Learn how to program a Mega Drive game, discover the universal pattern behind songs, why “this is going to hurt”, understand why we hate, and the story behind “the most beautiful suicide”, among many other things, in this weekend's selection of links. Grab something tasty and dive into the best of the web.
How to make a video game for the original SEGA Mega Drive in 2019: "Today, people continue creating new video games for consoles that have been discontinued for a long time, something known in English as homebrew and which often serves to fulfill a childhood dream by creating a game for the console you had when you were little. But it is also a fun challenge for anyone dedicated to game design or development: Retro hardware has many restrictions that will challenge your creativity."
They discover a universal pattern in all songs: "Just as with emotions, some studies had already pointed out that there is a kind of universal emotional code of sounds, not only in those we emit when singing, but in those we emit to express a feeling. Thus it has been observed, for example, that when a member of a tribe in Cameroon is asked to classify music as 'happy', 'sad' or 'terrifying', he applies the same criterion as a resident of Canada or one of Cambodia."
“This is going to hurt a lot”: the two men who pushed the limits of the human body for science: "For these guys who gave everything for science, these physical difficulties were an inevitable part of research. Scientists may have to collect data in remote and inhospitable environments, like Antarctica or the top of a volcano. They may have to handle dangerous materials or risk infection."
In Denmark, working late makes a bad impression on bosses and coworkers: "The Danes once again top the ranking of the happiest peoples in the world. But why? What does Denmark have that we don't? One very important thing, which sometimes makes us look north with envy, is their work-life balance. Officially, the Danish workweek is 37 hours, but a new OECD survey has revealed that the average Dane works only about 33 hours a week."
Why do we hate? The neuroscientist analyzing the great conflicts of this century explains it to us: "Bruneau developed a particular theory to explain the paradox of Wafa Idriss that is the basis of all his subsequent research. When considering someone as an enemy, the mind generates what could be called an 'empathy gap'. This neuroscientist essentially says that the individual is capable of silencing the empathy signal, and that silence prevents us from putting ourselves in the shoes of that other person we perceive as an enemy."
Why do we believe cats are less affectionate and friendly than dogs? (and how true that is): "Their independence, seen by many as an advantage, is considered by others as selfishness and indifference. Their detractors say they only show affection when their food bowl is empty. Cat owners, of course, say this makes no sense, and that their bond with them is as strong as a relationship with a dog. But why does this image of the indifferent cat persist? And how true is it?"
This is the CO2 emitted by the US military and it is higher than that of many countries: "The US Department of Defense emits so many greenhouse gases per year that, if it were a country, it could be ranked as the 55th most polluting in the world, surpassing Sweden, Denmark and Portugal, according to a new study from Brown University. The US military emitted 1.2 billion metric tons of CO2 between 2001 (when it invaded Afghanistan) and 2017, according to the report's estimates." How dare you?
Buco del Viso, the oldest international tunnel in the world: "The oldest tunnel still in use on record is the Furlo Pass, in the Italian region of Marche. Ordered built by Emperor Vespasian, it dates from the 1st century AD, more specifically from the years 76 or 77. With its 38 meters in length, it was dug into the depths of the homonymous gorge as part of the Via Flaminia, which connected Rome with Ariminium, better known today as Rimini."
Paradise islands are not so much when you stop vaccinating: "And so we come to Samoa, a small Pacific island nation where after much health relaxation the measles vaccination rate had fallen to only 66% of the population, with tens of thousands of children and adults among its nearly 200,000 inhabitants unvaccinated. But suddenly on October 16 the measles virus managed to enter the country, with the first cases appearing and the death of a child aged one and a half years. Because measles is highly transmissible, just four days later the number of infected exceeded 150 patients."
What are Santa Claus's helpers?: "Christmas elves instilled the American businessman's dream: having a large skilled workforce that works happily without rest or salary. Like immigrants working in sweatshops, they lived apart from society, stripped of any identifying trait that distinguishes them from each other. Godey's Lady's Work explained in an editorial that, really, entire very poor foreign towns manufactured the toys and that businessmen regularly went to take away the production of the last six days of work and pay them."
The photographs of the Russian meteorologist who has spent 13 years in the loneliest place on Earth: "A portrait of Yuri Gagarin cut from a magazine decorates the office of Vyacheslav 'Slava' Korotki. He is a meteorologist specializing in the North Pole, who has lived half his life on ships in Russian seas, and the last thirteen at the Khodovarikha station. It is the most remote meteorological post, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees below zero, located on a peninsula on the Barents Sea. The nearest town (if you can call it that) is an hour away by helicopter. He lives alone."
The story behind “the most beautiful suicide”: "In a culture like ours where suicide is taboo, it is striking that the photograph of a young suicide victim in New York has 'slipped' among the most iconic images in history. And that it was even published full-page in a magazine like Life. But it is no coincidence because this, despite the tragedy it contains, is a 'friendly' image: there is nothing heartbreaking in it, nothing that disturbs us, no blood, no entrails, no naked and violated bodies."
Videos
Seventy catfish singing, by bike over the Brooklyn Bridge, Frozen 2: BURNT (Official Fake Trailer), making maps in 1961, impressive KO to a Canarian wrestling referee, dancing in zero gravity, The Exorcism (step by step of the stop motion short), coffee around the world, skater demolition, 800 drones doing cute things, a bull in a Chinese bazaar, safety video for putting out fires, car turned Star Trek shuttle, woman saves koala during forest fire, Baby Yoda (floating in his Pod), the Uechi-ryu hand conditioning, warp speed visualized, warm kitten, Apetor didn't die, the worst toy in the world, the alternative ending of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, multimaterial 3D printers, Nirvana - In Bloom - Little girl cover, a multi-shot bow, self-defense in 1933, advances in the invisibility cloak, reaction of water with red-hot steel, and the shorts Royal Madness, The Kid, The Walk Home and the terrifying The Hungry Ghost.
Galleries
The magic of makeup in Hollywood, turning trash into art, terrifying clowns on album covers, the Chinese Stonehenge against police, the art of Aykut Maykut, 1980s punk, the museum of crazy foods, Jon Bon Jovi's restaurant for the poor, video game logos, pop movie figurines, Harry Clarke's monsters, the last eagle huntress, more photos of Sheree North, the monstrous pop culture of Yan Blanco 3D, Marco Melgrati's social criticism, the Animated Dump of the Week and the great Visual Dump.
Thank you very much for reading the links! I hope you liked something. And if not, surely next week we'll try again. Hug!
