Funroster

The Maharajas' Express | The Luxury Train of India

2014-06-16T21:17:00.000+05:00

The Maharajas' Express is owned and operated by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and is the most expensive luxury train in the world. It runs on 5 circuits covering more than 12 destinations across North-West and Central India, mainly centred around Rajasthan between the months of October to April. The Maharajas' Express was voted "The World's Leading Luxury Train" twice, in a row at The World Travel Awards, 2012 & 2013. It is the most expensive luxury train in Asia. It was named to the 2011 list of World's Top 25 Trains by The Society of International Railway Travelers and was praised for its on-board accommodation and dining facilities, service, and off-train excursion program after its review in the Autumn of 2010. Maharajas' Express also bagged first runner up award in the Specialist Train Operators Category at Conde Nast Travelers Reader Choice Travel Award in 2011.

Image credit Simon Pielow

The Tallest Trees on Earth in California

2014-06-16T20:58:00.000+05:00

The Coast Redwood or California Redwood — Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood and California redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1,200–1,800 years or more. This species includes the tallest trees living now on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet (115.5 m) in height (without the roots) and up to 26 feet (7.9 m) in diameter at breast height. Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 2,100,000 acres (8,500 km2) along much of coastal California (excluding southern California where rainfall is not sufficient) and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States. An estimated 95% or more of the original old-growth redwood trees have been cut down due to their excellent properties for use as lumber in construction. The name sequoia sometimes refers to the subfamily Sequoioideae, which includes S. sempervirens along with Sequoiadendron (giant sequoia) and Metasequoia(dawn redwood). On its own, the term redwood usually refers to the coast redwood, which is covered in this article, and not to the other two species.

Image credit Steve Dunleavy

Forcella Lavardet Mountain Pass, Italy

2014-06-16T18:55:00.000+05:00

Forcella Lavardet is a high mountain pass in the Dolomites-Alps range, at an elevation of 1.542m or 5,000 ft above the sea level, located on the municipality of Vigo di Cadore, Italy. Laid here one of the most dangerous steep and dangerous roads in the world. High Alpine Road Forcella Lavardet has 14 sharp turns that seem to lie on one another, gradually climbing up to the top of the pass. And without that dangerous road damaged by landslides in some areas it is not covered with asphalt and gravel. After a series of accidents on the road pass Forsell Lavardet was closed to motorists. Now it is a popular route for cyclists and hikers. In spite of all the danger from the road looks very interesting and even beautiful. Quietly traveling in alpine serpentine Forsell Lavardet can enjoy wonderful views over the picturesque nature of the Italian Alps.

Image credit alsardin

The beautiful oasis in the Sahara desert

2014-06-10T12:46:00.002+05:00

Ubari Lakes in the Libyan part of the Sahara desert on the right are among the most beautiful oasis in the world. The largest of these is Lake Umm Al-Maa, which means "Mother of Waters." The water in it is very salty - concentration can be compared with the water of the Dead Sea. Uniqueness lake also consists in the fact that the lower layers is always very hot water, the temperature sometimes reaches to 100 degrees, and wherein the upper layers are cold. Ubari Lakes - a group of about 20 lakes of the landscape of high dunes and palm trees. To achieve these lakes, tourists usually go to Tkerkiba where excellent camping functions to explore the lake. Depth of the lakes, according to the Libyan Central diving varies from seven meters deep (as in Gabrun) up to 32 meters deep (Ain al-Dibbanah about Ghadames). Some of these lakes are drying up due to drought slowly and artificial drainage. Among the most picturesque lakes Gaberun and Umm al-Maa. Also there are two more beautiful lakes that are rarely visited by tourists. This Umm al-Hisan and Oum El Hassan north Gaberuna.

