Showing posts with label bizarre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bizarre. Show all posts

2011-12-28

Mapimí Silent Zone -- The Zone of Silence

Zone of Silence (Zona Del Silencio). A Desert near the area of Ceballos in Northern Mexico, 400 miles south of El Paso, Texas. It is an epicenter for some of the strangest phenomenon ever experienced on earth. A high level of electro magnetic frequency is also present.



Mapimí Silent Zone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Mapimí Silent Zone (Spanish: La Zona del Silencio) is the popular name for a desert patch near the Bolsón de Mapimí in Mexico overlapping the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve that is the subject of an urban myth that claims it is an area where radio signals cannot be received.[1] [2]

WGS84 26° 41′ 29″ N, 103° 44′ 44″ W
26.691389, -103.745556
UTM 13R 624804 2952868
Zoom 8 Scale ± 1:10000
Region MX Type landmark 
Title Mapimí Silent Zone (Edit | Report inaccuracies)
View this location in Google Maps or in OpenStreetMap

Mapimí Silent Zone, Mexico's Zone of Silence, Zona Del Silencio

The zone is known for being home of rare species like an endemic version of the desert tortoise and the purple cactus.

Theorists are quick to point out that the Zone of Silence is geographically located just north of the Tropic of Cancer and shares the same latitude south of the 30th parallel as the Egyptian Pyramids, the sacred cities of Tibet, and the Bermuda Triangle, a fact scientist point out is probably a simple coincidence. In fact, scientists at the Mexican research center have dubbed the region the Sea of Thetys because millions of years ago the area lay at the bottom of an ocean.
Some believe the area is a magnetic grid point or portal where earth energy is concentrated. This energy is linked to UFO activity and ancient astronaut theory, some believing aliens still return to these highly magnetic areas, either by ship or through wormholes. No reliably-documented evidence exists to support any of these claims, though UFO sightings are common in Mexico. Strange lights, floating orbs, burning bushes, flying saucers, and alien encounters have all been reported with a degree of abundance in the area. Ranchers report the night sky is often filled with mysterious lights, and floating aircraft that allegedly landed vertically in the desert, often causing brush to ignite and catch fire.

There have been reports of encounters with strange humanoid creatures. One ranch family claims they are regularly visited by a trio of blonde, long haired humanoids, two males and a female, that speak perfect Spanish. As the story goes, the visitors only ask for water, never for food or other provision. And when asked once by the rancher where they came from, they reportedly answered "from above".


Whether we are dealing with UFOs, dimensional visitors who find the
magnetic aberrations facilitate their journeys, or merely a poorly understood part of our world with unsuspected properties, no easy answers apply to the riddle posed by the Zone of Silence. The builders of the mysterious ruined observatory would have probably agreed.


2011-09-30

Giant 3D Printers


Monster 3D printer unveiled | thingmakers


Voxeljet has just unveiled a monster 3D printer. We’re seeing scaling up to industrial levels very fast here. It won’t be long before BAE are printing aeroplane wings in one pass.








The VX4000 offers excellent features:
  • Build space of 4000 x 2000 x 1000 mm
  • Continuous operation with multiple building platforms
  • Variable use of build space for individual application
  • Effective and continuous operation through rugged design and high-quality components
  • Fast and economical manufacturing of large components and batches

The Urbee Hybrid: the First 3-D Printed Car | Fast Company


Think hybrid cars are futuristic? How about a hybrid car that has literally been printed out? Stratasys and Kor Ecologic recently teamed to develop Urbee, the first car ever to have its entire body 3-D printed with additive manufacturing processes (by printing layers of material on top of each other until a finished product appears).


Huge 3D Printer Makes Buildings Out of Sand [VIDEO]

We’ve seen 3D printers before, but none quite this ambitious. Italian inventor Enrico Dini’s D-Shape is on a scale large enough to print entire buildings out of simple components: sand and an inorganic magnesium-base binding material.



2011-04-26

Monowheels Then and Now

Monowheel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A monowheel is a one-wheeled single-track vehicle similar to a unicycle. However, instead of sitting above the wheel, the rider sits either within it or next to it. The wheel is a ring, usually driven by smaller wheels pressing against its inner rim. Most are single-passenger vehicles, though multi-passenger models have been built.

Pedal-powered monowheels were built in the late 19th century; most built in the 20th century have been motorized. Some modern builders refer to these vehicles as monocycles, though that term is also sometimes used to describe motorized unicycles.

Today, monowheels are generally built and used for fun and entertainment purposes, though from the 1860s through to the 1930s, they were proposed for use as serious transportation.


