Guy Jet Skis Through Streets of New York During Hurricane Irene

By Jerry Stone From http://dsc.discovery.com/

Screen Grab via YouTube

While Hurricane Irene was a bit more flaccid than all the hype surrounding it, I am pretty sure this was not on any hurricane preparedness checklist. But maybe it should be?

Mr516Rockstar from YouTube is zooming down Lawson Street in Oceanside, New York. You can see him zip past a 7-11 and a Dunkin’ Donuts. He wasn’t the only one taking to the streets in such a manner. Reuters reported that Lido Beach even had a few kayakers. Canoes were also a popular choice.
Follow me @jerryjamesstone or friend me on Facebook.

Hurricane Irene 'Big, Scary Storm,' Astronaut Says

by Andrea Mustain
from http://www.livescience.com/

Hurricane Irene seen from the International Space Station. CREDIT: NASA. View full size image

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) got an eyeful of Hurricane Irene's increasing might today (Aug. 25) as their space capsule streaked over the monstrous Category 3 storm, which is barreling toward U.S. shores.

Ahead of the flyover, ISS video cameras revealed placid views of wispy white clouds scattered over the blue of the ocean. Then a huge mass of white appeared on the horizon: Hurricane Irene, a powerful debut storm for the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season.

Even from 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth, the storm's muscle was on full display.

"This is a big storm," said astronaut Mike Fossum during a live video feed from the ISS this afternoon. As the ISS moved closer, a dense swirl of thick clouds filled the frame. [See the video of Irene here.]

"This storm is doing a good job of filling up the Caribbean here," Fossum said, and pointed out what he called the "classic pinwheel structure" of the storm.


It took the ISS roughly six minutes to traverse the breadth of Hurricane Irene, which has organized itself into a colossal storm with a diameter one-third the length of the entire U.S. eastern seaboard.

"We're used to traveling a long way in a short amount of time," Fossum said, "and if this storm is stretching from Cuba to the Carolinas, this storm is one big, scary storm."

Fossum noted that even over North Carolina's outer banks, a region not projected to feel the effects of the storm until Saturday morning, "there's thin stuff that's actually spiraling way out here."

Hurricane Irene is packing winds of 115 mph (170 kph) with higher gusts, and could potentially strengthen in the coming day, according to the latest report from the National Hurricane Center.

The ISS crew has been watching Hurricane Irene's development for several days now.

Although the ISS circles the Earth every 90 minutes — 16 times a day — because it travels at a slight tilt in relation to the equator, the panorama on view below changes with each pass.

During a video interview earlier today with SPACE.com, a sister site to OurAmazingPlanet, Fossum noted that yesterday (Aug. 24) the storm appeared to undergo a pronounced change, and its structure became very uniform.

According to the NASA ground crew, Hurricane Irene has a wind field 300 miles (480 km) wide, and shows no signs of weakening.

"Our prayers and our hopes are with the people who are hunkering down," Fossum said. "Good luck.

• Video: See Irene from the International Space Station 
• Infographic: Storm Season! How, When & Where Hurricanes Form 
• In Photos: Hurricane Irene

Andrea Mustain is a staff writer for OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to LiveScience. Reach her at amustain@techmedianetwork.com.

Sugarland Concert Ends In Tragic Stage Collapse

Uploaded by JSilas7 on Aug 13, 2011

Fan video of August 13, 2011, Sugarland Concert stage collapse at Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis, IN, USA.

Catastrophe struck the Indiana State Fair on Saturday, where a 60mph gust of wind brought down the concert stage where the country music duo Sugarland was about to appear.

With the stage coverings acting as an enormous sail, the lighting grid and supporting scaffolding collapsed under the wind’s force, killing at least five people and injuring about 40.

Warning: The video above is the clearest view of the stage collapse yet available on YouTube, and is disturbing to watch.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Marion County coroner’s office identified the dead as Tammy Vandam, 42, of Wanatah; Glenn Goodrich, 49, of Indianapolis; Alina Bigjohny, 23, of Fort Wayne; Christina Santiago, 29, of Chicago; and Nathan Byrd, 51, of Indianapolis, who died overnight.

Our sympathy goes out to the victims of this tragic accident.

Recycled Shipping Containers As Disaster Response: School Built In Four Weeks After Earthquake

by Paula Alvarado

from http://www.treehugger.com/

Photos: VientoFuerte.cl.

Shipping containers continue to prove their value to build almost anything, from amazing office buildings to houses to even boy scout cabins.

