God's YouTube channel

There are several "God" in Facebook (and in Twitter, etc etc), but I like this one's posts a lot. Following him, I found his (or should I say His?) YouTube channel, with gems such as this one:



Do subscribe, they update every Monday.

Science Saturdays: the original Cosmos

Before there was a rumour of Neil deGrasse Tyson re-doing Cosmos, before he even appeared on stage for the first time, there was the original science communicator. I loved watching him, still remember the voice of the Spanish translator to this day.



Did you watch it back then? Enjoy!

Song of the weekend: another cover that's better than the original

Seldom a cover is better than the original song. I covered one case here, and here's another one. Alanis Morrissette does a fantastic cover of the (already very good) Seal song: Crazy.



(Technical aside: have her b**bs gone bigger all of a sudden?)
Did you like it?

Amazing live optical illusion

It's not that amazing, but it's quite entertaining. In the video below, you'll see that not only we were fooled: his cat also was.





The concept is quite simple, but it works.

How big is the Solar System?

Big.

It's very very big. Frighteningly (or excitingly) so. We covered it in this post (and that was only the 400 thousand galaxies next to ours - out of the 100 BILLION galaxies in the known Universe).

Let's dial it back a notch. Let's see the distances involved in the Solar System, shall we? This amazing infography shows the distances that we are talking about.

Relevant, and I had to include it. Best. Headline. Evah.

For me, the most amazing part is that Voyager I is 18 billion kilometres away! That is absolutely amazing. And yet, it's so, so small compared to the vastness of the Universe (only 11 light-hours from us, compared to 100 light-YEARS of the Galaxy alone).

Amazing.

Amazingly sexist, racist and assorted WTF advertising

Unbelievable racconto of bad ideas, translated into advertising. Some are simply breathtakingly un-PC (which makes a part of me like them), but in general, they are just poor.


What did you think? Which one was the worse?

The story of the week: all of us know a person like this

In my case, it was a woman, in my first year of Engineering. She used to answer all the questions all prissily and showing how much she knew. At first we respected her, but then we found out that she was giving that subject again - she had failed the first time...


So, one day, when she started answering, we shushed her repeatedly, again and again, all 100 of us, until she stopped pretending to know firsthand what she had failed to know the first time. And we got our objective: she never answered a question again. I know, I know - cruel, right? Well, you wouldn't think so if you had met her.

That's why I relate so much to the story below. As usual, after the break.

This compilation is bloody amazing

Wow. Just wow. Look at these paintings. Or, more accurately, drawings. All of them were done with only pencil on paper. Most are fantastic, but this one is supernaturally perfect.


I cannot find one flaw. Even if the artist based his painting on a photograph (more than likely), it is an amazing show of skill. Did you like them?

Science Saturday: a hilarious interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson

I love this guy. In a platonic way only (not that there's anything wrong with that). But I truly love him. I think he's clearly a libertarian at heart (I've seen him defend republican economic theory), and he's extremely didactic when it comes to teaching science. Like our previous Saturday guest, Dr Brian Cox.

Enjoy this video with Stephen Colbert as interviewer. Neil starts at 6:15.



Did you like it?

The song of the weekend: how can I resist this?

Seldom one finds something that combines two passions. This video below combines my liking of science and music in one perfect package, meant to delight, entertain and stimulate curiosity as well. Enjoy.



Did you like it?

Full of win: live shot-for-shot of Toy Story

As the name of the post indicates, the below is a live shot-for-shot recreation of the classic: Toy Story. The first thought that came to mind is: wow, some people have a lot of time (and money) on their hands...



Did you like it?

Want to see a perfect demo video?

If you said "yes", then by all means watch the video below. In a little less than 5 minutes, they explain their product to perfection. I am tempted to buy it, and I don't know for what I would use it.



That last phrase reminds me of Churchill's phrase: "A dangling preposition is something up with which I will not put".

Low blow: top 5 wishes of the dying

Ok, ok, I admit it - it is a low blow to put the 5 top wishes of the dying. But they are true - they were compiled by an English nurse who handles dying cases. They are quite interesting. You can find them in this article (hint: I wish I had worked more is NOT one of them).


I wonder if different cultures have different ones - I am sure Latinos would have much less problems with numbers 3 and 4. What do you think?

Story of the week: a soft dig at the military by our pal Marky Mark

Well, his real name was Samuel Clemens, so if he called himself Mark Twain, we can call him Marky Mark, right? Anyway, I love his writing, his books were among the first ones I read. This short story is about luck; but it's also showcasing how you don't need to be brilliant in order to go up in the Army.

Not the right Mark, but he's holding a chicken:
your argument is invalid
It's funny, it's short. And it's... after the break.

Another hyper-realist painter...

... bear with me here, you know I love hyper-realism. This is Steven Kozar's work, and I have two words for it: a mazing.



The rest of the collection here. Did you like it?

Science Saturday: we start with Brian Cox

Brian Cox sets himself to explain the Universe... and, mostly, succeeds. An unmissable hour of win that you need to see.



I love how clear he is. Watching him makes me want to become a teacher.

The song of the weekend: a "classic", infinitely better!

Well, yes, it was a bit irreverent to classify "Gangnam Style" as a classic, but it clearly is (or more accurately, it will be). At least people have heard it, which is more that can be said for real classics.

Well, these two Korean girls do it justice, and make an acoustic version that is actually (dare I say it?) "listenable". Of course, it doesn't hurt that the girls in question are, ehem, "watchable", does it?



Let me know what you think in the comments!

