Environmental Graffiti

Image: Yann Arthus-Bertrand via MMM

Though the term “herd behaviour” today is most often used when talking about financial markets, it originally described individuals in a group acting together without direction – for example an animal herd fleeing from a predator. When seen from above, animal herds seem to follow intricate and intriguing patterns.

The large flock of sheep in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, in the picture above, seems to form a heart shape, with a hole at the bottom from where the herder is driving the animals in a particular direction. Animals form herds for protection because a group is less likely to be attacked than a single animal. Even though detecting a large herd is easier than detecting one or a few animals, each animal instinctively moves closer to the centre of the fleeing herd to reduce the danger of being caught.

These twelve giraffes seen in the Okavango Delta in Botswana seem to be driven by a clear purpose – to get water maybe? Or food? Or maybe they are looking for potential mates. We can only guess, but they look beautiful, all the same at first glance yet slightly different on second glance.

Giraffes in the Okavango Delta, Botswana:

Image: Andy Biggs

This herd of Pronghorn antelopes (Antilocapra americana) belongs to a mammal species that has lived in the vast North American prairies for the last 35 million years. Today, it is an endangered species and the Pronghorns are the only remaining representatives of the Antilocapra family.

A herd of North American Pronghorn antelopes running through the snow:

Image: H. Hoops

These white-eared kob of the antelope species kobus kob leucotis in Boma National Park have survived despite the more than two-decade-long civil war in Sudan, maybe because they participate in large-scale migration. The darker animals with the short, ringed horns are the males; the lighter ones without horns are the females.

White-eared kob in Boma National Park, Sudan:

Image: Paul Elkan via Africa Science

This large elephant herd was observed in the Sudd Swamp in southern Sudan:
Image: Paul Elkan and J. Michael Fay via ABC News

Europeans reintroduced domesticated horses in the Americas in the late 15th century, some of which escaped domestication and formed feral herds, meaning they fully or partially went back to their wild origins. Though popularly called wild horses, North American horses are hence not truly wild, as their ancestors were domesticated animals.

13 wild horses grazing on the prairie of South Dakota. Or maybe they are having a chat.

Image: John

The next photograph shows how wild animals are counted. The South African National Parks’ website explains how an aerial sample survey of herbivores like zebras, giraffes, impalas and wildebeest is conducted:

“Equally spaced strips are flown from east to west across the entire park to obtain a 22% coverage. As the plane moves along the transect line the animals that are seen are recorded as well as their distance to the transect line. These distances are used to develop a sighting curve based on the fact that one expects to see more animals close to the line than further away. The sighting curve is then used to estimate the amount of each species occurring in the KNP.”

Animal counting in Kruger National Park, South Africa:

Image: Kruger National Park

Some animals like it really, really close like these Pacific Walruses in Alaska.

A walrus herd forming a sea of pink, brown and white in Alaska:

Image: John Sarvis

Sometimes, even humans can’t resist the urge to herd, er, crowd.

Human herd mentality as seen at a pop concert close to Karlsruhe, Germany:

Image: Thomas Wanhoff

Source: 1, 2, 3

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Image: NOAA Photo Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

Fordland, Missouri. March 12, 2006. Night. The wind outside the trailer grew louder and louder, like the sound of fighter jets closing in. Next thing, the locked front and back doors of the mobile home were blown off their hinges. Everything was wobbling – the floor, the walls, the ceiling – but nothing could prepare Matt Suter for what was about to happen. Seconds later, the tornado ripped the home apart and lifted the 19-year old high school senior into its jaws.

Tornado, Missouri, 2006

Image: NWS Memphis

Suter was carried nearly a quarter of a mile by the twister’s raging 150 mph winds. He was hurled over a barbed wire fence 200 yards from his grandmother’s shattered trailer and finally dropped in the soft grass of an open field. Incredibly, his injuries were limited to a wound on his head from where he was hit by a heavy lamp. Meteorologists calculated that he had been blown 1,307 feet – the longest recorded distance anyone has been transported by a tornado and survived.

Oldest known tornado photo, South Dakota

Image: NOAA

But if this whirlwind journey whisked Suter into the history books, he is not the first tornado passenger lucky enough to have lived through a trip in a wind vortex. Before Suter, the longest anyone had travelled in such an incident occurred in 1955 in South Dakota when a 9-year old girl and her pony were borne 1000 feet before being gently dropped down almost unscathed. Even last year, an 11-month old baby was sucked from his Tennessee home and flung the length of a football field by a tornado, landing with only slight facial bruising.

