Swim With Jellyfish

"Jellyfish Lake is a well-known dive site in the Pacific island of Palau. It is one of the rock islands, a series of small, rocky, uninhabited archipelagos off the coast of Koror. Jellyfish Lake is completely isolated, but in the distant past, it had an outlet to the ocean.

The outlet was closed off and the high jellyfish population was isolated and started to feed on quickly-reproducing algae. Contrary to popular belief, the jellyfish of Jellyfish Lake do have small stinging cells, or nematocysts.

However, because the stinging cells are so tiny, their sting is not detectable on most human tissue, so tourists can enjoy swimming with them much closer than would be possible anywhere else..."

Disappearing Rabbit

German Town Scraps All Traffic Lights And Road Signs

"If you find yourself crossing the road in the German town of Bohmte, look both ways – and then perhaps check again.

It has scrapped all its traffic lights and road signs in a radical experiment designed to make the streets safer. Yesterday, the local council said the scheme was a complete success.

In the four weeks since the signs were ripped up, there has not been a single accident..."

Very Tall Giraffe

A Terrible Need

More Bukowski.

Adding And Subtracting

"Ryan and Dave are the most unique identical twins you'll ever meet. After tiring of piercing, tattoos, and implants about three years ago, they began exploring much heavier surgical modifications.

Dave had spent two and a half years in pre-med at Queens University in Kingston, and using contacts made both there and online he and his twin brother have changed themselves in ways far beyond anything anyone else has ever attempted."

Read an Interview with Ryan and Dave on BMEZINE.

Elephants Swimming

Bloom In Night

One of my all time favourite photographers, Junku Nishimura. Please take a look at his collection on flickr.

Man Completes The World's Biggest Jigsaw

"Eric Smith is celebrating after spending the last six months completing the world's biggest jigsaw. The 73-year-old used 24,000-pieces to complete the huge 12ft by six puzzle, which now stands proudly in his garage.

During the meticulous 179 day process furniture had to be moved out of rooms and a special table built just so Eric had enough room to construct the spectacular jigsaw..."

Unnecessary Knowledge

• The word 'lethologica' describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

• The world record for time without sleep is 264 hours (11 days) by Randy Gardner in 1965.

• A giraffe's heart weighs an incredible 24 pounds.

• The brain continues sending electrical wave signals for 37 hours after death

• There is enough iron in a human being to make one small nail.

• There are 1 million ants for every person in the world

The fantastic website, 'Unnecessary Knowledge' can provide you with more useless information.

Stop Motion Cooking

The Blind Climber Who Sees With His Tongue

"...Born with retinoschisis, a rare disease akin to macular degeneration, Erik Weihenmayer was sightless by age 13. Even so, he continued to pursue his dream of mountaineering, and he succeeded.

In 2001 he became the first—and to date the only—blind climber to summit Mount Everest. Today he is climbing with the aid of a tool that allows him to “see” in a new way—with his tongue..."

Last Year I Killed A Man

"At 9.45am on Saturday, June 23 2007, I killed a man. A perfectly ordinary man, on a perfectly ordinary summer's day. CCTV pictures show him entering the station, unremarkable among all the passengers going to the West End. He waited at the front of the platform until he could hear my train approaching, then he calmly stepped down on to the tracks and looked directly at me as he waited for the impact.

The impact was only a matter of seconds in coming, but those seconds felt like minutes. This wasn't how it was meant to be. It wasn't how I had imagined it during my years as a Central line train driver. We talk of "jumpers"; workmates tell of blurry images flashing in front of them, of the shock of the impact. I wasn't expecting to see a young man in jeans and a summer shirt waiting for death, looking me in the eye."

*Photo Source

A Hundred Possessions

"Stuff starts to overwhelm you, says Dave Bruno, 37, an online entrepreneur who looked around his San Diego home one day last summer and realized how much his family's belongings were weighing him down. Thus began what he calls the 100 Thing Challenge. (Apparently, Bruno is so averse to excess he can't refer to 100 things in the plural.)

In a country where clutter has given rise not only to professional organizers but also to professional organizers with their own reality series (TLC's Clean Sweep), Bruno's online musings about his slow and steady purge have developed something of a cult following online, inspiring others to launch their own countdown to clutter-free living..."

