[ By Delana in Energy & Fuel & Geography & Travel & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Turkmenistan is known for its offbeat tourist attractions, but one of the most unusual is the hole in the ground known as The Gates of Hell. The hole, an impressive 230 feet across, is filled with leaping flames that have been lighting up the area for 40 years.
Those looking for supernatural meanings could certainly come up with many to describe this surreal site. The actual origin of this oddity, however, is far more mundane. In 1971, a group of geologists drilling in the Darvaza area accidentally punched through the rock to a deposit of natural gas. The ground crumbled and fell away beneath the drilling equipment.
Since methane is considered dangerous when released into the atmosphere, the geologists decided to light the hole on fire and burn the methane off. They clearly expected it to be a simple, short-lived fire that would burn itself out within days. It was anything but simple.
Now, four decades later, the fire burns on. Looking into the pit, it is easy to understand how it got its name. It almost feels like stepping into this fiery abyss will take you directly to the devil’s lair. The massive deposits of methane below the entire field simply continue burning while curious travelers often make their way to the dangerous location with the sole purpose of peering into the bizarre burning hole.
In 2010 the Turkmenistan government decided that something should be done about the crater. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered the hole covered up and the other gas deposits in the area explored for their mining viability. As of press time more than a year later, the crater continues to burn 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
(top image via Wikipedia – all other images via Atlas Obscura)
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The Urban Jungle: Tiny Ecosystems Take Over Madrid
[ By Delana in Art & Design & Home & Garden & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
If you believe, as many of us do, that nature needs to be nurtured and protected in order to survive, then you may appreciate the small things that each of us can do every day to protect the Earth. Spanish artistic group Luzinterruptus, already known for literally shining a light on urban problems in Madrid, came up with a truly beautiful way of encouraging nature to gain a foothold – or roothold, rather – in the most unforgiving urban spots.
The Implanted Nature project was implemented in May 2011 by Luzinterruptus on an overnight journey from Malasaña to Lavapiés. The group created 50 tiny ecosystems, complete with plants, plastic animals, lovely lights and miniature greenhouses, and left them in the darkest and least plant-friendly parts of the city center.
Initially the project was going to be about preserving already-existing weeds and stubborn plants that always seem to poke their way through cracks in the sidewalk somehow. But in the busy city center where feet and cars constantly trample the ground, the group knew they would have a hard time finding even the most hardy of plant life.
They decided to bring their own plants, along with growing medium and a growth aid to help them survive. After creating the tiny ecosystems, the anonymous members of the group simply left all 50 of them there as a reminder to passers-by of the true beauty that nature can bring to even a city environment.
(all images via: Luzinterruptus)
The hope is that some (or ideally all) of the plants will take root and actually grow where they have been planted, bringing a semi-permanent splash of cheery green to the otherwise dull, grey streets of a busy urban community.
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Life Thrives in Strange Places: 14 Urban Ecosystems
[ By Steph in Animals & Habitats & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Boars wreaking havoc in urban Berlin, dogs riding the subway in Moscow, a species of mosquitoes that only lives in man-made underground spaces and snakes that make their way up into our toilets – all of these creatures and more have adapted to human encroachment in surprising (and sometimes terrifying!) ways. These 14 unique urban and man-made ecosystems – including two of the most insane human communities of modern times – shed light on how we affect the natural world for better or worse.
Metro Dogs in Moscow
(images via: english russia)
Not only do dogs ride the subways in Moscow, stretching out across a row of seats while amused passengers smile down at them, they have adapted to their unusual urban habitat by developing new survival tactics. An astounding 35,000 stray dogs have actually figured out how to get from point A to point B, getting on and off at their favorite stops. Surviving off scraps, the dogs have realized which techniques are best at securing food, including sending off the youngest, cutest member of the pack to beg or barking loudly at a human holding food, hoping (often successfully) that they’ll drop it on the ground.
Microbes in the Gowanus Canal
(images via: jgny, brainware3000)
The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn is a sickening sight, full of chemical sludge and such odd and disturbing ‘wildlife’ as discarded medical supplies, raw sewage, debris from scrap metal yards and various specimens of unidentifiable refuse. Now a Superfund site, the canal is home to fish that are too contaminated to eat (though it’s amazing that anything can live in that water at all). But there’s a silver lining to the stench and mess: the canal has become something like a huge petri dish for microbes that could hold the key to combating heart disease, AIDS and other health ailments. Two New York biologists found ‘white gunk’, a combination of bacteria, microbes and chemicals, under the canal bed that could form the basis of new antibiotics.
Chernobyl Reclaimed by Animals
(images via: ssis.edu.vn, wired)
First a bustling urban home to humans, then an abandoned wasteland in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the town of Pripyat, Ukraine is now rapidly becoming a sanctuary for plants and animals. A documentary entitled ‘Chernobyl Reclaimed: An Animal Takeover‘ captured some the creatures that have come to call the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone home in the absence of people. Animals spotted there include wolves, wild boar, deer, moose and beavers. It’s not all paradise, however; although most mutations may not be obvious to our eyes, scientists say that radiation continues to affect the species that remain within the zone.
