The Diphylleia grayi is an astonishing flower with white
petals that turn gorgeously transparent upon contact with water. During light
rain showers, the elusive blooms transform into blossoms as clear as glass,
fitting its common moniker "skeleton flower." However the plant can
be found growing on moist, wooded mountainsides in the colder regions of Japan
and China come late spring. The stunning Diphylleia grayi is known by its
large, specifically umbrella-like leaves topped with small clusters of pearly
white blossoms that undergo an enchanted transformation in the rain.
Friday, 28 November 2014
Incredible Lava Lake on Top of Mount Nyiragongo, Congo
You would be thinking that the
last place on earth where people would want to inhabit to the bottom of a steep
volcano hosting the world's largest fluid lava lake. Mount Nyiragongo Virunga
National Park Democratic Republic of the Congo is an active volcano and very
famous for housing the biggest lava lake in the world. The volcano’s slopes are
steep and lava is very fluid, thus enabling it to flow in high velocity when it
erupts.
In spite of the continuous threat
of catastrophic fiery death, the area at the foot of Mount Nyiragongo is dotted
with greatly populated bustling villages. Well, the one such disaster happened
in 1977, when the walls of the crater burst open and the lake of molten rock
drained in less than an hour, pouring itself down into the villages at a
frightening speed of up to 60 mph. Different your average lava flow, the exclusive
presence of an alkali-rich volcanic rock, melilite nephelinite, creates a
extremely fluid consistency, allowing it to move at speeds that can with no
trouble overcome anything in its path. The official death toll was 70, but
numerous report states much higher numbers, some guessing the losses at several
thousand.
The dreadful eruption of 1977
took place when the lake was at its maximum depth ever recorded, 10,700 ft.,
but the extent of its volume varies depending on activity. Because no one
exactly knows how long the volcano has been active, but history tells us since
1882 it's been very busy, erupting more than 34 times, sporadically bubbling
and spewing fire for years before settling down. It is located inside Virunga
National Park about 20 km. North of Goma, Mount Nyiragongo is now still active,
its last deadly eruption taking 147 lives in 2002. Its activity is, for now,
being confined to the crater, where the lake of lava is slowly rising once
more.
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
A Unique Underwater Wedding in Bora Bora
Source: Charismatic Planet
This truly amazing wedding was beautifully
organized by a dive club called “Top Dive” which has launched a novel concept of
wedding in French Polynesia. The bride and groom held hands as they stood in
front of a Polynesian priest who performed their remarkable ceremony. The
priest stood at an altar made of pearls to welcome the couple Nicolas and
Alexandra from Madrid, Spain. The couple decided to seal their union four
meters under water in the spectacular turquoise waters of Bora Bora. It was the
first underwater wedding in this lagoon, but it will definitely not be the
last. Paul Ramos, manager of “Top Dive” diving clubs in Polynesia said he thought
about this novel concept and finally developed the idea to give couples the
experience of a lifetime for just €2,700. Both Alexandra and Nicolas said that
they were enthusiastic about getting married in such an exclusive way and
donned white wedding diving outfits for their distinct ceremony. The ceremony
lasts 20 minutes and costs around 2700 euros.
(Photos Credit To: Ben Thouard/AFP Photo)
Monday, 10 November 2014
Monday, 3 November 2014
Daredevil Nik Wallenda Conquers his Most Challenging Chicago Skyline
Nikolas "Nik" Wallenda
is an American acrobat, aerialist, daredevil, high wire artist, and author. He
can be easily described as "The King of the Wire". Wow, what a record-breaking
daredevil Nik Wallenda 35 years old finally completed his most challenging feat
to date: a tightrope walk between two skyscrapers 600 feet above downtown
Chicago, moderately blindfolded. Huge crowds below cheered on the
seventh-generation aerialist, who wore a microphone during his untethered walk.
The "Skyscraper Live" walk was broadcast on Discovery. I love
Chicago, and Chicago definitely loves me. What an astonishing roar, when he
crossed above the Chicago River.
The daring walk comprised of two parts, starting from Marina City's West Tower, about 588 feet high. And then he has to cross above the Chicago River to the Leo Burnett Building in just under short time of 7 minutes, finishing 671 feet above the street. When he returned to the West Tower, Nik crossed to the East Tower blindfolded in one minute and 20 seconds.