Tornado under observation, Kansas

Image: Center for Severe Weather Research

And it’s not only living objects that have been taken for a ride by these formidable columns of air. A personal money cheque obtained the record for the longest distance a piece of debris has been carried by a tornado when in 1991 it was lifted up in Stockton, KS and later found 359 km (223 miles) away in Winnetoon, NE. The cheque clearly wasn’t in Kansas any more, but at least its owner could have cashed it over the state border.

Oklahoma tornado

Image: OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

In one final strange tale plucked from the mouths of these phenomenal funnels, in 1951 an egg was found among tornado wreckage that had been perfectly punctured by a bean without its shell being cracked. It seems that these incredible forces of nature are not without mercy – unless you happen to be an unborn chick that isn’t fond of its legumes.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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In the second part of Environmental Graffiti’s Hypersonic Dream Series, Bennett Blumenberg explores man’s desire to create the fastest aircraft on earth.

LAPCAT – A2 Mach 5 Transport in flight Adrian Mass artist – Reaction Engines Ltd

The Russian Tu-144 was the first production Supersonic Transport (SST) Aircraft, closely followed by the famous British-French Concorde. Both aircraft represented highly successful engineering; both have truly fascinating histories; both were blighted by disaster during their lifetimes. Their removal from service is only a pause in the development of supersonic aircraft. Please stand by…

The Russians First – Tu-144

The first SST aircraft to evolve beyond prototype so as to see limited production and commercial use was the Russian Tubolev Tu-144. It was a creation of the brilliant Russian airplane designer, Andrei Nicholayvich Tupolev. The concept of the Tubolev aircraft was first published in a Russian aviation magazine in 1962 and development began at the end of July 1963. A successful Soviet spy effort did steal many of the design features of the French and British Concordes, but the Tu-144 was by no means a clone of the British/French SST. Russian aeronautical engineering was world class and the Tubolev 144 was a Russian beast through and through.

Tu-144 SST
Photo – Avi Abrams

Building of the first prototype started in 1965 and it flew on December 31, 1968, two months before the first flight of the British/French Concorde. On July 15, 1969, a Tubolev Tu-144 became the first commercial jet liner to reach Mach 2. Seventeen Tu-144s were built including prototypes. Early Tu-144 models had turbofan engines that had a limited top range of 4500km and maximum cruising speed of Mach 1.6. A commercial Tu-144 had a terrible crash at a Paris Air Show on June 23, 1973 when the pilot could not pull the plane out of spectacular dive intended to drive attention away from the Concorde. Several houses were destroyed when the plane crashed and all crewmen died but the Tubolev Tu-144 program forged ahead. The Tu-144s went into commercial service one day after Christmas in 1975.

Tu-at 144 at MAKS-2007 exhibition
Photo – Russian Photographer

Production Tu-144 SSTs were 216′ (65.5m) long, with wingspan of 94.5′ (28.8m) and a crew of 3 for a maximum passenger number of 140. Tu-144s attained a maximum speed of Mach 2 (1550 mph) with a cruising speed of Mach 1.84 (1430 mph), range of 4,000 miles (6500 km) and ceiling altitude of 59,100′ (18,000m). The production Tu-144 was noisier than Concorde, had less range and cruised at a lower speed. Later versions using turbojet engines had a fuel efficiency and flying range similar to Concorde with a maximum increase to Mach 2.35 and cruising speed of Mach 2.16. Nonetheless, these last design Tu-144s did not sell and soon this first supersonic airliner would be removed from passenger service. Production of aircraft ceased in 1984 after 16 Tu-114 were built and certified to fly.

Tu-144 nose
Photo – Helicop

This first Aeroflot route carried mail and freight between Moscow and Alma-Ata. Passenger service began in November 1977 and continued until the first Tu-144D crashed during a test flight with crew fatalities on May 23, 1978. The Tu-144’s last passenger flight was with Aeroflot on June 1, 1978 but a freight only service began using the Tu-144D on June 3, 1979.

The more efficient Kolesov RD-36-51 turbojet engines used in the Tu-144D made possible the long route from Moscow to Khabarovsk with a maximum cruising speed of Mach 2 (1550 mph) and range without refueling of 6200 km. The Tu-144 flew a total of 102 scheduled flights including 55 that carried passengers. They were also used for research into ozone depletion of the atmosphere in the 1980s.

A Tu-144 was used on a (military?) flight from the Crimea to Kiev in 1987 about which little is known. In 1995, a Tu-144D built in 1981 was extensively modified with state-of-the-art military NK-321 turbojet engines at a cost of US$350 million. A joint Russian-USA (NASA) supersonic research program used the Tu-144LL as a flying laboratory from March 1996 through September 1998. For obvious reasons, military aspects of the Tubolev aircraft NK-321 engines remain classified and this is the reason that all offers from private parties in the West to purchase a Tu-144 have been rejected. There is little, if any other, military engineering in the Tubolev Tu-144.

