A year after it was taken by ISIS, the Syrian city of Palmyra was recently retaken Syrian forces backed by Russian airstrikes. Previously home to many of the world’s most treasured historical sites, many artifacts were destroyed by the Islamist forces in an anti iconoclastic purge. Now, Joseph Eid, a photographer for AFP news agency who took photos of the site just two years ago, has posted before-and-after images of the damage.
“Of course the Temple of Bel will never be the same,” Syria’s antiquities director, Mamoun Abdulkarim, told the Times Of Israel. “According to our experts, we will definitely be able to restore a third of the destroyed cella, or maybe even more if we carry out additional studies with UNESCO’s help…I invite archaeologists and experts everywhere to come work with us because this site is part of the heritage of all humanity.”
With a minimalist style, designed to look like something you’d put at home, yet delicately catching the essence of the origin, these lighting fixtures are all inspired from Star Wars movies.
Having that Scandinavian style, They are presented as pages in a Swedish catalog. The names remind the origin but converted to resemble Swedish and for credibility, paragraphs were added in google-translated Swedish with content from the original character’s Wikipedia page.
The film FairyTale retells the story of the Cottingley Fairies, an incident in which two girls staged photos that they claimed depicted real fairies. Even famous writer Arthur Conan Doyle was fooled, and it was only in the 1980s that the girls admitted that the photos were faked. But LA-based artist Jedediah Corwyn Voltz must have missed the news, because he keeps making fairy-sized treehouses around houseplants, and has made 25 so far!
“Building miniatures for stop motion always leaves me with a huge bin of scrap balsa, basswood, various fabrics, etc. and I found myself making little fantasy constructions out of that stuff during my downtime,” Voltz told Bored Panda. “Those little scrap forts led to me building some more serious ones in little diorama settings, and last year I built my first living treehouse. Since then, I’ve made almost 25 of them, from tiny watchtowers in secluded forests, to quiet treetop meditation platforms, to giant bustling windmills and waterwheels.”
For those who are interested, the treehouses will be on display at Virgil Normal in LA starting April 23, so be sure to swing by, as they don’t seem to be available online. Voltz also does custom, to-order work.
Bikes have always been the green alternative to cars, and now cycling just got even greener thanks to these adorable little bike vases!
They were created by Colleen Jordan, an Atlanta-based designer and artist who runs Wearable Planter, a company dedicated to products that allow you to take plants and flowers with you wherever you go. The vases are 3D printed and finished by hand and they easily attach to the handlebars of your bike. As well as the vases, Wearable Planter also sells 3D printed jewelry, such as necklaces and badges that contain a tiny living plant.
Colleen draws her inspiration from the world around her, but she was also motivated to start her company when professors at Georgia Tech and Lund University showed little interest in what she admits are her slightly far-fetched ideas. “Almost every professor I presented this idea to said I couldn’t explore it in their class, which of course motivated me to make these machinations a reality.”
You can buy her bikes vases on Etsy, as well as her other products.
At 4 feet 9 inches, Simone Biles is rarely the tallest person in the room — at least until she steps onto the podium.
The 19-year-old just won the all-around title and helped the United States secure the team title at the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in Everett, Washington.
In fact, this petite athlete is one of the premier gymnasts in the world, earning multiple world and U.S. all-around titles.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.
Ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Biles is at the top of her game.
But since we only seem to hear about gymnasts every four years, you many not know much about her.
Here are nine amazing facts about the best gymnast in the world.
Biles and Boorman hug after the 2015 World Championships. Photo by Ben Stanssall/AFP/Getty Images.
2. Simone was home-schooled for most of her education.
For years, her typical day involved four hours of studying and schoolwork at her training gym in the morning. Then gymnastics in the afternoon. When her training began, she put in 16 hours a week at the gym. Now, it's closer to 30.
Focused doesn't begin to describe it. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.
3. She's all about family.
Biles' mother struggled with addiction, but her grandparents were able to step in and provide care for Simone and her younger sister Adria. While she keeps in contact with her mother, her grandmother and grandfather are officially mom and dad.
It's a double layout with a half twist, and it's known in gymnastics circles as "The Biles."
5. Even former champions are amazed by Simone's talent.
Former all-around champion Mary Lou Retton called Biles "unbeatable." In a story for Team USA, Retton said: "She may be the most talented gymnast I’ve ever seen in my life, honestly. And I don’t think she’s tapped into what she can really do."