And although their use as a disaster response has been questioned, they've proven to be a useful resource when a tsunami hit Chile last year and a group of students from a local university was able to re-build a local school in a devastated town in only four weeks.

A fishing town of 3,000 people, Tubul is located about 500 kilometers (300 miles) south-west from Santiago, and was one of the areas most affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

In an effort called Viento Fuerte (Strong Wind), the architecture department of the Finis Terrae University gathered 56 advanced students to design, mount and equip a school for the town.

The project was built from 22 shipping containers donated by a company, which were properly isolated and used as prefab modules. There are 20 containers on ground level and two on a second level, which were jointed by one of their large sides to conform the different classrooms and spaces.

In between, there are open areas that serve as patios, which are shaded and covered to protect children from the rain. Part of the old school building that survived the earthquake was connected to the new structure.

Despite containers having been accused of 'top down' solutions in crisis response, the promoters of the project claim this school was designed not to be a temporary solution but a definitive, full functioning building.

As mentioned, an amazing part of the project is that it was designed and built in only four weeks after the earthquake. The university published a video in English sharing the experience:

The rescue of the Chilean miners and the Japan earthquake have long pushed the Chilean tsunami out of the news, but TreeHugger experienced first-hand that its consequences remain. The initiative Viento Fuerte keeps working on the reconstruction of Tubul and are currently gathering donations for their new projects.

Chile’s Volcano Eruption Looks Like Hell on Earth

By: Casey Chan

From: http://gizmodo.com/

If you need a reminder on how fucking scary volcanoes can be, check out the explosion of Puyehue volcano in southern Chile. The volcano hadn't erupted for half a century but blew up this past weekend, painting the sky red.

I mean seriously, this volcano looks unreal. 3,500 people were evacuated from the area and ash from the volcano even rained down in Argentina. [Denver Post via Mappeal]

Image Credit: AFP PHOTO/CLAUDIO SANTANA

More Incredible Pics here: http://photos.denverpost.com/

Guy Survives a Tornado and Videotapes the Aftermath in Brimfield MA

Uploaded by sidewaysdrifter0 on Jun 1, 2011

We survived under stairs

Tornado in Springfield, Mass. looks like a scene from X-Men

Tornado On Connecticut River downtown Springfield Massachusetts 


Uploaded by jonah70757

On 06/01/2011 early evening a Tornado formed and was a frightening sight, no deaths have been reported. Reports are coming in of widespread damage in Springfield, MA, after a tornado touched down. The heavy damage is concentrated in the Downtown and South End areas of Springfield. An aide to the mayor says the National Guard has been called in to help with emergency response. Firefighters are trying to track down residents to ensure their safety. Traffic in the area is snarled due to downed trees on major routes. Route 5 is actually closed in places due to downed trees. There is a report of an overturned tractor-trailer on the Memorial Bridge, backing up traffic.

Drivers are being asked to stay off roadways to keep them clear for police and fire. Check with KKTV.com for more information on this developing story.

Nude Photo Shoot Focuses on Saving 1,500-Year-Old Oak Tree, Draws Police Attention (Video)

by Jaymi Heimbuch

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Photo courtesy of Jack Gescheitdt
 
Jack Gescheidt, a California-based photographer, wanted to bring people's attention to a construction project happening on a large tract of land right next to Angel Oak, a tree believed to be over 1,500 years old and possibly the oldest living tree in North America. With the threat of development encroaching on this beautiful tree, and more importantly, the habitat in which it lives, Gescheidt figured it was time to make a statement, and that meant photographing 25 nude people posed around the tree. However, the photo shoot drew some unwanted attention... from police.

The Charleston City Paper reports that Gescheidt has used the beauty and inarguable visual draw of nude people as a way to bring attention to ancient and threatened trees, bringing together both art and activism for the greater good of the environment. The Angel Oak project is part of his larger project, called TreeSpirit.
Gescheidt's photographs are absolutely gorgeous, at times juxtaposing the textures of smooth skin and rough bark as the models drape themselves around the tree and at other times positioning the models almost as if they alone could protect the tree from potential demise.

Such is the case with Angel Oak -- the tree's health could be impacted by the new development, and the photo shoot is aimed at drawing attention to, and possibly stopping, the development next door.
While the police were not thrilled with the photo shoot, the artists were able to still capture the shot. Photographs from this shoot can already be purchased online. All the proceeds go to further photo shoots that promote the conservation of ancient and threatened trees.

