How Engineers Will Make The Costa Concordia Float Once Again

Next week, Italians will finally say goodbye to the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship that has been sitting off the coast of Giglio Island for two and a half years.

Ladderlimb

One for the DIY fan, the award winning LadderLimb is a helpful ladder accessory that allows you to securely hang in place buckets...

Make Hand Music With Your Own Pair Of Imogen Heap's Gloves

Imogen Heap is one of those musicians who has long embraced tech, and now she's giving you a chance to get your hands on her musical gloves.

13 Of The Weirdest Computer Mice We've Ever Seen

Not too long ago, we dived into the world of unconventional, strange and often horrible computer pointing devices...

G-BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Boombox Speaker

Winner of “Speaker of the Year” from iLounge, ultimate Bluetooth Boombox pumps out powerful sound and full bass...

12 Most Awesome Hair Tattoos



Cutting hair with a specific pattern to produce an image has become more and more popular each day. This catchy trend is known as hair tattooing.















12 Most Amazing Buildings With 3d Façades



I'd love to play in a house filled with balloons, but this is not it. Artist Ciaran Brennan painted this house so that from the right angle, it looks like there are gaping holes with balloons pouring out of them.

Optical Illusion by Aakash Nihalani. Nihalani is an American artist based in Brooklyn who uses tapes in bright fluorescent colors to create real optical illusions based on geometric shapes.

A Toronto building.

This Tehran building mural is so well-executed that I had to take a moment to digest that it was a work of art and not some impossible, kooky architectural design. Located in Iran, this piece cleverly relies on an optical illusion that will have the residents doing double-takes.
Unfortunately, there is not much more information about the Tehran building mural besides where it resides. Check out the featured gallery to get a glimpse of this interesting artwork.

Building work is going on the corner of the Portland Street and Charlotte Street block in Manchester. Instead of scaffolding protected by plastic sheets, technological advances have led to giant photo montage reproductions of the actual building being renovated underneath.
Shop signs are then mounted on top, as we see here with the Ciao Bella and Ocean restaurants. This also goes around the corner where there is a giant advertisement hoarding the top of the mural, which is a shame.

This painting entitled “Original Sin” was created by SOKRAM for the DesOrdes Creatives Festival in Ordes, Spain. He effectively used the structures of the building like the doors and windows to create an illusion of depth in the painting.

At first glance, it looks like an earthquake destroyed the walls of this building. Amazingly, it's just an optical illusion - even the woman looking inside is fake.
The paintings, which have fooled many, were created by Californian-born artist John Pugh, who specializes in trompe l'oeil or "trick of the eye" art. He works on large scale murals in public and residential areas and his paintings can be seen all over the world from New Zealand to Hawaii, with many telling a story of the area where they are positioned.

Would you believe me if I told you that this fantastic portico doesn't really exist! It's “just” a mural, and what a mural, I must say! It was painted by an artist named Richard Haas on the facade of the Brotherhood building in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983. This mural is a real example of trompe l'oeil (“to deceive the eye”) or faux finishes, as some call them.

The building was designed by American muralist Richard John Haas in 1985. His murals have been commissioned as decoration for numerous public buildings in the United States. These include Chase Field, the Robert C. Byrd Federal Building & Courthouse in Beckley, West Virginia, the main branch of the New York Public Library, the Lakewood Public Library (Ohio), the Sarasota County, Florida Judicial Center and the former Board of Education building in Brooklyn, NY. One of his most renowned works, "Brooklyn Bridge," couples his artistic genius with his architectural background.

Trompe l'oeil is a visual illusion, often painted on the plain side of a building. You think what you are seeing is a three-dimensional scene. This example was photographed with a Pentax Optio S30 during June, 2005 on Roundstone Street, Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

In Lyon the walls tell stories, mostly very tall tales. While painting on walls is as old as time, the city has taken the art of modern urban wall painting to new heights with nearly 60 outdoor murals. Some are breathtaking flights of fancy; others are marvelous examples of trompe l'oeil, depictions of everyday life so realistic you could almost walk into them.

Interesting paintings on the facade of a house creating the illusion of windows with animals.


