Soviet science fiction, extraterrestrial weapons, killer bunnies and fictosexuals are just a taste of what these Recommended Links of the Week have in store. A call to adventure for knowledge and entertainment. Enjoy!
7 Soviet science fiction gems you can't miss: "Very little is known about the science fiction produced in the Soviet Union, perhaps because it was so hard to access for a long time. However, thanks to streaming platforms, it is now possible to enjoy these wonderful works. Soviet science fiction was characterized by offering a more emotional and philosophical look at questions of human experience, far removed from the better-known productions that approach the genre with a vision closer to explosions and special effects."
Science fiction narratives and futures studies: "Have you ever wondered how science fiction novels have shaped our idea of Artificial Intelligence, or how Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson's novel, influenced what we now call the Metaverse? Using science fiction to explore our world is similar to scenario planning in Futures Studies; it shapes our ideas about the future, and goes beyond anticipating devices that once seemed impossible, like Verne's submarine or the geostationary satellites of 2001: A Space Odyssey."
Extraterrestrial weapons: "In the film 'The Iron Mistress', directed by Gordon Douglas and released in 1952, the protagonist commissions a blacksmith to make a very special knife, asking him to use the remains of a meteorite to strengthen the blade. This, which might seem like mere fiction, is based on something much more common than we imagine. Among those rocky masses from outer space that end up hitting our planet and that we commonly call meteorites, there is a very special type: metallic meteorites."
What would happen if another civilization found a human spacecraft: "Now imagine that astronomers on that exoplanet discover this technological junk as it approaches under the light of the mother star that illuminates the darkness around it. They use their most advanced telescope to watch the sky for objects that could crash into their planet, an alert system to avoid catastrophes caused by space rocks. But this object does not seem to behave like the common asteroids or comets they have seen before."
How many objects are in orbit? The importance of protecting the space environment: "Currently, there are about thirty thousand known objects in orbit, most of them pieces of space junk. And here we must emphasize 'known', because the smallest objects, which are the most numerous, escape radar and optical observations. For this reason, we can only estimate their number, although ESA calculates that there must be more than a million objects larger than one centimeter (enough, for example, to pierce a spacesuit), while the number of objects larger than one millimeter would be about 129 million."
He shone in The Three Stooges, but his light went out too soon: the sad end of Curly Howard: "In 1945 Curly's health began to crack until his final deterioration. At the height of his success, certain habits changed. He no longer cared about his appearance as he had as a teenager and didn't worry about what he ate. Junk food became part of his regular diet, causing him to gain a considerable amount of weight. He consulted his doctor and the result was catastrophic: he was diagnosed with extreme hypertension and obesity. However, he never bothered to take care of himself."
(NSFW) 'Salon Kitty', Tinto Brass's fascist wank: "In the 1960s Israel saw a wave of sadomasochistic pornography related to the Nazis and World War II. Hard as it may be to believe, the first generation that grew up in that country did not know the Holocaust at the same level of detail that large parts of the population around the world have today. When the Adolf Eichmann trial took place in 1961, it received the maximum possible media coverage so that younger people would become aware of what had happened. One indirect result of that measure was the emergence of a kind of Nazi porn."
Why killer bunnies appear in the margins of medieval manuscripts: "Far from their celestial image, in the Middle Ages rabbits imposed themselves on the margins of dozens of handmade manuscripts before the invention of the printing press in the mid-fifteenth century. Wielding swords, axes and bows, fighting against humans and dogs, that is, those who often hunted them, they appeared in drawings that suggest revenge. So, for example, a series of images on the lower margins of a volume held by the British Library, MS Royal, shows the violence exacted by rabbits in a sequence that lacks no detail."
In Japan more and more people marry their favorite anime characters: this is how 'fictosexuals' live: "There is a Japanese word for people obsessed with video games and anime: “otaku.” There is also one for the feelings those characters inspire: “moe.” And now there is a term for people who have decided to unofficially marry those fictional characters and challenge Japanese social norms: “fictosexuals.” A growing number of people openly say they have fallen in love with anime characters and have given up on the idea of romance in the real world."
Silicon Valley's favorite philosophy is essentially wrong: "If through biotechnology we could drastically improve ourselves, so that our ability to absorb and manipulate information were unlimited, that we never experienced any unease and that we didn't age, would we do it? Should we? For advocates of radical technological enhancement, or “transhumanism”, the obvious answer is “yes”. Therefore, they push for the development of technologies that, through the manipulation of genes and the brain, would create beings fundamentally superior to us."
Can you be too self-conscious?: "Self-knowledge seems like a positive thing; after all, it allows us to know ourselves, understand our own motivations and, ultimately, make better decisions. But it can also lead us to question ourselves all the time and keep us in an unbearable state of self-consciousness as we microanalyze every nuance of our thoughts and actions. Let's take a closer look at the two components of self-awareness and see how they work. Internal or private self-knowledge is a metacognitive process in which we adopt the perspective of an observer toward our own thoughts."
The state of precariousness: "Precariousness differs from the label of “poverty”, which has an institutional dimension, an objective status measured by world organizations, so that quantifications and borders can be assigned, on the other side of which lie lives that unfold in a context of scarcity measured against conventional standards. The notion of precariousness acquires a phenomenological dimension in which suffering is part of a way of life where poverty can be a component, but what defines this status is more the difficulty of elaborating one's own life plans."
Videos
People with unusual laughter in one room, how to build the LEGO Flip Walker, building a ZX Spectrum 48K from scratch, how to build an animatronic eye with movement, how to be a human flag, the oldest person in the world (118), worm charming, strange Casio instrument, opening an egg at the bottom of the sea, lover first, dinner later, riding a chair down an urban slope, catching grasshoppers, Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso, trailer for "The Batman" with Adam West, Supergirl on a bike, robot jumping record, galaxies in ink, chased by a bear, Works of Calder (1950), comparison of incarcerated populations, school lunch in Japan, and the short films: Sentry (science fiction), Out of Order (animated, horror, unmissable), The Fellowship of the Ring Animated (animated, unmissable) and Mystery Incorporated “Welcome to Coolsville” (the first episode of the Scooby-Doo fan series).
Galleries
Roman chariots with motorcycles, the amphibious caravan, Shal.E's nymphs, the remains of Perseverance's landing, bamboo architecture, it's not a comet it's Mercury, corsets in X-rays, abandoned ruins, best AOP 2022 photos, animal portraits, a beautiful hand-painted dress, more photos of Andie MacDowell, the metaphysical painter, Vietnam's motorcycles, the Vertedero Animado and the Tiradero Visual de la Semana.
Very good things in these Recommended Links, no doubt. I hope you enjoyed them. See you next time!