Berlin’s Wild Boars
(images via: freelens.com)
Thousands of wild boars have come to call the streets of the busy German city of Berlin home. Thanks to increasingly mild winters, plenty of wooded parks and gardens full of grubs, the boars have found the city to be more than hospitable, a preference which has unfortunately led to hundreds of car accidents, not to mention property damage. In addition to the dangers they face from the boars, which can weigh 250 pounds and sport sharp curved tusks, forestry officials charged with killing nuisance animals have to contend with angry animal rights activists who don’t want the boars to be harmed. Up to 7,000 boars now live in the city.
“There is no way that hunting can get rid of them all,” biologist Derk Ehlert told The Wall Street Journal. “Ultimately we must learn to share the city with the swine.”
Hemingway’s Cats, Key West, Florida
(images via: hemingwayhome.com, wikimedia commons)
Visitors to Ernst Hemingway’s estate in Key West, Florida, now a museum, will notice something peculiar: dozens and dozens of cats roaming the fenced property. And these aren’t just any cats – they’re descendents of the famous writer’s own six-toed ship cat that have interbred extensively, carrying on the unusual trait of polydactylism. This genetic defect, which is characterized by extra toes, is also commonly found in America’s Northeast and in Southwest England.
Cape Town Penguins
(images via: wikimedia commons)
Cape Town’s famous penguins frolic on Boulder Beach, bathing and playing to the delight of human swimmers and sunbathers. This colony started with just a single pair, first spotted in 1983, which began to lay two years later. By 1997, thanks to both reproduction and immigration, there were 2,350 adult birds. However cute these critters may be, nearby residents weren’t too happy when the penguins began invading their gardens, making loud noises and pooping all over the streets and sidewalks. The beach has since been taken over by Cape Peninsula National Park to keep the penguins fenced in and away from urban settings.
People Packed in Kowloon Walled City
(images via: doobybrain)
One of the most extraordinary human habitats ever produced was Kowloon Walled City, originally built as a watchpost to protect the area against pirates during British rule, occupied by the Japanese during WWII and taken over by squatters after Japan’s surrender. Located outside Hong Kong, Kowloon became an insanely compacted, lawless, unclaimed city full of labyrinthine passages and towers that extended so high into the air that sunlight couldn’t reach the lower levels. Within 6.5 acres, the city’s population grew to at least 33,000 by 1987. Residents were evicted and the city was demolished by the Hong Kong Housing Authority in 1993. The area where it once stood is now the Kowloon Walled City Park, where artifacts are displayed, including inscribed stones and old wells.
Urban Monkeys in Malaysia
(images via: plassen, atlai)
It’s not the fault of the monkeys in Malaysia that they’re now city dwellers, dangling from power lines, begging tourists for food and potentially spreading disease to humans. They’ve been forced out of their natural forest habitat by urban development. About 250,000 of Malaysia’s 700,000 monkeys, mostly macaques and leaf monkeys, live in towns and cities amongst humans. Veterinary experts warn that they carry blood parasites, herpes, malaria and dengue and could transmit these diseases to people.
Toilet Snakes Around the World
(images via: nydailynews.com, observer, herald sun)
Rationally, you can say that snakes can’t possibly live in sewer systems, ready to pop up out of the toilet when you’re at your most vulnerable. But tell that to the many people around the world to whom this has actually happened. While ‘sewer gators’ may be entirely the stuff of urban legend, snake-in-the-toilet stories are all too real, and usually result from pets or wild snakes making their way into plumbing systems. In 2007, a Brooklyn woman was shocked to find a 7-foot python in her toilet, while a Bronx man found a 3-foot corn snake coiled atop his own toilet last fall. In India, snakes in the toilet seem to be a common occurrence. While people usually aren’t harmed by these encounters, a Jacksonville, Florida woman wasn’t so lucky. One night in 2005, she lifted up the lid to her toilet and was immediately bitten by a deadly water moccasin with a head “three fingers wide”. As the woman was rushed off to the hospital, the snake got away, and the family still fears running into it in the dark.
Lonely Bacteria in a South Africa Gold Mine
(images via: new scientist)
Two miles beneath the surface of the earth in fluid-filled cracks of the Mponeng goldmine in South Africa, a species of bacteria exists far beyond the reach of oxygen and sunlight. Scientists believe that the discovery of Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, a new species, could hold clues about alien life. Amazingly, this species – which lives all by itself in a place where nothing else can survive – extracts everything it needs from an otherwise dead environment, getting its energy from the radioactive decay of uranium in the rocks.
