Drink with Harrison Ford Forever with Han Solo in Carbonite Ice Cube Tray

By Nick Rallo

From http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/

ThinkGeek
Chewy, you have to take care of the Princess now.

Man, if we had a nickel for every time we watched Han Solo get encased in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back and said the words "damn, that'd make a great ice cube!"

Too bad. ThinkGeek, in their infinite wisdom, has beaten us to the idea. Their geekery has spawned the Star Wars Han Solo in Carbonite Ice Tray, which, as you might have guessed, holds seven Han Solo ice cubes. Poor Chewy. Don't worry, it's not permanent! He'll be out soon, and ThinkGeek appropriately mentions: "The empire will compensate you if he melts."

Anyway, these are a must-buy at $9.99. If only John Williams' Imperial March could play while you make the cubes ...

Incredible Icebergs [37 Pics]

1

Lightning Strikes Iceberg Sony PSP Wallpaper

Perito Moreno Glacier with a backdrop of black mountains.
Perito Moreno is the most beautiful, interesting and, consequently, the most visited glacier in Argentina. Another gorgeous place where icebergs are "born." Ana_Cotta

 

River runs under the ice
The photographer notes, "This river came out from under the glacier. The compact blue ice in the background was lit up by the pure sunlight." Matthew Hoelscher

 

Briksdalsbreen Glacier where icebergs break off
Briksdalsbreen, in Norway, is part of west arm of Jostedalsbreen National Park -- Jostedalsbreen is Europe's largest land glacier. Vicrogo

 

Antartica where penguins play Angell Williams

triggerpit.com — Icebergs are large pieces of ice that broke off from a snow-formed glacier or an iceshelf. Where a glacier meets the sea, humongous chunks of ice break off from the face of the glacier; this is known as calving. 

Click here for this fascinating gallery:  http://triggerpit.com/

How to Build a Giant Ice Dome

In Austria, Imbibe in the New Ice Dome

By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
from: livescience.com 

Kiddy igloos grow up in the latest engineering feat in Austria, where a huge ice dome has been erected and now serves as a bar —as long as temperatures stay chill enough.

The dome structure, which sits in front of a hotel in the village of Obergurgl and was completed last Monday (Jan. 27), has a 33-foot (10 meters) free span, or stretch supported solely by the outside walls. 

Using ice as a building material has actually been done before: Entire ice hotels have been built, for instance, in Scandinavia. 

"In most cases, though, the spans of the structures are small or the ice is not a load-bearing component and merely acts as cladding for the actual construction," said researcher Johann Kollegger of Vienna University of Technology. 

In Japan, ice domes have been built using a construction method in which water is sprayed onto a balloon. Kollegger thinks his team's new method is easier — for instance, when spraying water onto the balloon, the ice sprays back at the workers. 

To build their freestanding structure, Kollegger and his colleagues first cut an 8-inch- thick (20 centimeters) plate of ice into 16 segments. To sculpt the segments to have dome-like curve, the researchers relied on ice's creep behavior. If pressure is applied to ice, it slowly changes its shape without breaking.  One of the mechanisms by which glaciers move, called glacial creep, functions similarly, the researchers say.

"The segments of ice are placed on stacks of wood. Then, under the load of its own weight, the ice begins to change shape all by itself, resulting in a curved dome segment," said team member Sonja Dallinger, research assistant at the Institute of Structural Engineering and on-site manager of the Obergurgl construction experiment.

The greatest challenge the team faced was preventing the individual curved segments from breaking while being assembled into the dome. To keep the pieces intact, the team built a wooden tower at the dome's center to support the pieces during construction. The segments were held together with steel chains. Once all the segments had been positioned and the ice dome stood on its own, the team removed the tower.

The completed structure has been open for more than a week for use by the hotel as a bar. 

Any heat? Kollegger said the icy bar feels warmer than reality because the air is so still inside and ice serves as an insulating material.

As for how long the bar will be open, Kollegger said that even if temperatures climb above freezing, the ice dome would still persist. In order to change water into ice, it takes a lot of energy and that same amount of energy is needed for the reverse phase change – from ice to water. That's why when you take an ice cube out of the freezer the ice doesn't melt right away.

