Recommended Links of the Week (No. 606)

In sixty weeks we'll have issue 666 of the Links! Will we make it? And if we do... will the world be destroyed then? The Mayans predicted it! Meanwhile: Lobotomies, the Smile Club, an army of crows, the "Highway of Death" and much more. Enjoy!

The Earth's 'wind' that carries water to the Moon: On Earth we're used to seeing water fall from the sky because our planet has an atmosphere in which water vapor condenses into clouds under the right conditions. But, strangely enough, there's another type of 'rain' that moistens the lunar surface with tiny amounts of water.

Tango Delta, how Perseverance landed on Mars: And not only cameras, it also includes a microphone, which isn't the first on Mars, but it is the first to have managed to record the sound of wind directly from the atmosphere. The result of this audiovisual deployment is a huge number of images and videos that have been arriving little by little from Mars over these last few days until today they have been made public. Videos that are simply spectacular and that have been combined to produce this work of art.

A solar panel in space is collecting energy that could one day be transmitted anywhere on Earth: The panel, known as the Photovoltaic Radiofrequency Antenna Module (PRAM), was first launched in May 2020, connected to the Pentagon's unmanned X-37B drone, to harness sunlight and convert it into electricity. The drone orbits Earth every 90 minutes.

Lobotomy, the controversial brain operation that was considered 'easier than curing a toothache': Today it seems incredible, but there was a time when lobotomy was celebrated as a miracle cure, described by doctors and media as "easier than curing a toothache". Only in the United Kingdom more than 20,000 lobotomies were performed between the early 1940s and late 1970s.

The Budapest Smile Club: In the 1930s, Hungary, and especially Budapest, was a very sad place where, apparently, suicides had increased alarmingly. From that fact arose a curious initiative, the so-called "Budapest Smile Club". With everyone covering their mouths because of Covid, I couldn't resist rescuing this story about Hungarian sadness, a song that causes suicide and a school that teaches smiling to overcome depression.

When the Soviets set up a giant chessboard: In Russia, chess has always been a very popular game dating back to the time of Catherine the Great, and in the Soviet Union, all schoolchildren played it. One of the most original versions of the game took place on July 20, 1924, on Palace Square (then Uritsky Square) in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad).

25 years of Trainspotting, a generational film and a soundtrack up to the task: Its frenetic start to the tune of Iggy Pop's 'Lust For Life' while Renton (Ewan McGregor) recites that 'Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact-disc players and electric tin openers. Choose health: low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-rate mortgages. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends... to end up talking about his heroin addiction.'

The case of the woman who accidentally created a small army of bodyguard crows: "I accidentally created an army of bodyguard crows. Can they blame me for anything if they kill someone?"

The Thirty-Eight-Minute War: The ultimatum issued by the British was about to expire. The new Sultan of Zanzibar had to leave the palace before the appointed time: nine in the morning. The arrival of a palace messenger with the Sultan's refusal turned August 27, 1896 into the day the British won the shortest war in history.

How the noise made by some shrimp helped American submarines against Japan: Thus, when a shrimp hidden in its dark hiding place detects prey, thanks to the tail flicks of the goby, a fish with which it shares a home in symbiosis, it quickly extends its claw, raises the hammer, and when it closes, in a thousandth of a second it produces a powerful bubble wave that kills or stuns its victim, usually an invertebrate but sometimes larger fish.

The disease with which the gods punished bad rulers: Generally, the sufferer is a member of royalty or a noble, usually a foreigner or in a position opposed to the author (e.g., a pagan, if the author is Christian), who has committed an atrocious crime, some irreverence, or has been brutal to his subjects. Some deity is offended by his actions and punishes him with worms that arise from his decomposing flesh.

Scenes of 'Highway of Death'. Iraq 1991 (strong images): It is an obvious case of war crimes against the Iraqi forces to whom the political-military command ordered the withdrawal from Kuwait. Officially, the government and the high command of the Iraqi armed forces announced the withdrawal of their troops from Kuwait on February 21, 1991.

Videos

Map of flood-prone areas, cats and ping pong tricks, the longest water slide in the world, the death of 'Georgie' in 'Woh' (Indian version of 'IT'), Mario's death, You Give Love A Bad Rasputin (Bon Jovi/Boney M.), how he made $16,000 sleeping seven hours, automatic billiard cue, 10 Daft Punk songs on Stylophone, and why did they wear helmets?, cat dance, Barracuda by Cybertronic Spree, Jim Henson's Predator, how strong is a solid glass ball, the flight that almost killed him, how to 'sit in the air', Superman vs. Superior Man, performance by a 92-year-old gymnast, etymology of 'IDIOT', the floor is lava, and the horror short 'Milk Teeth'.

Galleries

Child actors who turned 30, actors who transform, classic paintings in anime style, Super Mario-inspired food, a penis island, little girl and elephant, hyperrealistic paintings, the magic of Japan's fireflies, snakes with hats, transforms dolls, plush artworks, Guinness record winners, 'Modern Screen' magazines, the photographer of precise moments, the Animated Dump and the Visual Dump.

The End. See you next time!