“One question that has arisen when considering the capacity of other planets to support life is whether organisms can exist independently, without access even to the Sun,” says astrobiologist Dylan Chivian. “The answer is yes and here’s the proof. It’s philosophically exciting to know that everything necessary for life can be packed into a single genome.”
South Africa’s Baboons
(images via: amuse.ment, snigl3t)
Baboons are finding themselves bulldozed out of house and home by the rampant expansion of Cape Town, South Africa’s suburbs, so is it any surprise that they’ve chosen to make their home in these newly urbanized environments? 400 urban baboons have been cut off from other troops by human activity, and as a result, male baboons in charge of finding food and breeding partners are growing more aggressive. Local wildlife managers have turned to a ‘three strikes, you’re out’ tactic for misbehaving baboons, euthanizing repeat troublemakers. The baboons have begun breaking into homes and restaurants, but animal activists say that peaceful coexistence is possible, portraying the so-called pests as ‘tremendous recyclers of what we humans casually discard.’
Mosquitoes of the London Underground
(images via: phsource.us)
You’re not just imagining it – the mosquitoes that bite you while you’re waiting for the subway really are more vicious than those above ground. In fact, they’re likely to be a different species altogether – a species that evolved to live in man-made underground environments. The London Underground mosquito, which is found around the world, is thought to have evolved recently from the overground species Culex pipiens, and as opposed to that species, C.p. molestus is cold-intolerant and bites rats, mice and humans. It is believed that old tires carrying larvae may have introduced the population that spawned the new species.
Brazil’s Marmosets
(images via: wagner machado carlos lemes)
The adorable urban marmosets of Brazil, which have adapted to life in the nation’s developed areas, has learned a nifty trick to escape the cats that try to catch them. Unlike their jungle counterparts, these marmosets choose a favorite tree and return to it each and every night – because their favored trees either have limbs to high off the ground or smooth bark, so that cats can’t climb up. This behavior was noted by researchers in marmosets at the Belo Horizonte City Park in Minas Gerais, which is also home to about 115 domestic cats. Like the cats, many of these marmosets may be the descendents of former pets that were dumped in the park.
Medina Zabbaleen, Egypt’s Trash City
(images via: marketplace)
Can you imagine living in a city where trash is stacked on absolutely every available surface, from streets and rooftops to the floors and tables of homes? Medina Zabbaleen isn’t so full of trash because the people don’t know what to do with it; rather, they’re a highly efficient community of trash collectors and recyclers, taking unwanted refuse off the hands of wealthier people in Cairo and bringing it back to their own city where they sort it and recycle as much as 80 percent of it (including feeding all of the food scraps to their pigs, which then provide meat – smart!).The city was featured in the award-winning 2009 documentary, ‘Garbage Dreams‘.
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Cold, Bold & Old: 10 Monumental Volcanic Plugs
[ By Steve in Geography & Travel & History & Trivia & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Volcanoes have caused incalculable destruction throughout history but even the most massive lava blaster has a heart. Volcanic plugs (the eroded cores of extinct volcanoes) are all that remain of some of the Earth’s most fearsome, fiery fumaroles after many millions of years of wind, water and weathering.
Devils Tower, Wyoming, USA
(images via: Richpix, VirtualTourist/Toonsarah and Ranger Doug’s Enterprises)
One of the most famous volcanic plugs and the first declared United States National Monument, Devils Tower rises 1,267 feet (386 m) from the rough terrain of northeastern Wyoming state. Most geologists estimate Devils Tower to have formed at least 50 million years ago, but a firmer fix on the time and even the method of formation remain problematic as most of the associated rock formations have eroded away.
(image via: Louis J. Maher, Jr.)
The polygonal porphyry columns that help define the sides of Devils Tower are confirmation of its volcanic origin, while providing the approximately 4,000 hikers who complete the near-vertical ascent to its summit each year with an unforgettable rock-climbing experience.
The Pitons, Saint Lucia
(images via: Travel4America, St. Lucia Wedding Guru and Up To Date St. Lucia)
Looking like stand-in scenery for Lord Of The Rings, the Pitons rear up from the coast of St. Lucia like the two last teeth of a VERY large shark. Gros Piton stands 2,530 ft (771 m) tall while its neighbor Petit Piton is just slightly smaller at 2,438 ft (743 m) tall. St. Lucia must have been the ultimate anti-tourism “hotspot” back in prehistory when the worn-away volcanoes that produced the Pitons were at their fire-breathing best.
(image via: Banana Pancake)
The Pitons don’t just dominate St. Lucia’s scenery, they’re a part of the Caribbean island’s culture as well. Be sure to enjoy a Piton beer next time you visit… in fact, make it two!
Ailsa Craig, Scotland
(images via: Amazing Nature Blogspot and Hoyus)
Rising 1,110 feet (340 m) above the breathtakingly chill waters of the outer Firth of Clyde, the now-uninhabited island of Ailsa Craig is a volcanic plug marking the location of an ancient volcano last active around 500 million years ago. The ruggedly pyramidal isle’s oft-precipitous slopes feature exposed columnar basalt formed when magma in the core of the volcano cooled and crystallized.
