(via Pleated-Jeans)
Friday, March 17, 2017
Previously Classified Nuclear Test Videos Now on YouTube
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have been analyzing old films of nuclear weapons tests, using more modern equipment to get more accurate data. As they go through the thousands of old films, they've found many hadn't been properly stored for long-term preservation, so they are digitizing the collection. Physicist Greg Spriggs said that about 6500 films have been found, 750 have been declassified, and this week, 63 of them have been uploaded to YouTube. The goal in preserving and digitizing them, Spriggs said in a news release, was to keep the films for future study, lest they decompose and disappear forever.
“You can smell vinegar when you open the cans, which is one of the byproducts of the decomposition process of these films,” Spriggs said. “We know that these films are on the brink of decomposing to the point where they’ll become useless. The data that we’re collecting now must be preserved in a digital form because no matter how well you treat the films, no matter how well you preserve or store them, they will decompose.”But once a sequence is on YouTube, there will be copies of it everywhere. And we get to see them.
Read about the film preservation project at Atlas Obscura, and see the newly-released videos at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's YouTube channel.
Happy St. Patricks Day!
They say everybody's Irish on St. Patricks Day. Here's a picture of my kids from at least ten years back- don't they look Irish?
Miss Cellania's Links
10 Trailblazing U.S. Law Women.
Goal of Kentucky Republicans: School Re-Segregation.
10 creative St. Patrick's Day recipes. The fun way to eat your greens!
Who Was Saint Patrick? Ireland's patron saint had nothing to do with green beer or leprechauns.
A Grown-Up’s Guide to St. Patrick’s Day Whiskey. Super-premium Irish whiskies are now more available than ever.
The Invisible Unmarried Mothers of Ireland. For decades, they were treated like criminals, and their children suffered, too.
17 Jokes That Only The Smartest People Will Get. Oh, you'll get them all, and then groan about them.
Operation London Bridge: the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death. No one wishes her ill, but Queen Elizabeth II is ninety years old.
Follies on Ice: Showgirls, men in drag, an ice-skating chimpanzee, a robot, and Elvis. Bygone ice shows were like circuses with even more glitter and spangles.
Canterbury Park Corgi Races
Dozens of Corgis and their short little legs give it all they have in the Corgis races. Whoever thought this up is a genius. (via Metafilter)
12 Internet Memes You Can Snuggle Up With
I have an ongoing project to make posts for mental_floss articles I wrote way back when that I do not have an archive for. Here's another one, from 2014.
Many internet memes find their way into toy stores as cuddly stuffed plushies, if they are popular enough. And when someone you love becomes enamored of an internet meme, they make a thoughtful gift. Here’s where to get yours. And only half of them are cats. See them in a list I posted at mental_floss.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Miss Cellania's Links
The Storied, International Folk History of Beauty and The Beast. The tale is old as time, and can be found all around the world.
When Medieval Monks Couldn't Cure the Plague, They Launched a Luxe Skincare Line. The Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is an 800-year-old company that's still doing well.
Trump Protects Americans. He's just selective as to what he protects us from.
Why The Godfather Almost Didn't Happen. The studio didn't like anything about it, and neither did the Mafia.
Most American Cities Once Had Red-Light Districts. City officials didn't mind prostitution, drinking, and gambling, as long as they kept it in one neighborhood.
How one man survived alone in the wilderness for 27 years. Chris Knight just wanted to be alone.
11 Interesting Facts About Being on the Service Staff at the White House. There are rules -lots of them.
In a video, Alexa goes strangely quiet when asked if it's connected to the CIA.
How the World has Changed Since You Were Born. (via Nag on the Lake)
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Useless Machine with an Attitude
We've seen useless machines before -the kind that only exists to turn itself off. This one does its best to communicate to you that it does NOT want to be turned on again. (via reddit)
Evan Nagao Takes European Yoyo Championship
Oh yeah, it's easy to tie your yoyo string in knots. The real challenge is to get it untangled without dropping the beat! The European Yoyo Championship was held over the weekend in Bratislava, Slovakia. American Evan Nagao took first place in the open finals division, and deservedly so. We might not know exactly how intricate these tricks are, but the crowd is full of yoyo experts and fans, and listen to how impressed they are! (via Tastefully Offensive)
An Honest Trailer for Beauty and the Beast
Just ahead of the release of Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, Screen Junkies takes a close look at the 1991 animated feature film. This children's movie shows young girls the very worst way to fall for someone, plus reveals why no one in this movie is at all likable and the plot makes no sense. While the movie may have been for children, the Honest Trailer is not. I guess the movie was okay as long as you never, ever believe that the bad boy you find so appealing will change for the better just because of the magic of a woman's love.
9 Amazing Underwater-Themed Restaurants
Having dinner while surrounded by fish, turtles, and other sea creatures is a wonderful experience. There are restaurants around the world that will give you this experience, whether that means descending to a diner below the surface of the ocean or eating in an above-sea-level world constructed with relaxing ocean surroundings. Learn about nine of those restaurants in a list I compiled for mental_floss.
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