Friday, July 01, 2011

Friday Links!

From DQ reader My Wife, who celebrated her [insert the Goldbach conjecture here] birthday yesterday, a link to an astonishingly funny (and equally depressing) video relic from the 1950s: Duck And Cover (1951) Bert The Turtle Civil Defense Film.

It is so, so wrong in so many ways. Here's Gloria's favorite line: "Here's Tony, on his way to a cub scout meeting. Tony knows the bomb can come at any time. Duck and cover, Tony!"

Here is an absolutely stunning article about crows and intelligence: Hitchcockian crows gossip about mean humans.

From Sirius, and this is excellent, it's The Essence of Time: Monumentally Important Clocks. Also, Pythagoras Solar Turns Windows Into Panels Of Energy. One more, and it's fantastic: The Ultimate Wingsuit Flying Video.

From DQ Fitness Advisor Doug Walsh, and this is very cool: a compilation video of 35 different musicians performing Radiohead's "Paranoid Android". No, it's not the full version by 35 different artists--just watch it.

From Kevin W, and what a superb title: Why Sex With Creatures From The Future Is A Bad Idea. Welcome to the world of antagonistic coevolution, using brine shrimp. Also note the comments section, which is quite interesting as well.

Well, it would be hard to find a stranger link than the last one, but Brad Brasfield might have done it, with a story about a Japanese J-Pop star who is not actually a real person.

Also, here's an obscure note: Laura Shigihara, the incredibly talented composer/musician/singer of "Zombies On My Lawn", was offered a J-Pop contract back in the day, but refused.

C. Lee sent me a fascinating article about the green curtain group in Japan. He includes this description:
As you know, Japan is facing electricity shortages due to the March earthquake, and so businesses are being encouraged to cut their power usage. Kyocera is planting climbing vines on trellises to reduce air conditioner loads. The plants block sunlight and cool the surrounding air through transpiration. One test Kyocera performed found that the plants could cut building surface temperatures by as much as 27 degrees Fahrenheit. The curtains also help absorb carbon and, depending on what's planted, can even provide vegetables for employees.

Also, a website for homeowners who want to create their own green curtain.

Max Weinstein sent in a link about an amazing project: Markus Kayser - Solar Sinter Project Here's a description:
In this experiment sunlight and sand are used as raw energy and material to produce glass objects using a 3D printing process, that combines natural energy and material with high-tech production technology.

From Carlos Annlo, it looks like we're only a few steps away from Soylent Green: Coming soon, the test-tube burger: Lab-grown meat 'needed to feed the world'.

From Kevin, and it's staggeringly beautiful: composite image of lightning.

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