(images via: Ayrshire History, Flores Azores and Garrique Cottage)
Ailsa Craig’s cold, hard heart doesn’t just keep this ancient volcanic plug extant when everything around it has long eroded away. Curling’s top skips & sweepers know the best “rocks” are those ground from fine-grained Ailsa Craig Common Green and Blue/Red Hone granite by Kays of Scotland.
Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Sri Lanka
(images via: Localyte, Boston.com and Travelpod)
Spectacular Sigiriya (Lion’s Rock) in central Sri Lanka may have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The rock formation and the surrounding area underwent lush landscaping and extensive building in the 5th century. Formed from a very ancient volcanic plug of indeterminate age, Sigiriya soars 1,214 ft (370 m) above sea level and can be seen from quite a distance as there’s nothing like it on Sri Lanka’s central plains.
(image via: WHL Travel)
Erosion has undercut Sigiriya’s base in some areas, giving it a mushroom shape from some vantage points. The enormous igneous rock formation made an ideal, easily defended fortress and hosted a Buddhist monastery up until 14th century.
The Nut, Tasmania
(images via: Victor Augusteo, Killynaught Spa Cottages and SMH)
The Nut is a steep-sided volcanic plug that anchors one end of the bay fronting Stanley, Tasmania. Though The Nut’s official name is Circular Head, bestowed upon it in 1798 by explorers Bass & Flinders, most just call it The Nut and nobody really complains. Only 469 ft (143 m) tall, The Nut still affords a picture postcard perfect view of Stanley and the surrounding area as it’s the only high point around.
(image via: Carldashjonesdotcom)
Steep sides notwithstanding, a well-worn footpath leads to the flat-topped summit of The Nut and, of course, back down again. If that’s too much trouble, a ski-resort style chair lift offers those with no fear of heights one of the most scenic trips around.
Taung Kalat, Myanmar
(images via: Oddity Central and Asia Explorers)
Taung Kalat is a 2,417 ft (737 m) tall volcanic plug located in central Burma. The steep-sided pedestal rock is topped by a centuries-old Buddhist monastery that can be reached by climbing 777 steps.
(image via: Wikipedia)
The monastery crowning Taung Kalat occupies almost every bit of available space on the summit. Visitors are advised not to bring meat with them as doing so could offend the “nats” – disaffected spirits who occupy the site. There’s also a practical reason: dozens of macaque monkeys who mob exhausted tourists who manage to reach the summit.
Shiprock, New Mexico, USA
(images via: Terragalleria/QTLuong, SUNY Orange and Blood Orange Review)
Shiprock is a jagged remnant of an ancient volcano’s throat located in extreme northeastern New Mexico. The formation looms 1,583 feet (482.5 m) over an eerie desert landscape that has been steadily eroding away since the magma that formed Shiprock began to cool about 27 million years ago.
(image via: Alex Maclean)
Shiprock got its name in the mid-nineteenth century when travelers noted its resemblance to a huge clipper ship, and it was first successfully climbed in 1939. The rock formation is sacred to the Navajo Nation and figures strongly in their most cherished origin myths and legends. Out of respect for the Navajo people, climbing Shiprock has been expressly forbidden since 1970.
Kapsiki Peak, Cameroon
(images via: Cameroon Discovery, Science Photo Library and Corbis)
Located in an otherworldly landscape near Rhumsiki village in Cameroon’s Far Northern Region, Kapsiki Peak is perhaps the most striking of several sharply eroded volcanic plugs. It’s also one of the tallest volcanic plugs on Earth, measuring a nosebleed-inducing 4,016 ft (1,224 m) in height.
(image via: My World Travelguides)
Kapsiki Peak has a noticeably phallic appearance, a fact noted by the native tribes in the region. This distinctive characteristic has attracted barren women to the formation for many centuries, and continues to attract tourists in the modern day.
Trosky Castle, Czech Republic
(images via: Rich Pick and Kurositas)
If you were a medieval warlord looking to build a castle, the pair of basalt volcanic plugs in the Czech Republic’s Český Ráj (Bohemian Paradise) would be a great choice – and so it was, between the 14th and 17th centuries when Trosky Castle was built, rebuilt, and rebuilt yet again.
(image via: Kurositas)
Though not especially tall, the 154 ft (47 m) tall Baba (Old Woman) and 187 ft (57 m) tall Panna (Young Maiden) provide excellent vantage points for keeping an eye on tenant farmers and invading armies.
(image via: All Empires)
Legend has it that there’s buried treasure hidden inside Trosky Castle; the fruits of a raid on the nearby Opatovice monastery. Supposedly the treasure was secreted in an underground chamber sealed by a huge boulder, subsequently buried in rubble and scree. Sounds like the plot of the next Indiana Jones movie – the producers will at least have a spectacular location to work with!
