Nothing puts the imminent threat of rising seas or the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch into perspective quite like an effective information graphic. Infographics make complex data or information much more accessible, which definitely comes in handy when you’re trying to make sense of things like the half-formed arguments of global warming skeptics. Some of these great eco-infographics are scary, others are hopeful or humorous, but they’re all really effective.

Click on each image to view details in the larger version.

When Sea Levels Attack

(image via: The Guardian)

At the current predicted rate of rising seas, when will each city in the world go under? This visually striking infographic organizes cities by their height above sea level, and at just 1 meter above sea level, Venice will be the first to go within about 100 years. Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, Lower Manhattan and San Francisco wouldn’t be too far behind, while London and Taiwan – at 20 meters above sea level – have about 1000 years before the party’s over. Of course, this graphic uses the lowest, most conservative figures available – so it could be much worse, much sooner.

A Core Set of Environmental Indicators

(image via: cool infographics)

We’ve known for a while now that something needs to be done about serious environmental issues like threatened species, drinking water and CO2 emissions – but have these issues really gotten any better? This infographic breaks down progress on core issues during the period between 1995-2005, making it easy to see that while we’re doing great in correcting ozone depletion, energy and governance, we’ve got a long way to go on greenhouse gases and the oceans.

The Effects of Bike Commuting on Obesity

(image via: good.is)

If we all rode bikes instead of driving cars to work, how much healthier would we be as a whole? This chart shows the percentage of people in various countries who commute on bicycles (in green) and people who get around on foot (in orange), along with a graphic representation of a person on a bicycle that reveals the percentage of the population that’s overweight.

The Facts About Bottled Water

(image via: online education)

Just how much damage does bottled water do to the planet? This infographic breaks down the disturbing facts – like the fact that 22% of bottled water brands contain contaminants at levels above strict state limits, that 17 million barrels of oil are used annually in the production of water bottles and that it takes three times the amount of water to produce a bottle as it does to fill it.

How Long Will It Last?

(image via: infographics blog)

How many years do we have left of resources like aluminum, zinc and tin if we keep using them at the current rates? We’re damn near out of inidium, used to make LCDs, with just about 4 years left on the clock and a 0% recycling rate. The darker shade of each spoke on the wheel represents the years left at today’s rate, while the lighter shade shows how long we have if the world consumes at half the US consumption rate.

What’s the Difference Between Humans & Animals?

(image via: metrobest)

We consider ourselves to be pretty special, but the truth is, every year scientists are finding characteristics that we once considered “purely human” in other species. Elephants have empathy, apes have a sense of humor, dolphins have culture and even magpies have self-awareness.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

(image via: metrobest)

It can be tough to wrap your head around the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. How big is it? What’s in it? Where did it all come from, and how is it affecting marine life and ecosystems? It’s all here to ponder, and quite incredible to see the size of it compared to the gigantic state of Alaska, located to the north of it.

Surface Area Required to Power the World

(image via: information is beautiful)

If we were to power the entire world with solar energy alone, producing zero emissions, how much land would it take? The answer is astounding. We’ve got the land – we just need the dedication, the materials and the technology.

The Global Warming Skeptics vs. The Scientific Consensus

(image via: sodahead.com)

The so-called ‘global warming debate’ is complex in terms of defining the precise points on which skeptics and climate scientists disagree. The main issues are pinpointed here – the ‘CO2 lag’, reliability of temperature records, the medieval warm period, the hockey stick graph and more.

The Coming Water Wars

(image via: princeton university)

“Of all the water on Earth, only 2.5% is fresh, and less than 0.007% is readily available to people through rivers, lakes, and streams. As worldwide populations surge, temperatures rise, climates change and diseases spread, clean water will become even more essential (and more rare).”

Globalization: Starbucks vs. McDonalds

(image via: princeton university)

Starbucks and McDonalds are global forces, but each in their own way. While Starbucks has indeed spread across the world, its sales – about $4.1 billion annually – are still dwarfed by those of McDonalds, which top $41 billion a year. This graph of McDonalds locations around the world looks like some kind of plague. Meanwhile, it takes 19 countries to make one cup of Starbucks coffee.

How do Carbon Offsets Work?

(image via: the onion)

When you pay for a carbon offset so you can take a guilt-free international flight, what exactly happens to that money? It’s a long and winding road, as illustrated by this humorous graphic from The Onion. “Enjoy your clear conscience for 0.13 seconds, the amount of time that will lapse before your carbon offset is entirely erased by a new coal-powered drinking-straw factory outside of Chongqing, China.”

None of These Rainforest Species Are Endangered

(image via: gizmodo)

The list of endangered rainforest species is depressing… chimps, orangutans, jaguars, Bengal tigers, toucans and gray mice are all going the way of the wooly mammoth. But don’t forget that there’s also a nice long list of species that are doing fine, like the Le Tourneau 5594 Log Stacker and the John Deere S43 J Feller/Brancher.

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What happens to all of the detritus of modern life once it has outlived its usefulness? We tend to think of it as being “thrown away” – but there is no away, and bizarre collections of outdated and broken junk are piling up around the world. Like all of those abandoned airplanes, sea-unworthy ships and busted bicycles, these 10 objects are accumulating in their very own graveyards with nobody to mourn their passing.

Tacky Toilets

(images via: ready2beat, damn cool pics)

Junkyards around the world are stocked with the forlorn toilets of yesteryear, never again to feel the warmth of a human behind. But while cracked, broken and seriously dated toilets typically rot behind gates in metaphorical toilet graveyards, others are displayed in bizarre works of public art. One town seems to have created an actual graveyard of toilets, while Gunagdong Province in China put thousands to use in a giant public waterfall.

Forgotten FEMA Trailers

(images via: treehugger)

FEMA trailers were a godsend for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, giving them roofs over their heads – and lungs full of formaldehyde. The trailers contained dangerously high levels of the toxic chemical, sickening hundreds of people. Today, those contaminated trailers sit and rot on storage lots throughout the country, like this one in Hope, Arkansas.

Busted Bus Stops

(image via: bradleypjohnson)

What, exactly, could be so wrong with dozens of bus stops found abandoned in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis that can’t be fixed? Whether for looks or function, these bus stops were scrapped and now sit as an odd monument to junk that nobody wants.

Vacant Vending Machines

(image via: katakanadian)

Japan is a country packed with vending machines, and they’re not just full of candy, chips and soda. Eggs, fresh flowers, piping hot french fries and lingerie are just a few examples of off-the-wall offerings. So, the existence of vending machine wastelands is no surprise.

Tarnished Tanks

(image via: artificial owl)

The tanks that clutter vast open spaces in the African country of Eritrea aren’t just the product of neglect. These hunks of metal are relics from the nearly half-century-long war fought for independence from Ethiopia, and they stand as a proud reminder of the country’s hard-won victory.

