Environmental Graffiti

Horror stories of animal abuse in the circus are well-known to us all. The cruel lash of the lion tamer’s whip or the sting of the cattle prod are familiar memories of a bygone era when exotic animals were novelties made to perform for our entertainment. But on September 13th, 1916, more than eighty years ago, the small town of Erwin, Tennesee witnessed an event that as gone down in history as one of the most barbaric acts of animal cruelty ever committed.

Do you get freaked out when you see a deer on the top of a car, during hunting season? Well, this museum will surely spook you since it contains the highest number of antlers per square meter than any other place in the world. It’s the Vajdahunyad Castle, located in Budapest, Hungary.

Not the actual hole. Image by J Kriton

When a man dropped his lighter down a hole in a busy street the last thing he expected was spending the next two hours wedged up to his armpits in the pavement.

Image by yeinjee

There is certainly nothing novel about eating insects. The ancient Romans dined on larvae reared on flour and wine and Aristotle enjoyed feasting on young Cicadas. Even today bugs are eaten the world over from Nigeria to New Zealand and are an excellent source of nutrition - both cheap and easy to breed. But perhaps (crunch, crunch) the last insect you might expect to see staring back at you from your dinner plate is the wasp: the cause of many a painful childhood memory.

Image by CIR/Survival

The moment masked gunman opened fire on Indian tribespeople in Brazil was captured in extraordinary footage released last week by human rights groups. Ten people, including six children, were injured in the attack which is the latest outbreak of violence in the ongoing feud between the Makuxi tribe and local farmers over right to the land.

Can a cellphone really cook an egg?

Environmental Graffiti is here to put those fears to bed. While we all agree that an egg is probably a poor stand-in for most human brains, the thought of it being possible is pretty terrifying..

Sarah and I had to have absolute proof that such a scary (yet delicious) scenario could never play out on our handsets.

Not to give too much away, but we actually do cook an egg with a cellphone!

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image via

Aside from ninjas and samurais, Japan is also host to some of the world’s weirdest inventions. And they’ve done it again.

For most of us building an origami bird is pretty damn difficult, or near impossible. But if you think that’s hard, how about trying to build an engine out of paper?

image by Flickr user A Posh Sentinel

The insane architecture you see above is the aftermath of a baseball stadium being abandoned in Osaka Japan; a new opportunity revealed itself and brought a bit of green regeneration to the urban jungle.

image via Wikipedia

Can a head live without a body? The answer should be simple: yes, but only for a little while. Scientists say that the brain continues to function for about two minutes after the heart stops. But can a lopped off head continue to survive after being completely severed from the body?