This fantastic Russian video by birchpunk has taken the world by storm. I thought I’d collect up some highlights (see also the screenshots below).
- 0:00, QR code: this goes to the Twitter profile of Dmitry Rogozin, the Director General of Roscosmos.
- 0:28, Izhevsk Dynamics Corporation: a play on Boston Dynamics, but one of the factories in the city of Izhevsk was responsible for the AK-47.
- 0:42, We don’t need them: an apparent Back to the Future 2 or 3 reference.
- 0:44, We suffer from air turbulence: that is what the road sign says.
- 0:50, Two years by Post of Russia: Russian Post has a reputation for delays, although of course they are justified in this case. The dropping parcels may be a reference to incidents like this one.
- 1:06, We took it apart for металлолом (scrap): may be a reference to incidents like this one.
- 1:08, Cyberfolk song: see this subtitled version.
- 1:38, Poster: the poster shows the face of Dmitry Rogozin and says “Let’s Make the Red Planet Green.”
- 2:39, РАССАДА ERROR: something is wrong with Nikolay’s seedlings.
- 2:46, Fractal cucumber: fractals are a real thing, and some strange conjoined cucumbers exist, but this is one of my favourite flights of fancy.
- 2:58, Genetically modified: this is kombucha, which was popular in Russia long before it became a fad in the West.
- 3:31, We have Netflix: notice the two moons, this one and that one.
- 3:45, But network is not so good: I haven’t heard that dial-up modem sound in years.
Oh, and don’t miss the New Year Special sequel.
Scientific Gems 