While styrofoam may be most commonly associated with disposable coffee cups, meat trays and packaging, prefab home manufacturer Japan Dome House Co., Ltd. uses it to construct easy-to-assemble modular kit homes.
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Styrofoam Dome Homes
While styrofoam may be most commonly associated with disposable coffee cups, meat trays and packaging, prefab home manufacturer Japan Dome House Co., Ltd. uses it to construct easy-to-assemble modular kit homes.
Blanket covered gas station
Artist Jennifer Marsh covered this 50-year-old former Citgo station with a giant blanket. Jennifer was bothered by the abandoned gas station that was an eyesore on the drive to her studio each day, so she decided to do something about it. With the help of professional and amateur artists from 15 countries and more than 2,500 grade-school students in 29 states, Marsh covered the 50-year-old former Citgo station — pumps, light stands, signs and all — with more than 3,000 fiber panels that are crocheted, knitted, quilted or stitched together.
The panels cover 5,000 square feet and come in every color, hue and texture. There are panels in burlap, leather, even silk.
There are panels of solid color and others with patterns, prints or scenes.
The project cost about $29,000, much of it her own money. There were also grants and contributions from individuals and businesses.
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World Reclamation Art Project (WRAP)
Watch how visual artist Jennifer Marsh turned an abandoned gas station in Syracuse, NY into an art exhibit, demonstrating the world's dependency on oil and the price we pay at the pump.
Blind man may have to give up best friend
A blind man has been told he will not be given a new guide dog after being forced to give up the one he has — because he walks too slowly.
Eric Gamsby, from Daubhill, has relied on his guide dog, Alice, for the last six years.
But the golden retriever, who is nine years old, must now retire under the rules of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
Mr Gamsby, aged 78, who suffers from sciatica, has been told he walks too slowly to be eligible for a replacement dog and must now rely on his white stick instead.
The widower, who has had guide dogs since he was 60, said: "I’m very down about it, very disappointed. She’s been a good dog — she’s not only a guide dog, she’s company for me.
"It will be like having a member of the family taken away from me."
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has told Mr Gamsby that a representative will visit him shortly to remove Alice’s harness so she may no longer be used as a guide dog.
A spokesman for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association said they could not comment on individual cases.
PICTURE and More
Eric Gamsby, from Daubhill, has relied on his guide dog, Alice, for the last six years.
But the golden retriever, who is nine years old, must now retire under the rules of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
Mr Gamsby, aged 78, who suffers from sciatica, has been told he walks too slowly to be eligible for a replacement dog and must now rely on his white stick instead.
The widower, who has had guide dogs since he was 60, said: "I’m very down about it, very disappointed. She’s been a good dog — she’s not only a guide dog, she’s company for me.
"It will be like having a member of the family taken away from me."
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has told Mr Gamsby that a representative will visit him shortly to remove Alice’s harness so she may no longer be used as a guide dog.
A spokesman for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association said they could not comment on individual cases.
PICTURE and More
Girl 'not pretty enough' for Opening Ceremony
It has been claimed that the little girl who starred at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was miming and was only put on stage because the real singer wasn't considered attractive enough. Ceremony musical director Chen Qigang says pigtailed Lin Miaoke was selected to appear because of her cute appearance and hadn't sung a note of the emotional song Ode to the Motherland. Photographs of Lin in a bright red party dress were published in newspapers and websites all over the world and the official China Daily hailed her as a rising star on Tuesday. But Chen says the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91,000 capacity crowd at the main Olympic stadium was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth.
PICTURE and More
PICTURE and More
New premium grapes auctioned for $910 a bunch in Japan
A new variety of premium grapes debuted in Japan on Monday, with a single bunch fetching as much as $910.
A Japanese hotel manager paid that amount, or about $26 per grape, for a 1 ½ pound (700-gram) bunch of the Ruby Roman grapes to serve guests at an upscale hotel, officials said.
"We believe the price was probably a record high," said local agricultural official Hirofumi Isu. "They're delicious — sweet but fresh at the same time, very well-balanced."
The tomato-colored grapes made their debut at an auction in Japan's northwestern Ishikawa prefecture, where they have been under development since 1994 in a state-led project.
The bunch that fetched the top price had about 35 grapes, each slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball, Isu said.