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.
6. But despite her prowess, Biles still has to deal with the B.S.
In 2013, she became the first black world all-around champion. Carlotta Ferlito, an Italian gymnast who came in 11th place, told the Italian media, "I told [teammate Vanessa Ferrari] that next time we should also paint our skin black, so then we could win too."
Though she apologized for her comments, the Italian gymnastics body went on to defend Ferlito and suggest a trend where the sport may be favoring black athletes and body types.
Biles may have a handful of ignorant haters to contend with, but she shuts them down at every turn with one simple move: winning.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images.
7. She is a serious force to be reckoned with.
Think of someone who's really good at something. Now triple their accomplishments. That's Simone Biles.
9. After gymnastics, she's thinking about a career in health care.
While many athletes of her ilk want to stay in the gym and work as a coach or trainer, Biles hopes to follow in her mom's footsteps and become a nurse.
"Which way to the lab? I'll point you in the right direction." Photo by Harry How/Getty Images.
The 2016 U.S. Olympic team trials for women's gymnastics get underway in July, and Biles is already a favorite.
Not just to make the team, but to win the all-around gold medal. Competing in the Olympics has been a dream of Biles' since she was a child.
After decades of work and effort, it looks like that dream is about to come true.
Watch Biles shine in this jaw-dropping floor routine from last weekend's Pacific Rim Championships.
David Douglas knows what it means to be strong. He is, after all, a six-foot tall, 330 pound, ex-marine-turned-powerlifter nicknamed “The Beast”. He can bench 600 pounds and deadlift 770, but only when he met 12-year-old Lindsay Ratcliffe did he realise the true meaning of strength.
Lindsay has an extremely rare genetic disorder called Progeria that ages the body 8-10 times faster than normal. This gives Lindsay an average lifespan of just 13 years. “You would never know that she was fighting something so hard,” Douglas told A Plus, “because she is always smiling.” David and Lindsay met in 2013 at a powerlifting event called Relentless. The event is sponsored by HopeKids and is held to benefit children with rare diseases. The two have been friends ever since.
“Lindsay became my lil sis since day one,” Douglas writes. “There are no words to describe how I feel about her. She has pulled me out of rough spots just by thinking of her. That is a priceless gift.”
If you’d like to help Lindsay and her family you can donate here.
Always wanted to be a Samurai but didn’t fancy the whole “dedicating your entire life to it” thing? Well, thanks to clothing company Tokyo Otaku Mode, there might just be an easier way to become a Samurai. Or at least look like one anyway.
The US-based company is launching a crowdfunding campaign to bring Samurai-armor-inspired hoodies outside of Japan. Although this armor is unlikely to stop your enemy’s razor-sharp Katana, it should however work pretty well against some chilly weather thanks to its double thickness compared to an average hoodie.
The crowdfunding campaign is being led by anime theme song band Milktub vocalist Bamboo, and you can still back the project until April 24. So what are you waiting for?
30-year-old Ashley Yeates is not a hobbit. The Bedford, England, is a design and construction expert that’s much too big to be a hobbit, although rumor has it his feet might be just as hairy–but despite these shortcomings, he decided to build a “hobbit hole” in his garden, a project that took almost a year to complete. After a tree died in the yard, he decided a hole was just the thing to take its place!
Many readers have commented that the structure will suffer from water damage. Yeates explains the waterproofing procedure on his blog: “We created a strong internal wooden frame which was hugely over-engineered…The corrugated iron was used to seal everything in and the panels were all seam welded from top to bottom once in position and then finished with plenty of waterproof barriers. The base concreted with waterproofer and finished with further waterproofing and finally a levelling compound so there was a lovely clean finish inside.”
It’s illegal for you to keep wild animals as pets in Brazil. But despite what the law may say, Dindim comes to live with his best friend, whom he met on the beaches of Brazil, every year since 2011.
71-year-old retired bricklayer and part time fisherman Joao Pereira de Souza found Dindim, a South American Magellanic penguin, covered in oil and close to death. When De Souza nursed him back to health, however, he found that Dindim didn’t want to leave; when he finally did, De Souza was surprised to see him return the next year, and the years following.
