Living, Growing Architecture

Fascinating Living, Growing Architecture

Still-living plants can themselves be shaped into bridges, tables, ladders, chairs, sculptures - even buildings. Known variously as botanical architecture, tree sculpture, tree-shaping, tree-grafting, pooktre, arborsculpture, and arbortecture, the craft is, essentially, construction with living plants.

Includes pictures from the root bridges of India to living islands!

1. Root Bridges of India 

In the depths of northeastern India, in one of the wettest places on earth, bridges aren't built -- they're grown.

(images credit: Vanlal Tochhawng)

10 Fascinating Facts About Color

It’s in everything we touch, taste, smell, and feel. It evokes emotion without asking for prior thought. It can be the focus of our careers, the way we live, the choices we make, and the fun we have. We are all familiar with color and its basic concepts, but did you know…



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Men and women see the color red very differently

While those of us who are estrogen producers tend to see maroon, cardinal, and crimson, men typically just see red. No varying tones, hues, or shades–just color-crayon, fire engine red. The explanation is actually quite simple and all falls back on basic DNA. Researchers from Arizona State University found that there’s a specific gene that allows us to see and interpret the color red. Women have two X chromosomes, while men only possess one. Because the particular “red-seeing gene” sits on the X chromosome, it only makes sense that women would have a full understanding of the red spectrum, while our counterparts only have half the pieces to the racy red puzzle. Therefore, ladies, if you’re one of those gals who just cannot make a decision when picking out a shade of lipstick, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. It’s really of very little importance.

Top 10 Fascinating Globsters and Sea Carcasses

Next time you are walking on the beach, there is a possibility, albeit a small one, that you may come across a hideous, stinking mass of life coughed up from the grimiest depths of the ocean floor: in other words, a globster. For those who don’t know, a globster is an unidentified organic mass that is washed up on the shoreline of a body of water. Many fascinating, albeit slimy, globster (and other sea carcass) cases have been documented over the years, all united by the stimulating sense of mystery surrounding them. Science has explained away many historical cases; however some remain enigmatic to this day. Listed below are some of most notable recorded discoveries of both globsters and other interesting sea carcasses.

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Tasmanian Sea Monster

Discovered in August, 1960

The Tasmanian Sea Monster (otherwise known as the ‘Tasmanian Blob’) was washed ashore on a beach in (have a guess) Tasmania. The mysterious dead organism, despite having no identifiable bone structure, was originally believed to be a new species of mammal. Attempts to scientifically explain away such claims were initially unsuccessful. The creature lacked eyes, a visible mouth and was covered in stiff white hairs, though given the colossal size (over 20ft in length) it was hypothesized that the creature was a badly decomposed whale. Media outlets quickly latched onto the mystery of the case, given the initially reasonable claim that the Tasmanian Blob was a cryptic. The true identity of the globster remained a mystery until 1981, when scientific analysis of collagen fibers confirmed the creature to be a whale.

30 Fascinating Cigarette Smoking Facts

The world’s view on smoking cigarettes has changed dramatically over the last century. The habit was once considered to be cool, sexy, good for your health, and widely enjoyed by many people. It was promoted by sportsmen, and advertised all over television. No one could be seen acting in a movie without a lit cigarette in their hand! Today, smoking is considered to be a nasty addictive habit that can kill you and those around you. You would not find them advertised anywhere – nor will you see anyone smoking inside a public building. It seems that these days smokers are considered to be anti-social and are often frowned at if seen smoking outside in crowded places. So, here we bring you the list of 30 interesting facts about cigarettes and cigaret smoking. Take a look...

Top 10 Fascinating Samurai

The samurai were the great warriors of Feudal Japan who were respected and feared for their gracefulness in peace and brutality in war. Dignified by the strict code of honor that bound them, the samurai were more than ready to give their own life than suffer a harsh existence of dishonor. In the few hundred years that they existed as Japan’s most dominating warriors, they filled the pages of history with their heroic tales, and for a select few who cast a shadow upon all of Japan, they generated a legend larger than any one man could ever hope to attain. People still marvel centuries after the height of their reign at the innovations in warfare and politics that were born from the minds and hearts of a class of warriors like none other.

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Tomoe Gozen

As the only female on this list, Tomoe is one of the very few women who took the battlefield alongside her male counterparts though her exploits and history still are uncertain.

In The Tale of Heike, Tomoe is described as a woman of exquisite beauty with fair skin and long black hair and as an excellent archer and swords woman who was “ready to confront a demon or a god.”

Serving under Minamoto Yoshinaka, Tomoe was one of his finest soldiers, and her skills in battle dwarfed many of those held by even the strongest men in her unit. She is believed to have fought and survived through the Genpei War, the first major war between samurai clans and a place of origin for many popular attributes that would become associated with the samurai warrior over the years. It was here at the battle of Awazu where Tomoe even took the head of a rival samurai, an incredible honor for any samurai who defeated an opposing warrior in combat.

After the battle, Tomoe was said to have retired from being a warrior, instead taking up an occupation as a nun, though it is also said that she became the wife of a samurai named Wada Yoshimori who she supposedly pledged her devotion after being defeated by him in battle.