The First Monowheel?
This elegant monowheel cycle- the word "bicycle" seems somehow inappropriate, though there are certainly two wheels involved- dates back to 1869. It was built by Rousseau of Marseilles.
Collected from: Motorwheels monowheels

THE DYNOSPHERE: 1932
The Dynosphere (or Dynasphere, in some sources) was invented Dr J H Purves. It differed from the other monowheel designs in that it was wide enough to stand up by itself, without the need for continuous balancing. The outside of the wheel was part of the surface of a sphere.

In the picture below, the son of the inventor is at the controls, and apparently having some difficulties in steering; leaning this monowheel to one side is clearly not going to be easy. The Dynosphere was reported to have reached 30 mph on this run, powered by a 2.5 hp petrol engine. Since the wheel was said to have weighed 1000 pounds, I have some doubts about these figures.

Collected from: Monowheels: Page 3


The Cover of "La Science et la Vie" N°69 - Mar 1923

While it is unconfirmed, this cover painting is probably of the Cislaghi machine, given the date of 1923. The top picture in this section is from a much later issue of "La Science et la Vie"- they were recycling their old material, no doubt.

The table of contents describes it as "Un curieux monocycle automobile".

Collected from: Monowheels: Page 2

Welcome to Kerry McLean’s Machines | Inventor of the McLean Monocycle | Contact Us Today About Customizing Your Toy!

Kerry McLean is probably best known for his one wheel monocycle, the McLean Wheel and the Rocket Roadster.  In 2001, Kerry was fortunate to have survived a horrific crash with his V8 monocycle when on its virgin test run it began to wobble out of control and flipped through the air slamming Kerry into the pavement.  Afterwards, Kerry determined the cause of the crash, made numerous design changes and completely rebuilt the machine.  Today, Kerry continues to make improvements to the monocycle and he enjoys inventing and building other very cool things.


Ben Wilson Design

Ben Wilson is a 3D Industrial designer working with mass produced products and one off hand made commissions. His work has been extensively published and exhibited worldwide. 


[...] Over the years the myth of the monowheel has become an equal fascination. Since the 1860's many patents have been filed in the monowheel's name and today there are even rumors of a production monowheel in China, but as it stands there is nothing currently available. As we can't buy a monowheel we made one,The attraction of this project is venturing into the unknown. [...]
Collected from: Ben Wilson Design




Collected from: WheelSurf

monovelo - Home

Welcome to monovelo.com

We are happy that we can offer the newest and first human powered Monowheel.
It was used at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympia 2008.


Collected from: monovelo - Home

2011-03-08

Durian The Spiky Smelly King of Fruits




Collected from: Durian Medan

Mankind suckles at nature's spiky teat

The durian

The durian is a large, spiky fruit, native to the tropical rainforests of South-East Asia - where is is known as "the king of the fruits". It is known to those who hate it for its penetrating, powerful smell - and to those who love it for its wonderful taste.

[...]

Once opened, the flesh of the durian looks rather like custard.
Here's a photograph of the inside of a durian:


Flavour and odour

The unusual flavour and odour of the fruit have prompted many people to express diverse and passionate views ranging from deep appreciation to intense disgust.

[...]

Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says:
“ ... its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.[27]
Collected from: Durian


2009-11-21

French Hamster Hotel

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

French hamster hotel lets guests live like rodents

A French hotel is offering guests the chance to live like a hamster for a day.

French hamster hotel lets guests live like rodents


It's a unique concept according to its creators. A hotel in the French city of
Nantes is offering the chance for people to become a hamster.

For 99 euros (£88) a night, visitors to the hotel in Nantes can feast on hamster grain, get a workout by running in a giant wheel and sleep in hay stacks in the suite called the "Hamster Villa".

clipped from www.youtube.com

France's human hamster hotel Video Reuters com

Below you can find a news video clip of an interview with home decorator Frédéric Tabary, one of the two men who created the room. The interview is in French, but the pictures really tell the story.
clipped from www.guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk home
Travel

Heavy petting at France's human hamster hotel

So where did the idea come from? Yann Falquerho, the 42-year-old scenographer who lets the property through his quirky urban gîte company, Un Coin Chez Soi, told me that he and Frédéric Tabary, the interior designer with whom he works, had wanted to find something that was simply "very funny".

