all nature and art

Unbelievable rarest flowers in the world

2012-05-08T00:57:00.000-07:00

When spring is in full swing, there is no denying how beautiful the world looks. The trees get new leaves and with them come an array of colorful flowers. Butterflies and hummingbirds are everywhere as the sombre winter mood lifts. It’s my personal favorite time of the year. In this list we will take a look at some amazing flowers which, sadly, you probably won’t see this coming spring. These are the rare, endangered and in some cases extinct in the wild flowers. The reason most of these carry the title of rare, is because humans do not have the ability to work in perfect harmony with nature. For example, Humans build a dam, the dam prevents a specific river from flowing freely, which prevents a specific frog or fish from breading, which results in a specific kind of bird not getting food, which results in a specific kind of flower not being pollinated, which can eventually lead to the extinction of that plant. In that one scenario of building a dam humans have basically killed off three species, and history is filled with hundreds of similar occurrences. Regardless of what drove them to become rarities, the following plants are far and few between, and having the opportunity to see one for yourself should be a celebrated occurrence.

Middlemist Red

Middlemist camellia

This is probably the rarest flowering plant in the world as there are only 2 known examples. One can be found in a garden in New Zealand and the other is situated in a greenhouse in Britain. The plant was originally brought to Britain from China by John Middlemist (after whom the plant was named) in 1804. It has since been completely wiped out in China. The plant in Britain

remained barren for years and only started bearing flowers recently. The flowers are, contrary to its name, bright pink in color and look almost rose like. It is believed to be highly possible that more examples of this species has survived in people’s gardens, unbeknown to them, as it was once sold directly to the public by John Middlemist.

Jade Vine

Strongylodon macrobotrys

The jade vine is a rare woody vine native to the tropical rainforests of the Philippines. It is a member of the pea and bean family and is closely related to kidney beans. The plant carries claw shaped flowers which grow from hanging trusses; they can reach up to three meters in length. The flower’s color can vary from blue green to mint green. The species has proven extremely difficult to propagate, and is considered an endangered species due to the destruction of its habitat and a decrease in natural pollinators.

Corpse Flower

Rafflesia arnoldii

This fascinating flower is found mainly in low lying tropical rainforests of Indonesia. This is one of the world’s rarest, most endangered and largest flowers and it can reach a total width of over a meter. The Rafflesia’s survival is totally dependent on a specific vine called the Tetrastigma vine. As the Rafflesia is a bodiless, stemless, leafless, rootless parasite, it requires the vine for nourishment and support. It is also a carrion plant, which means that it releases a pungent rotten flesh smell when in bloom to attract flies and carrion beetles to aid in pollination. Once in bloom, the flower will only last about a week before dying.

Gibraltar Campion

Silene tomentosa

This species of Campion is particularly rare and is only found on the high cliffs of Gibraltar. This plant was believed extinct by the entire scientific community outside Gibraltar in the 1980s but the Gibraltar botanical section knew there were a few specimens left. Sadly, by 1992 all traces of the plant had vanished and it was declared extinct. In 1994 a single specimen was discovered by a climber on the inaccessible cliffs and the species came back to life. It was propagated at the millennium seed bank and specimens are grown at The Almeda Gibraltar Botanic Gardens as well as the Royal Botanic Gardens in London.

Franklin Tree

Franklinia alatamaha

This tree is a part of the tea family but is the sole species in its genus and a very rare flowering plant. The tree is native to the Altamaha river valley in Georgia, but has been extinct in the wild since the early 19th century. In fact this beautiful tree is only known today because of the Bartram family, who were avid horticulturists and propagated the tree before its extinction in the wild. The plant, which has fragrant white blooms and leaves that turn into a bright red color in fall, is now a popular ornamental plant. All the examples of this tree today stem from one of the trees propagated by the Bartram’s.

Parrot’s Beak

Lotus berthelotii

This is a beautiful flower that has been classed as exceedingly rare since 1884. It is believed to be completely extinct in the wild, but a few individuals might have survived. This stunning plant is endemic to the Canary Islands and is believed to have originally been pollinated by sunbirds, which have long since become extinct in the Canary Islands. This could help to explain the scarcity of the plant. Experiments have been undertaken to find new pollinators for the flowers, in hopes that they can successfully be reintroduced to the Islands, but as of 2008, no fruit had been successfully produced. The Parrot’s beak is however cultivated in the horticulture trade, which can allow even you to own one!

Chocolate Cosmos

Cosmos atrosanguineus

This is a dark red to brown species of Cosmos, native to Mexico. Sadly it has been extinct in the wild for over a hundred years. The species survives today as a single non fertile clone, which was created in 1902 by vegetative propagation. The flowers which are produced by the plant are a rich deep red to brown color and grow to about 3-4 cm in diameter. The flowers have a lovely vanillin fragrance in the summer (also found in vanilla beans, some coffee beans and some cacao beans), which also makes it a wonderful ornamental plant.

Koki’o

Kokai cookei

This is an extremely rare tree, endemic to Hawaii. It was discovered in 1860, at which time only three specimens could be found. The tree proved difficult to propagate, and by 1950, after the last seedling died, it was deemed extinct. In 1970 a sole survivor was found, which was sadly destroyed in a fire in 1978. Luckily one of the branches of that last remaining tree was saved, and grafted into 23 trees that exist today, all of which are situated in various places in Hawaii. The Kokai is a small tree that grows to about 10-11 meters high. Their most striking feature has to be the hundreds of bright red flowers that mature trees produce annually. Sadly that is a rarity which few will be privileged to see.

Yellow and Purple Lady Slippers

Cypripedium calceolus

This is an extremely rare type of wild orchid found across Europe. Britain’s only example of this plant, which used to be more common and widespread, can be found on a golf course and has been under strict police protection since 1917. A single cutting can be sold for US$5000, which is shocking as the plant is very difficult to propagate. Its seeds bear no nourishment for the growing plant, so it lives in a symbiotic relationship with a specific type of fungus, which provides it with nourishment, until the adult leaves can produce enough nourishment for the plant, at which time the fungus will also live off it. There are many types of Lady slipper orchids, many of which are rare. This specific type, has dark purple to almost red brown tendrils with a bright yellow “slipper or moccasin.”

Ghost Orchid

Epipogium aphyllum

The Ghost orchid is a fascinating rare plant that was presumed extinct for almost 20 years, only recently did it rear its head again. The plant is so rare because it is basically impossible to propagate. It has no leaves, does not depend on photosynthesis and does not manufacture its own food. Like the Lady slipper, it needs a specific fungus in close contact with its root system, which feeds it. The Ghost orchid never grows leaves, and will therefore always depend on the fungus for its nourishment. The Ghost orchid can live underground for years, without showing any external signs and will only bloom when all conditions are optimum. This explains why some orchid enthusiasts search for years and years just to have a glimpse of this elusive flower.

Sculptures by Michelle Bradshaw

2012-05-05T06:35:00.002-07:00

This post features a collection of wonderful still life sculptures created by Michelle Bradshaw, a very creative female artist from United States. I would like to truly adore her sculptures because they are just beautiful and so inspiring.

Some evolution in action

2012-05-04T00:52:00.003-07:00

Evolution is one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. Armed with the knowledge of the interconnectedness of all life on earth, biologists have made startling discoveries. There is so much evidence in favor of evolution, that arguing against it is like denying that there is a moon in the sky. Yet people do still actively deny evolution occurs. Speciation, the formation of a new species from an ancestor species, takes a very long time yet there are evolutionary steps which can be observed. Here are eight examples, amongst many, of evolution in action.

