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

[MIKA27]

17 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Yeah, just not anywhere important. According to reports, the manual states that the electro-optical targeting system (that computer thingy that lets you blow up stuff), cannot be used outside of the US. And never mind that it won't have an internal gun until 2019, because you can't target anything anyways.

One would surely think the thingy ma-jiggy was working for customers such as Australia considering we've invested a fair chunk of cash in these lemons..?

[Fuzz]

40 minutes ago, MIKA27 said:

One would surely think the thingy ma-jiggy was working for customers such as Australia considering we've invested a fair chunk of cash in these lemons..?

Considering that the US only has 12 "operational standard" F-35's, despite taking delivery of 150+ production units, I hardly think we are high on the priority list. The Brits are in the same bucket as us too. Right now, the only thing the F-35 is good for is cannon fodder. They can fly ahead of other combat aircraft and make the enemy waste their missiles shooting them down.

[Duxnutz]

2 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Considering that the US only has 12 "operational standard" F-35's, despite taking delivery of 150+ production units, I hardly think we are high on the priority list. The Brits are in the same bucket as us too. Right now, the only thing the F-35 is good for is cannon fodder. They can fly ahead of other combat aircraft and make the enemy waste their missiles shooting them down.

Bring back the F14! 

[MIKA27]

Here's Your First Good Look At The Newest Ship In Rogue One, the U-Wing

The Rebels sure do love their alphabet ships, don’t they?

Although we got to see a few Imperial ships in person at Star Wars Celebration a few weeks ago, the weekly YouTube series The Star Wars Show‘s latest episode has just dropped a new still from Rogue One of the Rebel’s base on Yavin IV, featuring our first good look at the newest Alliance ship in the film: The U-Wing.

According to Lucasfilm story group creative executive Matt Martin, the U-Wing — or as it is known in-universe, the Incom UT-60D — isn’t really a typical fighter like its A-, X- and Y-Wing counterparts: It’s a troop transport and gunship (and we know that lovable lil’ space monkey Bistan is a gunner on one of the U-Wings in the film). However, like the X-Wing, its s-foils can be locked into an alternative position for aerial support scenarios.

The ship was actually revealed over a year ago at Celebration 2015 in Anaheim, where concept art of the U-Wing dropping Rebel soldiers into combat was shown at the first ever look at the film:

But now we’ve actually had our best look yet at the ship as it will appear in Rogue One… before it’s inevitably turned into LEGO sets, action figure vehicle playsets and Micro Machines for the Star Wars merchandising juggernaut. You can check out the full episode of this week’s Star Wars Show below.

 

 

[Fuzz]

2 hours ago, Duxnutz said:

Bring back the F14! 

Yes! F-14D Super Tomcat for the win!

[MIKA27]

4 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Yes! F-14D Super Tomcat for the win!

F-14, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Super hornet IMO these are still the greatest

[MIKA27]

Archaeologists Puzzled by 80 Shackled Skeletons in Ancient Greek Grave

Archaeologists working at an ancient cemetery in the Falyron Delta necropolis, near Athens, have made a puzzling and eerie discovery. 80 skeletons lay buried neatly and–other than the fact that their wrists are bound with iron shackles–with respect. They are, it’s believed, the victims of a mass execution between the 8th and 5th century BC. But as of yet no one is quite sure who they are and why they were killed.

One thing researchers working at the site are certain of is that the shackled remains do not belong to Ancient Greek slaves; all appear to have been killed in the same manner and at the same time, and the skeletons belong to individuals who were all young and in good health at the time of their execution.

Historical context, however, provides perhaps the greatest clues as to why a mass execution might have taken place in the region during that time.

Speaking to Reuters, Stella Chryssoulaki, head of excavations at the site said:

It is a period of great unrest for Athenian society, a period where aristocrats, nobles, are battling with each other for power.

Most notably, the time when the cemetery was in active use overlaps with the Cylonian Affair of 632 BC. The affair, which is the earliest reliably dated historic Greek event, refers to a failed coup attempt by an aristocrat and Olympic victor named Cylon and his father-in-law attempted to brutally overthrown the Athenian elites.

While Cylon purportedly escaped, there is a suggestion that his followers were captured and detained in Athens. So could these shackled skeletons be the remains of a failed ancient rebellion? Chryssoulaki hopes to find out:

Perhaps with the DNA tests that we will do on these skeletons we may confirm or not this hypothesis that these deceased, these young people could be … part of a coup … an attempt by a noble to take power by force.

