Recommended Links of the Week (No. 673)

The rose-scented virus, long-haired sailors, vampirism, witchcraft, religion, philosophy, and a couple of serial killers. Do I need to write more to get you excited and keep reading the Recommended Links of the Week? Enjoy!

Ten historical photographs you wouldn't understand without an explanation: “Everyone knows that things are not always what they seem. A while ago, regular readers of this blog enjoyed ten historical photographs that were difficult to understand without a clarifying caption. Well, if you wanted more, and if not too, below I leave you another ten photographs (plus a bonus) that again need an explanation.”

The rose-scented virus: “The ‘rose scent’ virus. Millions of years ago, viruses attacked a wild rosehip. The ancestor of today's roses consequently suffered an alteration of its genes. A French study has shown that the strong duplication of a gene over generations is what has accentuated the production of geraniol, the substance that gives roses their smell.”

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Search the whole world!: “Educational software is probably the least attractive thing in the eyes of a young computer user; few things will demotivate them more than a game in which they will learn local customs, currencies, or languages spoken around the globe. This is the story of a video game that was born as entertainment but ended up, unintentionally, becoming the most famous educational software of its time: Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?”

Science fiction in Soviet animation: “The golden age of science fiction in Russia also corresponds to the birth and development of the Soviet Union. In its first decade of existence, the birth of Soviet science fiction was driven by the scientific revolution, industrialization, mass education, and other dramatic social changes that followed the Russian Revolution.”

Sex, thirst for fame, and crimes – the young and violent couple of killers who inspired Tarantino and Stephen King: “This triple murder brought the couple's relentless hunt to light and put them on the radar. The police went out to look for them. Witnesses appeared who said they had seen Starkweather and Fugate. They described them as arrogant and happy. They used to stop at run-down bars and hotels. There they had sex and danced to the music of jukeboxes. Sometimes they entertained themselves reading about the crimes he had committed.”

This is what would happen if you spent a week without social media, according to a study: A week without using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok could improve people's well-being and reduce mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. This is one of the conclusions reached by a study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Bath (UK), who wanted to know how the use of these platforms affects.

Sailors were saved by their long hair: “I always thought that sailors from a few centuries ago had a scruffy appearance, with long hair and long beards, because of life on board. You know, spending weeks in a few square meters, with the sun burning or the rain attacking. Sleeping in their bunks below deck, in those hammocks that seem to rock sailors with the movement of the ocean. I thought it was because of that, but I was wrong. It was because the sailors were saved by their long hair when they fell into the water and were lucky.”

Direct capture of CO2 from the atmosphere at 99 percent: “It was found that isophorone diamine (IPDA) in a 'liquid-solid phase separation' system removed carbon dioxide from the low concentrations in the atmosphere with an efficiency of 99%. The compound is reusable with minimal heating and at least twice as fast as existing systems, an exciting new development for direct air capture.”

Vampirism, necrophobia, and witchcraft. The hated beyond death: As a remedy, there were rituals and ceremonies that tried to appease that bad omen, which included the fear that the soul of the bedridden person might be trapped in the house to the horror of its living inhabitants. Or worse, “the fear of the deceased's spirit returning, which was sought to be avoided by closing doors and windows and camouflaging the house so that it would not recognize the home it had left.”

The Bible, plagiarism from Mesopotamia and Egypt: Was the Bible really written by divine inspiration? The oldest scriptures are not in the Bible as many believe; the first written texts are in ancient Mesopotamia, and not on papyrus but on clay tablets. All of this content is backed by Assyriologists and historians who deciphered the "cuneiform script" thanks to the Behistun Inscription. You have all the bibliography and sources of all the biblical plagiarism regarding Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt at the end of the article.

The Sumerian Eden had no qualms about incest: “In the Bible, the birth of humanity and its spread is a mystery because only four people are mentioned, all relatives, where three are men and one ends up dead. Although it is not said, being the first people, they were obliged to practice incest, even though later it is forbidden. Instead, the Sumerian story of Enki and Ninhursag not only has no qualms but presents a story of transgenerational incest.”

There is a new global map of geological provinces and tectonic plates: “The team produced three new geological models: a plate model, a province model, and an orogeny model. 'There are 26 orogenies, the process of mountain formation, that have left a mark on the current architecture of the crust. Many of them, but not all, are related to the formation of supercontinents,' said Hasterok.”

Videos: Paragliding + falconry, dumb people who think they're awesome, 95% of Australia is empty, GTA Vice City Remake (Unreal Engine 5), how a pinball machine works in slow motion, cassette navigation, Patrick Bateman / Margot Robbie in the morning, the censorship in "Mythbusters", shark eats camera, a walking lamp, introducing the new CD technology (1982), I wanted to rescue a kitten but..., how not to use a fire extinguisher, Tenacious D's The Who Medley, how to save someone from a fall into the void, shipwreck in Colombia, kittens against obstacles, and Bucketheads: S1E1 "Ground Zero" - Chapter 2.

Galleries: Paris in the 50s, figurative sculptures by Willy Verginer, 1966 collectible cards, classic paintings expanded by AI, the AI Midjourney doing its art, beautiful seeds, unpublished Akira sketches, anti-explosive suits from the 30s, Animated Dump and Visual Dump of the Week.

That's it! Thanks for stopping by!