Environmental Graffiti

Image: Indi Samarajiva

Though sparklers are not exactly green, they seem the littlest of all pyrotechnic evils. In fact, what would the festive season be without them? We’ve found some revelers who’ve taken sparkler burning to a whole new level. Holding forth the glowing sticks, what we’re seeing here is not their temporary writing on the wall but some cool sparkler graffiti.

Hey, this one looks like an evil fish:

Image: kcdsTM

Double whammy – a pretzel, glasses – you decide:

Image: Adam J.W.C.

A crown of thorns?

Image: Pete Warren

Wow, real sparkler graffiti!

Image: Jason Ippolito

Did you know that fireworks were already invented in China by the 12th century? As a kind of byproduct of the Chinese invention of gunpowder, they were said to scare away evil spirits. Or did their purpose have something to do with the use of spirits? Never mind.

… and some more:

Image: Jason Ippolito

Written into thin air:

Image: Jason Ippolito

A sparkler chain:

Image: Chet Thomas

Sparklers, though the most harmless of all commercially available fireworks, do burn at high temperatures and sparkler-related incidents are reported each year. So make sure to not wear flammable clothing when handling sparklers and that small children use them only under strict supervision, if at all. Oh, and if you live in a dry area of the world where it hasn’t rained in a while – using sparklers outside may not be a good idea as they are frequently the cause of wild- and bushfires.

Two rings, competing for brightness:

Image: stvcr

Red sparkler circles:

Image: Rudi Riet

And with a reflection?

Image: Indi Samarajiva

Sources: 1, 2

Wishing all our loyal Environmental Graffiti readers a happy and safe New Year’s Eve and a wonderful 2010!

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Image via My Cute Animals

Its keen brown eyes and coal black nose could be stones in the snow-white landscape to those unaware they are the points of a triangle formed by its characteristic snout. Merging imperceptibly with its colourless environment, and able to withstand some of the most frigid extremes on the planet, this super-adapted animal trots nimbly on the icy surface, using its acutely sensitive hearing to home in precisely on its next meal under the snow. Then, it pounces.

Mid-air attack: Arctic fox pouncing on prey beneath the snow

Image via arctic model making

The Arctic fox leaps with the energy of a released coiled spring, punching through the snow with its front paws and catching its victim. Lemmings are a favourite food source – a family of foxes can consume dozens of the little rodents a day – but the Arctic fox will also prey on tundra voles, Arctic hare, ground squirrels, sea birds, seal cubs, eggs, carrion and fish under the ice – pretty much any meat it can locate in its harsh frozen habitat. Any leftovers are buried for later, left in cold-storage.

Noo-nee-noo-nee-noo: Arctic fox on the prowl in Nunavut, Canada

Image: Ansgar Walk

The coat of the Arctic fox is perhaps it most amazing adaptation. The fur changes colour with the seasons, turning from brown to white with the advancing winter and soon rendering it invisible to all but the most eagle-eyed. A master of camouflage, the Arctic fox is also unmatched at keeping out the cold: its deep, dense fur helps it stay warm, thickly furred paws provide insulation, and stocky body, short legs and rounded ears expose minimal surface area through which heat might escape.

If anything could look snug in the snow: Arctic fox curled up resting

Image: Keith Morehouse

After several hours hunting, this native of the far north returns home. It may travel on an ice flow – its padded paws offering excellent traction to stop it slipping on the ice – before at last reaching its destination – a den or burrow dug into the side of a hill, cliff or riverbank, or in winter often a snow bank into which it has tunnelled. If the fox has cubs, they will be fed the spoils. Then it can curl up in the snow, work temporarily done, in sub-zero temperatures that would kill lesser creatures.

Image: R. Kimball

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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Image: Copyright by David Haworth

The iconic image of the Moon as it appears in E.T. – when the wide-eyed Elliot and lovable E.T. make their flight to the forest on a bicycle – has been described as one of the most magical moments in cinema. Yet Moons as big as the one said boy and alien are silhouetted against are not only the preserve of Hollywood’s trousers. Today’s astronomer-photographers are also able to capture the Earth’s satellite as it rises into the sky at such sizes – and what spectacle these images make.