"More dangerous than the heat is solar radiation, the energy from the sun," Kollegger told LiveScience.

Kollegger thinks the dome will probably last until March or so, when it will start showing signs of deterioration from solar radiation. 

Their goal is really to create bigger and better temporary ice structures, he said during a telephone interview.

Full Gallery with step by Step here:

http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/album_view.php?gid=2927&page=1

Ice Hotel In Sweden is Homage to TRON

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto

from http://www.treehugger.com/

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Images credit Extreme Design

In the slideshow Frosty Receptions: Snow Palaces and Ice Hotels Around the World, I wrote that "Ice is perhaps the greenest building material; it is made by nature and at the end of its useful life just melts away." Another virtue of working with ice is that every year you get to do a different design. This year's ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, has a room with a TRON theme.


The designers try out a room
Designers Ben Rousseau and Ian Douglas-Jones of Extreme Design tell Designboom:

We are both massive TRON fans, so the timing of the release of Disney's new 3d high-tech adventure, TRON: legacy, this month was absolutely perfect. The suite itself takes most of it's influence from a nightclub scene in the film involving one of our favorite music artist daft punk, who wrote the score for the film.

in the gallery of hotel
The designers say that they are "using futuristic lighting technologies that use negligible amounts of energy." More at Designboom and Extreme Design

More Ice Hotels
Frosty Receptions: Snow Palaces and Ice Hotels Around the World
Ice Hotel for Romania's Carpathian Mountains

UPDATE:

More pics here:  http://inhabitat.com/electricfied-tron-legacy-inspired-icehotel-suite-in-sweden/

‘Volleyball’ From the Sky: South Dakota Storm Produces Record Hailstone

From: http://www.noaa.gov/

Hailstones collected by Vivian resident Les Scott.

High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

On July 23, 2010, a severe thunderstorm struck Vivian, S.D. — a quiet rural community of less than 200. While there was nothing unusual about a violent summer storm, the softball (and larger)-sized hail that accompanied it was extraordinary. In fact, it led to the discovery of the largest hailstone ever recorded in the United States.

Word of Mouth Travels Fast

Once the thunderstorm passed, Vivian resident Les Scott ventured outside to see if there was any damage as a result of the storm. He was surprised to see a tremendous number of large hailstones on the ground, including one about the size of a volleyball. Scott gathered up that stone, along with a few smaller ones, and placed them in his freezer.

Meanwhile, other residents of the small community went outside to check the storm’s aftermath and it didn’t take long for word to get around that Scott had discovered a huge hailstone on his property.

Shortly after the storm NOAA’s Aberdeen, S.D., weather forecast office (WFO) learned that extremely large hail had fallen in Vivian and that a suspected tornado had done some damage south of the town of Reliance. After receiving that information, David Hintz, the warning coordination meteorologist at WFO Aberdeen contacted Lyman County Emergency Manager Steve Manger to coordinate a damage survey.

Record-setting hailstone

High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

A Hail of a Stone

The next day, Hintz met up with Manger and they decided to first inspect the hail damage in Vivian before moving onto the tornado damage. Once in Vivian, they heard about the mammoth hailstone in Scott’s possession. After a quick trip to Scott’s home to measure the stone’s circumference and diameter, and send pictures back to the office, it became evident that this was a possible record breaker.

“Mr. Scott told me the area was littered with large hailstones and the largest had a greater diameter when he first found it,” recalls Hintz. “He immediately stored it and several others in his freezer, but a six-hour power outage caused some melting.”

Even after melting, the stone still measured 8.0 inches in diameter and weighed nearly 2 pounds (1 pound, 15 ounces) with a circumference of 18.62 inches.

WFO Aberdeen notified personnel at National Weather Service Central Region headquarters, who, in turn, requested activation of the National Climatic Extremes Committee to examine Scott’s hailstone. Additional personnel from the Aberdeen office traveled to Vivian to measure and weigh the hailstone, and then turned their findings over to the three-person committee.

One for the Record books

Vivian resident displays a section of roof that was damaged by the hailstorm.

