Rare Chicken Legs Just Like Dragon

An unusual Vietnamese chicken breed named “Dong Tao”, high prized for its delicious meat, has one of the thickest legs, which you might not frequently seen among birds of that size. This rare chicken breed is endemic to the Dong Tao commune in Khoai Chau district, around 30kilometers from Hanoi. Once the chicken bred exclusively to serve the royal family and mandarins, this sporadic breed is now prized by chicken breeders and its meat is served in luxurious restaurants that cater to the wealthy. The legs themselves are fragility and however, the Dong Tao chicken has a striking figure, a healthy body and stout legs covered with reddish scales. Therefore, a male adult Dong Tao chicken can weigh up to six kilograms and grow legs as thick as a human’s wrist. The hen’s colors are generally white, while the cocks have colorful feathers. 

Due to its delicacy and taste the bird is in high demand but unluckily in short supply, which obviously leads to its high price. A pair of Dong Tao chicken can fetch $2,500. The chickens are very sensitive to weather conditions and tend to lay fewer eggs than normal chicken. Their unhelpfully big feet make the hatching process even more problematic, so breeders are very careful to have to assist the hens in order to produce chicks. Thus a new born chick takes 8 months to one year to become a sellable bird of 3 to 5 kilograms.

Source: Amusing Planet 

The Amazing Floating Hotel

This floating hotel with catamaran apartments are offering visitors the flawless opportunity of an uninterrupted view of the nature around them. The mega project is developed by Salt & Water design studio with the aim to encourage tourism on inland waters and the plans freshly won the Millennium Yacht Design Award, an international competition for yacht designers. A central unit where visitors will check in and be able to interact with others is connected to a set of floating catamaran pods, accessed by a portable walkway. The designers have faith in the floating hotel would provide the textbook solution for tourism without any violation of natural harmony. The floating hotel is formed of two different parts a central floating construction and apartment catamaran units. The central unit houses a reception, a restaurant, an event hall, offices for staff and a café. Visitors can then access pathways which are linked to the apartment catamarans. 

Moreover, each apartment is an innovatively designed catamaran which can be simply separated from the dock and navigated, letting visitors to select the perfect location for their vacation by themselves. Catamarans comprise of a reception, a galley, a lovely bathroom, a hall with ample storage space and a sleeping area. Visitors can also relax at two separate outdoor locations the flying bridge and the beach platform. Every apartment can accommodate between 2 and 4 people, thanks to the ability to convert the salon into a double bedroom. From the beach platform it is very easy to access the water for swimming, fishing, diving, and sun bathing. The key idea is to let users to relish their visit through navigation at a very slow speed and with an uninterrupted view of nature. For this purpose the catamarans have a rare shape with big windows in the front. Indeed this is a spectacular idea, but whether or not it will work will depend on where the hotel is located. Salt & Water is a Serbian-design studio specializing in yacht interior design and exterior styling, aircraft interior design and architecture. 

Source: Dailymail 

CALBUCO from Martin Heck

Volcano Calbuco erupted on April 22, 2015, for the first time in the last four decades. It is located very near to the cities of Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt in southern Chile. We spend the prior couple of days on the neighboring volcano Osorno approximately 20km linear distance shooting this time-lapse movie. Therefore, after an incredible night under the night sky we took the cable car downwards after a delay caused by repairs. We were already very late we headed south to catch the ferry on Routa 7 down to Patagonia. After ten minutes on the ferry we’ve noticed a huge, just about nuclear looking cloud boiling upwards just were we left a few hours ago? Desperately looking for a good outlook we then hurried to the only non-forested place to get a appropriate view of the show. We rapidly put every bit of camera-equipment we could find on the continually growing mushroom-cloud.

We shot time lapses in 8K and 4K with a Pentax 645Z and Canon 6D. On the A7s we shot 4K video to the Shogun. We’ve filled almost all of our memory cards in the prior night so I had to do backups though shooting all this stuff. Indeed this was the most unbelievable show I've ever seen. I probably think this is a one time show in a lifetime event and I was extremely happy that we were able to capture it in all its glory. We will also release a timelapse video of our 6 weeks trip to Patagonia soon. FACEBOOK: facebook.com/TimestormFilms | TWITTER: twitter.com/martinheck WEBSITE: timestormfilms.com/ 4K/UHD-Version: youtube.com/watch?v=rVcTPfBxOPU Soundtrack: We wish it was never light – Anamog. Moreover, all footage is available for licensing (video in 4K, timelapses in 8K&4K). For professional inquiries please contact me: martin@timestormfilms.net

CALBUCO from Martin Heck | Timestorm Films on Vimeo.

Stunning Illuminated Cracked Log Lamps

Tasmania-based Artist Duncan Meerding illuminates the forest with his Cracked Log Lamp by using only salvaged wood that otherwise would have been burnt. He has turning them into a vessel for light, can bring the outside in, and be reminded of our intrinsic connection with nature. The artist clarifies that being legally blind has motivated his minimalist yet impactful designs. Though being legally blind, this vision of light emanating from the peripheries and the highly tactile nature of my work reflect the alternate sensory world within which I design.

Duncan Fitted with LED lights and then cracked log lamps actually offer the forest with a nice, warm glow, almost as if Mother Nature was illuminating herself at night.  They can also be utilized as a table or stool, measuring around 400mm high and 300mm wide. The lamp price is $600 which is weather resistant lamps is ready to be wired (12 volt) in any setting, and a new rechargeable battery version is in the process of being developed.  Source: Charismatic Planet

World’s First Ocean Cleaning System Will Be Launched in Japan

Boyan Slat, a 20-year-old creative mind Dutch guy has a lot on his plate, when he’s set out to do nothing less than rid the oceans of the millions of tons of plastic garbage that circle along their currents. He’s leading one of the most aspiring ocean cleanup efforts ever: to halve the amount of plastic debris floating in the Pacific within a decade. He’s judging by the backing that has rallied behind his innovative approach to the problem, there’s a good opportunity that he just might succeed.

The gigantic rotating currents in the world’s oceans make amassing or even monitoring garbage problematic, but he’s Ocean Cleanup Foundation is emerging a way to use those currents to its advantage. 

He envisages long-distance arrays of floats that’d skim garbage from the surface while letting aquatic life and the currents themselves to pass by beneath. The company estimations that a 100km stationary cleanup array could eliminate 42% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch over ten years, total representing a 70,320,000kg of plastic waste. For that purpose now, they’re installing a 2,000m trial system in Japan, which will become the longest floating structure in the world when it’ll complete. Slat leads a team of hundred oceanographers, naval engineers, translators, designers, and several others. He’s also getting support from vital political figures, like the mayor of Tsushima and the mayor of Los Angeles. Moreover, there’re some technical issues with the plan, which were brought up in a review. However, we’re optimism that Slat works the kinks out of his plan and succeeds his visionary goals!

Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup says, well, taking care of the world’s ocean garbage problem is one of the largest environmental challenges mankind faces today. Not only will this first cleanup array contribute to cleaner waters and coasts but it simultaneously is a vital step towards our goal of cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This deployment will allow us to study the system’s efficiency and durability over time.