Lick Observatory Moonrise, 2008

Image: Rick Baldridge

Viewed from a gem of spot at sunset, the gorgeous beast of a Full Moon above was shot as it rose behind Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose, California by Rick Baldridge. Reports NASA: “Captured in this lovely telescopic view, historic Lick Observatory is perched on the mountain’s 4,200 foot summit, observatory and rising Moon momentarily sharing the warm color of filtered sunlight.” The rising and setting of the Moon, like the comparable cyclical pattern of the Sun, is of course an illusion brought about by the fact that the Earth is spinning. It’s an illusion we’ll live with.

Full Moon Rising Over Lycabettus Hill, 2009

Image: Anthony Ayiomamitis

This next sweet shot from Anthony Ayiomamitis shows a massive Moon rising over Mount Lycabettus at the centre of Athens. At 918 feet high, it is the highest of the seven hills that characterise the Greek capital, and at its summit stands the Church of Saint George. Ayiomamitis explains that the sun had just set a few minutes earlier and the thronging tourists had set their sights on the Moon rising in the opposite direction. The image was taken from well over a kilometre away so as to match as closely as possible the apparent size of the Church and the 13-day old Moon.

Solstice Full Moon Rising at Sounion, 2008

Image: Anthony Ayiomamitis

The dazzling image above of the solstice Full Moon rising above Cape Sounion in southern Greece is another realised by photographer Anthony Ayiomamitis. Says NASA of the image: “The 2,400 year old Temple of Poseidon lies in the foreground, also visible to sailors on the Aegean Sea. In this well-planned single exposure, a telescopic lens makes the Moon loom large, but even without optical aid casual skygazers often find the Full Moon looking astonishingly large when seen near the horizon. That powerful visual effect is known as the Moon Illusion.”

Moonrise at End of Lunar Eclipse, 2007

Image: Ian Parker

The Moon Illusion is an optical illusion that has been known since ancient times and recorded by various different cultures, but which has been popularly misunderstood as being due to a real magnification effect caused by the Earth’s atmosphere. Not so. While the atmosphere does change the perceived colour of the Moon, it does not magnify or enlarge it. In fact, the Moon appears about 1.5% smaller when it is near the horizon than when it is high in the sky because it is further away by a distance of up to one Earth radius and also because of atmospheric refraction. So there.

Moonrise Over Copacabana, 2007

Photo: Bobesh

This last glowing shot of the Moon rising over Copacabana in New South Wales, Australia was taken five minutes after sunset with the sun setting behind the photographer, the rays of which can be seen reflecting off the balconies. Elsewhere, photographer Bobesh offers an explanation of how he achieves such huge Moons in his work. The main idea is that you get the objects in the foreground as small as possible, moving backwards such that the trees or buildings shrink in size while the Moon on the horizon stays the same size. It’s all about perspective.

All images used with explicit permission of the photographers.

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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Images: Matthias Kabel (top) and Ottomar Anschütz

There was a time when flying meant risking one’s life and limb and those trying to even attempt it were considered fools. But luckily, that didn’t deter early inventors who came up with amazing flying machines – strap-on wings really, copied from the birds themselves. We’ve taken a look at the first lighter-than-air flying attempts and found some mind-blowing contraptions and courage.

Eilmer of Malmesbury (~990-~1066)

Eilmer of Malmesbury was an adventurous monk who got inspired by the Greek fable of Daedalus, a skilled craftsman said to have fabricated wings out of birds’ feathers for himself and his son Icarus that allowed them to escape captivity. Eilmer (often called Elmer or even Oliver due to wrong transcription) was not lazy and one fine day in the early 11th century, donned a homemade glider and launched himself from a tower at Malmesbury Abbey. A fellow monk, famous medieval historian William of Malmesbury, wrote about the incident in 1125:

“He… fastened wings to his hands and feet so that, mistaking fable for truth, he might fly like Daedalus, and, collecting the breeze upon the summit of a tower, flew for more than a furlong [201 metres]. But agitated by the violence of the wind and the swirling of air, as well as by the awareness of his rash attempt, he fell, broke both his legs and was lame ever after.”

