Friday, December 11, 2009

Friday Links!

Leading off this week, from Ronny Mo, an article about a man who evokes the golden age of British exploration: Ed Stafford, a thirty-three year old former British army Captain who is attempting to become the first man in history to walk from the source of the Amazon (the mountains of Peru) to its mouth (in Brazil). It's an incredible journey, and this article is riveting reading.

From Steve Davis, a link to a spectacular video of a space shuttle launch (the STS-129). This video is extremely high quality.

Alan Reeve has started a new website for Android game reviews (with some talk of hardware, but focusing on software), and you can read it here.

From The Edwin Garcia Links Machine, it's ridiculous user interfaces in film, and the man who designs them). Next, an article about Lucas Ordoñez, who became a professional race driver (and a good one) after winning a Gran Turismo competition. Ever wanted to buy a full-scale, customizable Lunar Lander Replica? If so, then it's your lucky day).

From Ben Younkins, a link to instructions on how to cut a bagel into a Möbius strip.

Okay, now this is just incredible. Sirius sent in a link to a bionic hand that is thought-controlled. What a story. Also, and OF COURSE this story is from Australia, about a half-inch long jellyfish that can kill you. Next, a story about Campbell's monkeys and their surprising use of language:
Campbell’s monkeys appear to combine the same calls in different ways, using rules of grammar that turn sound into language.

Whether their rudimentary syntax echoes the speech of humanity’s evolutionary ancestors, or represents an emergence of language unrelated to our own, is unclear. Either way, they’re far more sophisticated than we thought.


Finally, a gallery of steampunk hardware.

From Jesse Leimkuehler, a link to a new theory about how black holes form. Also, a story about how monarch butterflies have become the first insect to complete a full life cycle in space.

Here's one of my favorite (in a guilty pleasure kind of way) hockey stories ever: the unlikely revenge of Brendan Shahanan.

From Staci Avision, a Muppets Classic: Bohemian Rhapsody.

From the New York Times, an article about America's Stonehenge.

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