STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

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VESARO MOTION RACING SIMULATOR

Vesaro build high quality gaming and professional simulation rigs for XBOX, PS3 and PC systems. Their new and advanced modular simulation system is the impressive "Vesaro I Evolve Extreme Special Edition” which includes the worlds first 55 inch Triple Curved OLED display setup offering a massive 165 inch of screen curving around your seating position for an immersive experience that will leave you breathless. It also features cutting edge motion technology and comes packed with powerful industry leading components to ensure breathtaking visuals and sound with extreme realism. Vessaro also offers the possibility to configure your own simulator, by choosing a rig, type of finish, steering setup, seat shaker, etc…

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Mega-Sandstorm Turns Tehran Into Apocalyptic Landscape, Kills Four

In a freakish and honestly terrifying turn of events, a giant cloud of sand enveloped Tehran today. The temperature plunged from over 32C to under 20C in minutes. Winds whipped at 113km/h. Trees fell. The power went out. Tehran looked like an apocalyptic horror show.

Although this sandstorm was especially severe, Tehran is no stranger to dust. And sandstorms have been getting worse. Poor agricultural practices like overgrazing have made the countryside barren bowls of dust that feed into storms. Dust storms also blow across lakes that are dried up thanks to mistakes in water management. One hopes not, but perhaps this storm is a sign of things to come.

This one has killed at least four people and injured many more, had the city’s residents reeling. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I was afraid it was an omen of things to come,” one man told the AP. The sandstorm lasted for about 15 minutes before giving away to rain and strong winds.

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Bomber Pilot Saves The Day In Boeing 737 Emergency Landing

This is US Air Force Captain Mark Gongol and his usual ride, a B-1B Lancer. But on 30 December 2013, Gongol wasn’t flying his four-engine supersonic strategic nuclear bomber. He was just one of the 151 passengers inside United Flight 1637, but, when the pilot had a cardiac problem, he knew he had to step in.

The details of his little adventure just came out today: Gongol — who was with his wife and daughter returning from holidays — knew something was wrong when their Boeing 737 put its engines on idle and made a turn just 30 minutes after leaving DesMoines. His instinct was confirmed a few minutes later, he told to Staff Sgt Jacob Jordan, of the 21st Space Wing Public Affairs, US Air Force Space Command:

Over the public address system; a flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board the plane. A few more calls went out for medical professionals and the flight attendants were all hurrying to first class with their beverage carts and a first-aid kit.

Another call came asking for a pilot, so he immediately went to the cockpit. There he found the pilot in shock, attended by the flight attendants. There was the first officer too:

After they moved the pilot, I was asked by the first officer, ‘are you a pilot?’ which was quickly followed with ‘what do you fly?’ I knew she was in a serious situation and that question gave her five seconds to judge if I would be useful. I also had about five seconds to asses her, ‘was she panicking, or was she OK to fly the aircraft?’ We both finished our silent assessments, she made the right judgment and told me to close the door and have a seat.

She was calm, but you could tell she was a little stressed, who wouldn’t be. At the beginning, I interrupted her flow of operations, but we figured everything out extremely quickly. She was very impressive.

Gongol assisted her, following her lead. While some may think that flying a sophisticated machine like the B-1B Lancer would automatically make you capable of safely flying any jet, every complex aeroplane requires its own training and qualification. Little things can go wrong and escalate if you don’t follow the established checklist and procedures.

Conversely, flying a 737 alone is not easy either. That’s why they carry two pilots on board — for redundancy in case of emergency and also to make sure that they don’t miss any crucial step and endanger the aircraft and its passengers.

Happily, everything went well. In fact, the most stressful part came after touchdown, when the first officer had to taxi the aeroplane for the first time in Omaha, an airport she had never visited before. Fortunately, Gongol remembered it.

Without Gongol, the first officer would have had a more difficult time taking the plane home. At the end, it was his help and their flawless team work which ultimately won the precious minutes that saved the pilot’s life.

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THE STORY OF THE GUMBALL 3000: THE WORLD’S MOST LAVISH RALLY

If you own a supercar, have an abundance of money, and want to take part in one of the most epic adventures of all time, you should probably sign up for Gumball 3000. The once underground rally has become a global phenomenon filled with parties, celebrities, and sightseeing at insane speeds (but don’t speed!). This year’s rally kicks off tomorrow, so we thought we’d take a look back at how the rally came to be.

THE MOVIE THAT STARTED IT ALL

Two decades before the first Gumball 3000, Charles Bail directed and co-wrote the film The Gumball Rally. The1976 movie drew inspiration from the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (often just called “Cannonball Run”) where entrants drove from New York City (later from Darien, Connecticut) to the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. The Cannonball Run was cancelled after just four events due to concerns over safety. The movie portrayed a wealthy businessman who dreamt up a coast-to-coast race without any rules.

THE FIRST GUMBALL 3000

In 1999, British designer and former racecar driver Maximillion Cooper gathered 50+ friends to take part in a 3,000-mile journey across Europe. The entry fee for the rally would be $8,700 and the rich participants would have to bring their own supercar. Cooper chose the term “Gumball” because Andy Warhol had used it to describe how the population chews up and spits out pop culture like a piece of gum. The entire event was supposed to have a rock ‘n’ roll feel to it.

The first Gumball 3000 took drivers from London to Rimini, Italy and back. Each night of the trip would feature a stop with an epic dinner or party, the first of which was attended by the likes of Kate Moss, Guy Ritchie, and others. Some speculate that a bit of the immediate “cool” of the rally was due to the fact that Cooper tipped off the press that Naomi Campbell would be a participant. She was not.

Cooper decided not to include any sort of official timing or award a prize to avoid legal issues. This did not stop drivers over the next 15 years from crushing speed limits and leaving the rally open to criticism.

AN EXPLOSION IN POPULARITY

The 2001 rally, which took participants from London to places like Copenhagen, Saint Petersburg. and Helsinki, marked a huge turning point in the rally’s history. Among the 106 cars that entered, was a 1989 Jaguar XJ6 piloted by Johnny Knoxville and some of the cast of Jackass. The guys–who would become regular participants–filmed some of their insanity for an MTV special which drew huge ratings. (Among all the stunts Knoxville pulled during the run of Jackass, he says that the closest he came to dying was during the Gumball Rally.) The coverage from Jackass, on top of regular BBC updates, ushered in the “Golden Age of Gumball.”

During the legendary Gumball 3000 of 2001, Cooper drove an original Shelby Cobra, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu drove the oldest car in Gumball history–a 1929 Blower Bentley, and Kim Dotcom finished first in his Mercedes Brabus SV12 Megacar.

COMING TO AMERICA

The 2002 Gumball 3000 was the first to tackle the United States. The route took drivers from New York City to the Playboy Mansion by way of DC, Graceland, Santa Fe, and Vegas. Upon conclusion, participants partied with Hef and the Playboy bunnies in one of the rally’s most legendary parties. Matthew McConaughey and Rachel Hunter were two of the handful of celebrity participants, and in a patriotic display, the Best Car award went to a 60s Corvette painted in stars and stripes.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF GUMBALL

Spurred on by the popularity of the 2001 and 2002 rallies, the Gumball 3000 became a global phenomenon for the next few years. There were a record numbers of entries from 2003-2006, highlighted by the 192 vehicles that took part in 2004. During these years, Cooper organized another trip through the United States along with a couple tours of Europe. Tony Hawk, Travis Barker, Adrien Brody, and Daryl Hannah were just a few of the celebrities who took part, and parties became more and more grand with performances from Snoop Dogg and others.

