Singing Ringing Tree

The Singing Ringing Tree
Atop a barren hilltop in Lancashire,
England, stands this most unusual
musical sculpture. Designed by
architects Mike Tonkin and Anna
Liu, the “tree” is comprised of a
series of pipes, cut and stacked in a
spiral fashion. When the wind is
blowing (and when isn't the wind
blowing in England?!) a
mesmerizing tone echoes through
the hillside, like a lost sound effect
from a Pink Floyd album

Puzzle 1503

All shapes are exactly same in size in the pic above and below, so where did this void come from????

Dubai 2014 firework display breaks world record: Guinness

DUBAI: Dubai shattered the world record for the largest ever pyrotechnic display on New Year’s Eve with a show involving more than half a million fireworks, Guinness World Records said Wednesday.

“Ten months in planning, over 500,000 fireworks were used during the  display which lasted around six minutes, with Guinness World Records  adjudicators on hand to confirm that a new record had been set,” the Guinness  website said.

The display spanned 94 kilometres (58.4 miles) of the Dubai coast, which  boasts an archipelago of man-made islands and Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest  tower, Guinness said.

Enough fireworks were launched in the first minute of the display to break  the previous record, set by Kuwait in 2011 with an hour-long show of 77,282  fireworks.

The main displays took place at Burj Khalifa and the luxurious Atlantis  hotel located in Palm Jumeirah, one of three palm-shaped islands.

US firm Fireworks by Grucci designed the display, Guinness said, using 100  computers and 200 technicians to synchronise the pyrotechnics at a reported  cost of around $6 million (4.3 million euros).

Dubai boasts the world’s tallest tower, its largest man-made island and one  of the world’s busiest airports. 

It set its latest record in May last year with Dubai, Princess Tower,  recorded by Guinness as the world’s tallest residential building.

Dubai has been vying to become a permanent fixture on the world map of New  Year celebrations, staging spectacular shows since the opening of the 828-metre  (2,716-foot) Burj Khalifa tower in 2010. AFP

Fireworks explode from the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, in Dubai on January 1, 2014 to celebrate the new year. Dubai kicked off New Year with a dazzling bid for a new world record to cap those the Gulf city state already holds for its mammoth property developments. The glittering fireworks display that lasted around six minutes spanned over 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the Dubai coast, which boasts an archipelago of man-made islands and Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower. 

Huge Basket Headquarters

A basket company called Longaberger in Newark, US, looks like this!The Longaberger corporate headquarters on State Route 16 is a local landmark and a well-known example of novelty architecture, since it takes the shape of their biggest seller, the "Medium Market Basket". The seven story, 180,000 square foot building opened in 1997. The basket handles weigh almost 150 tons and can be heated during cold weather to prevent ice damage.

Most beautiful Piano House -China

The Piano House located in Huainan City, An Hui Province, China. It contains a transparent violin and a piano building. Inside the violin, there is staircase toward the piano house upstairs.
This building built for music lovers acts as a performance and practicing place to music students from the local college in Huainan City, east China. It also displays various city plans and development prospects in an effort to draw interest into the recently developed area.

The Piano House is in Huainan, Anhui province, China. It serves as the local urban planning exhibition hall for the developing region, and is a tourist attraction in its own right.

This architectural innovation makes a pretty cool house, but one with little privacy given the unique appeal. People just have to see this cool house and amazing architecture. There is an escalator inside the glass cello entrance that takes one up to the main part of the house – the piano itself. However, this is not a private house, so its public appeal is very much a purposeful attempt to draw attention. The building displays various city plans and development prospects in an effort to draw interest into the recently developed area.

Com-Bat-Solar powered spy bat

Check out this crazy gadget, a solar powered spy bat called the Com-Bat 

This crazy spy gadget is being developed by the US Army and the University Of Michigan College Of Engineering.

This 6″ robotic spy plane, also known as COM-BAT, uses a low-power miniaturized radar and a very sensitive navigation system to help it find its way through the dark – just like how a bat does. It’s small size translates to limited battery power, but its beauty lies in the fact that it scavenges energy from solar, wind, vibration and other sources to help keep its battery juiced up. Being able to run indefinitely (if all conditions are met) makes this a formidable tool to provide significant and sustained information that could help turn the tide of the battle in war.

The US Army have already provided the University Of Michigan College Of Engineering with a $10 million grant to get this crazy gadget off the ground.

Electree-Solar bonsai tree

French designer Vivien Muller is the man behind this incredible concept. The Electree is a solar bonsai tree which was inspired by the tree’s ability to photosynthesise form sun. The concept took three years to reach the point where it is now. It is a perfect combination of aesthetics, ecology and functionality.

This Electree consists of 27 amorphous silicon solar panels which captures sunlight more efficiently. The Electree has been divided into different modules which rotate freely to create various shapes with the bonsai tree.


The solar panels receive the solar energy , convert it and then store it in a 13,500 mAh battery in the base of the bonsai tree. The battery can be fully charged in less than 36 hours which then can be used to charge various portable devices like MP3 players, cell phones, tablets, etc. through USB connection. The Electree is designed to place indoors near windows to get most of the sunlight possible.



Some specifications of the Bonsai Electree are:

Solar Panels: 27 (96mm x 96mm) silicon solar panels
Electree Size: 40cm high
Battery Capacity: 13,500 mAh
Electrical Output: USB + AC plug