Amazing: draw in 3D

Well, the time has come. When I get hold of one of these, I don't think I'll be able to be productive... ever again. What do you think?



Unbelievable.

Spectacular video of sound waves

We know that sound waves exist, but how can we see them clearly? This chap did a relatively simple experiment to show us them.



Obviously he had to tune the waves to make the water waves synchronous (if the wavelength changes, the water would appear to start moving up or down, kind of like in old TVs when you did the vertical adjustment).

The birthday of Douglas Adams

It's not usual that I celebrate birthdays on here, but Douglas Adams has got to be an exception. If you haven't read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (a Trilogy in Four Parts), please do yourself a favour and download it now.

Absolute genius.
He had the type of English humour that I absolutely love. See below 42 examples of his genius. (Why 42? You'll have to read it to find out)... too bad he died in 2001, I would have loved to meet him in the flesh.

Even Google did a Doodle in his honour...

(The below was seen on this profile).


The 42 Lines from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Series

1. There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

2. Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.

3. “My doctor says that I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fibre,” Ford muttered to himself, “and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes.”

The story of the week: a beautiful story about not much

I really liked this story. It's written very simply (alas, it might even have been destined for children) but it's quite deep in the emotional chords it touches. I had to contain a tear or two... it's called A Dark Brown Dog, and it's, as usual ladies and gents, after the break.


Let me know what you thought about it.

Art with hands

I love these: the Italian artist Guido Daniele paints these excruciatingly detailed gems on models' hands. Some of them take 10 (ten) hours to complete.


Talk about the hand of god. Did you like them?

The Mercator Puzzle!

This Google site offers a puzzle - drag the countries to their proper place. The way that they deform when you move them is because of the Mercator Projection - otherwise called "hey, we do love Greenland!".



Did you get all 15 right? Greenland is, indeed, quite amazing, huh?

The song of the weekend: epic stop-motion video is epic

This is a must-see video. And I mean must-see. Not so much for the music (which is nice) of our friend Oren  Lavie (cousin of C'est), but for the actual video. I shudder to think the hours they must have worked for this video. It does look amazing.



Did you like it?

The most famous scientist you've never heard of

You know Newton because of gravity. You know Einstein because of relativity. You may even know Hubble because the Universe expands. But do you know who first discovered the composition of the stars? Probably not.

With only 25 years, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin discovered it all by herself (or worse, against the beliefs of many of her colleagues and superiors). Her work proved that they were mostly composed of Hydrogen and Helium (against the prevalent opinion of the time). Her results in 1922 were therefore obscured until Eddington, through a different route, "discovered" the same - and got all the glory (even though he did try and credit her).

NOT Cecilia.
The tip of our hat is touched today for this extraordinary lady. Cheers!

SFW: Porno statistics

All you ever wanted to know about porn actors and actresses, and you were afraid to ask, in this fantastic infography (relatively SFW).


Amongst the miriad of statistics thrown in there, I am still missing an important one: the average... erm... length... but you get my point.

Play with your meteorite

You know how it is. You hear the stories about the meteorite that went right by Earth... and think to yourself: "Man (or woman)! I would love to be able to see the effects of an asteroid hitting Earth!". Well, now you can, thanks to this little website from Purdue University.


It actually does not display the impact in a simulation format, but it gives all the impact consequences in graphic detail.

Did you like it?

The story of the week: fantastic magic realism

No, no. Don't get me started with Gabo Garcia Marquez (except for some of his short stories I can't stand his writing). This one is a short story that I found quite interesting, in the way that it's constructed. It's also shorter than the usual story featured here, so go on, read it and let me know whatcha'think... after the break.


By the way, the end reminded me of Fight Club's phrases "I am Jack's..." which in turn are reminders of Reader's Digest's body-part articles (for this knowledge you have to have read Reader's Digest!).

EXCLUSIVE: A letter from Benedict XVI

Well, the title is a bit misleading - it's not really an exclusive. Aaaand... no, it wasn't written by Big Ben XVI himself. But it's an awesome joke by The Onion (and a great find by Sergio Sapio)... which I reproduce below the break in its entirety.


Being Pope Was Great, But You Can’t Play Make-Believe Forever

By Benedict XVI

For the past eight years, it has been my distinct pleasure to serve as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Spreading the message of the Bible around the world and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ is an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. Honestly, I had a ball. But at some point, you just have to face the facts and realize that you can’t play make-believe forever.

EDITORIAL: Overpromise and disappointment


At 28 I decided I was ready to leave the comfort of family home and rented my own place. Disappointingly though, shirts and other garments tended to stay exactly where I’ve left them, a marked behavioural change from what they did at my parent’s: move back to the closet, washed and ironed.

I thought the poor things needed more time to get used to the new environment and to that effect I bought more clothes. After three weeks, 15 new shirts and 21 new boxers, everything remained stationary, and I ran out of flat surfaces where park my Gin & Tonic while I played Zelda on my Game Cube 64.

My mother explained to me that not everything was lost and that my clothes could revert to their previous habits, I just had to stimulate the change... with washing powder.

Off to the supermarket, I bought one with the inscription Makes washing EASY! in big red font on top of
some sort yellow explosion.


The song of the weekend: harmony, harmony, harmony

One of the things I love most in a song is when it has nice vocals. And for that, don't go further than the band Dream Academy with its (deserved) hit, Life in a Northern Town. I chose this video below (which is just a still image) for the quality of the recording - the video (recorded in the 80's) had sh*tty sound.



Enjoy!