There is also a news article about, Michael Landy, a man who destroyed his possessions for art.

Glass Frog

"While the general background colouration of most glassfrogs is primarily lime green; the ventral skin of some members of this family is transparent (species of the genus Hyalinobatrachium). The internal viscera, including the heart, liver, and digestive tract can be seen due to the translucency of the ventral skin..."

*Photo Source

Nasa Scientists Make Magnetic Fields Visible

"Magnetic fields are invisible, at least usually. But Scientists from NASA's Space Sciences Laboratory have made them visible as 'animated photographs', using sound-controlled CGI and 3D compositing..."

Face Perception

"There is an universal tendency among mankind to conceive all beings like themselves, and to transfer to every object, those qualities, with which they are familiarly acquainted, and of which they are intimately conscious. We find human faces in the moon, armies in the clouds; and by a natural propensity, if not corrected by experience and reflection, ascribe malice or good- will to every thing, that hurts or pleases us."
— David Hume, The Natural History of Religion.

Seeing faces in inanimate objects is a form of Pareidolia, this is a psychological phenomenon involving stimulus, usually from a image or sound, that is perceived to be significant.
In contrast, there is a condition called 'face blindness' or Prosopagnosia, where the ability to recognise faces in normal everyday life, your family or friends for example, is impaired.
People with Prosopagnosia may find it difficult to socialise and so other cues such as voice, clothing and body shaped can be used to aid them. Read this account, where a women with the condition explains further and how she recognises faces in relation to stones.

Drawings Under The Influence Of LSD

"These 9 drawings were done by an artist under the influence of LSD -- part of a test conducted by the US government during it's dalliance with psychotomimetic drugs in the late 1950's. The artist was given a dose of LSD 25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. His subject is the medico that jabbed him..."

The Bloom Device

"The Bloom device is meant to be a subversive and inspirational tool for our concrete jungles. Similar to the tuft of a dandelion as the wind carries the seedling, we propose a way of dispersing seedlings with bubbles and bicycling.

Seeds are co-mingled with a bubble mixture and upon pedaling to your destination, you release the floating seeds which land in cracks and crevices throughout the city streets. Over time, the seeds grow into flowers and plants to create a green "fringe" to our sidewalks and streets..."

Reproduction Artists Produce Self-Portraits Inspired By The Masters

"Dafen is a village surrounded by the thriving metropolis of Shenzhen, and the origin of most of the world’s reproduction oil paintings. In the popular imagination Dafen’s artists produce anonymous works for unknown customers, operating no differently than a faceless factory churning out counterfeits, replicas and nothing close to what would be considered art...

The product of the collaboration are sets of images a digital photo of the artist in his studio, an indicative painting of their usual output and an original self-portrait. While the final works contain both the creative signature of the original masters and the emergent self-consciousness of the Dafen artists, it is equally important to note that they derived great fulfillment from using their talents freely, and were remunerated at a rate commensurate with the unique international nature of the project..."

Aerogel

"Aerogel holds 15 entries in the Guinness Book of Records, more than any other material. Sometimes called “frozen smoke”, aerogel is made by the supercritical drying of liquid gels of alumina, chromia, tin oxide, or carbon. It’s 99.8% empty space, which makes it look semi-transparent.

Aerogel is a fantastic insulator — if you had a shield of aerogel, you could easily defend yourself from a flamethrower. It stops cold, it stops heat. You could build a warm dome on the Moon.

Aerogels have unbelievable surface area in their internal fractal structures — cubes of aerogel just an inch on a side may have an internal surface area equivalent to a football field. Despite its low density, aerogel has been looked into as a component of military armor because of its insulating properties..."

Go to Accelerating Future for more futuristic materials.

Yellow Drum Machine

Age Maps

Bobby Neel Adams splits portraits between the young and old self, couples and families.

Found

"We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles - anything that gives a glimpse into someone else's life. Anything goes..."

Language Without Numbers

"An Amazonian language with only 300 speakers has no word to express the concept of "one" or any other specific number, according to a new study from an MIT-led team.

The team, led by MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences Edward Gibson, found that members of the Piraha tribe in remote northwestern Brazil use language to express relative quantities such as "some" and "more," but not precise numbers..."

The Boy With The Incredible Brain

"In his mind, he says, each integer up to 10,000 has its own unique shape, colour, texture and feel.

