Pick Chur

Color Photographs Taken Prior the Invention of Color Camera

Jawad Masood — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:41:25 +0000

Prokudin Gorsky [1863-1944], a Russian chemist and photographer, is considered among the pioneers of color photography. His first success took place in 1901 when he used three different pictures taken via red, green and blue filters and reconstructing them with the appropriate light resulting in a color image. Although it looks exactly like a color photograph but technically it was a combination of three monochrome negatives. Some of his most famous images are listed below. For more details and his works, visit Wikipedia.

Alim Khan, ruler of Bukhara taken in 1911

Prison in Uzbekistan, Picture taken in 1907

City of Perm, 1910

Prokudin-Gorsky, Self-portrait on the Korolistskali River, 1915

Greek women and children harvesting tea in Chakva, Georgia 1910

Austro-Hungarian POWs in Russia, 1915

Young Russian peasant women, Kirillov, 1910

5 Most Beautiful Underwater Creatures that are Transparent

Talha Chaudhry — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:38:36 +0000

1. Salp

Salp has remained a center of attraction for researchers for many years. This beautiful yet strange underwater creature is abundantly found in Southern ocean near Antarctica.

Image credit: cinar.org

2. Glass Frog

As the name indicates the frog gives a transparent glass resemblance. The abdominal part of the frog is transparent exposing its digestive system and also heart beating to the naked eye. The frog is covered with lime green skin. It is mostly found in Amazon and Orinoco River basins.

Image: dareyonline.com

3. Transparent-Headed Fish

Watching this fish, first thing that would strike your mind is a fighter plane cockpit. It has a transparent head and unique eyes that can completely rotate within the transparent box on it head. In a way they can see what’s on top of their head. The fish was first discovered in 1939 and is mostly found in dark shadows.

Image: nationalgeographic.com

4. Amphipods

The animal is mostly found in Antarctica and North Atlantic. It varies in size from 1 millimeter to 340 millimeters. There are more than 7000 species of this animal classified in different suborders, having the ability to survive in almost every aquatic environment.

nationalgeographic.com

5. Transparent Jellyfish

One of the most delicate and beautiful creation of God, transparent jellyfish resembles an alien spaceship. From to the Arcapodema genus, the transparent jelly fish has a size of 2.5 centimeter. It is mostly found in Antarctic region.

Image: nationalgeographic.com

Most Hilarious Sign Boards that will make your Day

Talha Chaudhry — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:26:18 +0000

Every day you pass by many sign boards and notations explaining something, but most of the time you don’t notice them as they are quite ordinary. We want to compile a list of extra ordinary sign boards, the list will keep growing and we welcome your suggestion in the comments.

Sources: 1,2,3,4

Animals you would have never Dreamed to Ride

Talha Chaudhry — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:51:15 +0000

You might have seen many riding animal or mounts including horses, mules, elephant, ostrich, camel, donkeys and camels, all these animals have been used for riding purposes for centuries. But I am sure that the animals that you are about to see would amaze you.

Dolphin Research Center – Grassy Key, Florida

The dolphin research center is a non-profit organization, whose aim is to educate people about dolphins. Dolphin research center allows people to interact directly with the dolphins, as this would help them in better understanding of their instincts and habits. People are allowed to touch, swim and play with them. The research center, located in beautiful Grassy key island, allows you to meet and swim with Dolphins.

Image by 3shadesofblueart.com

Lion at Lujan Zoo

Lujan Zoo in Argentina is considered as world’s most dangerous zoo. The zoo allows tourist have a close interaction with some of the most dangerous animals in the world. You can pay 50$ and have access to all the cages, by signing an agreement declaring if you got eaten by the animals, authorities won’t be responsible. Visitors are allowed to ride lions, bears, cheetah, and tigers. They can also take picture while holding and playing with them.

