Daily Links: July 3, 2012

"History of the World" by Malachi Ward

Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror is a YouTube video guaranteed to get you excited about NASA again. It shows the elaborate process that will get the Curiosity rover onto the Martian surface on August 5. It involves the largest supersonic parachute ever built, multiple vehicles, 76 explosive devices, and a skycrane.

Here are some of the tricks being used in London to avoid building a bunch of facilities that will never be used after the Olympics.

Nissan's Batmobilelike DeltaWing in collaboration with Dan Gurney's All American Racers and others is car initially made to be the new IndyCar but ultimately made to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans and possibly American Le Mans using half the amount of tyres and fuel as any car. It managed to run for 6 of the 24 hours before being taken out in the race. For clarity prior to clicking on the last link, "taken out" refers to another car bumping it and causing it to crash. Or, as the Sun puts it, "BAM! Pow! Holy Jeepers, the Batmobile has hit the wall!"


Scientists test out the legend that the Easter Island statues “walked” to where they are by making one go for a stroll.