High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

After a thorough review of the evidence, NCEC — the team responsible for validating national weather records — declared Scott’s hailstone to be the largest in diameter and heaviest ever recovered in the United States.

Scott’s hailstone displaces the previous hailstone record for weight, which was previously 1.67 pounds for a stone in Coffeyville, Kan., that fell in 1970. It also surpasses the record for diameter, which was 7 inches for a hailstone found in Aurora, Neb., in 2003. The Aurora hailstone still holds the record for circumference of 18.75 inches.

Hailstones Pack a Perilous (and Costly) Punch

Hail causes nearly one billion dollars (U.S.) in damage to property and crops annually.

Vehicle damaged by hailstones.

High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

According to NOAA records, hail was the main factor in two weather events since 1980 that caused $1 billion or more in damages to young crops, businesses, homes, cars and trucks. A series of storms over six days in early April 2001 caused $1.9 billion in damages in 13 states, spanning from Texas to Pennsylvania. A three-day event in early April 2003 damaged $1.6 billion in property and agriculture in 10 states stretching from Texas to Tennessee.

Small hail, up to about the size of a pea, can wipe out a field of ripening grain or tear a vegetable garden to shreds. Large hail, the size of a tennis ball or larger, can fall at speeds faster than 100 miles per hour and can batter rooftops, shatter windows and “total” automobiles.

To learn more about hail, visit NOAA’s Hail Basics website.

Information about the National Climatic Extremes Committee and existing weather records may be found online.

9 jaw-dropping caves

From: http://www.mnn.com/

CREDIT: ZUMA Press

A spelunker's dream

Humans have discovered and stepped on almost every swath of terrain on the planet, yet there are still places that have not been explored. Modern spelunking expeditions are unlikely to produce such fantastical results as Jules Verne's "A Journey to the Center of the Earth", but there are still some stunning sights to behold. Here are nine amazing caves from around the world that will make your jaw drop. (Text: Caitie Leary/MNN)

CREDIT: Courtesy of Carsten Peter/National Geographic

Cave of the Crystals

The discovery of the Cave of the Crystals in 2000 by miners working 1,000 feet underground proved that there are still astounding natural wonders that humans have yet to stumble upon. Located in the Naica Mine near Chihuahua, Mexico, the cave features enormous crystalline blocks and beams jutting out from all directions. The selenite crystals — some of the largest ever found — formed when the cave, situated along an ancient fault, filled with hot, mineral-rich water. The water remained in the cave for about 500,000 years, providing an ideal climate for the giant crystals to grow.

CREDIT: wanderingz/Flickr

Fingal's Cave

Fingal's Cave, a sea cave located on the uninhabitated island of Staffa, Scotland, consists of a large series of hexagonally shaped basalt columns. It was named after the hero of an 18th century Scottish epic poem by James Macpherson. Because of its arched ceiling, it produces eerie echoing sounds, which prompts its name, "Uamh-Binn," which means "cave of melody" in Gaelic.

CREDIT: Inspiration Point Studio/Flickr

The Eisriesenwelt

About 40 kilometers south of Salzburg, Austria, in the market town of Werfen, lies the largest ice cave in the world. It's called Eisriesenwelt, which means "World of the Ice Giants" in German. It was first explored in 1879 by scientist Anton Posselt. Long before he arrived, locals knew about the cave and believing it was the entrance to hell — and they avoided it. The cave extends 42 kilometers, though only the first kilometer or so is covered in ice, which was formed when snow from outside the cave melted, drained in the cave and froze again during winter. Today the Eisriesenwelt is a popular tourist destination, with about 200,000 visitors every year.

CREDIT: Dave Bunnell

Mammoth Cave

As the longest known cave system in the world, it’s no wonder Mammoth Cave was established as a national park. The Kentucky cave has 367 miles of passageways, and it’s widely believed that many more miles have yet to be discovered. The cave's name originates from it's vast length, as opposed to the popular (yet false) belief that it has something to do with the now-extinct woolly mammoth.

CREDIT: ZUMA Press

Blue Grotto

This famous sea cave is located off the coast of the island of Capri, Italy. It is notable for its gorgeous and brilliantly blue waters, a color created by sunlight shining through the seawater into the underwater passageway. During the times of the Romans, the cave was thought to be the home of witches and monsters, but that doesn't deter visitors today — it remains one of the most popular attractions on the island of Capri.