Follow Jaymi on Twitter for more stories like this

10 terrifying twisters

 From: http://www.mnn.com/

Funnel clouds

Although tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, the majority of these violent storms take place in the United States. In an average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

 

Thanks to tornado chasers and local residents, many of these funnel clouds have been captured on film, so you can see 10 amazing twisters without getting in harm's way. (Text: Laura Moss) 

Photo: Lori Mehem/AP

At Chelsea Flower Show Small Gardens have Big Environmental Impact

by Bonnie Alter

from http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo: B. Alter

There are other gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show besides the big, glitzy and expensive ones. There are small ones...

So give a Gold Medal to the Winds of Change urban garden which puts its reclaimed, industrial aesthetic first and foremost.

Photo: B. Alter

Its designer has a passion for reclaimed materials and created the garden around a focal point of home-engineered turbines made out of.big industrial cooling fans. He definitely makes a statement--they are unmissable. As is the only prison on site...the old steel shed has a door from a prison. A Victorian safe is used as a tool storage and the water butt is made out of old steel. The fencing is made out of recycled timber and the planting is loose and natural, with vegetables and a green roof.

Photo: B. Alter

This year there is a new category of garden: artisanal. By which they mean natural and sustainable. It is replacing what used to be called courtyard gardens and it is an interesting switch. The gardens are all charming: natural planting, lots of local and native plants, most use recycled materials and all have a cottage feel. However, after a while all seven seem much of the same.

The Postcard from Wales garden embodies the best of the genre. It depicts an old boathouse on the edge of a river; the old boat in the front is a particularly charming touch. The planting is gentle with alliums providing colour, rambling roses by the front door and hollyhocks against the recycled wood fencing, with bits of shells and beach combing findings strewn around. It won a Gold Medal.

Photo: B. Alter

A Literary Garden is another charmer--it won a Silver Gilt award. Inspired and intended as a poet's retreat, the poems and verses have been hand-carved into the bench, bridge and sundial, all to make an atmosphere of reflection and quietude. The carving is done by a master carver who does each piece by hand. The planting style, again, is informal, overgrown, with lots of blue and cream.

Photo: B. Alter

This Korean entrant, Hae-woo-so (Emptying One's Mind) is a bit of a variation: it depicts a traditional Korean toilet (what!). It seems that Korean people believed that going to the toilet was a "cathartic experience and considered it to be a highly spiritual natural cycle." Pictured is the outhouse, which is vintage and ramshackle looking. The planting is mainly green, with some wildflowers, artful pieces of driftwood and moss-covered stones. Winner of a Gold Medal (for shock value alone).

More on Chelsea Flower Show
Chelsea Flower Show Opens with a Blast (of Wind)
Cold Unseasonable Weather Affects Chelsea Flower Show :
Chelsea Flower Show Features Biodiversity As a Theme
Chelsea Flower Show Features Vegetables

Send Your Message of Support to Japan (Auto-Translated!)

by Michael Graham Richard

from http://www.treehugger.com/

Image: Screen capture of messagesforjapan.com

Thank You Google!
The wounds from the 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan a month ago, and from all the other problems that the seismic event caused (the tsunami, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, etc), will take a long time to heal. Thousands are physically wounded, thousands are dead, many have lost their homes and the infrastructure is crippled, and there is no doubt vast psychological damage. At times like this, a message of hope and support can truly help. That's why I hope that you will send a message to our Japanese neighbors on this small planet. It will be auto-translated to Japanese by 'Messages for Japan', a new site by Google.

Image: Screen capture of messagesforjapan.com

On March 11th, a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake occurred near the northeastern coast of Japan, creating extremely destructive tsunami waves. As the country turns from immediate disaster response to the next phase of rebuilding, this site will help deliver messages of hope and support from all over the world to the people of Japan. Write your own message and have it automatically translated into Japanese, or read messages from around the world. (source)

Image: Screen capture of messagesforjapan.com

To send your message of support, go here: MessagesForJapan (simply click on "write your message" on the left)

Because, you know, f**k it at this point

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

i.imgur.com — When the world is at an end, grab a beer and watch it all go

9 Jaw-Dropping Caves

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

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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.

The Eisriesenwelt, 40 kilometers south of Salzburg, Austria

Photo: Geoffrey Blass

Click here for the Full article with pics: http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/photos/9-jaw-dropping-caves

9 Wondrous Water Caves

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

Photo: Jupiterimages

 Watery wonders

Many of the most awe-inspiring caves formed along the shores of oceans and lakes. Also known as littoral caves, these geological wonders are carved into rocky coastal cliffs through long-term wave action along weakened fault lines in cliffs.