A few of these fabulous aircraft still exist. Several Tupolevs were donated to Russian Museums, two were scheduled for preservation and presumed pubic viewing at the Tupolev production plant and a Tu-144D is on exhibit at a technology museum in Germany.

British / French Concorde

In 1962, England and France, who had originally decided to pursue separate and parallel programs, realized that the cost structure for two discrete programs would be prohibitive. The two countries signed a joint agreement to build the Concorde, a Mach 2 SST that would extend concept designs begun several years earlier. British and French government subsidies would be necessary throughout the Concorde program. Prototype construction began in February 1965. Several design considerations are interesting to reflect upon because they provide a glimpse into the complex challenges faced by those designing Concorde.

Concorde and full moon
Photo – Avi Abrams

Conventional jet engines can take in air only at Mach 0.5. A critical design challenge for Concorde was to slow the air from its initial intake speed of Mach 2.0 and control the shock waves that develop as Concorde undergoes a dramatic reduction in speed. Afterburners were used to get Concorde through the transonic barrier of Mach 0.95 to Mach 1.7 and then they were switched off. Unfortunately, Concorde spent significant time flying in the transonic speed regime where jet engines are very inefficient. Concorde burnt two tons of fuel while taxiing to the runway before takeoff. After landing, only the outer two engines were used to reduce fuel costs. By contrast at Mach 2.0, Concorde engines were the most efficient in the world at that time.

Concorde – Olympus Engine 593
Photo – Nimbus227

The engine of choice for Concorde was the twin spool Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593, originally developed for the Vulcan bomber. It was then advanced into an afterburning supersonic engine for the BAC TSR-2 strike bomber and chosen to be adapted for use in Concorde. Bench testing of the Olympus 593 began in mid 1994. A RAF Vulcan bomber served as a flying test bed. A standardized production engine successfully completed a 150 hour test in March 1974, thereby achieving the benchmark necessary to be used in production aircraft. “The Olympus engine took this gas jet and passed it through straightening vanes – to obtain a laminar flow. This gas jet then entered the afterburning jet pipe where a ring of fuel injectors sprayed fuel onto the hot exhaust gases. The resulting combustion greatly improved thrust, although it also lead to excessively high fuel consumption.” (Source #10)) The Olympus engine was the only afterburning turbojet that powered a commercial aircraft, and during Concorde’s lifetime, it was the world’s most efficient jet engine.

Concorde’s top speed was limited to Mach 2.20 because this was the upper limit that could be sustained by the aluminum fuselage over the aircraft’s lifetime. The brake system was extraordinary. If Concorde aborted a take off when taxiing down the runway at 190mph, its 188 tonnes could be brought to a stop in one mile although the brakes would reach temperatures of 300-500 C. The Concorde design that began commercial flights across the Atlantic had a carefully adjusted combination of engines that were very efficient at supersonic speeds, a wing shape that maximized loft to drag ratio, modest payload and high fuel capacity. Furthermore, improvements were immediately understood and designed but a next version Concorde was never implemented due to poor sales of the first Concordes.

Concorde BA212 landing
Photo – John McCurdy

The prominent drooping nose on the Concorde reduced draft and increased aerodynamic efficiency in flight as well as increasing pilot visibility during takeoff and landing where Concorde has a high nose angle. Once aloft, the nose could be raised into a horizontal alignment. Maximum speed with nose down was Mach 0.8.

Commercial Concorde flew with a crew of 3 and typically carried 92-120 passengers. Concorde’s length was 202′4″ (61.66m) with a wing span of 84.0′ (25.6′). Range was 4500 miles (3900 nautical miles). Maximum airframe temperatures at Mach 2.0 were on the nose (127C), and wing leading edge at 105C. Performance with A1 jet fuel was 27m/gal. During flight, fuel was moved from tank to tank to help Concorde’s balance. Fuel acted as heat sink for the cooling system. Counting two reserve tanks, there were 13 fuel tanks on Concorde. “Before takeoff, and during acceleration through Mach 1 to Mach 2, fuel is pumped out of the forward trim tanks to the rear trim tanks and the collector tanks in the wings. Around 20 tons of fuel is moved in the process and results in a rearward shift of the CoG by 6ft (2 m) (Source #8). At the end of a flight, this process was activated in the reverse direction.

