47 -year-old Steve Wozniak, a lure fisherman from California, has traveled the world over, in his quest to catch as many different species of fish as possible. So far he managed to catch 1,000 species, from a colorful Threadfin Butterflyfish to a 410 kilogram shark.

Believe it or not, Steve Wozniak has spent the last 10 years, and $75,000 traveling to 63 different countries in the search for new species of fish to put on his list. He flew over 1 million air miles, and spent over 20,000 hours holding his trusty rod and hoping for a bite. But all his efforts paid out when he finally caught his 1,000th fish species, a Norwegian coalfish, and set a new world record.

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As a way of battling the summer heatwave that hit Japan this year, authorities have inaugurated a frozen aquarium that will keep visitors cool and entertained.

Kori no Suizokukan is located in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture and features around 450 specimens of around 80 species of marine wildlife, all captured at a nearby sea port. Visitors can enjoy a brief break from the scorching sun and admire all sorts of fish, crabs or octopuses, as well as unusual objects like action figures, bottles of sake, or flowers, all embedded in huge blocks of ice.

The Frozen Aquarium was inaugurated, in Kesennuma’s fish market, in 2002, and uses flash-freezing technology to conserve fresh specimens and keep them looking so good.

While the Frozen Aquarium is a welcome tourist attraction, visitors can only spend a few minutes inside. Because temperatures inside the aquarium reach -20 degrees Celsius, a special suit is needed to keep people from becoming freezing exhibits themselves. Without these special suits, visitors would start feeling severe pains in just five minutes time.

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The Drill Baby is a bizarre artwork created by New York-based artist Jason Clay Lewis. It is inspired by the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Remember Sarah Palin’s famous “Drill, baby, drill” remark? Jason Clay Lewis named his artwork the Drill Baby in respons to her infamous line. The Drill Baby is a peaceful looking baby made of vinyl rubber, mohair, plaster, oil paint and aluminum armature, covered with tattoos inspired by the BP disaster.

Oil covered seaguls and pelicans, a Koi fish swimming in dark waters and an isolated island surrounded by oil – these are the victims of the oil spill depicted on the infant’s tattoos, while the perpatrators are reprisented by a dark ship followed by floating oil barrels. Even the Virgin Mary is depicted holding a dripping gas nozzle.

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With the Luxury Cat Hotel now open in Hertfordshire, you can rest assured your cat will have a nicer holiday than you, the next time you go on vacation.

Abi and Matt Purser, the owners of this five-star pet hotel, have always believed cats deserve the same attention and care as their owners, and that’s how the idea for their business was born. Now, while their human owners are getting pampered on some exotic island, their cat enjoys the same star treatment at the Luxury Cat Hotel.

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Most likely, the only pyramids you learned about in school were the “Great” ones in Egypt. If you were lucky, you maybe heard that there were some in Central America, but mostly the education was all about Giza and the buried Pharaohs. However, pyramids were built as sacred architecture all over the world, from Chichen Itza (Mexico) to Indonesia; from China to the Canary Islands. If you’re traveling because you’re interested in cultures that you may not have known about before, then you have to check out these epic pyramids of the world.

1) Pyramids of Guimar (Tenerife) – Tenerife is one of the most well-traveled locales in the Canary Islands. There are plenty of hotels and cheap flights to Tenerife; this makes the Pyramids of Guimar a great first “Pyramid That’s Not In Egypt” to see. Built out of volcanic rock and fitted together without mortar, these pyramids are mysterious in that a) they’re comparable in size to all the major pyramids of the world, yet b) no one knows who built them. There are all kinds of stories involving Gnostic Christians, Freemasons, or even Aztec traders before the first millennium, but no one knows for sure. That’s why they’re so interesting.

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I remember reading an article on Environmental Graffiti, a few months ago, about the thorniest trees on Earth. The photos were really impressive, considering I had no idea such trees even existed, but I felt there wasn’t really enough information about these amazing species of trees. So I took it upon myself to do some research and came up with seven bad-ass trees you couldn’t even hope to climb without some serious protective gear.

Silk Floss Tree (Ceiba Speciosa)

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World Cup 2010 Behind Bars is a soccer competition, held in Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison, between 18 seven-player teams, made-up of inmates.

On June 10, the opening match, between Mexico and South Africa, was played on a muddy soccer pitch, inside the Thai prison, under the watchful eyes of dozen guards. It ended in a 1-1 draw, but the prisoners on the sidelines enjoyed every minute of the rare spectacle. They cheered and banged cow bells for the entire match, showing their support for the teams.

The World Cup Behind Bars was also held in 2002 and 2006 and this year it features 18 seven-player teams, from 45 different countries, picked from the prison’s 1,000 inmates population. They can each represent whatever nation they want, even if it’s not their own, and free spots are taken by Thai prisoners.

The winners of the World Cup Behind Bars 2010 will receive a replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy.

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Nomadic Plants is a quirky project of Mexican artist, Gilberto Espaza, that possible symbiosis between vegetation and technology.

This is not Gilberto Espaza’s first such project. Last year, he unleashed his Urban Parasites on Mexico City. The small machines, made from recycled consumer goods, roamed the urban area in search of power sources they could feed on.

This year, the Mexican artist has an even more interesting project prepared. His Nomadic Plants installation focuses on the symbiosis between plants, micro-organisms and technology. A few river plants and bacteria live inside the Nomadic Plants robot, and whenever the life-forms inside it need nourishment, the machine searches the nearest polluted water-source and “drinks” from it.

