A spinning top, a fascinating rescue, and a French remix.
2nd February 2026
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Hello! I've been talking a lot about the New Project in recent newsletters, and this week I'm happy to say that I have absolutely zero announcements about it. Just some regular links from the internet. Enjoy! And as ever, thanks
to the folks who've replied with suggestions.
In this week's Lateral: Rowan Ellis, along with Jarvis Johnson and Jordan Adika from the Sad Boyz podcast, take on questions about missing money, medical manoeuvres and mangled magazines.
In this week's Lateral: Rowan Ellis, along with Jarvis Johnson and Jordan Adika from the Sad Boyz podcast, take on questions about missing money, medical manoeuvres and mangled magazines.
Good stuff on YouTube this week:
- Aaed Musa overengineers a spinning top... and makes several "that's what she said" jokes.
- An RCAF Cormorant helicopter medevac.
One of the joys of YouTube, compared to traditional broadcast, is that footage can be edited to any length. Here, Mattfrom103 shows everything about the pitch-black nighttime medevac flight he piloted, over the course of more than an hour. Initial takeoff, to finding the vessel, to discussing how to get search-and-rescue technicians on board, to professionally dealing with mishaps that would terrify the average person, to hoisting the patient back. And there's an explanation of just why
it's so difficult to do that with no horizon. On television, this video would be three minutes with a dramatic voiceover: it's great to see it in this longer form. (Thanks to Lu for the suggestion!)
- Solstice-5 (some
strong language) is an impressive piece of science-fiction worldbuilding and storytelling. It's based around photorealistic 3D renders, on a par with those you'd find in Hollywood movies, but with a stylistic touch I've never seen before: simulated telephoto lenses, the bizarre planetary backgrounds filling the screen behind colossal, kilometres-long constructions.
And
away from the world of video:
- "Last year, someone made an unusual donation to the Thrifty Boutique in Chilliwack, British Columbia: 11 rings and two medallions that might be more than 1,000 years old."
- Ditherpunk, by Surma, breaks down in a lot of detail something that, by his own admission, is a "super
niche" "rabbit hole": the algorithms involved in turning colour images into black and white. And the results are a bit nostalgic if you remember that era of computing.
- Emily Sneddon designed a font based on the now-extinct destination signs on the light rail trains of San Francisco, and gets to see those signs up close. (Thanks Ivan for the suggestion!)
And finally: for sure!
All the best,
— Tom
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