OT- Wormholes

Submitted by Inflammable Flame on

Since it's the weekend and there's not much in the way of significant sporting events until this afternoon, I took it upon myself to help you pass your time until your upcoming camping trip.

My question to the board is this: What is the best internet wormhole you have ever fallen into?

For those that don't know...an internet wormhole is basically when you mindlessly surf the web and find yourself either balls-deep in something super intriguing or when one web search leads to a string of endless web searches that leaves you wondering where you are and how you got there.

 

Mine: After hearing about the Bhopal-Union Carbide disaster, my googling led me to the Johnstown Dam disaster, which led me to the Three Mile Island accident. After spending too much time on that, I was then led to Chernobyl; which is where I found a pretty cool video by Discovery Channel called Zero Hour (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITEXGdht3y8). Before I knew it I had too much time invested in this journey and am now pretty much a self-proclaimed man-made disaster expert.

MGoBoard

turtleboy

January 21st, 2018 at 9:23 AM ^

It starts with cute animal videos. Harmless, adorable, smile-inducing, heart-warming animal videos, until they slip in a suggestion for an animal rescue video.. apparently it's asking too much for me to not watch, because I need to see the resolution, and then pretty soon I'm bummed out and sad and angry, and will have trouble sleeping because there are sea turtles out there who need me.

Joined: 04/22/2011

MGoPoints: 35130

Orlando2

January 21st, 2018 at 9:37 AM ^

I’ve found myself spending hours watching videos about legos. I usually watch videos of the unboxing of very expensive lego sets, the ones I would always ask my parents to buy me and they never would.

Joined: 01/01/2018

MGoPoints: 325

Laser Wolf

January 21st, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^

It usually starts with a brief overview on a topic from a CGP Grey video on YouTube, which then leads me to a Wikipedia article, which then leads to reading all the things and I’ve wasted a couple hours.

Joined: 07/09/2008

MGoPoints: 33416

Yessir

January 21st, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^

Plane crashes or plane emergencies.  

Fascinating how a simple little nut, bolt, piece of wire failing can bring planes down, even with all of the backup systems. Simple little mistakes, pilot error, made that cause crashes.

You would think with some of the emergencies, that the plane would never land, but they do.  Side of plane blown off at 25k feet and they make it. 

I've developed a fear of flying after having flown for work(back in the day) and used to actually enjoy it.  Will most likely never fly again.   

Joined: 12/22/2015

MGoPoints: 7270

OC Alum91

January 21st, 2018 at 10:45 AM ^

"you mindlessly surf the web and find yourself either balls-deep in something super intriguing or when one web search leads to a string of endless web searches that leaves you wondering where you are and how you got there" you mean non-poem wormholes, right?

Joined: 02/05/2015

MGoPoints: 1528

MaizeNBlu628

January 21st, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^

I once read a story about unearthing some extra Clay Soldiers in China, then started reading about its history, which led to more history about the romance of the five kingdoms. Bring Chinese myself, I started thinking about how I must’ve had ancestors alive back then myself...

Joined: 08/21/2009

MGoPoints: 2786

greymarch

January 21st, 2018 at 11:37 AM ^

Have you watched season one of True Detective?  If so, google "the yellow king".   If not, then watch season one first, then google "the yellow king."

 

Shall take you down all kinds of interesting paths.  You have been warned.

Joined: 02/06/2010

MGoPoints: 4886

Sopwith

January 21st, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^

and somehow ended up deep in a Watergate wormhole this weekend. It went something like:

Slapshot vid with the Hanson brothers debut--> clip with Dr. Hook and Ogie Oglethorpe--> interview with the REAL Oglethorpe, who I had no idea was a real guy--> NHL goon Mike Milbury going into stands to beat some fan with his own shoe in 1979--> = ???wormhole??? ---> some clip from 1976 movie "All The President's Men" (I've seen the whole movie probably 15 times) --> some poking around to find out whatever happened to some of the burglars after --> podcast called "Slow Burn" about how the scandal unfolded to a largely indifferent public.

What a great discovery this podcast is. I binged all morning taking the dog for a hike longer than usual so I could just keep rolling to the next episode (there are 8 total, 30 min or less each). Highly recommend it... I thought I knew everything about Watergate, but there are some fascinating stories about lower-level characters that history has largely forgotten over time (e.g., Senator Sam Ervin, the folksy southern "country lawyer" and avowed segregationist who headed the committee and Martha Mitchell, the gosspy, lush wife of former AG and CREEP head John Mitchell who actually tried to tell the world something was up before anyone, including WaPo, got on the story).  

Add that to cameos by characters who became more famous later (future Law and Order actor, Senator, and short-lived presidential candidate Fred Thompson, CBS cub reporter Lesley Stahl on her first assignment covering the break-in, George HW Bush, many others).

Some takeaways: (1) it's hard to believe how trusting and naive the public used to be about politicians (2) how damn close the cover-up came to succeeding, and probably would have, but for an extraordinarily lucky break (or unlucky if you're Nixon) in discovering the tapes (3) the cultural impact on things like belief in conspiracies theories, which took off after WG riveted the country.

It's a great, fun listen regardless of political orientation (I think).  LINK

tl;dr: Hanson Brothers. LOL.

 

Joined: 06/29/2010

MGoPoints: 61105

You Only Live Twice

January 21st, 2018 at 11:49 AM ^

and his work with the leprosy (Hansen's disease) patients in Molokai.  A few years ago anyway, you could go on a tour, on mules, down the mountainside to see the site.  Bucket list item if still in existence.  Tripadvisor reviews said the mules are very sure footed.

other distractions:

People living in tunnels underneath Las Vegas

Brian Wilson (led there after BBT)  

something different every day really, when I should be working

Joined: 09/14/2013

MGoPoints: 9615

Sharuck

January 21st, 2018 at 8:53 PM ^

I stumbled on some YouTube videos on the double slit experiment. Mind boggling stuff (that is actual science, not conspiracy theory stuff). Short version is that whether light is a particle or a wave depends on whether we are looking. And depending on when we look, it can determine what happened in the past. Then as an OSU fan, I gotta say Brady was jobbed so bad in deflategate that it makes me mad, and I could not stand him before.

Joined: 07/11/2015

MGoPoints: 406