Live Birth in Three-toed Skinks

The example of the peppered moth is a nice one for textbooks because it uses a single trait. Speciation involves many mutations leading to significant changes. The yellow bellied three-toed skink (Saiphos equalis) is a lizard of New South Wales, in Australia, that appears to be undergoing the change from laying eggs to live birth. Since these skinks can either lay eggs or give birth, it gives scientists the chance to study the adaptations necessary for live birth. Skink embryos encased in an egg have an extra source of calcium that the live born skinks lack. It turns out that this

nutritional difference is made up by the mother secreting extra calcium for the young held inside her. This looks like the first step on the road to developing a system like the mammalian placenta. Skinks living on the coast tend to lay eggs, probably because the warm weather is predictable and sufficient for embryonic development. Those skinks living in the cooler mountains tend to give birth to live young, the mother’s body providing a more stable temperature. It is to be predicted that these two populations will at some point separate into different species as each population becomes fixed in its reproductive strategy.

This brings up a common question in creationists – If man evolved from apes, why are there still apes? Well, with the skinks we would see two species formed, an egg laying and a live birthing species. Each would be best suited for their habitat. If live birthing skinks evolved from egg layers, why are there still egg layers? Because each is adapted for its niche.

The Arms Race between Crabs and Mussels

Evolution often happens in tandem; a predator evolves an improved hunting method, and any mutations in the prey species that aid survivability will be selected for leading to a change in the prey population. We do not have to wait for a predator to evolve to observe this, however; modern humans have been transporting species around the world, and thus we can observe new species interactions. The Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) is an invasive species in New England which feeds on the native blue mussels. It has recently been observed that mussels, when they detect Asian shore crabs, develop thicker shells to stop the crabs eating them. This shell thickening behavior is costly to the mussels, and so is heavily regulated. The evolutionary factor here is that only mussels from regions where Asian shore crabs are endemic will thicken their walls when exposed to the crabs. Those mussels from other regions do not detect the crabs as a threat. Here we observe the starting shots in an evolutionary arms race.

Italian Wall Lizards

In 1971, ten Italian wall lizards (Podarcis sicula) were introduced to the island of Pod Mrčaru from a neighboring island. The lizards were left for decades, and compared to the colony from which they were taken. The wall lizards on Pod Mrčaru, having passed through a tiny genetic bottleneck, were found to have thrived and adapted to their new island. They were found to have shifted from a mainly insectivorous diet to one heavy in vegetation. This diet change seems to have driven dramatic changes in the lizards. The head of the Pod Mrčaru lizards is larger, and has a far greater bite force. These are key adaptations for dealing with chewing leaves. The most exciting sign of evolution is the development of cecal valves, muscles used to separate portions of the intestine. These serve to slow the passage of food through the intestine and give time for the bacteria in the gut to breakdown the plant matter for absorption. This is an entirely novel development in the Italian wall lizard, and a major adaptation.

Cane Toads

The cane toad in Australia is probably one of the world’s most famous invasive species. It does immense harm to agriculture and native species. Australia is big, for those who don’t know, and it takes time for an invasive species to spread. Those toads at the front of the invasion wave are likely those best adapted for spreading fastest. Of course, these fast-spreading toads will breed with each other as only other fast toads will be at the front. This is charmingly called ‘the Olympic village effect’ and will reinforce the adaptations which put these toads at the front. When toads at the front of the invasion wave were studied, they were found to be bigger, hardier, had longer legs allowing for greater speed, and were more active. As a result of these sorts of adaptations the rate at which cane toads spread has been increasing ever since they were introduced.

Darwin’s Finches

This is not going to be a simple recap of Darwin’s original observations of adaptation amongst the finches of the Galapagos. These finches are still helping evolution be understood. Peter and Rosemary Grant studied the finches on one of the Galapagos Islands, and have observed evolutionary change caused by direct competition of two rival species. The medium ground finch was well established on the isle of Daphne, and had been studied in depth. Its beak was suited perfectly for cracking large nuts. In 1982, the large ground finch from a neighboring island arrived. These larger finches could drive away the native medium ground finches and would eat all the large nuts. Over the period of study, the medium ground finches of Daphne island were found to have developed smaller beaks more suited to the smaller nuts, ignored by the invading larger finches. This is a classic study in evolutionary biology.

Butterflies and Parasites

Studying evolution can take decades, but occasionally change happens incredibly rapidly. The Blue Moon Butterfly (Hypolimnas bolina) of the Samoan islands was being attacked by a parasite which destroyed male embryos. This led to a gender imbalance whereby males made up only 1% of the butterfly population. However, within ten generations (~1 year) males had returned to 40% of the population. This is not because the parasite has disappeared, it is still present, but it is no longer deadly to male embryos. This case shows how a mutation giving an advantage can rapidly spread throughout a population. Any male with the ability to survive infection would be able to mate with a great many females, due to the paucity of other males, and spread his immunity through the gene pool.

Evolution in the Lab

As the huge array of drug resistant pathogens grows we are learning that evolution is easiest to observe in species with a quick generation turnover. Since 1988, in the lab of Richard Lenski, the evolution of twelve E. coli populations from a single ancestor strain has been studied. Since then, over 50,000 generations of E. coli have been and gone, and the differences between the populations and each population from the ancestor strain have been documented. With samples of each population taken regularly the accumulated genetic changes can be followed with ease. Over time the bacteria have become far more efficient at growing under the conditions used. This study has provided evidence of how evolution actually occurs. One of the populations developed the ability to utilize citrate as a nutrient, something otherwise unknown in E. coli under similar conditions. “Life Evolves!” This quote is from a brilliant letter Lenski wrote to a particularly odious creationist.

The Peppered Moth

I’ll start this list with a classic example of evolution which can be found in many textbooks. Originally, the vast majority of peppered moths (Biston betularia) had a light, mottled coloring which was a good camouflage against predators. Before the industrial revolution, a uniformly dark variant of the peppered moth made up 2% of the species. After the industrial revolution, 95% of peppered moths showed this dark coloration. The best explanation as to why this change in the species occurred is that the light moths lost their advantage of camouflage as light surfaces were darkened by pollution, and so light moths were eaten more frequently by birds. The peppered moth as an example of evolution has been attacked recently, usually as to the cause of the shift in coloration, but the example still stands as a major shift in a species caused by mutations leading to variation and natural selection.

Wonderful eye manipulation

2012-05-03T03:47:00.001-07:00

As you know photo manipulation is one of the oldest retouching techniques in the world of photography and deals with a combination of graphic design and photography. Because of this, most of the photos that have gone through this method of photo editing give an appearance of illusion that could mostly be found in photo art. Hope you will enjoy our collection of creative eye manipulation images.

Examples of species

2012-05-01T05:05:00.001-07:00

A Lazarus species, or taxon, is one which is thought to be extinct, only to reappear. The coelecanth is possibly the most famous example, but this list looks at some of the more recent rediscoveries, to highlight that work is still going on and exciting discoveries are being made all the time. The list includes, mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. It is far from being a definitive list, more a sample of what is out there. The species are listed in no particular order.

Bavarian Pine Vole

Microtus bavaricus

Thought extinct: 1962
Rediscovered: 2000/2001
Current status: Critically Endangered

The rediscovery of this small rodent, indigenous to the Alpine regions of Bavaria, Austria and Italy, is interesting as it shows how long it can sometimes take for a creature previously considered extinct to be recognized as extant. The mammal was last recorded in 1962, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, which at that time was the vole’s only known location. It was feared extinct in the 1980s, when the last of the meadows which it inhabited were paved over and built on. However, a population of the animals was discovered in the Austrian Tyrol in 1976/77, but these were not confirmed as being

Bavarian Pine Voles until 2000. Coincidentally, the following year, Frederike Spitzenberger, a Viennese research scientist, discovered a live specimen in a trap, and further DNA tests proved that this creature was, indeed, a Bavarian pine vole. Its current population is sadly decreasing, and less than 50 individuals have been collected. It is considered locally extinct in Germany, and found only in one location in the Rofan Mountains, Northern Tyrol, Austria.