One of the highlights (or lowlights) during this time period happened in 2003 when a Koenigsegg CC85 received a speeding ticket in Texas for going 242 mph on a 75 mph stretch of roadway. It is believed to be the fastest speeding ticket of all time.

TRAGEDY IN 2007

While Cooper and the folks behind Gumball made it a point to stress the event was not a race, participants clearly weren’t all out for a nice, leisurely drive. The rally in 2007, which was scheduled to go from London to Istanbul, got off to a bad start as two cars were confiscated by Dutch police, seven drivers–including rapper Xzibit–had their licenses revoked, and 70 cars were stopped by German officers. All of this would pale in comparison, however, to the tragedy that happened later during the rally.

On May 2nd, a TechArt Porsche 911 Turbo driven by Nick Morley and Matthew McConville hit a Volkswagen Golf killing the driver of the VW and his wife. In court, it was alleged that Morley was driving at speeds of around 100 mph, a claim the defense argued was inaccurate.

The rally continued for a short period of time after the accident, but was ultimately cancelled before the conclusion of the 2007 run.

THE RALLY GOES ON

Despite the tragedy in 2007, the rally returned the following year for its 10th anniversary taking those who paid the $120,000 entry fee on a tour of the US before hopping over to China and ending at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Included in the field were David Hasselhoff, John Mayer, Joel McHale, and a slew of other celebrities. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the 2008 rally was the stop over in North Korea for one night, where rally participants watched the Mass Games (North Korea’s version of the Olympics).

THE INSANE CARS THAT FOLLOWED

While the Gumball 3000 has always been filled with supercars and customized masterpieces, the rides that entered over the next few years took things to another level. In 2010, Tony Hawk entered with the A-Team van, multiple versions of the Batmobile–including the Tumbler last year–took part, The InCENArator–a futuristic ride that began life as a Corvette before being stripped and rebuilt as something from a sci-fi movie–competed, and Cooper even drove a stunning Morgan Aeromax that people would have to wait years to get their hands on. Gumball even set up the world’s most expensive car park in Times Square for crowds to see during the 2010 rally.

More and more celebrities signed up from 2008-2013 including David Guetta and Idris Elba who took his Aston Martin out for the rally days after tearing his achilles.

THIS YEAR’S RALLY

The 2014 Gumball 3000 kicks off in Miami and heads up to NYC before the drivers and rides head over to Scotland to take a tour of Europe and finish up in Ibiza. Included this year is a 1963 Jaguar MK2, a 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, the Batman Tumbler (again), and a Nyan Cat-themed Purrari 458 piloted by deadmau5 and Tory Belleci from Myth Busters. New to the rally this year is Meek Mill, and perhaps the most intimidating vehicle of the year is the Brabus 6×6 700 from Team Masters of Speed. For the first time in the rally’s history, there is an official car: the Abarth 695 Biposto. The car will be helping guests get around and will be available for test drives during the European leg.

The cost to enter this year is around $70,000 with the option of just doing the US part of the rally for around $20,000.

BONUS PICTURES:

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INSIDE: CANTILLON – BELGIUM’S GREATEST & GROSSEST BREWERY

Walk into 99% of the breweries in the United States, and you’ll be greeted with stainless steel conical fermenters, a seemingly limitless supply of sanitizing solution, and equipment that is cared for like the head brewer was Mr. Clean himself. In Cantillon, you’ll find a ****-ton of spiderwebs.

Started in 1900 by Paul Cantillon, the family-run brewery continuously produces some of the world’s finest beer in an environment that would make a germophobe scream in horror. The brewery is tucked away in a part of Brussels far from tourists, and is full of casks and bottles covered in a thin layer of dust, 19th century machinery, and more spiderwebs than your grandmother’s attic. And that’s exactly how they want it.

Cantillon makes traditional lambic, a style whose name has been tarnished by larger industrial outfits over time. As a bit of a crash course, thousands and thousands of years ago, the earliest renditions of beer were obviously not made with a lab-purchased yeast strain, but were spontaneously fermented with the help of wild airborne yeasts that landed in the wort (the sugary liquid extracted from malt). At Cantillon, the wort is cooled in a koelschip, which basically a very shallow and very large bathtub, and it’s during this time that the yeast descends upon the sweet liquid and the beauty of the building comes to life.

The folks at Cantillon believe–and it would be hard to argue after sipping the results–that the air in Brussels that blows through the windows of this slightly unkempt space, with all its history, aids in creating their wonderful beer. The old building, the exact location, it’s all part of the beer. As for those cobwebs, think of the spiders as part-time employs; they eat the bugs that get attracted to the sugary liquid and fruit used for the Kriek, Fou’ Foune, and other offerings.

While you walk around Cantillon on your self-guided tour (yeah, good luck with that at most breweries), you see barrels with bubbles spewing out from under a plug and you see machinery that seems fit for some sort of beer museum (actually, Cantillon is also a museum, but that’s another story). It’s like a step back in time.

And while so much of the greatness of Cantillon happens in the brewing and fermenting stages, it’s the blending of these 1, 2, and 3 year-old lambics to make their signature gueuze that is just so impressive. To have the palate to know exactly how much of each to add to create the ideal beer is amazing. It’s creating order out of spontaneous chaos.

For those who don’t stray from their PBR or their Bud, the beers from Cantillon are a bit shocking and far less approachable than your standard IPA or barrel-aged stout. Some would say they’re an acquired taste. But in the world of sour beers, and especially lambics, gueuzes, and fruit beers made with actual fruit, the beers from Cantillon are the gold standards. And don’t worry, they’re being carefully guarded by spiders.

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MAARNO IS A FOLDING BOAT MADE OF ONE PIECE OF PLASTIC

I don’t own a boat. It’s on the list of the things to do, but I'm not quite ready to break out another thousand when we have friends for that. Where are you going to park it in a big metropolitan area? Who’s going to take care of dry dock maintenance? Which side is port? Starboard? Ahoy!

Normally, we’d leave the work aspect of boat ownership to the trained professionals, but we’re going to make a special exception for Maarno–formerly known as Foldboat. The name Foldboat is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a rowboat that folds from a standard sheet of plastic and can be assembled by a single person, in under 5 minutes, using only 3 pieces. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a while before you can put your origami folding skills to work because this is just a concept at this point.

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PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN IN GOD’S POCKET (TRAILER)

Everyone knows we lost a tremendous actor when Philip Seymour Hoffman died earlier this year, and the latest trailer for one of his final movies is further proof of that. God’s Pocket is based on the 1963 novel by Pete Dexter where a man tries to cover-up the accidental death of his stepson. It hits theatres this month. Here’s your first look at it.

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A Fictional Character Come to Life?

The Slenderman. This tall, faceless figure, its frame disturbingly thin in its black suit, stalks children, and abducts them for its demonic pleasures. The Slenderman is fiction, created in 2009 for the humor website “Something Awful,” but sometimes fiction can become reality, at least to those who believe.

