A butterfly with transparent wings? Surely not. Yet there is a species that exhibits this trait. Take a close look at the incredible Glasswing, an enchanting species that confounds science.
Transparency in nature is not something that has been very well understood. In order to achieve transparency the tissue must not absorb light. Neither can it scatter light, as this is the major obstacle to being see-through. Humans, for example, will never be able to be transparent because they have chemical and biological compounds that all have different refraction. The wings of the glasswing must, therefore, have the same refractive index all the way through them as otherwise this transparency could not possibly occur. It is thought (a postulation at the moment rather than sure fire fact) that the surface of the wing has a covering of protrusions that are so small they can be called submicroscopic. They have a single refractive index and so do not scatter light, so making the wings transparent. LINK
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Almost invisible: The incredible Glasswing Butterfly
Artistic Masterpieces Created by Trees
Overlap by Audrey Kawasaki
Just wanted to share this new 2009 painting from one of our favorite artists, Audrey Kawasaki.
This print was exclusively created for the Outre Gallery in Melbourne Australia. Only 200 signed and numbered prints were available. They have sold out. LINK
Lobster Caught "Half Cooked" in Maine
Recently a Maine lobsterman caught a different kind of two-faced prey—a lobster that looks half raw and half cooked.
Alan Robinson of Steuben, Maine, hauled up this two-toned lobster last week while bringing in his catch near the town of Bar Harbor (see Maine map).
Half of the animal is mottled brown, while the other is bright orange—the color lobsters turn after they've been boiled. LINK
Gynandromorph cardinal
This is a gynandromorph cardinal, half male and half female... a genetic abnormality that happens when the sex chromosomes (Z and W in birds) do not separate normally during early embryonic development. Credit for this find goes to Bob Motz and the photos were taken by Jim Frink. LINK (Via: Kottke)
Entoloma hochstetteri
A beautiful, vividly all-blue mushroom of New Zealand, apparently with pink spores (!).
More pix at Google Images. Credit for this one here, Via: Neatorama Upcoming Queue, Via: TYWKIWDBI
Infant NOT drowning in a swimming pool
This video is ever-so-slightly disturbing on first viewing, because you know that for the production of the video the infant was tossed into the water, and it was created for a commercial purpose to market water-safety training for infants and children.
Important information for child safety. Source: http://www.childdrowningpre...
LINK, Via: Youtube
Lily Allen
One Heck of a Giant Stingray
A stingray weighing close to 900 pounds? This 6.6-ft.-wide giant stingray was caught, measured and released in Thailand this week, part of a National Geographic scientific expedition to search for giant fish. It may well be the largest known freshwater fish in the world.
Freshwater giant stingrays are among the largest of the approximately 200 species of rays. They are found in just a few rivers in Southeast Asia and northern Australia.
LINK, Via: Neatorama
Double-amputee New Zealander has mermaid dreams fulfilled
New Zealander Nadya Vessey -- who lost both of her legs to the knee when she was a child -- has just received a prosthesis that's pretty much unlike anything we've ever seen (outside of Splash). About two years ago, she approached Weta Workshop, who specialize in design and manufacturing of costumes and special effects (and have worked on projects such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy) to see if the company might be interested in making her a working, prostethic mermaid tail. Turns out they were, and they've just completed the final product. LINK
Big Dog Army Robot
And that's what it is: A really smart giant dog. Big Dog—which is being developed by robotics company Boston Dynamics—has some of the most advanced artificial intelligence and navigation systems in the planet. In fact, US Army officials are stunned by its programmed behaviors, which make Big Dog extremely helpful in the battlefield. LINK
Skating on the Gulf of Finland
Parrots teach man to speak again
Brian Wilson, from Damascus, Maryland, suffered life-threatening injuries in the accidnet 14 years ago. He also lost his ability to speak.
But he now claims that the chatter of pet parrots confounded the bleak outlook of doctors, who were convinced that he would spend the rest of his life in bed at a nursing home.
"Two birds taught me to talk again," he said. "I had such a bad head injury I was never supposed to talk any more than a two-year-old."
But two of the birds that he had had as pets since he was a child "just kept talking to me and talking to me". LINK
Giant Seabird's Fossilized Skull Found In Peru
A well-preserved 10-million-year fossil cranium of a large, toothed seabird was found in Peru's southern Ica region, a spokesman for Peru's Museum of Natural History said yesterday.
