 10:06 PM PST - 11 comments

We are ready now for a period of relaxation.... [requires real player]
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 9:00 PM PST - 13 comments

The Homeless World Cup: "Yes, there is a World Cup for homeless people, made possible with help from corporate sponsors such as Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola and Bank of America."
posted by kliuless at 8:42 PM PST - 8 comments

Escher's "Relativity" in Lego (original) [source]
posted by nthdegx at 5:57 PM PST - 17 comments

The Music Notation Modernization Association... or possible ways to simplify reading chromatic music (as opposed to diatonic music). Of course, Arnold Schoenberg beat them to it.
posted by persona non grata at 5:52 PM PST - 20 comments

Have extreme sports have reached their pinnacle yet? Apparently not. Travis Pastrana shows how motocross just got a bit more impressive. What's next? Apparently, stupidity and 720's. Watch at about 1:41, and just press mute. Both links: YouTube)
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 4:31 PM PST - 22 comments

The Stephen Colbert "On Notice Board" Generator
posted by ColdChef at 4:30 PM PST - 59 comments

Project Evil - Number stations appear on VoIP and it just seems very mysterious. Slashdot picks up the story. Now all is revealed.
posted by caddis at 4:22 PM PST - 22 comments

An obsessive compulsive cat flushes a toilet for three minutes.
posted by boo_radley at 4:15 PM PST - 33 comments

James Van Allen the discoverer of the Van Allen Radiation Belts died today, aged 91.
posted by hardcode at 3:48 PM PST - 20 comments

Forbes' Best Cities for Singles 2006. Apparently you have better chances of meeting your mate at Sox game than at a Yankees' game. But as a New Yorker I still find it hard to believe my chances would be better were I a Rockies fan. Although, I might meet a good Christian woman.
posted by allkindsoftime at 3:40 PM PST - 27 comments

Framing Canada is an online exhibit of early Canadian photography. Some images are quintessentially Canadian; others range from the sublime to the ridiculous. One picture just might settle a contentious debate once and for all. Most of the collection is organized into topical photo essays. [More inside]
posted by Urban Hermit at 1:59 PM PST - 13 comments

Ketamine has been found to "significantly" improve symptoms of depression by influencing glutamate levels in the brain. A Forbes article notes that 70% of patients say improvement, and up to 29% were "nearly symptom free within one day". However, research into the effects of ketamine on depression is not exactly new.
posted by casconed at 1:20 PM PST - 62 comments

The practical future of the country formerly known as Iraq. [NewsFilter, but a significant acknowledgement of something long-in-coming.]
posted by digaman at 12:01 PM PST - 63 comments

Official New Labour Blogs The US has got used to the political bloggers, but the Uk's Labour party is now accepting applications from bloggers to be an official blogger at their Annual Conference. They're offering access to all the key speeches and events at Conference and you’ll be blogging from the floor about your experiences and 'special access'. Would a blogger be compromised by this?
posted by quarsan at 11:08 AM PST - 13 comments

In 1899, the core of downtown Seattle burned to the ground. While the shops quickly rebuilt & re-opened, the city itself took the opportunity to rebuild the streets some 36 feet higher than they previously had been (ostensibly to combat water pressure/sea level issues), meaning that pedestrians climbed ladders to go between street level and building entrances. Eventually, the city laid down sidewalks up on the new street level, and the underground city was all but forgotten. Today, via a building in Pioneer Square, you can still tour what remains of the abandoned underground, looking up at the people above through the opaque glass sidewalk.
posted by jonson at 10:54 AM PST - 45 comments

Right-wing bloggers accuse photojournalists of photoshopping, posing bodies, and engaging in fraud. Warning: Not for the sqeamish. I think my favorite is the guy who poses as being dead. Or perhaps the photoshop skills of Adnan Hajj. Also, this video shows Hezbollah fighters driving around in UN ambulances. Feels alot like Rather-gate around here.
posted by the ghost of Ken Lay at 10:41 AM PST - 123 comments

NWTF | 2 DAGOS | JOHN316 | C9H13N | RDRAGE | XONSUX | UDINK | SHTHPNS | GOTMILF | HMFIC | TRY4FUN | LTRS
posted by Otis at 10:09 AM PST - 99 comments

How much does your State Legislator earn for the privilege of serving the good citizens of your fair state? Last year, state lawmakers in Pennsylvania voted themselves a pay raise, but then, they changed their minds. Constituents were not happy, have not forgotten, and a "non-partisan grassroots organization" was "started as an effort to clean house".
posted by jaronson at 10:01 AM PST - 23 comments

The Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5FM in Washington DC is interviewing the outgoing and incoming presidents of Gallaudet University (previously) today. Gallaudet is a liberal arts college and graduate school for the deaf. Deaf and hearing-impaired persons will be able to fully participate in the conversation and 'listen' to the radio show live as the station is providing real-time captioning on-line and via HD-radio.
posted by pithy comment at 9:30 AM PST - 4 comments

Mountain Bike One. What it's like to hit the trails with the President: a little Zen, a few Band-aids.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:10 AM PST - 28 comments

The Contrarians is a CBC radio program about the things you can't say. Stream it live Tuesday mornings at 9:30 or Wednesday nights. Past topics include feminism, peace keeping, hip-hop and (caution: irony) copyright reform .
posted by Capn at 7:50 AM PST - 17 comments

Perhaps Wal-Mart isn't completely evil? In a move that I'm sure will stun environmentalists, Wal-Mart wants to introduce E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) to its gas stations (which could potentially more than double the national locations that offer E85 from 800 to almost 2150).
posted by SeizeTheDay at 5:05 AM PST - 114 comments

Mum's the word. Gina Ford threatens to close a website over comments in the sites forums. Most recent statements from both sides. Other cases.
posted by lloyder at 3:54 AM PST - 54 comments

Star Trek Inspirational Posters (page 2, zip file) available for download. And, of course, you knew you could make your own, right? (as seen on MetaChat)
posted by Eideteker at 12:53 AM PST - 21 comments