Home/Articles in: Weird & Wonderful
Articles in: Weird & Wonderful
Nature, sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Mar 23rd, 2010,
In The Cove, the Oscar winning documentary on Japanese dolphin slaughter, activist and former dolphin trainer Richard O’Barry claims that he witnessed one of his dolphins commit suicide by self-suffocation. This event was a major turning point in O’Barry’s life and spurred his transformation from someone who kept dolphins into someone who rescues them. The idea of animals voluntarily killing themselves is a long-debated subject, as an article in Time magazine explores: The Romans saw animal suicide as both natural and noble; an animal they commonly reported as suicidal was one they respected, the horse. Then for centuries, discussion of…
Tags: animal, discovery, dolphin, human, O'Barry, suicide, The Cove, Time
climate change, sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, ,
Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted on Saturday, forcing at least 500 people to evacuate. Most have returned home since, with the exception of 14 farms. Although the eruption resulted in further tremors, spurts of lava and steam on Monday, there is bigger cause for concern. History dictates that when this particular volcano erupts, the Katla volcano will also erupt shortly after. The Katla volcano is located under the giant Myrdalsjokull glacier. An eruption of that magnitude will mean flooding disasters and major explosive blasts will ensue. It also means bad news for nearby countries. Over 200 years ago, in 1783, the…
Tags: Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, Katla, volcano eruption
Science & Technology, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Mar 19th, 2010,
When we think of immortality or eternal youth, many of us probably imagine things like gods, vampires, the Fountain of Youth, and even the Land of Faerie. Throughout history, there have been many legends and tales about creatures who cheated death or people who set out on a quest to find ever-lasting life. However, of all the stories and possibilities you might consider, I’ll bet none of you thought of the simple jellyfish. One jellyfish in particular has discovered the perfect way to cheat death. The Turritopsis nutricula—which is actually a type of hydrozoa—can move back and forth through all…
Tags: biological immortality, cheating death, hydrozoa, jellyfish, polyp, study, Turritopsis nutricula
Weird & Wonderful, ,
This week, I’ve stumbled upon more new awesome, green designs. However, unlike previous articles, there is a particular theme for this one. All of the designs this week have to do with the earth—particularly plants and trees. The designs use living plants either as part of the product or for inspirational purposes. Check them out: Solar Plant This first design sprouted from the mind of Korean designer, Ku Bon-Seop. The Solar Plant is not really a plant at all; though it is designed to act like one. How? Well, the “plant” part absorbs the sunlight. This sunlight is then transformed…
Tags: earthy designs, Eco-Green Ring, green designs, Growing Business Cards, Solar Plant
climate change, sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, Mar 17th, 2010,
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, that stew of broken down plastic trash that lies in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is getting bigger. An article in Tuesday’s Telegraph cites various estimates of the Patch’s size, which may have doubled over the past ten years: Dr Simon Boxall, a physical oceanographer at the National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton, goes even further: “It’s the size of North America. But although the patch itself is extremely large, it’s only one very clear representation of the much bigger worldwide problem.” Plastic waste spells death for a million birds and 100,000…
Tags: garbage, great, ocean, Pacific, Patch, plastic, Plastiki, Rothschild, Telegraph, trash
Sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, ,
Have you ever been in an amusement park funhouse? If you have, then you probably had the joy of experiencing the hall of mirrors, moving floors and rotating rooms. Now, imagine if someone took that rotating room and turned it into a sustainable, outdoor learning center. Can’t picture it? Don’t worry, it’s already being designed. 3DReid architects are collaborating with Blue Forest to create the first ever rotating learning space. Dubbed “rotatED”, the structure is capable of being turned on any of its 7 sides, allowing a variety of activities to take place, including education, play, and performance. Schools will…
Tags: 3DReid, rotatable outdoor learning structure, rotatED, sustainable design
Weird & Wonderful, Mar 16th, 2010,
Weather is all around us. It’s constantly happening and constantly changing. We experience it as soon as we step outside and we follow the forecasts—sometimes almost obsessively. What would you do if you could actually wear the weather? Seems like a crazy concept, right? Well, Canadian designer Valerie Lamontagne has turned that very crazy idea into a reality. This innovative designer has created a line of weather fashion, called Peau d’Âne—based on the Charles Perrault fairytale. If you’re unfamiliar with the fairytale: A young princess basically wishes to avoid marrying her stepfather, so she orders him to have 3 dresses…
