Friday, July 10, 2009

Friday Links!

First off, from Steven Kreuch (who has a second link later), it's a two-minute video that is just amazing: Train vs. Tornado. My jaw dropped open.

I normally mention Matt Sakey's column in a gaming links article, but since I didn't have one this week, here's his latest Culture Clash column: Developer In A Bottle.

Here's a fascinating article from New Scientist about how computer analysis is being used to identify which artisan engraved ancient tablets. An excerpt:
Just as English handwriting morphed from ornate script filled with curvy flourishes to the utilitarian penmanship practiced today, Greek marble inscriptions evolved over the course of the civilisation.

"Lettering of the fifth century BC and lettering of the first century BC don't look very much alike, and even a novice can tell them apart," Tracy says.

But narrowing inscriptions to a window smaller than 100 years requires a better trained eye, not to mention far more time and effort...

From The Edwin Garcia Links Machine, a story about canopy rafts, and trust me, they're remarkable. Also, and these are really wonderful, it's 12 Vimeo videos for design inspiration. Then there's RC scale model submarine used to run fiber cable through sewers (page down for English translation). Next, it's a video of, well, you won't believe it: Ultimate Wiimote Control Hack: 15-ton Giant Robot Claws.

From JL, a link to a unicycle documentary titled Into The Thunder Dragon, and it chronicles "extreme mountain unicyclists Kris Holm and Nathan Hoover's wild journey across the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan." Note: this doesn't seem to play properly in Firefox, or at least, it's not playing properly in mine.

From Sirius, a link to a story about an amazing discovery: Mexican free-tail bats life significantly longer than other animals of comparable size, and it's due to efficient protein folding. Also, and this is potentially awesome, it's Learn Echolocation. Next, and it's classic, it's Deep Purple Ordered To Pay Royalties To Themselves.

From Jesse Leimkuehler, a link to amazing image from space, and here's a description:
A new image of a gaseous space nebula reveals tens of thousands of giant comet-like knots raining down in a star-spangled cosmic fireworks display. Also, a link to an update on the Kepler mission (now about 6.6 million miles from Earth).

From George Paci, a link to the discovery of over 400 photographs of British soldiers during WWI, and they're quite remarkable.

From Jonathan Arnold, a link that you'll just have to see for yourself: the 15 creepiest vintage ads of all time.

From John Rodriguez, a link to a stunning photo titled Mount Rushmore's Starry Night.

From Steven Kreuch, and it's a hoot, it's The Airplane Toilet Paper Experiment.

This is a commercial, but it's still worth seeing (thanks A&N): Evian Roller Babies.

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