Two twelve-year-old Waukesha, Wisconsin, girls stabbed their twelve-year-old friend nineteen times 31 May, so they could gain the favor of the Slenderman. The girls, Morgan E. Geyser and Anissa E. Weier, began reading about the Slenderman online and became obsessed. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Weier claims the Slenderman is the “leader of Creepypasta, and in the hierarchy of that world, one must kill to show dedication.” Weier and Geyser wanted to kill their friend to show they were “worthy” of this demonic entity. Both the girls were aware most people knew this creature was fictional, but wanted to prove them wrong. Creepypasta is a website dedicated to horror and the paranormal.

According to the criminal complaint, Weier told an investigator they began planning to kill their friend in December. Geyser told police they decided to kill their friend so they could become “proxies” of the Slenderman, who would let them live with him in his mansion in a national forest in northern Wisconsin. They had backpacks ready, and planned to hike to the forest after the killing.

During a Saturday morning game of hide-and-seek in a park, Geyser produced a knife and began stabbing the victim while Weier yelled, “go ballistic, go crazy,” according to the Journal Sentinel. Then they just walked off, leaving the girl bleeding in the park. The victim, who was not named, crawled to a road and bicyclists called authorities. The girl is in hospital in stable condition.

The “proxies” of the Slenderman, who had planned to run away from home to join this fictional being, are being charged as adults, and face first-degree attempted homicide.

Pastor Robin Swope, of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ Erie, Pennsylvania, is author of the book “Slenderman: From fiction to fact.” The book explores real encounters people claimed to have with the Slenderman, and if these manifestations may be an ancient demonic force that have taken the appearance of the fictional entity. Although Swope has never heard of someone being a Slenderman proxie, he said it’s difficult to understand why someone would chose to kill their friend for any reason. “If it was Slenderman or a demonic entity then why didn’t they go for help?” Swope said. “It could be they were in such a hysteria from an actual demonic encounter that they were not thinking, but I think in reality it is either a mental health issue or they used Slenderman as a scapegoat.”

According to an Associated Press story, one of the girls (unnamed) claimed the Slenderman watched over her in her dreams, and communicated with her.

Although the reality of the Slenderman in the Wisconsin case is from the words of two twelve-year-olds, there are documented cases that claim to have brought fiction into the realm of reality. The most famous of which is The Philip Experiment.

A Canadian doctor, Dr. A.R.G. Owen, conducted the Philip Experiment in 1972 to test his hypothesis that ghosts are simply created by the minds of whoever sees them. Owen formed a group that would regularly meet to think about a fictional spirit named Philip Aylesford. Philip was given a complete biography to help the group form an image of the spirit. Months into this study, Philip began to communicate with the group with knocks; once for “yes,” twice for “no.” Many consider the Philip Experiment a hoax.

However, the question remains, can the human mind turn fiction into reality?

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The Decrepit, Unreliable Fire Hydrant Just Got A Brilliant Upgrade

These days, fires are rare enough that most of us rarely think about the state of our fire hydrants. But unfortunately that also means we’re ignoring a dangerously decayed piece of urban infrastructure. Except for a retired NYC firefighter and inventor named George Sigelakis, that is. Meet the fire hydrant of the future.

Sigelakis is the founder of Sigelock Systems, a fire hydrant company that makes “the world’s first and only secure fire hydrant”. According to Co.Exist, there are roughly 150 Sigelock hydrants operating across 11 states right now — and Sigelakis is looking to rapidly expand his design’s reach. So, what precipitated this overhaul? Isn’t the ubiquity of open hydrants on a hot summer day evidence that our system works just fine?

Actually, no. The state of our hydrants is pretty deplorable. Cities waste millions of dollars trying to repair them every year. Even worse, according to Sigelakis, it’s common for firefighters to arrive on the scene and find that no hydrants even work. And even when there’s no fire, it’s way too easy to open hydrants up and waste thousands of gallons of water for fun. It’s a dangerous, expensive, and wasteful problem that’s been ignored for decades.

So, what does Sigelakis propose instead? He has designed a virtually tamper-proof hydrant that, according to him, should last two centuries without needing repair. Spartan, as it’s called, is “the first significant new hydrant design in more than a century,” the company says. Instead of easily-rusted cast iron, Spartan is made out of stainless steel and ductile iron, and it’s faced with a lock that can only be opened using a special key made by Sigelock. To prevent leaking and frozen hydrants, Sigelakis reengineered the interior plumbing to make sure there’s no room for standing water.

What’s standing in the way of widespread adoption? Spartan is 20 per cent more expensive than traditional hydrants. Although the added cost is nothing compared what cities spend maintaining the decaying system of hydrants they already have. [Co.Exist]

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CLAYDON REEVES AEROBOAT

Inspired by the Spitfire WWII fighter plane, the Claydon Reeves Aeroboat recalls the golden age of flight while staying grounded to the water.

The 48-foot boat is built from high-end superyacht materials, yet maintains the attitude of the Spitfire, and is powered by a supercharged V12 Rolls Royce Merlin engine that can be configured to deliver between 1500 and 2500hp, good for speeds of up to and over 75 knots. There's room for up to 7 passengers aboard — including in the luxurious cabin — a mix of analog gauges and touch-screen controls, and shock-mounted forward seats inspired by the Spitfire's landing gear, but if you want one, you'd best hurry: only 10 are being made.

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A Bleak Look At The Life Of Migrant Workers Building Qatar's World Cup

Workers sleeping 12 to a room without access to clean water. Young men dying from heart attacks due to the extreme heat. One man who has been trying to leave for five years, except his passport was taken by his boss, who has disappeared. It’s the latest and most heartbreaking news on the highly controversial World Cup planned for Qatar in 2022.

Earlier this year, the International Trade Union Confederation released a scathing report that, due to unsafe construction methods and deplorable working conditions, up to 4000 workers could die before construction is complete, with over 1200 deaths already confirmed. In April, organisers announced that they were cancelling four of the 12 planned stadiums (citing cost-cutting measures, by the way).

And that’s not even all of the problems plaguing the games. Yesterday, the FIFA vice president said he’d consider a revote on the host city after allegations that Qatar fraudulently bought the World Cup with $US5 million in secret payments.

Even before FIFA’s revelations, several publications had been conducting investigative reports. Reporters from The Daily Record spent weeks documenting the conditions in the worker camps, and the stories and images are easily the most disturbing we’ve seen yet.

Here are just a few of the most horrific facts of life for migrant workers at a camp a half-hour drive from Doha, Qatar’s largest city:

• No access to toilets or clean water: “There was an overpowering smell of excrement as we arrived. There were no Western-style toilets but holes in the floor. Others washed themselves using buckets of water. Salty water was used for drinking and washing.”
• According to a labor representative, employees are more likely to die from heart attacks or heat stress than industrial accidents: “He said men as young as 25 were dying from heart attacks because of their working and living conditions.”
• The workers are trapped due to Qatar’s kafala system: “Workers cannot change jobs or leave the country without their boss’s permission. Some revealed that their employers had not paid them for months but they could not change jobs. Many have not seen their families for years.”
• And perhaps the most depressing fact: Per capita, Qatar is the richest nation on earth.

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The Trouble With Rio: Can The City Be Ready By 2016?

