A Crane, Lifting A Crane, Lifting A Crane, Lifting A Crane

Somewhere in Germany.
LINK: LiveLeak, Via: The Presurfer

Street Artist ‘Megx’ Creates Giant Lego Bridge in Germany

In October of last year street artist Megx converted a bridge in Wuppertal, Germany into a giant Lego structure using colored panels that create the illusion of being the underside of Lego bricks. The bridge itself is part of the Wuppertal Bewegung e.V., an old train line that has been converted to a pedestrian and cycle path. How great is this? There’s been no shortage of giant toys and games in the streets lately. See much more on his website. Photos above courtesy Lukas Power and Rolf Dellenbusch.
LINK, (Via: kastormag)

Volkswagen's transparent car factory

The Volkswagen Transparent Factory in Dresden is where they make Volkswagen's luxury sedan, the Phaeton. The Transparent Factory is situated in the city center of Dresden, Germany. The factory's walls are made almost completely of glass. Its floors are covered entirely in Canadian maple. Its visitor-friendly layout was designed to accommodate up to 500 tourists per day. There are no smokestacks, no loud noises, and no toxic byproducts. The floors are so clean, you can eat off it. LINK: Youtube

2DROPS - MINIMAL NOMINAL

Artist - 2Drops
Track - Minimal Nominal
Label - Benny Records Germany 2011. LINK: Youtube

The V8 Hotel In Stuttgart, Germany

The very name 'V8 Hotel' is enough to give any auto freak goose bumps and make him instantly think of being couched in one of his or her favorite car. Based in the centre of Stuttgart, Germany, guests can sleep in everything from a Morris Minor to a Mercedes.

The V8 Hotel boasts rooms guaranteed to rev the engine of any car lover. The four-star hotel has 34 rooms, many of which are decorated with a car theme. Some of them even contain real cars. Via: The Presurfer

TYPEWRITER ORCHESTRA

Viennese Percussionist Martin Breinschmid with his version of the "Typewriter" Live at the BASF concert hall Ludwigshafen,Germany 2008,Strauß Festival Orchestra Vienna. LINK, Via: Youtube

Fastest violin player

The fastest violinist is David Garrett (Germany) who played "Flight of the Bumblebee" in 1 min 5.26 sec on the set of Guinness World Records: Die GroBten Weltrekorde in Germany, on 20 December 2008. LINK: Youtube

Germany’s Hanging Railway

“The hanging railway in Germany’s western central city of Wuppertal (pronounced Voopahtahl) is the oldest monorail system in the world. Built in 1900, the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn or ‘floating train’ has been continuously operated since 1901, despite two world wars, various accidents and other turbulent events. Find out the stories behind this stylish and green mode of transportation.” // LINK

World's Largest Solar-Powered Boat

PlanetSolar is a boat powered entirely through solar energy. At 31 meters long and 15 wide, it’s the largest in the world:

The 60 tonne catamaran (or is that trimaran?) has cost 18 million euro ($24.4 million USD) to create at the Knierim Yacht Club in Kiel in northern Germany and will be launched waterside next month with sea trials due between June and September. To achieve to full photovoltaic capture there are solar covered flaps that are extended at the stern and amidships.

SunPower has provided approximately 38,000 of their next generation all black photovoltaic cells, an efficiency of at least 22%, which they believe to be the highest efficiency solar cells commercially available. Maybe it’s buried somewhere on the PlanetSolar site, but I missed what storage medium the boat will use once it has harnessed the sun’s energy.

Link | Photogallery | Photo: Christian Charisius/Reuters, Via: Neatorama

Amphibious Bus

An amphibious bus was tested in Glasgow. The $1,000,000 Dutch-made vehicle can carry up to 45 passengers. The vehicle runs like a normal coach on the road but when in water uses a hull to float and is powered by twin jets. LINK, Via: Youtube

Bagger 288: The World's Biggest Machine

Photo: Snorky [wikipedia]

In the coal stripmine Hambach in Germany, there was a machine so big that it boggles the mind.the Bagger 288:

This is the 45,000 ton Bagger 288 digger built by Krupps in Germany, and it is the largest land based machine built by humans on the face of the planet.

It’s not fast, moving at about 2 meters a minute, but boy can it shift rubble.

It can dig up 240,000 cubic meters of dirt a day. That’s about the same as a football field sized hole that’s 30 metres deep.

And why do you need a machine so absurdly big? So we can strip mine coal out of the ground, transport it hundreds of miles on massive trains and take it to power stations where we burn it to make electricity. And where does quite a chunk of this electricity go? Strangely back to the digger, as it requires 16.56 megawatts of electricity to operate. You’re not going to find a lot of solar panels on this leviathan.

Once it starts digging, it literally will not stop. Anything in its path will be chewed up, including this 60 ton bulldozer. How, I ask you, do you miss a 60 ton bulldozer?

Link, Via: Neatorama

But what is the true purpose of such a machine? Let’s all welcome our new digger overlord, as explained by Rathergood.

Queen Eadgyth's Remains Discovered in Germany

The oldest remains yet of a member of English royalty are thought to have been found in Germany. Queen Eadgyth (pronounced Edith) was the sister of King Athelstan and married the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I in 929 AD. She died in 946. The bone fragments from a lead coffin in Magdeburg will be analyzed by a team of forensic specialists.