He can intuitively "see" results of calculations as synesthesic landscapes without using conscious mental effort, and that he can "sense" whether a number is prime or composite.

He has described his visual image of 289 as particularly ugly, as particularly attractive, and pi as beautiful. 6 apparently has no distinct image. Tammet not only verbally describes these visions, but has also created artwork: a watercolour painting of Pi.

Tammet also holds the European record for reciting pi to 22,514 digits in five hours and nine minutes.

He speaks eleven languages including English, French, Finnish, German, Spanish, Lithuanian, Romanian, Estonian, Icelandic, Welsh and Esperanto."

Shadow Artist

"Although this may not be entirely new, this could only be done perfectly by real talented artists who see way beyond the physical and visual attributes of things utilized to create shadow art or as the pioneering optical illusion and shadow artist Shigeo Fukuda refers to as shadow sculpture..."

Stingrays

They have no bones, their colour can vary from grey to bright red, be plain or patterned. Adult rays can be no bigger than a human palm or have an overall length of fourteen feet, and a group of them is called a 'fever' of stingrays.

More photos here.

Anti-Energy Drink

"Drank is a new anti-energy drink, designed to slow your roll. The grape-flavoured drink is fortified with melatonin, valerian root, and rose hips..."

The Nietzsche Family Circus

When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.

"The Nietzsche Family Circus pairs a randomized Family Circus cartoon with a randomized Friedrich Nietzsche quote."

Sunset On Mars

"On May 19, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th Martian day, or sol."

Elephant Painting

"Bull elephant Noppakhao paints a picture of another elephant in Ayutthaya province, Thailand"

Here is a video of Noppakhao painting the picture.

The Boy Who See's With Sound

First part of documentary about Ben Underwood, a boy that lost his eyes to cancer and has taught himself to see with sound.

Polaroid Everyday Until He Died

An article on Jamie Livingston, a man who took a polaroid every day for 18 years until his death on October 25th, 1997.

Archive of polaroids, and a blog detailing the project.

Medusa Chandelier

"Solo Exhibition at Hosfelt Gallery in New York, November 2006, of 3 large chandelier like structures, made of cast silicone rubber. Based on 19th century engravings of jellyfish, by German zoologist Ernst Haeckel. Largest measures 9ft in diameter."

Sand

Each grain of sand a tiny work of art

The Boolean Cafe

"The Boolean, Cafe Interior design project by Torafu architects the University of Tokyo.."

Non-Newtonian Fluid

"A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid in which the viscosity changes with the applied shear stress. As a result, non-Newtonian fluids may not have a well-defined viscosity."

This is a video of vibrating cornstarch. Also, here is a video of somebody walking across a pool of cornstarch.

Altered books

http://www.logolalia.com/alteredbooks/

Turn Ashes Into Diamonds

Companies offering to turn the ashes of deceased loved ones, including pets, into glass, diamonds or coral reefs. Also diamonds made from your living loved ones hair and nails.

*Photo from amnesty

Hearing Colours, Tasting Shapes

"When Matthew Blakeslee shapes hamburger patties with his hands, he experiences a vivid bitter taste in his mouth. Esmerelda Jones (a pseudonym) sees blue when she listens to the note C sharp played on the piano; other notes evoke different hues--so much so that the piano keys are actually color-coded, making it easier for her to remember and play musical scales. And when Jeff Coleman looks at printed black numbers, he sees them in color, each a different hue...."

An article by By Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Edward M. Hubbard

Magic Mint Lollipop

"Hand made mint flavoured lollipop, contains leaf extract of Salvia Divinorum (diviners sage), Magic Mint as it is also known.

This plant has been used by the shamans of Mexico for centuries as part of their rituals. It is said theat by consuming Magic Mint you may be able to find your animal spirit!"

They also produce other edibles, including vodka-scorpion lollipops, monkey picked tea, lizard wine, thai green crocodile curry and reindeer pate.

Trapped in an Elevator for 41 Hours

Book Trading

"WhatsOnMyBookshelf, a book trading community, allows members to exchange their books using a simple point system. Users maintain their own profile page with friends, book inventory, and wishlists.
Our goal is to facilitate the trading of books in addition to connecting people with similar reading interests. Sharing a book is the creation of a common place for dialogue, friendships, and ideas."

