In the first edition of the year, we bring you everything you like and much more: Windows 95 nostalgia, the first object in space, Hannibal at the gates, and the transformation of fins into hands. All that and more below...
Windows 95 and its old interface are the best example of much of what we miss in Windows 10: “In a short thread, Salo has reviewed in written and graphic form what made the classic Windows interface special, and it boils down to ‘what was a button looked like a button’ and ‘everything had a meaning that is being lost’. Let's look at the examples Salo uses for his argument.”
Neuroscientists discover a new type of signal in the human brain: “Researchers have discovered that certain cells in the human cortex, the outer layer of the brain, transmit signals in a way not seen in the corresponding cells of rodents. This process could be important for better understanding our unique brains and for improving programs that are based on a model of the human brain.”
The first object in space was a manhole cover: “Many people think that Sputnik, launched by the Russians in October 1957, was the first man-made object placed in orbit, but the story may be a little different if we consider Operation Plumbbob. Plumbbob is the name of the series of 29 nuclear tests conducted between May and October 1957 that the United States Army carried out in the Nevada Desert.”
The space panorama in 2019: “In 2019, 102 orbital launches were carried out, a slightly lower number than in 2018 (114), but still well above the statistics of the last decade. China is, for the second consecutive year, the country that has carried out the most launches (34), far ahead of the second, Russia (25). Precisely, Russia recovers in this field after a fairly mediocre 2018.”
Taking off in 2020, landing in 2019. The New Year's Eve flights that travel through time: “There are two airlines that fly between the two Samoas: Talofa Airways and Samoa Airways. Together they total 17 flights between Apia and Pago Pago scheduled for January 1, 2020: the first at eight thirty in the morning local time (thirteen hours less in Spain), which lands at eight oh five of the previous day, and the last at five in the afternoon, which will land thirty-five minutes later, that is, at four twenty-five in the afternoon of December 31.”
Why does time go forward?: “When we talk about time, we can explain it as observing the past and not the future. For example, we have access to history books and any kind of record of things that have happened, but there is nothing about what is coming. Why does this happen? Why does time only go forward? Here we will try to explain it.”
The USSR bus stops you didn't imagine existed: “To demonstrate that not all those buildings are the only ones that symbolize the time of the USSR, Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig has traveled for 13 years through fourteen of the republics that made up the Union, photographing the most beautiful bus stops in the world. In total, he has traveled 30,000 kilometers, from which he has extracted a collection of 159 photos that he has compiled in a book titled Soviet Bus Stop.”
Hannibal is at the gates!: “This genius of strategy, perhaps the greatest military talent of all Antiquity and the enemy par excellence of Rome, must have something, because the mere mention of his name horrified generations of Romans and, to scare their children, as today would be the ‘bogeyman,’ they would say: ‘Hannibal ad portas!’ (Hannibal is at the gates!). This is the story of the well-known Hannibal Barca, whose name meant ‘he who enjoys the favor of Baal,’ also inheriting his father's nickname, ‘the lightning’ (Brq).”
Isaac Asimov, from marginalization to glory: “The titles that certified his worth were always important to Isaac. There remain as proof his pride in his IQ (160 points!) and his membership for years in the MENSA high-IQ society, his obsession since he was very young to publish at least a hundred books in his lifetime (quality was less important than quantity) and a curious anecdote.”
This is how fish fins transformed into ‘hands’: “The transformation of fins into limbs was marked by the appearance of finger-like forms, an evolutionary milestone that paralleled the loss of the rays of these parts of fish. The rays are bony spines located under the skin and above the internal skeleton that support the membranes of the fins.”
Values in the philosophy of science: “Once Merton (1942) opened the door to values as elements that characterize the scientific enterprise and serve to legitimize it socially, other authors have contributed their own vision. Without trying to be exhaustive, we briefly review other points of view below, drawing on references collected by Echeverría in works from 1995 and 2002.”
The most hated film director in history: “Can you imagine a director with the impressive number of more than forty films in thirty years of career? Who also had a dozen television credits? More than twenty music videos with some of the biggest pop and rock stars in history? Who had even made comics, pornography, video games, and had acted in his own movies?”
Videos
- Windows 10 developed by Apple
- Imperial March mashup Carol of the Bells
- Build a lightsaber
- The movies of the decade
- Thousands of horses galloping in the snow
- “If you don't move, it can't see you”
- The beauty of LC oscillations
- Hacking a smart home with a laser
- Mario Kart in the real world
- Exploring a ghost Chinese city
- “Legend of Zelda: Bridge Beatdown”
- Great method to make Popcorn
- Puppy learning to swim
- Fire burning downwards
- Lego sandwich
- The Mandalorian remix
- Good drone shots
- Dances “Electric Boogaloo” for 100 days
- Gamer frog
- Truck with four engines
- Saves two deer at once
- 300 days alone on a deserted island
- Cracking necks
- Animals rescuing other animals
- How much sawdust can a cereal bar have
- Non-circular gears
- 360 spin
- How does a dead fish swim upstream?
- “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher” metal cover
- Another metal cover
- Lupus
- Skywatch
- TS: TERMINATORS
- The Turning Point
Galleries
Masayoshi Matsumoto's balloon art, the best scientific photography of 2019, the master of fertility, in memory of Sue Lyon, a video club in his basement, New Year's cards from 1900, a replica of Rome in LEGO, a gingerbread alien, paintings by Anastasia Trusova, art by Jacob Dhein, Angel Falls, and we close with the Animated Dumpster and the Visual Dumpster.