[MIKA27]

VOLCANO GRILLS PORTABLE CAMPING STOVE

Decisions, decisions, decisions. When grilling, it’s pleasant to have the luxury of options. Propane, wood or charcoal. Each medium provides a different flavor profile to whatever is getting grilled and if you’re of the indecisive persuasion, the Volcano Portable Camping Stove is the answer you’ve been waiting to discover.

In case you haven’t gotten the hint yet, yes this stove is comparable with all three fuel sources thanks to a connecting valve that hooks up to a standard 20-pound propane tank. And if you change you mind at the last minute, not to worry, you can switch between modes in just seconds – selecting between gas, charcoal or wood. It even collapses down to five inches so transporting it to the nearest campsite, kickback or tailgate requires little effort. Use it as a Dutch oven, a wok, fryer, or as an impromptu fire pit on a chilly night after the cooking’s all said and done. You can even roast some marshmallows if you’re feeling up to the challenge. Available now for $150. [Purchase]

 

[MIKA27]

Vincero Crafts Affordable Watches for the Uncompromising Gentleman

Over the last few years, we’ve seen an influx of minimalist watches. That’s great, but what if that style isn’t so much your speed? What if you want an affordable timepiece that will set you apart from the masses?

Meet Vincero. With the goal of crafting timepieces that help get a man noticed, Vincero set out to produce a series of watches with a distinct look and feel that are unlike the slew of minimalist watches already out there. These are watches for the modern gentleman. Whether you opt for one of The Chrono S watches, one of The Kairos watches, or one of the timepieces in The Marble collection, you’ll be slapping something fresh and refined on your wrist. Each watch even contains a piece of marble as an ode to the ancient roman empire, and a little reminder to never settle and always keep pushing forward. Your watch tells the world what you are about. Make sure it says the right thing.

[Duxnutz]

21 hours ago, MIKA27 said:

F-14, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Super hornet IMO these are still the greatest

There's a reason they call the F-16 'Lawndart'. I used to fly with a former Tomcat guy who compared the hornet and Tomcat to opening a door. The F-18 (being technologically superior) would ease the door open while the F-14 would kick it in. 

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, Duxnutz said:

There's a reason they call the F-16 'Lawndart'. I used to fly with a former Tomcat guy who compared the hornet and Tomcat to opening a door. The F-18 (being technologically superior) would ease the door open while the F-14 would kick it in. 

The F-14 is a sexy looking beast. For an aircraft design back in the 60's, it is always going to be a bit behind the F/A-18 technologically speaking, but it beats it in range and firepower.

[MIKA27]

Melting Ice Will Release Toxic Waste From A Cold War-Era Test Site

During the Cold War, the US Army studied the feasibility of launching ballistic missiles from within Greenland’s ice sheet. When the project was done, engineers buried biological, chemical and radioactive waste in the ice thinking it would be preserved for eternity. Shame they didn’t know about global warming.

Called Camp Century, the facility was built by the US Army of Engineers in 1959, and it doubled as a top-secret site to see if it was possible to deploy nukes from the Arctic. Known as “the city under ice”, the subterranean base was built 220km inland from the Greenland coast. It housed 85 to 200 soldiers and scientists, and even included a portable nuclear reactor.

After it was decommissioned in 1969, the Army left virtually everything behind. They figured, not unreasonably, that steadily accumulating snowfall would preserve Camp Century and its contents for centuries, if not longer. A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters suggests this was an imprudent decision, and that the abandoned waste left at the site is now at risk of leaching into the environment. The reason has to do with rising global temperatures and the inexorable melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

For the study, a research team led by William Colgan from York University in Toronto took an inventory of the waste still at the site, and ran climate simulations to determine if the waste was at risk of being exposed.

Layout plan of Camp Century.

They learned that the waste at the camp covers 136 acres (55 hectares), which is roughly the size of 100 football fields. The site still contains a whopping 200,000L of diesel fuel, which is enough for a single car to circle the globe 80 times. Building materials used at the site contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which is toxic to human health. Camp Century also contains 240,000L of waste water, including sewage and an unknown quantity of low-level radioactive coolant from the nuclear generator.

Existing “business-as-usual” climate projections suggest a rate of ice meltage that could expose these toxic substances within 75 years. But it could happen sooner. “Once the site transitions from net snowfall to net melt, it’s only a matter of time before the wastes melt out; it becomes irreversible,” noted Colgan in a statement. Climate scientist James White from the University of Colorado, who was not involved with the study, said, “This stuff was going to come out anyway, but what climate change did was press the gas pedal to the floor and say, ‘it’s going to come out a lot faster than you thought.'”