In addition to spelunking, sea caves provide ample recreational opportunities for kayaking, swimming, free diving, scuba diving and more. While many of these caves are found in the craggy coastlines of Europe, some of the largest sea caves in the world — such as California's Painted Cave and Oregon's Sea Lion Cave — can be found on the rocky Pacific coast of the United States.

Here are just 9 of these extraordinary watery wonders. :
Click Here:
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/9-wondrous-water-caves/watery-wonders

The Most Terrifying Japan Tsunami Videos I’ve Seen

Destructive Japan tsunami caught on film


Fresh footage of huge tsunami waves smashing town in Japan


New dramatic video: Tsunami wave spills over seawall, smashes boats, cars

Carnivorous Plant Lures Bats to Feed on Their Guano

by David DeFranza

from http://www.treehugger.com

The plant in question: Nepenthes rafflesiana. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Carnivorous plants tend to make their homes in peat bogs and heaths—environments that have notoriously nutrient-deficient soils. They deal with these deficiencies by trapping insects, lizards, and even small mammals, absorbing nitrogen and other nutrients from their prey as they are slowly digested inside the plant.
For one pitcher plant however, survival is less dependent on snaring unsuspecting prey than it is on making a cozy home for a particular species of bat.

SLIDESHOW: Horrifying Plants That Eat the Living

According to recent research, Nepenthes rafflesiana—native to Borneo, Sumatra, Malaysia, and Singapore—has adopted several unique adaptations that makes it less apt at catching insects and more hospitable for roosting Hardwicke's woolly bats.

Typical pitcher plants have a conical shape and interior walls coated in a slippery liquid. When curious prey wanders into the pitcher's mouth, they begin to slide to the bottom, where a pool of digestive liquid drowns them and slowly breaks down the carcass.

Nepenthes rafflesiana has considerably less slippery liquid and a more shallow pool at the bottom of its pitcher. In addition to this, it has a girdle, mid-way down, the helps keep bats from slipping to the bottom. This makes it easy for bats—which sometimes roost as whole families in one plant—to make their home in the pitcher, a container that provides parasite-free protection from the bat's predators.

READ MORE: The Training of the Shrew: Pitcher Plant Evolves Into Toilet 

In exchange, the bats provide nutrients for the plant, delivered in the form of nitrogen-rich guano dropped down the pitcher.

It's only the second known instance in which a carnivorous plant has developed a mutualistic relationship with a mammal species.

