-
This is the clearest lake in the world. And a very fine lake it is. Klaus Thymann captured this and other stunning photos of New Zealand’s Blue Lake, 95% as clear as distilled water. Its source is filtered by mountain rocks and it’s above the treeline, so it misses out on most runoff.
Via The Guardian
-
Ruined Childhood of the Day: Child Hoping to Meet Iron Man Crushed When Robert Downey Jr. Arrives
Here’s a photo of 18-month-old boy Jaxson Denno from Sunderland, Massachusetts, bawling in utter disappointment after his hope to meet The Iron Man was instantly crushed by the arrival of plain-clothed Robert Downey Jr., the 48-year-old Hollywood actor who stars in the film adaptations as the superhero’s alter ego Tony Stark. Hat tip goes to Gawker!
-
war kills people from the inside out sometimes
“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.”
(via wilwheaton)
-
Bergen from Mt. Ulriken | Norway » by Arne Halvorsen » via travelingcolors:
-
Digital artist Adam Martinakis (previously) was born Poland in 1972 and currently lives and works in in Cannock, UK. His computer-generated artworks employ aspects of photorealism and surrealism to explore the human condition which he says results in a “mixture of post-fantasy futurism and abstract symbolism”. Above are a handful of works from the last year or so, several of which were on view at The Lloyd Gill Gallery through last week as part of a group show titled Metaphysical Objectivity in Comparison to Realism. You can see much more here.
Via Colossal
-
‘The City’ by Madeon is my new jam.
-
-
"
Follow your own curiosity and say the most interesting stuff first. There is this weird idea of a “general reader,” who reads the New York Times and is equally interested in about 200 things (politics, peace in the middle east, pie, &c). I don’t think such people exist. And if they do, they are too busy reading the New York Times to read whatever you’re writing.
So forget that hypothetical reader and write about the things that are most interesting to you. Then, make it your mission to explain to readers why they should care about this thing you find interesting.
At the base of it, I guess I don’t believe in other people’s hierarchies about what’s important in the world. … And — this is one reason I love the web — all the analytics I’ve ever seen on my stories indicate that my own interest level and effort dictate what does well, *not* the subject matter.
"“Forget your generalized audience,” John Steinbeck advised in his six timeless tips on writing, and The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal echoes him with even more depth and dimension in his own advice on writing.
Pair with famous writers’ collected wisdom on the craft.
(via explore-blog)
(Source: , via explore-blog)
-
-
The Jewel Caterpillar
This bizzarely gelatinous, semi-translucent little creature is sometimes referred to as the “jewel caterpillar”, but it’s actually the larvae of a fuzzy orange moth called Acraga coa. This moth is native to Central and South America and belongs to a family known as Dalceridae. There are at least 84 different species of moths in this family, and all of their larvae are so gooey that they’re often nicknamed “slug caterpillars.” At the moment it’s unclear as to why they’re so strangely and conspicuously coloured—biologist Daniel Janzen at the University of Pennsylvania has raised Dalceridae in captivity and reports that the bright, conscpicuous larvae actually spend a lot of their time hanging out on the tops of leaves in full view, like they don’t fear birds at all. Some caterpillars use colour to indicate their toxicity and therefore warn predators away, but there’s no evidence that the Dalceridae caterpillars are poisonous at all. But they do appear to have one defense mechanism: their gooey, gumdrop-like spines break off easily, just like some lizard’s tails break off upon a predator’s touch. So, perhaps this allows the caterpillars a chance to get away from predators. In an attempt to study this function, insect biosystematist Marc Epstein placed Dalcerides ingenita larvae in the same environment as several ants, which would usually devour caterpillars, but these ants backed right away. The ones that tried to attack became stuck in the larvae’s jelly-like body, so the caterpillars seem to repel predators simply by being sticky and uncomfortable. “Jewel caterpillar” is a pretty fitting nickname, then—look all you want, but don’t touch.
-
"Women are afraid of meeting a serial killer. Men are afraid of meeting someone fat."
When Strangers Click, a 2011 documentary about online dating.
It reminds me of that famous Margaret Atwood quote: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”
(Source: tealeafprincess, via thingsilikemorethanpeople)
-
"It isn’t necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice—there are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia. When you compute the length of time between The Event and The Nostalgia For The Event, the span seems to be about a year less in each cycle. Eventually within the next quarter of a century, the nostalgia cycles will be so close together that people will not be able to take a step without being nostalgic for the one they just took. At that point, everything stops. Death by Nostalgia."
Frank Zappa, predicting the future as usual. (via indreamsandbydreams)
(via electrichoney)
-
Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip: A Delivery Company Smuggles KFC from Egypt via Underground Tunnels
A courier business based in Gaza is apparently offering an ambitious service to deliver smuggled orders of Kentucky Friend Chicken from Egypt via underground tunnels. According to the company’s ads on Facebook, Gazans can get a taste of the “finger-lickin good” stuff for 100 shekels ($30 USD, triple the usual price) within 3 hours of placing the order. Fried chicken is only the latest addition to a long list of supplies and products that are being transported through the network of tunnels, which serves as a vital lifeline between Egypt and the Hamas-controlled region that is currently under an Israeli blockade.
-
“I wanted to show a part of the Megalopolis that struck me, that showed very clearly that something is not working well for us as human beings in relation with our environment.” -Héctor Mediavilla
A glimpse of Mexico City’s subway as seen through the lens of photographer Héctor Mediavilla.
Known as one of the worst cities in the world in which to drive, Mexico City’s rush hours aren’t much better underground with a subway system that generates around 4 million riders a day.
Read: Inside Mexico City’s Chaotic Underground Rush Hour
[Images: Héctor Mediavilla]
(via theatlantic)
-
‘New Lover’ by Josh Ritter is my new jam.
