- Spontis’s Top 10 of the most extraordinary female singers (part 1, part 2; German, but with videos).
- Several Simpsons movie references.
- Again phantastic photos at The Big Picture, this time Earth from space.
- How much are a million pennies? Or a trillion? Or…? The MegaPenny Project helps to understand these numbers (to some extent)… (via Bad Astronomy).
Links of the Week (2008/52)
- Das Fellmonster erklärt die Rätsel der Menschheit: Außerirdische entführen Menschen — was steckt wirklich dahinter und wie kam es dazu?
- Das Unwort-Jahrbuch 2008 – Bastis “unseriöse, unerhört unpolitische Ungereimtheiten” = Blog-Beiträge des Jahres in einem PDF
- Great photos from the Space Shuttle Endeavour
- 20 professional fonts – for free (via a blog about nothing)
Links of the Week (2008/50)
Only two this time, and both German:
- Die Mondlandungslüge – oder warum es eben keine ist; Florians Übersichtsartikel aus dem Skeptiker. (Natürlich schon mit vielen Kommentaren…)
- “Die übliche Diskussion” über den Glauben bei sapere aude
Links and video of the Week (2008/48)
- Fascinating (and large) photos for the International Space Station’s 10th birthday.
- Dancing prisoners on the Philippines to “Radio Ga Ga” by Queen (via Pierre Markuse):
More videos here on Youtube, info in Wikipedia.
50 Years since Спутник
Almost exactly 50 years ago, on 4 October 1957, Sputnik 1, the first satellite, has been launched – rather surprisingly –, heralding the era of space flight.
This aluminium ball’s construction, 58 cm in diameter, wasn’t too complex and done in just four weeks, and the scientific instruments on board were limited to temperature sensors that could also detect a drop in pressure as it would happen if a micro meteor penetrates the casing, whose readings were sent to earth with the famous beeps from the radio transmitters. The political benefit – “Hello Yanks, our strong sockets can reach the orbit (and you too, if necessary)!” – was a little bigger, of course.
If you want to read all this in detail, you can do so e.g. at NASA.