Tossed-Aside Taxis

(image via: spiegel.de)

For decades, Chinese citizens took taxi cabs and public transportation when they needed to get somewhere. But economic expansion meant that personal vehicles were no longer out of reach of the middle class, and the taxis that they once depended on so greatly are now jumbled chaotically amidst dirt and weeds.

Canned Construction Equipment

(image via: clockworklozenge)

When construction equipment is finally done building things and tearing them down, where does it go? Apparently, it sits around in scrap yards waiting for any still-useful parts to be harvested, and then sits around some more. This lot in England has just about any piece of equipment you can imagine.

Broken Books

(images via: english russia)

With such an astounding volume of books piled on the floor, this building could only be a library – albeit one that has seen better days. The sight of thousands of books rotting in an abandoned building is enough to make any bibliophile cry, but waste like this is all too common in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Contaminated Chemical Barrels

(images via: michigan.gov)

While Superfund sites wait to be cleaned up, all of the toxic chemical-laden crap strewn around – including leaky barrels full of who knows what – are “contained” within a restricted area. Over time, as those barrels rust, their contents seep into the soil, and ultimately into the groundwater of nearby communities.

Trashed Tractors

(images via: picasaweb)

Typically, abandoned tractors tend to be left wherever they break down. At least this tractor graveyard in Nebraska appears to be in the process of recycling, given that the rusting beasts have been dismantled and categorized.

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It’s cold and snowy in many places throughout the world. So let’s think warm thoughts like warm summer sand and sandcastles. In fact, think hot. Burning hot, flames of hell hot, and mix that with sand. What do you get? Dante’s Inferno. What in hell is that? No, not the game. It is a sand sculpture opera based on the Italian classic masterpiece and produced by the City of Jesolo, Venice, Italy. Welcome to Hell and the sand demons of Dante’s Inferno in 49 photos.

Welcome to Hell

(image credits:Eternally Cool)

Jesolo Lido has a theme-based sand sculpture festival each year and last summer they asked a team of 18 professional sand sculpture artists to illustrate Dante’s Inferno. More specifically, the participating artists were asked to take their inspiration for verses 1-9 of Canto III of Inferno. Dante stands at the edge of the world of damned souls and reads:
Through me is the way into the woeful city; through me is the way into eternal woe; through me is the way among the lost people. Justice moved my lofty maker: the divine Power, the supreme Wisdom and the primal Love made me. Before me were no things created, unless eternal, and I eternal last. Leave every hope, ye who enter!
The result was Hell, represented as scenes, mythological figures, and as some of the most famous characters from Dante’s Inferno.

Dante’s Inferno

(image credits:sultansofsand,Htmarcos,WaZaR)

In Jesolo Lido, there were 9 Circles to Dante’s Inferno. In the outer pre-circle after entering the exhibition, “Virgil and Dante Decend into Hell” and then meet “Charon the Ferryman.” Circle 1 was “Limbo.” The dogs were part of Circle 3, called “The Cerebrus.” Circle 2 is below:

The Lustful, The Gluttons, The Avaricious

(image credits:WaZaR,Htmarcos)

“The Lustful” was from Circle 2 and is at the top left. The entrance to each circle was numbered in a fantastically “evil” sand sculpture like at the top right. Besides “The Cerebrus,” Circle 3 included “The Gluttons” and one can be seen in the lower right.  The middle left was the introduction to Circle 4. It featured “The Avaricious” like in the bottom right.

River Styx & The City Of Dis

(image credits:WaZaR)

Circle 5 featured two different magnificent sandcastles. Following Dante’s Inferno, first there was “The River Styx” and then “The City Of Dis.” The amount of detail is unbelievable for sand sculptures. The show was designed and directed by Varano Sand Sculpture Co. LLC aka “the Sultans Of Sand Worldwide.” The Sultans Of Sand is a consortium of award winning international master sand sculptors who live and work all around the globe.

Circle 6 The Heretics

(image credits:WaZaR ,Htmarcos)

Circle 6 featured “The Heretics.” From the numbered 6 to introduce the Circle, you can see skill reflected in sand. The 18 hand-picked featured artists for Dante’s Inferno represented nine different countries and, together, hold more than six dozen international awards and titles. 2,000 tons of sand at the worksite were pre-compacted into carving blocks known as “pound-ups.” The pound-ups were prepared over a 10 day period prior to the the sculpting team’s arrival. The sand masters then carved all the sculptures in only 10 days.

Circle 7

(image credits:WaZaR ,Htmarcos)

Circle 7 began with a “Reaper” skeleton and then headed to “The Minotaur” at the top. Next stop in Dante’s Inferno was “The Harpies Taunting the Suicides” as seen in the middle images. Last but not least was “The Centaurs.”

Circle 8

(image credits:WaZaR ,Htmarcos)

Circle 8 was huge, starting with the great winged beast “Greyon the Guardian.” Next was “The Simonists” as seen in the lower right image next to the number 8. The carved sculptures were so detailed, that even the pores showed. Some things never change, not even from Dante’s time as the next stop in Dante’s Inferno was “The Corrupted Politicians.”

Circle 8 Continued

(image credits:WaZaR ,Htmarcos)

At the top, Circle 8 led to “Ulysses’ Shipwreck.” On the lower left is “When Hell Freezes.” The images on the lower right depict “Count Ugolino Gnawing the Head of the Archbishop.” These masters of sand carving even managed to make the sand-colored eyeballs appear realistic.

Circle 9: Satan, Leaving Hell

(image credits:WaZaR ,Htmarcos,skullbrain)

Circle 9 takes us past demons in the sand and stops in front of a massive 16-foot “Satan.” Look closely at the intricacy and texture on the beast and you can even see the devil’s pores! Pictured on the bottom left is “Leaving Hell.” That ends our tour of Dante’s Inferno. If you found these sand sculptures amazing, there is still plenty of time before July to book your trip Jesolo Lido, Italy, for the next thematic sand sculpture festival.

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Black Stone of the Ka’aba

(images via: Faith Freedom and Sakina Ka’aba)

The Black Stone, or “Al-Hajarul Aswad”, is an ancient Muslim relic that according to Islamic tradition, fell from heaven to form the altar upon which the biblical Adam and Eve performed their first sacrifice. The Black Stone was venerated before the founding of Islam, and is said to have been positioned at the eastern cornerstone of the holy Ka’aba in the center of Mecca’s Grand Mosque by the prophet Muhammad himself.

(images via: Ancient Tides and Meteorite People)

Just what IS the Black Stone of the Ka’aba? If not an actual meteorite, it may be the product of a meteor impact. Pieces of black “impact glass” have been found near the ancient lost city (recently rediscovered) of Ubar in Saudia Arabia’s Rub al-Khali, or Empty Quarter – the approximately 6,000 year old event may have even led, directly or indirectly, to the destruction of Ubar. One thing about impact glass: it sometimes floats due to gas bubbles trapped inside while in a molten state. legends have it that after the Black Stone was stolen and subsequently returned to Mecca, it was tested by immersing it in water. Yes, it floated.