With just over two years to go until Rio kicks off the 2016 Olympic Games, Olympic officials are taking stock of how ready Rio really is. The short answer? They’re not. But how far behind are its preparations? And can the city possibly catch up in time?

I've dug through a slew of recent reports (And posted previously) about the preparations to find out. Here’s how things really stand in Rio, and what can be done to fix them.

The Water

Most of the hubub of the past few weeks has been focused around Rio’s water — specifically, Guanabara Bay, the body of water where the sailing and windsurfing events will take place in 2016. On May 7, the AP obtained a letter from Brazilian environmental officials reporting that the bay won’t be clean in time for the Olympics. Instead, the letter explains, it will take another decade to curb the pollution sufficiently.

A week later, a biologist on the site called it a “real latrine“, dangerous for swimmers and full of trash, andThe New York Times published a video report about the state of the bay, detailing how Olympic hopefuls must contend with raw sewage, discarded furniture, animal carcasses (as well as human ones, according to one famous Brazilian sailor) and other forms of trash.

Boats float along the shoreline of the polluted waters of Guanabara Bay, the site of sailing events during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

According to the NYT, the city had pledged to treat 80 per cent of the sewage leaking into the bay, but have only hit 40 per cent thusfar. The attempts to clean it up go back decades:

Officials vowed to tackle the problem after the United Nations Earth Summit here in 1992 drew scrutiny of Rio’s foul waters. The Rio state government secured more than $US1 billion in loans from Japan’s government and the Inter-American Development Bank for cleanup projects, but they have not been even remotely successful, according to environmental experts.

What’s to be done?

A Brazilian sailor who won two gold medals in the Olympics, Lars Grael, argues that the aquatic competitions should be moved to another area with cleaner water, but Rio officials claim the Bay is undergoing large-scale treatments and will be clean enough to use in 2016, although it won’t be perfect.

In other words, efforts to clear out the sewage and sludge aren’t working as well as they need to, and there is no backup plan.

The Stadiums & Park

Leaving the bay behind for a second, how are the rest of the venues shaping up?

On May 14, a press release on Rio’s official website stressed that 38 per cent of the venues are already finished. Eleven of the 29 Rio venues are ready to be used, while eight more require some renovation, and 10 more are still under construction.

Those eight stadiums and venues requiring renovation seem to be causing a good deal of problems on their own. Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, an existing stadium completed in 2007, is being expanded to fit 13,000 more seats for the games. But in 2013, it was shuttered after it was discovered that its roof was prone to collapse during high winds. Luckily, the problem was caught early enough, and crews have spent the past year rebuilding the roof structure. The stadium is being used for the upcoming World Cup.

The roof of the stadium Estadio Olimpico Joao Havelange is being completely rebuilt after structural deficiencies were discovered.

Maracana Stadium, a massive venue that was originally opened in 1950, has also undergone a major facelift. In fact, it was practically rebuilt from the ground up over the last year, increasing its seating capacity and giving it a brand-new seating bowl and teflon-coated roof structure. The renovated venue is already up and running.

The Maracana soccer stadium was enlarged for new World Cup and Olympic crowds beginning in 2012.

What about those ten pesky venues that aren’t yet finished? In particular, Olympic administrators are drawing attention to one of the four main regions of development: the Deodoro Zone, in the west of the city. Here’s where equestrian, cycling (BMX and mountain bike), modern pentathlon, shooting, slalom canoeing, hockey, and fencing will all take place. And according to IOC Vice President John Coates, this is where the most work needs to be done:

The special concern was the Deodoro zone, which is about half an hour from the Olympic village. There’s nine sports being held out there. And they’re not sports that are easy to (cater to). They’re not temporary stadiums that just need to be put up. We’re talking about slalom, canoe, BMX, mountain bike … the equestrian cross-country course, rugby 7s. So they’re complex venues that need to be established. And, literally, not a blade of grass had moved since I was there in October.

In response to Coates’ comments, the federations that stage each of these eight sports announced they would be sending delegates to Rio for “emergency” visits to the construction sites to “speed up the progress,” according to Around the Rings. But Rio’s mayor shot back, saying “we have no room to spare with Deodoro. We cannot make a single mistake here. But there is still time to get it done.”

It also doesn’t help that in April, 2,500 workers at the Olympic Park site went on strike seeking better pay and more benefits. Though work is reportedly going ahead now, it seems likely that the strikes will continue as the work intensifies over the next few months.

Planting had finally begun on the Games’ official golf course, one of the sites that had raised the hackles of the IOC in early April. But this month, organisers announced the coursework had been halted after a state prosecutor moved to block it over concerns that it’s taking place on protecting wetlands without the proper documentation.

Meanwhile, some competing countries are concerned about where their athletes will stay, though their fears seem relatively unfounded with another two years left to go. John Coates — the IOC Vice President (and Australian) whose comments incited rumours that London would be given the 2016 games as a Plan B— announced that Australia has set aside $US1.6 million to ensure Australian athletes will be housed outside of the official Olympic Village, should things get weird.

The Infrastructure

Rio plans to spend $US16 billion on infrastructure, according to its mayor, and plans to renovate huge portions of its physical systems, from the airport, to the port, to the very sewers.

Work continues on the TransCarioca BRT bridge, which will link Rio’s international airport with Barra da Tijuca, the main site of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

UrbanLand did the calculations, and describes the work on Rio’s gateway with the following stats:

2.5 miles (4 km) of tunnels and overpasses, redevelopment of 43.5 miles (70 km) of streets, and construction of 435 miles (700 km) of sewer, water, and telephone networks. The Porto Maravilha project also includes the 9.2 million-square-foot (850,000 sq m) Olympic Port, which will include the Media Village, the Referee Village, a hotel, and operations centres.

Not to mention public transit. Rio’s plan to expand its transit system is sprawling: The idea is to create a ring between all four “clusters” of venues with a newly-renovated train system, four new bus lines, an expanded subway system with seven more miles of track and six more stations, and more, all to remedy its current congested system.

Work continues on a bridge for the Transcarioca BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) highway being constructed on May 9, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In addition to the public infrastructure being built, there’s a whole network of private ones taking shape, too. In The Guardian this week, we get a glimpse of a massive surveillance network being set up by Rio’s government. It’s “the world’s most ambitious integrated urban command center,” explains Christopher Frey, designed to monitor everything from flooding to the possibility of mudslides in the city’s favelas.

While these are arguably the biggest construction projects on Rio’s docket, they seem to be coming along fine — and even if they aren’t finished right when the Olympics begin, they won’t necessarily affect the games directly. These massive infrastructural moves are positioned to transform the city — and when the athletes and press pack up and head home in two years, these will be the projects that remain vital to Rio. Regardless of how the Olympics go, they will benefit the city itself.

So Can Rio Pull It Off?

Finishing ten stadiums in 26 months is no small task. On the other hand, as we saw in Sochi and even Athens, the IOC has complained publicly about the preparedness of host cities pretty regularly over the past decade. Even though the concern is real, it’s also a strategy to spur progress.

We’re bound to learn plenty more about the progress in Rio over the next few months. The city still has a long way to go. What will happen if it doesn’t finish? In truth, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. We recently learned that Brazilian officials “gave up” on several unfinished venues for the World Cup — and you know what? Alternatives have been found.