"We wanted to create a place that was a real gîte - a place where you could sleep and be comfortable - but also where you could have a real experience," he explained. "We wanted it to be eccentric and we decided that the funniest experience would be to become an animal."

clipped from www.foxnews.com
FOX News.com


Wednesday's Halftime Report


Title:

Wednesday's Halftime Report

Published: Wed, 18 Nov 2009

Description: Is Andy planning on visiting the hamster hotel?


clipped from www.youtube.com

blog it

Sources:
  1. French hamster hotel lets guests live like rodents - Telegraph
  2. YouTube - France's human hamster hotel Video Reuters com
  3. At French hamster hotel, live like a rodent | csmonitor.com
  4. Heavy petting at France's human hamster hotel | Travel | guardian.co.uk
  5. Wednesday's Halftime Report - FOXNews.com
  6. YouTube - Red Eye: Human Hamster Hotel?
Related:
  1. Heavy Petting at France's Human Hamster Hotel | ehotelier.com News Archives
  2. UN COIN CHEZ SOI * Location d'appartements aux thèmes variés à Nantes, Rennes et larmor Plage | Hébergement de charme courte durée NANTES centre ville Rennes centre ville LARMOR PLAGE, séjour de charme courte durée NANTES centre ville Rennes centre ville LARMOR PLAGE, location appartement de charme courte durée NANTES centre ville Rennes centre ville LARMOR PLAGE, Chambre d'hote Nantes, gîte Nantes. Location appartement Larmor Plage. Location appartement Rennes centre ville
  3. French Hotel Offers Guests the Chance to Live Like Hamsters - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com
  4. CBC News - Consumer Life - Live like a hamster for $150 a night
  5. French hotel offers guests a night as a hamster | Lifestyle | Reuters

2009-10-07

The Rattleback

Clipped from: The Amazing Rattleback!


Try to spin it clockwise. Watch it spin, shake, and rattle, and slow down.
Then, watch it spin in the opposite direction!

In Wales, it is called a rebellious celt. To us, it's the rattleback. "It" is a long, thin plastic toy with a base shaped like the hull of a boat. When you spin it one way, it turns a few times before the ends start to rattle up and down. The more it wobbles, the slower it rotates - until it stops spinning altogether. Finally, it starts to spin in the opposite direction. What could possibly cause this?

Clipped from: Sepp Hasslberger: Rattleback 'mystery' explained

Rattleback 'mystery' explained

A rattleback, also called a celt or wobblestone, is an interesting little piece of material with a roundish bottom and an unbalanced distribution of weight. When spun, it will soon start to rock and then, as the rocking motion subsides, it will settle down to spinning in the reverse direction. Rattlebacks do not work well on a slippery surface, which means that a certain amount of friction is a necessary condition for it to work...


Clipped from: YouTube - russian rattleback


Clipped from: Rattleback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Physics

The spin-reversal motion follows from the growth of instabilities on the other rotation axes, that are rolling (on the main axis) and pitching (on the crosswise axis).

When there is an asymmetry in the mass distribution with respect to the plane formed by the pitching and the vertical axes, a coupling of these two instabilities arises; one can imagine how the asymmetry in mass will deviate the rattleback when pitching, which will create some rolling.

The amplified mode will differ depending on the spin direction, which explains the rattleback asymmetrical behavior. Depending on whether it is rather a pitching or rolling instability that dominates, the growth rate will be very high or quite low.

This explains why, due to friction, most rattlebacks exhibit spin-reversal motion only when spun in the pitching-unstable direction, while they slow down and stop spinning before the rolling instability arises when spun in the "stable" direction. Also, after stopping, the spin in the "stable" direction is considerably slower than the original spin speed. Some rattlebacks, however, exhibit "unstable behavior" when spun in either direction, and incur several successive spin reversals per spin.[3]

Other ways to add motion to a rattleback include tapping by pressing down momentarily on either of its ends, and rocking by pressing down repeatedly on either of its ends.

Clipped from: YouTube - Rattleback


Clipped from: YouTube - Rattleback slow motion


Rattleback slow motion



Clipped from: YouTube - celt, rattleback, wobblestone




Sources:
  1. The Amazing Rattleback!
  2. Sepp Hasslberger: Rattleback 'mystery' explained
  3. YouTube - russian rattleback
  4. Rattleback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  5. File:Rolling-pitching.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  6. YouTube - Rattleback
  7. YouTube - Rattleback slow motion
  8. YouTube - celt, rattleback, wobblestone
Related:
  1. YouTube - Rattleback Oddity
  2. YouTube - reverse spinning remote control
  3. UIUC Physics Lecture Demo: Rattleback (Spin Toy)
  4. Rattleback Twin Pack
  5. Clarkson University: Rattleback Top

2009-09-12

World's Heaviest Insect

Clipped from: Flickr Photo Download: A handful of Giant Weta


Clipped from: World's Heaviest Insect : Giant Weta

World's Heaviest Insect : Giant Weta

Their physical appearance is that of a cross between a cockroach and a cricket with the addition of large legs.Wetas can be found in mountainous conditions and urban gardens by their ability to cope with wide variations in temperature. They are nocturnal as well as flightless, and have a diet consisting of leaves, insects, fungi, dead animals and fruit.