(images via: Conservapedia, The Ka’aba and Ristorante Mystica)

Today, the Black Stone is enclosed in a massive silver frame and has been worn nearly smooth by the touches and kisses of untold millions of worshipers over the past 14 centuries. It plays a special role during the penultimate ritual of the Hajj, when pilgrims circle the Ka’aba 7 times and point to the Black Stone once every circuit.

The Thunderstone of Ensisheim

(images via: Biblioteca Pleyades and IMCA)

On November 7, 1492, a young boy from the Alsatian town of Ensisheim watched breathlessly as a brilliant fireball slashed across the sky and plunged to the ground in a wheat field. Rescued from local souvenir hunters by the local magistrate, the roughly triangular stony chondrite meteorite was “restrained” with iron chains inside the town’s parish church so that it would not be able to wander about at night or, perhaps, return to the heavens in the same fiery manner by which it arrived on Earth.

(image via: Donnersteine)

By the time the townspeople were finished with it, only 55kg (120 lbs) of the original 127kg (280 lb) meteorite remained. Newly-crowned Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire hurried to view the so-called “Thunderstone of Ensisheim”, whereupon he pronounced its appearance to be a good omen for the Empire’s wars with France and Turkey. The rounded remainder of the meteorite was placed within an elaborate glass case which was later installed in the Regency Palace of Ensisheim, built in 1535 by Maximilian’s grandson, the Emperor Ferdinand of Austria. As for the omen, history records that Maximilian I oversaw a great expansion of the territories controlled by his family… the Habsburgs.

King Tut’s Pendant of Libyan Desert Glass

(images via: National Geographic and WebEcoist)

Archeologists investigating the myriad treasures of King Tutankhamun’s tomb were long mystified by the beautiful, buttercup-yellow carved scarab beetle that highlighted the Boy King’s jeweled pendant. The researchers knew the scarab was made of glass but no other known ancient Egyptian glass matched its ethereal shade and mineral content. Finally in 1998, an Italian mineralogist proved that the carved scarab in Tut’s breastplate was made of Libyan Desert glass.

(images via: FJ Expeditions and Cochise College)

The area in which Libyan Desert glass can be found is actually located in Egypt’s Western Desert. As for the glass itself, scientists from the Sandia Research Laboratory have determined that the glass was formed just after the 30 million year old Kebira impact event in which a a 120-meter (395 ft) wide asteroid slammed into Earth’s atmosphere causing an explosion with a yield of about 110 megatons.

(image via: AnlamBilim)

The fireball from the impact was hot enough to melt quartz grains in the desert sand. One wonders if the ancient Egyptians, with all their advanced technical and scientific knowledge, somehow deduced the “heavenly” origin of Libyan Desert glass and therefore found it appropriate for their king’s most precious jewelry?

The Stone of Emesa

(images via: Lauren van Zoonen and Antinopolis)

The Roman Emperor Elagabalus, who reigned from AD 218-222, was formerly a priest at the temple of Elagabal in the Syrian city of Emesa. It was common in that era for stones – meteorites in particular – to be venerated as gods and the conical Stone of Emesa was a perfect example. The stone garnered fame across the entire Roman Empire thanks to Elagabalus, who brought it from Emesa to Rome upon his installation as Emperor.

(image via: Wildwinds)

Elagabalus would put the sacred stone into a cart led by a team of matched white horses, with the Emperor himself leading the procession by walking backwards ahead of the cart. The processions were immortalized through the image of the Stone of Emesa and the horse-drawn cart being stamped into the reverse of Roman coins. After reigning for about 4 years and alienating the Roman aristocracy with social and sexual practices that made Nero look like a choirboy, Elagabalus was deposed, executed and thrown into the river Tiber; in roughly that order. The stone was returned to Emesa (modern-day Homs), there to decorate the city’s coins for a while longer before vanishing into the mists of history.

The Winona Meteorite

(images via: All About Meteorites, Meteorites Australia and The Accretion Desk)

The spectacular impact of the huge iron meteorite that dug out Meteor Crater in northern Arizona also scattered meteorite fragments across a wide swathe of the arid southwest. Many of these fragments of the Canyon Diablo meteorite were found on the ground by Native American tribespeople tens of thousands of years later – they proved to be a useful – and the only – source of iron used in tools and weapons. They were also often treasured and venerated as being visitors from another world (true enough) with strong shamanic powers.

(image via: Thomas Witzke)

One such fragment was the Winona Meteorite, found in 1928 by archeologists excavating a former settlement of the Sinagua people dating from around AD 1070 to 1275. What makes the 53 lb. Winona Meteorite special is that is was found carefully wrapped and enclosed in a buried stone cistern, treated much as a beloved child who had died before his or her time. Curiously, the meteorite that had survived such a violent descent to Earth, shattered into tiny pieces as it was being removed from its carefully constructed crypt.

Cow Killing Meteorite of Venezuela

(image via: LGF Museum of Natural History)

Last but not least, the Valera meteorite may be the only space rock in this group to have real power… the power to kill! Let’s go back to the night of October 15th, 1972. Villagers in the Venezuelan town of Trujillo reported seeing a bright light in the sky accompanied by a loud noise, likened by some to a sonic boom. The following morning at El Tinajero farm, Dr. Arginiro Gonzales and Juan Dionicio Delgado found the remains of a cow that had been sliced nearly in two by what became known as the Valera meteorite.

(image via: Michael Blood)

Though weighing only 757 grams under 2 lbs), the meteorite’s great speed was more than enough to send the unfortunate bovine to “meat” its maker. As for the meteorite, pieces of it have been very popular sale items by a number of meteorite vendors who tag the bolide with shocker names like “The Butcher of Venezuela” and “The Bovine Basher”.

(image via: Skywatch Media)

The “shock & awe” spectacle of meteors plummeting from the skies continues to inspire supernatural beliefs among human cultures from primitive to advanced. Ground meteorite powder is said to cure AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa while adherents to literal interpretation of the Bible’s Book of Revelations see them as harbingers of Judgment Day. If one considers the dearth of scientific knowledge in ancient cultures, it’s no surprise that these celestial visitors were hailed not only as messengers of the gods, but the gods themselves.

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Horsetails

(images via: English Country Garden, CS-Music and Balmoral Drive)

Horsetails are an unusual group of plants that reproduce via spores instead of seeds. Now limited to a single genus, Horsetails were once the dominant plant of the prehistoric world, first appearing in the Devonian period approximately 375 million years ago. Today’s Horsetails, oddly enough, are poisonous to horses.

(image via: Arcadia Street)

Kings of the Carboniferous period when giant dragonflies and six-foot long millipedes thrived in the planet’s supersaturated oxygen atmosphere, ancient relatives of Horsetails called Calamites soared up to 90 feet high as they competed for sunlight with the world’s earliest trees.