Tags: design, fashion, Moon Dress, Peau d’Ane, Sky Dress, Sun Dress, Valerie Lamontagne, weather
Science & Technology, Sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, ,
The buzz around London’s new Strata SE1 skyscraper isn’t coming from the 3 wind turbines that crown its razor-like pinnacle, but from the attention this futuristic piece of architecture is garnering. The tower is part of a project to regenerate the central London neighborhood of Elephant and Castle. The rejuvenation project has been praised by a former U.S. president as an example of ‘sustainable growth’. No need for any obvious Clinton jokes there, I think. From an article in the Guardian: While wind speeds in the concrete jungle at the tower’s base would render a wind turbine pointless, at 42…
Tags: Castle, elephant, Guardian, london, Razor, SE1, skyscraper, Strata, tower, turbines, wind
Science & Technology, Sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, ,
A creative initiative around the missing tower of the Cathedral of Antwerp, that’s what Designing The Absent is all about. The Cathedral, as they proudly call the building in Antwerp, was built in the 14th century without taking much account of the budget needs for such a big undertaking. Due to a failing economy, the money quickly ran out and the construction of the Cathedral what stopped. Although the structure of the building meets the functional requirements, the Cathedral lost one of its towers in the process. According to the organizers of Designing The Absent this absence is like a…
Tags: antwerp cathedral, Designing The Absent, green architecture, green design, Inhabitat.com, living wall, missing tower, urban architecture
climate change, sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, Mar 15th, 2010,
How many of you get a nice breath of smog-filled, polluted air every time you step outside? Well, if you live in the UK, you’re in luck. The National Trust is distributing free jars of fresh air to London workers. Yes, that’s right: jars of fresh air. Care for a nice garden or walk through the country? They’ve got that covered. Feel more like heading down to the lake or seaside? They have jars for that, too. They’ve traveled across the country, from Cumbria to Surrey, collecting fresh air from fields, forests, beaches and more. The jars are recycled and…
Tags: city workers, free jars of fresh air, free weekend, london, National Trust, UK
Nature, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, ,
The greenest season of them all is upon us and Hollywood is abuzz with charity events. One in particular may be of interest to all of you devoted green-lifestylers. In A Bid To Save The Earth, Christie’s has partnered up with NBC Universal and 4 awesome environmental organizations to celebrate the Earth and offer you some great celebrity experiences. To start with, between April 8 and May 6, a silent auction will be held. Here’s a sneak peak of a few things you can bid on: Spend a day on set with Hugh Jackman this summer Attend the premiere of…
Tags: A Bid To Save The Earth, celebrities, charity auction, Christies, Earth Day, environmental auction, green auction, Hollywood, NBC Universal
Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Mar 13th, 2010,
A flock of over 100 starlings plummeted to the ground and died in a woman’s front garden in the county of Somerset in England last Sunday. According to the London Times, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is investigating the strange and sudden death. Mrs Knight was told by a neighbour that the flock “fell” from the sky at 4pm on Sunday, half an hour before she arrived home. She said: “One of my neighbours said they literally seemed to just fall out of the sky. About 70 were dead straight away. –London Times Being…
Tags: birds, dead, fall, FlashForward, flock, london, starlings, sudden, Times
Nature, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, ,
Some of you may remember a documentary released last summer called The Cove. It basically depicted the annual dolphin hunts that occur in one of Japan’s National Parks, through the eyes of an anti-dolphin hunting campaigner. The film went on to win an Academy Award this year for Best Documentary Film. However, the team behind this successful film had another agenda to complete while at Tinseltown. Last October, associate producer, Charles Hambleton, was told of a particular restaurant in California that was serving illegal whale meat. This particular restaurant would be none other than The Hump, which is extremely well-known…
Tags: endangered species, illegal whale meat, investigation, Sei whales, sushi, The Cove, The Hump, undercover stint
Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Mar 11th, 2010,
