skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Glub! Glub! Ahh....just came up for air...and a coffee. Hey...good to see you. Glad you found a few minutes to share with me today. Help yourself to a mug of coffee and a virtual treat why don't'cha? Go ahead. Be a devilfish! Speaking of fish...
In a bid to explore alternative
methods of growing produce, an Italian company has created the world’s
first underwater farm. The futuristic station – aptly named Nemo’s
Garden – consists of five transparent biospheres anchored to the bottom
of the sea off the coast of Savona, Italy. They’re being used to grow
strawberries, basil, beans, garlic, and lettuce.
“The main target of this project is
to create alternative sources of plant production in areas where
environmental conditions make it difficult to grow crops through
conventional farming, including lack of fresh water, fertile soils, and
extreme temperature changes,” said project spokesperson Luca Gamberini.
“We are trying to find an alternative and economically viable technology
enabling efficient production.”
The five pods, currently floating
between depths of 18 and 36 feet, are constantly monitored by Ocean Reef
Group – a diving equipment company – from a control center on dry land.
“We have installed many webcams and we can easily check on everything,”
Gamberini said. “We also have a sensor panel with live data feed from
the lab biosphere – so all data is live, on the internet and accessible to anyone.”
According to various news reports, the
plants are kept hydrated by drips of water that condense on the inner
walls of the biospheres. With a constant temperature of 79 degrees day
and night, and humidity at around 83 percent, the conditions are ideal
for plants to thrive. The high amount of carbon dioxide also
accelerates growth.
Ocean Reef president Sergio Gamberini
said he came up with the idea of growing plants underwater during a
summer vacation in Italy. In his own words, he wanted to “do something
that’s different and to show the beauty of the ocean.” After two years
of failed attempts, they finally were able to get these five biospheres
working. A report in the Washington Post
suggests that their success “may lay the foundation for a new form of
crop production that can be done without harming the environment.”
In fact, the biosphere seems to be
attracting wildlife. Octopuses and endangered seahorses are taking
shelter under the structures, while crabs are crawling up the anchors
and into the greenhouses. None of the creatures have damaged the plants
so far. “It’s so kind of sci-fi to see these two different forms of life
interact,” Gamberini said.
Ocean Reef has a patent on the unique
underwater pods, and they plan to roll out smaller aquarium versions
that people can keep in their homes. Depending on the outcome of this
project, they also plan to experiment with other crops like mushrooms.
They haven’t sold their produce yet – for now, they’re using it to make
pesto sauce for their guests!
Well...well...well...do you want seaweed with that?
See ya, eh!
Bob
G'day to you! You aren't a robot, are you? Oh good. Can't be too sure these days. Great to see you, whether you are or not. Assuming you are not, help yourself to a mug of coffee (robots don't drink coffee) and a virtual doughnut, muffin or anzac cookie. Talking of robots...
Believe it or not, the day has
finally come when people can have their iPads wait in line every time a
new iPhone is released! A woman named Lucy Kelly was the first to try it
out – she sent an iPad robot to stand proxy for her at an Apple store
in Sydney, Australia, just before the launch of the new iPhone 6s.
The robot, also named Lucy, consists
of an iPad attached to a Segway-type device. Created by Californian
company Double Robotics, it allows a person to be virtually present
anywhere without actually having to be there. And the company that Kelly
works for – Atomic 212 – happened to order six of these robots to play
with at their office.
“We use them for everything, just to
show new technology,” Kelly said. “It is a cool demonstration of what
the future of technology will be. We are obsessed with them.” So on the
eve of the iPhone 6s release in Sydney last Thursday, Lucy the robot
arrived to take the fourth place in the long line of Apple fans.
“I wanted to be one of the first people
to have the iPhone 6s, but obviously because of work I can’t spend two
days standing in line waiting for a mobile phone,” she told Mashable Australia. “So my boss said ‘Just take the robot down, you’ll still be able to do your work, but you’ll still be waiting in line.”
According to Kelly, an app allows people
to communicate from anywhere through the iPad. So she used it to make
friends with other people standing in line, answer questions from
inquisitive passersby, and ultimately purchase the phone. The device
waited in line for the entire night, in a special tent that kept her
charged and safe from the rain. And Kelly’s face was on the screen the
whole time.
