Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Magical Tap

You can admire these incredible fountain that seems a Magical Tap floating in the sky while delivering an endless supply of water.
It seems a Photoshopped picture but it's not. It is real, just a clever idea that makes possible this optical illusion. Actually there is a hidden pipe inside of the water jet that functions both as a support for the whole structure and to supply the water.
"Aqualand" near Cadiz and Technorama Science Park in Zurich



Did You Know.......

Marbled Icebergs
Normally an iceberg appears White as a result of the tiny bubbles trapped within which scatter light in every direction. Blue stripes are created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form. When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a Green stripe. Brown lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea
So there is nothing very strange about those colored stripes except the fact that it's an incredibly rare coincidence that all those phenomenon have occurred in a relatively small piece of ice
Another striped iceberg with a striking diagonal blue line through it, which towered about 30 meters above the ocean surface, was spotted a few days later

Another unusual ice formation





Funny Ducks

Prepare for landing!
They've got their air brakes full on!

In the News

Man ringing Salvation Army kettle gets a diamond
A volunteer ringing the bell at a Harrisburg, Pa. Salvation Army kettle in south-central Pennsylvania got an unusual donation: a diamond ring. The ring was handed to August Memmi, who volunteered for the Salvation Army in Harrisburg during his lunch hour Tuesday.
The young man told Memmi that he'd bought the ring for his mother using money he'd earned mowing lawns, but she died this year and he wanted to put it to good use.
The ring's value was unclear Tuesday; the Salvation Army planned to have it appraised.
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Drive More Than Takes Care Of Man's $3K Water Bill
Drive To Help 84-year-old Wis. Man With A $3,000 Water Bill Brings Outpouring Of Help
An 84-year-old man hit with a $3,000 quarterly water bill won't have to pay a dime. In one week, a drive to help Norman Beckman raised $4,027 as of Tuesday. Organizers stopped accepting the contributions that were still coming in. "The donations ranged from $5 to $500," said Bryan Kassube, who started the drive. "I'm just floored we reached our goal in one week."The big bill was for the period from Jan. 1 to March 31. Beckman was not able to live in his home at the time, and in his absence water pipes froze, causing three leaks that allowed 44,700 cubic feet of water to go through the meter. Despite the large volume of water, no damage to the house was reported. Kassube said he was mailing a check for $3,006 to the city water utility to cover the bill plus interest on the unpaid balance. The rest goes to Beckman, who said he has plans for it. "I want to give it to the Salvation Army," Beckman said, "but I'm going to wait until Dec. 5 when Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has promised to match donations to the Army's Red Kettle campaign." Thrivent, an Appleton-based financial services organization, has announced it will match the red kettle donations made Dec. 5 in Wisconsin's Fox Valley, up to a total of $125,000. Beckman said he felt humbled by the response to his problem."It tells me there are many ways we can be proud of this community," he said.