Concorde to scale
Image – Avi Abrams

The first prototype Concorde was unveiled at Toulouse, France on December 11, 1967 but did not make its first flight until March 2, 1969 when it reached Mach 2. The second prototype was British and first flew on April 9, 1969. It did not reach a supersonic speed until October 1, 1969 and it did not reach Mach 2 until November 4, 1970.

Production aircraft followed the prototypes. The first preproduction Concorde flew from Toulouse, France on December 17, 1971. The first production Concorde had an initial flight from Toulouse on December 6, 1973. The first British production Concorde flew from Filton on February 14, 1974 and both of these first production Concordes attained Mach 1 on their first flights. 14 additional Concordes were built and placed into commercial service; the last one had its first flight on April 20, 1979. Seven Concordes flew with British Airways and seven were in service with Air France. Commercial flights for both airlines began on January 21, 1976.

A full accounting of the costs to design, develop, test flight and then manufacture Concorde production aircraft for commercial use has been difficult to uncover and the programs were heavily subsidized by both governments. A good estimate is 1.1 billion 1976 pounds, or 11 billion 2003 pounds and 18.1 billion 2003USD$. The last six Concordes were given away to the airlines, since apparently selling them at anywhere near market value was viewed as impossible.

Concorde BA206 takeoff
Photo – B&E Systems

Initially the Concorde flew three transoceanic routes: London to Bahrain, Paris to Rio de Janiero via Dakar and London to Washington D.C. Local protests over noise levels at NYC were mollified and a route to the ‘Big Apple’ began in December 1977. Braniff International briefly flew Concorde on a Dallas/Fort Worth to Washington D.C. route starting on January 13, 1979, and also offered flights from Dallas/Fort Worth to London and Paris. Concorde retained her BA and AF liveries on these routes. Strict noise environmental regulations mandated that these flights be conducted at transonic speed – Mach 0.95 – when Concorde was flying over the continental United States. These Braniff flights were rarely more than 50% booked and were canceled in May 1980.

In 1977, British Airways and Singapore Airlines briefly shared a Concorde for flights between London and Singapore International Airport via Bahrain but the route was discontinued after three flights. The Malaysian government banned supersonic Concorde overflights in its sovereign air space because of the very high noise levels. A proposed route to India never did ‘get off the ground’ for the same reason. Air France flew Concorde twice-weekly to Mexico City via Washington, DC and New York City from September 1978 to November 1982 with supersonic speeds not allowed as Concorde flew over Florida.

Concorde BA206 in flight
Photo – Webmaster

The sonic boom produced by the Concorde when it broke through the sound barrier was genuinely awesome and little appreciated. Night flights near large urban areas were essentially out of the question. Furthermore, the continual noise generated by the four Olympus engines was beyond the tolerance of most people. The worst liability, however, was fuel costs. It cost 3.5X as much fuel to fly one passenger in Concorde as it did in the new Boeing 747 with high efficiency turbofan engines. Concorde’s engines were notoriously inefficient at subsonic speeds. The Pacific route San Francisco to Tokyo required refueling stops in Hawaii and Wake Island. The Boeing 747, which provided a more comfortable travel experience, completed the route faster than the Concorde.

Concorde’s attention to passenger comfort also had limitations with barely six feet of headroom, narrow seats, no walking areas and no video displays. Nonetheless, champagne was served to everyone and meals utilized Wedgewood crockery and silver cutlery. At 56-60,000′, turbulence was uncommon and the curvature of the earth was a spectacular sight. Transatlantic flying time was just under 3.5 hours and twice the speed of any other commercial aircraft.

Air France Concorde Crash, July 15, 2000
Photo – Japanese businessman

As did the Tubolev Tu-144, Concorde had a spectacular, terrible accident. On July 15, 2000, a chartered Air France Concorde, while taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport, hit a piece of titanium on the runway that had come off a Continental DC-10 that had taken off a few minutes earlier. As a tire fell apart, a piece of rubber hit the aircraft causing a shock wave that ruptured the fuel tank and broke an electrical cable. By now the Concorde was airborne, flying on three engines and unable to accelerate or climb. Descending violently and rolling left, it burst into flames and crashed near the town of Gonesse killing everyone aboard and four people on the ground as well. All 12 Concordes were grounded pending review and new safety modifications.

In the summer of 2008, two employees of Continental Airlines directly involved with the DC-10’s titanium panel were ordered to stand trial. The installation of the titanium panel had violated the manufacturers guidelines and warranty. French judges are still considering whether to press charges against two employees of the Concorde program directly involved in fuel tank design where deficiencies had been on the record for years, and an employee of the French civil aviation authority as well.