She revealed that none of the others in
line seemed jealous or resentful of the robot. “Everyone thinks it’s
pretty cool,” she said. “They were happy to let a robot go ahead.”
So there you go. Can the robot stand in line at the bank? Not so many people are actually going to the bank any more, though. On the topic of banks, I had to go to mine yesterday. The day before, I reached into my pocket for some money and pulled out one of the new 20s...and it was torn completely in half... right through that new plastic strip. It probably happened because I happened to have a loonie in the same pocket...the only sharp object.
See ya, eh!
Bob
PS: Yes, the bank did exchange my torn apart 20 for a new one. They did not seem surprised which leads me to believe...
Hi there! How are you doing? Well, I hope. We had an interesting day at the Martintown Mall yesterday. Fill your coffee mug, nudge a virtual treat or two onto your plate and I'll tell you about it.
The morning was kind of slow. Not many people out and about but then suddenly we heard the skirl of bagpipes. Two pipers, a man and a woman, came out of the shop next to us, crossed the street and walked up to the house across from the Mill. They stopped at the front door and began playing the pipes again right in front of the door. When the fellow who owns the house opened the door to see what was going on, he discovered that the pipers were a couple of relatives from Scotland on a surprise visit. Needless to say, everyone around had stopped to watch the goings on.
Then, in early afternoon, a fellow in a pickup truck pulled into the drive in front of the Mill. He was carrying a couple of huge squash. The smaller one weighed 700 pounds while the big one weighed in at 1000 pounds! Gi-norous! Here's Nong posing next to the big fellas...
Now the market is all over till next June!
See ya, eh!
Bob
An-young na chim-na ka! G'day to you. You're looking fit as a fiddle. Never mind the broken string. We all have them, eh! Got your mug ready for coffee, I see. Grab a virtual doughnut or muffin while you're at it. Low fat of course. Speaking of keeping fit, read this...
A Korean couple are taking Instagram
by storm with their phenomenal body transformation photographs. In a
short span of five months, they have gone from ‘somewhat chubby’ to
super-lean workout machines!
Song Jin Yoo and Shin Ji Hoo been
exercising together at the gym for the past five months – spending three
hours a day on aerobic exercise and one-and-a-half hours lifting
weights twice a week. They have recently shared their amazing results on
a Korean Facebook pace titled ‘Dieting is the Best Plastic Surgery’.
Their before-and-after simply left everyone speechless and soon went
viral in Korea.
In addition to their workout regimen,
they’ve been following a strict diet consisting of chicken breasts,
eggs, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables, in
specific quantities. Song Jin Yoo, the guy, eats 150g of chicken breast,
120g of sweet potatoes, five pieces of almonds, cherry tomatoes,
cabbage, and some onions every three to four hours. Shin Ji Hoo, on the
other hand, consumes three to four egg whites, 50g of potatoes, some
fruits and vegetables around five times a day.
The self-devised regime yielded
impressive results in a short time span – Song Jin Yoo went from 83kg
with 16% body fat to 71kg with 5% body fat. Shin Ji Hoo initially
weighed 71kg with 32% body fat, but she’s now at 49kg and 18% body fat.
That’s a lot to lose in just five months.
The couple’s latest photographs, featuring ripped, sculpted bodies, have gone viral. Shin Ji Hoo has an Instagram
following of over 9,000 and thousands others have declared themselves
inspired by their transformation and plan to take up dieting and
exercise to hopefully match their feats. “You guys are an inspiration
for others,” an Instagram user wrote. And the media is referring to them
as the poster couple for ‘relationship goals
Such a transformation would be impressive in a couple of years, but in
five months it seems almost impossible. Still, the photos the two post
on their respective social media profiles seem genuine, and so far no
one has been able to prove any fowl play.
Hey....good for them. I start my transformation program tomorrow...
See ya, eh!
Bob
PS: Today's our last day at the Martintown Market. If you're in Eastern Ontario or Western Quebec, c'mon out for a drive in the country. I'ts cool right now at +2 but it will reach 20C by the afternoon.