10 Creepy Plants That Shouldn't Exist

By David Dietle

From http://www.cracked.com/

We spend a lot of time here at Cracked pointing out horrors of nature that slither on the land and lurch through the sea. But staying under the radar in nature's landscape of nightmares is the twisted carnival of things that grow out of the ground. Like ... #10. Bleeding Tooth Fungus The bleeding tooth fungus looks kind of like a wad of chewing gum that leaks blood like a rejected prop from The Shining. They're also called the strawberries and cream, the red-juice tooth, and the devil's tooth. Whoever is in charge of naming scary bullshit seems really insistent that this thing looks like a tooth, while mostly skirting over the fact that it freaking sweats blood. Oh, and they are listed as "inedible," which implies that someone attempted to eat one at some point. On the other hand, the bloodlike substance has anticoagulant and antibacterial properties. It's nature's next penicillin! All you have to do is lick it. Go ahead. #9. Chinese Black Batflowers There's a good reason that Batman uses bat imagery to strike terror into the hearts of Gotham's criminals, rather than, say, some kind of shrew. Bats are freakin' scary. For the same reason, nature has decided to use that same mold to make plants that can induce spontaneous bowel movements, with the addition of some tentacles just to be sure, like we have on the Chinese black batflowers. It is kept as an ornamental plant by gardeners who prefer to cultivate nightmares, and have the balls to live in the presence of a plant that looks like it crawled out of a Bosch painting and wants to plant its young in their head. Their dangling fruit even looks like bats sleeping upside down, as pictured here ... ... and here ... Oh, sorry that last one was an actual bat. Though you can't tell the difference until you get to the bottom, by which point it's far too late. #8. Doll's Eye At best, this thing looks like the plants you'd find on some hostile alien world. At worst, it looks like eyeballs on bloody stalks, tied together by their stems like the deranged trophy of some serial killer, used to mark the grave of half a dozen victims. It's called the doll's eye plant, also known by the equally unsettling name "white baneberry." Just in case you were actually thinking of eating this thing, those eyeballs are highly poisonous. Obviously. #7. Sea Anemone Mushroom/Octopus Stinkhorn We tend to think that pretty much all fungi came out of God's adolescent goth phase. Sure, some mushrooms look cute and taste good on pizza, but many of them look more like the dog-beast from The Thing and smell like a rotten asshole. For instance, we have the sea anemone mushroom above and the similar-yet-horrifying-in-a-different-way octopus stinkhorn below: Both are closely related and smell about as pleasant as they look. Would you believe both are from Australia? We weren't surprised either. We're pretty sure that Australia sits right next to Cthulhu's sunken city of R'Lyeh. They start out looking like traditional Mario-style 'shrooms, but that's just so they can gain your trust. Once they mature, they "erupt" their red tentacles of smelly horror to attract flies, which then transport their "gleba" to another location to reproduce, which is about the closest thing to the plot of a Lovecraft story that you'll find in reality. Seriously, Hugh Jackman is cool and all, but fuck Australia. #6. Devil's Claw Devil's claws are kind of like those little thistle burs that get stuck to your clothes when you walk through a field, except instead of being tiny, mild annoyances, they look more like some unholy spider beast from some twisted American McGee version of our childhood. They come from Arizona, where they are used by Native Americans to weave baskets and likely as a ward for enemies who are probably smart enough to stay the fuck away from anything that looks like a minefield of headcrabs: The horrifying seed pods are designed to latch on to the feet of passing animals, which will then transport them to another location before crushing them underfoot and releasing the seeds. Funny how nature knew people would stomp the shit out of that after finding it on their feet; evolution is kind of intuitive sometimes. #5.  Porcupine Tomato The porcupine tomato is one of the crops you'll find growing in Pinhead's vegetable patch after he retires from abstract horror and turns to horticulture. It hails from Madagascar, the island nation that brought us the Hellbeast lemur and Dracula ants, earning it the Cracked.com nickname "Little Australia." Quick, take a picture of the word "pain." Good job. Aside from being sharp and poisonous, the porcupine tomato is a potentially invasive species, since it is difficult to kill, even in drought. Among the features you don't want in a poisonous dagger monster, "hard to kill" has to be way up there. Did we mention that it spreads quickly, and can reach 8 feet tall by 8 feet wide in a relatively short amount of time? What we're saying is that you should be careful stepping out your front door in the morning, because you never know when a toxic, razor-filled hedge may have sprung up in the middle of the night. #4. Cedar-Apple Rust Fungus What looks like a piece of rotting fruit giving birth to either a family of worms or a single, tentatcled horror? If you said "cedar-apple rust fungus," then ... well, you probably just read the title of this entry, we guess. CARF is a fungal infection that attacks, you guessed it, cedar and apple trees. It produces globular fungal balls anywhere from a 1/4 inch to 2 inches in diameter and inflates "spore horns" when the weather gets wet, transforming it into the Koosh ball from hell. Or, if you prefer, gummi Cthulhu. Or what happens when slugs mate with mac and cheese. #3. Buddha's Hand We don't know what kind of Buddha they were thinking of whose hand looks like a writhing ball of giant maggots. It looks more like what Brian Lumley envisions when his wife asks him to pick up a bushel of grapefruit. Buddha's hand is a citrus fruit popular in China and Japan for its strong fragrance. It fails as a fruit since it's pretty much all zest and no pulp, but it has other uses, such as being a feature in Stephen King's fruit basket centerpiece. #2. Chinese Fleeceflower The Chinese use this plant in their traditional medicine for kidney health, strong bones and hair restoration, and as a mild laxative, and it's ... Hey, wait a second ... OK, weird, it's a root that looks like a little dude. But that's a rare, onetime fluke, right? It's not like that's what this species typically looks like or anything. OK, now nature is just straight fucking with us. According to traditional Chinese herbalists, these little dirt trolls are a cure-all for everything from high cholesterol to vaginal discharge ... They also ... um ... We here at ... uh ... We don't know. We just don't know. #1. Various Dick-Shaped Plants This will make us feel better. First off, we have the above Peter Popper Red Hot Peppers, and yes, that is a link to Amazon, where you can pick your own peck of pecker peppers. Then we have the below mushroom, which is actually related to the Cthulhu mushrooms further up the list. It's a common stinkhorn, though its proper name is Phallus impudicus, literally, immodest wang. Next is the penis cactus, a variation on a Bolivian cactus that breeders have encouraged. That's right, someone actually discovered a mutant variety of cactus that looked like dick and worked to encourage it. Makes that hunt for the boob-shaped watermelon you've been on since you were 15 seem almost noble, doesn't it? We'll just leave the rest of these here: Stay classy, nature.