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the maeslant barrier (maeslantkering), a huge storm surge barrier at the mouth of the port of rotterdam in the netherlands, is the largest hydraulic engineering structure on earth and, according to hard-fact bible wikipedia, ‘the largest moving structure on earth’. it was opened in 1997 as the final part of the delta works, an enormous project undertaken in order to protect certain coastal areas of the country from the sea after a flood in 1953 killed more than 1800 people in the area.
the barrier consists of 2 incredible movable gates which automatically sweep across the water, meeting in the middle of the waterway to form a temporary wall, each of the gates rotating on 680-ton steel ball joints which, with a diameter of 35ft, are also the largest in the world. the barrier’s movable design was chosen as the waterway it guards is far too valuable in terms of trade to shut off permanently: this single barrier cost $700m and has absolutely no effect on ship traffic.
a few weeks ago (november 8th) the barriers were used for the first time prior to fierce storms and succeeded in protecting the port from flooding. the gates, weighing the equivalent of 4 eiffel towers, took 30 minutes to close.
below is the barrier as seen on google maps, the direct link is here.
there’s a brief clip of the barrier below.
Filed under: construction, engineering, history, scary, technology, weather, wow | 17 Comments
supertaxis
would you be willing to pay more per journey if all taxis looked like these?
Filed under: automotive, design, geek, photo, technology, wow | 40 Comments
maybe i was crap in this arena but when i could be bothered making a snowman the process was relatively simple and took a few hours at most. a couple of huge snowballs for the body, some coal for the eyes, carrot for the nose and then if i was feeling adventurous some accessories (hat, scarf, pipe, cucumber penis) to add some personality.
as the season of frostbite and soggy socks is upon us i present to you some examples of ’snow art’ that deserve a viewing. any photos from flickr link to the user’s page.
i’m gonna start with the easier designs and work my way up to the hardcore ’snow sculptures’…
bonus:
real or fake, one of the funniest photos i’ve seen for a while…
Filed under: art, comedy, design, just brilliant, photo, weather, wow | 19 Comments
obviously, construction technologies are advancing extremely quickly. couple that with multi-billionnaires / deep-pocketed companies trying to outdo each other in the quest for the next standout design and you have a near-future filled with mile-high skyscrapers and buildings that no longer look like buildings.
below are 9 strange and unique structures which have either been approved or are in the final stages of approval. some have already been partially constructed.
welcome to the future landscape.
1. aqua, usa (website)
from a distance this skyscraper, to be completed in 2009 in chicago, will seem quite traditional. it’ll only be when you get close and look up that you can appreciate the ripple/jelly effect created by variously sized balconies from top to bottom.
2. chicago spire, usa (website)
the phenomenal chicago spire, when completed in 2010, will be the world’s tallest residential building and the tallest building of any kind in the western world. seemingly modelled on the image of a giant drill poking through the ground, the 609m structure will dominate the chicago skyline.
3. cctv headquarters, china (website)
at a modest 234m the cctv building isn’t going to stand out from a distance. however the design and shape is a crowdstopper to say the least and will be another incredible addition to beijing’s skyline in time for the 2008 olympics. the shape, described as a ‘z criss-cross’ results in a very high, seemingly unsupported corner at the front. let’s hope there’s a glass floor up there.
4. regatta hotel, jakarta (website)
taking on a nautical theme, the developers say the 10 smaller towers represent sailing boats whilst the larger building is ‘the lighthouse’. it’s the lighthouse that steals the show for me, possibly the most incredible looking structure i’ve seen for a long time. if it ends up looking anything close to these pictures i’ll be impressed.
5. residence antilia, india (architects’ website)
construction has begun on residence antilia despite opposition from those who see it as an ‘excessive’ design in a city where more than 65% of the population live in slums. politics aside and after you recover from the initial shock of seeing a skyscraper that resembles an ikea cd rack, the building actually looks like it may succeed as a stunning, unique, green piece of architecture.
6. russia tower, russia (architects’ website)
topped with an observation deck over the city of moscow, russia tower will become the tallest building in europe when completed in 2012 and twice the height of the eiffel tower. construction has already started on this angular beast which was designed by foster & partners, also responsible for the gherkin and spaceport america, currently in development.
7. penang global city centre, malaysia (website)
following months of speculation and sturdy opposition, this humungous project is in the final stages of approval and apparently construction will start very soon. even so, due to the size of the plan it will take at least 15 years to complete. resembling a sci-fi city, the area will be crowned by 2 x 200m towers and completely transform the small island of penang.
8. gazprom headquarters, russia (architects’ website)
this gigantic, 300m tall glass flame of a building will house the gazprom headquarters in st. petersburg, dwarfing all structures in its vicinity. it will apparently change colour up to 10 times per day depending on the position of the sun. the building has already been nicknamed ‘corn on the cob’ by unhappy locals.
9. burj dubai, dubai (website)
this is the big one. when completed next year it will be the tallest man-made structure in the world and the tallest building by a long shot with a predicted height of 818m. note: currently the tallest building on earth, excluding an antenna, is taipei 101 in taiwan which stands at 509m. the photo below is the building’s current state: the skyscrapers below the burj dubai used to look tall.
Filed under: architecture, bizarre, construction, design, just brilliant, photo, technology, wow | 91 Comments
it seems that mensa is for simpletons.
it recently came to my attention that the most well known high-iq society on earth is actually at the bottom of the pile when it comes to intelligence based clubs, a world presumably filled with a huge amount of back-slapping and cryptic in-jokes, and is probably scoffed at by members of other clubs whose mere existence is baffling to normal humans.
let’s first take a look at the statistics for our slightly stupid friend:
name: mensa
iq required for entry: 132
percentage of the population who would fail: 98%
number of members: approx. 100′000
at first glance the numbers look impressive. an iq of 132 is more than respectable and to be in the top 2% is good going.
until you look at these (click on the society’s name to go their website and apply for membership)…
8. ultranet
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: <100
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: 65
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: 39
5. mega society
iq required: 176
percentile: 99.9999%
members: 26
4. pi society
iq required: 176
percentile: 99.9999%
members: 8
3. pars society
iq required: 180
percentile: 99.99997%
members: 37
iq required: 180
percentile: 99.99997%
members: 12
1. giga society
iq required: 196
percentile: 99.9999999%
members: 7
incredible. to put that into some kind of perspective, the giga society is so difficult to gain entry to that approximately 6 out of every 6 billion people on earth are eligible.
at present there’s no high-iq society with a stricter entrance requirement and the club’s founder, paul cooijmans, says the aim of giga is
“to honor the efforts of the very highest scorers, who are of great importance to the development of ultra-high-ceiling tests for mental abilities. a secondary goal is to make members of other iq societies realize they’re not all that, although they may think they are“.
Filed under: geek, just brilliant, mental, wow | 40 Comments
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