Well hey there! How y'all doing? Dog tired? Yeah, me too. Have to drive to Ottawa this morning for an MRI, then hightail it back in time to pick Nong up at work at 1:00. Then we'll be preparing all kinds of Thai food for tomorrow morning. Last day of the Martintown Mill Market and tomorrow is a special day because the market will also be a host for "Apples and Art'...an annual event where everyone can visit local artist's studios and display areas. Weather looks good, too! If you're in the area, c'mon by tomorrow and pick up some of our delicious Thai food! Anyway, why don't'cha pour yourself a coffee and snag a virtual treat? Speaking of dog tired...
Ever since he retired 15 years ago,
Eugene Bostick has spent a huge chunk of his time caring for animals.
Among the many awesome things he does perhaps the most interesting is
playing train conductor for a bunch of rescued stray dogs. He actually
built a custom train for the canines, consisting of a tractor pulling a
row of plastic barrels with the tops cut off.
The 80-year-old from Fort Worth,
Texas, says he never planned on spending so much time with dogs, but it
sort of just happened. “We live down on a dead-end street, where me and
my brother have a horse barn,” he told online magazine The Dodo.
“People sometimes come by and dump dogs out here, leaving them to
starve. So we started feeding them, letting them in, taking them to the
vet, to get them spayed and neutered. We made a place for them to live.”
But Bostick has done more than just
give the strays a place to live. He’s actually made their lives fun, by
constructing a unique train to take them on little trips. “I started out
with my tractor,” he explained. “I had a little trailer and I put four
or five dogs in there and took them riding. Then more dogs started to
show up and I thought ‘Uh-oh! That’s not enough room.’”
That’s how the dog train was born.
Now, Bostick can be seen puttering around town in his tractor, with nine
dogs in tow. He drives them down the quiet streets, through the forest
near their home, across Fort Worth golf course, and stops by the creek
for some fresh air. And the formerly abandoned dogs love their train to
bits – they look happier and healthier by the day.
“Whenever they hear me hooking the
tractor up to it, man, they get so excited,” Bostick said. “They all
come running and jump in on their own. They’re ready to go.”
But it’s not just dogs Bostick and his
brother Corky care for, they are kind to other animals too. “In our
generation, people shot everything they saw,” Corky said. “We finally
realised you know, what was happening, so we just went the reverse.” The
brothers now spend their mornings feeding the wildlife around their
property.
As Bostick frequently rides the dog
train around town, it has attracted the attention of locals – they often
stop to have their picture taken with the unique contraption and post
the photos on social media. “This is the coolest guy he rescues stray
dogs and every morning he takes them for a train ride by our building,”
one woman tweeted.
You can watch Eugene's video right here:
http://www.odditycentral.com/animals/awesome-80-year-old-man-builds-dog-train-to-take-rescued-pooches-on-fun-rides.html#more-47937
What happens if a dog wants to get off? I guess it just barks, right?
See ya, eh!
Bob
G'day, mate! How're you going? I see you are ready for an exciting day of drinking... coffee?... and the bloodless sport of Boxwars! Well, fill your mug and tuck a virtual treat or two into your pocket as you don your cardboard armour...
Boxwars is a fast-growing
entertainment phenomenon that takes the childhood pastime of playing
with cardboard boxes to a whole new level. Participants use reclaimed
cardboard to create the full range of battle gear – armour, weapons,
monster trucks, tanks, gigantic animals, and more. Then they put on
monumental battle shows during which every creation is completely
destroyed!
Boxwars is the brainchild of
Australian friends Hoss Siegel and Ross Koger, who came up with
it nearly a decade ago over drinks. “There was a lot of drinking
involved,” Koger said in an interview. “We sort of imagined this concept
one day, and thought yeah let’s give it a go. We did it at a party and
had a great time, and thought let’s do this again!”
Koger explained that with each new
boxwar party, the suits and structures became more and more elaborate
until they couldn’t fit in their back gardens any more. So they decided
to move the party to a local park on Boxing Day 2002 (how fitting), and
people who were having barbecues at the park rushed over to watch them.
And that’s when they realised that their silly games actually had huge
entertainment value.
“That was the beginning of Boxwars,”
Koger said, “and we go to the same spot every year on Boxing day! The
suits, since then, have gotten more elaborate as have the crowds, and
it’s funny that something which spawned from a stupid idea at a party
has become so big.”