A thermal coring rig used to take ice cores at Camp Century in 1964.

The authors warn that the toxins present a “significant” environmental hazard. Once the ice melts, the pollutants could be transported to the ocean, where they will likely endanger sensitive marine ecosystems.

The question now is what to do about the problem. The researchers aren’t advocating an imminent clean-up at Camp Century as it’s still buried deep below the ice. “It really becomes a situation of waiting until the ice sheet has melted down to almost expose the wastes that anyone should advocate for site remediation,” said Colgan.

It’s not immediately clear who is responsible for the clean up once it’s exposed; international law is vague about who is liable for waste that’s been discarded. As study co-author Jessica Green put it, “The study identifies a big hole in the extant set of laws and rules we have to deal with environmental problems globally.”

[MIKA27]

Lucasfilm Is In Talks To Potentially Make A Live-Action Star Wars TV Show

Lucasfilm’s plans to bring the galaxy far, far away to live action TV have waxed and waned over the years — Lucas himself famously had the long-in-gestation Star Wars Underworld, but after the Disney acquisition, hopes of it coming to TV were quashed pretty rapidly. This is Star Wars, though: Now there’s a new hope.

Speaking at today’s ABC panel at the Television Critics Association press tour (the American network, not the Australian one), ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey was asked about the possibility of Star Wars coming to the network now that it’s firmly entrenched at parent company Disney — and instead of offering a throwaway response about how exciting that would all be, Dugney actually confirmed that talks are already ongoing between ABC and Lucasfilm about a Star Wars show

As a fan, I would absolutely love to say yes. We have had conversations, and we will continue to have conversations with Lucasfilm. It would be wonderful to extend the franchise.

According to Variety’s TV correspondent Daniel Holloway, Dugney qualified that these talks, while ongoing, are definitely in early stages — with no timeline on when a Star Wars show might actually begin production in place yet:

But this is indeed a first, tiny step in the direction of Star Wars coming to live-action television. Hopefully it pans out!

[MIKA27]

SPLIT GRAIN LAMPS BY PAUL FOECKLER

Furniture is one of the few things that puts more emphasis on form rather than pure function. For lack of a more precise term, furniture is art that helps you live more comfortably. Paul Foeckler’s Split Grain series is a perfect example of a piece of furniture that crosses that line from designed tool to work of art.

The makeup of these lamps is relatively simple. Each are made from foraged pieces of wood stripped of bark split evenly in the middle, and lit up by bulbs embedded in the base of the lamp. Like most well designed pieces, however, they become much more than the sum of their parts. Subtleties in each piece of wood come alive when given space to breathe and light to draw contrast. The qualities already natural to wood get heightened. If you have a love for the outdoors, or simply an affinity for well designed pieces of furniture, then these may be for you. Prices range from piece to piece, but generally range from $350-$2,450. [Purchase]

 

[MIKA27]

Zero Gravity Rack 

Is all your gear taking up so much garage space that you can´t even park your car? The Zero Gravity Rack is a simple solution to free up more floor space, by lifting your gear off the ground and out of the way. The racks are designed with a gas strut system to compress air and minimize manual efforts to lift and store equipment. Many commuters will use a bicycle to get to and from their workplace in order to avoid traffic, but storing that bicycle in a small city apartment or office can get tricky, this rack is the perfect storage solution.

[MIKA27]

China's Mythical Great Flood May Have Really Happened

Chinese legend tells of a great flood, and how Emperor Yu drove back the floodwaters, founding the Xia dynasty and giving rise to Chinese civilisation. Now an international scientific collaboration has discovered the first geological evidence that such a flood may actually have happened — and the founding of the Xia dynasty may have happened hundreds of years later than historians previously thought. They describe their findings in a new paper in Science.

“Great floods occupy a central place in some of the world’s oldest stories,” the University of Washington geologist David Montgomery wrote in an accompanying commentary on the new findings. “Emperor Yu’s flood now stands as another such story potentially rooted in geologic events…. How many other ancient stories of intriguing disasters might just have more than a grain of truth to them?”