Monkey Puzzle Tree

(images via: Travel Blog, Travel Pod and Jackson’s Nurseries)

Monkey Puzzle or Araucaria trees are an ancient species of evergreen conifer that is today only found in some parts of Argentina and Chile. The trees have oddly scaled branches – the scales are actually leaves – and have distinctive bark likened by some to reptilian skin. The trees are tough and hardy, and can grow to heights of 130 feet and diameters of up to 6 feet.

(image via: M. Alan Kazlev)

Samples of Monkey Puzzle trees were first brought to Great Britain in the early 19th century and by the 1850s the trees were being grown at botanical gardens. As for the unusual name, it’s said that a visitor to Pencarrow Garden in Cornwall, upon observing the odd tree, suggested that “It would puzzle a monkey to climb that”. Monkey Puzzle trees are often used by artists to ‘flesh out” prehistoric scenes, like the one above from the BBC TV series “Walking With Dinosaurs” that features an Allosaurus on the prowl.

Crinoids (Sea Lillies)

(images via: McGill U, Geochristian and Black River Fossils)

If ancient oceans can be compared to modern forests, then Crinoids were the trees. These ancient progenitors to echinoderms like sea urchins and starfish built their stem-like structures from minerals extracted from seawater. The tiny calcified discs that made up Crinoid stems are extremely common in fossil-bearing shale and limestone dating back to the Ordovician period, a time roughly 475 million years ago when the only life on Earth – plant or animal – lived in the sea.

(images via: NOAA, The Deep and Photo Synthesis)

Today’s Sea Lillies and Feather Stars, though much less common in number and range, haven’t changed all that much from their Crinoid ancestors and live their lives pretty much the same way: filter-feeding tiny organisms from passing currents. You’d think that after a half-billion years Crinoids could learn something new, say, like how to walk… well guess what:

Crinoid Crawls!, via Somarinoa

Nautilus

(images via: Bogleech, Danielle Caceres-Bricheno and Seashells By Millhill)

The Chambered Nautilus is the sole remaining representative of the nautiloids, a group of marine creatures that can be traced back to the Cambrian period approximately a half a billion years ago. Yes, billion.

(images via: Best Stuff and 251 Research Lab)

Though they may superficially resemble cephalopods like squids and octopi (not to mention Futurama’s Dr. Zoidberg), the Nautilus’ eyes have no lenses, its 90-odd tentacles have no suckers, and it finds its prey using organs called rhinophores that can detect certain chemicals in ocean water.

(images via: 34th and 8th and Home and Garden Webshots)

Nautiloids were once rulers of the seas, sporting a bizarre range of shell designs ranging from tightly coiled to open spirals to “party hat” cones up to 13 feet long! Cthul’hu most definitely approves.

Horseshoe Crab

(images via: NC Coastal Reserve and Tree Of Life)

Horseshoe Crabs are not crabs at all, being related to scorpions, spiders and ticks. They may also be related to ancient giant sea scorpions, at one time the world’s largest and most feared predators… luckily that time was 420 million years ago.

(image via: Fotopedia)

Horseshoe Crabs are jawless, have 5 pairs of legs and 9 eyes. Not bizarre enough? Horseshoe Crabs have blue blood – copper, not iron, is used in their version of hemoglobin: hemocyanin.

(images via: Archosaur Musings and Marinebio)

Fossils of extinct Horseshoe Crab species have been found in rocks dating back 445 million years, to a distant era when trilobites were abundant and most animal life existed in warm, shallow seas. Indeed, it can be stated that today’s Horseshoe Crabs are the closest living relatives of trilobites.

Coelacanth

(images via: Comiya, CV Biosupply and CBC News)

The poster child for living fossils, Coelacanths were known strictly from the fossil record dating back almost 400 million years and were thought to have died out at the end of the Cretaceous Period along with the dinosaurs. Then in 1938, headlines were made when a trawler caught a live one off the east coast of South Africa. Since then, Coelacanths have been caught (though rarely) in other locations and live ones have been observed in their natural habitats.

(image via: MFS Updates)

Coelacanths display dark, mottled scales and their lifespan is unknown. A recent sighting of what seems to be a newborn baby Coelacanth was recorded by a Japanese research team in early 2009 and showed the fish to have a rich, indigo blue coloration set off by lighter spots.

(images via: Eltwhed, Cryptomundo and HyScience)

Coelacanths are lobe-finned fish, thought to resemble those ancient fish species that evolved into the first land vertebrates over 350 million years ago. Indeed, the closest taxonomic relatives of Coelacanths are lungfishes and tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates).

Goblin Shark

(images via: Richard Ellis Gallery and Shark-en)

Even among sharks, a group of marine creatures that has changed little over many millions of years, the Goblin Shark is an oddball. Not much is known about this denizen of the deep ocean but the few available facts are enough to rate noteworthiness: growing up to 11 feet long, the Goblin Shark sports a bizarre upper “snout” that acts as an electrical receptor to help it locate prey. It has extendable jaws lined with sharp teeth that pull any prey animals into its mouth.

(images via: Kaphoto, Australian Museum and Facts for Projects)

Goblin Sharks are predominantly pink in color with contrasting bluish fins. The pinkness is caused by the sharks’ semi-transparent skin allowing the color of its blood to show through. Some say Goblin Sharks are the ugliest fish in the sea – considering the image above lower left, it’s hard to argue.

Tuatara

(images via: NZ Photo, Wildlife Extra and The Mantis Shrimp)

Tuataras are found in New Zealand and the current 2 species are the only survivors of the order Sphenodontia, which dates back roughly 200 million years. Tuataras grow to be about 30 inches long and have an unusual and unique dental arrangement: two rows of teeth in the upper jaw that overlap a single row on the lower jaw. Though true reptiles, Tuataras have certain bones in their skeletons that are shared with fish.

(image via: New Zealand 2009)

The Tuatara’s main claim to fame is its relatively well-developed parietal eye: a “third eye” on top of its head. The eye has a lens and retina (covered by scales in adults) though it is not used in conjunction with the other two eyes. Instead, it’s thought that the Tuatara’s third eye may note changes in light cycles that the creature uses to regulate its circadian rhythms. Some other reptiles, amphibians and fish have parietal eyes, though not to the extent of those possessed by the Tuatara.

Hoatzin

(images via: Rainforest Conservation, Iwokrama and Ranger Paul)

The Hoatzin is in many ways more a throwback than a fossil, mainly in respect to the claws juveniles exhibit on their wings. These bizarre, quite un-birdlike claws assist the young Hoatzins in staying on tree branches. Hoatzins are rare in the fossil record with only a portion of a 50-million year old skull having been found to date. Their relationship to modern birds, even with the aid of DNA testing, is still very murky and subject to interpretation.

