Google maps updated

I realised while preparing my Crossrail entry yesterday that Google's satellite photos of London are suddenly much more up to date - the area opposite my house where all the construction is going on is as it was about eighteen months ago (can't remember exactly when they started clearing the ground, but that's what's happening there), details about the area where I work pin the date down to the last couple of years, and so forth.

Shame that most of the streetview stuff is still much older...

Cooking for Romans

tabaqui posted this link to the little_details community - recipes taken from an old Roman cookbook:

MARCUS GAVIUS APICIUS: DE RE COQUINARIA

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/historical/ant-rom-coll.html

Updated for modern utensils etc.

Vacuum Tube IC?

I have a vague idea that for some of their space probes, possibly the Venera series, the Russians used something I'd describe as a vacuum tube IC, with dozens of small tubes built into an outer container which was evacuated as one unit, so that they didn't have the problems of keeping dozens of tiny tubes intact during the flight. Can anyone confirm this?