Eilmer the “flying monk” as depicted at Malmesbury Abbey today:

Image: Radicalrobbo

Though crippled for life, Eilmer was undeterred and would have soon started a second attempt, this time equipping his glider with the missing tail, if the abbot of Malmesbury Abbey himself hadn’t forbidden any further attempts. Remarkable about this early recorded flying attempt is that it captures the spirit of medieval scholars who had figured out that flying was not magical but that air could be “worked” with the help of human invention.

Eilmer’s vision?

Image: Photo_Mind

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

No list of inventors of early flying machines would be complete without Leonardo da Vinci. This 15th century painter and scientist was way ahead of his time and seamlessly combined art and natural philosophy, the forerunner of the modern sciences, leaving more than 13,000 pages of notes and drawings behind.

Leonardo’s design for a flying machine, circa 1505:

Image: Leonardo da Vinci

A strap-on glider with foldable wings:

Image: Leonardo da Vinci

His fascination for flight manifested itself in various studies on the flight of birds and, going a step further, ideas on how humans could use this knowledge to take flight themselves. He came up with plans for several flying machines, including an early helicopter and a light hang glider. While the former turned out to be impractical and unable to actually lift off, the latter has been successfully constructed and demonstrated.

One of his flying machines, reconstructed:

Image: TTaylor

Drawing of the first helicopter:

Image: Leonardo da Vinci

Between da Vinci and the next inventor portrayed here, there were many more – as well as earlier – flying attempts, especially by Chinese, Arab and Indian scholars, but unfortunately, little has been preserved about them.

A design by Leonardo da Vinci for a glider, circa 1488:

Image: Leonardo da Vinci

Bartolomeo de Gusmão (1685-1724)

This early 18th century priest and naturalist demonstrates that it took two things to be a successful inventor at the time: a quiet place to study and money to fund one’s inventions. Bartolomeo de Gusmão found both; the first at the University of Coimbra, Portugal and the latter in his patron Marquês d’Abrantes of Lisbon.

Because Gusmão presented a formal petition to King John V of Portugal in 1709 regarding an airship he had invented, the specifications and even a drawing have been preserved.

The “Passarola”:

Image: Bartolomeo de Gusmão

Given Portugal’s seafaring tradition, it is no surprise that this invention really looked like a giant ship that could fly through the air: a huge sail spread over a boat-like body. In case of no wind, air could be blown through tubes from the boat itself into the sail via bellows. Magnets, encased in two hollow metal balls, were supposed to propel the airship.

The „Passarola“ as a sand sculpture at FIESA 2009:

Image: Roger W. Haworth

Though the public demonstration of the “Passarola”, slated for June 24, 1709, never took place, Gusmão is said to have tested it at a later point and managed to fly for about 1 km over Lisbon. He was also on track with experiments on airplanes and hot air balloons but his death at only 39 years of age put an end to all plans.

Diego Marin Aguilera (1757-1799)

Diego Marin Aguilera was a Spanish inventor, who, unlike the others portrayed here, was not a learned scholar but an agricultural laborer who learned about flying from studying the eagles while tending to his animals and fields.

Might Aguilera’s wings have looked like this?

Image: Will Luo

For six years, Aguilera worked on a flying machine made of wood, iron, cloth and eagle and vulture feathers, held together by wrought iron joints made by the local blacksmith. The contraption also included stirrups for his feet and hand cranks to control its direction. The full moon night of May 13, 1793 was when Aguilera brought his glider to the highest part of the castle of Coruña del Conde and took off, expecting to be back “in a couple of days.”

Actually, he reached a height of 5-6 m and flew for about 360 m, after which he crash-landed due to a broken metal joint. More than his body, his ego was scratched and bruised, and after villagers accused him of heresy and fraud and burned his flapping wings, he never attempted to fly again. Today, however, he is called the “father of aviation” in Spain and the Air Force dedicated a monument to him.

Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896)

Last but not least, there’s Otto Lilienthal, a German pioneer of human aviation whose inventions coincided with the age of photography so that his extensive documents got supplemented by newspaper articles with photographs – proof, so to speak. Lilienthal was the first person to make repeated, successful gliding flights and became known as the “glider king.”

Otto Lilienthal with his small wing flapping apparatus in 1894:

Image: Ottomar Anschütz

Models of Lilienthal’s gliders:

Image: Matthias Kabel

Lilienthal controlled his gliders by shifting his body weight, therefore changing the centre of gravity, much like how modern hang gliders function. However, he held the glider by his shoulders rather than hanging from it, which made it difficult to maneuver. On August 9, 1896 Lilienthal undertook his last flight – a fatal one during which he fell from a height of 17 m and broke his spine.

Yippee, here I come – Otto Lilienthal in May 1895:

Image: Dr. Richard Neuhauss

Though Lilienthal researched lighter-than-air flight intensively and minutely described the flight of birds, he was later credited most with his developments of heavier-than-air flight and aviation and experiments to gather reliable aeronautical data. The Wright Brothers credited him as a major inspiration but soon decided to pursue manned flight, a whole different chapter with hot air balloons, the first airplanes and more.

What the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics said about Diego Marin Aguilera is surely true for all the early inventors interested in flight: they were “endowed with a special technical ingenuity and … a good example of the ageless human aspiration toward flight.”

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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Unless otherwise stated, all photography courtesy of Walter Arnold

Like something dreamt up by the writers of Lost, it hits all the right switches for those spellbound by remoteness and abandonment; for those anxious that the world offers nowhere deserted and derelict for a greater good: the need for the human mind to explore the unknown. Founded in 1565, the small Floridian city of St. Augustine is the oldest port in the continental US, and a fitting location for the secret it holds: an airplane graveyard, where the strewn skeletal remains of aircraft lie – the carcasses of an almost forgotten past.

Somewhere near St. Augustine Airport is a property surrounded by a wire fence overrun with sprawling foliage. From across the highway that runs alongside this place, the giant tailfins of at least eight hulking great war planes from bygone days emerge from the stranglehold of trees and dense undergrowth. They might look threatening if there weren’t something so wretched about the way they are slowly but relentlessly being conquered by the untamed nature around them.

Photo: Paul-G

To cross the threshold of this overgrown lot is trespassing – occupied houses nearby make discretion a must – yet this hasn’t deterred a flow of photographers and urban explorers. Indeed this haunting spot seems to exert a gravitational pull. The closer you get to the decrepit shells of the airplanes left to rot in this rusting cemetery, the stronger the strange spell of decaying man-made technology set against the steady growth of plant life taking over again – like a vision of the future.

Plus, the buzz of exploration is only heightened by the threat of getting caught. “As we stepped through the brush we walked on and around old pieces of the planes, tires, wings, control boxes, and the occasional beer can,” writes photo-essayist Walter Arnold. “At the first plane I came to I saw that, being aircraft carrier planes, the wings were folded over the top. The engines and propellers had been removed from this particular plane and the nose was missing, but the fuselage was intact.”

The planes are in fact Grumman S2 Trackers, naval bombers from the ’60s and ’70s said to have been in their present sepulchral location for some fifteen years. Years of neglect may have encouraged weeds, vines and other vegetation to grow up inside the bodies of these machines, but they were once shining new, state-of-the-art anti-submarine aircraft – one of the first types purpose-built to carry either detection gear or weapons for seeking out and destroying underwater targets.

These particular planes were also designed to perform photo reconnaissance work, as Arnold observes. The planes, like the property, are owned by a local resident who bought them and stripped them of parts to sell to Grumman – a major employer in the area. What’s here is what’s left. Despite bombed out cockpits and metal parts laid bare or hazardously projecting, the S2s remain just about stable – though anyone climbing inside would understandably fear their collapse.

