Recycled Hubcap Creatures: From Scary Dragons to Beautiful Fish

For most of us, hubcaps exist only as parts of our cars, but for some, they form the creative basis of art. Ptolemy Elrington is one of those people. We met him last weekend at London Aware 08 and we were fascinated by his incredible sculptures. He makes all sorts of creatures out of hubcaps, from giant dragon flies, fish, dogs and crocodiles. It’s his passion and it’s also a spectacular message: discarded materials can be brought back to life. Recycling after all, can be interesting.

The Urban Beekepers of London

Urban beekeepers. Images via 1, 2, 3, 4

There’s been a fair amount of coverage in recent years about the sudden disappearance of honeybees; a catastrophe that is so widespread that beekeepers in Southern California have resorted to stealing one another’s bees. There is at least one place in the world that the men in the white suits and their winged charges are fairing well. That place is London; an epicenter of urban beekeeping.

The Insane Gridlock of Hyderabad

Image via Skasuga

The sprawling metropolis you see in these pictures is Hyderabad, the capital city of the Indian State Andhra Pradesh. Known for its rich history, culture and architecture, the city accommodates a population of over 10 million. It’s no wonder then that Hyderabad suffers from such incredible congestion.

5 Amazing Oddball Flying Machines

Clément Ader’s flying machine. Taken by Stephane Delbecque

In honor of Yves Rossy, the Swiss man who flew over the Alps on a personal jet-powered wing Wednesday, Environmental Graffiti was inspired to search for some of the other strangest devices that have carried men aloft. Obviously we have missed quite a few, so we’d appreciate it if you could help us out by dropping some more examples of weird flying machines in the comments.

Could Old Computers Fuel Your Car?

image from eurleif

It’s always been an environmental hazard to toss out an old computer: there’s arsenic and mercury, and a host of other nasty things in the circuit boards that the technology depends on.  Think of all that waste trickling into a landfill - not a terribly pleasant thought really, especially if you live near one or are concerned about your water quality.

Pair of Yubari Melons Sold for a Record 2.5 Million Yen

Yubari is Japan’s “Melon Kingdom”; a city with 12,500 citizens reliant on the melon industry after the mines closed down. The Yubari King is an orange-fleshed melon that is similar in appearance and size to the common cantaloupe, but very fragrant, deliciously sweet and extremely expensive. It’s supposed to be one of the most revered gifts the Japanese can make.

Vatican: God and Aliens Can Coexist

Image from eddy13

The Vatican’s chief astronomer, Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, confessed in an interview that he saw no conflict between the religious doctrine he serves, and the scientific knowledge he peruses–including the possibility of “extraterrestrial brothers.” He also stated that it remains entirely possible that humanity represents the “lost sheep” of the universe, and that there is an entire community of highly-evolved extraterrestrials that remained in “full friendship with their creator.”

Huge Vegetables From Outer Space May End World Food Crisis

Image from Ribbon Controller

Now there’s a headline you don’t see every day and yet, while it’s probably calling back memories of “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” for an entire generation of corrupted American youth, it’s entirely true. The Chinese have begun growing their own version of genetically modified crops–with “modified” meaning “strapped to the top of a long march rocket and blasted into space.

The Great Carrot Crunch of 2008

Image from John-Morgan

Facebook is going to end the world: a group of more than a quarter of a million people in the UK are pledging to “panic buy” carrots on the 15th of this month through the social networking site, and it’s leaving grocers in a race to stock up.

Every Russian Police Station to Get a Resident Hypnotist

Image via Flickr user Bryce Edwards

After last week’s report that the Russian government was financing research on “psionic weapons” so that it could turn enemy soldiers into zombies, I was keen to see what the other shoe falling would be. Apparently, it’s the use of hypnosis in solving crimes, and the hiring of a psychic at every police station.

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