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10 Most Unusual Websites



ashleymadison.com: dating site for discreet encounters and extramarital affairs


A dating website is nothing new, but ashleymadison.com has one unique difference: it is marketed towards those already in a committed relationship. “Life is short, have an affair” is the site's slogan and its founder, Noel Biderman, is a happily married man. Although the site has drawn heavy criticism, no one can deny that the business venture is a huge success, receiving roughly 1,800,00 visitors per month.

afterlifetelegrams.com: sends your message to the afterlife


With the help of terminally ill volunteers, this website is sending telegrams to people who have passed away.
For a donation of $5.00 per word (5 word minimum), telegrams can be delivered to people who are already dead. This is done with the help of terminally ill volunteers who memorize the telegrams before passing away, and then deliver the telegrams after they have passed away. This is called an "afterlife telegram." The $5.00 per word fee, depending on the wishes of the messenger, is either given to a relative, donated to a charity or used to pay for medical bills. The company does not keep any of the fees from the sale of the telegrams.

sulabhtoiletmuseum.org: a virtual toilet museum


Who said that toilets are insignificant? Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of this website, believes so much in the crucial role of toilets in the history of mankind that he has been involved in a non-profit organization in the field of sanitation. From there, he had this idea of a museum that displays the evolution of toilets and their various designs. The actual museum is located in Sulabh, New Delhi, India. In case you can't go there, you can just browse this virtual museum.

cousincouples.com: provides support, resources, and info for cousin couples


Is the world forbidding your love affair with your dear cousin? You're not alone. In this website, cousin couples are provided support and factual information concerning cousin marriage. They believe that the combination of this special intimacy and romance often make for a strong, beautiful, intimate, loving and extraordinary relationship. Many of their participants have successful, legal marriages and long term relationships with their cousins despite society's obstacles.

alienabductions.com: provides you with an out of this world abduction service


If you are looking for the kind of experience that will rock your boring life, look no further! Alien Abductions Incorporated will provide you with a personalized, realistic memory of the alien abduction that you have been waiting for your entire life. Their team is composed of highly trained professionals including doctors, hypnotists, and memory implant technicians-- all to give you the time of your life.

snapbubbles.com- where you can pop bubbles online


Have you ever received a gift that came with bubble wrap and it was better than the gift itself? Yeah, snapping these bubbles is just addicting and you don't even know why. The saddest part is when you run out of bubbles to pop and you don't know how to go on with your life. Worry no more! A genius has already solved this problem. Now you can snap bubbles all day long!

positivesdating.com: dating site for HIV+


Giving up on love because of HIV? Think again. In this website, you can find people who share the same sentiment.
This site's HIV positive singles are united by common goals, like finding great matches, making new friends, forming romantic relationships, meeting life partners or even receiving helpful guidance and advice from others in the HIV+ community. You will find true, lasting love at PositivesDating.com.

despair.com: world's best demotivator


Words of motivation, encouragement, and inspiration-- you've heard it all before. To bash the motivation industry, here is Despair, Inc. Claiming that the motivation industry has been crushing dreams for decades by selling the easy lie of success, Despair decided to differentiate itself- by crushing dreams with hard truths!

Not mensa (mockery.org): a virtual society of idiots


If there is a society for the highly intellectual, then there is also a society for the stupid—Not mensa. The founder, John Smythe, got the idea when he was denied membership in an elitist club for intellectuals on the grounds that he was stupid. Rather than committing suicide, as many dejected and rejected people do, John used his disappointment fruitfully. He established a society for the hard of thought. To be a member of this prestigious group, just take their online IQ test. If you are stupid enough to qualify, you can apply for free membership. Remember, only the dumbest 5% of the population make it into this elitist club.

7billionworld.com: displays each person in the world on a single page


Just trust that 7,000,000,000 of us are displayed on that page and that nobody is missing because if you try to count, it would take more than 110 years to count them all (that's assuming you can count fast, at a speed of 2 people per second!).
The website claims that 7 billion people so beautifully displayed together on a single webpage is a visual testament of the human condition of every single one of us, and all of us together, on our planet earth. It is made available for everybody in the world to watch at any time, adding to the feeling of sharing something in common.

Top 5 Most Weird Biological Anomalies in Humans



There are a number of weird biological anomalies which humans suffer from. Simply defined, these anomalies can be termed as physical disorders or abnormalities. Every year a large number of people suffer from these biological abnormalities. The scientists and researchers have devoted their lives to understanding these variations that take place in human beings. Moreover, as you will read this list of the 5 most weird biological anomalies, you will come to learn that the diseases humans suffer from continue to get more and more weird. In fact, every year, medical science exposes a number of changes in human functioning about which there aren’t enough explanations present. Here is the list.
The Link between Human Behavior and the Sun

The researcher Alexander Chizhevsky is of the view that the solar activity has the power to cause a number of changes on the activities that take place on earth. In his view, each year a number of plane crashes and infestations on earth are caused by the Sun. Moreover, human beings are also influenced by the activity of the Sun. In terms of historical analysis, it has been hypothesized most of the civil wars and revolts took place in times of solar maximum.
The Nasal Cycle

This anomaly can be easily observed in more than 80 % of the people on earth. It involves the change or shift of breathing from one nostril to the next. Both of the nostrils we have function in a manner to provide a constant supply of air, humidification and some warmth to the whole body. A great deal of research is being made now in order to understand why humans come to have the nasal cycle, but still no plausible explanation is there that can account for the 80 % people who experience it.
Anesthesia Awakening

