Living Rocks

Pyura chilensis are non-moving, sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders that are also known as sea squirts. These sea creatures live on the rocky coast of Chile and Peru and they are fished commercially for the locals eat them raw or cooked with salad and rice because apparently they’re very delicious.

Stir From Your Roots

The Poplar

by

Edward Godfree Aldington

Why do you always stand there shivering

Between the white stream and the road?

The people pass through the dust

On bicycles, in carts, in motor-cars;

The waggoners go by at down;

The lovers walk on the grass path at night.

Stir from your roots, walk, poplar!

You are more beautiful than they are.

I know that the white wind loves you,

Is always kissing you and turning up

The white lining of your green petticoat.

The sky darts through you like blue rain,

And the grey rain drips on your flanks

And loves you.

And I have seen the moon

Slip his silver penny into your pocket

As you straightened your hair;

And the white mist curling and hesitating

Like a bashful lover about your knees.

I know you, poplar;

I have watched you since I was ten.

But if you had a little real love,

A little strength,

You would leave your nonchalant idle lovers

And go walking down the white road

Behind the waggoners.

There are beautiful beeches down beyond the hill.

Will you always stand there shivering?

TouchPico

TouchPico from TouchJet introduces a new and useful twist to the handheld projectors by turning any flat surface to an interactive screen. The crowdfunding campaign for this brilliant little gadget has launched on Indiegogo yesterday and has already raised over 70% of their goal.

The Secret Of The Sea

The Secret of the Sea

by

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me

As I gaze upon the sea!

All the old romantic legends,

All my dreams, come back to me.

Sails of silk and ropes of sandal,

Such as gleam in ancient lore;

And the singing of the sailors,

And the answer from the shore!

Most of all, the Spanish ballad

Haunts me oft, and tarries long,

Of the noble Count Arnaldos

And the sailor's mystic song.

Like the long waves on a sea-beach,

Where the sand as silver shines,

With a soft, monotonous cadence,

Flow its unrhymed lyric lines:—

Telling how the Count Arnaldos,

With his hawk upon his hand,

Saw a fair and stately galley,

Steering onward to the land;—

How he heard the ancient helmsman

Chant a song so wild and clear,

That the sailing sea-bird slowly

Poised upon the mast to hear,

Till his soul was full of longing,

And he cried, with impulse strong,—

“Helmsman! for the love of heaven,

Teach me, too, that wondrous song!”

“Wouldst thou,”—so the helmsman answered,

“Learn the secret of the sea?

Only those who brave its dangers

Comprehend its mystery!”

In each sail that skims the horizon,

In each landward-blowing breeze,

I behold that stately galley,

Hear those mournful melodies;

Till my soul is full of longing

For the secret of the sea,

And the heart of the great ocean

Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

Hear Colors Taste Words

Synesthesia is a condition that can cause senses to overlap in a way that some people can taste words or hear colors. Wassily Kandinsky was one of the earliest documented people to experience this phenomenon. 

Forever Young

Age truly is a number and when it comes to having fun sometimes seniors outdo most youngens. Members of Senior Living Communities have created a calendar that is sure to put a huge smile on your face or better yet have you burst out laughing. Be sure to visit their website and order a copy of their Iconic Pop Culture Calendar.

A Year In A Day

Not only Venus has a clockwise rotation contrary to all other planets in our Solar System but a Venusian sidereal day thus lasts longer than a Venusian year (243 versus 224.7 Earth days). 

Please don't tell me I'm the last one on earth to find that out...

Perhaps They Are Not Stars

 "Perhaps they are not stars,

but rather openings in heaven

where the love of our lost ones

pours through and shines down upon us

to let us know they're happy."

- Eskimo Proverb

For Sophia

R.I.P.

Torggler Door

Austrian designer Klemens Torggler's Evolution Doors are elegantly dancing works of art with their origami looks and smooth moves folding over doorways. The no-hinge no-knob design makes it easy to open and close doors with one finger. This door is the ultimate cure to slamming doors!

Vantablack Is The New Black

Vantablack is a new material developed by the British company Surrey NanoSystems using carbon nanotubes grown in aluminum foil. Since this material absorbs 99.96 % of visible light, it has applications in calibrating astronomical cameras and telescopes as well as infrared scanning systems to greatly improve readings.

The Coandă Effect

Coandă effect is the tendency of a fluid jet to be attracted to a nearby surface, named after Romanian aerodynamics pioneer Henri Coandă, who was the first person to use this principle in the Coandă-1910 aircraft he designed. Today this principle finds wider application in VTOL UAV type aircrafts.