The Ice Hotel

"Ten thousand years ago, glaciers carved a riverbed and the Torne River was born. Since then, the crystal-clear, pure water of the Torne River has flowed freely along its 600-kilometer path through Lapland out to the sea in the southeast.

The entire ICEHOTEL is on loan from the mighty Torne River and is a place where time stands still. And very soon, when the spring comes and then finally the entire creation will once again become part of the rushing rapids coursing toward the sea."

Where to Buy Miracle Fruit

"...Although the berry itself is not sweet, it contains an active glycoprotein molecule, with some trailing carbohydrate chains, called miraculin. When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing changes to gustation - in particular bitter and sour foods (such as lemons and limes) consumed later to taste sweet. This effect lasts up to two hours."

*Photo from National Geographic Nov 2007

The Newton Virus

"...Spice up your colleagues' day with our Newton Virus, the first virus to introduce gravity to your laptop, causing the desktop icons to fall down as if subject to the gravitational pull from the real world."

Pinhole Photography

"The reason why I like pinhole photography is that my curiosity is always stimulated. I always find the process of making the photo exciting. The time spent creating pinhole photos heals me. When I am looking at subject with my camera, I learn the sense that I am talking with myself. I think more so, when I'm taking flower and the plant pictures."

Biometric Daemon

"Portable electronic pets able to recognise their owner's voice and walking style could replace passwords and PINs as a way to keep personal details and accounts secure, say UK researchers..."

Crayon Physics

"Crayon Physics Deluxe is a 2D physics puzzle game, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects. Solve puzzles with your artistic vision and creative use of physics."

Also try Phun

Five Intersecting Tetrahedra Origami

"This visually stunning object should be a familiar sight to those who frequent the landscapes of M.C. Escher or like to thumb through geometry textbooks..."

*Source

Honey Drops

"The Honey Drop™ is made with 100% all natural, pure dried Honibe honey. No additives. No artificial flavor. We also offer a Honey Drop™ with lemon. This is made with 100% all natural, pure dried Honibe honey and pure lemon. A tasty combination!"

Creative Symptoms of Aphasia

"Some paintings are meant to be appreciated in silence – but not this one. It is called Unravelling Boléro, by Canadian artist Anne Adams, and is a bar-by-bar representation of the popular classical piece Boléro by Maurice Ravel

The painting also provides a scientific window into the creative mind.

When Adams completed Unravelling Boléro in 1994, her brain was starting to be affected by a neurodegenerative condition called primary progressive aphasia. It later robbed Adams of speech, and eventually took her life.

In its early stages, however, the condition seemed to unleash a flowering of neural development in a brain area that integrated information from different senses..."

Holl's Department of Philosophy

"The interior renovation of a 1890 corner building at 5 Washington Place (close to Washington Square Park) is to be used by the NYU Department or Philosophy.

Rising from a cork raft of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Philosophy is organized around a backbone of light. Here it isn't only a metaphor of light to learning, but practical space of interaction between students and professors who can meet casually on the large landings. A new stair shaft below a new skylight joins the 6-level building vertically with a shifting porosity of light and shadow that change seasonally. The inspirations of words form Wittgenstein's text in Remarks on Color is elaborated in the "shadow of white light" phenomena. We installed prismatic film on the south-facing stairwell windows which occasionally breaks the sunlight into a prismatic rainbow."

The Face Object

"Soares has conceived a series of alternative diagnosis tools that use trained bees to perform health checkups, detect diseases, and monitor fertility cycles. “Bees have a phenomenal odor perception,” explains Soares. “They can be trained to target a specific odor.” The Face Object has two chambers. Bees that detect certain odors in the breath—some of them even connected to forms of cancer—will go into the smaller chamber if they sense them. The Fertility Cycle Object has three chambers: The largest corresponds to the ovulation period, the second to preovulation, and the third to postovulation. The bees will fly into the relevant chamber. The Precise Object has an outer curved tube that prevents bees from flying accidentally into the interior diagnosis chamber, making for a more precise result."

The Immortal Jellyfish

"Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan (jellyfish) with a life cycle in which it reverts back to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan (animal) capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage (Piraino et al. 1996, p. 302). It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. Theoretically, this cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it effectively immortal."