CREDIT: Stubb/Wikimedia

Cave of the Swallows

First documented in December 1966, the Cave of the Swallows is a pit cave located in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, that plunges more than 1,400 feet down. It attracts many tourists, especially BASE jumpers and vertical cavers. The cave gets its name from the large number of birds — mainly white-collared swifts and green parakeets — that live within the walls of the cave.

CREDIT: ZUMA Press

Dongzhong Cave

Even though its name means "in cave" in Chinese, Dongzhong is both a cave and a school. Opened in 1984 in Ziyun County in China's Guizhou Province, this natural, air hangar-sized cave serves as an educational institution for 186 students and their eight teachers. The cave was carved out from wind, water and other natural forces over the course of thousands of years. It now features small buildings, rooms and sport and recreational areas.

CREDIT: Wikimedia/GNU/CC license

Carlsbad Caverns

Discovered in the late 1890s by cowboy Jim White, Carlsbad Caverns is located near the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico and boasts the third largest cave chamber in the Americas. The park features a vast array of rooms and chambers: the Big Room, the New Mexico Room, King's Palace, Queen's Chamber, the Spirit World and more than 100 others. It was officially established as a national park in 1930, and since then, it has welcomed 400,000 visitors a year.

CREDIT: Yam Bare Munch/Flickr

Waitomo Glowworm Cave

The Waitomo Glowworm Cave is located in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Waitomo Caves system, which includes Ruakuri Cave and Aranui Cave. As the name suggests, the cave serves as the home to glowworms, specifically Arachnocampa luminosa, which are a type of fungus gnat species that glow in their larval stage. Because it was underwater 30 million years ago, the cave is made from limestone composed of fossilized shells, skeletons and coral.

Breathtaking Images of Frozen Waves

Written by Simone Preuss
From: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/

Photo: Tony Travouillon

All images by Tony Travouillon were taken at the Antarctic base of Dumont D’Urville.

Though spring is going by fast, there are certain parts of the world that are covered by snow and ice even during the summer months. In fact, it is so cold that even waves seem to freeze in midair. But can waves freeze over as word on the Intertubes would have us believe? Sorry folks, if you’ve thought yes then you’ve fallen prey to an urban myth.

Photo: Tony Travouillon

Photo: via ragingdebate

Photo: via delightnature

Frozen waves are actually formed over time in a process called glaciation. Yup, they are nothing but beautifully shaped glaciers found all over the world - the polar regions of course but also in the mountain ranges of every continent, even in the tropics. According to Wikipedia, a glacier is a “perennial mass of ice which moves over land.” On its journey, the ice gets compacted and uplifted in the process and, as seen in the images below, often gets shaped beautifully through constant exposure to the elements.

Photo: Tony Travouillon

Photo: Tony Travouillon

Photo: Tony Travouillon

And, quite contrary to intuition, the formations in the images shown here were formed through melting, not freezing. The downward parts on the ice that look like breaking waves are actually icicles, and the different colours are the result of how quickly the ice has frozen before melting: Rapidly frozen ice will look opaque while transparent ice is the result of ice frozen over time. Melting then produces the smooth, polished surfaces that remind us of waves.

Like a wave but…

Photo: Tony Travouillon

Don’t be fooled, this is a real wave:

Did you know that glaciers are the largest reservoirs of fresh water on Earth? They form the second largest reservoir of total water on Earth, second only to the oceans. Amazing, isn’t it? So what we call frozen waves or waves of ice are not only beautiful to look at but also important water resources crucial for human survival.

Photo: Tony Travouillon

Photo: Tony Travouillon

Photo: Tony Travouillon

If you want to know why ice can have different colours ranging from turquoise, green and blue to black, you will find the answer in our article on Stunning Marbled Ice Growlers.

Sources: 1, 2

© Simone Preuss

How to Cool Beers in Seconds! - Food Mob Bites

This can be usefull!!!!