As a member of the famed Flying Wallendas, founded by his grandfather Karl Wallenda in the 1920s, Wallenda is no stranger to death-defying stunts. He dared the walked across a wire 1,500 feet above a river in Arizona in June 2013, becoming the first individual to traverse the gorge near Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Before that, he made a record journey across Niagara Falls in 2012.
Jeopardy also runs in the Wallenda family. His Great-grandfather Karl Wallenda was killed at 73 during he was attempting to walk between two buildings in Puerto Rico in 1978. But on Nov 02, 2014, Wallenda made it look so easy. He said I am so blessed for these opportunities, and you guys watching think I'm crazy, but this is what I was made for.
A quick time-lapse of Nik Wallenda's record breaking #skyscraperlive in Chicago. from Craig Shimala on Vimeo.
Saturday, 1 November 2014
Berlin Wall Being Rebuilt in a Glittering Show of 8,000 Glowing Orbs
In
1961, the ill-famed Berlin Wall was constructed and fully cut off West
Berlin from East Germany and East Berlin. However, the ongoing
infrastructure was taken down in 1989 and with it reclaimed free
movement between East and West. That was about 25 years ago, and to
honor this occasion, light artist Christopher Bauder and filmmaker Marc
Bauder designed Lichtgrenze, a 10-mile reconstruction of the Berlin
Wall. Nonetheless, in its place of concrete and barbed wire, the
fundamental path will feature stunning 8,000 glowing white balloons to
be set up for two days. The lovely installation will begin in the middle
of the night on November 7 to signify the how the original wall was
constructed, which was literally overnight.
Therefore
at 6 prime locations have selected along the route, Lichtgrenze will
show historical footage of life during the Berlin Wall’s presence.
People will also catch that every 500 feet features personal stories and
memories of people who lived on both sides of barrier, or whose lives
were badly affected by it in some way. Lichtgrenze will be erected until
November 9 at 7PM. In this time, more than thousands of volunteers
(recognized as balloon patrons) will attribute personal messages to the
orbs, separate their strings, and send the lit balloons into the sky.
The glittering display will be ecological, too. Researchers at the
University of Hanover particularly designed the lovely balloons to make
sure that they’re entirely biodegradable.
New Windowless Plane Beams in Panoramic View is the Future of Air Travel
Well,
this’d be quite thrilling to travel in a Windowless Plane to have an amazing
panoramic view and allows passengers to surf the internet on full length
screens fitted to cabin walls. A UK based company is set to revolutionize the
future of commercial air travel with a windowless plane that lets passengers to
select panoramic views of the world around them or swipe a touch screen to surf
the internet or check their email from 35,000ft. Moreover windows would be
replaced with ultra-thin and highly-flexible screens that’d display outside
scenery captured by cameras attached to the plane’s exterior or act as a
personal touch screen computer. The idea is still at design phase, but
researchers believe it could become the world’s first windowless commercial aircraft
in the next ten years. Therefore passengers in the “window seat” would be able
to select their view or use the full-length screens as an in-flight
entertainment system, whereas those who’re in the middle or aisle seats would
be able to access the futuristic system on a screen embedded in the head rest
in front of them. The views displayed on the high-definition screens would be
able to changing as the passenger moves his or her eyes.
Moreover to
offering more entertainment, the screens fitted directly into the fuselage or
into the wall panels, would furnish delicate cabin lighting from gently glowing
walls and could be switched on or off. The system could assist to offset jet
lag as lighting panels would permit passengers to control color changes related
with sunrise and sunset. That would support them to adjust to time zone changes
on long-haul journeys, according to CPI, Based in north-east England, CPI is a
member of the United Kingdom’s high value manufacturing catapult, which is
aimed at stimulating development in new and emerging technologies. As
government funding CPI works with firms to produce a new product, including the
OLED screens at its facility in Sedgefield, County Durham.
Well, the
screens are not just for the enjoyment of passengers as they’re beautifully
designed to ease aircraft weight and costs for both airlines and travelers. The
fuselage would be lighter without windows and that would translate into fuel
savings, fewer harmful emissions and lower operating costs for airlines. Ultimately
it could mean lower fares and wider seats for passengers. For every one per
cent reduction in weight the approximate fuel saving is 0.75 %. Although they’re amazingly futuristic CPI
have faith in the screens could be formed at a stable cost that is likely to be
any more than present displays. It’ll take around 5 years before the screens,
using organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), are ready for full production.
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