Professor Mark Horton of the Bristol University’s Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, who is coordinating this side of the research, explained the strategy: “We know that Saxon royalty moved around quite a lot, and we hope to match the isotope results with known locations around Wessex and Mercia, where she could have spent her childhood. If we can prove this truly is Eadgyth, this will be one of the most exciting historical discoveries in recent years.”

Eadgyth is likely to be the oldest member of the English royal family whose remains have survived. Her brother, King Athelstan is generally considered to have been the first King of England after he unified the various Saxon and Celtic kingdoms following the battle of Brunanburgh in 937. His tomb survives in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, but is most likely empty. Eadgyth’s sister Adiva – also offered to Otto as wife, but he choose Eadgyth instead – was also married to an unknown European ruler, but her tomb is not located.

Link, -Via: Fark, Via: Neatorama

(image credit: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Juraj Liptak)

World's most expensive Rolls-Royce up for auction

A bespoke, one-of-a-kind Rolls-Royce built in 1934 for an Indian Maharaja is set to become the world's most expensive car.

Part of famed Rolls-Royce collector Hans-Gunther Zach's private collection, the luxury car built for the Maharaja of Rajkot and named the 'Star of India' is expected to fetch up to £8.5 million at auction.

Previously the crown jewel of Zach's Rolls-Royce museum in Muhlheim in Germany, the Star will be offered up for bids on September 15th.

When sold the 1934 Phantom II 40/50 HP Continental 'All-Weather Convertible' is expected to eclipse the sale of a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa that sold at auction in May for £7.2 million.

One of the Star's unique features is extra headlights that track the steering wheel and therefore follow the road.

This technology was a forerunner of today's 'adaptive-curve lights' found on modern saloon cars such as BMWs and Mercedes. LINK

Arm Wrestling Champion

Arm wrestling champion from Germany with hand that's a little bit different than yours. *!--Session data-->

Link - Via: do-while, Via: Neatorama

Linderhof Palace

"A small but immensely extravagant palace built by the "Night King"
Of the three palaces "Mad" King Ludwig II had built, the Linderhof Palace was the only one he saw completed. Unfortunately for him, it was also the smallest. Prior to the Linderhof Palace, the grounds had been home to the Konigshauschen, Ludwig's fathers' old hunting cottage. The cottage was torn down in 1869 in order to build Ludwig's Linderhof.


Though much smaller, the architecture of the magnificent palace is extravagant with ivory candelabra's and carpets made of Ostrich feathers. Inspired by Versailles, Ludwig created a mirror image of "Sun King" Louis XVII's bedchamber and styled himself the "Night-King." Like his Neuschwanstein Castle, the Linderhof was also deeply inspired by composer Richard Wagner. Many rooms sport the themes of some of Wagner's greatest works.

Amidst the forested mountainous terrain, Ludwig built huge ornamental gardens that borrowed styles from a number of other countries and eras. Perhaps the most extravagant is the "Venus Grotto" a man-made cave lake. Ludwig enjoyed rowing across it in a golden swan boat. Finished in 1886 Ludwig had 24 early electrical dynamos installed at great expense so he could change the color of the grotto at will. LINK

The world's Oldest Handmade Musical Instrument

In all, researchers report finding the fragments of four flutes at two excavations in an area of southwestern Germany known as Swabia. Three of the sets of fragments were carved from mammoth ivory, but the real prize is a nearly complete flute hollowed out from the bone of a griffon vulture. That specimen was found in the Hohle Fels cave, just 28 inches (70 centimeters) away from the spot where the prehistoric Venus... was found.

When assembled, the vulture-bone flute is about eight and a half inches long (21.8 centimeters long) and boasts five finger holes. There are fine lines cut into the bone around the holes, suggesting that the flute's maker was calibrating the holes' placement to produce the nicest tones. One end of the flute is cut into a V shape, and the musician probably blew into that side of the flute. The researchers assume that an inch or two of the flute's far end is missing. LINK

You can listen to an MP3 of a replica flute being played.

VW Factory - Germany

LINK: Youtube

Take Me Away to Sabrina Jung's World

"I call this a MIrror image in Life"
Sabrina Jung is a photographer who not only takes pictures of gorgeous landscapes, she also has that ability to transform a simple picture into a memorable experience. With enhanced colors, she shows us a world who's beauty is often taken for granted. By drawing our eyes to the sea and the skies, she reminds us that "art" is right outside our window.

Sabrina Jung was born in 1978 in Neuss, Germany. She has studied at Folkwang Hochschule in Essen and the College of Art & Design in Zurich. She is the founder of the art salon, Weisser and currently lives in Berlin. LINK

Waldspirale - The Wooded Spiral of Darmstadt, Germany

Located in Darmstadt, Germany, the Waldspirale apartment-building was designed by Austrian artist, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and built during the 1990s.

There are other apartment buildings in Darmstadt, but the U-shaped Waldspirale is special. Its diagonal roof is covered with grass, shrubs and trees and the facade follows an irregular grid organization.

Waldspirale has over 1,000 windows, but no two are the same. The handles on the apartment doors and the windows are also unique.

Waldspirale was completed in 2000 and people actually live in it. LINK

Four Little Lion Cubs (Vier kleine Löwenbabies)

On April 3, the Wuppertal Zoo in Germany debuted four little lion cubs.
Per German ZooBorns reader "Lunchi" - The mother is named Kisangani and the father is Massai. Their are three males and one female. Interestingly, the father, almost 10 years old, was present during the birth of the babies. Be sure to go to this LINK to watch the video.