environment – Page 73 – Take off with Natarajan

Image of the Day….Meteor Crater , Arizona …

January 13, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Meteor Crater, Arizona, from the air

An aerial view of Meteor Crater, Arizona, the result of an impact 50,000 years ago.

View larger. | Photo by Manish Mamtani Photography. Visit him on Facebook.

View larger. | Meteor crater, via EarthSky community member Manish Mamtani Photography. Visit him on Facebook.

Manish Mamatani posted this photo to EarthSky Facebook. It’s wonderful Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona, sometimes said to be the best preserved meteorite impact site in the world. It is an impressive thing to see … worth taking the kids!

The mile-wide crater is the result of a collision between Earth and an asteroid, believed to have occurred only about 50,000 years ago.

Source……Posted by Deborah Byrd

in http://www.earthsky .org

Natarajan

Soldier Gives the Best Birthday Present to his Mother…..See What it is !

January 13, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Surprise military homecomings are always emotional, but what makes this video of a son surprising his mother on her birthday especially emotional is that he just found out his mom had been diagnosed with cancer.

After getting the terrible news, the young man serving in the Army National Guard hurried back home just in time for Mom’s birthday. Something tells me that this was her best birthday ever.

What a precious family moment. That smile on her face says it all.

Source………..www.viralnova.com and http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan

The Corn Palace of South Dakota………

January 13, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, is one of America’s corniest attraction. The palace is a regular building built of out of reinforced concrete and bricks, but every spring, during the time of harvest, its exterior is completely covered with thousands of bushels of native South Dakota corn, grain and grasses that are arranged into large murals. Each year there is a different theme, and the palace is decorated accordingly. Hundreds of thousands of tourists come to see the crop art every year.

At other times of the year, to sustain the flow of tourist and revenue, “the World’s Only Corn Palace” —as it likes to call itself, hold popular events such as the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo in July, the Corn Palace Festival in August and the Corn Palace Polka Festival in September. The Corn Palace also has an auditorium for touring celebrities and a sports arena for various school and college basketball teams.

Photo credit: Matt Hintsa/Flickr

The original Corn Palace was built in 1892 as part of a six-day festival at the height of harvest season. It was a wooden castle structure built on donated land on Mitchell’s Main Street, whose exterior was decorated with corn. The idea was to showcase the rich soil of South Dakota and encourage people to settle in the area. The success of the Corn Palace and the annual festival encouraged the townsfolk to invest in a better building in 1905, but soon this building became too small for Mitchell’s growing population. A more permanent structure, replacing a second corn palace, was erected and opened in time for the 1921 festival. This is the present Corn Palace, but the Russian-style onion domes and Moorish minarets were added later in 1937.

Every year, local artists redecorate the Palace with naturally colored corn and other grains and native grasses such as flax, rye, wheat, oats, and millet as well as bromegrass, bluegrass, and straw. Thirteen different colors or shades of corn are available for artists to work on.

Besides the annual corn festival, the palace building is used for various events including exhibits, dances, stage shows, meetings, banquets, proms, graduations arena for Mitchell High School and Dakota Wesleyan University as well as district, regional and state basketball tournaments.

Photo credit: Mike Ault/Flickr

Photo credit: Scott Robinson/Flickr

Photo credit: Mike Ault/Flickr

Photo credit: Robin Zebrowski/Flickr

Photo credit: josephbergen/Flickr

Source……..www.amusingplanet.com

Natarajan

Tarr Steps: An Ancient ‘Clapper Bridge’ in Somerset…

January 13, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

In the lonely moors of Devon and in other upland areas of the United Kingdom, the ancient people had built stone bridges by placing large flat slabs of stones over piles of stones, without mortar or cement, to cross narrow streams. These bridges are called clapper bridges. The name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word “cleaca” which means “bridging the stepping stones”, suggesting that the first clapper bridges might have been stone slabs laid across the top of existing stepping stones. Most clapper bridges were built during the medieval times, although some of them age much much more.

Photo credit: j.e.mcgowan/Flickr

One of the most famous clapper bridge is Tarr Steps, located in the Exmoor National Park, in Somerset, across the River Barle. It is also the longest clapper bridge in Britain with 17 spans and measuring 55 meters in length.The bridge lies very low in the water, less than a meter over the river’s normal water level. Over the last century, the river has silted so much that during flood it often flows over the stones. Several times in recent years, the slabs of stones, which weigh up to two tons each, have been washed up to 50 meters downstream. The bridge was repaired each time.

The age of Tarr Steps is unknown with several theories claiming that it dates from the Bronze Age, but others put them around 1400 AD. According to local legend, the Devil himself built it so that he could sunbath on. A more elaborate story says that the Devil never fully completed building the bridge, because his apron strings broke and he dropped the stones he was carrying. The Devil then denounced destruction on the first creature to venture across, so the villagers sent a cat across. The poor creature was torn to pieces. The parson then crossed the bridge without harm, and traded insults with the Devil.

The Tar Steps has been a tourist attraction for at least two hundred years.

