Best Of MetaFilter

Hands in the sky by ohhhbetty (cc by)

In Ask Metafilter, I'm writing a short story where the main character uses a signed language that developed on a space station: A very interesting question and some great answers on signal's request for cultural and linguistic introduction to signed languages for background.

Discworld by CarbonNYC [in SF!] (cc by)

Black hole time! PhysicsMatt answers why the accretion disk is a disk rather than a sphere, and RedOrGreen explains a bit about interferometry (and other stuff) in the Mefi thread on the reveal of the first black hole image.

Anableps anableps by rubund (cc by-sa)

zamboni with the facts about giant diamonds, the Venus lander, and what this has to do with export taxes.

Can a fish see out of water? Wolfster introduces us to the amazing anablep, the fish whose eyes are bifocals.

Pogo_Fuzzybutt reflects on "one of the better" pizzas he's had -- the day began with a hiker falling off a cliff (Spoiler: don't worry, the hiker lives).

First NBL training run - Getting a feel for the suit. by AstroSamantha (cc by)

Did you enjoy last night's live thread watching the Jupiter mission?

Check out the big auction of space items like navigational globes -- alongside this video from (Mefi's own) engineerguy Bill Hammack on how some of that equipment worked. (Also don't miss his video series recreating Faraday's historical lectures on how a candle works.)

Flight history detectives: Who was the first child to fly in an airplane?

From backseatpilot and Eleven, some expert answers to that age-old question: Which has better aerodynamics, an X-Wing or a TIE fighter?

Nathalia Holt's "Rise of the Rocket Girls"

Amaaaaazing post from filthy light thief on the women behind the Jet Propulsion Lab and NASA, and the book by Nathalia Holt that celebrates them. 🚀

Fermi satellite

I’ve flown 7 satellites and supported two launches.

Rob Rockets with a great answer to krautland's question about the ins-and-outs of satellite operations.

Dragon Scream by Brandon James Scott (cc by-nc-nd)

Want to hear Mefites hiss and spit over sins of omission (and inclusion!) in another "best books" thread, and pick up some great member reading recommendations along the way? Check out the thread on The 51 Best Fantasy Series Ever Written. (tip of the wizard hat to y2karl for the title)

In other news, Space Journey Walrus makes an entrance in a thread about some Very Serious Developments Indeed in the aftermath of "this year's kerpupple surrounding the Hugo awards," soon acquiring form (and fashion) and narrative arc. What strange new realms await our hero?

Apollo 12 Pacific Recovery by NASA Goddard Photo and Video (cc by)

In a thread about the wonderful "writes upside down" spacepen, member eriko explains why pencils in space can be quite deadly and unsafe:

Realize that a piece of graphite between two conductors with enough current behind them becomes a light bulb. Briefly. This isn't good in sea level atmosphere, in a pure oxygen atmosphere, this is deadly. Gemini used mechanical pencils, which got rid of the wood, but left the graphite, and graphite+oxygen+spark=fire. Bad.

Apollo 11 Bootprint by NASA on The Commons

On the occasion of Neil Armstrong's passing, MetaFilter member liza recounts how profound the moonwalk was to her and her family:

supposedly 500 million people saw that Lunar landing worldwide. beside the bouncing images of Armstrong on our little black & white TV, the most important memory i have of that day is that the sky, the Moon and space were only the limits to the opportunities i could have.

Everybody's been talking about the moon, but what about the Moon Patrol? They get up at noon!

If that's not enough goofy space-related music from mefite erikgrande (with some help from Uncle Jimmy), you might also check out the improvised and thoroughly ridiculous 9 minute Star Wars blues jam, Is Everything OK?