Today, Boxwars builds complex
structures, armour, props, and sets, for each themed battle. The sport
has expanded beyond Boxing Day – it is now a part of nearly every major
festival or event in Australia and around the world. “We do props and
workshops,” Koger explained. “For Stereosonic last year, we built these
large robots with lights that hung over the crowd. This year’s Sydney
Festival we did a Mad Max theme where we shut down a city street and
drove dune buggies down it!”And for the Down on the Farm music festival
in Victoria, they did a kangaroo cull-themed battle with the warriors
donning giant ‘roo suits’ and armour, ‘driving’ their monster trucks.
Boxwars is now run by the Boxwars
Council (consisting of Hoss and Ross), and has legions of fans across
the globe. “One of our main aims is to bring cardboard back to the
consumers who discarded it in the first place without realising its true
potential,” the official website states. “Cardboard, or the street name
‘box’, we quickly discovered had brilliant properties for engineering.
The limits of scale and awesomeness were continuously pushed to greater
commanding heights with the development of our skills with this great
stuff.”
Koger further revealed every piece of
battlegear in Boxwars is handmade by the warriors themselves. He said
that there’s generally a core group of people who actually do the
Boxwars props, and a bigger group of warriors that builds with them all
the time. “There are lots of different groups that come to events in all
cities around Australia who help build,” he said. “The concept has even
spread overseas in Edinburgh and a bunch of guys in the Netherlands who
we got to meet last year (that was awesome), as well as in Russia. It’s
getting around, as it’s a concept that can work anywhere, and we’re
happy that people overseas can identify with what we’re doing here in
Melbourne and make stuff that’s pretty awesome.”
Puts another meaning on the expression, "We've got them boxed in", doesn't it? Creative costumes and looks like fun.
See ya, eh!
Bob
Konichi wa! How are you doing today? Good to see you. Coffee's perked and the virtual treats are their usual array of magnificent delectability so help yourself! Try a Japanese cream puff. Got a story for you today about a lady in Japan who, shall we say, lives up to her nickname...and she is no Japanese cream puff, I'll tell you...
Although she looks harmless,
68-year-old Chisako Kakehi is probably one of the most dangerous women
in the world. Nicknamed ‘The Black Widow of Kyoto’ by the media, she is
believed to be responsible for the deaths of eight men who were romantically involved with her at some point in time.
Kyoto-based Kakehi is currently in
police custody, for the fourth time in her life. According to Kyoto
police, Kakehi has been in relationships with over 10 men, eight of whom
eventually ended up dead. So far, she has been charged with the murder
of a former husband in Kyoto and a boyfriend in Osaka, as well as the
attempted murder of a man in Kobe.
Kakehi first became known to the
police in December 2013, when her 75-year-old husband was found dead in
their home in Kyoto. The death was initially believed to have been
caused by a heart attack, and Kakehi perfectly played the part of
grieving widow. But police soon began to discover gaping holes in her
story. She was married to the man for only a month, and she stood to
receive a huge inheritance after his death. Later, traces of lethal
cyanide were discovered in the dead man’s blood.
So the police launched a full-fledged
investigation regarding Kakehi’s involvement in the crime. It was
during the course of this investigation that they uncovered a chilling
truth – several of the men she had previously dated or married had died
of cyanide poisoning. And she conveniently happened to be the sole
beneficiary on all their wills.
The first time was in 1994 – her
first husband had passed away at the age of 54. She then met a man
through a dating service and married him, and he died of a stroke in
2006, at age 69.
Her third marriage also ended with the death of her
75-year-old partner, in 2008. Husband number four suddenly fell ill at
home after only two months of marriage, and was confirmed dead on
arrival at the hospital.
A boyfriend was the next to go – he
was believed to be suffering from cancer when he died in 2012. She was
then engaged, but (surprise, surprise), her fiance died after he
collapsed while riding a motorcycle.
In 2013, her 75-year-old boyfriend
collapsed in the parking lot of a restaurant, shortly after the couple
had shared a meal. The eighth and final death was of her 75-year-old
husband, the one that finally got her caught.
At first Kakehi insisted that she was
innocent. “I don’t even know how to kill someone,” she said. “And I
don’t know where the cyanide came from. I wish someone would tell me.”
But the police soon discovered her very own stash of hydrocyanic acid,
stored in a planter in her home.
Coincidence...sheer coincidence, don't you think?
See ya, eh!