Morro Rock, California, USA
(images via: Visit USA, City of Morro Bay and Morro-Bay.com)
The knobby, rounded volcanic plug known as Morro Rock has been a familiar landmark for many generations of Californians. Rising to a height of 581 feet (177 m), the formation was named in 1542 by the Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. Though quarried for stone used to build the Morro Bay Breakwater, efforts by environmentalists to protect and preserve the rock came to fruition in 1968 when the state government created the Morro Rock State Preserve.
(image via: Solis-Family)
Unlike many famous volcanic plugs, Morro Rock doesn’t stand alone though it does claim seniority by virtue of being the tallest of the so-called Nine Sisters of San Luis Obispo County. It’s a reminder that the California coast has always been a geologically active region though these days residents need not fear any new volcanic eruptions.
(image via: Sahara Overland)
Like most of us, volcanic plugs were wild & restless in their youth but with the passage of age, settled down and mellowed out – and that’s a good thing. When it comes to volcanoes, it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie and don’t EVER think of… pulling the plug.
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Nature’s Schedules: How Animals Really Spend Their Time
[ By Delana in Animals & Habitats & Art & Design & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Animals in the wild lead busy, busy lives. They have so much to do that it is frankly amazing that we see them without little day planners or digital organizers. As a public service, these are the facts that animals can’t tell you themselves: how they really spend their days.
Elephants, as we all know, find it almost impossible to forget anything. But surprisingly, they do not devote much time each day to retaining memories. Most of their days, as it turns out, are spent eating. It takes a lot of time to find enough peanuts to fill up those big tummies.
Contrary to popular belief, jellyfish do not spend all day plotting to ruin your trip to the beach. In fact, the vast majority of their days are spent just lazily floating in the water and waiting for food to come to them.
Spiders aren’t the conniving monsters some people think they are – but nor are they unpaid advertisers of the virtues of farm pigs. Their days are spent mostly resting, though the chart does not differentiate between innocent rest time and rest time used to lure unsuspecting flies into traps.
Of course, not every animal’s schedule hides a surprise. Pandas, quite predictably, spend every moment of every day being adorable. Now that is sound scientific information. (Totally accurate pie charts via Jeff Wysaski and Pleated Jeans)
Recycling Flashmob = Street Art + Guerrilla Activism
[ By Delana in Art & Design & Home & Garden & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
When you see a piece of waste on the ground, do you walk by it? Or do you take a moment to pick it up and put it in its proper place? This question was at the center of one of the absolute coolest flashmobs ever. A large crowd in a mall celebrated the one person who took the time to make a difference.
According to the above video, 671 million kg of plastic products are produced each year. And every year, 400 million recyclable containers are not recycled in Quebec alone. 18,000 pieces of plastic float on every square kilometer of the ocean, making it obvious that our garbage is a growing problem. This incredible flashmob calls attention to just how many people choose to ignore that problem.
The look on the woman’s face when she is confronted by a cheering mob is priceless. This exercise in humor and positive reinforcement reminds us that every small action that helps the environment is a step in the right direction.
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Man-Made Jungle: Exotic Architecture for Rain Forests & More
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Geography & Travel & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Beautiful and untamed, the jungle can be an inhospitable setting for human inhabitance when dwellings are not designed in harmony with the climate and landscape. These 12 rainforest homes, resorts and communities work with their surroundings – and often very hot and humid weather – using such architectural features as slatted wooden window coverings, yet maintain a vital connection to nature with floor-to-ceiling windows and verandahs aplenty.
Shell House by ARTechnic, Japan
(images via: archicentral)
Making your way through the humid forests of Karuizawa, Japan, a giant shell hovering three and a half feet above the ground is not exactly a sight you expect to see. Architects ARTechnic were inspired by an unlikely combination of natural shell shapes and the concept of humans taking over an abandoned spacecraft. The concrete materials, a mold-preventing floor-heating system and the fact that the building is off the ground all help it stand up to a harsh wet yet cold environment that takes a heavy toll on many other structures in the area.
Tropical Bamboo Home, Costa Rica
(images via: benjamin garcia saxe)
This beautiful bamboo home was designed by architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe for his mother, combining local building traditions with modern techniques to engage the home’s jungle environment. Open to the outdoors, the home features exterior walls made of angled bamboo poles that prevent water from getting in but allow air flow for natural cooling, and
BR House by Marcio Kogan, Brazil
(images via: archdaily)
In the dense rainforest outside Rio de Janeiro lies this angular modernist home, which stands out in stark contrast – quite deliberately – to its natural environment. The BR house has been raised on thick tree trunk-like pillars to place the inhabitants at the level of the forest canopy, making the structure seem as if it’s supported by the trees. Massive glass walls further blur the lines between inside and outside.
Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali
(images via: contemporist)
Wishing to move away from the traditional ornate dark wood, reeds and thatch roofing of typical Balinese architecture, Singapore-based architecture firm WOHA enhanced this flat-roofed modern structure with bronze, reclaimed wood and marble. The residential villas and hotel features pool cabanas with slatted wood that not only makes a strong design statement, but provides privacy and allows air to circulate.
Lofted Forest Home by Robert Harvey Oshatz
(images via: oshatz.com)
The curving organic forms and natural materials of this structure by architect Robert Harvey Oshatz seems as if it could have grown out of the forest, calling to mind knots of wood and twisting branches. The curves, in fact, are strategically placed to take full advantage of the space in between the trees that surround the building, giving it the feel of a huge treehouse.
Finca Bellavista Treehouse Resort, Costa Rica
(images via: inhabitat)
Treehouses of all sorts are a natural in jungle environments, and Finca Bellavista – an eco village in Costa Rica – is a veritable display of the various styles and designs that are possible, letting residents create their own sustainable structures in the treetops. Described as the world’s first planned, modern treehouse community, Finca Bellavista features a large community complex with a dining hall and an open-air lounge as well as a “Sky Trail” transportation network of hanging boardwalks.
Modern Rainforest Home in Rural Costa Rica
(images via: spg architects)
Placed on an abandoned concrete foundation and core steel structural frame, this ‘refab’ modern home in the jungle of Costa Rica reused the displaced timber that was cleared prior to construction. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide practically uninterrupted views of the forest and the sea, and an infinity pool enhances the balance between clean, contemporary architecture and immersion in the untamed setting.
Pier House, Brazil
(images via: archdaily)
Built to house a sailboat during the week and its owners on the weekends, the Pier House in Paraty, Brazil is divided into two volumes, the low-lying boathouse and the larger white structure of the house itself. The house, designed by Gabriel Grinspum and Mariana Simas, bridges the space between the water and the jungle behind it, utilizing traditional ‘muxarabi’ slatted windows to filter the light and provide ventilation.
V-Houses by Heinz Legler, Mexico
(images via: archdaily)
Open to the warm winds of the Pacific Ocean, the prefabricated V-Houses provide a rustic modern jungle retreat in Yelapa, Mexico, outside of Puerto Vallarta. Three of the resort’s guest houses stand out from the trees, made out of steel, plywood and red corrugated iron roofs.
The Green Village by Ibuku, Bali
(images via: green village bali)
Back to Bali, this beautiful green village of bamboo homes is a master-planned community built along a river by Balinese firm Ibuku. Literally everything in the village’s first completed home is made from bamboo, from the walls and window frames to the furniture and cabinets.
YTL Residence, Kuala Lumpur
(images via: gradient magazine)
A clear glass facade covered in slatted wood – again, for filtering sunlight and providing privacy yet still allowing a view – is among the standout features of the YTL residence in Kuala Lumpur. Designed by Paris-based Jouin Manku for a theoretical ‘Malaysian power family’, the residence is sleek and contemporary, raised above the treetops to provide the best possible view. Greenery planted along the upper deck brings the jungle closer to the home even as the architecture seeks to separate itself from nature.
Ecological Resort Concept, Dominica
(images via: archdaily)
What does the future hold for jungle architecture? This concept for a sustainable future development along Mero Beach on the west coast of the Commonwealth of Dominica, a tropical island in the Caribbean, seeks to promote tourism in a way that is sensitive of the island’s rainforests. Designed by BURO II, which has already completed a project of similar scale in Guangzhou, China, the resort includes a mixture of villas, bungalows and apartments as well as retail, entertainment, a hotel, conference facilities and parking, but integrates these functions with the natural setting using sustainable materials, native landscaping and an architectural scale that does not distract from the beauty of the island itself.
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Fictional Species: Tribute to the Surreal ‘Land Shark’
[ By Delana in Animals & Habitats & History & Trivia & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Although our world is full of all kinds of amazing creatures, unbelievable animals and wonderful wildlife, we sometimes find ourselves enamored of fictional creatures. Such was the case with the Land Shark: that lovable but tricky shark that lied his way into homes and offices to devour the residents within. Thirty-six years after the Land Shark’s debut on Saturday Night Live, the weird animal still inspires giggles.
Land Shark
Tags: Land Shark
Above is one of the first SNL appearances of the terrifying Land Shark. Unlike sea sharks, the truly scary part of this animal is his ability to fool his quarry into letting him into their homes. Little did these poor souls realize that opening the door to the friendly-sounding telegram delivery man or plumber would be the last thing they ever did.
The video game Armed and Dangerous paid homage to the legendary land shark with its fantastic “Land Shark Gun.” In the game, you can shoot at enemies with a gun that sends the iconic Land Shark out for a quick bite of lunch consisting of your unfortunate foe. Upon reaching the unlucky enemy, the land shark bursts out of the ground to chomp down on the tasty human flesh.