Mount Diablo Buckwheat

Eriogonum truncatum

Thought extinct: 1936
Rediscovered: 2005
Current status: Critically Threatened

This inconspicuous, little pink flower is probably not the most exciting of species, but it became a “holy grail” for botanists in the East Bay area. The flower is one of only three species of plant that are endemic to Mount Diablo in Northern California, and was last sighted in 1936, and presumed extinct due to its habitat being overrun with introduced grasses. Survey trips were conducted on the mountain, but were unsuccessful in finding the plant until 2005, when graduate student Michael Park took a different route from his usual survey and hiked out to a more remote area. There, he stumbled upon about 20 of the plants. Today, the plant is still considered critically threatened, though seeds collected from the 2005 samples have grown successfully at UC Botanical Gardens at Berkeley.

Lord Howe Stick Insect

Dryococelus australis

Thought extinct: 1930
Rediscovered: 2001
Current status: Critically Endangered

This large stick insect was dubbed “the rarest insect in the word” on its rediscovery, as only 30 individuals were found. They were rediscovered on one small uninhabited islet called Ball’s Pyramid, in the Lord Howe island group. These large, wingless insects were once very common on the islands, but the population dwindled after rats landed when a supply ship, the SS Makambo, ran aground there and they became the rodents’ main source of food. Hopes that the animals had survived were rekindled when newly dead specimens were found by climbers in the 1960s. Living specimens were found in February 2001. Today there are about 450 individuals, with some being returned to their original habitat of Lord Howe Island. There are also plans to eradicate the rat population to give the insects a chance to flourish.

Black Kokanee

Oncorhynchus nerka kawamurae

Thought extinct: 1940
Rediscovered: 2010
Current status: Insufficient Information

This Japanese fish, a subspecies of salmon, was thought to have become extinct in 1940, when its only native habitat, Lake Tazawa, was fitted with a hydro electric project, making its water more acidic. Although eggs were transported to Lake Saiko, about 300 miles away, this was thought to have been unsuccessful until 2010, when scientist Tetsuji Nakabo and a team of researchers at Kyoto University found living specimens in Lake Saiko.

Painted Frog

Atelopus ebenoides

Thought extinct: 1995
Rediscovered: 2006
Current status: Critically Endangered

Native only to Colombia, this amphibian, before its rediscovery, was last sighted in 1995, and was thought to have been a victim of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis which has contributed to a global decline in amphibian populations. Attempts to locate the animal proved fruitless until May 2006, when it was spotted by Professor Carlos Rocha and a team of researchers from Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia. The rediscovery gave hope to scientists that some amphibians were developing resistance to the disease.

World's biggest explosions

2012-04-29T21:32:00.001-07:00

There is something very fascinating about watching the destructive beauty of things blowing up. It seems that every decent action movie has to have some kind of spectacular explosion. However, in real life there have been many kinds of explosions, and many are greater than the biggest ones in movies. Here is a brief list of the biggest explosions known to mankind.

Minor Scale

Type: Largest man-made conventional explosion

Minor Scale was a test performed by the United States, on June 27, 1985. The United States Defense Nuclear agency detonated almost 5,000 tons of ammonium nitrate fuel oil, to simulate the effect of a nuclear weapon. The main purpose was to see how a small nuclear weapon would

affect military hardware. In the photograph, an F-4 Phantom can be seen in the wake of the explosion. An interesting fact: There is a dispute about whether or not this was, in fact, the largest conventional explosion. The Heligoland explosion was carried out by Great Britain when the Royal Navy detonated 6,700 tons of left over arsenal from WWII. While the Guinness Book of Records records Heligoland as being larger, the yield of Minor Scale was greater by about half a kiloton of TNT.

Tunguska Event

Type: Largest impact in recorded history

On June 30, 1908, there was a large explosion above the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, in Russia. The explosion created an estimated yield of 10-15 megatons of TNT, or about 1,000 times the yield of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan. While there are a good number of conspiracy theories as to what caused the explosion, the majority of the scientific community agrees that it was caused by a meteoroid exploding in mid-air. Even though the meteoroid exploded in mid-air, the event is still considered an impact. The explosion is believed to have occurred in mid-air because, even though there have been several searches for it, no one has ever been able to find the crater. However, there was an area of about 2,150 square km where trees were bent away from the hypocenter of the blast.

Tsar Bomba

Type: Largest man-made explosion

Tsar Bomba was a hydrogen bomb developed by the Soviet Union, and tested on October 30, 1961. With a yield of 57 megatons, it was the most powerful man-made explosion ever. The bomb was actually originally intended to be more around 100 megatons, but the fallout of such a device would have been too problematic. Even though Tsar Bomba was detonated in the very remote location of the Novaya Zemlya island chain, north of the Russian mainland, it still caused a great deal of collateral damage. A village 55 km from the test site was completely leveled. Damage to buildings occurred as far away as Norway and Finland. The explosion created a mushroom cloud 64 km high, and a shockwave that was still detectable on its third passage around the earth.

Mount Tambora Eruption

Type: Largest Earthbound explosion recorded by humans

On April 5, 1815, Mt. Tambora erupted in Sambawa, Indonesia, creating the most powerful explosion ever witnessed by humans in historic times. The Tambora eruption is estimated to have unleashed the equivalent of 800 megatons of TNT, making it about 14 times more powerful than Tsar Bomba. The eruption was heard as far away as Sumatra, which is 2,600 km away. Before the eruption, Mt. Tambora was 4.3 km tall, but after it was only 2.85 km tall. The volcano created an ash column 43 km high, and dispersed ash into the stratosphere and around the globe. This ash blocked out the Sun and caused the year 1816 to be the second coldest year in recorded history. Crop failures and famines occurred all over Europe and North America. It is estimated that about 10,000 people died directly from the eruption, and that about 70,000 died from the resulting climate change.

Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Event

Type: Largest known Earthbound explosion

About 65 million years ago, an event known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary Event caused the extinction of many organisms, but is most famous for causing the extinction of the dinosaurs. Many scientists believe that this was caused by an asteroid impact that created the Chicxulub Crater located off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. It is estimated that the explosive force of this impact would have been the equivalent of 96 teratons of TNT, or about 1.7 million Tsar Bombas. This would make the impact the greatest explosion to ever occur on earth, for which there is sufficient geological evidence. The impact would have caused climate change, much like Mt. Tambora but much more drastic, and this climate change is believed to be what ultimately killed the dinosaurs.

GRB 080319B

Type: Largest explosion ever directly witnessed by humans

Gamma-ray bursts are among the most violent known events in the universe. The exact cause of Gamma-ray bursts is not fully understood, although most astronomers hold that they are linked to extremely large supernovae. Gamma-ray bursts usually last 20 to 40 seconds and shine gamma-rays (hence the name) in a relatively narrow direction. Gamma-ray bursts are extremely rare, with one occurring every few hundred thousand years in each galaxy. On March 19, 2008, a gamma-ray burst called GRB 080319B occurred, and was visible to the naked eye for about 30 seconds. The explosion took place 7.5 billion light-years away, making the most distant object viewable without a telescope. The explosion is estimated to have generated the equivalent of 2Ã—1034 tons of TNT, or about the equivalent of 10,000 times the Sun’s weight in TNT detonating all at once.

