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The Tallest Filing Cabinet on Earth
Maybe we’re reading too much into this, but perhaps it’s a comment on the passing of industrial society and our progress into a digital age: the last stand of the filing cabinet in an increasingly paperless world – but by golly, what a stand it is. Framed against the sky in a field in Napa, California, a filing cabinet – curiously filled with the dismantled auto parts of a 1974 sports car – towers some 65 feet into the air, a monolith of our own making.
Continue reading...2. March 2010
The Mysterious Shadows That Lie Behind Everyday Objects
Artist Kumi Yamashita’s work is the perfect example of two truths: that things are not always what they seem and more metaphorically, that sometimes we have to view things in a different light to discover a new meaning. If this sounds too cryptic, just marvel over how Yamashita breathes new life into simple, wall-mounted cut-outs by providing them with an interesting shadow.
Continue reading...1. March 2010
The Elephant World’s Answer to Picasso
Move over Monet, step aside Cezanne – there’s a new master of form and colour on the scene, and its name is Jumbo. Or rather, their names are Hong, Paya and Somjai – ex-logging elephants in Thailand who are able to paint pictures of everything from flowers and landscapes to their very own ‘self-portraits’. So what’s the scoop with these brilliant beasts? The videos have circulated a few times on the web, so we decided to find out what all the fuss is about.
Continue reading...1. March 2010
13 Incredible Tornadic Wall Clouds
Every child knows that converging warm and cool streams of air cause thunderstorms. But next time you notice a zeppelin-like structure forming below one of the cumulus clouds, beware – this might be a tornado in the making! Wall clouds, as pretty and dramatic as they may look, are often just the first warning sign, spelling out "RUN!" as clearly as they can.
Continue reading...28. February 2010
The Most Terrifying Spiral Staircases on Earth
Apart from making you dizzy, spiral staircases are not for the faint of heart as this post will show. They are often in lofty places or the opposite, cramped dungeons, so mastering a spiral staircase is not a question of simply walking up or down. Claustrophobia, vertigo-inducing views and stomach-churning heights will have to be braved because of those adventurous minds that installed spiral staircases in the scariest of places.
Continue reading...26. February 2010
The Most Psychedelic River on Earth
Caño Cristales, a river in Columbia’s Sierra de la Macarena, is as moody as it is beautiful. Come a bit too early in the dry season, and you’ll just find a parched river bed. Come a bit too late in the wet season, and everything will be flooded and more inaccessible than unusual. But come just at the right time, in the first few days of the wet season, and you’ll witness a magnificent spectacle of rainbow colors in a river that’s nicknamed the “most beautiful river in the world”.
Continue reading...25. February 2010
The Ghostly Art of Crochetdermy
After reading this post you might feel caught like a deer in the headlights, so proceed with care as a bit of wool and lots of determination hardly ever produced such stunning results. We’re talking about the work of British artist Shauna Richardson who crochets life-size models of rabbits, deer, foxes, bears, lions and primates, then, borrowing heavily from taxidermy, expertly stuffs and outfits them with claws, jaws and glass eyes. Once placed in real-life situations, the crocheted animals take on a life of their own…
Continue reading...25. February 2010
Crossing the Bridges of Death
Subterranean bridges might conjure images of Khazad-dûm in the Mines of Moria, where Gandalf faces the Balrog in The Lord of the Rings. Here on middle-of-the-road Earth, however, things are not quite so dramatic. Not quite, but nearly. In the bowels of underground abandoned mines, bridges of timber supported by rusting metal chains cross precipitous, abyssal gaps; yet mine explorers need no second invitation to brave them.
Continue reading...24. February 2010
Deadly Stonefish Hiding in the Sand, Ready to Strike
Australia is often portrayed in media as being a country in which everything wants to kill you. For some reason, the land down under has a reputation for being home to dangerous animals that far surpass that of any other continent. In the coral reefs of coastal Australia, this deadly master of camouflage is very often a good reason to watch your step.
Continue reading...24. February 2010
The Soviet Suicide Dogs of WWII
While bullets rang out and shrapnel flew on the battlefields of World War II, a new and ethically suspect tactic was deployed by the Russian Army as it attempted to hold the advancing Germans in check. Dogs strapped with explosives were sent out to disable and destroy enemy tanks – and later themselves in the process. The German Panzers were dynamic vehicles of war – quick and powerful – but how did they fare against these canine kamikazes?
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2. March 2010
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