The skull of the giant bird with teeth, measuring 16 inches was found a few months ago by paleontologist Mario Urbina in a rock strata. The fossil is of the prehistoric seabird Pelagornithidae, which had wing spans of up to 20 feet and a large bill with tooth-like projections. LINK
Friday, February 27, 2009
Death Cab For Cutie - Grapevine Fires
Grapevine Fires
Death Cab for Cutie, Grapevine Fires music video, from the album, Narrow Stairs. Video directed by Walter Robot. LINK
Thursday, February 26, 2009
A Beautiful Modern House
This modern house, called the Villa Berkel, was designed by architect Paul de Ruiter. Located in Veenendaal, The Netherlands, it keeps to an inside/outside theme that I've come to love. By using natural light and playing with the idea of open space, the house creates a connection to the outdoors in a warm and comforting way, one that's not typical of a modern house.
Per the Contemporist: "To create openness and lightness and to give the residents the feeling living outside in the green, the house is entirely oriented to the secluded garden at the south. Every room in the villa looks directly out on to this garden, because three of the four façades are made of glass." LINK
A Hot Mess: Byroglyphics
A new set of edgy art was just released by London based artist Byroglyphics (aka Russ Mills).
He calls his style "kitchen sink surrealism." Mills uses bold splashes of color to create movement and you can tell he's been influenced by Japanese pop culture just by the way his (Photoshop) brush strokes fall. As he's stated, "I love the way that every piece of popular culture from the recent past is smashed together into a garish soup and regurgitated into real life with absolutely no boundaries." LINK
Raycatcher Promo
Christian Faur’s Crayon Pixel-Art
Crushingly Beautiful Egg Shell Art
MOUNT RUSHMORE in South Dakota
This egg shell art is truly stunning. InventorSpot has more pictures of these lovely, detailed art pieces by artist Ron Cheruka.
Link, Via: Neatorama
Posh Tots
After successfully designing furniture with a straightforward approach for years, Canadian designer Judson Beaumont set out to create something unique for friends who were expecting their first child.
He wanted his creation to capture the baby's imagination for years to come. Today, like his first kid-inspired piece, Judson designs some of the most offbeat, whimsical furnishings in the world. LINK
Would You Put Me Down, Please?
Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew were scanning Google Earth and came upon a forest in Mozambique that had never been mapped, so they set out to see what they could find. They found the forest of Mount Mabu, teeming with unusual species of plants and animals.
Among the expedition’s discoveries were three species of butterflies new to science, a new species of adder, six birds that are globally threatened, and this perhaps terrified pygmy chameleon.
“This is potentially the biggest area of medium-altitude forest I’m aware of in southern Africa, yet it was not on the map.”
– expedition leader Jonathan Timberlake, RBC Kew
Shown is a pygmy chameleon found in the Mount Mabu forest.
Link - Via: timesonlin, Via: Neatorama
Magnet Mania
Watch this series of slow-motion videos in which 90 small magnets are laid out in a matrix. Then another magnet is dropped on top, which upsets the matrix and causes the magnets to realign, assembling themselves into, um, whatever it is that magnets naturally assemble into.
Be sure to go to the link to watch the videos. They are really cool.
Link -Via: Unique Daily, Via: Neatoram
Earth invaders: Röyksopp's Happy Up Here video
Röyksopp's actual debut video for their forthcoming Junior album is this glorious Reuben Sutherland-directed number which does real-life Space Invaders. LINK
The Besnard Lakes "Devastation"
production: Philtre Films
director: Kara Blake
art director/illustrator: Todd Stewart
animator: Brigitte Archambault
editor/compositor: Kara Blake
assistants: Dale Hayward, Sylvie Trouvé, Stephen Evans
producer: Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
LINK: Youtube
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Simian Mobile Disco Synthesise
Simian Mobile Disco - Synthesise. Live Visual Performance. Directed by Kate Moross & Alex Sushon. LINK: Youtube
Robin Hood's "Oo De Lally," Translated Into 13 Languages
Un-Bee-lieveable Artwork
This is some incredible artwork by Hilary Berseth, and a few thousand helpers…
Artists from Rodin to Warhol to Mark Kostabi have outsourced the construction of their work. Hilary Berseth goes them one better: He constructs basic frameworks of wire and wax, then lets teams of tiny yellow-and-black art fabricators finish the job. “I knew they were ordered and regimented,” the Pennsylvania artist says about his honeybees, which built the three otherworldly sculptures on view at Eleven Rivington. “I had an intuition that I’d be able to organize that, architecturally.”