SN2006gy

Type: Largest known supernova

On September 16, 2006, the largest known supernova, SN2006gy, was discovered. Supernovae occur when stars run out of fuel, collapse on themselves, and then explode. Extremely large supernovae, or hypernovae, are among the most violent events in the universe, and are believed by many to be the source of gamma-ray bursts. SN2006gy occurred 230 million light years away, when a star about 150 times as massive as the Sun collapsed on itself. The amount of energy output by this hypernova is estimated to be approximately equivalent to 2.5Ã—1035 tons of TNT, which is roughly the same amount of energy put out by all the stars in the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies in one minute. An interesting fact: Because hypernova are usually caused by very large stars, there is usually enough remaining material from the star to continue collapsing after the explosion. This remaining material will sometimes collapse until its volume reaches zero. This means that many hypernova form black holes.

GRB 080916C

Type: Largest true explosion ever

The universe is a big place. Astronomically large objects are difficult to comprehend, and the largest known explosion, GRB 080916C is no different. GRB 080916C was a gamma-ray burst that was first recorded on September 16, 2008. The burst occurred about 12.2 billion light-years away and lasted 23 minutes, which is a very long duration for a gamma-ray burst. For those 23 minutes, the gamma-ray burst was putting out more energy than most galaxy superclusters. It is estimated that the blast had the equivalent amount of energy of 2Ã—1038 tons of TNT. That’s the same as a trillion Tsar Bombas going off every second for 110 billion years, or about 7,000 times the amount of energy that the Sun is expected to put out in its lifetime.

Big Bang

Type: Largest “explosion” ever

It’s only appropriate that the Big Bang be number one. However, the Big Bang was technically not an explosion. An explosion occurs when matter moves through space from a high pressure point to a low pressure point, and does so very, very rapidly. However, the Big Bang involved space itself expanding rapidly, not matter expanding through space. In fact, because the universe is still expanding, one could argue that the Big Bang is still occurring. Another misconception about the Big Bang Theory is that it does not explain how the universe began, or how matter and energy first came to be. It only explains how space rapidly expanded about 5.4Ã—10-44 seconds after the universe began.

FOAB

Type: Largest explosion created by a non-nuclear weapon

FOAB (Father of all Bombs) is a Russian tactical weapon, designed to detonate in mid-air and deliver an incinerating shockwave to the target area below it. The bomb yields the equivalent of 44 Tons of TNT, making it about as powerful as the smallest nuclear weapons in existence. However, FOAB does not generate the radioactive fallout that nuclear weapons do. FOAB is part of a “miniature arms race” between the United States and Russia. In 2003, the United States developed MOAB (Massive Ordinance Air Blast Bomb) which is a similar device with a yield of 11 tons of TNT. MOAB was quickly termed the “Mother of all Bombs” in accordance with its acronym. In an apparent response, Russia developed its “Father of all Bombs”, in 2007, which it claims is four times as powerful and slightly lighter in weight. However, the United States Military is dubious of these claims, and says that it is very possible that the film that Russia released of the test was doctored, and that several of the “facts” about the bomb were exaggerated for propaganda purposes.

Universe natural phenomenon

2012-04-27T04:48:00.002-07:00

Geysers

Geysers are a spectacular demonstration of the power of the Earth under our feet. Geysers are hot springs which, by a build up of pressure, erupt periodically and shoot water into the air. Geysers occur worldwide but over half of the world’s geysers occur in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone hosts the world’s tallest geyser, Steamboat, which shoots water up to 90m into the air. Geysers can, like most natural phenomena, be somewhat unpredictable and this has proved deadly when people wishing to see an eruption get too close in a fit of impatience. For a

guaranteed geyser eruption Old Faithful in Yellowstone probably offers the best bet for tourists in America. Strokkur on Iceland erupts far more often than Old Faithful and can rival that geyser for height in major eruptions though.

Fire Whirls

Tornadoes are terrifying events, but add fire and they become spectacularly terrifying. Fire whirls occur when the heat from a fire drive the air above it in such a way as to form a vortex with the cooler air outside. If this vortex acquires a vertical spin then a fire whirl, a vortex sucking flames upwards, will form. Fire whirls can be incredibly dangerous as they may pick up burning debris and so spread the flames. When Tokyo was struck by an earthquake in 1923 an enormous fire whirl was created by the massive numbers of burning wooden buildings. The whirl was a major factor in the burning to death of 38,000 people. Smaller whirls are commonly seen at the front of fires in grasslands.

Light Pillars

In very cold weather, when ice crystals are suspended in the atmosphere, light pillars may form in the sky. The light pillars form around natural light sources, like the setting sun or moon, but can also be created by man-made light. The ice crystals serve to reflect light back at us and, as we cannot see the crystals, trick us into believing there is a pillar of light in the sky. The higher the ice crystals, the taller the light pillar will appear.

Maelstroms

Maelstroms, hugely powerful whirlpools, have a long history in fiction as being terrible dangers to sailors. In real life there have never been any cases of large ships being sunk by maelstroms. The swirling masses of water in maelstroms, usually driven by unusually strong tides, are impressive. The Corryvreckan on the west coast of Scotland can be heard miles away as huge waves up to fifteen feet high crash back into the sea. Huge whirlpools have always attracted adventurous souls and the Corryvreckan was first swum by George Orwell’s one-legged brother-in-law. Maelstroms can be found world wide and chartering boats to them has become a popular tourist activity.

Sand Storms

Sand storms are spectacular to look at but devastating to be in. Dust or sand storms have always bedeviled desert travelers who may become lost in them or even smothered by the sand they deposit. Sand storms occur when a strong wind whips up soil and sand particles into the atmosphere and carry them away. Sand storms can be so large that they are visible from space. Each year forty million tons of dust are carried from the Sahara to the Amazon basin. The carrying away of top soil can destroy agriculture or deposit necessary minerals. A wall of dust billowing out of the desert is one of the great images of the power of nature.

Solar Eclipses

The Earth is special in that we have a moon which, at times of eclipse, will perfectly cover the disc of the Sun. This happens because the Sun’s diameter is approximately 400 times larger than that of the Moon, but the Sun is also 400 times further away from it. During a total solar eclipse the corona, a plasma layer around the Sun, becomes visible. Eclipses have fascinated mankind since the dawn of time, but have been understood and predicted for thousands of years. Now, with the ability to travel the globe, there are tourists who will travel to wherever the next total eclipse will occur.

Aurora

In my opinion there is no greater natural spectacle than the Aurorae. I first saw them while standing on a frozen lake in the north of Finland. We had left our little fire hut on the shore because a very faint green glow could be seen over the treetops. As we watched, a wall of green swept silently across the sky, flecked with pink lines. When you see a picture of the aurorae you do not get the sense of motion or scale. The aurorae occur when particles, ejected on the solar wind, are channeled by the Earth’s electromagnetic field into the atmosphere. As the particles strike the atmosphere they ionize atoms which then release light. Some people report hearing a crackling sound when aurorae are particularly intense, but this has never been confirmed.

Monarch Butterfly Migration

The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) provides one of the most beautiful of all animal displays. Individually they are a pretty orange and black, but when they mass for migration they fill the air with color. The migration path of the butterflies covers a large part of North America. The migration is prompted by the fragility of the butterflies to cold and so, as winter approaches, they head south. In these warmer areas the butterflies overwinter in large groups that may cover whole trees. No one individual will survive the whole migratory route due to the butterflies’ ephemeral nature. Their descendants will, however, continue to put on this beautiful migratory display.

