Tuesday links

On July 16, 1945 the atomic age began with the Trinity nuclear test. Related, this 1954 PSA: How a Clean, Tidy Home Can Help You Survive the Atomic Bomb and a rather naively optimistic 1957 Disney classroom film - Our Friend the Atom.

An experimental pneumatic subway secretly built in Manhattan in the late 19th century.

Why Red M&M's Disappeared for a Decade.

The Physics of How Lawn Mower Blades Cut Grass (at 50K frames per second).

The Torturous History of the Treadmill - it was originally designed to exploit prison labor.

Gallery: The serious side of historical games.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include poorly translated English language T-shirts spotted in Asia, that time America air-dropped pianos for troops in battlefields, the evolution of the Army helmet, and the eating habits of Medieval peasants.

Tuesday links

Today is the anniversary of the death of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongolian Empire, prolific spreader of DNA, and climate change hero.

The real housewives of ancient Egypt: an eight foot long prenup.

Lewis And Clark’s Sketches Of The Animals They Encountered On Their Journey.

Glee, the sumo version - check out the dancing sumo wrestlers.

15 Centuries-Old Board Games.

Simpsons-Inspired Heavy Metal Band “Okilly Dokilly” Consists Of 5 Neds.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include the Japanese surrender that ended World War II, Churchillian insults, sneaky dogs, drunk history, and Yelp reviews of newborn babies.

Mario and Luigi face the reality of hitting bricks with their heads

For Super Mario fans:



via Neatorama.

Geek alert: This video of “Final Fantasy” battles as dance-offs is brilliant

This video takes the Final Fantasy franchise and turns several of the epic battles into carefully choreographed dance-offs.  The moves are designed to evoke what happens during various spells. Here's the video (watch full screen!), and below that is a list of the spells, starting at 1:09:

1) Item: Linoleum – Magic: Castle / Shell / Protect
2) Scan
3) Shadow
4) Kick (Class: Monk)
5) Counter Attack (Weapon: Mop)
6) Ryanimay’s Ultimate Self-Sacrifice Attack
7) Summon : Mr. RAYMOND
8) Blitzball Attack
9) Magic : Rear-Ended Hypnosis
10) Summon : Bahamut
11) Magic : Haste
12) Red XIII Limit Break
13) Fire 1000

The video is by Mike Song, and he has a previous video called Final Fantasy Dance Mode:

via NerdApproved.