There are different versions of the Great Flood myth, handed down through oral tradition for hundreds of years before finally being written down around 1000 BC. But all feature the heroic Yu, who figured out how to dredge and channel all the flooded rivers and tributaries to control the floodwaters — a task that purportedly took decades to accomplish, even with the help of a dragon to dig channels and a giant turtle to haul mud. (Myths have their fanciful elements.) This led to him becoming emperor and establishing the Xia dynasty in China.

The Jishi Gorge on the edge of the Tibetan Peninsula

Whether or not the Great Flood actually happened has been a longstanding bone of contention among scholars. After all, the historical record may have included the story of the flood and Emperor Yu’s role in driving back the waters as propaganda to justify imperial rule. History is written by the victors. This new geological discovery is the first real evidence for such a flood taking place.

In a press conference yesterday, lead author Wu Qinglong of Peking University in Beijing described the accidental discovery of unusual sediment in the Jishi Gorge of the Yellow River. He hypothesised that it might be linked with the great flood and the founding the Xi dynasty. It was Wu who brought together the members of the collaboration, hailing from different disciplines, to find evidence to bolster that hypothesis.

According to co-author Darryl Granger, a geologist at Purdue University, they found that evidence by mapping and dating the distinctive sediments deposited downstream from Jishi Gorge. They also examined bones from skeletons of children who died in an earthquake, found at the archaeological site of Lajia. Radiocarbon analysis of the skeletons gave a date of around 1922 BC.

From this, the collaborators were able to reconstruct a sequence of likely events occurring around this time along the Yellow River. First, there was a devastating earthquake that caused a massive landslide. This dammed the Yellow River in the Jishi Gorge, located right at the edge of the Tibetan plateau. According to Granger, quake-caused landslides are quite common to this area. The resulting lake eventually spilled over the top of the dam of debris, weakening it until it collapsed catastrophically, sending a deluge of water downriver and flooding the lowlands.

Yu the Great fighting the flood. Relief outside the Water Resources and Hydro Power Lab, Wuhan University, 2005

The houses of that period would have been more like caves dug into windblown sediment, according to co-author David Cohen, an archaeologist at National Taiwan University, which collapsed when the earthquake hit, killing the people inside.

“We know [the earthquake] happened the same year [as the flood] because fissures in the ground caused by the earthquake are filled with flood sediment, as are pottery jars [at the site,” said Granger. “So the people killed in the quake and the flood are intimately related.” Had it been more than a year, the annual rains would have kicked in, filling those fissures and jars with finer sediment.

The flooding would have significant enough to devastate the region. In the Book of Documents, Yu describes the flooding:

The inundating waters seemed to assail the heavens, and in their extent embraced the hills and overtopped the great mounds, so that the people were bewildered and overwhelmed.

That’s in line with the Chinese collaboration’s estimates based on their mapping and analysis of sediment the site. Granger estimated that the flood waters may have risen 38m above the usual river level — about one-third the height of the Empire State Building, per Cohen — with flow rates between 300,000 to 500,000 cubic meters of water per second. “That’s equivalent to the largest flood registered on the Amazon River, and the largest known flood on Earth in the last 10,000 years,” he said. The pile of debris that dammed the river would have been somewhere between the height of the Three Gorges Dam that spans the Yangtze River and the Hoover Dam in the US.

This timeline also coincides with a major cultural transition, as the late Neolithic Era gave way to the Early Bronze Age, although Cohen describes this as more of an interesting parallel, with no evidence as yet for direct causation. There is evidence that the system of smaller chiefdoms in place before that time suddenly collapsed, and after a transitional period, larger cities, with more complex administrative structures, a writing system, and bronze manufacturing emerged around 1900 BC.

In that sense, “The story of Yu taming the flood is the story of a new political order emerging out of the chaos of the flood,” said Cohen.

[MIKA27]

At Least This LEGO Version Of Suicide Squad Is Actually Worth Watching

 

The critics have not been kind to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, which is unfortunate given what the cast and crew apparently had to deal with while filming. But even if the film itself is a mess, this LEGO version of its first trailer, created by Forrest Whaley and Sean Willets, is an absolute delight.

Instead of heading to the theatre tomorrow, why not just stay home and watch this 30-second masterpiece 240 times? It sounds like a better use of your time, even though.... I myself have Gold Class tickets for Sunday  I don't mind, I'll make up my own mind as half of these critics are Marvel Fanboys 

 

[JohnS]

What a shame that Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad haven't lived up to the 'hype' critically. I look forward to your thoughts on Suicide Squad after you view it, Mika.

