Friday, July 20, 2007

Friday Links!

A monster post today. Say good-bye to your morning at work.

The most interesting link today comes from Jess Moran, who sent me a brilliant article from Vanity Fair about Didier Drogba, a soccer player. Here's the opening:
A single soccer match achieves what five years of combat and negotiations could not: an apparent end to Ivory Coast's civil war. The man who brought the warring sides together was not a politician or a gun-toting strongman, but Didier Drogba, the star striker for Ivory Coast.

The story is fascinating, and you can read it here.

Cliff Eyler sent me a link to an article about evolution and butterflies. In short, the response of a particular species of butterfly to a parasite appears to have produced the fastest evolutionary change ever observed. Read about it here.

Here's an amazing link from Steven Davis: a how-to guide to building your own Enigma machine (it's called "Enigma-E"). I know, that sounds crazy, but just take a look and you'll be convinced. It's here. There was also an eBay auction this week for a fully-functional, museum quality Enigma machine this week, but it's been pulled.

Steven also sent in links to a story about the differential analyzer (an analog computer) used by Barnes Willis in WWII. It's the only original, complete differential analyzer in the world, according to the story, it's a great read, and you can find it here, along with an explanation of how differential analyzers work here.

Intel has introduced a new stepping for Core 2 Duo processors with absolutely insane pricing. They might as well be giving them away, and thanks to that crazy pricing, I'll be building a new system within about a month. You can see all the processor and pricing details here.

Roy Scorup sent in a link to an article about the recent flooding in China--which has displaced TWO BILLION rats. Don't be eating your breakfast while you're reading it, but it's fascinating and it's here.

Grifin Cheng sent in a link to an article about a new focusing technique called superlensing. Here's an excerpt:
Light cannot be focused on anything smaller than its wavelength—or so says more than a century of physics wisdom. But a new study now shows that it is possible, if light is focused extremely close to a very special kind of lens.

Read it here.

Sirius sent in a link to a remarkable article about what may be a new species of chimps. Oh, and they like to eat lion meat. It's a bizarre story, and you can read it here.

Here's an excellent sports link from Will: the Wages of Wins Journal. It's written by three economics professors (who also wrote The Wages of Wins book) who apply economic and stastistical issues to various sports topics--often, and most interestingly, the question of player value. It's a very good read, and you can find it here.

Jesse Leimkuehler sent in a link to an article about the strangest sights in Google Earth, which you can see here.

Rob sent in a link to an article about eight scientists who may dramatically change our lives in the future. Very interesting, and you can read it here.

From Doug Walsh, a link to a news story about a toilet paper thief who was arrested. Her last name, of course, was Butts. Two-play drama for your reading pleasure right here.

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