Recommended Links of the Week (No. 686)

Manowar with Orson Welles, The Simpsons math, an unknown fossil, and the amount of sand grains that would fit in the universe are just some of the sensational things you'll find in this week's Recommended Links. I wouldn't bet my time that I'll have a better time elsewhere. Enjoy!

The day Orson Welles voiced two songs of the heavy metal band Manowar: "DeMaio's heart raced when he heard the footsteps of a group of people in the hallway of the Media Sounds recording studio, on 57th Street in New York. They were expecting someone important. They, an incipient heavy metal band destined, over time, to inspire hundreds of American bands who would see in them a reference of power metal and of songs about gods, myths, battles, and a particular sense of virility served in abundance."

Five traditional Japanese toys: "Kendama: The Japanese version of the toy known in the Spanish-speaking world as balero, emboque or boliche (among other names) gains difficulty through the different ways players can hold the ball, whether in one of its three cups of different sizes or the spike at one end. In fact, there are countless tricks for the most skilled. Its name comes from the word ken, the 'sword' or handle, and tama, the ball."

The mathematics of The Simpsons: "While Homer walks, in the background you can see two equalities. Either one would have shaken me, so it's impossible for me to describe what I felt when I saw both equalities appear on the screen: the solution to two of the greatest mathematical problems in history was shown. In fact, I knew one of the equalities is false and I'm willing to bet quite a bit that the other one is too —it remains an unsolved problem—."

The reason why 1,000 sheep in a solar farm make a difference: "Solar energy has become one of the main pillars of the planet's decarbonization, since it is currently the most developed and productive renewable source. However, not everything is advantages, since reaching relevant production levels requires the installation of enormous solar farms in rural areas, which can seriously affect the ecosystem and certain activities carried out on those lands."

Fossils of an unknown animal that would have lived before the dinosaurs found: "The discovery was totally accidental, as the 36-year-old professor was walking her dog on the beach when she thought she had seen a branch or the root of a reddish-colored tree protruding from the sand. But no; she quickly identified that it was something else, a fossil, she realized, because a vertebrate spine of an animal and an embedded skull could be clearly seen."

How many grains of sand fit in the universe?: "Both meanings of 'counting' came together when we presented the number of particles that exist in the known universe, specifically those responsible for what we measure on any scale, those that give us mass, the so-called baryons. But there are not only baryons in the universe, there are more things. Taking the example of that famous Greek, today we could reformulate his question to deal with other particles that astrophysicists adore and that light us all up: photons. How many photons are there in the universe and why is it interesting to know?"

What happened to Kazaa, the P2P download program that triumphed at the beginning of the century hand in hand with the creators of Skype: "Between 2002 and 2004, KaZaa Media Desktop (just 'KaZaa' to friends) became 'the sensation' in the Internet world, and essential software on many home computers. Its functionality? Sharing files, especially music and video, but all sorts of things circulated. After that brief moment of fame, it fell into oblivion in favor of other alternatives, and its trace was lost for many users. But what happened to KaZaa?" And what about eMule?

The Russo-Japanese War, a total conflict that shocked the world: "Since the beginning of the Meiji era, Japan tried to get Korea to open up to the world. The idea was to modernize Korea so that it would collaborate with Japan and together they could stop the Russian advance to the south. This movement met with opposition from China, then dominated by the Qing dynasty, which was Korea's suzerain or protector state. The antagonism between Japan and China grew and finally war broke out."

The mythical origins of Middle-earth: "Originally, Gollum's ring in The Hobbit was a simple magic ring, without any evil, but this changed with The Lord of the Rings, which made both stories more similar to their inspiration. Both come from the tale in Reginsmál, Fáfnismál, and the Saga of the Volsungs, which involves the dwarf Andvari, who fishes in pike form in his waterfall. Odin, his brother Hœnir, and Loki found the waterfall, where an otter was eating a salmon, whom Loki killed by throwing a stone."

Few stories as fascinating and as little known as that of China. In this mini-thread I tell you ten things that archaeology reveals and that you might not know: "The Great Wall has its precedent in many great walls that the Chinese kingdoms built not only to defend themselves from northern nomads, but also from each other. In the 5th century BC, each kingdom had its own: that of Qin measured 1,775 kilometers. Most of the 21,000 kilometers of the Great Wall are not built in stone, but rammed earth, brick, adobe, or compacted earth. The classic image is of a very recent section, from the Ming era (16th-17th centuries)."

When the English enslaved the Irish: "The Irish Confederate Wars took place with Charles I of England between 1641 and 1653, a series of conflicts between the kingdoms of Ireland, England, and Scotland. That King imposed eleven years of tyranny and other wars against Spain and France. In Ireland, native Catholics were persecuted by British Protestant settlers. During that time, more than half a million Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves."

Agrippina's fork: "Such richness of nuance, due above all to the solidity of Robert Graves's novels and the notable synthetizing ability of the screenwriter, Jack Pulman, allowed different viewers several reading registers, from the most anecdotal to the most sophisticated, and in this way Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and, elliptically, Nero came to share a table at dinner with millions of viewers of the most varied condition."

Videos

VIDEOS: Compilation "Star Trek: Resistance is futile", the birth of a tornado, a theme from Indiana Jones 5 performed live by John Williams, Jupiter rotation in real time (9 hours, 55 minutes and 30 seconds), how to win at GeoGuessr, Google's AI learns to see in the dark, Ralph Macchio on his iconic characters, björk : atopos, Under Pressure performed by 1,000 musicians, electricity and the speed of light, music on Sesame Street, a zoom into the Tarantula Nebula, many fake restoration videos, how to make friends, Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (on guitar), "Killing In The Name" by the North Korean military choir (unreleased), I still haven't found what I'm looking for, Stairway to Heaven on basses, miniatures of Nightmare Before, Money For Nothing on reverse guitar, robotic chocolate arm, The Octopus Project, parasitic birds, homes with "flexible spaces", two otters and a lifebuoy, and watching "The Mask" without special effects.

Galleries

GALERIES: Fake fur animals, the most sought-after bachelors of the Mushroom Kingdom, bathroom mushrooms, Burning Man 2022 art, award-winning drone photos, Atong Atem's self-portraits, best bird photos, best iPhone photos, the magical Wembley tour, the Animated Dump and the Visual Dump of the Week.

Oops, I finished so late today! The sun has been up for an hour and a half and the birds are singing. Anyway, as we say here, 'the skull doesn't scream' and that's that. I hope you liked something! Until next time.