Image credit virgntn2011

Recent archaeological research has shown the existence of several freshwater lakes in ancient Fezzan, Libya. Some of these lakes were located in the southern regions of the country. Archaeological finds from the area include dark layers of organic matter, shells, axes and other Paleolithic and Neolithic tools and implements, testifying that ancient human activities in Fezzan. These lakes were part of a large network of lakes, including the legendary Tritonis nearby Lake and Lake Chad. The exact dating of the lakes are still not confirmed, but the current study showed that they disappeared about 3,000 years ago. Findings also suggest that the impressive dunes Ubari at least 100,000 years. Numerous lakes covered the eastern and southern regions, and some of them still exist today. The current lake Ubari situated in a little oasis, and represent the remnants of a once great aquatic ecosystem.

Image credit Dusko Dokosic

Horizontal Falls in Australia

2014-06-10T12:32:00.000+05:00

The Horizontal Falls or Horizontal Waterfalls (nicknamed the "Horries") is the name given to a natural phenomenon on the coast of the Kimberley region in Western Australia. The Horizontal Falls are one of the most amazing natural features of the Kimberley region. The tidal waterfallslocated deep within Talbot Bay in the Buccaneer Archipelago are unlike any other waterfall, the water passes horizontally. Although they are called waterfalls, this natural phenomenon actually consists of intense tidal currents hurtling through two narrow coastal gorges. Massive tidal movements create a waterfall effect as water banks up against one side of the narrow cliff passage, to be repeated again on the turning tide.

Image credit Philip Schubert

Amazing Rare Photos From The Past

2014-06-10T08:54:00.001+05:00

Mug shot of Bill Gates when he was arrested for driving without a license

Festival of Music and Light | Sydney, Australia

2014-05-30T12:10:00.001+05:00

Vivid Sydney, a festival of light art, music, and ideas, is going on now in Sydney through June 9, 2014, whose founder is a well-known musician Lou Reed, and helped his wife Laurie Anderson. So it was at first, but now the festival has an impressive team of organizers. It is also noteworthy that the festival has outgrown itself and today is considered a significant event not only for the metropolis. In Sydney attracts thousands of tourists and music fans to take an active part in many related events. We will not focus on the musical part of the festival and offer you some of the most striking images of the light part of the event.

Image credit Matt Weller

Real Gabinete Português de Leitura | Rio de Janeiro

2014-05-29T20:38:00.001+05:00

The Real Gabinete Português de Leitura (in English: Royal Portuguese Reading Room) has the largest and most valuable literary of Portuguese outside Portugal. Constructed between 1880 and 1887, it has more than 350,000 volumes in a library, fully computerized, which brings together rare books from the 16th, 17th and 18th. The library receives a copy of Portugal for each of the works published in the country according to its status of “legal deposit”. Its incredible architecture beauty and its rich collection transport you to the 19th century when you visit this library in Rio de Janeiro.

Image Credit BORIS G

The largest Solar Furnace, France

2014-05-29T20:13:00.001+05:00

The largest Solar Furnace is at Odeillo in the Pyrénées-Orientales in France, opened in 1970. It employs an array of plane mirrors to gather sunlight, reflecting it onto a larger curved mirror. Solar furnace consists of 10000 concave mirrors that reflect and focus the sun's rays on the square diagonal of 40 inches. Diameter mirror construction is 54 meters. An array of mirrors acts as a parabolic reflector, concentrating light into focus. Temperature is in focus, as if in this place at the same time sent 22,000 suns. It can reach 3500 ° C (all depends on the position of the mirrors). Solar furnace used for industrial purposes. With its help generate electricity, melt steel, creating hydrogen fuel and nano-materials.

Image credit Florian

The ancient Greek / Latin term heliocaminus literally means "solar furnace" and refers to a glass-enclosed sunroom intentionally designed to become hotter than the outside air temperature. During the Second Punic War (218 - 202 BC), the Greek scientist Archimedes is said to have repelled the attacking Roman ships by setting them on fire with a "burning glass" that may have been an array of mirrors. An experiment to test this theory was carried out by a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005. It concluded that although the theory was sound for stationary objects, the mirrors would not likely have been able to concentrate sufficient solar energy to set a ship on fire under battle conditions. The first modern solar furnace is believed to have been built in France in 1949 by Professor Félix Trombe. It is now still in place at Mont Louis, near Odeillo. The Pyrenees were chosen as the site because the area experiences clear skies up to 300 days a year. Another solar furnace was built in Uzbekistan as a part of a Soviet Union "Sun" Complex Research Facility impulsed by Academician S.A. Asimov.

