Recommended Links of the Week (No. 651)

Everything about the James Webb Space Telescope, the humanity's black box, Egyptian contraceptives and Van Damme in Cyborg. Want more? Well, you'll have to scroll down because I don't have enough intro to fit everything these Recommended Links have to offer. Enjoy!

Ten questions about the James Webb Space Telescope or why it is the most complex and expensive space observatory in history: "The James Webb is a space telescope that will observe the infrared (from 0.6 to 28.5 microns), while Hubble, although it also studies the near-infrared, focuses on the visible spectrum, as well as the ultraviolet. In this sense, the James Webb is a successor to other infrared space telescopes such as IRAF, ISO, WISE, or Spitzer. However, the James Webb is, like Hubble, a "generalist" telescope."

This is humanity's black box, designed to survive the apocalypse or our extinction: "Located in Tasmania, it is a prominent pure steel installation that will be filled with hard drives to record every single movement and information that occurs in our apocalypse. Powered by solar panels, the installation plans to record all data about the collapse of humanity to serve as a testament for future survivors who rebuild our species or, if we go completely extinct, for other life forms that manage to understand it."

The most unusual bacteriophage virus: "There are bacteriophage viruses capable of generating genetic behavior until recently unknown. The advances of two research teams are being fundamental in its discovery. In many science fiction movies, alien viruses are often presented as invading Earth causing serious disasters. However, it is not necessary to search for these strange life forms in outer space. Here, on our planet, we can find some viruses that infect bacteria using a genetic alphabet very different from that of the rest of organisms."

Why does Napoleon appear in his portraits with his hand inside his jacket?: "In general, the French emperor appears in most paintings with a hand inside his jacket, and not by chance, but that gesture has a particular explanation. Although the goal of any emperor was to present his image in an enlarged, grandiloquent, powerful, and firm manner, this is not the reason for the hand in the jacket. Nor is it that the artist took this route as a solution to the difficulty of painting a hand."

Ignorance in Mathematics always ends up costing money: "Today, without a minimum knowledge of the so-called Science disciplines and an appreciable capacity for critical and reflective thinking, a person cannot function successfully in a modern society. And this includes, of course, a minimal understanding and mathematical skill. Because if not, look at the example of a famous American fast-food chain: A&W Restaurants. Several years ago, company strategists decided to compete with its rival McDonald's famous 'quarter pounder'."

Mother Nature does not exist, the version contrary to the Gaia hypothesis: "In contrast to this kind view of the biosphere stands the so-called Medea Hypothesis, popularized by paleontologist and astrobiologist Peter Ward, from the University of Washington. The Medea hypothesis can be formalized as follows: Earth's habitability has been affected by the presence of life, but the global effect of life has been and will be to reduce Earth's longevity as a habitable planet."

Contraceptive methods of the ancient Egyptians: "'Prevent a woman from being pregnant: crocodile dung, impregnate a vegetable tampon with it and place it in the mouth of her vagina'. As disgusting as the mere idea of using a contraceptive method of such characteristics may seem to us today, we must conclude that this formula, which appears repeatedly in various medical texts of ancient Egypt such as the Ramesseum Papyri, preserved at the British Museum in London, was one of the most used in ancient Egypt to prevent unwanted pregnancies."

Cyborg, and Van Damme's foray into science fiction: "Cyborg is a film very typical of its time. Remember that in the 80s the post-apocalyptic theme was at its peak, mainly due to the fear and paranoia of the Cold War, and the fear of a possible nuclear war between the opposing sides. It was the decade that gave birth to Mad Max and Terminator, and that laid the foundations for what post-apocalypse would be in future films. This work has everything that came in the apocalypse package in general terms of that era."

Story of an image - The smiling survivor of Nagasaki: "The miraculous survivors of the cruel atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima are known as the Hibakusha, which means "people affected by the explosion". The bombs killed more than 100,000 people, and the few Hibukashi who remain alive continue to tell the story of the horrors they saw and lived. They are peace advocates who fear that over time people will forget the horrors of nuclear war. The photo showing this smiling young Hibakusha was taken by Yosuke Yamahata."

Can trees live forever?: "As with supercentenarians, there are places conducive to trees reaching thousands of years. Most grow in temperate zones, both humid and arid. Junipers (Juniperus) are an exception, growing in Tibet, at more than 4000 meters above sea level, with cold and dryness. In general, they survive in glacial refuges that remained mostly free of ice sheets during the Ice Age. Since they usually remain in places where fires, atmospheric catastrophes, insect plagues, or human activity do not occur cyclically."

If reality is deterministic, that means free will is just a cognitive illusion: "In that case, I am a strong determinist. That is, I consider that there is a long chain of deterministic causes that inexorably leads to everything that happens, including what I do or what I think, including this very thing I am telling you now. I am part of the chain because we have no proof to think otherwise. That is, it seems quite absurd to think that one thing is the atoms of all matter in the universe but another very different one are my atoms, those that make me up, my brain, or my Self."

Tianwen-1, a selfie in Mars orbit: "This is the first complete image of a space probe in Mars orbit, although, to be fair, it is not strictly the first selfie taken by a spacecraft with the red planet in the background. That honor goes to the European probe Rosetta, which on February 25, 2007 took an image with Philae's CIVA camera showing part of the solar panel and the structure of the probe. But that image, originally in black and white, was taken on a flyby trajectory of the red planet, not in orbit, and the entire probe could not be seen."

Videos: Experiments in the coldest place on Earth, video streaming over WiFi to a Game Boy, Eisenfunk - Pong, AT&T predicting the future in 1993, comparison of statue sizes, post-war Japan in color and 4K, tornado destroys barn, people are extraordinary 2021, the battle of Yavin without CGI in 4K, Internet Cruise (1995), Korean flail vs katana, LEGO barbecue, best of GoPro 2021, the black widow, curious penguins, a mountain of mannequins, Haka Metal and the short films: Polished, Kandittund!, AFTERLIFE, HYBRIDS, Forever, The Emissary and Leviathan.

Galleries: Perfect calligraphy, the Paris that no longer exists, creative snowmen, butterflies licking crocodile tears, Spain from 1949-1950 by National Geographic, strange vending machines, a deer with "three heads", Daniel Peacock's monstrosities, horror restaurants, duck fashion show, macro insect photos, all Micro Hobby magazines, selection of Hobby Consolas magazines, LSD blotters as art, the Animated Dump and the Visual Dump of the week.

Final. We've reached the end. But I'm sure many things have been to your liking, right? At least I hope so! Thanks for stopping by and see you next time.