The most incredible scars given to the earth

From: http://speedywap.com/
By: Mirny Mine

Image: Zhivun

With explosions and massive machines scraping into the earth’s crust like a bad case of scabies, it’s small wonder open cast mining has made what many see as an unpleasant impact on the planet’s surface. The face of the earth is beleaguered with giant scars, scoured out in our ongoing bid to the plunder the planet of its natural resources. We’ve selected 10 of the holes most needing a bit of environmental ointment – where rehabilitation of the land could take some time.

10. Kalgoorlie Super Pit

Image: Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines via ABC

Kalgoorlie Super Pit is what it says on the tin. Irishman Paddy Hannan first saw the glimmer of gold here back in 1893, and this gigantic pockmark in Western Australia is now its continent’s largest open cut gold mine at 3.5 km long, 1.5 km wide and 360 m deep. It’s huge. And it’s growing. At least, that is, until 2017 when it is expected to cease being productive.

Threatening to devour the town: The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie

Image: The Super Pit

While the Super Pit has the pull of a benign black hole for tourists into good hole-some fun, air pollution, water usage, noise and vibration issues and mining waste are all bones of contention for local residents. Still, as well as coughing up almost 30 tonnes of gold each year, the pit provides work and silver for around 550 employees.

9. The Big Hole, South Africa

Image: johnbullas

Another open pit whose name leaves little to the imagination, the Big Hole in Kimberly, South Africa, is said to be the largest hole excavated by hand – despite recent claims that the nearby Jagersfontein Mine holds the some might say dubious title. While it was closed in 1914, during its 43-year lifetime, the 50,000 workers who broke their backs using picks and shovels shifted 22.5 million tonnes of earth, yielding almost 3 tonnes of diamonds for their jolly bosses, the de Beer brothers.

Water-filled earth wound: The Big Hole, Kimberley

Image: Irene2005

The Big Hole is 463 metres wide and was dug to a depth of 240 m – though infilling and water-accumulation have left just 175 m of the hole visible. It’s now a show mine complete with a restored old town. Quaint.

8. Diavik Diamond Mine

Image: johnbullas

Diavik Diamond Mine is located in Canada’s charmingly named North Slave Region – hopefully no reflection on the way the 700 workers here are treated. This is an open cast mine like no other. Gouged into a 20 square km island, 220 km from the Arctic Circle, there are particularly jaw-dropping views of this cold spot when the surrounding waters freeze over.

Snow hole: The Diavik Mine encircled by ice

Image: johnbullas

Connected by a treacherous ice road, this remote mine takes some getting to and so even has its own airport big enough to accommodate Boeing 747s. With a lifespan of 16 to 22 years, the owners will be happy as long as this yawning hole continues to throw up 8 million carats (1600 kg) of diamonds a year.

7. Ekati Diamond Mine, Canada

Image: All About Rocks

Another giant crater in the grizzled face of Canada, the Ekati Diamond Mine is North America’s first commercial diamond mine – having opened in 1998 – and those still dazzled by diamond rush fever no doubt hope it won’t be the last. It’s actually only a stone’s throw from the Diavic Mine just 20 km closer to the Arctic Circle – ensuring things here stay colder than a penguin’s pecker.

Iced up: The Ekati Mine in freezing winter temperatures

Image: whutch1 via Weather Underground

Like its brethren blemish in Diavic, the Ekati Mine is accessed by hair-raising ice roads and got its 15 minutes of fame on The History Channel’s Ice Road Truckersprogramme. Darned crazy canucks? Driven mad perhaps by the 40 million plus carats (8,000 kg) of diamonds the steady scouring has so far produced.

6. Grasberg Mine, Indonesia

Image: Alfindra Primaldhi

Opened in 1973, Indonesia’s Grasberg Mine is the world’s biggest gold mine and third largest copper mine. This industrial eyesore in the mountains of Papua employs a staggering 19,500 workers but is majority owned by smiling US subsidiaries. Built with permission it was not really the Indonesian government’s to give, the mine was attacked by the rebel Free Papua Movement in 1977.