Continuing his exploration of the site, Arnold writes: “As we walked under the wing, we came to a small access hatch that was barely big enough for a hobbit to step through without ducking. I stuck my head inside the plane and looked around. The interior of the midsection of the plane had been stripped of all equipment leaving bundles of wire hanging from empty compartments like jungle vines.” Metal and plant matter appear to merge in the airplane graveyard – a cyborg dream.

Once inside the carcass he had chosen to investigate, stooped down Arnold inched his way forward through the fuselage and into the cockpit where, he writes: “What I saw was sheer beauty. Over the years, vines had wound their way up through the windows and skeletal nose of the plane and draped the inside of the deteriorated cockpit. The seats had long ago been stripped of their padding and were now bare metal repositories for dead leaves and debris.”

“Half of the windows were still intact and hazed over by years of grime and fungus, and the other half were either gone completely or partially shattered, giving a broken jagged view of the other sleeping planes half hidden in the surrounding trees and undergrowth. The instrument panels were largely stripped of gauges and dials… Levers, switches, wires, and buttons speckled the ceiling of the cockpit. With the nose of the plane removed you could see right through to the ground below.”

It’s a view the planes in this aircraft cemetery had better get used to. As vines wrap themselves inexorably around their controls, increasingly indistinguishable from the wirings of these once proud hulks of the skies, the earth will become their home – the earth from whence they came.

To read more about Walter Arnold’s adventure in the Airplane Graveyard of St. Augustine and see more of his photography of the place click here.

Extra sources: 1, 2, 3

To view and purchase photography by Walter Arnold visit: www.TheDigitalMirage.com. Visit miragebym.blogspot.com to read more on his photo adventure blog.

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All images courtesy of Cyberpac unless otherwise noted.

Vanishing without a trace might not be appreciated in friends and lovers but is an excellent relationship to have with one’s used packaging material. What becomes a pile of plastic garbage is that it should just disappear into thin air, right? Well, a newly developed plastic bag does just that – it completely dissolves in water. Companies use it when sending their products, magazines for example, to users, who can simply dissolve it at home – no trace of the bag left, less plastic on the environment. Our only question is: Why hasn’t anyone come up with this concept before?

Two empty magazine bags, what next?

Cyberpac, a UK-based packaging company, has developed a range of products – called Harmless – that use a hydro-degradable plastic that is up to three times stronger than polythene, lighter and leaves no damaging residue after dissolving in water. A bit skeptical of this promise, we’ve taken a look at the dissolving bag’s actual disappearing act.

The next step of the instructions says “Run the hot tap or boil a kettle.” Okay, here we go:

Image: ABF

Oh, wait: “and remove strip.” Okay, because the glue’s strip, though biodegradable, will not dissolve in water:

“Place bag in receptacle and pour on hot water”:

Printed areas will take a bit longer to dissolve:

And, finally, “pour solution down the drain” – bye bye!

Image: Jamie Baker

Cool, we’re almost convinced; let’s just take a look at this video as well:

Knowing our readers, we’re sure that at least a few will point out that energy is consumed when boiling water and that clean drinking water is used. Well spotted, but boiling water is actually not necessary and any waste water or rain water can be used. Depending on the product wrapped, the bag can be set to dissolve in cold or warm water from 5 degrees Celsius to 40 or 60C, ensuring that your magazine will not get wet if you or the postman is caught in the rain.

This plastic can go on the compost pile:

Image: Natalie Maynor

But here’s the best part: there’s actually no water required to get rid of the bag at all. As it’s non-toxic and biodegradable, if you’re in no rush to dissolve your bag, just throw it on the compost pile! Here’s what Cyberpac says:

“Harmless-Dissolve is non-toxic and is degraded by micro-organisms, moulds and yeasts. These organisms can occur in both artificial environments, such as anaerobic digesters, activated sewage sludge and composts and natural environments such as aquatic systems and soil. The micro-organisms use Harmless-Dissolve as a food source by producing a variety of enzymes that are capable of reacting with it. In the end the bag becomes carbon dioxide, water and biomass.”

