Friday Links!
Loaded, as usual. With toppings.Leading off, from Vahur Teller, a link to 25 images of hurricanes--as seen from space.
My good friend John Harwood sent me a link to a video in the Rock Band forums: playing Rock Band with a trumpet. Lots and lots of win in that video--what a crazy (yet simple) idea.
From Jonathan Arnold, a link to a fascinating, forgotten, and ultimately tragic bit of American celebrity: the aquatots.
From Frank Regan, and you really should watch this: the Large Hadron Collider. In other news, Switzerland appears to still be intact.
From Mitch Youngblood a link to a remarkable story of discovery: Melting Swiss Glacier Yields Neolithic Trove, and what they're finding is incredible.
If you have children (or are just curious), here's a link to a dense but ultimately very revealing article about children and how we shape their attitudes. Here's an excerpt:
Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability—along with confidence in that ability—is a recipe for success. In fact, however, more than 30 years of scientific investigation suggests that an overemphasis on intellect or talent leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unwilling to remedy their shortcomings.
The result plays out in children like Jonathan, who coast through the early grades under the dangerous notion that no-effort academic achievement defines them as smart or gifted. Such children hold an implicit belief that intelligence is innate and fixed, making striving to learn seem far less important than being (or looking) smart. This belief also makes them see challenges, mistakes and even the need to exert effort as threats to their ego rather than as opportunities to improve. And it causes them to lose confidence and motivation when the work is no longer easy for them.
Praising children’s innate abilities, as Jonathan’s parents did, reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life.
From David Wolfe, a link to a story about a spider attack simulator and what it teaches us about the behavior of bees.
From the New York Times, an article about another aspect of the extremely high intelligence of crows: they remember the faces of friends and foes.
From Skip Key, a link to the utterly fascinating Japanese Bug Fights. It's impossible to watch only one.
Here's another technology story that's so brilliant it's hard to even believe: Colorizing Technology Highlights Cancerous Tissue.
From the Edwin Garcia Links Machine, a link to a story about the Thai prime minister being forced to resign from office--because of a cooking show.
From Jarod, a link to some amazing (and amazingly detailed) photographs of insects.
A boatload of links from Sirius this week. First, a link to an article about how insects may have ultimately finished the dinosaurs. Next, a link to The Complete History of Nintendo (all 122 years). Then, to almost no one's surprise (since they can already paint), it's been discovered that elephants have a talent for arithmetic. Finally, a link to a story about the discovery of an intact steppe mammoth skull.
From Steven Pubols, a link to a story about water bears--tiny invertebrates that can survive in the vacuum of space.
From Steven Davis, a link to a story about the discovery of fossil forests in the coal mines of Illinois.
From Gloria (aka "my wife"), a link to an Onion classic: Evolutionists Flock to Darwin-shaped Wall Stain.
Here's a second link from Vahur Teller, and it's an insane skateboarding video (think 50MPH+): Claremont.
From DQ Fitness Advisor Doug Walsh, a link to what must be the oddest running race ever. It's 3100 miles long, it lasts for 51 days and it consists entirely of running around a 1/2 mile city block in Queens. Here's the Wikipedia entry as well.
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