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And a small child ... by Counselman Collection (cc by-sa)

Recently on Ask Metafilter...

And the lion shall lie down with the lamb. It's in the Bible, right? Well no, Isaiah 11.6 says the wolf will lie down with the lamb. Why do I and so many other people remember it as a lion?

What was a petrified animal doing in this tree?

Can someone explain to me why my non-stick pans are still greasy, even after I thoroughly wash them?

Marine biologists, what was that thing I saw all the time in Bermuda?

WTF Abe Lincoln Ephemera, ISO uncanny things related to Abe Lincoln

What's making this creepy noise in the woods?

How is this street performer just sitting there, balancing his bike on the front wheel?

How does the icing get on black and white cookies?

What could have killed a shrub/bush in one day?

How to completely prevent solicitors from coming to my house?

Seafloor Surveys After Katrina by NOAA Images

bassomatic says, "my dad and his team of underwater archaeologists were the first to find an ancient shipwreck using side-scan sonar..."

Scary stories and freaky facts about oxygen deprivation at altitude

How does a scuba diver smell shipwreck cheese underwater? And some other ancient foods, eaten in the name of science

AskMe offers some resources on cloudwatching for beginners

Moby Dick is fabulous - Mefites talk Melville and subtext, and what you thought of classic novels before you read them, and the linked writer drops by to respond

Submersible finds glowy purple orb in the depths

And finally, that pressing question, what if I fell out of an airplane in a tank full of water?

"Out of Nowhere" by Ray Kelly

So MANY great photo posts this month: a rare view of Victorian Women of Color; "Through Our Eyes" asked 100 homeless people in Spartanburg, South Carolina to take pictures of their lives; Vintage aerial photos of rural America; Was Diane Arbus the Most Radical Photographer of the 20th Century?; Six degrees of Copenhagen by Jens Juul; WaterWigs project by Tim Tadder; Restricted Areas series by Russian photographer Danila Tkachenko; freaky and cute Secret Friends; photographs by Degas; using drones to portray scenes of inequality in South Africa; Famous landmarks photographed from the "wrong" direction.

Harvesting Palm Sugar by edbrambley (cc by-sa)

Join Mefites for a deep dive on some arts and culture from outside the west:

Catchy song and an intro to Kriol language and culture from an Indigenous Australian singer

A new movie provides a window into the unique culture, language, and politics of multigenerational Tamil-Malaysians

Classic short story from "one of Bengal's greatest writers"

Men's fashion from a prizewinning Indian designer

Regional politics, arts and music from Sudanese and South Sudanese journalists

Lada Niva by Hugo90- (cc by)

daniel_charms tells the story of how my father bought a car when he was a farm worker in the USSR, others share memories of their own Ladas, and languagehat offers some more detail on the process in the Soviet car-buying thread.

It's so hot the railroad tracks are buckling! But not everywhere... vacapinta asks, why are railroad tracks okay in the heat in some places but not others?

oog and others remember driving the Nullarbor Plain (including the longest straight road in Australia): "I did this mind-numbing drive in March of 2005, alone. ... I thought I was prepared..."

Anna's Eighty-eight butterfly by Charlesjsharp (cc by)

Bop out, with your neon top out - for music Saturday, share your favorite 1980s pop song remixes

Bunker Fuchsegg by Kecko (cc by)

One day, bored in the teenage manner, I was aimlessly poking around in the basement of our building, where our family's modest storage area was. I had noticed, mysteriously, that the stairs that led down to this lowest level appeared to continue down, but that the stairwell was not illuminated... — mwhybark

Cool post on fake Swiss chalets from Michele in California, with a lot of interesting comments, anecdotes, and links in the thread.

You had one job! by jessamyn (cc by-nc-sa)

On BGS ("Big Green Sign" - yes that *is* actually the technical term for them) assemblies, usually the letters are made of reflective metal that is riveted onto the reflective green background. ... I'm guessing PennDOT Region Whatever awarded a contract to some company to fix this sign to replace letters which may have fallen off due to premature rivet failure or other reasons. And PennDOT is NOTORIOUS in the roadgeek world for being CHEAP. Likely, they awarded the contract to the lowest bidder, who subsequently paid no attention whatsoever to MUTCD regulations and now you have this odd mixed case.

Great answer from tckma (and our introduction to the world of roadgeekery) to cortex's question (about a photo by Jessamyn) How do highway signs get (incorrectly) made?, including some wonderful links to AARoads forum threads on "Erroneous Road Signs," "Signs With Design Errors," and "The Worst of Road Signs."

4211 by Jori Samonen (cc by)

Stories of people who made train friends on their daily commute.

Milk Bag & Fancy Pitcher by avail (cc by-nd)

Milk in bags -- Mefites share and learn. Also ice cream that's not ice cream.

Vegetarian Chili by ilovememphis (cc by-nc-nd)

Okay, folks, time to get serious now: *s wants to win the office vegetarian chili competition. Let us not fail our comrade in need!

In other news, the mythic quest for a seriously intense brownie recipe, and the dream of a for-reals healthy muffin.

1960 Summer Paralympics by brizzle born and bred (cc by-nd)

There has been some good stuff around lately. Hope you didn't miss the inspiring ass-kicking Paralympic athletes...

...or the "spiritual black metal blues" of Zeal and Ardor...

...or this jewelbox of an animated video from the Israeli band Jane Bordeaux....

...or this essay about literature and magic realism in contemporary China...

...or the wide-ranging playlist of music from all over Africa from the 1930s to 1960s...

...or the influential landscapes by once-neglected but newly-renowned African-American painters from Florida.

Snorlax Birthday Cake by Brett Jordan (cc by)

Happy 17th birthday, MetaFilter!

If you're looking for a low-key way to celebrate, drop in and join the wise, suave, and good-looking volunteers who help transcribe the podcast. (Thank you podcast transcribers! You are the best!)

... or if you prefer your celebrations more active, join the stalwart band of Pokemon Go obsessed Mefites as they report back from the field.

Stars by sudoaptgetupdate (cc by-nd)

Thank you, shiny MeFites, for all the great comments every day! Here are a few recent sparklers:

bonehead describes some of the challenges of search and rescue response to a large cruise ship going down in Arctic waters

citygirl on what it's like to work on a cargo ship

not that girl lays down some deep knowledge of the US men's Olympic gymnastics team

NotMyselfRightNow worked with Alvin Toffler: "He was probably the largest individual purchaser of filing cabinets in California"

What were new the hot bands in Vancouver in the 1980s? philip-random can help, because "I was doing radio there at the time. Still am."

flug bringing the amazing detective work in an AskMe about an old mystery play, David and Abigail

It's been a hard year and a worse week; if you're a MetaFilter member or lurker and want to just come be with some other folks on the site for the sake of being there together as a community, this MetaTalk thread is open for that.