[MIKA27]

4 hours ago, JohnS said:

What a shame that Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad haven't lived up to the 'hype' critically. I look forward to your thoughts on Suicide Squad after you view it, Mika.

Well I watched BvS and I loved it - I never listen to reviewers and I am sure Suicide squad will end up being good. How can a movie apparently so bad break box office records and earn $872,662,631 worldwide? Domestically in the states it made $330,360,194 and the remainder $542,302,437 on foreign shores.   

BvS Untlimate edition was even better than the theatrical version in that in clarified certain aspects that was not shown in the cinema. I guess what is ones expectation to watch a movie based off comics? Are we after academy award stories and acting or are majority after action? The latter is what most deliver and I am happy with that provided they don't ask George Clooney to return as Batman!

[MIKA27]

Step Inside Guillermo Del Toro's Fantastic House Of Horrors

Starting last week, lucky Guillermo del Toro fans who happen to be near the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) can visit “At Home With Monsters”, a new exhibit of props, artwork and other horror and sci-fi related items that have inspired him over the years. For everyone else, there’s Conan.

Specifically, there’s this five-minute video with Conan‘s Andy Richter, touring the overflowing rooms of del Toro’s Bleak House with the man itself. It’s really more of a museum/creative space/muse-a-torium than a residence (“This would be a terrible house to be drunk in,” Richter observes) — and it is fantastic.

Good news: the collection at LACMA is touring, so a few other US cities will get a chance to feast their eyes upon the treasures he’s sharing from this amazing stash.

 

[MIKA27]

Producer Says Deadpool 2 Will Take Aim At Superhero Sequels

If there’s one thing we’ve gotten a lot of over the past few years, it’s superhero sequels. We’re getting another Guardians of the Galaxy and a third Thor flick. Spider-Man is again being rebooted after having two previous series.

Plus, DC’s confirmed a release date for the second Justice League movie before the first one’s even come out. Fortunately, there’s one superhero sequel that’s already in on the joke: Deadpool 2.

In an interview with Slashfilm, producer Simon Kinberg said Deadpool 2 is going to take aim at the overabundance of superhero sequels. He said it’s just one of the many things Deadpool will target in his typical “break the fourth wall” style.

“I think Deadpool 2 will comment on anything that’s happening in movies today, especially in superhero movies,” Kinberg said. “The sort of glut or saturation of these movies and the proliferation of sequels is definitely something we’ll play around with.”

It seems perfect that the sequel to one of the most hilariously unique superhero films of the past decade would proudly make fun of its own premise. And it’s about time someone took a stab at these things. It’s no secret some people are already feeling superhero film fatigue. Both Marvel and DC have films scheduled through at least 2020, guaranteeing a plethora of heroes and baddies likely until the end of time.

Kinberg also addressed casting rumours surrounding Cable, after Deadpool confirmed he would be in the sequel. While many people think Stephen Lang will land the role, despite his scheduling conflict with the Avatar sequels, Kinberg said they haven’t cast the part yet.

“I’ve seen rumours from about everybody from Arnold Schwarzenegger to… I can’t even remember,” Kinberg said.

[MIKA27]

NASA Captures Details Of A Rocket Test With Its New Camera

You’ve never truly seen what a rocket plume looks like. They are extremely bright and therefore, have never been photographed properly and unless you want to stare directly into one, it will be nearly impossible to imagine. Although that’s difficult, considering there haven’t been cameras that could capture its image before.

However, NASA unveiled a new camera during its recent space launch test, which is able to show the detail in a rocket plume. And it looks pretty spectacular.

Normally cameras can’t properly capture something like a rocket plume. You can fiddle with the exposure settings, but reducing them darkens the rest of the image. Most cameras also only record one exposure at a time.

However, the new High Dynamic Range Stereo X (HiDyRS-X) project overcomes this by being able to record multiple slow motion exposures at once and combining them into a more high-quality video. It uses a similar technique to what night photographers use when they splice multiple images together in post to get an impressive image.

The photo below is of the plume taken without the camera, so you can clearly see the difference.

According to a statement from NASA, scientists tried out the camera while testing its booster, QM-2. They monitored the camera from a safe distance, but its automatic timer failed to go off, meaning scientists had to start it manually.

And apparently, the force of the booster test was so great that it disconnected the camera’s power source. So NASA got confirmation that its camera works, but also that its rocket is very powerful.

Currently, this is just a prototype. Scientists plan to build a second one with more advanced capabilities, including with alignment. We’re looking forward to seeing more amazing photos, NASA! Don’t keep us waiting.