Enchanting eggs

2012-04-26T04:49:00.000-07:00

Bacteria and other tiny cells merely divide in two to reproduce, but more complex creatures need more complex means of reproduction. Animals use eggs in one form or other; however, most are not very similar to the familiar breakfast food many of us enjoy. Animal eggs are as different and varied in their structure as the animals who made them.

Octopus Eggs

Octopuses string their soft, translucent eggs up on overhangs of rock or coral. The females lay hundreds of thousands of eggs at a time and will stay to guard them against hungry predators until they hatch. This often takes so long that she begins to starve and some octopuses will eat their own arms to survive. Once her thousands of tiny offspring are hatched, they feed on

microscopic organisms like plankton until they grow large enough to live on the sea floor as adults. The mother, often disabled, will generally be eaten by a predator once she leaves her lair because she has grown too weak to defend herself.

Fish Eggs

Unlike sharks and octopuses, most fish do not have sex. The female lays or releases unfertilized eggs and the male injects them with sperm. In some species, the male and female might never even meet each other. Although some fish, like the octopus, will stay to protect the eggs, most have nothing more to do with them and leave them to develop on their own. Millions of soft eggs are laid at once, so even hungry predators will not destroy all of them before they hatch. Some eggs are laid on secure surfaces like rocks whereas others drift freely in the water, sometimes for up to hundreds of kilometers. Free-floating eggs are called ichthyoplankton and some are able to swim even before they hatch.

Bird Eggs

Female birds and most reptiles lay internally fertilized eggs and most will protect them until they hatch, often in a specially-constructed nest. Even after hatching, the offspring are often helpless and require still more care. Bird egg shells are made from calcium carbonate, which is also the major component of sea shells and pearls. For camouflage, some egg shells are colored or patterned with various other chemicals. Eggs often are slightly pinched at one end due to compression they experience inside their mother. This is useful for many birds as it makes the eggs roll around in a circle rather than irretrievably away. Many birds keep their eggs warm by sitting on them. A few birds sneakily lay their eggs in other birds’ nests so that the egg’s unwitting foster parents will put in the work instead. Some birds, such as hens, will lay unfertilized eggs which are a large food source for humans.

Dinosaur Eggs

Dinosaur eggs sometimes contain fossilized baby dinosaurs inside, and offer a fantastic look into the past. Dinosaur eggs have many shapes. Some are elongated spheres, similar to many modern medical tablets. Others are teardrops, and still more are spherical. Some dinosaurs laid many eggs in a nest and protected them while others laid eggs indiscriminately before abandoning them. There are many types of dinosaur eggs, and only some have a similar shell to modern bird or reptile eggs. They can be much larger than the eggs of any extant animal, with the largest being over 60cm long and 20cm wide. Even this is much smaller than the full adult size of many dinosaurs, due to the nature of eggs limiting their size. Eggshells contain tiny pores to allow gases into the embryo inside. An egg that is too large needs a thicker shell to support its own weight, which prevents the pores from allowing the embryo to breathe.

Sponge and Jelly Eggs

Sponges, jellies, and corals produce eggs in a similar way to most fish. They do not have males and females. Instead, simple male and female organs both occur on a single creature, which release eggs and sperm into the water. Some reproduce asexually, without even the male and female organs, by simply releasing some of their cells to grow directly into new individuals without needing to be fertilized. Some sponges and jellies can reproduce if they are broken up into pieces, where each piece broken off them grows into a new individual. In some species of sponges, if you were to slice one up finely and spread out the fragments, they would merge back together and reform. If you spread them out far enough, each fragment would simply grow into a new sponge.

Insect Eggs

Female insects often store sperm from a single mating to use for every subsequent fertilization, so many males die after their only mating. Insects will lay many eggs at once, and sometimes construct extravagant nests or nurseries for them. The eggs themselves can be stunningly shaped or camouflaged. Some eggs are laid in water and the newborn insects are adapted to spending the first portion of their life aquatically before emerging into the air. Many insects will care for their eggs after they are laid, with some ants and termites even controlling the humidity and pH for them.

Amphibian Eggs

Most amphibians begin the first parts of their lives in water but as adults live on land. Their eggs are therefore often laid in water, surrounded by a gel to keep them all together. When they hatch, the offspring are called ‘tadpoles’ and have gills but no legs. They swim around like fish, although initially they also lack a mouth and live directly off the yolk left over from their egg by absorbing it through their skin. Eventually, tadpoles grow mouths, legs, lungs, lose their tail, and become fully adult. Some frogs carry their eggs about to protect them or if there is not enough water around. A small number of amphibians become tadpoles and grow into tiny adults before they even hatch, so they do not need to live in the water at all.

Monotreme Eggs

Monotremes are thought to have evolved from reptiles and were the ancestors of modern mammals. The only living monotremes today are platypuses and echidnas. They are warm-blooded, have hair, and produce milk, so they are mammals. However, not like other mammals, they lay eggs. Unlike most birds and reptiles, while the egg is still inside a mother monotreme, she supplies it with a small amount of nutrition from her own body, similar to other mammals. Monotreme eggs are small, white, and spherical. They are laid in small numbers and are fastidiously cared for by their mother in her burrow until 4 to 6 months after hatching. Platypuses keep their eggs warm by curling their tail over them whereas echidnas warm them by tucking them in a small fold of skin across their stomachs. Monotremes do not have nipples to produce milk from, so instead they sweat milk which their newly-hatched young drink.

Vivipary

Vivipary is giving birth to live young. Sometimes, true eggs are still created but are kept inside the mother’s body until they hatch and the infants emerge. This occurs in relatively few species of snakes, fish, cockroaches, scorpions, and various other animals. In seahorses, the eggs are transferred from the female to the male, and he carries them until they hatch. In mammals, the egg shells do not form at all, and the embryo is developed directly inside the mother, who provides it with nutrients from her body via a placenta except in marsupials, where the infant is born while still an embryo and nursed in a pouch. Vivipary requires much more energy from the mother than oviparity (egg-laying), but it allows longer and finer development which is restricted by eggs and so more complex offspring are possible. Vivipary leads naturally to parental involvement by teaching their offspring, allowing still more complex and specifically-adapted behavior to be learned. Oviparous animals are mostly born with all the knowledge and skills they need genetically wired into them, but a mammal can be taught. To varying extents, a mammal can therefore learn to live in a much greater range of environments than can a single species of oviparous animal.

Shark Eggs

Most sharks and skates lay strangely shaped eggs sometimes called a ‘mermaid’s purse.’ These consist of an egg case in a thin capsule made of collagen. They often are square or rectangular with stringy or pointy corner horns, but can come in a variety of odd shapes. A few sharks, such as the Port Jackson shark, have helical egg cases which are secured into the sand like drill bits. Shark eggs can wash up on the beach and are often hand-sized, although the largest recorded was over 2m long. Female sharks lay fertilized eggs onto the sea floor where they stay until they hatch, not needing any more attention from their mother. Some shark eggs contain several baby sharks which cannibalize each other before hatching to ensure that only the strongest baby survives.

Survivors against nature

2012-04-22T03:07:00.000-07:00

The day is beautiful and the sun is shining. You decide to go on a short hike to more fully enjoy this warm day. You know a great spot that many people don’t know about. You pack lightly as you don’t plan to be out for too long. A few bottles of water, snacks, cell phone, and MP3 player is with you as you arrive at your desolate location.

Time passes by quickly as you are enjoying your time and it is almost dark. You decide it’s time to leave but on the way, you trip and fall down a 50 foot cliff, resulting in a broken leg and immobility.

