BlooperMan

Thursday, 11 December 2014

A 21st Century Cooler That Is So Cool (10 pics)

“The Coolest” is a design by Ryan Grepper who has posted the project on Kickstarter in order to generate funding. In 45 days, the cooler has already been backed by 25,000 people and raised $5 million. The cooler will sell for $165 and is fitted with speakers, a USB charger a blender and LED lights amongst other things.

Built-in blender.

USB chargers.

Waterproof bluetooth speaker.

Tie-down straps.

LED lighting.

Beach tires.

Built-in storage.

Friends not included.

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

World's 10 Most Mysterious Pictures Ever Taken

In almost 200 years of photography, a few unique and occasionally mind-boggling photos have been captured.

1. The Martian spherules - September 13, 2012

In 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had already detected curious blueberry-shaped microscopic formations in the martian soil...

... but a much stranger picture was taken by Opportunity at the end of 2012, depicting bigger spherules in larger numbers.

Suggested to be made of hematite - a possible sign of the past presence of water... scientists are still uncertain of what these things might be.

2. Hook Island sea monster - December 12, 1964

This is a well-known picture that many people nowadays assume to be a computer job. But not many know that this large unknown marine animal is in fact a classic photograph taken by Robert Le Serrec in 1965 and widely discussed among zoologists.

3. Black Knight satellite - December 11, 1998

This photography is one of several observations made by some of the first man-made satellites in 1960 reporting unidentified objects in polar orbit, something that neigher the US nor Russian were capable of at the time.

Since then, the "Black Knight" was said to disappear and reappear at regular intervals like in these pictures taken in 1998 by NASA's STS-88 mission. Zooming in provides greater detail on the structure of this strange object but it has yet to be identified as a known piece of man-made debris.

Mysterious unidentified flying satellite, STS088-724-66, NASA.

4. The Babushka Lady - November 22, 1963

22nd November 1963. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, is assassinated by a gunman in Dallas, Texas. During the analysis of the film footage, a mysterious woman was spotted....

She was wearing a brown overcoat and a scarf on her head - the source of her nickname.

She can be seen in many shots holding a camera and carefully filming the scene...

The FBI searched for this woman for a long time but could never discover her identity.

5. Charlie Chaplin Movie's Cell Phone - January 6, 1928

In the DVD extras of Chaplin's "The Circus", people were given access to a short film and photos of the movie's premiere in 1928.... in which appears a person seemingly talking on a cellphone.

Filmmaker George Clarke recently claimed this was proof of time travelers, and the story captivated the internet. Some raised the prospect that this person was actually using an ear trumpet but this does not explain why the woman appears to be laughing and talking into the device.

6. The Hessdalen Lights - September 20, 2007

In 2007, a group of teachers, students and scientists established a science camp in Norway to study the phenomenon known as the Hessdalen Lights. On a clear night, Bjørn G. Hauge managed to take this picture using an exposure time of 30 seconds...

The analysis of the spectrum reveals the object to be made of silicium, iron, titan and scandium. Despite being the most informative, this photo isn't the only one that has been taken of the phenomenon....

But the Lights still have scientists scratching their heads over what exactly is happening in the Hessdalen Valley.

7. The Unknown Rebel - June 5, 1989

June 5, 1989. One day after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protests in Beijing. Pictures are taken of Chang'an Avenue where a column of tanks is blocked by a man pretesting alone in front of the armored vehicles....

Below is a raw footage of this event

Who was the Tank Man and what happened to him remains a mystery bu the photography immediately became very famous and the mystery man became a powerful symbol of non-violent resistance throughout the world.

8. Solway Firth Spaceman - May 23, 1964

In 1964, Jim Templeton was on a day trip to Burgh Marsh with his daughter and wife. Alone in the marsh, he decided to take some photos of his daughter.

When the pictures were developed, he noticed one with a mysterious figure appearing in the background...

He complained to the film manufacturer Kodak but analysis confirmed that nothing unusual was done to the film. There is no explanation to this picture so far.

9. Goddard's squadron photography - Taken in 1919 (published in 1975)

This photo is a group portrait of Goddard's squadron, which had served in World War I at the HMS Daedalus training facility.

At the top of the photo, an intriguing detail... A face appearing behind one of the officers, recognized by ex-members of the squadron to be an air mechanic named Freddy Jackson who was accidentally killed two days earlier by an airplane propeller. His funeral had actually taken place on the day the photo was snapped.