If the same thing were to happen Rio, maybe it would teach the IOC — and the world in general — that the Olympics don’t have to be a wild goose chase of billion-dollar projects built on a barely feasible schedule. Perhaps they’d prove that the Olympics, regardless of where they take place, are ultimately just about the games. And that might not be such a bad thing.

[MIKA27]

Inside The Classroom Where The US Air Force Teaches Drone Pilots

Flying a drone for the US Air Force is like any other skill; you have to learn it. The Atlantic got a rare look inside the classroom where that instruction happens. It’s a lot like most classrooms you’ve probably been in, except the word problems they’re working through involve killing people.

The Atlantic’s Corey Mead sat in on drone pilot training classes at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, for a week last year. Apparently, it’s a lot like an everyday university tutorial, but with especially morbid subject matter.

From the Atlantic:

[senior instructor Patrick] directed his first question to Paul: “If you’re shooting a person walking around,” he asked, “how should you go about it?”

Paul took a moment to think. “Do I have time constraints on the shot?”

Patrick was dismissive. “There’s always a time constraint,” he said.

Paul adopted a firmer tone. “I’d probably try to shoot more towards the front,” he said, “because if I’m shooting off to the side, the missile might end up hitting behind him or off to the side, and not actually kill him.”

However chilling it is to see matters of life and death chatted about so frankly, it’s also totally fascinating to hear about the cold but complex reasoning and skill that goes into every shot. You can (and should) check out the whole thing over at the Atlantic, and get a taste of what learning to fight a remote control war is like

[MIKA27]

I Just Can't Believe These Bowling Trick Shots Are Real

Jason Belmonte is a professional bowling player on the PBA Tour in the United States and other circuits around the world. He’s also known for using a rare technique called two-handed shovel style, which apparently gives him extra control. This bowling trick shot video shows how amazing he can be.

MIKA: Amazing. That strike with 2 balls at 3:40 is insane to be that accurate and know that single pin would remain. What a talent.

[MIKA27]

This Toy From The 19th Century Seems To Be Working By Magic

This Swiss toy from the 19th century is a wonderful piece of mechanics that still works like the first day, no programmed obsolescence here. When you open the box, a cute little blue bird pops out and flaps his wings as if it was alive by magic spell.

[MIKA27]

Razer Junglecat: A Slide-Out iOS Controller You Might Actually Use

The quest for button controls on iOS that don’t suck is an unending one. Touchscreen buttons suck, and the hardware out that works with the iOS controller API so far is fine, but it’s big and sort of annoyingly deliberate. Razer’s Junglecat is a solution that feels right.

The Junglecat’s advantage is in its slickness. Instead of bolting onto the sides of your iPhone, it’s a slider case that harkens back to the old, hardware keyboard days. Except instead of QWERTY, you’ve got a joystick and some buttons. And at a pretty small cost when it comes to added girth.

To pull this off though, the Junglecat does have to make a few concessions. It’s not a dual joystick joing, instead opting for a more old-school SNES approach. It also doesn’t pack any battery of its own, so extended gaming sessions will drain your battery as fast as they would normally, maybe faster.

But the Junglecat’s biggest advantage is that it’s convenient. Like a camera, the best controller is the one you have with you. And in this compact case form, you can have a controller with you all the time without needing a whole other pocket to store it in. A controller that you don’t have to remember to bring with you.

Whether that convenience is worth the $US100 that a Junglecat costs is another question. But it’s promising to see a company with a pedigree like Razer take on the challenge in a way that’s equally subtle and awesome. Playing emulated Gameboy games on the train is about to get way better.

[MIKA27]

What It’s Like to Use a $10K Phone With a Real-Life Personal Assistant

Within 10 hours of receiving my loaner unit of the Vertu Signature Touch, I almost dropped it on a marble floor. It would have been bad. It would have been really bad.

You see, the Vertu Signature Touch starts at $10,300. That’s hard to ignore, even if the phone actually is pretty good. The cost is practically part of the phone’s feature set; Vertu says the Signature Touch is for “high-net-worth individuals,” those who value exclusivity and standing out above all else. The one I tested was the bargain-bin version; there are versions that cost as much as $21,900. It’s a luxury car, a luxury watch, a luxury handbag. Normal consumer logic does not apply.

If the phone had hit the floor, it may well have survived the impact. Its 4.7-inch touchscreen is coated with a pricey sheet of sapphire crystal glass, making it nearly impossible to scratch. It can take anything short of a diamond to the screen and remain unscathed, but it can shatter just like normal glass if you drop it. There was some weight behind that sapphire crystal glass too—the Signature Touch has a heavy-duty titanium frame. Prior to my reflexes kicking in, I took a nanosecond to appreciate how beautiful the phone looked floating in midair. Sapphire and titanium glistened, rotating in zero gravity, unbefouled by human touch. Maximum luxe.

I made a miracle catch, then sat in silence for two minutes. I felt the way you feel when you tip back in a chair too far and stop yourself from falling backward at the last moment. It was pure anxiety, a cold reminder that a $10,300 phone will not suspend Murphy’s Law nor the laws of physics. You can still drop this thing and break it, you can still leave it in a cab, and you can still forget it’s in your pocket when you jump in a pool.

I’ve done all those things with phones, and that’s one of many reasons I’m not the target market for the Vertu Signature Touch. Like most people, I also can’t afford or justify its purchase. The value-shopper in me gets nauseated just thinking about it. I’m too self-conscious to use it. I’m too self-deprecating. It would clash with my carefully curated laid-back wardrobe. We were the Odd Couple, me and the Vertu.

Let’s pretend, though. Let’s pretend a phone that costs as much as an OLED TV is reasonable and well within everybody’s phone-buying budget. Let’s pretend this is just another phone, built to compete with the iPhones and Nexuses and Galaxys of the world. Does it stack up? Hell yes it does. Sort of.

I really have no idea.

Why a $10,300 Phone Is Way Better Than a Normal Phone

The Signature Touch’s Concierge service is what sets it apart from other phones. It’s free for the first year, then jumps to around $3,000 a year. Concierge makes the phone more like an American Express Black Card or a diplomatic passport. It works like this: You request (legal and somewhat reasonable) things via the Concierge app, and then a real, live person makes them happen. You basically have a personal assistant on call at all times. A little button on the side of the phone fires up the Concierge app directly. The assistant who helped me was Celine. She was great.

To commence my Vertu experience, the company offered to book me a dinner reservation at the members-only CORE:Club to show how the Concierge could gain access to exclusive places. I declined that offer, as I wanted to test the Concierge using my own requests.

Instead, I checked OpenTable at 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday and found popular restaurants fully booked that day and on the weekend. There was nothing available for dinner at ABC Kitchen in a few hours or brunch at Red Rooster the next morning. I opened the Concierge app and asked for reservations at 7:30pm that night and noon the next day, knowing it would be tricky. No problem, reservations booked. Thanks Celine! On another Saturday night, I was a head-nod away from getting a group of five on the VIP list at a fancy club called Avenue. If we’d been willing to pay $200 apiece for a table and bottle service—and had any intention of actually going—we’d have been in. Coincidentally, $200 is the price of a normal phone.

Concierge does have its limits. I requested a time machine, and Celine replied “I wish I could help you with this request!” There was one mixup: Concierge checked in with me about a flight I was booking to Belgrade, except I never tried to book a flight to Belgrade. I explained this, and they apologized for the misunderstanding.