You try to call for help with your cell phone but it is not getting a signal. Your water and food is almost out and you won’t survive long out here. What do you do? How badly do you want to live?

Steven Callahan

“At sea I am reminded of my insignificance – of all men’s insignificance. It is a wonderful feeling to be so humbled.”

Steven Callahan sailed out from the Canary Islands on a small slope he built himself. Six days later on his trip, the boat sank due to damage from a collision with an unknown object at night.

He later said that he suspected the object was a whale. He escaped from the boat and onto a life raft that measured about six feet across.

He managed to survive until his rescue, 76 days later. He was faced with sharks, sunburn, raft punctures, physical deterioration and mental agony. For food, he speared fish and captured birds and barnacles. He lost a third of his weight during this time. When his raft formed a leak, he managed to keep it afloat for 33 days until his rescue.

Colby Coombs

“I just had to keep my eyes open and ignore the pain.”

In June 1992, Colby Coombs and two of his friends were climbing Alaska’s 17,240-foot Mt. Foraker. An avalanche happened and the three were caught inside. Coombs and his friends were forced down 800 feet on the side of the mountain and they crashed into a river of snow. Coombs’ friends did not survive the ordeal.

Coombs suffered a concussion, a fractured ankle, two fractured vertebrae in his neck, and a broken shoulder blade. The next six days were difficult. He descended from his location followed by a five mile walk across a glacier until he finally reached a camp. He continues to climb today.

Eric Le Marque

“I remember falling back into the snow, looking at my feet and going, ‘You’re going to lose your feet.’”

Eric Le Marque, a member of France’s Olympic hockey team, was lost for seven days in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. Being an avid snowboarder, he was boarding at California’s Mammoth Mountain until a blizzard threw him off course. He failed to find his way back before dark. He spent the night in the woods and attempted to hike back the next day. However, he ended up venturing deeper into the woods.

He had few supplies with him, having only a MP3 player, his snowboard, and his clothes. For food he had pine nuts and bark. For water he drank melted snow and river water. He used his snowboard to dig igloos. He became hypothermic and his frostbitten feet were black and purple. After falling into rushing water, he almost fell down an 80-foot waterfall. Amazingly, Le Marque used his MP3 player to find a radio signal which he used like a compass. Due to the tissue damage to his lower body, most parts of his legs had to be amputated.

Tami Oldham Ashcraft

“When the wind’s howling that hard, it’s picking up spray right off the top of the water. There’s so much spray, you can hardly see anything. It’s like being in a blizzard.”

In 1983, Tami Oldham Ashcraft and her boyfriend, Richard Sharp, were on a 44-foot sailboat. They were en route to San Diego from Tahiti when disaster struck. They were battered by a category four hurricane. Waves were as high as 50 feet and winds were fierce, blowing at more than 160 miles per hour. The boat was capsized and Ashcraft was knocked out below deck. She regained consciousness 27 hours later and discovered Sharp was missing.

Alone at sea and mourning her boyfriend, things seemed hopeless. However, Ashcraft fought to survive. She used celestial navigation to plot a way to Hawaii which was 1,500 miles away. She rationed food and cobbled together a mast and sail. She finally reached Hilo Harbor 41 days later.

Ricky Megee

“If you have to [drink urine], I suggest you let it cool down first. It doesn’t taste very nice.”

Ricky Megee stopped to help a couple whose car had broken down. Next, he was waking up with rocks and dirt covering him. The pit was meant to be his final resting place. He claimed to have been drugged and robbed by the couple. Megee suffered from exposure and malnutrition for the next two months. His diet consisted of leeches, lizards, insects, frogs, and snakes. He was forced to drink his urine when he couldn’t find rain puddles to drink from. He weighed 230 pounds before he got lost and weighed 105 pounds at his rescue. The man who found and rescued him described him as a walking skeleton.

Aron Ralston

“Judging by my degradation in the last 24 hours, I’ll be surprised if I make it to Tuesday.”

Could you amputate your arm with a dull knife to survive? Aron Ralston could, and did. On May 1, 2003, an 800 pound boulder fell onto his arm and trapped him in a Utah canyon wall.

After being stuck in the same spot for five days with food and water supplies almost gone, Ralston took desperate steps to ensure his survival. He used the boulder to snap his bones. He then used his two inch dull pocket knife to agonizingly cut the tendons and muscles of his trapped arm. The cutting process took about an hour. He was finally free from the boulder. He rappelled down a 65-foot wall one handed and walked in the hot midday sun back to his car. On the way he was found by a family and given water while rescuers were on the way.

A film was made about this story called “127 Hours” and I recommend you see it.

Bethany Hamilton

“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.”

On a morning in November 2003, Bethany Hamilton went to Makau Beach in Hawaii to surf. At the time she was a 13 year old competitive surfer. She was lying on her surf board with her arms dangling in the water when a 12-15 foot tiger shark attacked her. Hamilton’s left arm was ripped off just below the shoulder.

Instead of panicking and possibly drowning, Hamilton paddled over to her friends using her intact arm. She even made sure to warn others in the water, shouting that there was a shark. Her friends helped her paddle to shore and she was taken to the hospital. Despite this event, Hamilton was surfing again the next month.

James Morrow

“I think my head was so far down his throat that I touched his taste buds.”

45 year old James Morrow has been where few want to be: inside the jaws of a hungry alligator. Morrow was snorkeling in Florida’s Juniper Run. He was adjusting his snorkel when an alligator seized him by the throat and violently shook him for 10-20 seconds before releasing him. He was eventually helped onto a boat by his friends.

The force of the alligator’s jaws punctured his chest and collapsed one of his lungs. Dents are still visible on his head and bite marks are still visible on his neck. All he was able to do during the attack was to punch the alligator on the throat. The snorkeling mask still on his face saved him from obtaining any more serious damage, such as a punctured eye.

Kootoo Shaw

“I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to be gone.”

Working as a hunting guide, Kootoo Shaw was helping a group of hunters from Wisconsin. They were three days into a hunt. While Shaw was sleeping in a tent, a polar bear targeted him at about four o’clock in the morning.

“He had his claws under my neck for a while, I could hear his breathing, then he let his claws off and he was still jumping on top of me, up and down four times,” he recalled. Another hunter shot and killed the bear. Shaw suffered horrific injuries. He suffered numerous slashes and bites. He required nearly 300 stitches to reattach his scalp.

Yossi Ghinsberg

“The toughest moment was after a few days, when I realized that I was completely alone.”

Yossi Ghinsberg and three other men went to the Amazon jungle. They ventured out to find a hidden tribe. The environment was harsh and tensions built up between the group. The group eventually broke up. Ghinsberg remained with Kevin, while the other two, Marcus and Karl, stuck together. Ghinsberg and Kevin took a raft but lost control of it as it came towards a mighty waterfall. Kevin made it to shore but Ghinsberg floated downstream and over the waterfall, narrowly escaping a watery death.

The following 19 days were full of challenges for Ghinsberg. He survived a late night encounter with a jaguar by setting fire to an insect repellent spray – spewing fire like a flamethrower. Swarms of termites feasted on patches of his skin and clothes when he urinated on himself out of exhaustion. He ate fruit and raw eggs from chicken nests in the jungle. He almost drowned by a flood and almost sank in a bog.

He was finally found by Kevin, who had formed a search party with the locals. Marcus and Karl were never found.

Incredible laptop designs

2012-04-19T00:45:00.002-07:00

Technology grows too fast and to keep ourselves synchronized with the modern trends, we must take into account every progress whether that may be of past or of the future.

Compiled below is a list of the most futuristic concept laptop designs, some of which have won achievement awards while the rest are just too cool to know about.