10. Geophone Rock anomaly - December 11, 1972

There is nothing wrong with this image, "do not attempt to adjust the picture". AS17-136-20680 is the reference number of a photo taken by Apollo 17 near the Geophone Rock, during the last flight to the Moon and listed as a "blank" in the Apollo 17 photographic index.

The photo certainly suffers from extreme light exposure and noise issues. But it's in fact not completely blank, as adjusting the contrast reveals pyramid-like structures..

The Most Inspiring Nature Photography of the Year

National Geographic's yearly contest offers some of the best that nature photography has to offer. All images and captions via National Geographic 2013 photo contest.

Orta Lake Storm Chasing, Riccardo Criseo
"I have spent the entire summer chasing thunderstorms all around Italy. I usually stand in front of the camera, to modify the parameters according to lighting's distance and intensity. This time I was in a very dangerous situation, I was completely surrounded by lightning strikes, so I chose to leave the camera on the tripod shooting in automatic mode. I spent about 15 minutes on the ground, as far as I could from any conducting material, and I protected my eyes and my ears hoping for the best. When I finally looked to the pictures I was very impressed by the size and intensity of the storm."

Mara, Majed al Zaabi
"We just wanted to search for a Leopard that morning, but we found a group of giraffes moving toward a small lake and start drinking. It was a nice moment when the Giraffe finished and left a letter "S" shape in the air."

Sky Swimmer, Vincent Truchet
"After looking for a green sea turtle nest for a long time, I found one. I was staying in the water close to the beach, and many turtles came in the sea, trying to go the ocean. One of them came straight toward me and I put my camera lens just below the surface."

Where the Buffalo Roam, Glen Hush
"I had been in Teton National Park for 5 days and hadn't yet seen the tops of the Teton Range due to non stop storm systems moving through. October can be like that in this majestic part of America. Large herds of bison roam free in this park as well as in Yellowstone, just to the north. It is an awe inspiring sight indeed. After taking pictures of this herd, I felt that I had been "shut out" as the mountain peaks had still not been revealed to me. It wasn't until I looked at the pictures on my computer that I realized that in a few frames, the peaks had been revealed. What a great surprise."

Baby Whale, Gaby Barathieu
"A baby humpback whale seen near Reunion island."

Anemone fish with tongue parasite, Peter Allinson
"Rare photo of a tongue parasite in an Anemone fish, taken in Komodo, Indonesia."

Long Penguin, Max Seigal
"A long penguin standing in the surf on South Georgia Island."

Deer Calling, Prashant Meswani
"Taken early morning while at Richmond Park, London, in Late October."

Shake It, Robert Pfaffenbauer
"A brown bear shaking off its wet fur in Kamchatka, Russia."

Brown Bear Cubs, Graham Erik Mandre
"The picture is captured using a special hide placed to the primeval forest in Finland. High trees offer protection to the brown bear cubs being vitally important to survive from all the dangers around them. Bear cubs are threatened especially by the other male bears, who might attack and take their lives without any doubt. Thus, fast climbing on trees is one of the most important skills for bear cubs in order to survive and they are always ready for it."

Eastern Screech Owls, Graham McGeorge
"Eastern Screech Owls like to take over woodpecker nests that have been dug out over the years in pine trees, which are the main species of tree at this swamp. Fish and wildlife also paint a white ring around the base of a tree that has active nests in order to avoid when conducting controlled burns. Screech owls can range in height anywhere from 8-10 inches, so you have to have a sharp eye to find these little birds of prey. I spent the first few weeks of April this year photographing the grey morph screech owl that was living in the nest and had no idea there were three owlets inside."

Hummingbird, Scott Bechtel
"While photographing hummingbirds in British Columbia I shot this male Rufous just as he fanned out to show his authority when another male Rufous appeared over my head."

Morning train, Teruo Araya
"Taken at Mishima town in Fukushima pref. The first train goes across the railway bridge through in morning mist. The train moves forward little by little, slowly."

Ripples on Carezza Lake, Antonio Chiumenti
"Carezza Lake is a pearl of the Dolomiti. Nestled between an ancient forest of grand firs and the Latemar Mountain is a place of legends and beauty. A nymph lives under its emerald waters. I threw a little stone in the water to add a little mystery to the scene."