Ryanair deserve applauds for managing to take off, and for every moment in the air, for not completely falling apart.

(Former obv.) Hawaiian leper colony. Not the greatest article but still good enough for this thread I reckon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaupapa,_Hawaii

Terrible bet by the copilot. He was right; the pilot wasn't able to land the plane with the curtains closed, but he died and thus wasn't able to collect. Pilot recognized a free roll when he saw one.

What is it about Russians that makes them care so much less about staying alive than everyone else?

Ever drunk vodka?

Not since I was a teen. Vodka for me is that spirit everyone has that gives them the boak if they even smell it after ruining it as a kid.

Get the stuff you can really smell. It's cheaper and will make you think you can fly planes blindfolded! Win - (rarely) win

Landed at Kalaupapa a few times in light aircraft when I lived in Hawaii. There are still signs about not leaving the airport.Beautiful scenery on the north shore of Molokai...sheer cliffs rising from the ocean about 1800' or so, iirc.

Leon Theremin

Best known as the inventor of the instrument theremin. Here is a video:



BTW this is a pretty cool cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy using the instrument:



Probably, the most famous contemporary band who used the instrument is Portishead.

I do remember seeing a video where they used the theremin during a live performance of Glory Box or Roads. Can't seem to find a copy tho.


Back to the main point of this post. Leon Theremin was born in Russia and had several inventions there. For example, he is credited for the first functioning television apparatus in Russia.

He started touring Europe with the Theremin in 1927 and found his way to the US. Some of the next part of his life is best to be just quoted:

It is also noteworthy that he married an African-American ballerina Lavinia Williams.

This was in 1930s and obviously the marriage was a shock to his social circle. Then, in 1938, because of financial difficulties he suddenly returned to the Soviet Union. He was imprisoned and later sent to a labor camp, and Williams never saw him again.

During his incarceration, he was put in charge of developing spyware.

One of his inventions was a bug that was powered by actively being irradiated remotely. Hence, it was nearly impossible because it had no power supply or active electronic components. in 1945, this device was given to the U.S. Ambassador as a "gesture of friendship" to the USSR's World War II ally.

More on this here:

The_Thing (listening_device)

Another interesting invention was the Buran eavesdropping system. Basically, it could detect vibrations in a window (using an infrared beam) and could reconstruct what was said inside a room. Modern versions use lasers:

Laser microphone

The Soviet Union eventually rehabilitated him in 1956. He spent the rest of his life being involved in music. He was part of the Moscow Conservatory of Music and was a Professor of Physics at Moscow State.

After 51 years in the Soviet Union, he could travel again. He visited France in June 1989 and then the United States in 1991. He passed away in 1993 at the age of 97.

There are lots of other details that I didn't include. It is a worthwhile read.

That instrument angers me for some reason.

While reading about Roland Garros I ended up on this other aviator from the same era, Eugene Gilbert who apparently during one of the first airplane races was attacked by an eagle. Not particulary interesting but that part made me laugh and thought I'd share.

Vintage signs from when it was a leper colony? Seems like these would be prone to theft!
Should I ever visit Hawaii I'll try to get to Molokai as well. I have in-laws in Washington State, maybe while visiting them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glico_Morinaga_case

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monster_with_21_Faces

1984 Japan, an anti-capitalist gang calling themselves "The Monster With 21 Faces" kidnapped executives from multi-billion dollar candy companies. They ignored any ransom payments, stating that, "money is irrelevant."

The group burned cars of other executives and issued threats of poisoned products, causing tens of millions of dollars in damages. They harassed police for over a year with tongue-in-cheek notes, only stopping when the lead investigator burned himself alive in shame.


This case was the inspiration for The Laughing Man arc in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Quite the read!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Watchers

https://www.livescience.com/dark-wat...-illusion.html

Related - if you've ever seen a sun dog - they're pretty mindblowing.

Superior mirage - saw this in the news a couple of weeks ago.

Walker 'stunned' to see ship hovering high above sea off Cornwall

This is Patty Hearst level bananas.

Solitons exist in nature but were not discovered until 1834 by John Scott Russell. Essentially they are like a wave, but move in a constant shape thru a medium indefinitely. They could not be explained at the time using existing models, but are now fairly well understood using partial differential equations.

Wikipedia article:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soliton

Below is a paper describing the use of solitons to propel an object faster than speed of light, given enough energy:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/1...61-6382/abe692

Yeah, we get them on really cold days. They look like there's 3 suns.

Barnard 68


Also there's a few space rabbit (worm?) holes to go down here - List of largest cosmic structures

George Archibald really likes cranes and has pretty much single handedly saved them from extinction.

"Archibald pioneered several techniques to rear cranes in captivity, including the use of crane costumes by human handlers. Archibald spent three years with a highly endangered whooping crane named Tex, acting as a male crane – walking, calling, dancing – to shift her into reproductive condition."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Archibald

Gerorge Archibald makes panda porn seem like a half-hearted attempt to make a species breed in captivity. This was attempted in Thailand (Chiang Mai) in 2006-2007.

panda porn wiki

Didn't really work with the panda pair, but artificial insemination did resulting in a birth in 2009.

What's weird is pandas have no issue reproducing in the wild, only in captivity.

Also weird:George Archibald.