Friday links

The Great Sperm Race: The Most Extreme Race on Earth, Scaled To Human Size (plus bonus Monty Python). 

"Meet Glenn. Like most average men Glenn has no idea about the miracle of engineering tucked away in his pants." 

Medieval fitness programs.

A bank glitch gave a 24-year old, down-on-his-luck Australian man access to unlimited funds. Then he did exactly what you think he did with it.

An Interactive Map Shows Just How Many Roads Actually Lead to Rome.

25 Lost Survival Tips from 100 Years Ago – with Illustrations.

The Man Who Continuously Hiccuped for 68 Years.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include the practice of execution by cannon, ancient Rome's urine tax, more human feet washing up in British Columbia, and pigeons with cameras.

An Interactive Map Shows Just How Many Roads Actually Lead to Rome

Zoomable version here.

...he went away, and passing through what was called the house of Tiberius, went down into the forum, to where a gilded column stood, at which all the roads that intersect Italy terminate.

~ Plutarch, Life of Galba (XXIV.4)

All roads lead to Rome.

To illustrate, designers Benedikt Groß and Philipp Schmitt worked with digital geographer Raphael Reimann to select 486,713 starting points on a 26,503,452 km² grid of Europe. The image above is from their interactive map Roads to Rome - zoom in for detail.

Via Open Culture, where they also point out:

In a nod to map lovers outside of Europe, the mobility-obsessed team came up with another map, this one geared to stateside users.

Do you know which of the United States’ nine Romes you are closest to?

Now you do, from 312,719 distinct starting points.

The Guy Who Makes the World’s Best Paper Airplanes

In this video from WIRED, John Collins (website), aka "The Paper Airplane Guy," who's devoted the last two decades of his life to paper airplanes, talks about how he designs and flies the world's best and coolest paper planes.

via Tastefully Offensive

The Great Sperm Race: The Most Extreme Race on Earth. Scaled To Human Size (plus bonus Monty Python)

A contest with 250 million competitors; only one winner... relentless obstacles, outrageous fatality rate.

Within 30 minutes of ejaculation, over 99 percent of the sperm will be dead or dying. But for those that remain it will be a vicious 14-hour fight to the end, with only one champion!

Sizing Up Sperm (full documentary embedded below) uses real people to represent 250 million sperm on their marathon quest to be first to reach a single egg; it was made by NatGeo in 2009:

Scaled up to human size with the sperm played by real people, The Great Sperm Race tells the story of human conception as it's never been told before using helicopter-mounted cameras, world-renowned scientists, CGI and dramatic reconstruction to illustrate the extraordinary journey of sperm.

With the microscopic world of sperm and egg accurately scaled up by 34,000 times, we see the human-sized heroes negotiate some of the world's most striking landscapes when the epic proportions of the vagina become the Canadian Rockies and the buildings on London's South Bank symbolise the intricacies of the cervix.

With the female body designed to repel and destroy invaders, from acidic vaginal walls to impassable cervical crypts, the sperm face unremitting obstacles. 'The battle that sperm have in order to find and fertilise an egg is just immense,' explains Dr Allan Pacey.

'Everything is working against sperm and they're not really given a helping hand by the female reproductive tract.'

A team of Leukocytes from the female immune system are sent to kill the sperm in the uterus:

On the left you see sperm squished in the cervix, and on the right is an army of freshly created sperm waiting inside a giant testicle. 

Here's a trailer for the show - the whole documentary is below that:

I love this - it's near the beginning:

Meet Glenn. Like most average men Glenn has no idea about the miracle of engineering tucked away in his pants. 

The whole thing:



And, of course, Monty Python's Every Sperm is Sacred skit from The Meaning Of Life:



via the excellent Dark Roasted Blend, which has lots of additional images.

Monday links

Execution by Cannon.

The Pigeons Who Took Photos.

The Urine Tax of Ancient Rome.

Science: Why is the sky blue? How do bees and butterflies see? How does an igloo keep you warm?

Figure Out Where You Are With Nothing But a Watch and Protractor.

If you're keeping a scorecard on the human feet being washed up in British Columbia, it's time for an update (spoiler - this is number 14).

ICYMI, Friday's links are here and are all Mother's Day related: good and bad animal and human moms, top sci-fi moms, how grandmothers gave humans longer lifespans, and gifts for your wino mom or wife. Not included but related: The Ultimate Guide to Bizarre Lies Your Mom Told You.

Smothered Pork Chops With Cider and Apples

Smothered Pork Chops With Cider and Apples

adapted from America's Test Kitchen New Best Recipe cookbook.

Serve smothered chops with a starch to soak up the rich gravy. Simple egg noodles were the test kitchen favorite, but rice or mashed potatoes also taste great. 

Serves 4

3 ounces (about 3 slices) bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups apple cider

vegetable oil

4 bone-in, rib-end pork chops 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick

ground black pepper

1 medium yellow onion halved pole to pole and sliced thin

table salt

2 tablespoons water

2 medium cloves of garlic, pressed through garlic press or minced (about 2 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1 large or 2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 3/8-inch wedges

1. Fry bacon in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate, leaving fat in saucepan (you should have 2 tablespoons bacon fat; if not, supplement with vegetable oil). Reduce heat to medium-low and gradually whisk flour into fat until smooth. Cook, whisking frequently, until mixture is light brown, about the color of peanut butter, about 5 minutes. Whisk in apple cider in slow, steady stream; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally; cover and set aside off heat.

2. Heat 1-tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat until smoking, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, dry pork chops with paper towels and sprinkle with 1/2-teaspoon pepper. Brown chops in single layer until deep golden on first side, about 3 minutes. Flip chops and cook until browned on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer chops to large plate and set aside.

3. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon oil, onions, apples, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and water to now-empty skillet. Using wooden spoon, scrape browned bits on pan bottom and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are softened and browned around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Return chops to skillet in single layer, covering chops with onions. Pour in warm sauce and any juices collected from pork; add bay leaves. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until pork is tender and paring knife inserted into chops meets very little resistance, about 30 minutes.

4. Transfer chops to warmed serving platter and tent with foil. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer sauce rapidly, stirring frequently, until thickened to gravy-like consistency, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves, stir in parsley, and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Cover chops with sauce, sprinkle with reserved bacon, and serve immediately.