Question about highway....measuring devices? Not exactly sure. [more inside]
posted by brandman on Oct 9, 2009 - 11 answers

How did we go from basic rough hand tools to the point of having really precise tools? Specifically, how do you make a better tool from the ones you have on hand? [more inside]
posted by toomanyplugs on Aug 19, 2009 - 17 answers

Surveying 101: How is acreage measured on hilly ground? Is the acre a measure of the surface area of the ground, or of the area inside an imaginary box that is superimposed over the ground? [more inside]
posted by Orinda on Aug 18, 2009 - 11 answers

Is there an equivalent to free web metrics sites like Quantcast and Compete for the UK & Europe? [more inside]
posted by CRM114 on May 21, 2009 - 4 answers

What is the difference between Greenwich time, Zulu and UTC? Is Zulu and UTC a form of Greenwich time? I can't seem to find a page that states the difference. And do these forms of measurement not recognize daylight savings? Thanks in advance!
posted by cwarmy on Mar 18, 2009 - 8 answers

Is there any good free software for putting a coordinate system on an image and extracting positions of objects? [more inside]
posted by springload on Oct 12, 2008 - 4 answers

Is there a way to measure how much sunlight different parts of my yard get over the course of a day? [more inside]
posted by stbalbach on Aug 23, 2008 - 14 answers

Where in L.A. can I get my body fat measured by water immersion?
posted by mykescipark on Jul 11, 2008 - 3 answers

If I have a scale that is accurate to .1 grams and I want it to be accurate to say, .05 grams, how many measurements do I need to take to do this? Can I even do this? [more inside]
posted by geoff. on Jun 18, 2008 - 22 answers

I'm interested in aspects of benchmarking with the help of UNIX's time, specifically, what user, system and elapsed times correspond to, within the functional context of the system and the tested application. [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Mar 4, 2008 - 4 answers

I recall something that I believe I heard Carl Sagan say either in an episode of Cosmos or in one of his earlier books, that one could store enough information to hold an entire encyclopedia by putting a notch in a stick, if only one could measure where the notch lies to some absurd astronomically precise figure. Am I imagining this? [more inside]
posted by macinchik on Dec 6, 2007 - 14 answers

"A human is halfway in size between an atom and the known universe"... This is a paraphrased quote I have come across several times. I like it. Who said it first? How true is it in the most literal sense? And, finally, what errors arrive in postulating a universe, or an atom, which can be measured AT ALL from our singular, relativistic, perspective? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Feb 18, 2007 - 14 answers

Measuring alcohol content without a hydrometer? [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jan 10, 2007 - 8 answers

What are some common household objects that can be used as standard measures? [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Nov 20, 2006 - 37 answers

I'm not a smoker, so I consume most of my THC by steeping 1/4 oz of weed in 26 oz of 151-proof rum. (After a week or so, I strain the rum and consume it about a tablespoon at a time. It suits my needs quite well.) I remember from my days of making homemade wine that there was a fairly easy way to estimate the alcohol content of wine by measuring the specific gravity before and after fermentation. Is there any similar method to get a ballpark idea of how much THC is in my rum?
posted by Tbola on Oct 20, 2006 - 11 answers

What kind of light do you use to accurately measure how white your teeth are? [more inside]
posted by SeizeTheDay on Jul 20, 2006 - 9 answers

Why do American cookbooks give ingredient measurements by volume and number instead of weight? [more inside]
posted by betterton on May 3, 2006 - 35 answers

Do we have any measurements that confirm redshift for distant objects? [more inside]
posted by rdr on Feb 17, 2006 - 10 answers

How much oil is left in my 300 gallon underground home heating oil tank? I stuck the measuring stick in, and it came up wet from 15" on down. Assuming a standard, what is the general rule(r) of thumb?
posted by ValveAnnex on Dec 13, 2004 - 7 answers

How is quantitative data for humidity, temperature etc translated into a qualitative descriptions of weather conditions? [more inside]
posted by none on Sep 11, 2004 - 1 answer