The average price for the Ruby Roman grapes at Monday's auction was about $245 a bunch.
Isu said local farmers hope to sell 1,500 bunches, or 1 ton, of the grapes by mid-September.
Fruit is generally expensive in Japan, and people often buy grapes, peaches and melons as luxury gifts. Japanese are often willing to pay top prices for high-end fruits, especially for the prestige of owning the very first ones of the year.
Monday's prices far exceeded those for the most popular premium variety, Muscat of Alexandria, which sell for as much as $90 a bunch at Tokyo's Ota fruit market, the country's largest, according to Koichi Kato, an official at fruit wholesaler Tokyo Seika Co.
"It could be a congratulatory price for its debut," Kato said of Monday's auction in Ishikawa. "Tokyo's largest fruit market is very competitive."
A Japanese hotel manager paid that amount, or about $26 per grape, for a 1 ½ pound (700-gram) bunch of the Ruby Roman grapes to serve guests at an upscale hotel, officials said.
"We believe the price was probably a record high," said local agricultural official Hirofumi Isu. "They're delicious — sweet but fresh at the same time, very well-balanced."
The tomato-colored grapes made their debut at an auction in Japan's northwestern Ishikawa prefecture, where they have been under development since 1994 in a state-led project.
The bunch that fetched the top price had about 35 grapes, each slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball, Isu said.
The average price for the Ruby Roman grapes at Monday's auction was about $245 a bunch.
Isu said local farmers hope to sell 1,500 bunches, or 1 ton, of the grapes by mid-September.
Fruit is generally expensive in Japan, and people often buy grapes, peaches and melons as luxury gifts. Japanese are often willing to pay top prices for high-end fruits, especially for the prestige of owning the very first ones of the year.
Monday's prices far exceeded those for the most popular premium variety, Muscat of Alexandria, which sell for as much as $90 a bunch at Tokyo's Ota fruit market, the country's largest, according to Koichi Kato, an official at fruit wholesaler Tokyo Seika Co.
"It could be a congratulatory price for its debut," Kato said of Monday's auction in Ishikawa. "Tokyo's largest fruit market is very competitive."
Monday, August 11, 2008
Dogs Adopted Orphan Deer
Click to Enlarge
Are You My Mommy?The dogs immediately accepted the lost deer when they found him shivering by the Thompsons' front gate just an hour or so after he had been born.
'We can't release him into the park here because there are too many people about. Bam Bam is not afraid of humans and we're worried that this may make him dangerous.
'He already gives us a nudge when he wants to eat and it's not so bad because he's only little but imagine what a nudge could do when he's got a fine pair of antlers.'
The Thompsons will be sad to lose such a treasured member of the family but they know they can't keep him forever and plan to set him free once he's fully grown.
Next year they intend to rehome Bam Bam in a private park where he will be able to join a herd and finally learn how to be a deer.
'We can't release him into the park here because there are too many people about. Bam Bam is not afraid of humans and we're worried that this may make him dangerous.
'He already gives us a nudge when he wants to eat and it's not so bad because he's only little but imagine what a nudge could do when he's got a fine pair of antlers.'
The Thompsons will be sad to lose such a treasured member of the family but they know they can't keep him forever and plan to set him free once he's fully grown.
Next year they intend to rehome Bam Bam in a private park where he will be able to join a herd and finally learn how to be a deer.
Scientists Say Invisibility Cloak Now Possible
Scientists say they are a step closer to developing materials that could render people and objects invisible.
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time they were able to cloak three-dimensional objects using artificially engineered materials that redirect light around the objects. Previously, they only have been able to cloak very thin two-dimensional objects.
The findings, by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, led by Xiang Zhang, are to be released later this week in the journals Nature and Science.
The new work moves scientists a step closer to hiding people and objects from visible light, which could have broad applications, including military ones.
People can see objects because they scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye. Cloaking uses materials, known as metamaterials, to deflect radar, light or other waves around an object, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream.
Metamaterials are mixtures of metal and circuit board materials such as ceramic, Teflon or fiber composite. They are designed to bend visible light in a way that ordinary materials don't. Scientists are trying to use them to bend light around objects so they don't create reflections or shadows.
It differs from stealth technology, which does not make an aircraft invisible but reduces the cross-section available to radar, making it hard to track.