Clipped from: Weta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Weta

Weta is the name applied to about 70 insect species endemic to New Zealand. There are many similar species around the world, most are in the southern hemisphere. The name comes from the Māori word 'wētā' and is the same in the plural (like 'sheep'). The Māori for the Giant Weta is 'wētā punga' (lumpy or jointed weta), sometimes rendered in English as 'god of ugly things'.


Giant weta

There are 11 species of giant weta (Deinacrida spp.), most significantly larger than other weta, which are themselves large by insect standards. They are heavy insects with a body length of up to 100 mm (4 in) not inclusive of its lengthy legs and antennae, and weigh about 20-30 g. A captive giant weta (Deinacrida heteracantha) filled with eggs reached a record 70 g, making it one of the heaviest documented insects in the world [2] and heavier than a sparrow. The largest species of giant weta is the Little Barrier Island weta, also known as the wetapunga. Giant weta tend to be less social and more passive than other weta. They are classified in the genus Deinacrida, which is Greek for terrible grasshopper. They are found primarily on small islands off the coast of the main islands, and are examples of island gigantism.

Clipped from: YouTube - NZ Giant Cave Weta

NZ Giant Cave Weta



Clipped from: YouTube - Weta (Super Giant Cricket) slaughter down camel spider


Weta (Super Giant Cricket) slaughter down camel spider




Sources:
Flickr Photo Download: A handful of Giant Weta
World's Heaviest Insect : Giant Weta
Weta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
File:Knights.weta.750pix.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
YouTube - NZ Giant Cave Weta
YouTube - Weta (Super Giant Cricket) slaughter down camel spider
Related:
giant weta, an insect from new zealand - LiveVideo.com
Chapter 30: Largest | The University of Florida Book of Insect Records | Department of Entomology & Nematology | UF/IFAS
The New Zealand Weta - Home
Weta Photo Gallery

2009-07-21

MoonPublicity -- Advertise on the Moon

clipped from www.fastcompany.com

Space, the Final Frontier...For Advertising

Attempts at advertising in space or on the moon will never die--and here's the newest, on the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing.
clipped from news.prnewswire.com
Robots to Advertise on the Moon

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- It's one giant leap for robot-kind. New Shadow Shaping technology creates images on the Moon that can be seen from Earth. Robots are used to create several small ridges in the lunar dust over large areas that capture shadows and shape them to form logos, domains names, memorials or even portraits. Talk about the Man in the Moon! You can even carve your initials in a heart to impress your sweetheart.

Moon Publicity

Shadow Shaping Robot

New Shadow Shaping technology creates images on the moon that can be seen from Earth. Robots are used to create several small ridges in the lunar dust over large areas that capture shadows and shape them to form logos, domains names or memorials. For more information on licensing this technology click here.

clipped from www.youtube.com

blog it

Sources:
  1. Space, the Final Frontier...For Advertising | Design & Innovation | Fast Company
  2. Robots to Advertise on the Moon
  3. Moon Publicity | Advertise on the Moon
  4. Moon Publicity | Advertise on the Moon
  5. YouTube - Robot to Advertise on the Moon
Related:
  1. Idiots Want Robots to Draw Ads On the Moon's Surface - Moon advertising - Gizmodo
  2. Another giant leap, advertising in the moon! | 20 July 2009 | www.commodityonline.com
  3. Branded Shadows on Moon's Surface - Advertising Lab: future of advertising and advertising technology
  4. NASA to Burn Sponsor Logos into the Surface of Mars | Universe Today

2009-07-04

Project Nomad -- A Futuristic Concept Vehicle

clipped from www.youtube.com

Project Nomad - Jason Battersby

What if a vehicle could run off of mother nature? The Nomad is powered by eating the natural vegitation, which is also fed through to the driver. To be used for competitive events, tourism and exploration, the Nomad is agile and aware, using gps technology to map out the richest vegitation areas for maximum power consumption.
clipped from www.coroflot.com

Jason Battersby


Nomad concept vehicle makes commuting easy for modern nomads
The Nomad not only looks like a beast, but also moves, on its legs, like a living being, which makes it ideal for off-road rides and adventure trips. The concept includes a helmet and survival pack for the rider that will find good use in the off-road adventure rides.
project nomad
project nomad
project nomad

blog it

Sources:
  1. YouTube - JBDESIGNTV's Channel
  2. YouTube - Project Nomad - Jason Battersby
  3. Jason Battersby - Toronto, Canada - Project Nomad
  4. Nomad Concept Vehicle Makes Commuting Easy For Modern Nomads - The Design blog
Related:
  1. Project Nomad Takes Driving To Its Ancient Roots - Auto Motto
  2. Jason Battersby - Toronto, Canada - Project Nomad
  3. The new Cafe (racer) Society: Jason Battersby's Project Nomad.