A microbial fuel cell process decomposes the water’s elements and turns them into energy for the robot, and the rest is used to feed the plants and organisms inside. Gilberto Espaza said he was inspired to create this cyborg plant after reading about the microbial fuel cell that inspired him to take on the theme of environment pollution.

The Nomadic Plants installation is on display at Laboral Art and Industrial Creation Center, in Gijon, Spain, until June 2010.

via We Make Money Not Art

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Glenda Ewart, a very talented artist, from Castlerock, Ireland, creates hyper-realistic dolls of newborn babies.

A former chef, Glenda Ewart discovered her talent as her doll-sculpting artist while she was pregnant with her first child. Now she creates realistic baby dolls, using multiple coats of paint, to recreate a newborn’s soft skin. After the skin is cured in the oven, the most strenuous part begins: implanting over 20,000 fine strands of mohair into the doll’s scalp. While others might find this process difficult, to say the least, Glenda Ewart says she loves every moment of it.

You know how most parents say babies grow up too fast,and they wish they could somehow keep them young and adorable forever? Glenda Ewart’s reborn babies are the closest thing to fulfilling this dream, and she sells her creations to parents all around the world. She spends a long time working on each and every one of them, specifically because she tries to make all of them unique.

Panting the dolls, implanting the hair and scenting them to smell just like newborn can take several weeks for just one baby, but Glenda Ewart enjoys making every one unique. You can witness her incredible talent, in the photos below, but make sure you check out her official site, for more information and details. Also check her Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Photos are copyright of GLENDA EWART and YELLOW COTTAGE NURSERY

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Tito Ingenieri, from Quilmes, Argentina, claims he has spent the last 19 years collecting bottles and using them to build an environment-friendly house.

Now, we’ve seen impressive bottle-made structures before, like the Bottle Temple of Thailand, or the house of plastic bottles, near Iguazu Falls, but none as impressive as Tito Ingenieri’s bottle house. I know it doesn’t look very stylish, but the man did spend almost two decades of his life working on it. During this time he collected 6 million non-returnable glass bottles, and asked his neighbors to save their bottles for him.

Mr. Ingenieri says his unusual home also acts as an alarm, when the waters of a nearby river are rising. The southern winds blowing into the necks of the glass bottles, makes a whistling sound. He also adds that he can teach anyone who’s interested in building a bottle house like his. If that’s you, check out his website for contact information.

via Treehugger

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Doubling as a pet and fancy brooch, the jewel-studded beetle is a common accessory in countries like Mexico. They’re not too popular in America, though.

An American woman found this out the hard way, when her living piece of jewelry was confiscated, upon her entry back into the States, from Mexico. The dazzling bug was freely crawling on the woman’s sweater, but the gold chain attached to a safety pin kept it from venturing too far.

Covered in gold and pricey gemstones, the blinged-out insect was confiscated by pest-control, because its owner didn’t have the proper documents. She received no fine, but she’ll definitely regret spending money on live jewelry.

Jewel-studded beetles and other bugs are considered common in Mexico and have been for centuries.

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If you think of yourself as a real-life superhero than you need to have an action-figure. Thanks to doll-crafting artist Cyndi Safstrom, now you can.

Cyndi at Be-a-Doll.com offers anyone the chance to own an action-figure of themselves, for just $180 plus shipping fees. All you need to do is send out two photos, one taken from the front and a profile shot, then wait 2-3 weeks for your doll to arrive.

The artist sculpts the head onto a vinyl doll and dresses it according to your desires. Some clients like to have the dolls outfitted just like them, while others prefer to be wear superhero clothes. Anyway you dress it, the doll will be unique, just like you.

Thanks Cyndi!

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A pest in the United States and pretty much everywhere else, Cuitlacoche, or Corn Smut, is considered a delicacy in Mexico.

Cuitlacoche is sold at a higher price than healthy corn and used to make tortillas. The diseases attacks the kernels, turning them into spore-filled tumors that apparently taste way better than healthy corn. The smut-infected corn is picked before it reaches maturity, so the kernels are still moist and taste sweet, savory, woody, and earthy.

After high-profile chefs and government officials tried to convince the American  people to stop regarding Cuitlacoche as a disease and start treating it like food, cans of Cuitlacoche found their way on to store shelves. But people are still reluctant to try it…I wonder why.

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If your favorite doll suffered serious damaged that you can’t fix yourself, jump on a plane to Lisbon and take it to the Doll Hospital. They’ll fix it right up.

Located in Figueira Square, Lisbon, the Doll Hospital has been “treating” dolls since 1830 and it’s not going to go out of business anytime soon. Equipped with an emergency and operating rooms, this bizarre establishment has experienced doll doctors and a wide range of spare parts, in case you’re doll needs something replaced.

If people ever stop having their dolls repaired, the Doll Hospital of Lisbon will donate its entire collection of abandoned dolls and spare parts to a local museum. I’m sure they’d fit better on The Island of the Dolls, but…

Photos by REUTERS

via Xinhua

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Announced for over a year now, the world’s largest underwater museum recently received its first exhibits.

The seabed of the Mexican Caribbean is now host to a series of life-size sculptures on display in Mexico’s Underwater Museum. But they are just a few of the 400 statues that will be lowered down to the bottom in the following months.

Located in the National Marine Park, the Underwater Museum aims to raise environmental awareness by creating an artificial reef. Scientists hope the statues will attract young algae that will color them vividly.

Photos by Jason de Caires/BARCROFT MEDIA

via Telegraph.co.uk

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