Egyptian hieroglyphs in Unicode, biological weapons carried by insects, space law, intergalactic parasites and the longest symphony in the world. All that and much more are waiting for you to read with relish in this week's recommended links. The internet black hole that will suck up all your time before you realize it. You've been warned!
This Week's Recommended Links
A crazy 'Rick and Morty' theory about intergalactic parasites slipped into three scientific journals: “A group of researchers has just found a way to use magnets to fight intergalactic parasites. According to three scientific journals, the formula only works in the Zyrgion simulation. It is an article published under the title Newer tools to fight inter-galactic parasites and their transmissibility in Zyrion simulation. Its author, Beth Smith, has presented a study describing the method to combat those terrible parasites that implant false memories in their hosts.”
James Watt's 1788 steam engine: “The ‘Lap Engine’ is a steam engine designed by James Watt and built by the company Boulton & Watt in 1788. It is now preserved in the Science Museum in London. James Pickard was an English inventor who modified the Newcomen steam engine so it could provide rotary motion. His solution, patented in 1780, used a combination of a crank and a flywheel. James Watt, a contemporary of James Pickard, avoided paying patent royalties by using an alternative mechanical device, the so-called sun-and-planet gear, in the development of his steam engine.”
Sad song of Philip K. Dick – Amphetamines, madness and science fiction: “One night, when he got home, Phil opened the front door and flipped the left switch. What he saw made him drop the grocery bag. Piles of scattered papers and trampled objects lay on the parquet floor. The stereo equipment had disappeared. The glass was shattered, an explosive had burst the huge metal filing cabinet, and the house had been ransacked. ‘Praise the Lord!’ was the first thing he thought. ‘It’s obvious I’m not paranoid’.”
Axis Mundi – The victory of cyberpunk: “The new possibilities introduced by digital technology, added to the cultural energies released by punk in the late ’70s, inspired some young science fiction writers to develop unprecedented and contemporary directions within the genre. In 1977, the year punk entered public consciousness, Canadian author William Gibson published his first short story, ‘Fragments of a Hologram Rose’, while Bruce Sterling launched his first novel, Involution Ocean.”
Whose moon is it? Does law exist in space?: “Space law is a branch of international law developed mainly by Andrew G. Haley, known as the Space Lawyer. It consists of five international treaties, the first and most important of which is the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. This treaty, signed by 130 countries, prohibits all states from installing weapons of mass destruction in orbit around our planet and limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to purely peaceful purposes. Nations cannot experiment with weapons or install military bases on them.”
The world's longest symphony performed in a concert: “That honor belongs to Havergal Brian’s first symphony, The Gothic. It is a symphony in six movements lasting 105 minutes, 40 for the first three movements and an hour for an arrangement of the hymn Te Deum. It was completed in 1927 after eight years of work and, since then, has only been performed six times.”
Inside the skin of a Roman legionary: “Historical reenactment is taking experimental archaeology a step further: it means testing and reliving in person both the civil and military life of the period being recreated, and making the life of the past known through explanations or lectures. But it is also important that the public can touch history, try a food, hold an object to feel its weight, texture, smells, etc. In this way the viewer learns and grasps in a different way, with the senses. The best way to understand history, at least military history, is through historical reenactment plus experimental archaeology, which in our case will be Roman.”
Oxford professors think weekends should have 3 days: “Professors at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (United Kingdom), have good reason to believe that weekends should have three days and not two. If that happened, they say, employees would most likely become more productive. Also happier.”
I've seen Excel spreadsheets you wouldn't believe: “Especially when you see the incredible wonders that others are able to do with it, which go far beyond formulas, lists, templates and various organizations. That’s why we’ve been browsing the internet to bring you some of the most amazing Excel spreadsheets you can find. There’s everything, from spectacular works of art you’d never believe were made with a spreadsheet to different types of video games, and of course other more common but equally imaginative sheets.”
An article in 'Science' warns that the US could be testing biological weapons using virus-infected insects: “Agricultural research or a new biological weapons system? With that unsettling title, an article is published today in the journal Science in which several experts raise their doubts about a research project of the US Department of Defense. The program proposes introducing genetic alterations into already planted fields, using infectious viruses that would be spread through insects. According to the article’s authors, these features suggest the project is intended to be used offensively and, therefore, could become a potential biological weapon.”
How the ancient Greeks invented a telegraph system to transmit messages over long distances: “Generally associated with the military realm, the need to send messages also led to the development of devices for that purpose, such as the scytale used by the Spartan ephors. It consisted of two rods of similar thickness, one for the sender and one for the receiver, around which a leather strip with the message written on it was wrapped. Only by wrapping the strip around a rod of similar thickness could the message be read.”
Unicode will incorporate Egyptian hieroglyphs: “Having these characters in Unicode will allow people to send texts with hieroglyphs without needing specialized or non-standard fonts.”
Videos
VIDEOS: The evolution of video game graphics, cobra throwing up a cobra, glow-in-the-dark scorpions, Star Wars in graphics, Predator in GTA V, when you're too good for your job, record mechanical spinning top, Guinness records of September 2018, caracal cat screaming for food, crash test fail, Super Mario Bros. speedrun in 4:55.913, skilled chef, a coin that defies gravity for two minutes, how to make an NES game in 40kb, Fibertbots and the winners of Small World in Motion (from Nikon).
Galleries
GALLERIES: The Butcher's Son, friendship between animals, wool Predator kid, photos of the surface of Mars, cosplay champions, black cheese, trash horror movie collection, chocolate cabin, playing with his phone, pixel art in the real world, the Animated Dump and the Weekly Visual Dump.
Thanks for stopping by, friend! I hope you had fun!