Surely, anesthesia is effective in influencing the consciousness in most of the people. In other words, through its administration most of the people lose consciousness. But there are some who are less susceptible to this effectuation and can remain awake under the action of this dose. These people are able to hear the conversations taking place around them and also experience more pain in comparison to the ones who are entirely unconscious. Yes, there are chances that a person might have remained awake all because the dose had not been given in a heavy quantity, but still there are those who remain awake regardless of the size of the dose administered. This form of awakening is indeed one of the most weird biological anomalies.
Magneto-Ception

It can be described as the sense in the animals to detect any forms of magnetic field in their surroundings. This awareness enables them in getting an idea about their direction and location in relation to other objects. There are also a number of other definitions that are present for the explanation of this special sense in animals. In case of humans, some scientists are of the view that it may be possible. Moreover, some magnetic bones have been traced in the human nose. But whether we are aware of the magnetic fields or not remains a big question.
Sexual Variations and Drives

Now here we have a really bizarre and truly weird behavior in humans. Being humans we do experience sexual drives and desires, but some people are always under the influence of these drives much more than the usual. Science has failed to offer some rational explanations about why people come to develop weird sexual drives and motives. In the domain of psychiatry, this anomaly has been named as Paraphilia. It remains one of the most weird biological anomalies known to man.



5 Most Habitable Super Earths Discovered by Researchers



The term "super-Earth" refers to an extrasolar planet with a mass higher than Earth's, but substantially below the mass of the Solar System's smaller gas giants Uranus and Neptune, which are both more or less 15 Earth masses. Further on you will see five of the most habitable super-Earths discovered by researchers.

Gliese 163 c


Gliese 163 c is a potentially habitable exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 163. The parent star is 15.0 parsecs (approximately 49 light-years) from the Sun, in the constellation Dorado. Gliese 163 c is one of three planets discovered in the system. With a mass at least 6.9 times that of the Earth, it is classified as a super-Earth (a planet of roughly 1 to 10 Earth masses).

Tau Ceti e


Tau Ceti e is an unconfirmed planet that may be orbiting the nearby Sun-like star Tau Ceti at 11.905 light years of the Sun. It's the fourth planet of the system in distance to its star. It is notable due to its predicted habitability and Earth-like properties, with an Earth Similarity Index of 0.77 and an orbit that places it on the hot inner edge of Tau Ceti's habitable zone. Though assuming it is a terrestrial planet like Earth, it would likely be 1.8 times larger in size than the Earth.

Gliese 581 d


Gliese 581 is a proposed extrasolar planet orbiting the star Gliese 581 approximately 20 light-years away in the constellation of Libra. It was the third planet claimed in the system and (assuming a six-planet model) the fifth in order from the star.

Though not confirmed to be a terrestrial planet and significantly more massive than Earth (at 3.1 Earth masses), the Super-Earth is the first exoplanet of terrestrial mass proposed to orbit within the habitable zone of its parent star. Assuming its existence, computer climate simulations have confirmed the possibility of the existence of surface water and these factors combine to a relatively high measure of planetary habitability. It would have an Earth Similarity Index of 0.74.

Gliese 581 c


Gliese 581 c is a planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581. It is the second planet discovered in the system and the third in order from the star. With a mass at least 5.6 times that of the Earth, it is classified as a super-Earth. Gliese 581 c initially generated interest because it was originally reported to be the first potentially Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of its star, with a temperature right for liquid water on its surface, and by extension, potentially capable of supporting extremophile forms of Earth-like life.

In astronomical terms, the Gliese 581 system is relatively close to Earth, at 20.3 light years (192 trillion km or 119 trillion miles) in the direction of the constellation of Libra. This distance, along with the declination and right ascension coordinates, give its exact location in our galaxy. It is identified as Gliese 581 by its number in the Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars; it is the 89th closest known star system to the Sun.

Gliese 581 g


Gliese 581 g is an extrasolar planet claimed to orbit the red dwarf star Gliese 581, 22 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Libra. Gliese 581 g has attracted attention because it is near the middle of the habitable zone of its parent star. That means it could sustain liquid water on its surface and could potentially host life similar to that on Earth.

If it is a rocky planet, favorable atmospheric conditions could permit the presence of liquid water, a necessity for all known life, on its surface. With a mass 3.1 to 4.3 times Earth's, Gliese 581 g is considered a super-Earth and is the planet closest in size to Earth known in a habitable zone. This makes it the most Earth-like Goldilocks planet found outside the Solar System and the exoplanet with the greatest recognized potential for harboring life. The supposed detection of Gliese 581 g after such a short period of searching and at such close proximity has led some astronomers to hypothesize that the proportion of stars with habitable planets may be greater than ten percent.