Best Of MetaFilter

March of the Baby Turtles by Clearly Ambiguous (cc by)

MetaFilter member Muddler studied sea turtles and came away with some important lessons:

So, there is a balance that can be reached to help save the turtles, but it takes some creativity and understanding of the predicament of both the turtles and the people who live near their beaches. Thankfully, the Olive Ridley population is doing relatively well, no doubt in part to the efforts at Ostional.

Drawing on index card by koalazymonkey (cc by)

In a thread seeking advice/gifts to impart on a 9 year-old receiving his first wallet, MetaFilter member decathecting describes the ultimate reference card for young people:

Make a card that is twice the size you actually need. Fold it in half, and then write on both sides of what is now the outside. Tell the young man that this is his emergency card. Include on the card a telephone number that you promise to answer, day or night, if he is in trouble and needs an adult, no questions asked. Advice about stuff he can't talk to his parents about, help getting a ride home from someplace he's not supposed to be, bail money, whatever. Before you laminate it, slip a $50 bill between the two halves, inside the fold. Tell him it's there, and that it's his emergency money, and that it will always be there if he needs it, but that the money is a one-time offer, so he really needs to save it for a situation he can't get out of on his own.

Maria Callas (La Traviata)

Madamina and others outline bel canto singing to help us understand a scene in The Fifth Element.

Cockpit of lil plane, flying to Veiques by innuendo (cc by)

In response to a popular news story about a security researcher claiming he could crash a plane remotely via smartphone, MeFi member backseatpilot explains why concerns over this may be overblown:

The airplane is designed to remain safe and functional even if the FMSs fail. Again, multiply redundant systems. Multiple MFDs can fail, multiple autopilots can fail, you could have a total electrical failure and still fly the airplane. Even the Dreamliner, the most electric airplane in the world, is designed to fly with a total electrical failure.

No, this is not by Lady Pain (Marta Manso) (cc by)

Women are, like, totally underpaid in the tech world.

Obviously, this is using proxy measures like age and education rather than experience and skill, but it's still a pretty strong statement. After controlling for age, education, specific occupation and even the labour market, there is still a very strong effect showing that women are paid 80 cents on the dollar.

Homeboy Trouble does the math.

Antimatter cloud

MeFite physicsmatt explains the day's headlines.

I don't see how AMS can say they've discovered dark matter, or even gotten us hints of dark matter. I'm actually very disappointed that they've pushed this narrative on the media: you guys who are interested in science deserve better. The experiment is a huge technical achievement, it's doing good science, and there's no reason they should be overplaying their results in an attempt to make it sound sexier or more important.