Link, Via: Neatorama
Project Lore Eoisode 15.2
After some searching and killing trash, Project Lore confronts Elder Nadox in Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom. What will the guys do against this creepy boss? Watch the guys tackle this instance in this episode of Project Lore.
You can go to the LINK and see from the beginning.
Rare Cheetah in Algeria
This is one of the first-ever camera-trap photos of an extremely rare Saharan subspecies taken in late summer of 2008. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that these cheetahs number only about 250, putting them on the critically endangered list. Research fellow Sarah Durant of the Zoological Society of London, who co-led the cheetah camera survey, admits that no one knows why this subspecies is in such bad shape, and that no one has been studying them to find out.
Link, Via: Neatorama
Multiverse
(vimeo link)
Multiverse, light sculpture created by artist Leo Villareal, may be seen and experienced by visitors as they pass through the Concourse walkway between the East and West Buildings of the National Gallery of Art. Commissioned by the Gallery and on view until November 2009, the work features approximately 41,000 computer-programmed LED (light-emitting diode) nodes that run through channels along the entire 200-foot-long space.
Link -Via: Gizmodo, Via: Neatorama
The Yellow Treehouse Restaurant
Denver Airports Controversial 32 FT Zombie Mustang Sculpture
Does this make you want to fly the friendly skies? Not meant to represent the local Bronco's sports franchise. The artist who sculpted this died when it "fell" on him during construction. Many locals want it put out to pasture. LINK
Titanium Skeleton Key
The TAD Gear Skeleton Key is precision made in the USA from solid 6AL-4V titanium billet. So pretty much it can survive and cut threw anything… It’s like the MacGyver of skeleton keys! LINK
Half Tank
This half tank could use and its four wheels and the two tracks on its sides. When it needs a high speed it lifts the tracks and moves very fast, on paved roads etc, but when it gets stuck in some heavy mud and four wheel drive is not enough it emerges its two tracks and can get out of some heavy swamps. And if the inflated rubber wheels get shot flat or burned down he can also use tracks - the wheels are not necessary when it moves on tracks. LINK
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Buddy Holly: Rare and unseen photographs
The March 1958 tour was one of the first to showcase American Rock 'n' Roll in the U.K. Among the audience members were two teenagers named John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Go to the LINK to see more photos.
The New Barcelo Raval Hotel in Barcelona
This modern design hotel will make you do a double take the moment you walk through their doors. Designers like Jaime Hayon, Marcel Wanders for Mooi, and Vitra have all had their hands on this place, creating a modern world unlike you've ever seen before. Touted as the "central gem of the city," Barcelo Raval has only become what it is today by a $44.7 million (or $35 million euro) facelift realized by the architect Jose Maria Guillen White. LINK
Barcelo Raval Hotel website
Sweet Love or Forbidden Lust - SOME NSFW (6 Photos)
Photos from fashion photographer Camilla Akrans. The soft ethereal glow, the 70s style fashion with their opulent jewelry and their gorgeous fur coats. The pink and red roses, symbolizing an innocent love and a forbidden lust. It's like these ladies are waiting for their lovers in the rose garden, tormented by their present day lives, seeking out a life worth living. LINK
More photos at Lundlund
Koen Demuynck - Creative Genius (16 photos)
Belgian photographer Koen Demuynck is my kind of guy. By looking at his work you can tell he's an "out of the box" visionary who must be half genius, half crazy. But on the real, Koen definitely has one of the most creative minds. LINK
Koen Demuynck's website
Just Dropped In
The Big Lebwoski Soundtrack. LINK: Youtube
Heard this song when I was driving home today. Sure matched the way I'm feeling.
Monday, February 23, 2009
If you have work to do, skip this blog entry
The picture above depicts a stapler. Don't click on the picture. Click on this hyperlink instead. Then click anywhere on your screen. And again... LINK
Found at the legendary Bits and Pieces.