Take a look and let us know which one of these do you think will most likely embrace reality in coming times.

Vaio Zoom

Vaio Zoom notebook features a holographic glass screen that goes transparent and a keyboard that turns opaque when turned off. Turn it on and the touchscreen holographic festivities begin.

DesCom

DesCom is basically a two-in-one concept laptop which seamlessly integrates inside a desk.

MacTab

MacTab is the complement to MyBook in the high-end. The incredibly thin wireless keyboard is used as a protection cover for transportation. It stays in place with a combination of magnets and notches.

LG Ecological Laptop Concept

LG Ecological laptop concept uses fuel cell batteries and features organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology, it received a Red Dot Award nomination for best concept design.

Compenion Laptop Concept

Compenion concept laptop by Felix Schmidberger consists of two sliding OLED screens, one of which can be used as a keyboard, where necessary.

Samsung Amoled Concept

AMOLED concept notebook by Samsung features a unique design which is thin and sleek and a touch-sensitive keyboard which lacks tactile feedback.

Traveller Concept Laptop

Traveller concept laptop is a GPS enabled navigation system for pedestrians with internal storage to save photos or data and built-in Geotagging functionality so you always know where you took your photos.

Canvas Laptop Concept

Canvas is a futuristic concept laptop that is supposed to provide a better quality for the designer and also its said that it will raise the productive rate of the artist. It will feature a very thin touchscreen and the other components will look just about the same but they will be better adjusted.

Macbook 0801

Macbook 0801 concept laptop by Isamu Sanada is more like a black version of the now Macbook Air. It also features an ultra-thin keyboard and a very sleek design.

Canova Dual Screen Laptop

Canova Dual Screen Laptop possesses two screens, a multi sensitive touch screen and is very easy to use. Not only can it be used to handle your daily computing tasks but it also lets you read articles on your laptop in the old-school newspaper fashion.

Beautiful anime figures

2012-04-18T02:20:00.001-07:00

As you know that anime is a Japanese Origin animation. They called animation with an abbreviated word anime. We have a collection of figures of famous anime female Sword-Wielding Characters. If you look closely into the figure, you will notice that every detail is well-thought out and beautifully crafted. Moreover, it can also be observed that the quality of the material used to build it is superb and flawless.

Most beautiful gardens

2012-04-15T23:09:00.000-07:00

Recreation has always been a source of energy for refreshment but gardens have proved to be the best because. It is the place where you can feel the nature at its closest. Gardens are very necessary for the growth of any healthy society

Singapore Botanic Garden

Considered one of the world’s prettiest botanical gardens, the Singapore Botanic Garden was established in 1859. It is on 128 acres. The National Orchid Garden is in center section, atop the park’s highest point, where more than 60,000 colorful orchids bloom.

Descanso Gardens California

A mere 20 minute drive outside of Los Angeles you’ll find a bucolic paradise with more than 100,000 plants and one of the world’s largest collections of camellias. The gardens and woods of Descanso unfold over 65 hectares of the San Rafael Hills

Butchart Gardens, British Columbia

The Butchart Gardens are a dazzling example of a successful reclamation project. It is spread to 22 hectare tract filled with 700 varieties of plants that bloom from March to October.

Villa D’Este, Italy

Villa d’ Estewas is embellished by one of the most fascinating garden and fountain complexes in the world. It has the Avenue of the Hundred Fountains, where animal heads, lilies, a small boat, basins, and so on all spurt water.

Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C

You might feel as though you’ve stepped into a Merchant-Ivory set in any of the gardens that make up this estate at the north end of Georgetown, one of Washington’s nicest neighborhoods.

Villa Ephrussa de Rothschild, France

It is filled with olive trees and lavender, a lapidary garden, with sculptures too large to be displayed in the villa, and Spanish, Japanese, Florentine, and exotic gardens.

Sourhead Warminister, England

To the English gentry of the 18th century, the more classical something could be the better. Stourhead is a grand example of genteel fascination with the past.

The Master of Nets Garden, China

The residential garden in southeast China, call Wangshiyuan in Chinese, was designed during the Song dynasty. The arrangement of pavilions, halls, music rooms, won some bamboo grooves, and waterside perches is an exercise in natural harmony.

Sans Souci Potsdam, Germany

Frederick the Great of Prussia built this splendid rococo palace as his summer place, where he could live without a care, sans souci. Busts of Roman emperors, decorative statues, and a Chinese tea house dot the lavish grounds.

Versailles, France

The 101 hectares are riddled with paths that lead to flower beds, quiet corners decorated with classical statuary, ornamental lakes.

Marvelous wonders in nature

2012-04-11T05:41:00.002-07:00

Light Pillars

A light pillar is a visual phenomenon created by the reflection of light from ice crystals with near horizontal parallel planar surfaces. They are most commonly seen as sun pillars; however, moonlight and strong artificial light such as street lamps can also form light pillars. The pillar appears as a feather of light that extends vertically above and/or below the light source. Most sun pillars are seen when the sun is low on the horizon (generally no more than 6 degrees above) or just below it.

Catatumbo lightning

The Catatumbo Lightning in Venezuela is the world’s largest single generator of ozone. It is a cloud storm that forms a voltaic arc at more than 5 km of height, during 140 to 160 nights a year, 10 hours per day and up to 280 times per hour, over the bog area that forms where the Catatumbo River flows into the Lake Maracaibo. The phenomenon is easy to see from hundreds of miles away, i.e. from the lake (where no clouds usually occur at night) which is also known as the Lighthouse of Maracaibo, as the boats that sail the area can navigate at night without any problems at the time of sailing.

Cave of the Crystals

Cave of the Crystals) is a cave of the Naica Mine in Chihuahua, Mexico. The chamber contains giant selenite crystals, some of the largest natural crystals ever found. The cave’s largest crystal is 36 ft in length, 13 ft in diameter and 55 tons in weight. The cave is about 98 ft in length and 33 ft in width. The cave is extremely hot with air temperatures reaching up to 109F with 90 to 100 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored because humans can only survive for approximately ten minutes without proper protection. As you can see from the image above, this is one of the most stunning wonders of the natural world.

Pink and White Terraces

This is our second New Zealand item on the list and, sadly, the only item which is now lost to man. The pink and white terraces were considered a natural wonder until they were destroyed by the violent volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. Geothermally heated water containing large amounts of siliceous sinter regularly spouted from two geysers located beside Lake Rotomahana and cascaded down a hill slope, leaving thick pink and white silica deposits that formed terraces enclosing pools of water. The White Terraces were the larger and more beautiful formation, covering 3 hectares and descending 30 metres, while the Pink Terraces were where people went to bathe. The Pink and White terraces have been dubbed by a number of people as “The Eighth Wonder of the World”. Pictured above are people bathing in the warm pools of the terraces.

Penitentes

Penitentes are a snow formation found at high altitudes. They take the form of tall thin blades of hardened snow or ice closely spaced with the blades oriented towards the general direction of the sun. Penitentes can be as tall as a person. Penitentes were first described in the literature by Darwin in 1839. On March 22, 1835, he had to squeeze his way through snowfields covered in penitentes near the Piuquenes Pass, on the way from Santiago de Chile to the Argentinian city of Mendoza, and reported the local belief (continuing to the present day) that they were formed by the strong winds of the Andes.

Weird wedding dresses

2012-04-10T02:18:00.001-07:00

Fret not for rosettes

A model presents a wedding dress from one of Hungary’s most respected fashion designers, Barbara Leber, in Budapest, Hungary.

