For the last 8 years, Hugo Cornellier has taken a selfie every single day. Now 20, Hugo has dutifully snapped a pic since he was 12 and compiled the results into this fascinating two minute timelapse.

 

 

 

So cool to see a baby problem solving like this. His dad must have been so proud filming it!

 

 

 

The BBC recently released a jaw-dropping video of a super-charged volcanic ash cloud being sparked by lightning. The incredible scene was captured in Chile’s Patagonia region.

According to the BBC the phenomenon is known as a ‘dirty thunderstorm‘. The article explains:

In a normal thunderstorm ice crystals collide and generate electric charges, which results in lightning. In an eruption cloud ash particles collide instead of ice crystals. [source]

 

Visit BBC to learn more about the secrets of Patagonia’s rare and violent volcanoes.

 

 

 

According to the ASPCA, approximately 1.2 million dogs are euthanized in the United States each year. Sadly, pit bulls make up a notable percentage of them due to their unfair reputation as a scary and dangerous breed.

Photographer Sophie Gamund wants to change that perception in an ongoing series entitled, Flower Power: Pit Bulls of the Revolution. Since starting the project last summer, Gamund has photographed over 150 pit bulls in shelters across the US, adorning them with homemade flower crowns to ‘infuse a softer energy into their imagery’.

To date, 114 of the pit bulls Gamund has photographed have been adopted but there are still many more still hoping to find a forever home. I’ve included a gallery of pit bulls below still waiting to be adopted. Each ‘adopt’ link beneath each dog will take you directly to the dog’s adoption agency.

A 2016 calendar is also available along with prints and posters.

You can find an ongoing and updated (adopted/still available) list of pit bulls Gamund has photographed on her website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this breathtaking capture by Simon Tong, we see the morning rays from the sun peeking through the clouds and shining upon Peru’s iconic Machu Picchu. The famous 15th-century Inca site is located 2,430 meters (7,970 ft) above sea level on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley.

Recognized in 1983 as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Incas built the estate around 1450, abandoning it a century later during the Spanish Conquest. It was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. [source]

 

 

 

 

In this video by Jordan Oram, two blindfolded strangers briefly chat before kissing. They then remove their blindfolds and introduce themselves to the stranger they just embraced.

 

 

Spectacular scenery – and sheep – are the first things that comes to mind for most of us when we think of New Zealand.

For an architect, spectacular scenery is always both a challenge and an opportunity.

This was very much the situation for David Ponting, founder of Ponting Fitzgerald (in 1998) of Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand, when he saw the site for what his affluent client hoped would be a “sanctuary.”

The site was breathtaking with unbelievable views of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, New Zealand, and the mountains beyond.

Rocky, powerful terrain. Strong visual lines. Subdued colour scheme. Nothing dainty or traditionally cozy was going to work. This site had a strong, powerful presence of its own.

Ponting and his client settled on a simple, yet very demanding, brief: Let the land speak. With a sensitivity that Ponting later described as having an “element of divination,” he allowed the site to express itself.

Rather than coming to the site with a preconceived set of shoulds and musts and limiting ideas, the architects kept walking the site. They eventually ‘divined’ a beautiful solution that speaks the same language as the site.

They realised that there were two separate locations on the site, each with its own distinct natural forms, each ‘asking for a building.’

They granted the wishes and created two low-profile structures, one as the master dwelling, the other – the larger one – as the guest wing.

When viewed from above, from the entrance way and parking area, each looks like a low-lying bird wing. Not imposing or interrupting, but somehow belonging in the landscape.

The breathtaking beauty of the structures comes from the strong elements: glass and stone, and polished, board-formed and in-situ poured concrete, with reflecting ponds and skylights adding an element of wonder – all in the service of letting the land speak, none standing in between the viewer and the view. The scenery is literally part of the interior, especially in the guest wing that is more open and grandiose than the slightly more private and inward-looking master house.

In the master dwelling, the windows at one end look into cut bedrock, with snow-capped mountains beyond. At the other end, on the rocky hillside, the view at times includes those famous New Zealand wild sheep that occasionally wander by.

If there ever was a project where the brief has actually become reality, this is it. The land has spoken, and was heard well. We are awaiting an invitation to the guest wing. And should it ever arrive, we may never leave. – Tuija Seipell.

Images by Simon Devitt