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I have come to love and depend on the PNW climate; mild summers, cold but not brutal winters, plenty of rain, plenty of nature. To a lesser extent, Oregon and Northern Californa also answer my needs. But I've lived on the West Coast all my life, and someday, I think, I might like a change. Is there a place somewhere to the east that is very similar to the PNW? [more inside]
posted by The otter lady at 1:25 PM - 22 answers

I am looking for resources where I can ask specifics about using my microscope, how-to's, and with that also queries about my findings. Specifically in the medical field. Think - people who want to test their own samples.
posted by watercarrier at 12:13 AM - 3 answers

Is it safe for birds to be nesting in a metal shed? If not, what can I do? [more inside]
posted by Brain Sturgeon at 10:26 AM - 11 answers

Does boiling water actually do anything special besides evaporate? Or is it just a convenient eyeballing metric for temperature? [more inside]
posted by aniola at 1:52 PM - 19 answers

In what is probably the biggest hunk of beach glass ever... I found this on the shore on PEI two Summers ago. Pic 1, Pic 2. [more inside]
posted by bricksNmortar at 1:51 PM - 22 answers

I'm looking for memoirs or books about their working lives by contemporary women scientists, specifically ones who work in laboratories. This is for a 13-year-old who is interested in science careers. Looking for stuff published in the last ten years. We have read Hope Jahren's Lab Girl. Articles or online documentary programmes would also work, as would recommendations of women scientists who are on Instagram (not other social media). Thanks.
posted by paduasoy at 12:59 PM - 11 answers

I accidentally took 2mg instead of .2mg of Xanax 22 hours ago because I mis-read the packet. I've slept for about 19 of them and am still careening off walls and staggering around like a drunk. This is rediculous. How long until this wears off and I can function?
posted by DarlingBri at 5:52 PM - 9 answers

One of the most dramatic and useful features in the garden of my new house is a stand of about 100 stalks of Giant Knotweed. When I Googled for advice about how to prepare the patch for the upcoming season, all of the results pointed to its awfulness, invasiveness, and how I am a terrible person for encouraging its growth. Is there a middle ground with Giant Knotweed? [more inside]
posted by bright and shiny at 1:46 PM - 20 answers

Basically what the title says. What's the best place to make out in Los Angeles? Where can two gay women make out in a car, not be disturbed, and have the best views? Criteria are inside. [more inside]
posted by lilies.lilies at 8:00 PM - 2 answers

For a gift, I'm looking for a large "coffee table" size book of animal photos. This is for an adult, so not the youth oriented animal encyclopedias I'm finding. [more inside]
posted by ecorrocio at 7:49 PM - 9 answers

Someone posted a probability question on Mastodon: "A, B and C toot the truth with a probability of 1/3 and lie with a probability of 2/3. A makes a toot and B toots an observation on whether or not A was tooting the truth or not. C toots that B confirmed A was truthful. What is the actual probability that A's toot was truthful?" Either I made it more complicated than it needs to be, or a lot of other people are wrong, and I suspect the former. Help me get to the bottom of this! [more inside]
posted by valrus at 9:44 PM - 10 answers

TED fu fail. Can you hope me find this TED talk on misunderstanding others? [more inside]
posted by trinity8-director at 4:30 PM - 2 answers

Picture taken in Vero Beach, FL. Thank you!
posted by bricksNmortar at 1:16 PM - 5 answers

I'm interested in books on how crowd control and movement works: through stores, public transport, crowded parks or streets, etc. I'd like to know how engineers plan for crowds, and also what social behaviors are common in crowds, what ways they can be predicted or not. Thanks!
posted by backwards compatible at 5:25 PM - 15 answers

How many bee-hours does it take to make (say) 1 liter of honey? [more inside]
posted by dmd at 3:15 PM - 2 answers

A while back I asked how much fossil fuel it took to walk. I built a calculator. Can you look over the math and sources of information and tell me if there's something better/more accurate to use, and more generally if there are things that I'm overlooking that I could include (without getting too into the weeds). [more inside]
posted by gregr at 10:20 AM - 10 answers

How do computers "think" about irrational numbers? If I tell my computer: √2 ^ 2, does it first calculate the square root out to a certain decimal place, then square it, and round the answer up to 2? Or does it somehow understand the irrationality of √2 and not perform that part operation? I don't have a CS background, so this question might be pretty naive. Links to articles/ discussions are welcome, my googling didn't go so well.
posted by Think_Long at 6:56 AM - 17 answers

I saw this tree while surveying a roof in Northeastern Massachusetts this week. As best as I can tell, it is an ash tree on the bottom and a birch tree on top. This makes no sense to me. What is the deal with this tree? [more inside]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:49 PM - 7 answers

I've been reading about the sense of smell. In particular there is the idea that the olfactory system goes directly to the limbic system. They say that the very first time you smell something, your emotional reaction whether positive or negative becomes permanently imprinted. You will have that same reaction to the smell for the rest of your life. So what's the truth? What's the scientific consensus on this?
posted by storybored at 8:25 AM - 8 answers

I read that the Moon protects the Earth by slinging approaching dangerous space junk out of the way. Jupiter does the same thing. But given a random approaching bit of space junk, wouldn't the Moon or Jupiter be just as likely to sling a bit of space junk into our path as out of our path?
posted by musofire at 6:50 PM - 8 answers