In other words, the bugs love it! We love it too. Just one question remains: Why did it take so long to come up with this concept? When we asked Cyberpac’s managing director Will Anderson, he pointed to the production specifications and costs that had to be figured out before the product could get off the ground. The recession surely didn’t help matters either. He explains further:

“The concept came about some 12 months ago when we were making a similar application for the electronics industry. I took the product and analysed it before pushing the material some more to get a better quality finish and feel. We sought bio inks and even a bio peel and seal lip to deliver an industry first for Creative Review. Some of the challenges we faced were in the conversion to bags and the behaviour of the material across the presses however, apart from those small issues we have had tremendous success.”

So much success in fact that the company has been inundated with demand across the globe – especially Russia, Brazil and South Africa – and has begun setting up in Australia.

Harmless Compost:

For those convinced by the dissolving bag, there’s good news: There are more environmentally friendly products out there, such as a line of compostable bags, envelopes, sacks, jiffy bags, biodegradable bubble wrap, air pillows and more. Potential uses seem endless, for example for replacing cotton laundry bags in hotels and hospitals and thus reducing this load. The material’s natural anti-static qualities also make it useful when packing electronics. Harmless for the environment but revolutionary when it comes to packaging.

Sources: 1, 2

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Travelling by reindeer, Archangel, Russia. Late 19th century photochrom
Image: Library of Congress

As Christmas scenes go, it takes some beating: skidding through the crunching snow, a pearly landscape peppered by fir trees gliding by, and a magnificent creature taking the strain of the trip. With the festive season well and truly upon us, we thought it would be a merry idea to spruce up the occasion with a post on the joys of riding in a sled pulled by reindeer. Everyone knows of the flying beasts that star in the Santa Claus myth, but what’s the reality of this form of transport for the true-life Dashers, Dancers, Donners and Blitzens – and what of its history?

Coming through! People being pulled by reindeer today

Image via Food Job Blog

While reindeer hunting has been practiced since stone age times, the history of reindeer husbandry is not nearly so long in the hoof. Even so, for centuries Arctic and Subarctic people like the Sami, indigenous to Scandinavia, and Nenets, native to Russia, have been herding these cold weather adapted deer, where their usefulness for transportation over the snow and ice was married to other purposes – meat for food, and hides and antlers for making tools, clothes and dwellings.

Why have we stopped? Family travelling by reindeer sled in Alaska, 1900

Image via Old Picture of the Day

Historically, reindeer have been tamed for milking and pulling sleds – harnessed as draught animals due to their great physical strength. In the late 19th century, they were introduced as semi-domesticated livestock in Alaska by Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson as a means of providing a livelihood for Native peoples. Reindeer were imported first from Siberia, and later also from Norway, and a regular mail run in Wales, Alaska, used a sleigh drawn by the antlered ones.

What do you mean I’m not going fast enough? Across a frozen river in the Arctic

Image: casa de mermonkey

Today, driving reindeer sleighs is a practice born as much of choice as necessity. Six-day reindeer sled safaris through the “magical winter landscape of Swedish Lapland” are sold as “steeped in the traditions of the Sámi people”. And while in the 21st century the Sámis rely more on snowmobiles than reindeer for winter transport, for the herders who guide such expeditions, the reindeer is central to their way of life – as a cultural symbol, as an animal their families have worked with for generations, and as a source of income, not least from Rudolph-inspired tourism.

Merry Christmas to all our readers! Reindeer at Lammintupa near Ruka Finland

Image: timo w2s

Sources: 1, 2

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All images courtesy of Mark Langan

What do Edvard Munch’s “Scream”, Uncle Sam and a standard barcode have in common? At first glance – not much. It’s at artist Mark Langan’s studio in Cleveland, OH where all the leads come together. Or should we say the cardboard pieces? Mark Langan uses corrugated material – recycled corrugated cardboard boxes – from friends’ and neighbours’ trash cans and turns them into amazing pieces of art. A super cool and creative way to recycle we think!