Image credit Joseph Giral

Incredible Feather Art by Chris Maynard

2014-05-27T18:31:00.001+05:00

Chris Maynard's, the artist and biologist is interested in bird feathers and tries to make an artistic rendition. Feather designs by Chris Maynard capture the elegance and simplicity of nature in Featherfolio's new, creative art form. Each feather design used as a real feathers natural shed from common and exotic birds to capture the beauty and grace of these exceptional creatures. He said "In my work I try to capture a a feeling of a bird and give meaning in the simplest way, often in a silhouette. this is in part because my medium does not allow for a lot of detail. Feather appear to us as endearingly delicate, but they are actually, like my work quite tough." Chris also make an art in Shadow boxes.

Richest Person In The World 2014

2014-05-27T12:14:00.000+05:00

Who is the richest person in the world is a common question mostly arising in our minds, so we have been making research on the top 10 richest people in the world for the last week, so be ready to have the exact answer. The ranks for the world’s top billionaires are allocated after comparing their worth. -

1. Bill Gates

Brain Will Explode After Seeing These Optical Illusions!

2014-05-26T22:00:00.001+05:00

These squares are actually the same exact color. Hold your finger over the boundary between the two shapes and see them change.

americanscientist.orgThe Cornsweet illusion exploits the brain's lateral inhibition, which creates more contrast between the two objects when they have different colored edges.

These cars look like they're different sizes...

neatorama.com

Top 10 Richest American Athletes

2014-05-26T13:39:00.000+05:00

Athletes exist in a constant state of competition. They’re hardwired into it — that’s why they make the personal sacrifices necessary in order to become professionals in the first place, because they’re determined to prove that they are that good. No one makes it into the highest level of pro sports by accident. Call it Jordan Syndrome.

Call it whatever you want. These athletes are in competition off the clock, too, comparing incomes, outspending each other on the finer things in life. Here are the wealthiest American Athletes of 2014, with figures gathered from TheRichest.com, Forbes, and CelebrityNetWorth.

Source: coincidenceuno, Flickr

Stuttgart City Library, Germany

2014-05-26T13:14:00.001+05:00

The new Stuttgart City Library by Yi Architects was on October 21, 2011. After winning a competition for the project in 1999, the new library for Stuttgart in southern Germany has finally been unveiled. Yi Architects have shared with us the drawings and images of the project. The Stuttgart City Library was chosen in Mailänder Platz, an area that is perceived to be a future city center growing out of the location of the library. With this in mind, the architects chose to physically express the importance of this cultural center by giving the building a grand physical presence. The building takes the form of cube with an edge length of 45 meters. It is constructed out of pale grey fair-faced concrete that visually frames an array of 9 x 9 frosted glass bricks. The shell is designed as a double façade that includes the glass brick level and an inner mullion/transom façade as the thermal building shell.

Image credit PAPFOO

Creative Book Benches in Istanbul

2014-05-26T13:12:00.002+05:00

These unusual benches are designed for streets, bus stops, squares and parks of Istanbul, Turkey, they are decorated in the form of books. The city of Istanbul is promoting reading with the help of book bench. Benches that generally look like an open book is placed around the city and each bench carries Quotes from 18 famous Turkish writers. This Campaign are not only promotes the reading but also turns boring public into various functional works of art. It is a brilliant idea to promote readers with the use of such creative Book Benches which are located at the heart of the city. You can't spend your time in vain sitting on such a wise bench, besides such creative approach to architecture encourages people to study, learn and read.

