Recommended Links of the Week (No. 557)

Physics paradigms, blunders, biases, Nazis, snakes and, of course, plenty of coronavirus information to keep understanding what we've gotten into. All that and much more, only in the Recommended Links of the Week.

Physics in three paradigms: "Kuhn himself disowned the terms "paradigm" and "scientific revolution" that made him famous; he doesn't even mention those terms in his magnum opus The theory of black body and quantum discontinuity 1894–1912 (1978), about Planck's role in the birth of quantum physics. Despite this, Kuhn's influence on contemporary philosophy of science forces me to accept the challenge. As there are countless paradigms in current physics, I will limit myself to presenting three current paradigms that connect with Albert Einstein's great work during the first half of the 20th century."

13 historic Hollywood blunders that ended a career: "Everyone makes mistakes, but in Hollywood even mistakes are grand. The scandals involving these 13 stars couldn't be more diverse (crimes, unfortunate statements and even a aesthetic mistake) but they were all sentenced as an unforgivable error that their authors never recovered from."

Hindsight bias, the dangers of trusting memory (I): "Behind this phenomenon lies the hindsight bias, a cognitive bias that occurs when once we know what has happened, we tend to modify the memory of the opinion we had before the events happened in favor of the final outcome. Even once we know the result we come to think that we always knew what was going to happen (the typical phrase of "I knew it all along")."

Nazi plans in fiction and reality: "The most famous were the V-1 and V-2 rockets, which rained down on London by the hundreds but did not demoralize the British. Others, like the V-3 cannon and the Schwerer Gustav railway gun, were barely used. Others still, like the German atomic bomb and Die Glocke (the Bell), barely advanced beyond the drawing board or never existed at all."

How a Nazi executioner could live 30 years in the USSR without being discovered?: Her job was to shoot children and civilians captured by the Nazis. After the war, she managed to live quietly in the Soviet Union for more than three decades, enjoying the reputation of a respected war veteran. "It was my job," Antonina Makarova calmly explained to the KGB investigator, as she detailed how she machine-gunned Soviet citizens during World War II.

When in 1999 two Italians crossed the Atlantic in their floating cars: "From the Canary Islands to Martinique. An odyssey of 4,700 kilometers and 119 days that took Italians Marco Amoretti and Marcolino De Candia to become the first to cross the Atlantic aboard floating cars. From the Canary Islands to Martinique. An odyssey of 4,700 kilometers and 119 days that took Italians Marco Amoretti and Marcolino De Candia to become the first to cross the Atlantic aboard floating cars."

Snakes of Australia: "The snakes of Australia: an illustrated and descriptive catalog of all known species (1869), by legendary zoologist Gerard Krefft, was one of the first Australian snake guides. Today it remains one of the most beautiful visual descriptions of the complexity and breathtaking beauty of snakes. Gerard Krefft (February 17, 1830 – February 19, 1881) was a pioneering Australian zoologist and paleontologist. In 1860, Krefft arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, and was appointed Assistant Curator of the Australian Museum on the recommendation of Governor Sir William Denison."

The oil curse in Nigeria: "The Niger Delta region, one of the richest natural areas on the planet, has been the cradle of several conflicts and armed groups in Nigeria for decades. Oil is at the heart of the problem: since its discovery in 1957, the delta has become one of the poorest, most polluted and militarized zones in the African country."

Why we have our best ideas in the shower: "If we believe the story, Archimedes couldn't have solved his problem –how to tell if a gold crown had been alloyed with silver– by showering, because there we don't see the water rise as he entered the bath, but there's a very important detail that his situation has in common with those great ideas that occur to us while we lather up: they come unexpectedly, while we're thinking about something else or thinking about nothing."

Smallpox inoculation in ancient China: "In letter XI of Philosophical Letters, Voltaire states that the Chinese inoculate themselves against smallpox by sniffing it like powdered tobacco. It is supposed to be a technique that arose from the Taoist alchemist hermits who lived in the caves of Mount Emei (峨眉山) in Sichuan province in the 10th century AD. Apparently, when the eldest son of Prime Minister Wang Dan (957-1017) died of smallpox, he sought ways to protect the rest of the family. One of the hermits of Mount Emeishan brought the technique to the capital and there the technique became known."

In the face of coronavirus, where are the anti-vaxxers now?: "Where are now all those anti-vaccine people, who talk about the dangers of vaccines, who say that "produce one case of autism per million vaccinated", that vaccines are a big business for pharmaceutical companies, that it's always better to get the infection "naturally", that mercury over there and fetal cells over here, that yes I know more than scientists and doctors and I don't feel like vaccinating my children, that sugar water, little needles in chakras and other "alternative" stupidity are always better?"

Four reasons why our civilization will not fade away, it will collapse: "As the expiration date of modern civilization approaches, the number of scholars who devote their attention to the decay and fall of past civilizations increases. Those essays propose opposing explanations for the reasons why civilizations fail and die. At the same time, a lucrative market has arisen around post-apocalyptic novels, movies, television series and video games for those who enjoy the indirect thrill of chaos and dark futuristic disasters from the comfort of their couch. Of course, surviving reality will be a very different story."

The best story to remember that a total lockdown in time can save thousands of lives: "Possibly, there is no other infection so similar in its exceptional characteristics as the Spanish flu (or great flu pandemic) of 1918 and what is happening these days in most of the planet. And if history serves anything, it is to review what we did right (or wrong). That's why the story of a doctor who saved thousands of lives is more relevant than ever." And, additionally, a pandemic containment simulator, explained even for the dumbest to understand. If you want a similar resource in English, read our article on another coronavirus simulator.

Videos

How germs spread, Arnold Schwarzenegger's message, the best is to wash your hands with soap, quarantine in 30 seconds, 20 years on the floor of a metal factory, the material that moves on its own in your hand, the desert in a drone, whale shark helps diver free it from net, strange bicycle, drawing with sunlight, mineral deposits, the past and present of technology, police in Murcia chase a man dressed as a dinosaur breaking quarantine, Anthony Hopkins isolated playing piano, cats playing in frozen pool, the new Shaun of the Dead plan, axe fighting with contact, Transient 2, slow motion falcon, what would happen if you fall into a pool full of piranhas, funny trick throws, using hands to fry things, near death, daredevil tightrope walker, solenoid v8 engine, things to do during quarantine, 'Coronavirus Challenge', I Love Rock'n'Roll with toy instruments and several live cameras to connect to the world in real time: penguins, jellyfish, sharks, more jellyfish and little birds. To close, the horror short: Double Tap.

Galleries

Few, but good. Life in times of Coronavirus, the waters of Venice much clearer, Tatimoons' drawings, very beautiful butterfly embroideries, strange and creepy masks, the life of geishas, art in fried eggs, more photos of Carrie Fisher on her trip to New York, Dutch workplace safety posters, the ugliest shoes in the world, the Animated Dump and the Visual Dump of the week.

Are you still here? Then I hope you liked the selection and that it helped you distract a bit! Thank you very much for your visit and take care.