Well,
sometimes, the modest invention can change millions of poor lives. That’s the
objective of The Shoe that incredibly grows, a sandal invented by inventor
Kenton Lee that can adjust its size, letting children in impoverished nations
to grow up without having to go barefoot. The fantastic shoes, which come in
catch-all Small and Large sizes can grow five sizes and last at least five
years. According to The Shoe That Grows, “There’re more than 300 million
children who do not have shoes. Further
uncountable more with shoes that do not fit.” Children without shoes are prone
to injuries and parasites that infect humans through our feet. The problem with
ordinary shoe donations are that they are soon outgrown, which is precisely the
problem that these new shoes would fix. Though you can buy yourself a pair, the
site emphasizes packages that allow buyers to send shoes in bulk to the
countries that need them the most.
Saturday, 18 April 2015
Friday, 17 April 2015
Mystery of the Giant Arrows Scattered Across the United States
These’re
peculiar concrete markings that have amazingly been spotted all across America,
prompting hikers and travelers to curiosity what on Earth they could mean and
where they are pointing to. However; these’re massive arrows, which can measure
up to 70ft in length, are actually a forgotten remnant of a bygone age. Dotted
between scrubland, placed in apparently random spots, these giant arrows were
once markers for early airmail flights across the US - forming the first
land-based navigation system in the world.
The strong concrete arrows were
placed at the base of lit beacons nearby airways, showing pilots the direction
they needed to fly in to reach the next stop-off to deliver mail. Well, Airmail
in the United States started as early as 1911, with the first official flight
departing Petaluma, California, and arriving in Santa Rosa, California. As the
flights got longer, with more frequent stop-offs, so the beacons and arrows
were placed to help pilots on their way.
After World
War I, the United States Postal Service started to use surplus war planes for
mail delivery and several were flown by former army pilots. The huge arrows
started to be placed across the country, from time to time at 10-mile
intervals, from 1924. Moreover, painted bright yellow and placed alongside
beacon with a gas light at the top, the concept was that the markers could be
seen for a distance of up to 10 miles so pilots could find their way. In the
summer of 1924, they stretched from Wyoming to Ohio and by the following year,
the arrows had reached New York. By 1929, the arrows could direct flights all
the way across the width of America.
The main New York to San Francisco air
route stretched from New York to San Francisco, following the yellow concrete
trail. In the days before radio and
satellite communications, the arrows were a way to ensure pilots could find
their way, even in poor weather. Though the arrows are now long-forgotten, with
numerous lost forever, there’re fans who, having stumbled upon an arrow or two
in the countryside, have in progress mapping those concrete markers that have
been left behind. Retired couple Brian and Charlotte Smith were referred an
email which piqued their curiosity and have been pursuing down the arrows ever
since.
The email
playfully explained: “Every so often”, regularly in the vast deserts of the
American Southwest, a hiker or a backpacker will run across somewhat puzzling,
a big concrete arrow, as much as 70 feet in length, sitting in the middle of
scrub-covered nowhere. The couple say they have found 102 arrows so far and
have set up their website Arrows Across America as part of their photography
site dreamsmithphotos.com so fellow fans can share their own pictures and help map
where the remaining arrows are.The Smiths told MailOnline Travel:
We’ve located
102 arrows or portions of arrows, some are even badly deteriorated and not much
is left. Our interest grew out of an email circulating in August 2013; we
craved to know where they were, and set out to find them. We’ve managed to take
photographs of about 40, and have a trip planned this fall to take more
photographs of some that we were unable to get to last spring. Sooner or later
we hope to have photographs of all the arrows that we have positioned, but time
and money will directive how long that will take us. Before our research we
knew nothing about airways, beacons or concrete arrows, it has been a marvelous
journey of discovery and we cannot believe that all of this has been
"forgotten".
Incredible Photo of Angry lion about to Pounce on Brave Photographer Just 10 feet from it
A Pakistani nature photographer
was almost attacked by a lion after going inside its home in Lahore Zoo Safari park
to get up-close and take photographs. Atif Saeed 38, just moments before the
lion made an offensive move is now going viral on the Internet. Atif says; the frightening
experience was "indescribable." I captured the spectacular photo in Jan, 2012 when he was
granted the permission to go inside the lion's habitat to take a photograph.
Atif drove his car in and sat on the ground near the car with the door left
open, and he was only a "jump away from the lion." However; the sense of the aggressive, imminent
lion from the camera is something that can't be described. I was witnessing
every small detail of movement that no photograph or movie can show. The lion
seemed to treat him like prey and after a few minutes, the lion
"offensively moved" in an attempt to attack him, so he straightaway
jumped in the car and fortunately escaped unscathed.
It was an indeed very
close encounter, and then I was laughing afterwards at the time, but I don't
think I'd ever be able to do something like that again. It was an adult male
lion and what I liked most about him was the lovely, dark hair on his neck. Lahore
Safari Park is in Pakistan and it would seem the lions are not shy of publicity.
As well as the remarkable lions, there’re also Bengal tigers, emus ostriches
and an array of birds. Therefore back in 2008 a Bengal tiger attacked a guard
in the park, thankfully he survived. Atif Saeed on Facebook
Thursday, 9 April 2015
Gorgeous Ocean Waves Glass Sculptures
A California-based husband and wife Paul DeSomma &
Marsha Blaker are inspiring glass artists individually, but the spectacular
pieces they create as a duo blow us away with the magnificent force of a tidal
wave. Both are working mainly with hot glass. The exceptionally talented pair
produces attractive, ocean-inspired glass sculptures that mimic the grace and
motion of cascading waves. They’ve inspired by their love of nature and the
sea, Marsha Blaker and Paul DeSomma meticulously recreate remarkable watery
elements, from gradient shades of cerulean and shining surfaces that catch the
light, to amazingly realistic bubbles and white crystallizations of foam among
smooth ripples. However; whether in the form of an avant-garde vase or a solid
sculpture of a surging wave, each superb work of art embodies the real beauty
of the ocean.
Marsha Blaker-DeSomma received her Master’s Degree in both
ceramics and glass and they’ve attended “Pilchuck Glass School” as a
scholarship student and as a staff member.
Though Paul DeSomma, on the other hand, is a glass artist who
specializes in figurative work in blew glass in New York City in 1983, and he
has spent the next 15 years working and studying in studios in Seattle,
Washington and Murano, Italy. The decision to collaborate, as opposed to
working side by side in the same studio, came in part because of very serious
car accident in which Blaker was involved. And she calls it a "lifestyle
change”. As somehow, the accident made us realize that now is the right time to
do the work together and we’re both really feeling needs to be done. Why wait
for a better time? Every time is right to start work hard and there’s no better
time than now. Every so often, things that appear tragic can be an actual
positive influence, ultimately. That’s what we’ve found in this case, is that
we were able to see the bigger picture.
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