MetaFilter

A farmer set a trap to catch whatever was killing his chooks. He caught a tiger quoll (marsupial carnivore that reaches up to 3.5 kilograms/7.7 pounds) that had been thought to be extinct in South Australia for 130 years. When farmer Pao Ling Tsai set a trap to catch the predator that had been killing his chooks, he expected to catch a feral cat or fox. Instead, he caught a species that was thought extinct in South Australia more than 130 years ago. The quoll has now been vet checked, had DNA samples taken, treated for mange, and will be released into the wild.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 10:21 PM PST - 22 comments

Sitting is the opposite of standing. Sitting is the opposite of running around. Sitting is a wonderful thing to do. On September 10 2023, an earworm was born. [more inside]
posted by doift at 7:25 PM PST - 11 comments

(double link youtube) Noodle explains why applying smoothing and interpolation to animation ruins it. Just for good measure Knowing Better explains why you don't see in 4K. Some NSFW language
posted by es_de_bah at 7:02 PM PST - 24 comments

16-year-old boy arrested after famous tree ‘deliberately felled’ A famous tree that has stood sentinel on Britain’s Roman-built Hadrian’s Wall for more than 200 years has been “deliberately felled” in what authorities have called an “act of vandalism.” The sycamore tree, located in the Northumberland National Park in northern England, was made famous to millions around the world when it appeared in Kevin Costner’s 1991 blockbuster film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.”
posted by Fizz at 4:04 PM PST - 128 comments

It is time for the 2023 Fat Bear Week, the annual clash of tubby titans in Alaska's Katmai National Park, to see whose ursine heft reigns supreme. This year's Fat Bear Week kicks off with the Fat Bear Junior contest, whose winner gets to join the main bracket. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:51 PM PST - 26 comments

Meet the Catluminati (archive) and his neighborhood cat friends including Mr. Furley, Naptime, Miss Cleo, Toast Malone, Crazy, Walnut, Cow Mary, Area Rug Mary, and Clara von Teethandclaws to name a few. More on the Catluminati. Videos on youtube, tiktok, instagram. [more inside]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 10:15 AM PST - 11 comments

2023 was the 80th anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles. The name is misleading because it suggests that the zoot suiters — the young Mexican, Black and Filipino men and boys who wore the flamboyant outfits (wide-legged, high-waisted, pegged trousers and coats with wide lapels and padded shoulders; zoot suit girls had their own spin)— were the perpetrators. Text and post title from the timeline (archive.org version). Short video: The Zoot Suit Riots Cruise brings back ‘a forgotten era’. [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:36 AM PST - 13 comments

Inside the secret meeting of Vine stars that ushered in the app’s demise (WaPo gift link)
posted by kyleg at 7:56 AM PST - 39 comments

Here is a non-exhaustive list of things that have been blamed for nearsightedness: pregnancy, pipe smoking, brown hair, long heads, bulging eyes, too much fluid in the eyes, not enough fluid in the eyes, muscle spasms, social class. From The World Is Going Blind. Taiwan Offers a Warning, and a Cure [Wired; ungated]
posted by chavenet at 4:42 AM PST - 47 comments