(images via: Berkeley U and ETSU)

Hoatzins are found in a large portion of South America’s Amazon river basin where they are not considered to be threatened. Though humans have historically eaten Hoatzin eggs from time to time, the flesh of the birds are said to taste bad. Even getting close to a Hoatzin is problematic due to a foul, manure-like odor the birds create in their digestive system and release when they feel menaced – this attribute has given the Hoatzin the informal name of “Stinkbird”.

Platypus

(images via: Motivated Photos and Daily Mail UK)

The “Duck-billed Platypus” of Australia is a Monotreme, a mammalian genus that split off the Mammal family tree at a remote time in the past. Platypus relatives in the fossil record go back approximately 167 million years to when the dinosaurs ruled the world. Even with all that time in which to evolve, the Platypus remains primitive compared to today’s placental mammals.

(image via: Wildwatch)

An egg-layer, the Platypus secretes milk for its young but has no nipples: milk is excreted through skin pores and collects in grooves on the female’s abdomen. The creature’s superlative skill is in detecting prey though electroreception: the Platypus’ duck-like bill is designed to sense muscular contractions in its prey, chiefly worms and molluscs.

(image via: Animal Diversity Web)

The Platypus is one of a very few mammals that are venomous – a trait is shares with several tiny shrews and solenodons (shrew-like creatures). Only male Platypuses are venomous and use sharp spurs on their webbed hind feet to deliver venom to predators and/or rival platypuses. The venom is extremely painful to humans and it’s said that victims suffer from excruciating pain for days, weeks and on occasion even months!

Though their long, uneventful existence on Earth can be interpreted as proof of biological success, many of these “living fossils” have survived only because their habitats have undergone a minimum of change. Recent and future climate change will undoubtedly effect plants and animals whose basic forms and physiognomies have remained static. Can they adjust after evolving so little for so long?

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Once upon a time, there was a star made famous by Christian tradition. The Star of Bethlehem, also called the Christmas Star has no concrete evidence to this date of an astronomical object. Nowadays we have NASA and the Hubble to record great astronomy and bring us breathtaking photos from space. Here are 23 famous Hubble discoveries and NASA heavy hitters.

Hubble Ultra Deep Field

(image credit:NASA)

Hubble Ultra Deep Field peers deeper into space and farther back in time than any other before it. It shows around a billion years after the big bang. The universe was filled with dwarf galaxies but no formed galaxies like the Milky Way. Stare at this until you feel small and are in wonder of the mighty universe, and then peace on Earth doesn’t seem quite such an impossible feat.

SN 1006 Ribbon of Gas

(image credit:NASA)

More than 1,000 years ago a supernova exploded and left behind this ribbon of gas. In about AD 1006, astronomers from Europe, the Far East and Africa saw the light of the supernova. It is believed to be the brightest star ever seen by humans, even brighter than Venus. It was visible even during the day and stayed visible to the naked eye for at least two and half years. It’s not called SN 1006. If something like this was the cause of the Bethlehem star, there is no yet valid scientific proof of it.

Space NASA

(image credits:NASA)

The top image is of the Whirlpool, also known as spiral galaxy M51. Young stars live inside the curving spiral arms while older stars reside in its yellowish core. On the bottom is the Sombrero galaxy or M104. The galaxy is tilted on its side and can been seen through small telescopes at the southern edge of the Virgo cluster. It is 50,000 light-years across and is located 28 million light-years from Earth. This massive object is equivalent to 800 billion suns.

Space NASA

(image credits:NASA)

The Hubble peered into the Sagittarius Star Cloud, a narrow, dust-free region, providing this image of some of the oldest inhabitants of our galaxy. On the right, a dense swarm of stars and dust near the nucleus of spiral galaxy NGC 300 brought to us up close and personal by the Hubble even if the galaxy is 7 million light-years from Earth. On the bottom left, two clusters form MACS J0025 which is about a whopping quadrillion times the mass of the Sun. The Hubble was used map the (blue) dark matter, while the Chandra x-rayed hot (pink) gas.

Eagle Nebula

(image credit:NASA)

Perhaps the most well-known image the Hubble has taken is the Eagle Nebula. This picture was taken on April 1995. The color image is constructed from three separate images taken in the light of emission from different types of atoms. Red shows emission from singly-ionized sulfur atoms. Green shows emission from hydrogen. Blue shows light emitted by doubly- ionized oxygen atoms. Eagle Nebula shows a nearby star-forming region 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Serpens.

Light Echo

(image credits:NASA)

This sequence of pictures was captured by the Hubble to demonstrate the echoing of light through space and reflecting off surrounding shells of dust to reveal a bull’s-eye. This shows the changes in the stellar dust as different parts are illuminated in an effect called ‘light echo.’ From the sequential images, the nebula appears to expand from 4 to 7 light-years and creates an illusion that the dust is expanding into space faster than the speed of light.

The Eyes of Space

(image credits:NASA)

MyCn18 is one of the many eyes in space staring back at us, a young nebula about 8,000 light-years away. The nitrogen appears red, hydrogen looks green, and oxygen glows blue. The Cat’s Eye Nebula is on the upper right. When NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990, we mere human had no idea how many eyes would be found in outer space. On the bottom left, this sun-like star is dying, casting off its outer layers of gas. It’s called NGC 2440, a white dwarf that glows with ultraviolet light. The “Eskimo” Nebula on the bottom right is supposed to resemble a face surrounded by a fur parka. It is about 5,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Gemini.

Nebulae

(image credits:NASA)

The Carina Nebula is located roughly 7,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Carina. Nebula appear colored and cloudy, yet another one of the spectacular and mind-boggling wonders that the Hubble has discovered. The Cone Nebula which appears red is a gaseous pillar about 2,500 light-years away. On the right, the shot of the star cluster Pismis was found in the direction of the Scorpious constellation.

Galactic Cannibalism

(image credits:NASA)

The top image was taken after the public voted where the Hubble should next aim. These interacting galaxies are called Arp 274 and was the public winner after a vote to mark the International Year of Astronomy. On the bottom, a pair of galaxies located 300 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices were nicknamed The Mice because of their long tails of  gas and stars. Eventually, this pair will merge into one giant galaxy.

Space NASA

(image credits:NASA)

At top left, Hubble peeked inside the cavern of roiling gas, dust and forming stars of the Orion Nebula. To the right, Hubble captured the Antennae, a pair of small galaxies smashing together. On the bottom left, Hubble delights us with a galaxy that may be powered by a black hole at its core. Spiral galaxy NGC 7742 shows a yellow core of active starbirth. Finally, piercing the heart of a glittering swarm of stars, NASA’s sharp-eyed Hubble Space Telescope zooms upon the central region of the globular cluster M22. It is a 12- to 14-billion-year-old grouping of stars in the constellation Sagittarius. The cluster’s core measures 3.3 light-years across.