“I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the penguin loves me,” Joao told Globo TV. “No one else is allowed to touch him. He pecks them if they do. He lays on my lap, lets me give him showers, allows me to feed him sardines and to pick him up.” (h/t: independent)
“Everyone said he wouldn’t return but he has been coming back to visit me for the past four years”
71-year-old Joao found this penguin covered in oil and close to death in 2011
“He stayed with me for 11 months and then…he disappeared
But Dindim kept coming back every year, swimming 8,000km to do so
“I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the penguin loves me. When he sees him he wags his tail like a dog and honks with delight”
“No one else is allowed to touch him. He pecks them if they do”
“I have never seen anything like this before. I think the penguin believes Joao is part of his family and probably a penguin as well” – said Biologist Professor Krajewski
I visited North Korea and took these photos, most of them illegal, so you could get a more candid look into the most mysterious country on the planet.
I was told I would be detained in case photos like these were found (“You took many photos. Too many,” – said my guide), but I managed to smuggle them out of the country, which was very stressful.
Authority – military is present everywhere in Pyongyang
The difference between North Korea (left) and China (right) is staggering
And it becomes even more apparent at night
You have several of these to fill in on your way in
First photo I took in North Korea. Photography from this train is illegal
People waiting to sell human waste to be used as fertiliser
“(The Korean Workers’) Party is never going to forget the comrades of Rakwon [city]”
North Koreans can only travel within the country when they receive a permit
North Korean soldiers
Dignity
Arrival in Pyongyang. I believe this was staged, as there were no other trains that day, so those elegant looking travellers had no reason to be there
Pyongyang – we were intercepted by our guides, who we could not leave during the entire stay, and who’d tell us when to sleep and when to wake up
North Korean street photography
Brutalist architecture of Pyongyang
Cityscape from the Yanggakdo hotel
The hotel officially has no floor 5, and you can only reach it by stairs
The door is almost always closed, but if you manage to get in, the place is full of propaganda posters, and people speculate it’s used for spying on the guests.
We did not get to interact with the locals almost at all. Most waitresses seemed slightly terrified of us
Kim Il-Sung’s square. This is one of the places they want you to photograph
Those allowed to live in Pyongyang are privileged, and wear a badge that is impossible to buy (you can get a fake one in China)
You are only allowed to photograph these statues if both bodies are featured in their entirety. There was an endless stream of North Koreans bringing flowers and bowing
I had 15 seconds to take this picture. This shop is for the locals only, and I was kicked out of it by my guide soon after taking this photo, but he didn’t see me taking it
Some of the souvenirs you can buy
The city is clear of rubbish
There was hardly any traffic, but they took our passports away and forbid us to go anywhere on our own in case we participate in a car accident…
Workers
The city was clean and elegant, but then I saw this
Socialist murals
Finally, people commuting to work
Thanks for watching, two more sets of photos are coming soon!
I’m George Probst, and I have been photographing great white sharks at Mexico’s Isla de Guadalupe since 2006. As a child, I was initially both fascinated and terrified by sharks from a very early age. I had always wanted to see a great white in the wild, which was something I had always just considered a “bucket list” item. When I headed to Guadalupe in 2006 armed with only a tiny point-and-shoot camera, I did not expect to ever return or see another great white, again. However, I got hooked after my first trip and have been at it ever since.
One thing that struck me on my first dive trip was that the sharks did not behave like I had seen them portrayed on movies and television shows (including some documentaries). While we were using protective cages to dive, the sharks didn’t seem particularly interested in the divers in an aggressive way. They were not actively “out to get” anybody and spent most of their time just swimming around calmly. They also didn’t have solid black eyes like Quint from ‘Jaws’ had led me to believe. In fact, when they come in close enough and the light is good, you can see that they have a blue iris, which allows you to tell where they are looking. They often will look eye to eye with you, which is certainly a unique feeling.
The more I photographed these animals, the more I noticed how a lot of photographs of the species tend to focus on them eating and looking particularly ferocious (which they certainly have the ability to be). I’ve taken a few of these kinds of open-jaw shots over the years, and they are admittedly popular among the masses, but I feel like they aren’t particularly representative of how I’ve typically seen the sharks behaving in my experiences with them. In fact, most of these kinds of shots actually involve dive boats using bait to get the sharks to open wide.
It’s worth pointing out that while great white sharks aren’t out to get people and aren’t always trying to eat anything in sight, they are still large, predatory, wild animals that certainly have the potential to be dangerous. As is the case with any wild animal, a high level caution and a healthy dose of respect should be used in their presence.
