The science fiction of the Middle Ages, the remains of an Ice Age wolf, retro graphics cards, cannibal punk and the first known animal, all that and much more. So much that you won't be able to see it all in one sitting.
Science fiction already existed in the Middle Ages: "As an example, we have the legend of the Green Children of Woolpit, who appeared in Suffolk in the 12th century and spoke a language no one could understand. There is also the story of Eilmer, the 11th-century monk who built himself a pair of wings and flew from the top of Malmesbury Abbey. And the Voynich Manuscript, a 15th-century book that is tremendously mysterious and full of illustrations of otherworldly plants and surreal landscapes."
Gun Fight, a Western at the dawn of the Japanese invasion: "The game Gun Fight may remotely resemble a substitute for Pong's mechanics, with a confrontation between two human players but adding its own elements to differentiate itself. On one hand, we control two cowboys, represented by human figures moving away from something as abstract as two sticks pretending to be tennis rackets. Moreover, these cowboys could (and must) shoot each other, which is honestly much more fun than passing the little Pong ball back and forth."
The search for the retro experience – graphics cards: "Before the arrival of three-dimensional graphics, polygons and advanced lighting, what your computer needed to display on screen was a good video card. The battle here wasn't about producing more FPS or supporting the latest version of DirectX, but rather providing the highest image quality at the highest possible resolution. The most reputable brands in the sector were Matrox, S3 and ATI, although there were many more."
Ice Age wolf remains unearthed in Canada: "Two mummified Ice Age mammals, a wolf pup and a caribou, were discovered by gold miners in the area in 2016 and were revealed on Thursday at a ceremony in Dawson in the Yukon territory. It is extremely rare for skin, fur and muscle tissue to be preserved in the fossil record, but all three are present in these specimens, which have been radiocarbon dated to over 50,000 years old." Want to know more about wolves? This link was sent to us by José Carlos, and it has plenty of additional info: The path from wolf to domestic dog.
This is Dickinsonia, the first known animal to inhabit Earth: "A strange creature called Dickinsonia, which measured about 1.4 meters in length and had an oval shape with rib-like segments on its body, is the first inhabitant animal of Earth on record. It lived 558 million years ago, according to cholesterol remains found in a well-preserved ancient fossil."
Where does the weight we lose go?: "The correct answer is that fat becomes carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide is exhaled and the water enters the circulatory system until it is expelled through urine or sweat. If you lose 10 kilos of fat, exactly 8.4 kilos are lost through the lungs and the remaining 1.6 becomes water. That means almost all the weight we lose is exhaled."
In praise of laziness, why the world would be better if we were considerably lazier: "This is an idea that has been circulating for a long time in neuroscience and has been part of culture for centuries. Rest was as much a part of daily life as work. However, the industrial revolution, capitalism, the urbanization of society and globalization have changed individual customs and turned time into the most precious commodity. On the contrary, laziness (or rather, idleness) is today an important taboo. How did we get here?"
The night punk was cannibal: "Possibly, without the striking image of the 'cannibal' couple, the news of The Clash's performance at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London would not have been highlighted. Joe Strummer himself admitted this, who in October 1976 was beginning to be known as the frontman of The Clash. Punk was not yet a mass phenomenon and spread in violent shows that, as in this case, happened in art spaces, in this case the ICA, famous for hosting one of the pre-punk punk events: the famous Prostitution exhibition by the COUM Transmissions collective, with Throbbing Gristle at their best and most transgressive moment" Mildly NSFW.
Curiosities of Streets of Fire, a Rock & Roll fable: "Promoted as 'A Rock & Roll Fable' for its excellent soundtrack, and set in a retro 1950s style, the film Streets of Fire stars Tom Cody (Michael Paré), a mercenary who returns home to rescue his ex-girlfriend Ellen Aim (Diane Lane), a rock band singer who has been kidnapped by Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe), the leader of a biker gang."
0.7% of cryptocurrency wallets hold 87% of all bitcoins: "This data is corroborated by a study from the cryptocurrency-specialized consultancy Diar, which concludes that 87% of all bitcoins in circulation correspond to 0.7% of the total digital wallets of this cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, barely 0.1% of wallets exceed the balance of 100 bitcoins, equivalent to €530,000." In the end, I was right in my diatribe on the subject. If you haven't read it, come along with me to read this sad story.
Do you hate progressive rock? Calm down, yours can be fixed: "In the world of pop music, everything is mutation. But there are things that don't change: since approximately 1977, there has been a subgenre that is in good taste to badmouth, making it the object of jokes and mockery at the slightest change. Progressive rock ('prog' for short) may carry less hatred today than in the eighties or nineties, but it still stars in a rather ugly narrative."
10 classic books that have been banned: "From the Bible to Harry Potter, some of the most popular books in the world have been banned for reasons ranging from violence to the ideology imbued in their pages. Let's take a look at 10 classic 20th-century books that have sparked controversy."
Videos
Interview with a catatonic schizophrenic (with subtitles in Spanish), the grotesque art of Erick Ferguson, make tea with kung fu, poor dog, the mind-bending Ames window illusion, how Chinese firefighters train, all the anime in the world, ninja cyclist, the best of bad acting, emergency, David Bowie (my latest 2018 work), the art of homemade pasta, destroying magnetic sculptures in reverse, baby rhinoceros, how to colonize the Moon, if modern companies existed in the 70s and 90s, Volvo's autonomous trucks, indoor acrobatics with RC planes, the murmuration of starlings, a 1985 commercial with H.R. Giger art, how to have cybersex in the 80s, and the short films Scavengers and Captain EO (with Michael Jackson).
Galleries
Playful Mai Shiranui cosplay, never-before-seen photos of Diego Maradona, bicycle messengers from the early 1900s, old photographs of cities, Miss Soviet Union, artistic coffins, anti-alcohol posters from the Soviet Union, beautiful women of the last century, Gorgo covers, horrible real estate ad photos, botched repairs, exuberant teenagers from the 60s and 70s, crystal insects, the evolution of US pop icons, excellent tattoos with a twist, and finally, the Visual Dump and the Animated Dump of the Week.
Is that all? And yes, what else do you want? See you next week! Thanks for stopping by, friend!