Bob
Hiya! Good to see you. I appreciate you dropping out of cyberspace for a mug of coffee and a VT. Help yourself, why don't'cha? Speaking of space...
A record-breaking distance has been achieved in the bizarre world of quantum teleportation, scientists say.
The scientists teleported photons (packets of light) across a spool of fiber optics 63 miles (102 kilometers) long, four times farther than the previous record.
This research could one day lead to a "quantum Internet" that offers next-generation encryption, the scientists said.
Teleporting an object from one point in the universe to another without it moving through the space in between may sound like science fiction pulled from an episode of "Star Trek," but scientists have actually been experimenting with "quantum teleportation" since 1998.
Yeah well...transporting photons is one thing but let me know when you can transport Nong and I to Thailand in 2.4 seconds instead of 24 hours, okay? I can only eat so many packets of soggy airplane noodles, watch so many movies on a tiny screen and play seemingly endless games of sudoku. Maybe next time, a good dose of melatonin will shed less light on the problem!
Beam me off to sleep, Scotty.
See ya, eh!
Bob
Source: Twisted Physics: 7 Mind-Blowing Findings
Hello there! How's she going? Great to see you. Reach over and fill your mug with some freshly brewed coffee and nudge a virtual treat onto your plate. Say...I don’t know about you but I love apples in every form possible so when I read this story, I wanted to share it with you.
The city of Krolevets, in Ukraine’s
Sumy region, is home to the world’s most unique apple garden, consisting
of only one tree. Spanning 10 acres, the 220-year-old tree – known as
‘apple tree colony’ – has dozens of individually rooted trunks that
constantly spring to life, making it seemingly impossible to die.
The tree seems to have worked out a
brilliant survival strategy, and it looks prepared to survive for
centuries to come. It started off as a regular tree, but as it aged, its
branches bent so low to the ground that they started to take root as
well. Every time one of the ingrown trunks dies, its branches
immediately bend to the ground and take root. It had only nine trunks in
1970, but that number had doubled by 2008.
Today, the tree-garden has several main
trunks and dozens of rooted branches springing from each of them. It
blooms every year, during the regular season, but its pink flowers are
only visible on half the tree, while the other half rests. Its apples –
locally known as Lozovka – are medium-sized and sweet with a slightly tart taste.
Local legend has it that the tree was
planted by Prince Peter Sergeev of the Meshchersky royal family. When he
died, the tree mourned for him and its branches bent to the ground,
eventually giving rise to an apple tree colony. The prince was buried
under his beloved tree in 1848, and his gravestone is still visible
today.
Another version of the story says that the prince planted an
apple tree on the grave of his wife who died when she was still young.
Some say that the tree was cursed,
which is why it behaves more like a gooseberry bush than an apple tree.
Several scientists have studied the tree in detail, but every attempt to
recreate it’s survival mechanism has failed. In 1972, the tree was
declared a national monument of local importance by the Sumy Regional
Council. In 1998, its status was upgraded to national importance.
Hey...let's all root for this tree! It knows what it's doing.
See ya, eh!
Bob
Hey there! Good to see you. What'cha been up to? Nong and I are tired as all get out today after a busy day at the Martintown Market yesterday. We tried out some new foods...mostly good reactions and some great customer feedback. Got asked if we would be interested in doing a buffet at a hotel, too! Regrettably, we aren't set up for that so we're passing that along to a friend who is. Pour yourself a mugful of coffee and try a virtual coconut bun why don't'cha? It looks almost live a sandwich...and speaking of which...
Six months – that’s apparently how
long it takes to truly make a sandwich from scratch. And we know this
thanks to 28-year-old Andy George, host of the YouTube series How to Make Everything.
He actually spent six months and $1,500 growing and preparing every
single ingredient that went into one, very regular, sandwich.
Andy recently shared a time-lapse
video titled ‘How to Make a $1,500 Sandwich in Only Six Months’ on his
YouTube channel. The video shows him doing all sorts of tasks that
people normally take for granted when they buy stuff off store shelves.
He grows vegetables, makes salt, bakes bread from scratch, and even
kills a live chicken. His goal? To make everyone realise that things
don’t magically appear in supermarkets.