Cardboard Uncle Sam seems to have a metallic sheen:

Would Edvard Munch “Scream” in delight?

Mark Langan has been focusing on corrugated art since 2004 and creates his own as well as commissioned pieces. Each artwork can take about 80-100 hours to make. He markets to corrugated manufacturers, packaging companies, recycling firms and green industries who love his artworks – which adorn their boardrooms and lobbies and are used at green events.

Does recycled art keep board meetings focused?

A boring barcode has never been so beautiful:

Asked what corrugated art is, the artist says: “My personal interpretation to the term “Corrugated Art” is the celebration of the unique properties of a highly visible manufactured product for which it was not purportedly intended. Striving to artistically focus by highlighting those aesthetically characteristic qualities which otherwise would be unknowingly ignored.”

Only cardboard, non-toxic glue, razor knife, cutting edge and mat – Mark Langan at work:

While Langan is particular in using only recycled materials, he shies a bit away from the label “green.” Though his motto is “reduce, reuse, recycle”, he is realistic enough not to claim that “he’s making a huge dent in reducing waste material going into landfills.” However, he strongly believes in inspiring others to ask, “What can I do to help?” when it comes to recycling. That’s more than most of us can claim. We’ll surely do some thinking and will not look at an old cardboard box in quite the same way again…

For a gallery of Langan’s artworks, examples of corporate corrugated art and recycling facts, visit Mark Langan’s website.

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Meet Isabella! Boston terrier and lovely girl
Photo: elvissa

Dan Aykroyd, David Bowie, Kiefer Sutherland and Christopher Walken have got it, so it can’t be a bad thing for your chances of success. It may not be the norm in terms of eye colouration, but since when was being the same so great? Difference is a good thing, right? Just ask these animals. Then again, they’d probably just look blankly at you – wondering, in dog and cat speak, “What the hell are you going on about?” – as you stare back at their amazing different coloured eyes.

Purrrfect: Complete heterochromia in a female cat

Photo: Jorge Barrios

This difference in colouration – in humans or animals – is called heterochromia. Usually found in the iris, heterochromia can also affect the hair or skin, though we’re going to focus on eyes here, and specifically those of man’s beast and second beast friends, dogs and cats.

What have we here? Mismatching eyes in a cat

Photo: decade null

Heterochromia occurs due to a relative excess or lack of the pigment melanin. Think loosely along the lines of Michael Jackson, except more likely to be inherited, resulting from genetic mosaicism (cells with different genotypes), or due to disease or injury – the possible causes of heterochromia.

Bright eye: Heterochromia of the eye in a pet dog

Photo: Kent Wang

When someone tells you you’ve got nice eyes, what they’re really saying in a less clinical way is that they like your distribution and concentration of melanin, as this is what determines your eye colour. Irises affected by heterochromia are either hyperpigmented or hypopigmented.

We’ve been expecting you Mr Bond: Domestic cat with full heterochromia

Photo: Peter Forster

Heterochromia of the eye also comes in two packages: complete heterochromia, where one iris is a different colour from the other, and partial heterochromia, where part of one iris is a different colour from the rest of it. Partial heterochromia is less common – and less eye catching.

Eye eye: Siberian Husky with complete and partial heterochromia

Photo: Linda Kenney

OK, so now most of the boring science bit is done, on with the animals. Although rare in humans, complete heterochromia is more common in other species, and almost always involves one blue eye – often found in a white patch, where melanin is lacking from the skin and hair.

Introducing Kitty Pazzaz: An archetypal odd-eyed cat

Photo: Anniewil

Cats are one of the most commonly affected species, especially breeds like Turkish Van and Turkish Angora. Known colloquially as odd-eyed cats, these flash felines are usually white or mostly white, with one blue peeper and one normal eye of copper, orange, yellow or green.

Different again: Heterochromia in non-white cat with green eyes

Photo: Melissa Maples

The odd-eyed colouring is caused when either the dominant white gene or white spotting gene stop melanin granules from reaching one eye during the cat’s development from kitty to moggy. The condition also affects cats of colours other than white, so long as they have that white spotting gene.