Photo credit: James Morley/Flickr

Photo credit: Matt Neale/Flickr

Photo credit: Exmoor NP/Flickr

Photo credit: lee roberts/Flickr

Sources: Wikipedia / Theaa.com / www.everythingexmoor.org.uk

Expressive and Whimsical Watercolor Art……

January 13, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Artist Luqman Reza creates expressive animal paintings using watercolor paint. He has always had a knack for art, even as a child. Having grown up in the countryside in a modest family, Luqman’s parents did not have much money to buy their son toys. They gave him a drawing book and a set of markers instead. From that moment on, Luqman would sketch and draw instead of play. For him, a piece of paper is his playground – a blank space that could be filled with anything. “I have the freedom to build my imagination and I knew from the very beginning that I have found my joy in life.” As the years rolled on, Luqman began to experiment with his art using various mediums – including pencils, crayons and oil. But then he discovered water color paint, from that point on, his art became expressive and whimsical. Let’s take a look:

See more of Luqman’s work by clicking here.

Timescape

Animal Watercolor Art

Autumn

Animal Watercolor Art

Lonely

Animal Watercolor Art

Lay me by your side

Animal Watercolor Art

See you in heaven

Animal Watercolor Art

Big surprise

Animal Watercolor Art

Burning sky

Animal Watercolor Art

Ma boy

Animal Watercolor Art

Memories

Animal Watercolor Art

Spring

Animal Watercolor Art

Reflected in the blue sky

Animal Watercolor Art

Leo

Animal Watercolor Art

Peace

Animal Watercolor Art

Have a nice dream

Animal Watercolor Art

Lovely spring

Animal Watercolor Art

Deer

Animal Watercolor Art

Taken

Animal Watercolor Art

h/t: boredpanda.com

Source…………www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

Image of the Day….Double rainbow !!!

January 12, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Double rainbow, Brooklyn Bridge, NYC

EarthSky community member Jennifer Khordi caught this spectacular double rainbow on Sunday, after storms passed over Manhattan.

View larger. | Photo taken January 10, 2016 by Jennifer Khordi of Matawan, New Jersey. Visit Jennifer’s Facebook page.

Source….www.earthsky.org

Natarajan

Hilarious Cartoons for the Day…!!!

January 12, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Source….www.ba-bamail.com

natarajan

Message for the Day….” As Vivekananda said, you should have nerves of steel and muscles of iron. You must brim in hope and joy as your unshakable resolution, not display despair and dejection.”

January 12, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

The greatest disease is the absence of peace. When the mind is peaceful, your body will be healthy. So everyone who craves for good health must pay attention to their emotions, feelings, and motives that animates them. Just as you wash clothes, you must wash your mind free from dirt every day. To cleanse your mind you should mix in good company and avoid dirt elements like falsehood, injustice, indiscipline, cruelty, hate, etc. Truth, righteousness, peace, love – these form the clean elements. If you inhale the pure air of clean elements, your mind will be free from evil bacilli and you will be mentally sturdy and physically strong. As Vivekananda said, you should have nerves of steel and muscles of iron. You must brim in hope and joy as your unshakable resolution, not display despair and dejection.

image of the Day….” Sun Behind a Storm…”!

January 11, 2016Natarajan1 Comment

Sun behind a storm, in Australia

Beautiful light!

View larger. | Photo by Murray Fox Photography. Visit him on Facebook.

Murray Fox of Ipswich – a city in southeast Queensland, Australia – posted this photo at EarthSky Facebook this weekend. He captured it on January 10, 2016. He wrote:

Amazing light as the sun was behind this storm this afternoon.

Source……..www.earthsky.org

Natarajan

How an Anonymous Group of People Came Together to Paint over 250 Flyover Pillars in Bengaluru…

January 11, 2016Natarajan1 Comment

The Ugly Indian, the anonymous collective that is working a slow revolution in Indian streets (and mindsets), has done it again.

After cleaning up the streets of Bangalore with a vengeance, they have found their next target: flyover pillars. These massive structures are common targets for promotional posters and the accumulated dust and filth on our streets, and can (and do) easily become public eyesores.

The Ugly Indian has till date cleaned and painted over 250 of these pillars.

Their latest target was area under the flyover (what is called the UFO area) of the Bhadrappa Layout flyover in Bangalore. Over a 100 civic-minded citizen volunteers and BBMP personnel came together to reclaim this public space. The drive saw people of all ages turn up and work, from young children to senior citizens.

They didn’t just paint the pillars, either; they also fixed up walls, footpaths, and road medians in the area.

The local government is clearly thrilled with these enthusiastic and dedicated workers — since BBMP personnel work along with them, this is, in a way, a public-private partnership.

There may be something to what they’re painting onto the pillars too. The 3-D pyramid design seems to work wonders at dissuading advertisers from using them as notice boards.

In contrast to their previous bedraggled condition, the painted pillars remain spotless. It’s clear that a single move in the right direction can lead to sustained positive change.

Clean, beautiful public spaces can make even the make living in cities a joy. The Ugly Indian, whose motto is “kaam chalu, mooh bandh” (“stop talking, start doing”), is showing us that moralising, debating, and blaming will lead us nowhere till we pick up broomsticks and paintbrushes in our own hands — and get to work.

Because our cities belong to us.

All photos from The Ugly Indian’s Facebook page.

Source…….Vandita Kapoor in http://www.the betterindia.com

natarajan