Cat found in Minnesota cave
A saber-tooth cat, no less.
A man in southern Minnesota was exploring a cave on his property. In an effort to reach another passage he began clearing sediment and encountered bones. The bones were of a stag moose and a saber-tooth cat. Both are the first examples of their kind ever to be found in MN. Radiocarbon dating indicates the cat skull is 22,500 years old, which would correspond to the last period of glaciation. LINK
A fish with a transparent head
Macropinna macrostoma (common name "barreleyes) can rotate its eyes to a vertical position; because its head is transparent, it can then look through its head to see predators or prey above itself without moving its body. LINK
Lego Pharaoh on the Thames
One of the largest Lego creations ever constructed is a 16-ft-tall model of an Egyptian pharaoh that looks suspiciously like King Tut.
The giant pharaoh is currently floating down the River Thames on its way to Legoland in Windsor, England, where it will be the centerpiece of Legoland’s Kingdom of the Pharaohs, which is set to open March 21.
This is the final leg in its 1,395-mile journey by truck and boat from the Czech Republic, where it was constructed.
The pharaoh required more than 200,000 Lego bricks and weighs one ton.
Link, Via: Neatorama
Dubailand
Dubailand is currently in development stages (which threatens to become a permanent condition with recent Dubai economic woes), but if completed, it will be a giant theme park 3-billion (yes with a b) square foot complex. Dubailand: twice the size of Walt Disney World in Florida.
Actually, Dubai ferris wheel is slated to be the second highest. The highest ferris wheel in the world will be a 200-meter structure in North Bud, Shanghai, China. Note, that it's not really a wheel - the pods are climbing up and down a strange-looking arc, not dissimilar to Star Trek logo - a coincidence? LINK: Dark Roasted Blend
The Definitive Guide To Steampunk Gadgets
Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction. The term denotes works set in an era where steam power is still widely used but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.
Where a lover of gadgets becomes really fascinated by Steampunk is in the fantastic mods created by people with far too much time on their hands. LINK: Presurfer
100+ Language Learning Websites
An alphabetical list of websites where you can learn a language. Some sites provide content, others community, and a number have both. Some sites focus on learning one specific language, others cover a number of languages. LINK: Presurfer
Control Freak: Awesome ATC Towers Of The World
Image Credit
Madrid Barajas airport has this wonderful shining example of an ATC tower. It has a rather art-deco feel to it and the jury is always out as to what exactly it resembles the most. Is it an alien space ship perched precariously on top of some kind of refueling structure?
Air Traffic Control Tower lovers of the world unite. Here is a selection of ten of the best and more unusual in the world.
Whether your own favorite is listed here, these structures have functionality and are designed to fit their own particular environment but also have a strange beauty all their own. LINK: Presurfer
Antonov. The World’s Heaviest and Largest Jet
Antonov or AN-225 is the world’s heaviest and largest jet ever built with the landing gear system of 32 wheels and a wing span of 291 feet. It was designed for the Soviet space program in 1988 and able to airlift the Energia rocket’s boosters, Buran space shuttle or ultra-heavy and oversize freight, up to 250,000 kg (550,000 lb) internally or 200,000 kg (440,000 lb) on the upper fuselage. Cargo on the upper fuselage can be 70 m long. LINK
The Giant Antonov An-225 Mryia Take Off And Landing
The Giant Antonov An-225 Mryia. Awesome plane. LINK: Youtube
See-Through, Light-Transmitting … Concrete?!
Concrete has a sometimes-bad reputation as a harsh, rigid, cold-to-the-touch and straight-edged material. Litracon is doing a great deal to change that image of concrete through a score of creative and sustainable applications for their patented light-transmitting concrete.
Filled with optical fibers that run from one end of a poured piece of concrete to the other, these prefabricated blocks and panels effectively transmit light from one side to the other. Colors and light remain remarkably consistent from end to end, but with a natural variation from the pouring process that actually softens the effects considerable.
The fibers can transmit light to over 50 feet and, as they occupy only a small percentage of the total concrete block or panel, they do not significantly effect the structural capabilities of the poured pieces.
