Kickoff For August 9, 2021
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
Science
Here’s why we don’t understand heavier-than-air flight, wherein Brian Skinner discusses how, despite building and flying machinery for over 100 years, scientists are still puzzled by how that happens.
The fight against fake-paper factories that churn out sham science, wherein we learn how editors of scientific journals, and others, are trying to combat the systemic production of falsified research.
Quantum music, wherein we learn a bit about the history of melding music with physics, and why that isn’t such a fanciful notion.
Crime
The Strange Story of Dagobert, the “DuckTales” Bandit, wherein we learn how a struggling artist decided to turn to crime to fund his work and how that made him something of a folk hero in Germany.
Did Paying a Ransom for a Stolen Magritte Painting Inadvertently Fund Terrorism?, wherein we learn how money paid to recover stolen pieces of European art may have wound up in the coffers of the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations.
The Snitch, wherein we learn how convicted fraudster Scott Kimball became an FBI informer, and used that as a platform to commit far worse crimes.
Odds and Ends
UFOs Were Born Among America’s Cold War Fears, wherein we learn a little about the history of the U.S. military’s investigations into unidentified flying objects, and where that’s leading towards today.
In Praise of Small Menus, wherein Rachel Sugar explain the joys and benefits of eating at restaurants which offer a limited selection of dishes.
Inside Youth Baseball’s Most Notorious Dad-On-Dad Rivalry, wherein David Gauvey Herbert takes us into a brutal, bruising rivalry between two Long Island fathers who took their sons, and America’s favourite pastime, far too seriously.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.