Image credit GoMarjo

Beautiful Garden Château de Marqueyssac, France

2014-05-26T12:52:00.000+05:00

Château de Marqueyssac is located in the Dordogne region, small town of Vézac, attracts travelers to France due to its tourist attractions - the ancient castle Markizyak and its surrounding grand garden , consisting of a maze of boxwood shrubs that gardeners gave correct and fanciful geometric shapes. Provincial town Vézac (Fr. Vézac) in France is known worldwide for its extraordinary gardens. A unique park landscape, the ancient castle of the 17th century, an observation deck with stunning views of the valley - a place that attracts endless streams of tourists and locals.

Image credit Rich Prime

From the height on which the romantic castle Markizyak, open beauty of the picturesque valley. The real highlight of the garden of the castle can be called Markizyak Dordogne belvedere - a unique viewing platform, which offers great views of the meandering river flowing in the valley. Marqueyssac Castle was founded in the 17th century and was originally built as a residence for the rest, but its construction treated as the creation of a powerful fortress. Even invested in gray limestone powerful roof weighs more than five tons. But the castle is famous not only Markizyak architecture. Leading him stone paths lead visitors to a man-made labyrinth of living green waves and balls. This is the famous hanging gardens Marqueyssac , which cover an area of about 22 hectares and consists of 150,000 age-old boxwood shrubs.

Image credit jen&co

Structure of Ancient Step well, Chand Baori | Rajasthan India

2014-05-26T12:35:00.000+05:00

Chand Baori is a stepwell situated in the village of Abhaneri near Jaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Abhaneri is a village in the Dausa district of Rajasthan state in India. It is situated at a distance of 95 km from Jaipur, on the Jaipur-Agra road. It is located opposite Harshat Mata Temple and was constructed in 800 AD. Chand Baori is one of the oldest and is considered to be among the biggest in the world, even most attractive landmarks in Rajasthan. It was built by King Chanda of the Nikumbha Dynasty between 800 and 900 AD and was dedicated to Hashat Mata, Goddess of Joy and Happiness upon completion.

Image credit MARÍA VICTORIA GUERRERO CATALÁN Trujillo, Extremadura, Spain

Paintings With Photoshop By Rhads

2014-05-22T23:15:00.000+05:00

Russian artist Artem Cheboha, better known online as Rhads, using several distinctive techniques to create amazing drawings. As acknowledged in an interview Cheboha, he was always drawn to the arts, but to draw in the full sense of the word, he began at the age of fourteen or fifteen years. At first, he copied the colorful paintings by other artists and photographers redraw order to gain experience. Anton admits that finding really interesting to redraw the picture in the early 2000s, it was quite difficult. He can draw digital art that looks like classical art. An important role in this was played by his education; Rhads graduated from the College of Art and Industry. In the creation of his digital paintings, Rhads uses only PhotoShop.

Image credit rhads.deviantart

Extreme Swings | Giant Swing Canyon

2014-05-22T23:04:00.003+05:00

Extreme swings — Giant Canyon Swing, located at an amusement park in Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and the swing is situated on the edge of the canyon at an altitude of 396 meters above the Colorado River - Glenwood Springs is a small town in Colorado, which is famous for its wide variety of attractions for the whole family. The 2011 edition "USA Today" said "the most fun city in America," This metal beast set on a hillside cliff, about 400 meters above the Colorado River. Swing throw up once the four passengers, angle 112 degrees at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour. Being at the highest point of the ride, thrill seekers can directly beneath a seemingly bottomless precipice see what makes them scream with excitement, fear and laugh. The creator of these swings, 41-year-old Steve Buckley, rolled them only once, and he also afraid to try it again, but it gets a lot of fun looking at the faces of skiers people and hearing their screams during skiing, lasting 60 seconds .

