Recommended Links of the Week (No. 704)

A little preview of this week's recommended links: the history of the cat, the tridents of trilobites, UFOs in the Middle Ages, Isaac Newton, and Seneca's advice. Want more? Keep reading! Enjoy!

This week's recommended links

Cadash, a classic arcade RPG from Taito (1989): "Cadash is an early example of what would become a fairly common trend in arcade video games made in Japan in the early 1990s. Defined as an arcade RPG, the game actually combines many elements from other genres. Its gameplay, side-scrolling action and setting are similar to classic fantasy sword-and-sorcery beat 'em ups; while it also includes platforming elements and a statistics system, experience levels, money and magic more typical of role-playing video games."

History of the cat - When and where did they become our pets?: "Mesopotamia was the cradle of civilization; the place where monumental architecture, territorial planning, accounting, urban development, the alphabet and writing were born. But that fertile space between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was also the place where humans and cats began to coexist. This is revealed by a study from the University of Missouri (USA), which has just been published in the journal 'Nature' and reveals the true history of the cat."

John Carpenter turns 75, an epidemic that has infected 21st-century cinema: "He is a man as humble as he is voluntarily dedicated exclusively for several decades to pure genre cinema, with low-budget productions, sheltered under the umbrella of what inaccurately but effectively we call Series B. Violent action films, bloody horror, flashy science fiction, martial arts, scares, gunfights and chases. Real neighborhood cinema (not the one they talk about on TV, not in my neighborhood). Grindhouse, as hipsters call it."

Marines use the Metal Gear Solid cardboard box meme to fool the AI of a real military robot: "The book, which will be available in English on January 28, reflects on the social, political and economic changes that are coming as a result of the use of artificial intelligence systems. The fact is that there is a passage in the book that recounts what happened when the army high command asked a group of eight Marines to try to fool a robot equipped with a modern AI-based person detection system."

This is Hydra, the Greek island that completely banned cars to preserve its heritage: "Just like house cats, people in Hydra are used to getting around on foot. Even though its founding dates back more than 3,000 years, there is no mythology related to the island: the gods of antiquity did not consider it important to settle there, nor did the classical heroes. None of that matters when visitors sit by the pier sipping wine and Greek sweets. And what's more: Hydra's streets are not polluted by vehicular traffic or the smoke from car exhausts."

How to get out of a sinking car, tips to save your life: "As it passed, storm Fien has left trees down due to strong winds, floods and snow throughout the Peninsula, as well as the inevitable accidents at the edges of rivers and streams. It is not uncommon for a vehicle and its occupants to sink in a few seconds. It is a very dangerous situation that, however, can be faced with a good chance of survival if you act quickly. Steps to get out of a sinking car: ..."

Seneca's advice for accepting the transience of life: "But what attitude to adopt instead? If we have said that it is characteristic of human beings to seek permanence or perpetuity (as the philosopher points out), what could be offered as an alternative to that deeply rooted habit? Seneca gives advice that can also be found in other philosophies and even religions: enjoy the present. Enjoy not only in the sense of pleasure, but perhaps especially in the sense of profit."

Analysis of trilobites with 'spiky' tridents reveals the oldest known example of a sexual combat weapon: "Scientists have discovered the oldest known example of a sexual combat weapon similar to the structures of today's Dynastinae beetles (rhinoceros beetles). The discovery and analysis of a trilobite fossil, Walliserops trifurcatus, which had a four-pronged trident, suggests that these structures could have been used in combat and competition for mates, like jousts between males to win the favor of females."

The incomparable Isaac Newton: "One of these plague outbreaks appeared in the middle of the summer. The plague was ravaging London so badly that in a short time one in ten Londoners had died. That same autumn, the University of Cambridge, fearing the same would happen there, closed its doors and sent its students home. Among them was a young man of taciturn and introverted character: Isaac Newton."

Discover that Roman buildings 'repair themselves' and that's why they have endured through time: "Thanks to the lime that makes up Roman concrete, the monuments and ruins of the Roman Empire have survived for more than 2,000 years. Roads, monumental colosseums, amphitheaters and triumphal arches: all these buildings of the Roman Empire have an element in common. Although for decades it was thought that the lime and other raw materials used by Roman engineers were of poor quality, these elements have allowed Roman concrete to 'repair' itself for more than 2 millennia."

Agobard, the medieval bishop who was the first to write against UFO sightings: "Sightings of superhuman beings date back at least to medieval folklore, where they took the form of aeronauts from a city called Magonia. And as everything has its counterpart, just like now, there was a bishop who can be considered the first to refute those superstitions: Agobard of Lyon."

How the Vikings lived: "Whether they were serfs, free men or nobles, the life of the Scandinavians unfolded within the framework of the farm. It was the economic and social nucleus of the Viking world, and the main place in it was occupied by the owner, his wife and his children, the grandparents and the younger brothers of the owner who remained single. For most people, this family group was the most important thing in their lives: it offered them security, food and shelter."

Videos

Orwell vs Huxley, metal with memory, cat that says ok, spin your owl, human vs helicopter propeller, using a floppy as a filter, how Tinder really works, a sculpture of Willem Dafoe as Joker (300 hours in 11 minutes), the process of making artisanal hiking boots, the double pendulum experiment, the fastest quadcopter, Family Guy and The Simpsons as an '80s sitcom, a strange version of The Simpsons intro, the incestuous family of the United States, beavers make a pond in the yard, Metallica's Nothing Else Matters on kalimba, and a Meowseum full of cat ornaments.

Galleries

Famous characters on public transport, celebrities who don't age, strange worlds in 3D art, embarrassing Christian album covers, the Ford Beatnik, great old photos, fragmented portraits, insect collection, paper creations, crossover of movie characters, a very big toad, cat portraits, 2022 ocean art photo awards, Screenland magazine covers, the best street art of 2022, behind the scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Animated Dump, and the Visual Dump of the Week.

That's all! Thanks for stopping by, friend. See you next time!