Putting things in scale: Astronaut photo of the Grasberg Mine

Image: NASA

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These days, steep aerial tramways ferry equipment and people in and out. In 2006, the mine coughed up 610,800 tonnes of copper and 58 tonnes of gold, but it doesn’t take much digging to find environmental controversy surrounding the site, with water contamination and landslides heading the list of concerns. Contentious.

5. Chuquicamata, Chile

Image: Luiswtc73

Chuquicamata in Chile is a colossus of a mine that has churned up a record total of 29 million tonnes of copper. Despite almost 100 years of intensive exploitation, it remains among the largest known copper resources, and its open pit is one of the biggest at a whopping great 4.3 km long, 3 km wide and over 850 m deep.

Strangely beautiful sight: Chuquicamata Mine from high in the air

Image: Owen Cliffe

Copper has been mined for centuries at Chuquicamata, as shown by the 1898 discovery of a mummy dated around 550 AD found trapped in an ancient mine shaft by a cave-in. A great influx of miners was sucked in by ‘Red Gold Fever’ after the War of the Pacific, when at one stage the area was covered with unruly mining camps where alcohol, gambling, prostitution and even murder were rife. Yee-haw.

4. Escondida, Chile

Image: Minera Escondida

The Minera Escondida Mining Co. runs twin open pit mines cut into the skin of the copper capital of the world that is Chile. Construction began in 1990, and this sucker recently overtook Chuquicamata as the world’s largest annual copper producer, with its 2007 yield of 1.48 million tonnes worth US$ 10.12 billion – a whole lot of dollar.

Escondida from space: The mine is at the bottom of the picture

Image: PD-USGOV-NASA

Environmental impact aside, Escondida has become a key part of the Chilean economy and employs some 2,951 people directly. A strike in 2006 broke out because workers felt they were not sharing in the super high profits being made on the back of record copper prices. After wrangling for pay demands, the union briefly blockaded the road to the mine. Testy stuff.

3. Udachnaya Diamond Mine, Russia

Image: Alexander Stepanov

Like the Sarlacc Pit on Steroids, the Udachnaya Mine in Russia is a gigantic open-pit diamond mine that plunges more than 600 metres into the earth’s crust. Yep, it’s one heck of a hole. Located in Russia’s vast but sparsely populated Sakha Republic, just outside the Arctic circle, it seems that mining for these precious stones demands a good set of thermal undies.

Into the depths: The Udachnanyay Mine from its southern side

Image: Russian Author

The nearby settlement of Udachny was named after the diamond deposit, which was discovered in 1955 just days after the Mir (below). The Udachnaya pipe is controlled by Alrosa, Russia’s largest diamond company, which boasts that it plans to halt open-pit mining in favour of underground mining in 2010. Glad to hear it.

2. Mirny Diamond Mine, Russia

Image: USMRA

Siberia’s Mir Diamond Mine comes close to taking the cake as numero holie. The largest open diamond mine in the world, this Russian monster has a surface diameter of 1.2 km and is 525 m deep. The size of the hole is such that wind currents inside cause a downdraft that has resulted in helicopters being sucked in and crashing. Good to know the area above it is now a no-fly zone.

Earth vortex: The Mir looks as if it might suck in houses as well as helicopters

Image: USMRA

After its discovery in 1955, workers at the Mir had to endure incredibly harsh temperatures that froze the ground and everything else in the winter, making car tires and steel shatter. The mine ceased operations in 2001, having produced 10 million carats (2 tonnes) of diamond per year at its peak. Our survey says: ka-bling.

1. Bingham Canyon Mine, USA

Image: johnbullas

So here it is, the carbuncle supremo, Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, the world’s biggest manmade pit. This mammoth mine measures 4 km wide and drops a stomach-churning 1.2 km into the ground, the result of extraction begun in 1863. The ore-inspiring fruits of its labour include more than 17 million tonnes of copper and 715 tonnes of gold – a mental load of metal.

The biggest yet: Bingham Canyon Mine laid bare

Image: Elmhurst

In the early 1900s, mining camps lined the steep canyon walls, but several of these were swallowed up by the ever-expanding mine. Now it employs 1,400 people and 50,000 tonnes of material are removed from it each day. What’s more, this giant earth scar and National Historic Landmark is growing – and will continue to until at least 2013.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10