Over the last several years, I’ve set out to try capture great whites in a manner that covers the whole spectrum of their typical behavior, beyond just them eating. I’ve also tried to capture some of the “personalities” of the individual sharks that I’ve become familiar with year after year. Most of the sharks we encounter at the island have been named by researchers as part of an ongoing identification project.
All of the photos shared here were taken using only natural light with housed Canon DSLRs (350D and 5D Mark III) with UWA rectilinear lenses (EF-S 17-85mm, EF 17-40mm F4L, EF 16-35mm F4L). Here are some of the images I’ve come up with over the years. I hope you enjoy them!
“Micks,” a male great white shark, is bathed in sunlight as he swims just below the surface.
The Clichéd Open-Jaw Shot
A great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) at the surface with jaws open. This open-jaw behavior is not typically how we see great white sharks at Guadalupe. Yellowfin tuna (a naturally occurring prey item at the island) is used by some boats to attract the sharks. This shark was attempting to grab a bite of tuna just before this shot was taken.
Clearing a path
Mackerel scad clear the way for “Monkey,” a male great white shark, as he swims near the surface off the coast of Isla de Guadalupe.
Old blue eyes
Despite Quint’s claim that sharks have “lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eye,” great white sharks actually have a blue iris.
Natural beauty
Out of all the photos that I’ve taken over the years, I feel like this shot of a great white shark gracefully and peacefully swimming through the water is one of the most accurate representations of the species, and how it would typically be viewed in the wild.
Little lady
This young great white shark is one of the smallest females that I’ve seen at Guadalupe.
Surface reflection
The pinnacle of the dorsal fin of a male great white shark just breaks through the water’s surface.
The beautiful ‘demon’
“Tzitzimitl,” is a female great white shark named after an Aztec deity. Her name loosely translates to “air demon.”
The deep blue
With powerful strokes of his tail, a male great white shark glides gracefully through the deep blue abyss below.
Smile for the camera
“Cal Ripfin,” a male great white shark named for his damaged dorsal fin, looks head-on at the camera.
One happy-looking shark
“Legend,” a male great white shark, seemingly had quite big smile on his face as he was swimming by for this shot.
The lovely Lucy
One of my favorite ladies of Guadalupe, “Lucy,” an adult female great white shark, gracefully swimming by for a nice photo op.
Getting a bit nosey
“Legend,” a curious male great white shark, made several close approaches to my camera on this particular dive.
Bent, but not broken
“Lucy,” a female great white shark, is one of the most recognizable sharks who visits Isla de Guadalupe, due to her deformed caudal fin (tail). Lucy has adapted to the injury with a modified swimming method, and she has maintained a healthy weight over the years.
Why, hello there!
“Cal Ripfin,” a male great white shark, comes in for an extreme close-up.
Who wants a hug?
“Legend,” a male great white shark, curiously approaches the camera. His pectoral fins remind me of somebody coming in for a hug (Disclaimer: don’t try to a hug a great white shark).
It’s been a long day at work. All you want is a hug. But you’re single. There is nobody, except perhaps the neighbor, and maybe you don’t want to hug the neighbor. Or maybe they don’t want to hug you. So what do you do? Where do you go?
Well, thanks to designer Eun Kyoung Lee, those lonely hugless days are over because she has invented the Free Hug Sofa. Yes. That’s right. A sofa. That gives you hugs. For free. The innovative piece of furniture was created for the A’Design Awards and, according to Lee, “it will hold you warm and soft like your mother, friend, and a lover.”
The Free Hug Sofa will be there for you even during your darkest times. Selfie-stick broken? Free Hug Sofa will console you. Nobody “liked” your new profile picture? Prepare to be hugged better! Yoga class canceled? Then fall into the arms of Free Hug Sofa and all of life’s problems will suddenly seem trivial.
Amos Dudley didn’t used to smile very much. For years he’d been self-conscious of his teeth and he avoided showing them as much as possible. But after deciding to use a 3D printer to make his own braces, He now most definitely has something to smile about.
Amos, a 23-year-old Digital Design Student at New Jersey Institute of Technology, came up with the idea while researching braces on the internet. Realizing that a lot of them looked like something he could print, the student set out to put his idea to the test.
After extensively researching how to formulate teeth realignment calculations, Amos eventually made 12 sets of braces. And as you can see from the pictures below, it looks like his crazy idea has worked. The whole project cost less than $60, which is considerably less than the thousands he would have had to spend on orthodontist costs. But despite his success, Amos doesn’t plan to make a career out of it.
