This week we spin onions, destroy products, and build bombs with a deck of cards. We also learn why the queen is the most powerful piece in chess. All that and much more in this week's Recommended Links.
124,000 products destroyed in a week: this is how returned or unsold products end up at Amazon: According to some analysts, the reason is that both manufacturers and merchants thus make it so that “exclusivity is maintained,” making those products continue to have that perception of scarcity that makes them (more) valuable. Another of the reasons proposed to explain this type of practice is the very cost of storing these products. In an investigation carried out in France, it was discovered that Amazon charges 26 euros per square meter of space to store its products, but that amount ends up being 500 euros for that same space six months later and 1,000 euros after a year. Thanks, José!
The man who committed suicide building a bomb with a deck of cards: In October 1930, when Kogut was awaiting execution, he decided to take control of his own life and planned his suicide, using a hollow bed leg, several decks of cards, and a broomstick to build a bomb. To understand how it is possible to make a bomb with a deck of cards, one must remember that card manufacturers used a fairly volatile type of ink to mark the red cards, probably nitrocellulose, which is found in many products such as inks and plastics.
Why is the queen the most powerful piece in chess?: Among all the pieces of chess, the queen is the one with the greatest freedom of movement, as it can move diagonally and perpendicularly as long as it finds no obstacles. Given that chess was introduced to Europe by the Arabs in the Middle Ages, what motivated giving this power to a piece that represented a female character? Was it always like this?
How something as simple as turning the onion before cutting it can change the taste of your dishes: Yes, it turns out that the way we cut the onion not only makes us cry more or less, but also influences the smell, flavor, and even texture of the onion when we cook it. Chlebowski explains in the video that the reason lies in the onion's internal structure. The layers of this bulb are formed by elongated cells that extend from pole to pole. When we cut an onion, we break the cellular compartmentalization, causing two substances called trans-(+)-(1-propenyl)-cysteine sulfoxide and amylase to combine.
The lost island of China that nearly sparked World War III in 1969: On the 15th, a Chinese infantry division attacked the island again, forcing the Soviets to retreat after hours of intense fighting. Hours later, they responded with rocket launchers from the opposite shore and annihilated the enemy. The terrible death toll was not a reason for optimism: 58 from the USSR and several hundred Chinese. The greatest fear remained that those clashes would trigger a nuclear war between socialists that would end up affecting the world.
Chernobyl Herbarium, the plant scars left by the nuclear tragedy: No living being was spared from the radioactive cloud in an area calculated to be around 150,000 square kilometers. The most affected were those inside the exclusion zone, the one within a 30-kilometer radius of the nuclear plant. When this area was unsealed, almost three decades later, nature seemed to have taken revenge. Vegetation invaded everything. Wildlife had grown strong among the abandoned buildings and installations.
20 famous musicians who stepped in as substitutes to save a concert: Whether as an emergency solution for one night or temporarily for a tour, numerous famous singers, guitarists, bassists, and drummers prevented the cancellation of performances by legendary bands, such as when Axl Rose became the interim vocalist of AC/DC, Tom Morello played alongside Bruce Springsteen, Joe Satriani stepped into the shoes of Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple, and Dave Grohl came to the rescue of Tom Petty, Cage the Elephant, and almost Motörhead.
Humans drink more water than most mammals and our thirst conditioned our evolution: In addition to more surface area and less hair, which evolution had us gradually lose to improve that natural thermostat, we developed a much higher concentration of sweat glands than the rest of primates. The evolutionary strategy was so effective that Martin Hora, a researcher at Charles University in Prague, argues that it became a hunting strategy.
How China has devoured world trade in just two decades, in one chart: It is a racing chart, in which the values evolve as the years go by. On the vertical axis we have the ten world's largest exporting countries. On the horizontal axis, the years starting in 1978 and ending in 2020. In a glance and in a few seconds we can see how the world economy has changed. A change in which the old Western titans have given way to a single one.
Ultracrepidarians, people who give their opinion without knowledge: Ultracrepidarianism certainly seems like one of those words as complicated to remember as to pronounce. However, it is surprising to know that it has been with us since very remote times and that it is used almost anywhere in the world. In English it is ultracrepidarianism, in French ultracrepidanisme, in Bosnian ultrakrepidarianizam... Among all of us we have given a name to that profile with an almost obsessive tendency to give opinions and advice on areas that are generally not always known or controlled.
The first kiss in film history and other curiosities: The Kiss, a film from 1896, was the first commercial film in which a kiss was shown. It was a brief adaptation of a scene from a Broadway comedy titled The Widow Jones. The film lasts only 18 seconds, and the actors from the Broadway play, May Irwin and John Rice, starred in it. The director was William Heise and it was made for the studios of Thomas Edison, the well-known inventor.
Glacier blood, the phenomenon that is finishing off the French Alps: The French Alps and many other glaciers around the world see a beautiful yet strange phenomenon bloom. Known as glacier blood, it covers the whitish landscapes with pink snow for periods and then disappears. However, this time the glacier blood seems to be destroying the French Alps and researchers are trying to find out why.
VIDEOS: Fire at the bottom of the ocean, press vs. obsidian ball, three years of primitive skills, a year alone in a Swedish forest building a cabin, scoring a goal with four nutmegs, “Rainbow Dance” (color video from 1936), Sweet Child o' Mine with feet, robot goalkeeper, channel with Japanese women running, lightning striking a vehicle, ice vs. paper, flight of a “flying car”, the special effects of Zack Snyder's Justice League, all metals melted together, drawing with dots, how a carburetor works, Denmark's energy islands, a scientific bet, 1988 aerobics championship, from the cab of a train in Bulgaria, Frieza playing the piano, the shorts “When You Broke My Heart” and “Bird Karma”, a documentary about people living Nomadland-style, and finally a marvel that deserves a full stop. All Tomorrows: the future of humanity?, a gem of speculative science fiction that unfortunately requires a good level of English.
GALLERIES: Realistic dolls, teenage haircuts, archive of National Lampoon covers from the 70s, replicas of shrunken heads, dystopian watercolor, winners of the 2021 Siena Photography Prize, photos from the USSR, 3D concepts by Sascha Saez, girls from 1990, plant calluses, gigantic art collection, sports photos, the Animated Dump and the Visual Dump of the Week.
https://old.neoteo.com/conoce-el-aprendizaje-de-maquinas-en-la-decada-del-50/
