Soviet Teens Rock Out to Tesla Coils and Theremin

Lynn Peril — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:00:32 PDT

I admit I have no idea what exactly is supposed to be going on in this clip from a film titled Komsomol, the name of the Communist Youth League. We’ve got Tesla coils snapping and sparking all over the place, commie teens little dreaming that their great-grandkids will shop for jeans in Red Square, deco television cameras (I think this dates to the 1930s, so perhaps they're just movie cameras), and to top it off, a Theremin performance. All in all, it kind of reminds me of that “Worker and Parasite” cartoon from the Simpsons (sorry, Annalee) but feel free to write your own scenario.

Which Technological Invention Changed the World?

Ed Grabianowski — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:04:41 PDT

Scientists like Jared Diamond argue that human history is essentially the story of technology. Our technological advancements are what propelled us from caves to cities, from gaslight to nuclear reactors, and from horseback to orbit. But with each advance comes a potential dark side: deadlier warfare, toxic pollution, or social alienation. Taking into account the good and the bad, which of humanity's technological inventions do you think has had the most profound influence on the world?

I've left off things that occur in nature that we "discovered," such as penicillin, although one could make an argument in favor of antibiotics being on this list. There are surely some others I've left off as well. Atomic weapons? Airplanes? Steam engines?

Images by: FCC, FBI

io9: tesla

Soviet Teens Rock Out to Tesla Coils and Theremin

Which Technological Invention Changed the World?