Friday, February 27, 2009

Friday Links!

Man, we are LOADED this week.

Starting off this week is a stunnering, shattering article by Wright Thompson. Ghosts of Mississippi is a beautifully written, unforgettable piece of journalism, exploring the Deep South through the lense of the 1962 University of Mississippi football team. It was both painful to read and impossible to stop reading.

Next, a story about Carl Joseph, who must be one of the greatest athletes in history (and you've probably never heard of him). He was a football star in high school, playing the defensive line on one leg. Literally--he was born with only one leg, and he played without a prosthesis. He also played on the basketball team and won his district in the high jump (jumping 5'10") He was recently inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, and his story (and the video you can watch, which is just freaking incredible) is completely inspiring.

I know that Roger Ebert can be a blowhard at times, but Ben Younkins sent me a link to a beautifully written tribute to Gene Siskel on the tenth anniversary of his death.

From Chris Meyer, a wonderful link to the history of slot car racing.

From Tim Jones, a link to another epic series of photos from the Boston.com feature "The Big Picture." This time, it's Carnival.

From Allen Varney, a link to time-lapse snails, and the video is oddly compelling. Also, a link to a wacky and wonderful Samsung commercial featuring--well, hell, I can't even pretend to explain this. Just watch it.

From George Paci, a link to a logging machine that must be seen to be believed. I had no idea that technology like this existed.

From Sean, a link to an incredibly thorough (and quite interesting) of why water is blue.

From Andrew B, a story that has to be read to be believed: golf ball found embedded in tree trunk.

From Jesse Leimkuehler, a link to the discovery of a gamma ray blast that exceeded the power of approximately 9,000 supernovas.

From Steven Kreuch, a link to a clever, clever idea--replacing world landmarks with cheap souvenirs. Look at one and you'll be hooked.

From the Edwin Garcia Links Machine, it's a story about stealing a train. I had no idea anyone ever did that. Next, and you have to see this picture, it's a fish with a see-through head. Next, it's a programmer's at-home paradise. And impossible mirrors. Don't think we're done, because next is a Dalmation riding a bike, and I mean riding AND pedaling. Oh, and one last link and it's remarkable: 3-D street art, and by street art I mean the entire street (they're fantastic).

From Sirius, a link to a story about (believe it or not) the future of lab-grown teeth. Next, an interactive atlas of the world's endangered languages. Next, it's 9 Real-Life Mad Scientists, and this article is as bizarre as it sounds (and potentially disturbing, so please be warned).

Site Meter