Peace on Earth and good will to men.

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When companies like Exxon-Mobil and McDonalds think “green”, they’re thinking of cash, not the earth. And after all, what matters to unscrupulous marketers isn’t so much the reality of their brand or product, but how the public perceives it – which often results in greenwashing so absurd, it’s almost funny. These 15 examples of extreme greenwashing range from woefully ignorant to downright malicious.

McDonalds Literally Greenwashes its Logo

(image via: GreenBiz.com)

McDonalds wants everyone to know they’re going green…ish. The fast food monster is swapping the red in their logo for green in an effort to convince Europeans that they care about the environment. To be fair, the company has made some important strides – like using environmentally-friendly refrigeration and converting used oil to biodiesel – but this is still fast food relying on distinctly un-green factory farms for their supplies, to say the least.

As GreenBiz.com put it, “This strategy is essentially the textbook definition of greenwashing: Promoting green in the abstract, literally re-painting your signage with the color green, while simultaneously making sparse, vague claims about environmental action.”

“Eco Smart” Hummer

(image via: Fail Blog)

Recipe for a whale of a fail: Take one Hummer, the most environmentally unfriendly personal vehicle known to man. Plaster it with images of glistening green leaves and phrases like ‘EcoSmart’, which just happens to be the name of your company. Watch your company lose credibility instantaneously, and become an internet laughingstock among the very people you were hoping would become your customers.

Even if this particular behemoth were somehow greener than your typical Hummer, that wouldn’t mean much – but would still be more forgivable than using one of these vehicles to advertise an “eco-smart” company.

“Even Our Store Bags are Disposable!”

(image via: The Good Human)

When this New Mexico pet shop decided to “go green”, they apparently didn’t bother finding out what that actually means – hence, their proud declaration that “even our store bags are disposable!” Though the people responsible for the ad probably didn’t mean to deceive anyone, ignorance can be just as bad – it’s seriously confusing for consumers who are already not too clear on what makes a product green.

Cover the Earth with Toxic Paint

(image via: Inhabitat)

Want some tips on how to greenwash? Ask Sherwin-Williams. They’ve built an entire marketing campaign around a supposedly green line of paint which, according to Inhabitat, isn’t actually all that green – all while plastering billboards with their head-scratching logo that seems to advocate covering the entire world in toxic Sherwin-Williams paint.

Fox News + Going Green = ?

(image via: Ecorazzi.com)

Wait a minute, is that a Fox News logo being hugged by a commie recycling symbol? Indeed, the undeniably conservative news network seemed to completely forget who their audience is with their “How Green” website, an apparent attempt to maintain that “fair and balanced” illusion.

The site was about as authentic as a backdrop on a middle school theater set, with uninspired articles and a sloppy design. It became pretty clear that Fox News’ heart wasn’t exactly into it when the site went without updates for months on end, prompting Ecorazzi to liken it to “a zombie that won’t die”. The website was finally taken down in Fall 2009.

CO2 is Actually Good for the Earth

(image via: YouTube)

“There is no scientific evidence that CO2 is a pollutant.” So proclaims an ad called “CO2 is Green”, which backed up this dubious claim with statements like “higher CO2 levels than we have today would actually help the Earth’s ecosystems.” It may just be the most ridiculous example of greenwashed propaganda yet, and who else could possibly be responsible but oil & coal interests.

The ad was generated by a veteran oil industry executive and a Houston-based owner of coal resources as part of a campaign to undermine the EPA’s ruling that CO2 should be classified as a pollutant. It didn’t work, of course.

Buy Local at Your Neighborhood Citgo

(image via: Grist.org)

When you dedicate yourself to spending more of your hard-earned dollars at local businesses, the first place you think of is naturally your neighborhood Citgo. That is, if you live in Venezuela. But being an international oil giant didn’t stop Citgo from putting up billboards in towns all over America – including this one spotted in Durham, North Carolina – that say “Local. Loyal. Like it should be.”

Eco-Conscious Barbie

(image via: Mattel)

They’re plastic wrapped in more plastic, and send the message to little girls that they should be plastic, too. But that didn’t stop Mattel from trying to market Barbies as “green”, with a line of accessories made from repurposed excess fabrics and trimmings left over from other Barbie products (and assembled in China using what amounts to slave labor).

“Barbie BCause is for eco-conscious girls who believe that being environmentally-friendly is the right thing to do,” said Mattel in the press release accompanying the “Barbie™ Bcause” line of products. Right. Because glamorizing constant consumption of non-recyclable products is so eco.

‘Sustainable’ Iceberg Lodge… In the Desert

(image via: Inhabitat)

What could be more sustainable than placing a gigantic luxury hotel hewn from ice into the ocean in the arid desert climate of Dubai? German design duo Frank and Sven Sauer envision the Blue Crystal as a year-round ice lodge that will require massive amounts of energy to keep it frozen – energy that, according to the architects, will come from renewable sources.

Even if the Blue Crystal managed to power itself with solar energy, using so much energy for such a ridiculous purpose stretches the meaning of the world ‘sustainability’ to its breaking point.

Pure & Natural Disposable Diapers

(image via: The Good Human)

Disposable diapers are a huge tax on the environment, adding some 3.5 million tons of waste to America’s landfills every year. And, concerned parents are all too aware of the chemicals they contain, including carcinogens like dioxin. So, when Huggies debuted their “Pure & Natural” line of diapers, perhaps some parents thought they were actually – well – pure and natural.

Not so much. The difference between regular Huggies and the greenwashed version is a small piece of organic cotton that doesn’t even come into contact with baby’s skin – it’s on the outside of the diaper. Talk about capitalizing on a technicality.

Big 3 Auto Executives Drive Hybrids to D.C.

(image via: Dot Earth)

In the midst of begging the government for financial assistance, Detroit’s ‘Big 3’ auto executives – Alan Mulally of Ford, Rick Wagoner of GM and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler were ridiculed for flying to Washington D.C. on mega-expensive, climate-killing private jets. So how did they respond to the criticism? By driving their companies’ respective hybrids to Washington after they were called out for the hypocrisy. Apparently, driving a hybrid once totally erases all of your environmental (and financial) sins.

Exxon-Mobil, Green Company of the Year

(image via: Dallas Observer)

Exxon-Mobil doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation for caring about the environment. In fact, the oil giant has been called the ultimate anti-green company, as much for its own outrageous environmental offenses as for its efforts to undermine climate change action. But that didn’t stop Forbes Magazine from naming Exxon-Mobil “Green Company of the Year” in 2009.

Forbes claims that recent efforts by the company – including investment in renewable energy and natural gas – is enough to merit the title. But the magazine is left holding a giant green paintbrush in the face of decades’ worth of evidence to the contrary. Steve Forbes, billionaire head honcho of the magazine, probably doesn’t mind, though – he’s a well-known climate change skeptic.