Say cheese: Flash photography effect on blue but not green eye

Photo: Jmbgouveia

But we’re digressing into genetics again. When taking snaps of odd-eyed cats, a red-eye effect can be seen in the blue coloured eye but not the other. Eyeshine is produced in both eyes but in the normal, non-blue peeper a layer of melanin removes certain light colours.

What are you looking at? Copper bi-eye Siberian Husky

Photo: shmoomeema

As for dogs, complete heterochromia is commonly observed in Siberian Huskies, the eyes of which are normally light blue, dark blue, amber, or brown. With complete heterochromia, one eye of the husky may be brown and the other blue, or with partial heterochromia, both may be half brown and half blue.

Also starring Scarlet: Complete heterochromia in a Siberian Husky

Photo: Jeffrey Beall

Whether you find heterochromia in canines and felines unnerving, alluring, or just plain different, you can’t deny it’s eye-catching. What’s more, who’s to say the pets in question aren’t peering back at gawpers wondering why their eyes are so boringly homochromatic.

Photo: Helenmelon28

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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It’s man versus rock at Vale da Lua
Image: Jaoa Vicente

Vale da Lua or Valley of the Moon in the Brazilian Highlands is part of the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park. Comparisons with the Moon are not so farfetched as the ancient plateau is almost as old as the stars – at 1.8 billion years (yes, that’s with a ‘b’!), it houses some of the oldest rock formations on Earth.

Smooth and silent witnesses of time:

Image: Vitorio Benedetti

Chapada dos Veadeiros, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, is famous for its breathtaking landscape, flora and fauna, so much so that the strange beauty of Vale da Lua is often just mentioned as an aside. But the peculiar, moon-like valley is worth a visit just by itself and its visitors are awed by the smooth, grey rocks that have been washed out by the crystal clear waters of the San Miguel River over the ages.

These are clearly moon rocks, or are they?

Image: Vitorio Benedetti

The friction of sand carried in the water has dug small craters into the rocks, especially where the rapids are strongest. Vale da Lua is a work in progress and will change further due to the constant shaping of the water. The heavy and sudden downpours during the rainy season make sure that the river never runs dry and that visitors stay at bay.

The steady stream that carves the stone:

Image: Nilton Aguillar deCosta

The Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in the state of Goias, a few kilometers from the town of Sao Jorge, today occupies an area of 65,515 ha (655 sq km) – only about one tenth of what it was when created as National Park Tocantins with an area of 650,000 ha on January 11, 1961 by then-President Juscelino Kubitscheck.

Climbing among ancient rocks:

Image: Ana Cotta

The high-altitude Cerrado or open pasture sports elevations of between 600 and 1650 meters and is Central Brazil’s highest plain. The park’s highest point is Serra da Santana at 1691 meters above sea level. As one of Brazil’s areas of greatest biodiversity, the rich fauna includes many endangered species like the pampas deer, the maned wolf, the ema, anteater, giant armadillo and many others. Many of the local plant varieties – 25 types of orchids, for example – are unique to the area.

The national park as captured via SPOT satellite:

Image: Cnes

The park’s mineral rich rocks – quartz with various crystals – were long exploited by miners but, realising the area’s potential as a nature sanctuary, 3% of the park’s area is today used for tourism, the rest for research and preservation. Many therapists and nature lovers swear by the energy and healing power of the area’s rock crystals.

Looks like moon rocks:

Image: Leonardo C. Fleck

Keeping impending climate changes in mind, we couldn’t agree more with UNESCO’s plea to preserve the area as a species’ refuge, just as it has been for millennia:

“The two sites [Chapada dos Veadieros and Emas National Park] contain flora and fauna and key habitats that characterize the Cerrado – one of the world’s oldest and most diverse tropical ecosystems. For millennia, these sites have served as refuge for several species during periods of climate change and will be vital for maintaining the biodiversity of the Cerrado region during future climate fluctuations.”

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

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