[MIKA27]

Photos Of These Bolivian Salt Flats Perfectly Reflect The Night Sky

Since finding a perfectly dark sky is rare in our electrically-powered world, this week’s photo series comes from the Altiplano salt flats (Salar de Uyuni) in Bolivia, where a team journeyed to the site and captured some amazing images.

 

Daniel Kordan, a photographer who has also studied physics, travelled to the world’s largest salt flat due to its isolation in order to take images of the stars. The team spent almost a week getting acclimated to the altitude before even heading up to the plateau (it’s around 3600m above sea level).

In an email to Gizmodo, Kordan detailed some of the journey, including the risky drive up to the salt flats, which occurred in the dead of night. They tracked a route during the day and followed those points exactly via GPS.

“Literally you can’t see a thing, just absolutely black tunnel in front of your car,” he said. “What you feel is just how your car going through the mess of water and salt. It’s very easy to get stuck on the dangerous surface.”

The trip was worth it, because the results are unbelievable. The salt flats almost perfectly reflect the night sky.

“It was hard to believe our eyes and senses,” Kordan wrote. “It seemed that we [floated] in the open space. Our spaceship is parked in [the] distance, and stars are blinking with blue, red, and yellow colours… It’s space on Earth, isn’t it?”

Kordan used a special astrophysical camera (hence the colours). The images were then stitched together in PTGui (an image stitching software) and enhanced in Photoshop.

 

[MIKA27]

Watching This Dude Run Off Rooftops Is Pretty Intense

Here’s a compilation of crazy runs, jumps and parkour tricks from Oleg Cricket, a daredevil who was either born without fear or recently made into some sort of superhero. Hell, maybe even both. You can see him sprint and jump off the side of skyscrapers, flip and twirl over gaps between buildings onto the roof next door, and even jump down multiple stories from the balcony as if he were Spider-Man. Oleg is nuts (even when compared to other parkour guys) but he’s really, really good at what he does.

[MIKA27]

Heinrich Himmler's Lost Wartime Diaries Confirm He Was A Total Bastard

Work diaries chronicling the daily activities of Hitler’s henchman Heinrich Himmler have surfaced in Russian military archives. The recovered texts speak volumes about a key figure behind the Holocaust — a man who could orchestrate mass killings at one moment and then casually switch to mundane family matters the next.

Three books consisting of a thousand pages of Heinrich Himmler’s wartime diaries were uncovered by Russian historians in the small town of Podolsk. The texts, which read more like a daily agenda than a personal diary, were written by Himmler’s assistants. They had languished on a shelf for 70 years after being seized by the Red Army at the end of the Second World War. The diaries correspond to the years 1938, 1943 and 1944, which complements previously discovered diaries. The texts, which the German Historical Institute of Moscow describes as “a document of unusual historical significance”, will be make available to the public next year.

Damian Imoehl, a reporter for the German magazine Bild, managed to get a copy of the diaries, and they offer deep — and often disturbing — insights into the daily life of the second most powerful man in the Third Reich.

During the Second World War, Himmler formed the dreaded Einsatzgruppen and oversaw the construction of extermination camps. His role in the Holocaust cannot be understated, having directed the killing of some six million Jews and other ethnic groups during the war. But as his diary makes clear, he went about his daily business in a ruthless yet cavalier manner.

When visiting the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, he “took a snack in the cafe of the SS Casino”. Later, when visiting the Sobibór extermination camp in occupied Poland, he witnessed the gassing of 400 Jewish women and girls. That same day he attended a banquet with SS men. Another chilling entry reads, “Landing in Warsaw. Reception by a senior colonel. Lunch at the SS. Drive through the ghetto. Take inventory.”

Writing in The Times, Imoehl notes: “One day he starts with breakfast and a massage from a personal doctor, then he rings up his wife and daughter in the south of Germany and after that he decides to have ten men killed or visits a concentration camp.” In another excerpt, Himmler passes on instructions to equip the Auschwitz concentration camp with guard dogs capable of ripping their victims “to shreds”.

At the same time, Himmler was an attentive husband and father — oh, except for that affair he was having with his secretary. As Imoehl wrote, “He takes care of his comrades and friends,” adding, “The most interesting thing for me is that combination.”

Indeed, it’s that combination — a genocidal killer at one moment and a caring friend the next — that truly encapsulates what Hannah Arendt described as “the banality of evil”.