Image credit coastergallery.com

Cat Cafe in New York

2014-05-22T22:56:00.001+05:00

The cat cafe is a pop-up promotional cafe that features cats and beverages in the Bowery section of Manhattan. Cat cafe concept is not new - these already exist in Japan and some European countries. New York cafe was the first institution of its kind in America, because the local sanitary regulations prohibit such close "communication" with the animals in catering. However, this time the organizers were able to circumvent the ban, this year also plans to open two similar cafes in San Francisco. Visitors make an hourly fee for the stay in the cafe and in return get to choose any foods and drinks. The only downside, cafe opened just a few days before April 27. You can get here from 10 am to 7 pm, at the same time in the cafe may be about 65 people, so potential customers will likely have to stand in line.

Whispering Wall — Barossa Reservoir

2014-05-22T22:54:00.001+05:00

Whispering Wall — Barossa Reservoir is a reservoir in South Australia, built between 1899 and 1902 to supply water to Gawler and other northern country areas. At the time of its completion, the reservoir was hailed as an engineering marvel, and at a total of 36 metres, was the highest in Australia. The thin arch of the dam retaining wall, curved against the pressure of the water, was an innovation considered radical, and attracted the Reservoir international attention. It was featured in the Scientific American and caused the American Engineers News to remark that its "boldness of design deserves to rank with the most famous dams in the world". Nowadays, the dam is notable for its parabola effect, where a voice can be heard clearly from one side to the other — over 140 metres, end to end. This unusual acoustic phenomenon is a popular tourist attraction, and has earned the dam the title "Whispering Wall"

Image credit Rod Brunker

Train in the Streets of Hanoi, Vietnam

2014-05-22T22:50:00.000+05:00

Hanoi — Vietnam is the railroad tracks that run through the narrow pedestrian street in a residential area . Yes, it so happened that the main railway station is located in the city center. Path to the Long Bien bridge passes through the Old Quarter - a densely populated residential area, it’s no surprise that the train tracks pass by busy streets. The houses here are so close to the tracks that people could easily get smacked if they don’t watch their step, or decide to stick their hands out the window at the wrong time. Luckily, the trains go by only twice a day, It happens every day around 4 pm and 7 pm. Hanoi isn’t the only place in the world where trains pass right by people’s front doors. The Maeklong Railway Food Market, in Thailand, is famous for having food stalls built right on the edge of a transited train track.

Image credit Wayne Duncan

Image credit Helge Arne Hanken

Double-Decker Live Root Bridges in Meghalaya, India

2014-05-20T20:18:00.001+05:00

Meghalaya's Double-Decker and Single-Decker root bridges are unique in the world and are a sight to behold. The bridges are tangles of massive thick roots, which have been intermingled to form a bridge that can hold several people at a time. Khasi people have been trained to grow these bridges across the raised banks of streams to form a solid bridge, made from roots. The living bridges are made from the roots of the Ficus elastica tree, which produces a series of secondary roots that are perched atop huge boulders along the streams or the riverbanks to form bridges.

Image credit Banjara Camps & Retreats

Amazing Sea Sandcastles

2014-05-20T20:07:00.000+05:00

These are not the homes of mutant sea creatures or geographic oddities forged from centuries of tidal currents, they’re sand art or sandcastles built by a Massachusetts man who goes by Sandcastlematt. Using found objects like vines, plywood, and other junk he creates a sturdy framework to which he applies the classic drip method sandcastle technique resulting in these strange temorary structures that look like contemporary land art pieces. One of Matt’s sandcastles recently made the rounds in a viral meme suggesting his work was the result of lightning striking sand, but Scientific American debunked it.

Image credit matt

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

2014-05-20T20:02:00.000+05:00

Lisa Adams, Queensland based self-taught, realist artist who lives remotely on a bush property in the hinterland of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Working 6 hours a day, 6 days a week in her isolated studio downstairs, she produces surreal paintings depicting arresting views with occasionally improbable imagery. Although a painter for over twenty-five years, she has had only three commercial shows, as a result of her slow rate of production. Despite painting daily, she may produce only three or four paintings in a year, five during her most prolific years. It takes months to produce a single painting. Often, she would overpaint an image two or three times to get it right.