The Concordes returned to service after this accident but high costs worked against a profitable aviation business. In terms of fuel efficiency, Concorde was no less economical than the Gulfstream G550 executive jet as both planes averaged ~16-27 miles/imperial gallon fuel. On the other hand, the Boeing 747 averages 91 miles/US gallon fuel. The economic shock waves that rippled around the world following 9/11 added a further insurmountable challenge to Air France and British Airways. French Concorde ceased operations at the end of May 2003. The British Concordes did likewise in October 2003. The high number of successful commercial flight hours was impressive, but high costs, extreme noise factors and a severely challenged commercial aviation industry combined to ground Concorde forever.

Designing engines that can power a commercial jet aircraft to speeds in excess of Mach 2 has been accomplished. Designing an aircraft that can cruise for extended times at such speeds and provide a safe, environmental and traveler-friendly flying experience is very difficult. Designing a supersonic commercial aircraft whose manufacture, maintenance and fuel costs allow for a business model that can return a steady profit is even more challenging.

Concorde Flypast, June 4, 2002
Photo – Thunder and Lightnings

In every age, there are those who must challenge existing limits on air travel. The United States, England, France and Russia, where the first SST programs originated, agreed more than 50 years ago that the challenge of supersonic and hypersonic aircraft must be met for both civilian and military reasons. Money for these highest speed aircraft projects will always be found because of the military implications. Before too long, commercial travel between London and Sydney Australia in two hours or less will be possible. For those who want to read further, I’ve included more Sources than usual as the information on the web for Concorde and Turbolev 144 is widely scattered.

The next article in this series will survey Mach 2.0+ military aircraft that have been proposed, and/or built and/or became production aircraft. Stand by, there is much more to come…

Sources -

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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Image: www.swisseduc.ch

What looks like a light show in a crater is actually a lava lake. Long-lasting lava lakes are extremely rare because they require active volcanoes with eruptions that produce enough active lava. Currently, there are only five lava lakes in the world: Erta Ale in Ethiopia, Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kilauea in Haiwaii, Mount Erebus in Antarctica and Villarrica in Chile. Let’s take a closer look at these natural wonders.

Lava lakes can form in the vent or crater of a volcano or a broad depression. They contain large amounts of lava in either molten, partly solidified or completely solidified states. Explosive eruptions can also be caused when ground water hits hot or molten rock and flashes into steam.

1. Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo

This volcano has probably the most violent lava lake in the world as it continues to be fuelled by frequent eruptions of Nyiragongo Volcano, which are caused by the rifting of the Earth’s crust where a part of the African Plate is breaking apart. Nyiragongo is a stratovolcano, a towering peak whose main crater is 250 m deep and 2 km wide. A major eruption started on January 17th, 2002, which displaced 500,000 people as lava flows even reached the city of Goma, 20 km away.

The amazing spectacle as seen from the volcano rim:

Image via Tambora

And from a little way off. This picture nicely shows Nyiragongo’s wide rim:

Image: US Geological Survey

Here’s a video of Nyiragongo’s lava lake bubbling. Is anyone else feeling hot?

2. Erta Ale, Ethiopia

Erta Ale is a 613 m-tall, isolated shield volcano sitting right on top the East African Rift. Shield volcanoes get their name from their low-angle profile that resembles a warrior’s shield. Erta Ale is Ethiopia’s most active volcano. The lava lake is at the summit and is the world’s longest and oldest, as it has been present since the beginning of the last century. Erta Ale is located in the Afar Depression, a desert area at the border to Eritrea. The volcano’s last major eruption on September 25, 2005 and others since were covered in our article on Erta Ale.

Image: Volcano Discovery

Below is a helicopter view, taken in February 1994, of the active lava lake. The red patches inside the crater are molten lava that is breaking through the lava lake’s solidified, black crust. The two red dots at the rim are volcanists in protective gear and helmets taking in the incredible sight.

Image: Jacques Durieux

Here’s a close-up of Erta Ale’s red hot lava cauldron with gas eruptions:

Image: Lothar Fritsch

See the lava bubbling away in this amazing video of Erta Ale:

3. Kilauea, Hawaii

Kilauea is the youngest and probably the world’s most active volcano, continuously spewing out lava since January 3, 1983. No wonder then that it also has its own goddess, for it is the home of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess. She must be one hell of an angry goddess as eruptions are said to take place whenever she’s in a foul mood. Kilauea (“spewing” in Hawaiian) is one of the five shield volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii.