To get the most out of Concierge, deep pockets come in handy. When you initiate the service, you can set up a profile that includes your credit card number so that you can be billed directly for plane trips, hotel stays, and event tickets booked via Concierge. Another Vertu app called Life offers a curated feed of events and attractions around the globe: Formula 1 races, theater, concerts, and private events with world-class chefs. If you’re interested, you tap an inline “Concierge” button for each event and your magical helper handles the request. There are Concierge teams around the world, working 24/7, to handle the requests.

Concierge was awesome. I miss it. Everything was very polite and professional and resort-like, and I was addressed as “Mr. Moynihan” the whole time. At one point, Celine called me “Mr. Vertu Extraordinary.” I’m not even sure what that meant, but I went ahead and got it tattooed on my back.

More Things That Are Way Better Than Normal Phones

It has a very pleasant odor. The Vertu Signature Touch is easily the best-smelling phone I’ve ever used. The “Claret Calf” version I tested had a stitched calfskin backing on it that emitted a rich, intoxicating leathery scent. I didn’t get any nose-on time with the lizard- and alligator-skin backings, so I can’t speak to their olfactory qualities.

A++ handfeel. All phones should feel as good in the hand as the Vertu Signature Touch. At least twice, my eyes rolled back into my head due to the overwhelmingly pleasant combination of the raised seam running down the back of the phone, the cool touch of the titanium edges, and the satisfyingly hefty 6.77-ounce weight of the device. That’s almost twice the weight of the iPhone 5S. Remember when phones weren’t ridiculously light? This one makes a case for them beefing back up a bit. The best part is the way the heavier build feels with the stronger-than-most haptic feedback from its touchscreen. There’s a deeper, machine-like kick to it that other phones don’t have. So nice.

Materials and build quality. The materials used in the Vertu Signature Touch are appropriately expensive: Strong and durable titanium, a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal screen, a back cloaked in premium animal hide, and a ceramic “pillow” around the earpiece of the handset. All of this accounts for some of its exorbitant price. Even its SIM-card holder has flourish: You fold out a little handle on the back of the phone, twist it, and pop open a swinging door. The underside of that door is signed with an etching by its builder; each phone is assembled by a single person from soup to nuts in Vertu’s factory in England. The one I tested was built by someone named C. Davis, and he (or she) did a good job. It would have made me feel worse if I’d dropped it.

Luxe ‘tones and speakers. When you turn the phone on, your ears are treated to a dope flute riff recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. Every time you receive an incoming message, you hear another sick flute mini-jam mixed in with some bird noises. This phone has top-shelf ‘tones, all recorded by the LSO. The front-firing speakers are also noticeably good, sounding much louder and brighter than most phone speakers. That said, the low-end has no punch. The next version should have a huge subwoofer or a man that follows you around with an 808 machine.

Blackphone-like security. If you really value your privacy, rest assured that the Signature Touch is able to keep your text messages and phone conversations (but not your emails) on lockdown. The Signature Touch comes with voice, video-chat, and text encryption powered by Silent Circle. Just keep in mind that the recipient of the messages must also be running the company’s Silent Phone or Silent Text app to get the full end-to-end encryption. The Silent Circle features are only free for the first year, and you need to register your phone with them.

Things That Are Equal to a Very Good Smartphone

The screen. The Vertu Signature Touch’s 1080p display has a pixel density of 473ppi, and it looks great. The pixels are packed in even tighter than phones like the Google Nexus 5 (445ppi), HTC One M8 (441ppi), and Samsung Galaxy S5 (432ppi), but you’d need better eyesight than mine to see a huge difference. It’s a tack-sharp, high-quality screen, but if you were expecting to see holograms and IMAX and money blasting out of its 4.7-inch display, no dice. The size and resolution is wonderful in landscape mode when typing and watching movies. It felt a bit too skinny and long when I typed in portrait mode. Installing SwiftKey helped, just like it does on a normal phone.

Up-to-date OS and features. Believe it or not, previous versions of Vertu’s phones were an even tougher sell, as they didn’t have state-of-the-moment components or operating systems. That’s not a problem with this phone, as the new Signature Touch packs Android 4.4.2 KitKat, a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU, and 2 gigs of RAM. You also get NFC, support for 4G networks across the globe, and Google Now voice-assistant features. The combination of all those things puts the Signature Touch among the current wave of high-end Android phones. At this moment in time, any potential buyer will not be left wanting for speeds and feeds. Then again, this is a $10,300 phone we’re talking about. You should get Android 9.7 Zabaglione and a freon-cooled processor with like a zillion cores.

A very good camera. The Signature Touch’s 13-megapixel camera is also solid, with performance that matched up well to some of the better smartphone cameras I’ve used. Low-light performance is good for a phone—using HDR mode or adjusting its ISO settings manually helps—and the interface was developed in a partnership with Hasselblad. There are some scene modes in the mix, exposure-compensation settings, and white-balance adjustments, too. Is the camera good? Yes. Is it clearly better than the camera in other phones with good cameras? No.

Things That Are Not as Good as a $200 Smartphone

Bad battery life and no expandable storage. The 2,275 mAh battery got me about half a day when I used this phone like a normal phone. You also can’t swap in a fully charged spare, because that battery is sealed in (probably with unicorn glue) under those premium materials. If anyone asks you why you don’t own the Vertu Signature Touch, just pretend it’s because of the battery life. No expandable storage, either—you’re stuck with the 64GB on board.

The back plate gets hot. When the battery was about halfway dead on my test unit, the area around its beautifully handcrafted SIM-card door heated up quite a bit. Not “Yow!” hot, but definitely “Hey, that’s abnormally hot” hot.

The design isn’t for everyone. Superb craftsmanship, premium materials, and A++ handfeel aside, the Signature Touch’s ornamental touches look old-timey. It has a leather-covered front bumper and a car-like “V” logo on its ceramic “pillow” that makes it look like a shrunken-down car console. You don’t get the edge-to-edge screen, narrow bezel, and sleek looks that you get with most phones, which is probably the point. This is a phone that’s built to be noticed on purpose.

It’s stressful. Dropping it is one thing. Do you get nervous when you take your phone out in public places, because maybe someone will steal it? Imagine that nervousness if your phone costs 11 grand—and it was a phone built to attract attention. I never wanted to take it out of my pocket on the subway.

Should You Buy This Phone Or 51.5 Gold iPhones?

This phone and its price are inextricably intertwined, which makes it a non-starter for almost everyone. It’s clearly Vertu’s best device so far, with competitive specs for an Android phone, better build quality (and speakers) than any other phone out there, and a killer feature in the Concierge. For a Monopoly-money lifestyle, maybe the Signature Touch makes sense? If you are dead-set on buying a Vertu phone, this is the one to get.

Still, I wonder if a feature like the Concierge would be as cool or useful to anyone who actually has their own personal assistant—or someone with enough pull to get a table at any restaurant just by showing up. That’s the kind of person this phone is for. The person who doesn’t worry about using it on the subway, because they don’t take the subway.

