Friday, June 05, 2009

Friday Links!

We are loaded today, so let's get started.

From MSNBC, news of the discovery of an almost-complete mammoth skeleton estimated to be about one million years old. Also, the discovery of a 17th century "witch bottle" and what it reveals about witchcraft during that era.

From Tim Jones, a link to a remarkable (and beautiful) homebrewed CPU. And here's a more technical story about the process.

Here's a fascinating link from David Gloier to a story titled The Great Ivy League Nude Posture Photo Scandal. It's a bizarre story and a great read.

From Roger, a link to a story about Wolfram Alpha, which promises to be entirely awesome.

From Nate Carpenter, a link to a story about Emotiv, and here's an excerpt:
The scientists at Emotiv have done the impossible: created a brain-wave-reading headset that lets you conjure entire worlds using nothing but your mind -- a breakthrough that could be worth billions.

Two words: Jedi Academy.

From Sirius, a link to a remarkable story about carbon nanotubes and swords. Here's an excerpt:
Peter Paufler and colleagues at Dresden's Technical University discovered carbon nanotubes in the microstructure of a 17th century Damascus sabre. Intriguingly, the nanotubes could have encapsulated iron-carbide nanowires that might give clues to the mechanical strength and sharpness of these swords.

Also from Sirius, a link to the recreation of a lost musical instrument--the Lituus. And the rediscovery of a flint axe originally discovered in 1858 that challenged the Biblical version of evolution. Next (it's a big Sirius week), and you really want to see this, it's a jet-powered bicycle. Finally, it's the annually hilarious Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling.

From Andrew, a link to a story about the potential for self-healing car paint. Also, a link to a story about the remarkable Fred “Hargy” Hargesheimer: After WWII Rescue Soldier Devotes Life To Helping His Saviors.

From Yacine Salmi, a link to a story about how the homeless stay wired.

From George Paci, and this may come in handy someday: how to brew beer in a coffee maker, using only materials commonly found on a modestly sized oceanographic research vessel.

From The Edwin Garcia Links Machine, a link to a story about the Combat Air Truck, which can be repaired with "a wrench and screwdriver." Also, the story of how an Iraqi teen solved a 300-year-old math problem. Also, and this is epic, it's North Korea Secrets Uncovered In Google Earth By Amateur Spies.

From Paul Costello, a compilation video of epic and entirely goofy cat moments.

From Ian Alexander, a link to a gaming article titled 5 Things The Gaming Industry Will Never Fix (and why). It's not that the arguments are new, necessarily, but they are made with great style.

From Sean, a link to a story about a horse, it's head, and how it got caught in a tree. No injuries, but the picture is priceless.

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