Here’s an incredible picture of the lava flowing into the sea:

Image via Tambora

And an even closer shot of a wall of lava from Kilauea:

Image: Kilauea Adventure

Another amazing picture of Kilauea’s lava flowing into the sea like a red hot waterfall:

Image via Briinhi

Another spectacular view of Mount Kilauea’s eruption:

Image: US Geological Survey

Puu Oo’s lava pond in 1990:

Image: J.D. Griggs

Basaltic lava destroyed the whole village of Kalapana, Hawaii:

Image: Maksim

For those who can’t get enough, watch this dramatic video of one of Kilauea’s many recent eruptions:

4. Mount Erebus, Antarctica

Mount Erebus Volcano on Ross Island in Antarctica is like the expression “fire and ice” personified. The 3,794m-tall volcano is a stratovolcano whose last eruption was in 2008 and is still going strong. Mount Erebus is the world’s southernmost active volcano and part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a cluster of more than 160 active volcanoes. It was named after the Greek god Erebus whose name means “blackness” and who is the son of Kaos (“gaping void”).

Here’s a bird’s-eye-view of Mount Erebus’ lava lake as seen in 1983:

Image: Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory

An amazing picture of Erebus with the lava lake (inset) from Space:

Image: Garcia B.

Mount Erebus’ impressive smoking crater:

Image: Betty

Mount Erebus and an unimpressed observer:

Image: Sean Brockelsby

Here’s a video of Mount Erebus’ eruption in 2007:

5.Villarrica, Chile

Compared to the previous lava lakes, Villarrica’s, with a length of 250m and depth of 100 m, is fairly small and has probably shrunk further since its peak of activity in November 2004, when climbers to the top of the volcano spotted the lava lake. The 2,847m-high stratovolcano is usually snow-covered and one of Chile’s most active volcanoes.

Here’s looking at you, kid! Eye-to-eye with Villarrica’s crater lake:

Image: Jean-Claude Tanguy

A spectacular image of Villarrica’s lava fountain:

Image: Jonathan Lewis

Finally, the best Villarrica eruption videos of 2005 to 2006 from the Observation Project of Villarrica:

Volcanoes are fascinating and certainly unpredictable. Don’t miss our article on incredible underwater volcanoes.

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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Image: tiarescott

Being a plant hunter might not sound like the most thrilling job in the world; after all, what plant could be so dangerous that you have to hunt it? However, in the 19th Century, plant hunters were an exceptional bunch – botanists who were not only scientifically clued-up but behaved like real Indiana Jones types, forever setting off to far-flung corners of the globe in search of rare finds. In the latest book by author Sanjida O’Connell, a plant hunter is even described adventuring as far as the Eastern Steppes of Mongolia and having some pretty special encounters.

Image: (Fred)

To research her novel, titled The Naked Name of Love, Sanjida O’Connell travelled on horseback across what remains one of the remotest countries on earth and saw for herself its legendary blue skies and limitless horizons. There she met up with a Mongolian tribe who still hunt with Golden Eagles, just as the hero of her story does when he makes his journey.

Image: kitseeborg

The tradition of training and hunting with these great birds of prey – which can weigh up to 6.5 kilograms and have wingspans of over seven feet – stretches back hundreds if not thousands of years in Central Asia.

Image: Adagio

Speaking of her trip to Mongolia, Sanjida O’Connell says: “It’s a real country of contrasts now – herders and yurts alongside modern buildings and Russian-influenced architecture… The people I met were very kind, really hospitable. But those darn small horses – it hurt to sit down for a year afterwards.”

Image: MC MasterChef

In addition to being a novelist, Sanjida O’Connell is a features writer for various UK national newspapers, as well as a BBC TV presenter and documentary producer. The Naked Name of Love was published in March by John Murray, and you can see its author talking about the creative process and background behind the book here:

Source: 1

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Image: NSF

When the California wildfires struck in 2007 they shocked not just a state and a nation but the world. The facts speak for themselves: at least 1,500 homes destroyed, 500,000 acres of land burned, 9 people killed, and 85 others injured including at least 61 firefighters. Yet for all the scorching destruction they caused, the fires also proved to be the source for some fresh creative energies.

Grammy nominated band Death Cab for Cutie (DCFC) recently launched the new video for their tune “Grapevine Fires”. Directed by Walter Robot – the team of artist Bill Barminski and writer Christopher Louie – the video features some great animation, which you can check out here:

The song “Grapevine Fires” was inspired by DCFC guitarist/vocalist Ben Gibbard’s first hand encounter with the California wildfires. Walter Robot were moved to add another layer to Gibbard’s experience with an animated short that brilliantly conveys the devastation and cracked dreams the fires caused.

