Yesterday, the winners of the fifth annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition were finally announced—and man oh man, are they stunning. Over 1,200 amateurs and pros submitted shots, ranging from stunning aurora borealis images to a panorama taken by a ten-year-old whiz kid.
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Some of the most dramatic landscapes in America are the hardest to actually experience—whether thanks to hordes of tourists or time limits, visiting a natural wonder can feel like a cattle call. That’s why Reuben Wu, the Chicago-based photographer, chooses to go in the dead of night.
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Eating at home is a joy for many reasons—not least of which that pants are not required for entry—but if you’re going to go out (and you have the cashola), why not make it an evening to remember at a place that’s as well-designed as it is delicious? Like, say, one of the winner’s of this year’s independent Restaurant and Bar Design Awards.
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After an incredible 19-hour salvage effort, the crippled Costa Concordia cruise liner was successfully pulled upright from its side in the waters off Tuscany yesterday in a make-or-break engineering attempt that had never before been tried in such conditions. Here’s a much, much closer look.
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Is it possible to distill the character of a city into a single, striking logo? In some ways it seems crass to (re)brand a place, reducing the complexity of a locale into to what is, essentially, a marketing campaign. Done well, however, the efforts can unite locals and lure leisure travelers, who bring with them a major financial boon (check out the World Bank’s map of international tourist dollars from the past four years—there’s a lot of cash involved). But have we reached peak branding?
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Between the 1930s and 1970s, billions of dollars were spent to build early-warning systems—often in the most remote parts of the world. But by the late 1980s, most of these sites had been abruptly shuttered—made increasingly obsolete by the emergence of satellite communications. Yet the hulking shells, discs, and towers often still remain.
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By now you’ve no doubt already shed a tear for Spacetoad, who met his fiery, glorious end
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As Airbnb has expanded, it’s come under fire from ornery landlords and wary neighbors—being blamed, in at least one case, for driving up citywide rent prices. But at the same time, Airbnb gives us access to an unprecedented number of otherwise inaccessible buildings. For example: Right now on Airbnb, you can stay overnight in a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and a home designed by his son, Lloyd Wright.
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Be it in an ad, article, or product announcement, there’s a good chance that—at some point—your eyes have darted over the discomforting image of a person gaily laughing and emphatically gesturing towards the cold, vacuous oblivion of a blank TV screen. And you probably didn’t even notice it! But once you do, things start looking bleak—and fast.
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Technically speaking, the smart facade—or building envelope that adapts to environmental conditions—dates back to the first window. But the contemporary idea of the smart facade has only been around for a few short decades, helped along by recent advances in chemical and material science. And over the past three years, we’ve seen the category boom.
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