University of Applied Science at Augsburg student Frank Robnik made this video to illustrate the qualities of the land shark’s famous cousin the Graboid. Graboids starred as the villains in all of the Tremors movies. Despite looking more like worms, the Graboids have the ferocity and insatiable hunger of sharks. Despite being fictional just like the land sharks, Graboids have enjoyed similar cult hero status – but clearly their fans are people who have never lost a loved one to either vicious creature.
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Red Tides: When Tiny, Toxic, Single-Celled Animals Attack!
[ By Steve in Animals & Habitats & Food & Health & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Red tides kill huge schools of fish, poison oyster and shellfish beds, and leave swimmers’ skin itchy, irritated and inflamed. Is this fearful phenomenon a case of nature running amok, or is human activity at least partly to blame?
Roll Tide!
(images via: Water Babies, Alan Guisewite and Underwater Times)
Crimson tides are cool when you’re sitting in a stadium cheering on your team. In the ocean or the odd freshwater lake, not so much. Though they may appear exotic and beautiful – especially at night in some cases – red tides often mean bad news for sea creatures and those who consume them… like us.
(images via: Island Nature, Life In Freshwater and CNRS)
Let’s clear up a few misconceptions. Red tides aren’t tides per se, and their appearance bears no relation to the sea’s natural tidal cycle. The term “red tide” originated at a time when observers didn’t have the technology to look closer – MUCH closer – at what was tinting the water red.
(images via: Expateek and Worth1000)
Though it’s probable that red tides have been appearing for many thousands of years, if not longer. The toxic red tides that continue to plague Florida’s coasts in modern times were first documented in the ship’s logs of 16th century Spanish explorers. Speaking of plagues, the phenomenon may have been noted even earlier, in the Bible’s Old Testament. The first of the Ten Plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians was described in the Book of Exodus thusly: “… and all the waters that were in the river turned to blood. And the fish that were in the river died, and the water stank.”
Whip It, Whip It Good
(images via: Marine Science, Underwater Times and Pixdaus)
With the invention of the microscope, biologists were for the first time able to determine the nature of red tides and the type of tiny creatures that produce them. Turns out the culprits are dinoflagellates, a type of protist or single-celled creature that has characteristics of both plants and animals. The term “dinoflagellate” is derived from the Greek word dinos, meaning “whirling”, and the Latin word flagellum which translates to “whip.”
(images via: Coastal Care, Sir Francis Drake Highschool, Rashid’s Blog and Green Prophet/M.Godfrey)
Basically, these tiny creatures propel themselves through the water by whirling and whipping a threadlike extension of their bodies. Though some dinoflagellates are semi-transparent and colorless, others are tinted various shades including red. When the populations of dinoflagellates boom; or “bloom”, as is often stated, their abundance can change the hue of large expanses of ocean to red, pink, purple, orange, gold – and every hue in between. The spectacular red tide bloom just above was caused by dinoflagellates of the species Noctiluca Scintillans, and occurred just off the coast of New Zealand.
(image via: NASA Earth Observatory)
Red tides are often reddish but their color depends on both the concentration and the type of the responsible protists. Photosynthetic algae can burst into huge greenish blooms that can be seen from orbit. Red tides and other harmful algae blooms (HABs, for short) have also been spied by satellites, as the image above shows: check out Florida’s southwest coast.
(images via: Microbial Life, Growing Algae and NASA Earth Observatory)
Being the color of blood alone was enough to worry ancient mariners but the effects of red tides sealed their reputation as harbingers of death and destruction – to sea life, at least. Some (but not all) of the dinoflagellates responsible for red tides produce a potent neurotoxin that is released when they’re ingested. A single dinoflagellate pumps out a tiny amount of toxin, but multiply that by multi-billions and you’ve got poison in the poisson… pardon my French.
Selfish Shellfish
(images via: Slate, Smithsonian NMNH and FEIS)
Massive fish kills – at times numbering in the millions – are often associated with red tide events but it’s what lies beneath that concerns health-conscious seafood consumers. Commercial shellfish such as clams, scallops and oysters can survive red tides but in doing so, they concentrate the neurotoxins in their tissues.
(images via: Lonelee Planet and Serious Eats)
Eating contaminated shellfish (which aren’t red, by the way) can induce symptoms of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), the effects of which are similar to those induced by toxins ingested in poorly prepared Fugu (Puffer fish) at sushi restaurants.
(images via: Kleepet, The National Academies and LIFE)
Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) has been noted on both the east and west coasts of the United States and a range of dinoflagellate species have been implicated as the original source of the toxins – the species of dinoflagellate known as Alexandrium Fundyense is blamed for red tides in the American northeast coast and the Gulf of Maine.
