Homemade DNA extraction, FREE Harvard courses, canceling subscriptions, stranded airplanes and the history of instant ramen. What else could you ask for from a quarantine weekend column? MUCH MORE! Of course, and that's what you'll find in these Recommended Links. Discover how much more, below.
Harvard University releases +120 courses for this quarantine for FREE!: "Like most of us, we find it impossible to afford the thousands of American dollars that studying at Harvard costs, but we also want to continue our studies with excellent academic quality, the university has decided to release more than 120 courses and make them fully free, open, and online, so that the period of isolation social is productive and we fulfill our desire to study at the best university."
When you cancel a subscription is when you really get to know the company that was charging you: "Another principle is symmetry: canceling should be as easy as signing up was. In this sense, there are many services whose interface is so brilliantly designed to make the subscription process as easy as possible, while hiding and complicating the cancellation process. The more asymmetric these processes are, the more effort the company puts into making us keep paying against our will."
We will fly again – The impressive photos of airplanes stored around the world: "The damn bug that has a couple billion people confined to their homes has had a series of side effects that will mark the twenties to extremes we can't even imagine yet. One of those effects is the absolute collapse of air traffic worldwide, with giant companies grounding all or almost all of their fleet."
Not all viruses are bad: "Viruses are not inherently evil, despite their usual effects. Their actions can be compared to those of the intestinal microbiota, that is, they give with one hand and take with the other. They can provide us with a function that our body didn't have available, but this advantage can turn out to be a double-edged sword. Like medications themselves, their action can be expected to have side effects."
Virus, the invisible enemy (until 1935): "During the 1918 flu epidemic, a fruitless search was launched for the unknown pathogen that caused the disease and escaped the filters used in laboratories to isolate bacteria. A few decades earlier, the father of modern medicine, Louis Pasteur, was looking for a rabies vaccine: he managed to find it, but couldn't identify the agent that caused the disease."
Either we change strategy or we head towards the most absolute disaster: "And so, very unfortunately, neither human nor financial resources are never left to try to solve the great problems that afflict the hyperdeveloped and totally globalized society of the 21st century, because the vast majority of Humanity continues to live with the customs, traditions, and rules that made us prosper on our long-forgotten ancestral African savanna, but which now serve only to keep a brutish and conformist citizenry."
The 'clothing' of the Lunokhod and other Soviet spacecraft: "When we talk about the Soviet automatic vehicles known as Lunokhods, we might picture a steampunk bathtub-shaped contraption full of antennas and other metal protrusions, something like that. But in reality, if we could travel to the Moon right now to see the two robots firsthand — because they're still there, of course — we'd find something different. The general bathtub-on-wheels look remains, but there's a slight difference."
The Holmgang, the Viking justice that was a form of ordeal: "The Vikings had their own version of the ordeal, and it was called holmgang or holmganga. It was usually used when there was a problem or a complaint between two individuals. The holmgang consisted of a duel to the death, a single combat between the offended and the offender. What does a duel to the death have to do with the ordeal? Well, the Vikings believed that this was how justice was dispensed because the gods favored in battle the one who had reason on their side."
The story behind 17 memorable rock performances you can watch for free on YouTube: "On the street they hated each other, but on stage they all had one mission: to knock out the audience with their overwhelming punk. The stage makes bands great, or forces them to retire. All the episodes collected in these videos were experienced in live music performances, unforgettable moments in the history of rock."
A puzzle seller: "I had never seen anything like it. We are the new toilet paper": "Never. In 12 years at the store, I've never seen anything like it. We're receiving between 400 and 450 orders a day, many for up to five puzzles. We'd hit peaks of 350 on certain Christmas days, when the deadline for buying gifts is approaching. But this...?! And it's not one day, or two: it's been going on for more than two weeks and steadily. We are the new toilet paper." Want puzzles? Here you have many virtual puzzles!
The incredible story of instant ramen: "The history of instant ramen is written in unimaginable numbers: today over 500 million are consumed in Japan and 100 billion internationally per year. The success of the man nicknamed 'Mr. Noodle', who from the absolute ruin left by World War II, has given us a lesson in how to get up after a devastating disaster. Surprising for many reasons that we will reveal, this is the fascinating story of instant ramen."
Homemade DNA extraction: "As with laboratory extraction, obtaining genetic material requires a series of basic steps. First, we must achieve lysis or break the cell wall and/or plasma membrane to access the nucleus of the cell where the DNA is housed. Then, the nuclear membrane must be broken in the same way to free it. Once released, the DNA must be protected from enzymes and other cellular components that could damage it. Finally, it must be precipitated in a stable medium."
Videos: A Nokia 3310 in a particle accelerator, Sanyo commercial from 1986, Empty New York, 30 people playing level 1-1 of Super Mario, Peninsula (Trailer), a Godzilla humidifier, washing hands in deep fake, how strong are your teeth?, The dead dance in Ghana, Star Wars A New Hope 360 VR Video, micro droplets of SARS-CoV-2, Lego short made by a 9-year-old, why dark videos look so bad, riding a motorcycle on a treadmill, filling a concrete truck, making aerogel, recipes with the same three ingredients, the amazing world of tardigrades, can crows talk?, AMIGA from 1987 vs Mac from 2020 playing chess, it's real that you can make a table float with two strings, preview of the next season of Rick and Morty, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Beatles)" on a baroque lute, inside a $40.5 million mansion, what happens if a tranquilizer dart hits you, dog on trampoline, turtle playing soccer, pop characters vs Covid, the shorts Kukuschka and Horse and the "Quarantine Film Festival".
Galleries: Coronavirus tattoos, the transparent puzzle, cartoon scenes that are too similar, playful little animals, beautiful people from the past, stuffed animal hats, isolation, military visual awards, Eric Gross's frozen waves, 19th-century photographs, Poland on Street View, pets wearing masks during World War I, coronavirus cops, photo at the perfect moment, dolphins meet a sloth, Canadians with frozen hair, street art in the era of coronavirus, best natural photos from Agora, imitating great works of art, when airships ruled the sky, Sharon Tate, 30 years of squirrel photos, Animated Dump and the Visual Dump.