But I couldn’t help feeling that the Signature Touch might be a peek at the short-term future of the mobile landscape. Maybe there is a wider market for a phone like this that costs $1,000 to $2,000, with a premium build, up-to-date specs, and services that go beyond the usual fare. Pretty much every phone is excellent these days. They’re getting harder to tell apart, because they’re all gravitating toward the same indistinguishably good mobile device with roughly the same features. Now that smartphones are the new normal phones, premium smartphones may be the next step up.

After all, your phone is with you all the time. It’s more visible than a luxury watch or maybe even a luxury handbag. It’s mission-critical.

However, unlike cars and watches and bags, a phone has a two- or three-year shelf life. There’s no Project Ara version of it. And while the Vertu is built to last, its components may seem outdated next month. That’s just how it is with phones.

[MIKA27]

This Is Where Americans Planned to Spend the Nuclear Holocaust

President John F. Kennedy Atomic Bomb Shelter and Command Post; Peanut Island, FL.

For her ongoing series Fallout, Jeanine Michna-Bales has been photographing Cold-War era nuclear shelters across the United States that would have protected people if the Cuban Missile Crisis had ended badly. The photos are a study in architecture, but also transport viewers back to a time when an all-out nuclear war felt like an imminent threat.

“What I’m really trying to do is use the photos to get at the psychology of the country during that time,” Michna-Bales says.

Michna-Bales chose fallout shelters related to the Cuban Missile Crisis because she lives in Dallas, and that was one of the cities that could have been under threat according to recently declassified documents. She shot her first shelter close to home, but has also traveled to cities like Jacksonville, Florida and even shot at President John F. Kennedy’s private atomic bomb shelter near his vacation home in Peanut Island, FL.

To find these old shelters, Michna-Bales combed through archives and old newspaper looking for things like maps that detailed where a city’s public shelters were located. She also contacted local emergency centers to see if they kept a database. Often times, even if she found an address, she’d show up and the shelter would be gone because the building had been torn down, repurposed, etc.

Some of the photos have Cold-War-era government documents or newspaper articles superimposed on top, like one that details what percentage of the population would die if a bomb exploded on the surface nearby. Everyone less than a mile away, it says, would perish. Up to 60 percent of the people within a three-mile radius would also fall victim. Only those who were at least three miles away stood a good chance of surviving.

“I want viewers to see the kind of information people were faced with back then,” she says.

Michna-Bales says the rooms became a sort of time warp. Some still have old furniture and even canned food lying around. While her photos can only hint at the feeling of dread and the uncertain future of civilization, she hopes people are transported back to how emotionally charged the time period was for those who lived through it.

“When you are in these spaces, it’s almost like you can feel the weight of the world on your shoulders,” she says.

Declassified Department of State Report. President John F. Kennedy Atmoic Bomb Shelter and Command Post; Peanut Island, FL.

Private Shelter; Dallas, TX

Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center; Dallas, TX. Jacksonville Civil Defense Emergency Operations CEnter; Jacksonville, FL.

Declassified CIA Information Report. President John F. Kennedy Atmoic Bomb Shelter and Command Post; Peanut Island, FL.

Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center; Dallas, TX. President John F. Kennedy Atmoic Bomb Shelter and Command Post; Peanut Island, FL.

Private Shelter; Dallas, TX.

AT&T Underground Coaxial Cable Station; Ft. Pierce, FL.

Private Shelter; Dallas, TX. (Looks like a confined space, most people would have suffocated IMO )

Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center; Dallas, TX. Graph from ‘Theoretical Consquences of a Hypothetical Nuclear Bombing of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Area, 1963.’

Jacksonville Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center; Jacksonville, FL.

Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center; Dallas, TX.

Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center; Dallas, TX.

AT&T Underground Coaxial Cable Station; Ft. Pierce, FL.

[MIKA27]

Fantastic Four Director to Helm New Stand-Alone Star Wars

Add one more director to Lucasfilm’s burgeoning empire. The Disney subsidiary has just announced that Josh Trank, director of Chronicle and next year’s Fantastic Four reboot, has been signed to direct a stand-alone Star Wars movie—one of the studio’s planned slate that will be independent of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII.

“The magic of the Star Wars Universe defined my entire childhood,” Trank said in a statement released by the studio. “The opportunity to expand on that experience for future generations is the most incredible dream of all time.”

Trank is the second director to be named for a stand-alone Star Wars project in recent weeks.Godzilla‘s Gareth Edwards, it was announced, will be directing one as well, to be written by The Book of Eli‘s Gary Whitta and released December 16, 2016. That movie was described by Lucasfilm as “the first stand-alone film” in the franchise.

Lucasfilm has not yet mentioned a time frame for the release of Trank’s movie.

[MIKA27]

Marvel Finds a Doctor Strange Director as Ant-Man Finds More Trouble

The cinematic fortunes of Marvel Studios continue to be mixed when it comes to their forthcoming movies, with news surfacing this week showing that while the studio may have success in advance planning, it’s less effective at dealing with more immediate concerns.

Firstly, it was revealed that Sinister director Scott Derrickson will helm Doctor Strange, a project that has yet to be officially announced by Marvel. (Expect that official announcement to come at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, where the studio traditionally unveils new projects.) Derrickson himself confirmed the news on Twitter after initial reports hit the internet.

Based on the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for 1963′s Strange Tales #110, the Doctor Strange movie has been long rumored, having been teased by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige as being in development in past interviews. The choice of Derrickson—whose previous films include not only Sinister but also The Exorcism of Emily Rose—to direct suggests Marvel may be looking to use the supernatural superhero to move in a horror direction, similar to using Guardians of the Galaxy to push the studio towards science fiction and away from more obvious superhero fare.

But while the undated Strange has its director seemingly locked down, the same can’t be said for the floundering Ant-Man, which is still scheduled for release in July next year. Following the departure of Edgar Wright from the project, early reports cited Marvel talking to three possible replacements:Anchorman’s Adam McKay, Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer, and Rawson Marshall Thurber of We’re The Millers fame. Since then, both McKay and Thurber have reportedly turned down offers, leaving only Fleischer in the running. So, that means the job is his by default, right…? Well, not exactly; reports have claimed that he wasn’t that into the possibility in the first place, preferring the possibility of making the equally-troubled Ghostbusters 3.

So where does that leave Ant-Man? The short answer is “in trouble.” The project isn’t just missing a director; sources have also said that the production’s heads of department also left when Wright departed, making it all that much less likely that the movie will meet its July 17, 2015 opening date. Will a new director be found quickly enough to make the deadline, or will the release date get shifted? More to the point, given the project’s troubled history, will a new director be found who’s willing to take on what’s beginning to look like a poisoned chalice of a movie? As with so many superhero stories, the story of Ant-Man remains to be continued.

[MIKA27]

Fantastically Wrong: Why People Once Thought Mice Grew Out of Wheat and Sweaty Shirts

In the 17th century, physician and chemist Jean Baptiste van Helmont, apparently sick of there not being enough mice in this world, devised a home recipe for their manufacture. It was quite simple, really, far simpler than getting a girl mouse and boy mouse together with a tiny bottle of wine: “If a soiled shirt is placed in the opening of a vessel containing grains of wheat,” he wrote, “the reaction of the leaven in the shirt with fumes from the wheat will, after approximately 21 days, transform the wheat into mice.”

