Friday Links!
It's a return from sabbatical edition of Friday Links, so let's get going.Thanks to Steven Kreuch for sending in a link to what may well be the worst music video ever, and I'm not kidding.
From Jarod, a link to the Megalithic Passage Tomb at Newgrange, a remarkable archaelogical site in Ireland that is over 6,000 years old.
From Shane Courtrille, the story of the girl who does not age. This is a strange, fascinating article.
Here's a new disaster you might not heard about--stem rust, which is a 'time bomb' for the world wheat crop. Scary stuff.
I've linked to this before, but stuff seems to keep getting added, and it just gets funnier. From Nate Carpenter, it's what's happened since Duke Nukem Forever was announced.
From Andrew B, it's the Google Maps alphabet.
From The Edwin Garcia Links Machine, a fantastic story about the IBM SAGE, and here's an excerpt:
The IBM SAGE spoke to me. It was old, but unlike other machines from the era, with crude punch interfaces, it had a GUI, a light gun, and hell, an ashtray. And a big yellow screen. The ashtray was so operators didn't have to leave their posts for cigarette breaks. Spotting incoming planes from the Soviet Union was precise work that needed constant attention...
SAGE stood for Semi-Automatic Ground Environment and its sole purpose was to analyze radar data in real time and relay targeting information to fighter planes' autopilots. It was built by IBM in 1954 based off of MIT technology and was a fore bearer of additional *amazing futuristic ideas* like magnetic core memory, networking, and modems to facilitate communication between the 27 bases.
From Randall G., and it's one of the greatest headlines ever: The Strange Life Of Creatures Whose Sperm Is Larger Than They Are.
From John D'Angelo, a spectacular photograph of the Sarychev Peak Eruption--taken from the International Space Station (more and larger images here (thanks Ryan Leasher). Also from John, here's an optical illusion that has to be seen to be believed.
From Jesse Leimkuehler, an article about the weirdest article in the solar system. Also, it's secrets of space blobs revealed.
From Sirius, a very interesting essay titled Triumph Of The Default. Also, stunning hi-res photos of Mars, taken by the HiRise camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Then there's the man who dug a 50 foot hole to fish--in his kitchen. One more, and it's fascinating--the plant that pretends to be ill.
From Juan Font, and don't blame me if you don't get anything done for the next hour, it's Circle The Cat.
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