No sandwich is complete without
cheese, and to make that from scratch, he started by learning how to
milk a cow. And to make one loaf of bread, he harvested wheat, collected
fresh honey from a beehive, and made butter as well. But the highlight
of the video was when he killed a live chicken with his bare hands. He
decapitated it, plucked its feathers, boiled it, and grilled the meat,
before he was finally ready for the easiest part – assembling and eating
the sandwich.
His reaction on eating the sandwich was
gold: “It’s not bad,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Six months of my life
for ‘not bad’. Yeah.”
$1500
to make a sandwich? Yeah...and he probably washed it down with an extra
large double double espresso mocha latte from Starbucks which would be
close to the same price, right?
Hmmm...questions come to mind.
1. Did he grow the chicken from an egg?
2. Did he go to the seashore, dip a pot in the ocean and evaporate the water to leave salt in the pot?
3. How did he make the yeast for his bread?
Just curious, is all.
See ya, eh!
Bob
Hi ya! Have to be quick this morning. It's Sunday and Nong and I are off to Martintown for the Mill Market there. It is supposed to be a great day today so we are hopeful that our sales will pick up. Hey...good to see you! Water you up to. Misspelling?
Wait and see as soon as you fill yor mug and snag a virtual treat or two. Remember to wait a while after eating before venturing into the water. Speaking of water...
A cannonball splash is the easiest
(and most fun) way to dive, but did you know it’s a legitimate sport as
well? It’s officially called ‘splashdiving’, but fans lovingly refer to
it as ‘arse bombing’!
While regular divers are judged on
how smoothly they land in the water, in splashdiving it’s the exact
opposite that counts – points are awarded for the size of the splash
created on impact. That sounds painful, but leading competitors say it
doesn’t really hurt as much as you’d think. “The pain is minimal,”
according to the reigning arse-bombing world champion Rainhard Riede
from Bavaria. And in the words of arse-bomber Lukas Eglseder, “You get used to it.”
Splashdiving has its own set of
rules, and believe it or not, competitors can choose from 13 different
styles of diving. The classic ‘arse bomb’ involves landing bum first
with the knees tucked into the stomach. Other techniques include ‘the
cat’, ‘the chair’, and ‘the plank’. Contestants are required to announce
their moves in advance, and are given four chances to make a big
impression.
The first dive is all about the
splash, as divers aren’t allowed to perform acrobatic moves. The
remaining dives give them a chance to show off with somersaults, twists,
and various positions. They’re judged on takeoff, execution, and
landing. Freestyle elements such as handstands, palm flips, or grabs are
given a different score – from one to ten – by each judge. The highest
overall scorer wins.
This year, Riede managed to win the
coveted title of world champion by performing an impressive set of
somersaults and twists, while also hitting the water hard and making a
big splash. The women’s splashdiving contest was won by 15-year-old
Franziska Fritz. She’s been the champion three years in a row, but
wishes more women would get interested in the sport. “It’s a shame that
I’m always so alone,” she said.
Founded by a German man named Oliver
Schil in 2003, the official splashdiving event was his attempt to
“change how pool bombing is viewed by people worldwide.” He came up with
the entire structure and rules in one night, and the very next weekend,
he organised the first Arschbombe (arse bombing) contest. It was a huge
success, with over 6,000 spectators and enormous press coverage. The
first ever winner was Michael Schmidt from Bayreuth, Germany.
Since then, Arschbombe World Cups
have been a yearly event, with several world champions crowned since.
Over time, the name ‘Arschbombe’ was perceived to be rather crude, so
they changed it to Splashdiving.
According to splashdiving champion
and Guinness World Record holder Christian Guth, the sport is quite
close to Olympic diving. “Only we do it freestyle and splash on
purpose,” he said.
He also added that splashdiving is like boxing in terms of the pain.
“When you get in the ring for the first time and get hit with two
well-aimed left hooks from the local champion, you will probably be
crying about it for the rest of the week. But by your 20th match, you
will probably know how to avoid the blow or block it.”
“It is the same with splashdiving,” he explained. “With a bit of training, you can get your body ready for almost anything.”
Guth believes that there are about 500
to 1,000 splashdivers in the world today, but only a few of them take
part in competitive events.
Looks like fun. Of course we Taylors have our own version of arse-bombing but we won`t get into that. A-r-r-r-g-h-h-h. Did you do that?
See ya, eh!
Bob