Image: DCFC

Since 2007, Walter Robot have been heralded for their innovative work in music videos and experimental film. They’re evidently well matched with the equally critically acclaimed DCFC, who are set to kick off their US tour in April.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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Image: iRI5

Not sure what to do with your old tape? Well, painter and sculptor Erika Iris Simmons a.k.a. iRI5 has come up with a very creative solution: tape pictures. See for yourself how Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison look in tape and other artworks by Simmons.

A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor’s in Russian, Simmons is now a freelance artist and currently lives in Georgia. Apart from her own art, she also works on commercial projects. She says about her work on her website: “iRI5 has developed an innovative style that focuses on recycling found materials, such as old cassettes and used books, turning trash into treasure.”

From the “Ghost in the Machine” series: Bob Dylan
Image: iRI5

Don’t think that Simmons has used a black marker to help her tape collages – no, if you look closely, you can see that even Dylan’s jacket is made up of lines of cassette tape!

Context is everything when looking at Simmons’ collages. She is detail-oriented and incorporates scenes or artworks from the lives of the person she’s portraying into her work. Her series “Ghost in the Machine” is a number of portraits of musicians made out of recycled cassette tapes. Knowing Simmons’ attention to detail, she probably made Jimi Hendrix’s portrait from an old cassette of his, Bob Dylan’s from an original tape, and so on.

Jim Morrison, charismatic singer of the Doors, as never seen before:

Image: iRI5

Here’s a collage of Ian Curtis, late singer of Joy Division. Simmons used parts of the lyrics from his song “Passover” for the collage: “I think the words lend a beautiful metaphor to the actual life of the singer, who sadly suffered from depression and committed suicide. But, I hope, it sounds ironically optimistic.”

Image: iRI5

And Salvador Dali, composed out of parts of his own paintings:

Image: iRI5

Here’s Barack Obama, made up of scenes from his life:

Image: iRI5

We spotted iRI’s cassette tape paintings first on Neatorama and will keep looking out for more from this promising artist.

Source: 1, 2

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All images via Holcim Foundation

Avid skiers may soon find a shining new example of sustainable shelter on their next trip to the Swiss Alps. The Monte Rosa Hut, developed by the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) and winner of Holcim Awards Bronze 2008 Europe, is an alpine shelter that uses state-of-the-art technology to self-sufficiently produce energy, collect water and treat both solid waste and waste water – all at 2,883 m above sea level. As a result, the Monte Rosa Hut will be quite superior to existing alpine huts, as it cuts CO2 emissions by one third compared to older buildings.

Like a shining beacon that beckons the weary traveler home, the Monte Rosa Hut is revealed as a gleaming, metallic structure sheathed in photo-voltaic cells on closer inspection. Upon entry, guests will find five stories of segment-shaped, wood lathe constructed living space that includes ample dining areas as well as shared spaces to rest weary limbs.

In addition to the capture of solar energy for electricity, the building includes a spiral-shaped band of glass around the whole structure, conducting passive solar energy into the dining room and a wrap-around staircase. Guests will be treated to warm sunlight and expansive views of the surrounding mountains at every step.

A computer-aided mechanical production process was used to design the shelter to cut down on on-site building requirements, maximize the efficient use of materials and reduce transportation weight.

Dining Area Floorplan

Room Floorplan

However, even as a bronze medalist, the project is not without some drawbacks. High construction costs will be associated with transport of materials to the remote mountain-top location, and jury members of the Holcim Awards were concerned with the transferability of the project as a whole. Planned for inauguration this summer, it remains to be seen whether this futuristic new shelter will come to fruition. We’ll be watching!

Sources: 1, 2

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Image: martintoy

The Andean Condor is a truly astonishing creature – a bird so steeped in wonder and myth that it almost seems to transcend its place in nature. Its sheer size, ability to glide great distances, and the high regard with which it is held by many cultures make it a truly special sight in the South American skies. If an Andean Condor were to relay to us what the world looks like through its eyes, this is how it would appear.

Great lost city of Machu Pichu as beheld by the Andean Condor

Image: willposh

From the La Sierra of Ecuador and Venezuela, down through the Peruvian, Chilean and Bolivian Cordilleras, and so on to the southern reaches of the Andes in Chile and Argentina, the Andean Condor sees all that lies beneath it.

In flight: the mountains between Argentina and Chile

Image: matt.hintsa

At over 7000 km long, the Andes is the longest mountain range on earth. Its climate fluctuates from warm and wet in the north, to dry in central parts, and cold and rainy in the south. The altitude and proximity to the sea of the mountains also affect their climate, which can change dramatically over short distances – with alpine peaks sometimes just miles from open grasslands.