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time they were able to cloak three-dimensional objects using artificially engineered materials that redirect light around the objects. Previously, they only have been able to cloak very thin two-dimensional objects.
The findings, by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, led by Xiang Zhang, are to be released later this week in the journals Nature and Science.
The new work moves scientists a step closer to hiding people and objects from visible light, which could have broad applications, including military ones.
People can see objects because they scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye. Cloaking uses materials, known as metamaterials, to deflect radar, light or other waves around an object, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream.
Metamaterials are mixtures of metal and circuit board materials such as ceramic, Teflon or fiber composite. They are designed to bend visible light in a way that ordinary materials don't. Scientists are trying to use them to bend light around objects so they don't create reflections or shadows.
It differs from stealth technology, which does not make an aircraft invisible but reduces the cross-section available to radar, making it hard to track.
In the News
Famous Stone Arch Collapses in Utah Park
One of the largest and most photographed stone arches in Arches National Park in Utah has collapsed.
Wall Arch fell sometime late Monday or early Tuesday, though no one has reported seeing it collapse, said Paul Henderson, the park's chief of interpretation.
He said the arch, located along the popular Devils Garden Trail, was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy other arches in the park: gravity and erosion.
Measuring more than 33 feet tall and 71 feet across, Wall Arch ranked 12th in size among the park's estimated 2,000 arches. It was first reported and named in 1948.
PICTURES and More
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Spilled Cash Starts Free-for-All
Police near Los Angeles say motorists stopped in speeding traffic to gather up bills Sunday after a man on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dropped a bag of cash.
They took off when the California Highway Patrol arrived.
The biker told authorities a computer bag he was carrying ripped and spilled money across Interstate 10, where people were driving in 65 mph traffic.
Highway Patrol Officer Anthony Martin says he doesn't know how much cash was in the bag or how much drivers made away with.
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What’s Your Favorite Flavor of Ice-cream
The city of Yokohama has marked the 130th anniversary of the arrival of ice cream in Japan with a festival showcasing exotic regional varieties including beef tongue, eel, raw horseradish, curry, crab and potato.
More than 125 varieties of ice cream have been available in the two week festival, including cheese, octopus, prawn and a garlic variety called Dracula Premium Ice. Another favourite was flavoured with very finely sliced pieces of pearl from the traditional pearl-growing region of Japan's inland sea. Most were selling for between Y300 (£1.42) and Y800 (£3.78) for a small tub.
The majority of the ice creams were clearly acquired tastes, including the beer version, which failed to recreate either the taste or texture of beer.
.
One of the largest and most photographed stone arches in Arches National Park in Utah has collapsed.
Wall Arch fell sometime late Monday or early Tuesday, though no one has reported seeing it collapse, said Paul Henderson, the park's chief of interpretation.
He said the arch, located along the popular Devils Garden Trail, was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy other arches in the park: gravity and erosion.
Measuring more than 33 feet tall and 71 feet across, Wall Arch ranked 12th in size among the park's estimated 2,000 arches. It was first reported and named in 1948.
PICTURES and More
.
Spilled Cash Starts Free-for-All
Police near Los Angeles say motorists stopped in speeding traffic to gather up bills Sunday after a man on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dropped a bag of cash.
They took off when the California Highway Patrol arrived.
The biker told authorities a computer bag he was carrying ripped and spilled money across Interstate 10, where people were driving in 65 mph traffic.
Highway Patrol Officer Anthony Martin says he doesn't know how much cash was in the bag or how much drivers made away with.
.
What’s Your Favorite Flavor of Ice-cream
The city of Yokohama has marked the 130th anniversary of the arrival of ice cream in Japan with a festival showcasing exotic regional varieties including beef tongue, eel, raw horseradish, curry, crab and potato.
More than 125 varieties of ice cream have been available in the two week festival, including cheese, octopus, prawn and a garlic variety called Dracula Premium Ice. Another favourite was flavoured with very finely sliced pieces of pearl from the traditional pearl-growing region of Japan's inland sea. Most were selling for between Y300 (£1.42) and Y800 (£3.78) for a small tub.
The majority of the ice creams were clearly acquired tastes, including the beer version, which failed to recreate either the taste or texture of beer.
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