(images via: Texas Parks and Wildlife, BC/CDC and Alaska Tsunami Papers)
It’s not even necessary to EAT contaminated seafood in order to be adversely affected by red tide toxins. The red tide organism Karenia Brevis, which blooms on a near-annual basis in the Gulf of Mexico, exudes a neurotoxin known as Brevitoxin. Winds blowing inshore can pick up the toxin as an airborne aerosol, causing people living up to several miles inland to suffer respiratory irritation, coughing, sneezing, and tearing. The aerosol can affect marine mammals such as seals, manatees and whales as well. The Humpback whale shown above right washed up on a Massachusetts beach after feeding in a red tide.
(images via: Coastal Care)
In response to the perceived dangers red tides can cause, both the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department regularly issue and update online status reports on red tides along their respective coastlines.
Don’t You Make My Red Tide Blue
(image via: The Jetpacker)
“Red tides at night, red tides at night, oh OH…” Can you see a red tide at night? Yes and no… the customary red hue is invisible by night but a different color is often easily and spectacularly evident: blue! many red tide organisms are also bioluminescent – that is, they produce and emit ghostly blue light through through a chemical reaction that occurs within their bodies.
(images via: The Olsons, Comcast Forums and Photoshelter)
Wave action, stormy weather and other sorts of disturbance will provoke these tiny creatures to pump out blue light, but swimmers should keep in mind light isn’t the only thing dinoflagellates can produce.
(image via: Panoramio/Joeyrigatoni)
Waves washing onto beaches can also bring dinoflagellates onto dry land. The tiny creatures can remain alive for some time on or in wave-soaked beach sand, and tales have been told of beachcombers leaving eerie blue footprints as they stroll along the seashore.
Red Tides, Dead Zones… Red Zones?
(image via: Harmful Algae)
Red tides and other algae blooms are prompted by a sudden influx of nutrients into lakes or oceans – yes, even lakes can experience red tides, as seen in the photo of an Italian alpine lake above.
(images via: WIRED and Mongabay)
Nitrate- and phosphate-rich agricultural runoff is one such nutrient source. Not only can runoff spark red tides, over a period of time the result can be a marine “dead zone” like the one in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
(images via: Esquire and Shorecrest)
Excess fertilizer, untreated sewage, farm waste and other organic material washed down the Mississippi river pour into the Gulf, cause massive algae blooms, and deoxygenate the water as billions of protists die and sink to the ocean floor. Similar scenes occur with regularity on the coasts of dense urban conglomerations such as Hong Kong (above).
(images via: Daily KOS, National Geographic and WN.com)
Nutrients aren’t always organic or farm-related, however. Scientists have established a distinct correlation between windblown dust from the Sahara Desert and algae blooms in coastal Florida waters: the iron oxide in the dust acts as a nutrient to certain types of algae.
(image via: National Geographic)
El Niño events and natural upwelling of nutrients caused by ocean currents also play a role in the formation of red tides but it can be stated that without human activity, there would be a corresponding reduction in the frequency and severity of many red tides and algae blooms.
I Sea Red
(images via: Coastsider, Harmful Algae and Daily Telegraph)
If red tides have one saving grace, it’s their redness: it acts as a giant, liquid STOP sign for those who would normally enjoy seafood and shellfish oblivious to any consequences. To that we can probably add their often quite astonishing beauty, as illustrated in the many striking images that accompany this article.
(images via: MSauder and North County Times)
Better red than dead? Absolutely – not a single human fatality has occurred over the long history of Florida’s frequent red tides so look, admire and enjoy nature’s colorful show… and don’t plan any clambakes.
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Butting In: Portrait Made of Over 20K Used Cigarette Butts
[ By Delana in Art & Design & Nature & Ecosystems & Tricks & Hacks. ]
Cigarette butts litter the streets of most cities and towns, creating an environmental burden that could easily be avoided. Swiss street artist Jinks Kunst has come up with a great way to use these omnipresent pieces of rubbish to immortalize one of the most influential popular music artists in the world.
(image via: Oddity Central)
Kunst is known as a graffiti and stencil artist, but he adopted a new medium in order to create this portrait of French musician Serge Gainsbourg. Kunst is a big fan of the singer, so he spent three years collecting used cigarette filters to create this amazing – and kind of disgusting – portrait of Gainsbourg.
(image via: Jinks Kunst)
Overall, there are 20,394 cigarette filters making up the legendary singer’s face. He was famously fond of smoking and drinking, making the choice of unusual medium completely logical. But besides fitting the subject, the medium is an ingenious way to clean up the streets in a small way. A cigarette butt portrait would be perfect for an environmentally-themed piece of art.
(image via: Oddity Central)
The portrait was created to mark the 20th anniversary of Gainsbourg’s death. It’s just one of a complete exhibit of unusual depictions of one of France’s greatest musical treasures. Jinks Kunst’s creation and a whole series of previously-unpublished photos of Gainsbourg are being displayed in Nantes.
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