Everything before you is your kingdom

Image: Sheep”R”Us

Yet if the Andes dominate the South American continent, only one creature can lay claim to dominating the Andes themselves. Soaring and wheeling in magnificent circles, the Andean Condor makes this extraordinarily diverse, mountainous landscape its home. It is comfortable only high above sea level, where it breeds and roosts at altitudes of up to 16,000 feet.

Andean Condor: can glide effortlessly for miles on end

Image: Colegota

The Andean Condor uses the windswept crags on which it nests to launch into the skies, where it can soar and glide on air currents with minimal effort, often travelling for miles without a single flap of its wings. In what seems an almost magical case of seeing the invisible, some sources even state that the Andean Condor can visibly detect the heat thermals that carry them aloft.

Giant of the skies: the Andean Condor has a 10-foot wingspan

Image: Colegota

The Andean Condor is a true colossus of the skies. One of the largest of all flying birds, its wingspan of 10 feet is surpassed only by the Wandering Albatross’s. Yet despite its size, the Condor does not hunt for prey but scans its territory for carcasses to feast on. And while it may not be the most beautiful of nature’s creatures, its grace in flight makes it an awe-inspiring sight that commands respect.

More than just a bird: a symbol for many cultures

Image: Art G

The Andean Condor has held an important place in the symbolism and folklore of Latin American peoples for thousands of years. In Andean mythology it is viewed as an embodiment of the sun and features heavily in art such as textiles and ceramics. It is also the national bird Bolivia, Chile, Columbia and Ecuador, as well as a national symbol of Argentina and Peru.

Image: Patomena

If we can only ensure that this majestic beast is protected from threats such as loss of habitat and poisoning from animals killed by hunters, the Andean Condor will continue to inspire us as it looks down from the heavens.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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All images by Victor Lucas via Hans Rey

Dawn was breaking. The wheels of the bike crunched over the shale-covered surface of the path as the wind swirled beyond the overhanging ledge. Conditions were far from ideal: damp, misty and with more than the hangover of a storm in the air, they left little margin for error – an error that equated to a sheer 600 foot drop down to the waiting rocks and waves of the Atlantic. The riders had ventured out not knowing fully what to expect, but it was too late to turn back now.

When Hans Rey embarked on a road trip with fellow mountain biking star Steve Peat, the plan, as he told Environmental Graffiti, was “to ride all the cool biking trails and spots in Ireland and to visit a few pubs along the way.” Yet the Swiss trials rider and multiple World Champion had long had his sights on the Emerald Isle’s legendary Cliffs of Mohan and just knew he had to “ride that edge one day.”

The problem was that they hadn’t foreseen the Cliffs being quite such a tourist trap by day, nor that the weather would be as adverse as it was. So they postponed their plans until early the next morning, though not without misgivings. “We were well aware of stories of the dangerous upward drafts, strong winds that would sweep the cliffs, and as stories have it, pulled several people down over the years,” said Hans.

Daybreak came, and it wasn’t just the visibility that was a bit on the murky side. “Our heads were slightly foggy as well,” Hans explained, “from the Guinness the night before.” Still, they only had one shot at it, and weren’t about to be put off. “As we went out there, I quickly felt comfortable and in my zone. As a trials rider you learn to focus on your line, on what you want to do, not what you don’t want to do – in this case, fall to death.”

The guys’ confidence grew as they became more comfortable in their environment – and like a dog that smells no fear on you, their environment seemed to grow more accustomed to them. “Even though it was a stormy day, the winds were calm right on the edge of the cliffs. We got more and more daring. We rode ledges that were only about 4 inches wide and even jumped over 4 foot gaps.”

Yet however crazy this sounds to us, pros who are used to navigating over all kinds of obstacles – often without ever putting a foot down – know where the real perils lie. “The dangerous part riding the ledge was not to ride too close to the hillside, since we didn’t want to catch a pedal on the rocks and high-side down the cliff.” Obviously it takes superlative skill to pull off a stunt like this, and the riders completed their spectacular trail without mishap.

Of course, the local authorities knew nothing about what was going down on the Cliffs of Moher that cold Irish winter morning, and apparently they were none too pleased when they later found out. But since when have extreme sports guys cared about doing things by the book? “Just for the record, there were no parachutes in our backpacks, as some had speculated,” Hans concludes. “Mind over matter and the mercy of Mother Nature.”

With special thanks to Hans Rey for contributing his thoughts to this article, and to Victor Lucas for kind permission to use his stunning shots

Sources: 1, 2

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