Life and death work in mysterious ways and one recent incident in Sydney’s Taronga Zoo is proof of that. An Asian Elephant gave birth yesterday to a healthy, living, baby boy. Two days ago, you wouldn’t have known that. Two days ago, zookeepers and veterinarians both declared the elephant calf dead inside the womb. Apparently, the mother had gone through 6 days of labor, but nothing happened. Even the ultrasounds showed no possible chance of a successful birth. Well, it would seem that once again, nature had everyone fooled (except the baby and his mother). Not only was the baby…
Tags: Asian Elephant, australia, birth, elephant, life and death, Sydney, Taronga Zoo
Business, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Mar 10th, 2010,
Have you ever heard the green travel saying: ‘take nothing but photos; leave nothing but footprints’ (or something to that effect)? Well, if you’re like me, you’ll want to bring home at least one gift, or perhaps send a postcard. Well, check this out. UK based A Studio for Design created an awesome new product that gives postcards a whole new green twist. I give you the PostCarden! At first glance, it seems like a regular postcard. You have a picture on one side and a blank space on the other. Ah, but wait! There’s something different about this particular…
Tags: cress, garden, gift, postcard, PostCarden, seeds, travel
Climate & Change, Politics, Weird & Wonderful, Mar 7th, 2010,
The lowest country in the world may have found an interesting solution to a rather alarming problem. The Maldives is an absolutely amazing place, consisting of 26 atolls (a ring of coral reef) and nearly 1200 small islands. It’s also severely affected by climate change. Some people say the islands are sinking. In fact, they only have approximately 6 feet of natural elevation above sea level. If something isn’t done about climate change now, the entire chain could be completely underwater within a century. Last year, President Mohamed Nasheed and fellow cabinet members staged an underwater cabinet meeting in an…
Tags: climate change, Dutch Docklands, Dutch Watervally, floating facilities, floating houses, floating islands, global warming, The Maldives, Waterstudio.NL
Business, Weird & Wonderful, Mar 5th, 2010,
Every week (or perhaps every day) someone creates a unique green invention. Maybe it will make household work easier. Maybe it will remind us of how much help the planet needs. Maybe it’s simply an every day object recreated from recycled parts. Whatever they are, they certainly do a good job of educating and inspiring fellow artists and eco-minds. This week’s inventions prove to be rather useful, painful, and perhaps something for you to chew on for a while. Sustainable City Lights Wherever you go, in many cities or towns, once the day transforms to night you’ll see street lights…
Tags: green designs, painful, panpaati, sustainable city lights, switch me!, unique, useful
Weird & Wonderful, Mar 4th, 2010,
Coal is known to be a top source of pollution. It’s the number one contributor to global warming. It’s even been associated with a number of health problems. Given these small bits of information, it doesn’t seem like any good can come from coal. However, designer Jim Zivic, sees and uses coal in a completely different light. Zivic creates sculptured tables from raw anthracite coal. Table options include: Honed (matte, smooth surface), Pewter Pour (molten pewter is applied to the coal), and Polished (very shiny, smooth black surface). He buys 14 tons of coal at a time from a mine…
Tags: anthracite coal, coal, furniture, Jim Zivic, Ralph Pucci, sculpture tables
Nature, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Mar 2nd, 2010,
Honey bees suffering from the growing malady Colony Collapse Disorder are receiving aid from an unexpected source: Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Now, I’m sure you may be wondering why on Earth an ice cream manufacturer would care about helping the honey bee. Well, the answer is pretty simple. Bees pollinate a lot of things besides flowers, such as fruits, berries and other plants. Some of these things are used as ingredients in many foods, including ice cream. In fact, about half of all Häagen-Dazs flavors include ingredients that require bee pollination. So, what is this giant ice cream manufacturer doing to…
Tags: Colony Collapse Disorder, Häagen-Dazs, HelpTheHoneyBees.com, honey bees, ice cream, Vanilla Honey Bee
Sustainable living, sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, Feb 26th, 2010,
Imagine living in a home made of recycled waste plastic. Sure, it’s been done before, but Affresol takes it to a whole new level. Backed by Welsh Assembly Government money, this “modular house construction company” launched a series of eco-friendly homes and four-ton modular, portable buildings. The awesome thing about these structures is not only do they have a house-life expectancy of at least 60 years, but most of the building elements can also be recycled once the house is ready to be torn down. They started by creating a new material, called Thermo Poly Pock (TPR); which is a…
Tags: Affresol, homes made of recycled material, recyclable home, sustainable living, Swansea construction company
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