One could imagine all kinds of artistic as well as functional applications for this new-and-improved form of concrete. Daylighting possibilities abound and all with potentially much lower heat loss and cost and with greater durability. LINK
Amazingly Bizarre Namib Desert Plants
The Namib is a largely unpopulated and inaccessible desert in Namibia and southwest Angola which forms part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Nicknamed the world’s oldest desert, it stretches 1,200 miles in length with an average width of only 70 miles along the coast of Namibia to form one of the most spectacular and richest deserts in the world. It’s also called the Skeleton Coast as many ships have been marooned on its treacherous coast. The Namib Desert is also home to the highest sand dunes in the world and some of the world’s rarest and most interesting flora.
image source
Pachypodium namaquanum, more commonly known as elephant’s trunk, clubfoot, halfman or halfmens is a succulent plant that can sometimes look like a tree when fully grown. The name halfmens (this is how they spell it) is an Afrikaan word meaning semi-human which came from the fact that from a distance the plants look like people walking up a slope. This spiny cactus-like plant which can reach up to 4 m tall can also attain an unmistakable bottle-like appearance. The flowers which appear from July to September are red on the inside and yellow-green on the outside. The crinkled leaves found at the top are velvety to the touch. Fruits are horn-like and brown in color. Halfmens are found in dry rocky deserts at altitudes from 300-900 m above sea level. It can live up to more than a hundred years old. The name Pachypodium is a Greek word meaning 'thick foot', an allusion to its swollen base, while namaquanum is a reference to Namaqualand, an arid region in South Africa. LINK
A Short Film Made from 6,000 Paintings
(Video Link)
Khoda is a short film by Reza Dolatabadi made from 6,000 paintings that he created over a two-year period. It’s a psychological thriller about a prison escape.
His other paintings are also quite stunning and I recommend checking them out.
Via: Geekologie, Via: Neatorama
The Serenity Prayer
Blind Man Wandering
artist: Marisa
album: East of Everything
length: 3:38
gener: Gospel & Religious
The Serenity Prayer is a prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr on July 1, 1943. Early in World War II, the prayer was printed on cards and distributed to the troops by the U.S.O. However, the prayer is reported to have been used before that date in Twelve-step programs for those recovering from hurts, habits, addictions and hang-ups. LINK: Youtube
Beautiful Animals
Pictures of the wonderful Animals and wildlife of our world. LINK: Youtube
If anyone knows the translation for the song in the video, please leave it in the comments. Thank You
Oldest-ever British surveillance footage
Chris says, "Here's the latest issue of the journal Surveillance and Society, including an article that I wrote on the earliest use of film surveillance by British police, in 1935. Five minutes from the film itself is available through the Blip TV feed from that page, or through a link alongside the actual article. The other articles in the issue (notably Dietmar Kammerer's on the history of CCTV in Germany) are also worth a read, mind." LINK
Table of Contents.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Tower
flickr.com — Photographed by Martin Burrow at Embalse de Los Bermejales, Province of Granada, Spain.
Father Frankenstein
This was a 12th grade report about chapter 16 of Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" done by Dan Louisell. LINK: Youtube
Funny spoof song about freecreditreport.com
One of the commenters, Creeto, pointed to this funny video song by Dan Louisell, who wrote: "What really happens when you use freecreditreport.com? This was for a contest to either cover one of the songs from the commercials or write your own jingle. LINK, Via: Youtube
Dan Louisell foolishly and unwittingly signed up for freecreditreport.com's $14.95 monthly credit monitoring service.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Gifts of Spring
As the weather warms and mother earth becomes fertile, nature adorns us with her gifts. Here's a sneak peek for those who just can't wait.
Here's a look at some of the beauty spring offers in the form of flowers. LINK
I am patiently waiting for spring to get here so I can go for my walks again. Walks are very relaxing and I love being outdoors.
Endangered: The Most Dangerous Bird on Earth
The rainforest of the northeastern coast of Australia is home to the Southern Cassowary and as the third largest bird on the planet it is strange that its reputation is not greater. Certainly, it is a remarkable looking animal, almost like something out of ‘Jurassic Park' with its large casque (a horn like crest which indicates age and dominance) positioned, dinosaur-like on its forehead. Estimates vary but it is thought that only around 1500 of this mysterious and ancient creature still survive in the wild.
The Guinness World Record Book puts them at the top of the list of birds dangerous to man. LINK
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