“I think there’s too much liability,” he told CNN. “I’m not interested in orthodontics. It was more of a hacker project than making a business out of this.”
We are used to the boudoir photo shoots that feature women, but Canadian photographer Masika May wants to change the perspective. She offers you an playful pictures of “dudeoir” – and shows you a sensual side of the country.
The idea came from a previous commission – Masika took a series of intimate pictures of Brandon, who wanted those taken as a gift for his wife. Little did Masika expect that they would go viral! Apparently, many people appreciated the original change of the usual perspective. So the sequel was inevitable.
The photographer was asked by one of her friends to create the series of his own. But this time they went outside. The pictures show the model in a farm, featuring the best bits of it – and it safe even for those who have hay fever. That’s a breath of fresh air that we’ve all needed!
Haha, most things are better when you add dinosaurs!
Paraguay photographer Jorge Saenz uses classic perspective tricks to bring dinosaurs to life in his epic travel series #Dinodinaseries. His photos document the dinosaur tourists’ travels around South America, a journey that began with Dino the green Brachiosaurus in Bolivia.
Saenz bought Dino at a flee market in La Paz, Bolivia, and then posted a silly picture of him online. The photo was a surprise hit, so Saenz decided to give Dino some friends: “Dina the Stegosaurus, Spiny the Spinosaurus, and Brachy, a brown Brachiosaurus who also happens to be Dino’s girlfriend.”
Reading outdoors is a divine experience. Birds are chirping, the neighbor’s cat is lurking around…and the wind keeps flipping your pages. But fear no more, fellow bookworm, the Japanese are here to save the day with their transparent book weight called Book on Book.
Coming from Tokyo design studio TENT, the acrylic book weight is shaped like an open book (210mm × 185mm), 5 mm thick and weighs 220g. It would totally come in handy when outdoors. Or when you want to munch on those cookies with both hands without a care in the world. Or when you need to have your cookbook open (the book weight would also protect it from spills!).
Place the book weight on your book and voilà! Free your hands just for $34.99 on Amazon.
Did you know that “Loving Vincent” will be the world’s first feature length painted animation, with every shot painted with oil paints on canvas, just as Van Gogh himself painted? Directed by the classically trained Dorota Kobiela and based out of Poland, over 100 painters were needed to create the film’s 12 oil paintings per-second animation. According to IMDB, the film should be released sometime this year.
“Loving Vincent is an investigation delving into the life and controversial death of Vincent Van Gogh, one of the world’s most beloved painters, as told through his paintings and by the characters that inhabit them,” reads the film synopsis. “The intrigue unfolds through interviews with the characters closest to Vincent and through dramatic reconstructions of the events leading up to his death.”
I have never managed to kill two birds with one stone, but now at least I can do my laundry and exercise at the same time. The BiWa, or Bike Washing Machine, is a stationary bicycle designed by the students at China’s Dalian Nationalities University. Pedaling turns the drum and generates electricity to power the monitor; surplus electricity is stored for future use in the battery.
“Bike Washing Machine combines a stationary bicycle and washing machine, you can exercise while at the same time simultaneously washing your clothes,” states the design description on Tuvie. “When you ride this bike, the pedaling motion causes the drum of the washing machine to rotate, at the same time, the superfluous electricity is generated which can be used to power the display screen or stored for future use.”
For Kinfolk Magazine’s recent Adrenaline Issue, photographer Aaron Tilley and Director Kyle Bean were asked to recreate that awful moment when something terrible is just about to happen.
The project emphasizes the curious relationship between what the mind perceives and how the body reacts. The anticipation causes the body to release adrenaline, even if nothing actually happens, and it is believed that this reaction is closely connected to the fight-or-flight response that was so essential for the survival of our early ancestors.
Take a look below to see what they came up with. The pictures are designed to invoke a sense of anxiety and discomfort as we anticipate the sometimes disastrous event that’s just about to occur. Feeling slightly uncomfortable yet?
We all know that a Mother’s love has no boundaries and she will do everything and anything for her family and kids.
One Pinay Mompreneur, Rodessa Villanueva-Reyes shared her before-and-after DIY project on Facebook, and it gained over 1000k likes and over 100 comments from fellow parents.
Check out the photos below, and be inspired! Now you have a reason not to throw your cardboard boxes!