‘Dynasty’ returns

A model displays a slender body wedding dress with satin bolero sleeves during the Miss Ashida 2010 spring and summer collection designed by Tae Ashida, in Tokyo.

Tube-tied

A model walks the runway during the Famory Cup China Wedding Dress Design Contest at the China Fashion Week Spring/Summer Collection 2009 in Beijing, China.

Tutu-much

A model walks the runway during the Famory Cup China Wedding Dress Design Contest 2008 at the China Fashion Week Spring/Summer Collection 2009 in Beijing, China.

Gaga-worthy

An eccentric creation by German designer Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel during the Fall-Winter 2009 Haute Couture collection show in Paris.

Punch out

A model displays a wedding dress with sporty accessories during a collection of British designer Vivienne Westwood at a boxing stadium in Tokyo.

Belly blast

A model displays a wedding dress from the Esperando collection during the 2008 Bridal Exhibition in Dubai. The show is said to be the largest bridal event in the Middle East.

Marvelous vs drawing photography

2012-04-10T01:45:00.002-07:00

This wonderful work has done by a very talented Belgian painter, illustrator, portraitist, caricaturist and photographer Ben Heine. This creative artist was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He Studied graphic arts and sculpture and I also have a degree in journalism. Lets take a look at some of his awesome works that he calls “Drawing Vs Photography” or “Imagination Vs Reality”.

Realistic paintings

2012-04-07T03:45:00.000-07:00

A realistic painting is meant to be a direct result of what was actually happening at that specific moment in time. It is, however, in keeping with this style for the artist to manipulate compositional elements for the purpose of more clearly communicating the truth of an event without changing its meaning or scope. Here is collection of some amazingly realistic paintings. The artists who created these paintings, I would like to say are most talented and creative artists of the world.

Wonderful highest mountains

2012-04-05T02:27:00.000-07:00

Nature has provided us with numerous places which one when seen make us realize about the power and sovereignty of God. Mountains have turned out to be the most distinctive among them as they provide us with scenery and a feeling of terror as well.

Godwin Austin (K-2)

K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth is located in the Karakoram segment of the Himalayan range region of the Pakistan administered Northern Areas. Its elevation is 8611 meter.

Kangchenjunga

Kanchenjunga translated means The Five Treasures of Snows, as it contains five peaks out of which four of them over 8,450 meters. It is located in Nepal and has an elevation of about 8586 meters.

Lhotse

This peak is connected to Mount Everest via the South Col. In addition to the main summit at 8,516 meters above sea level. The rises 3.2 km in only 2.25 km of horizontal distance makes it the steepest face of this size in the world.

Makalu I

Makalu is located 22 km east of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet. Makalu is an isolated peak whose shape is a four-sided pyramid. Its elevation is 8462 meters.

Cho Oyu

Cho Oyu means “Turquoise Goddess” in Tibetan. It lies 20 km west of Mount Everest, at the border between China and Nepal. Its elevation is 8201 meters.

Dhaulagiri

Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world. Dhaulagiri means “White Mountain”. It’s located in Nepal and has an elevation of 8165 meters.

Manaslu I

Manaslu is derived from the Sanskrit word Manasa and is translated as “Mountain of the Spirit” The subtle changes of the light on the ice of Manaslu are terrific, turning from grey to pink to orange to yellow. It’s located in Nepal and has an elevation of 8165 meters.

Nanga Parbat

Nanga Parbat means “Naked Mountain” which in Sanskrit means “killer Mountain”. It is located in Pakistan and has an elevation of 8125 meters. Luckily I have seen this peak from the very point this picture is taken.

Annapurna I

Annapurna is a Sanskrit name which is translated has Goddess of Harvest. Annapurna I stand at 8091m, making it the 10th-highest summit in the world. The Annapurna peaks are among the world’s most dangerous mountains to climb, with a fatality rate of 40%.

Mount Everest

The highest peak in the world, Mount Everest is also called Sagarmatha means Mother of the Universe or Goddess Mother of the Snows. It is located in Nepal and has an elevation of 8850 meters.

Beautiful realistic human sculptures

2012-04-05T01:45:00.001-07:00

This post features a collection of amazingly realistic sculptures created by Carole Feuerman. Carole is acknowledged as one of the major American realist sculptors. For 30 years, she has owned and operated Feuerman Studios Inc., where she creates her artworks and exhibits both her work and the work of other artists. She was included in “An American Odyssey 1945-1980″ with the most prominent artists of the American post-WWII era.

Bizarre HDR Photography

2012-04-01T01:17:00.002-07:00

Trey Ratcliff is a talented photographer from Austin, USA. Trey has done specialization in new trend called High Dynamic Range photography. HDR enables the photographer to create a color and light palette that goes beyond the normal aperture and shutter speed of the basic shot. HDR normally involves multiple exposures of a scene at different stops (i.e. +4, +2, 0, -2, -4). These images are then processed and tone mapped for contrast and luminosity settings in sort of a techno-custom-software-darkroom until a light balance is achieved. HDR can also be used with single exposures in RAW format with a similar tone mapping process. Just take a look below at some of Trey Ratcliff’s superb HDR photographs, we are sure that you will enjoy our collection.

Marvelous digital painting

2012-03-16T02:27:00.001-07:00

Digital painting is the latest art form that originated from some of the more conventional painting methods including watercolor, oil, and impasto paintings. This involves using digital tools on a computer, such as painting software, to create art. Your computer serves as the canvas, while the software is the equivalent of palette, brushes, paint, and other accessories.

Mexican painter who created striking paintings

2012-03-14T07:37:00.004-07:00

Disability: Polio
Frida Kahlo was a renowned Mexican painter who created striking paintings, most of them being self-portraits reflecting her pain and sorrow. She painted using vibrant colors that were influenced by the cultures of Mexico. She was the first Mexican artist of 20th century whose work was purchased by an international museum. Kahlo contracted polio at age six, which left her right leg thinner than the left, which Kahlo disguised by wearing long, colorful skirts. It has been conjectured that she also suffered from spina bifida, a congenital disease that could have affected both spinal and leg development. Although she recovered from her injuries and eventually regained her ability to walk, she was plagued by relapses of extreme pain for the remainder of her life. The pain was intense and often left her confined to a hospital or bedridden for months at a time.

Amazing hand painting art

2012-03-13T06:48:00.001-07:00

In the world of today, there are many diverse meanings to the word “painting”. Needless to say, there are also loads of coloring compounds that someone can utilize; depending upon the particular art form that they are creating. Body painting is one of the most famous forms of sketching that has become popular in the past few years. Let’s take a look at these fabulous hand painting art by Mario Mariotti an Italian artist from Florence.

Beautiful elephant art parade

2012-03-13T06:42:00.001-07:00

Elephant Parade is a conservation campaign that shines a multi-colored spotlight on the urgent crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant. More than 250 painted elephants festooning the parks, squares and streets central London, it was the biggest and most beautiful outdoor art event the city has ever seen. The Event attracted an estimated audience of 25 million, and benefiting 17 conservation charities in the UK. Elephant Parade Auctions raised over £4 million . All these photographs are taken by Anthony Falla, a professional photographer from London.

Incredible car aerography art

2012-03-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

Aerography is a surrealist method in which a stencil, which would have been used in spraypainting, is replaced by a three-dimensional object. Here are some wonderful examples of car aerography from Moscow car aerography exhibition.

Marvelous humorous art

2012-03-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

Terry Border uses everyday items such as peanuts, Oreos and kiwis, Border utilizes wire hands and feet to make the inanimate objects come to life. What I love most about his work, though, is that it can be enjoyed by everyone. Young or old, we can all get a good chuckle out of his hilarious, bent objects.