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Why do people take up the extreme sport of rock climbing? Because it is there, taunting and tempting. It offers adventure and challenge from the rocky ever-present edge of death. Rock climbing calls for control and courage. It involves great strength of mind and body. It is both an individual and social sport as the element of danger whets the appetite for adventure. How do you know if you are a climber meant for this fearless adventure sport? Either you are jump-out-of-your-skin-excited about scaling a vertical piece of stone, or you aren’t. Take a look at these rock climbers and their stunning natural surroundings to see if you are tempted to take up this sport.

The points of view in these photographs came from and are copyrighted by Simon Carter, an amazingly talented climber with a camera who captures both the sports action and the spectacular settings.

Rock climbing is all about balance, but creativity and concentration are also required. Climbing is a physically challenging and a mentally demanding sport. It will test your endurance as you climb to your goal, the summit. So have a plan, focus, keep going, hang in there and don’t let go. Rock climbing will take you to a new level of awareness of the natural world around you, taking you to breathtakingly beautiful places as you discover new aspects about yourself. This dangerous sport also requires trust; when you fall, and you will fall, you have to trust your climbing partner completely with your life. Bonus, adrenaline adventures will be found. At the top you will want to raise your arms in victory and woot your win!

Deep Water Soloing — Rock Climbing in Croatia

Deep-water soloing is a solo rock climbing sport where the presence of water at the base of the climb protects climbers from serious injury. If a climber falls into the sea below the cliff, he or she may have used up a day’s worth of adrenaline but are otherwise fine. Around Croatia there are 10 well-climbed locations and a hundred climbable and unexplored routes from 98 to 132 feet high. Deep-water soloing doesn’t have to be high, but near Kornati, Croatia, the Ring of Fire is one of the world’s hardest deep-water solos, on the Holy Grail Wall, Mana Island. Notice climber Leo Houlding trying to pull off a massive “dyno” move on the cliffs of Panitula Island before falling.

Slackline Walking and Falling

(image credits:Simon Carter’s Online Photography)

If it’s not enough adventure, not enough of a challenge to climb this awesome 213 foot rock, how about tightrope walking between cliffs? One climber fell from a “slackline” which was strung between the 65-meter high Totem Pole and the mainland at Cape Hauy, Tasmania, Australia.

Blue Mountains, Australia

As a rock climber, you will need strong fingers, strong arms and strong legs as well as the right equipment. Often when rock climbing, the cracks are too small to get your toes into and the only way keep moving upwards is to sink your fingertips into the cracks, use opposing pressure and force yourself up. Strength does not always equal success. The key is balance. You need a plan and even need to know how to rest and regroup, so you can keep going.

Climbers often scrape their skin and bleed for the love of their sport, but how about a more serious fall? Without the right equipment and right mindset, many more climbers would die each year. There is even a correct way to fall; how are you going to let go? Knowing how you are going to fall is critical in not getting hurt. There are times, however, when even a slight break in concentration and effort result in instant falling. In the Blue Mountains of Australia, even these experienced rock climbers take “the fall” and owe their lives to the right equipment and a quick climbing partner.

Rock Climbing in Victoria, Australia

Many climbers enjoy the safety of using pre-placed bolts. But once a climber moves beyond sport climbing, into extreme rock climbing, he or she takes advanced or remote routes and learns to make their own path up the sheer rock wall. Stamina, strength and control are vital to mastering this sport. Climbers use a rating system to describe the difficulty of different routes. The expert level means only 10% of climbers in the world can handle these routes. The elite level means the route can only be handled by the best of the best. And even the best take a few falls along the way. Otherwise, the way down is rappelling, a controlled descent down a rope.

Views of Elite Rock Climbing

Rock climbers gain a deeper appreciation of the natural world surrounding them. They become in tune with the rock. Is that Spiderman? No, but some adrenaline junky rock climbers seem to be blessed with sport superpowers. They scale vertical walls and then make dangerous climbs up and over and even upside down.

Rock Climbing in Moab, Utah

Moab, Utah is famous for the adventures awaiting outdoorsmen. The natural rock formations provide unique challenges for the climber. From conquering the outcroppings to climbing the crack, the sport of rock climbing flourishes in this land of rugged beauty.

Go Forth and Conquer

Go forth and conquer. If you take on rock climbing as your new sport, be ready to sweat and strain your muscles. Be ready to leap from clifftop to clifftop. Be ready to keep your cool and trust your partner if one little break in your concentration causes you to fall. Once you reach the summit, you are on top of the world mentally as well as physically. You will never forget it and never regret it.

Ice Climbing

If you enjoy the cold as well as climbing, then your sport changes slightly to ice climbing. Not only must you be capable of climbing, but you must take on the additional challenges of making those climbs on rocks coated with ice. Ice particles will fall on your face as you climb. It’s an action sport. Things happen very quickly, but remember . . . fear sucks and balance rules.

See the world, fall…in love with rock climbing

Rock climbing will take you to some the most gorgeous spots on this planet. Be stoked about it! The sport will catch hold of you and you will fall . . . in love with these adrenaline adventures.

As world-renowned rock climbing photographer Simon Carter advises, “Get out there and play, and learn from your mistakes. Good luck and happy climbing!” You can see more of his awesome rock climbing photos on his website or in his book, World Climbing: Images from the Edge.

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Didn’t get enough to eat on Thanksgiving? Then feast your eyes on this absurd buffet of monstrously oversized food. While some may lament the inherent waste of food involved in creating the world’s largest burgers, omelettes and sushi rolls, there’s no denying that enormous edibles have their appeal all over the world. You’ll feel full just looking at these 15 record-breaking, gut-busting food items.

Stomach-Popping Pumpkin Pie

(image via: GhostStudy.com)

Nearly a ton of pumpkin was required to make South Africa’s record-breaking, 28-foot pumpkin pie. The massive dessert was three feet deep and took two days to create, and beat out the previous title holder in Circleville, Ohio, which took 360 pounds of sugar, 795 pounds of pumpkin,  60 lbs. of powered milk, 60 dozen eggs, 75 gallons of water and 400 lbs. of flour to make.

12,600 Calorie Gummi Bear

(image via: Cool Things)

Have you ever wondered what 12,600 calories looks like? This huge gummi bear is the equivalent of 1,400 regular-sized gummi bears, stands nine inches tall and weighs five pounds. You can get one of your very own at VAT15 for $40 in your choice of blue raspberry, red cherry, and green apple teeth-rotting flavors.

Monster of a Meatball

(image via: MSNBC)

That old Italian-American classic, spaghetti and meatballs, is a favorite from coast to coast here in the U.S. – but not everyone is content with meatballs that can fit on a fork. Matthew Mitnitsky, owner of Nonni’s Italian Eatery in Concord, New Hampshire, set out to break the previous record, set by late night host Jimmy Kimmel, so he could bring the title back to the East Coast. He succeeded with his 222.5-pound meat monstrosity, beating Kimmel’s meatball by over 24 pounds.