This, of course, may be due to mice both enjoying wheat and being capable of climbing into jars. But Helmont had another recipe for scorpions. Just get yourself a brick, carve an indentation in it, and fill it with basil. Cover that brick with another, and place in the sun. In only a few days, “fumes from the basil, acting as a leavening agent, will have transformed the vegetable matter into veritable scorpions.” Such does basil in a brick oven rise like bread … with a stinger and claws.

Helmont’s recipes were the product of some 2,000 years of fallacious thinking known as spontaneous generation. Our forebears, you see, couldn’t for the life of them figure out how maggots could just up and appear in a corpse, or how oysters just seemed to materialize in the sea. They had to have been spontaneously generating, no sex required.

The East had its own similar theories, according to Andre Brack in his book The Molecular Origins of Life. The Babylonians thought worms spontaneously erupted from canal mud, and the ancient Chinese reckoned that aphids emerged from bamboo. For the Indians, flies came from dirt and sweat.

In the West, the theory goes back to Aristotle, who put forth the first thorough writings on spontaneous generation. Some critters are lucky enough to have sex, he argued (though not in those words—I’m editorializing here), but others emerge from “putrefying earth or vegetable matter, as is the case with a number of insects.”

No, oysters are not an aphrodisiac. And they certainly don’t spontaneously generate from mud. I know that because I ate a good amount of mud as a kid, and oysters taste nothing like that.

At work here, Aristotle says, is the“vital heat” present in air. Because this air is in water and water is in earth, therefore vital heat is in everything, “so that in a sense all things are full of soul.” So in the sea, oysters spontaneously generate from the lively mud, “the earthy matter hardening round them and solidifying in the same manner as bones and horns (for these cannot be melted by fire), and the matter (or body) which contains the life being included within it.”

Aristotle’s spontaneous generation was widely accepted in Europe and the Arab world for the next two millennia. In Antony and Cleopatra, for instance, the accomplished drunkard Lepidus notes that “your Serpent of Egypt, is bred now of your mud by the operation of your Sun: so is your Crocodile.” (Though as Frederick Turner writes in Shakespeare’s Twenty-First Century Economics, such drunken ramblings may have been the great writer expressing sarcastic doubt toward spontaneous generation. Regardless, the theory was alive and well.) Later on, the greatest minds of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, including Isaac Newton and René Descartes, subscribed to the theory.

Then comes along the Italian physician and naturalist Francesco Redi, who had the sneaking suspicion that maggots come from flies instead of spontaneously generating. In a series of experiments in 1668, Redi left meat to rot in closed and open flasks, and then buried still more. Of course, maggots appeared in the open flasks, but not in the closed ones or on the buried meat. Not content to stop there, he added another flask of meat but covered this one in a fine Naples veil, which allowed air flow while still keeping flies out. Maggots did indeed appear—squirming along the veil, longing to reach the meat.

Hold Me Closer, Tiny Answer

Still, though, the theory of spontaneous generation would not die. And even as tiny worlds finally came into view in the 17th century with the introduction of the microscope, spontaneous generation simply adapted to the invention. In the mid-1700s, naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (he seems like the type who would have gotten uppity if I didn’t use his full name, so there it is) put forth perhaps the most fanciful imagining of spontaneous generation yet.

A body, he said, is molecules organized like a mold. But after death these molecules are liberated from the body through putrefaction, then “captured by the power of some other mold.” The organic molecules are still full of life and are always active, and “rework the putrefied substance, appropriating coarser particles, reuniting them, and fashioning a multitude of small organized bodies.” Thus we get organisms like earthworms and mushrooms, he claimed.

I will posit that Louis Pasteur wore bow ties because, like me, he was inherently distrustful of regular ties, which are essentially potential nooses you wear out of the house each day, just begging to be slammed in a taxi door.

Such did spontaneous generation evolve from oysters magically emerging from mud to focus on the tiny building blocks of living things. That is, until Louis Pasteur, that master of microbes, stepped in to put it down for good. Speaking at the Sorbonne Scientific Soirée of 1864 he went after proponents of spontaneous generation. Hard.

He was responding in particular to the experiments of naturalist Félix-Archimède Pouchet, director of the Rouen Museum of Natural History, who spurned germ theory—which was all the rage at the time—in favor of spontaneous generation. Pouchet had boiled water in a flask, killing off the microbes, and added hay he’d sterilized by heating to the point of carbonization, then immediately sealed the vessel to prevent contamination. Still, his water grew muck, ostensibly demonstrating “beyond the shadow of a doubt, the existence of microscopic creatures that entered the world without germs, and thus without parents resembling themselves,” in the sardonic words of Pasteur.

Pasteur argued that airborne microbes had fallen into Pouchet’s mixture in the time it took to seal the flask after boiling it. In his own experiment, Pasteur filled two long-necked flasks with meat broth. The first he brought to a boil as-is to kill off any existing microbes. Then he heated the neck of the second and bent it so that theoretically no airborne microbes could fall in, then brought that flask to a boil as well. As he predicted, the first exploded with growth after only a few days. The second remained “completely unaltered, not just for two days, or three, or four, or even a month, a year, three years, or four!”

Just because you couldn’t see life, it turns out, doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Speaking to the soirée’s learned scientists, Pasteur triumphantly claimed that “the doctrine of spontaneous generation will never recover from the mortal blow inflicted by this experiment.”

Indeed it didn’t. And nor did Pouchet’s reputation, really (a Britannica entry that calls your ideas “mere curiosities” isn’t exactly what you’d call a glowing endorsement). The germ theory he so fervently attacked has helped science save the lives of countless people, thanks in no small part to his rival’s pasteurization techniques. Let’s appreciate Pouchet, though, for his biggest contribution to science: pissing off Pasteur. We all have our purpose, I suppose.

[Maplepie]

Mika, i wish i had hours upon hours of free time. I love this kinda stuff...

I read the occasional article at work or so. But when i come back in a few days, there have been so many added that i just couldn't keep up...

Keep up the good job!!

[Maplepie]

When i was typing that comment, a new article was posted......

Well played, Mika... Well played.

[MIKA27]

Viagra May Boost Risk for Developing Skin Cancer, Study Finds

Men who use the little blue pill may have twice the risk of developing melanoma.

There may be a dangerous link between Viagra and melanoma, according to new research.

Men involved in long-term health research who used Viagra for erectile dysfunction nearly doubled their risk of developing melanoma, a study published in the June issue of JAMA Internal Medicine found.

Researchers evaluated nearly 26,000 men who disclosed during a Harvard study in 2000 that they used sildenafil citrate, or Viagra, for erectile dysfunction. None of the men evaluated had any instance of cancer during the initial study. Between 2000 and 2010, however, researchers found the men who took Viagra were at nearly twice the risk of developing skin cancer.

Over the course of the study, during which participants were given questionnaires once every two years, the researchers identified 142 cases of melanoma, 580 of squamous cell carcinoma, and 3030 of basal cell carcinoma. They did not, however, find a direct link between erectile dysfunction and melanoma.

The study’s authors say though the results may indicate Viagra increases the risk for melanoma, their research alone is not enough to affect clinical recommendations.

[MIKA27]

Mika, i wish i had hours upon hours of free time. I love this kinda stuff...

I read the occasional article at work or so. But when i come back in a few days, there have been so many added that i just couldn't keep up...

Keep up the good job!!

Thanks for reading!

I'm betting there are loads of people who do have the time