The Tyler Cowen

1. Beautiful photos of our subterranean lives. Via Marginal Revolution.
2. Shifting economies viewed through the lens of per capita GDP.
3. Brutal article about the people who work at US military bases around the world. Via The Browser.
4. Infographic of what happens in 60 seconds on the internet. Via Gizmodo.
5. I really do love the internet. Ask and ye shall receive in spades. Literally the exact video I originally commented on gets the stationary-sky treatment.
   
6. The FUTURE!

The Tyler Cowen

1. Comparing North Korea with the Soviet Union. Via North Korean Economy Watch.
2. Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union. On the ground accounts from the people who were there, retrospectives digging into the intangibles that sparked the revolution, and what the fall initially meant for dictators the world over compared to China's template today.
3. Visualizing our fuel reserves. Made for GE by Information is Beautiful.
4. Fukashima is worse than our short-attention spans would like to believe. 

Straggler Videos From Gizmodo

1. More night sky time lapses. These never get old.
   
2. Incredible animated violence on live action children.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Last.fm getting us to do their work them. Thankfully, their work is really cool. Via Infosthetics.
2. The future, via Gizmodo. I'm saving up for this bad boy if he can get some decent gyroscopes to keep me from flipping over.
3. Depressing but unavoidable realities of humanitarian aid and the numbers they use to ask for support.
4. Two amazing videos from Gizmodo. One of base-jumping (it's a watch ad yes, but still breathtaking), the other of a funny, scary TED Talk. (Second is after the break.)

The Tyler Cowen

1. Jesus. That was fast. One day after requesting it here, up crops this video giving me exactly what I want. Thank you internet.
   
2. Some fun infographics today. Crime maps, bike accident maps, and expat quality of life maps to name a few.
3. Obscure but hilarious attack on one comic artist's abilities. 
4. Slow motion car commercials featuring things getting destroyed. 

A good idea

We love us some time-lapse video here at Bag of Hammers. Our swiftly tilting planet surely is a thing of beauty. However, particularly as with night time-elapse videos like the one below, the effect is Earth-centric. The frame makes the mountain ranges and telescopes stationary while the stars dance and wheel above us. I would love to see someone figure out how to make the stars stationary while the Earth in the foreground circles around. While everything is relative, it would be an interesting perspective that would highlight our movement through the cosmos. Imagine the scene at 4:06 with the mountains twisting around in the foreground.


Via The Awesomer.

The Tyler Cowen

1. China's next generation.
2. Poverty in context.
3. Doomsaying to the contrary, this guy thinks weather-related deaths are declining. Via Marginal Revolution.
4. Ah the bizarre ways in which our need for a human connection manifests itself. Via The Browser.
5. Creepy proof that Facebook is creepy. Via Gizmodo. (I dare you to try it.)

Our Swiftly Tilting Planet

The ponderous pace of nature seems a lot less ponderous when viewed in time-lapse. Beautiful, beautiful time lapse.

El Cielo de Canarias / Canary sky - Tenerife from Daniel López on Vimeo.

The Tyler Cowen

Minimal updates today. Our crack team of journalists is heading to...the Philippines. For what they assure me is the scoop of the century. On a beach. Thankfully I don't pay them anything so I can't get too bent out of shape as they slowly burn to a crisp on vacation.

We'll be back in the saddle next Wednesday fans, with more of the content that you love. Until then, enjoy.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Problems in Pakistan.
2. The origin of all language. Via Marginal Revolution. And a skeptic's rebuttal. 
3. Teleportation is now a reality for packets of information. Now all we need is to get far enough away from each other where this means a damn. 

The Tyler Cowen

1. Nature, once again, blows my mind.
   
2. Depressing news about America's inequality. Via The Browser.
3. Brand-name fascination. Also via The Browser.