Tons of Tiramisu

(image via: BBC News)

Tiramisu may be from Italy, but that hasn’t stopped both Switzerland and France from creating the two largest tiramisu desserts ever made. The 2007 Swiss version, in the shape of the confection’s country of origin, weighed over 1,742 pounds – but the French beat them handily in 2009 with their less artistic, but much larger 2,372 pound dessert, which contained over 4,000 eggs.

Positively Enormous Pizza

(imave via: CanPages.ca)

Over 1,100 pounds of flour, 1,763 pounds of cheese and 1,984 pounds of tomato paste were required to make the world’s largest pizza, which measured a whopping 122 feet in diameter. Created in 1990 at the Pick ‘n’ Pay hypermarket in Johannesburg, South Africa, the pizza was rapidly consumed in a not-so-orderly fashion by onlookers, who simply tore pieces off the edges with their hands.

Largest Lollipop

(imave via: Sri Chinmoy Bio)

It would take an awful lot of licks to even make a dent in this insanely gigantic lollipop, created in August 2009 in honor of spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy’s birthday. The equivalent of 165,070 regular-sized lollipops, this supersized sucker surpasses the previous record holder by 2,000 pounds, weighing in at 6,706 pounds. It’s 10 feet in diameter, 10 inches thick and 25 feet tall including the stick.

Humongous Bowl of Hummus

(image via: Javno.com)

Lebanese chefs set a new world record in October 2009 with the largest plate of hummus ever made. This garlicky dip contained 2,976 pounds of mashed chickpeas and 13,525 ounces of lemon juice, and was served on the world’s largest plate.

Gut-Busting Burger

(image via: The Metro)

Warning: eating this entire hamburger will undoubtedly result in extreme discomfort, followed by death. The aptly named “The Absolutely Ridiculous Burger”, served at Mallie’s Sports Bar and Grill in Detroit, Michigan, costs $350 and must be ordered 24 hours in advance. The 134 pound slab of meat is served on a 50 pound bun, and naturally, no single individual has ever been able to eat more than a small portion of it.

Seriously Gigantic Sushi Roll

(image via: Weird Asia News)

There’s nothing bite-sized about this ridiculously large sushi roll, created by martial arts movie star Jackie Chan’s restaurant, G. Sushi. As Chan demonstrated at the opening of a new location in Shanghai, this tightly packed roll of raw fish, rice, vegetables and seaweed is so big, it would take three adult men to circle it with their arms.

D’oh! Largest Donut Made of Donuts

(image via: Damn Cool Pics)

It’s the sort of epic donut that would knock Homer Simpson off his feet – a nearly 20-foot-wide creation that weighs more than two rhinoceroses. Assembled by Donut King for the release of The Simpsons Movie on DVD, this gigantic donut was made from 90,000 individual donuts and covered in half a ton of pink icing and 66 pounds of sprinkles.

Omelette of 11,000 Eggs

(image via: KCRA)

It took 20 people in rotating shifts to cook the world’s largest omelette, which weighed more than 1,000 pounds and was made from over 11,000 eggs. Villagers in Belorechenskiy, Russia got to consume the oversized omelette when it was done.

Super-Sized Sandwich

(image via: TechSufi)

It was the sandwich of sandwiches: a 5,440 pound stack of white bread measuring over a foot thick, huge slabs of cheese and meat, and untold amounts of lettuce and mayo. This world record sandwich was made by Wild Woody’s Chill and Grill, in Roseville, Michigan in 2005.

Three months later, cooks in Iran tried and failed to break that record when the crowd started eating their 4,900-foot ostrich meat sandwich before it could be measured.

Fattest Piece of Fudge

(image via: World  Amazing Records)

In June of 2009, a team of students led by a culinary professor at Lansing Community College broke the world record for the largest slab of fudge and made tens of thousands of dollars in proceeds, which were donated for need-based LCC scholarships. The fudge measured over 36 feet long, 8 feet wide and 6 inches deep and weighed in at over 520,000 pounds.

Gigantic Gingerbread Man

(image via: Go San Angelo)

The tallest man in the world presented the world’s largest gingerbread man at an Ikea outlet in the Norway’s capital Oslo in November 2009. 8-foot-1-inch tall Sultan Koesen, declared the world’s tallest living man in September, presented the 1,435 pound cookie, which broke the 1,307 pound record set in Smithville, Texas in 2006.

Insanely Huge Ice Cream Cake

(image via: China Daily)

Adorned with cute cartoon characters, the biggest ice cream cake ever made was nearly 16 feet long, 10 feet wide and three feet tall. Chinese workers who labored over the cake danced in celebration when it was completed in 2006 and declared a world record winner by Guinness World Records.

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Do you know what really happens to your electronics after you’re done with them? If you send them to a recycling facility, there’s a good chance that they’ll actually end up in countries like China, India or Ghana, where local workers risk their health to scavenge valuable materials from the discarded objects. The harmful waste resulting from these recycling centers often ends up in the local air and water stream, endangering the health of everyone in the vicinity.

It was only in 2001 that a light was first shone on these dangerous practices. Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network traced the path of “recycled” electronic waste – laptops, PCs, monitors, cell phones and TVs, for example – from North America to China, where workers make $6-$8 a day handling toxic materials with no protective clothing or masks. His video footage caught the attention of environmentalists around the world, but despite the outrage the practice still isn’t exactly illegal.

U.S. regulations concerning e-waste are murky at best, with no clear federal guidelines on how the e-waste should be handled. The lack of clear regulations leaves it up to individual companies to decide how to deal with their old electronics. Sadly, that means that many of them are shipped overseas where people, even young children, expose themselves to toxic substances to get at the small scraps of precious metals inside.

Recently, a research group from the University of British Columbia visited e-waste sites in Ghana and Guiyu, China. Their findings were put together into the short documentary “Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground” which aired on PBS (you can watch it online here). The conditions at the e-waste dumps were deplorable. Young boys burned plastic pieces to uncover the metal inside, while usable electronic parts were sold at open-air markets. Among the parts available for purchase were hard drives with retrievable personal information still intact.

While it is certainly up to the consumer to erase their personal data from hard drives before disposing of it, it’s easy to see why they believe that their information will not be compromised. Many recyclers, such as those in the PBS video, promise that the electronics will be completely melted down and only the precious metal components salvaged. However, as the researchers found, an alarming number of those recyclers pack the electronics into shipping containers and send them off to developing countries because it’s simply cheaper and easier for them.

(images via: Artsyspot)

There are some reputable e-waste recyclers out there that have invested the time and money into developing a much more sustainable recycling program. Unfortunately, because there are so few government regulations in the industry, it’s up to the individual consumer to research the company they entrust their old electronics to.

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