Image src: english.cri.cn

Zebra Training Clinic

Zebra is one of the most finely skinned animals; they are famous for the distinctive black and white stripes on their bodies. From May 7-9th 2010 an event was organized by Zebra Training Clinic at Texas, which included variety of demonstrations and presentations regarding riding, driving, general care and much more about Zebras.

Image: Zebra Guru

American Alligator

American alligator is one of the oldest and wildest creatures on the earth. These alligators are famous for their big crushing bites. They can go 2 to 3 years without eating anything. They have vibration sensor on their skin that works extremely well in detecting any motion in their surroundings. [Source]

When Buildings Meet the Clouds

Talha Chaudhry — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:51:29 +0000

Clouds are not only limited to weather and scientific studies; they have a huge impact on us, sometimes they are a true source of inspiration. Mankind has been referring to them since ages; they are indeed one the most beautiful creation of nature. It’s fascinating how clouds take different shapes, structures and patterns. For some people they are a great source of inspiration and happiness, people often spend time looking at them and getting lost in their beauty.

Clouds often visit the earth; they sit around the tall buildings and make a conversation. The conversation couldn’t b heard but one can obviously see how close they are. You can close your eyes and feel them, sometimes they come close enough that they touch the buildings and often curl around them, one cannot miss these beautiful scenes.

Empire state building

102 story empire state building stands among the tallest buildings in the world. This beautifully designed building lies at the intersection of 34th street and 5th avenue. Because of its great height the building often hides its head in to the clouds.

Image by Swarna

Chicago downtown

In the recent years Chicago received the largest boom of buildings and because of their great height, clouds often swim around them. You can see the Sears tower, the Aon tower and the Hancock tower from left to right in the image below.

Image by Glenn Harper

Image by National Geographic

Image: Anthony Stewart

Golden Gate Bridge

Image: National Geographic

5 best islands to Travel in Summer

Jawad Masood — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:33:33 +0000

1. Tenerife

5 million tourists visit Tenerife each year making it one of the biggest resorting spots of the world. This Spanish island is located in the Atlantic Ocean, about 200 km off the coast of Africa. The island with an area of 2034 square kilometers and a population of about 1 million is the only Spanish island that has two airports to handle sheer number of tourists, check flights to tenerife.

Image from MyDestinationInfo.com

This famous island is also known as ‘Island of Eternal Spring’, offering a pleasant temperature, between 22 and 28 degree Celsius, throughout the year. Almost half of its area is protected and preserved. The island has two rural parks (Anaga and Teno), four integral natural reserves, six special natural reserves, a total of fourteen natural monuments, nine protected landscapes and up to six sites of scientific interest.

2. Seychelles

The Republic of Seychelles is an island country comprising 11 islands in Indian Ocean. These tropical islands offer ideal climate throughout the year but summer is the best time if you’re planning to get the maximum out of these islands like bird-watching, sailing, surfing, hiking and diving. These islands are located about 1,500 kilometers east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar. If you’re planning to go there, make sure you go through their official website first.

Image: Wikipedia

3. Maldives

Maldives, a chain of 1000 islands, offers great adventure and resort for summer. Out of these many islands, only 200 are populated because many of the islands are not suitable for living as they are barely above sea level. The rest of little coral islands are surrounded by excellent diving and snorkeling, white sand beaches, and filled with friendly locals. Vacations at Maldives can be pricey, however Bangkok Airways offers cheap flights to and from Thailand.

Via: NomadicMatt.com

4. Fiji

Fiji islands lies some 2000 km northeast of New Zealand. Out of 332 islands, more than hundred are inhabited, however, 87% of population is located in two major islands; Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. These peaceful and calm islands are far away from the rest of the world and there are still islands in Fiji, where no man has ever set foot. Recently many resorts were opened in remote islands of Fiji, making your trip more exciting and worth remembering. Fiji has two airports, one in Nadi and other one near Suva city.

5. Big island of Hawaii

Out of hundreds of islands of Hawaii state, the big island (also known as Hawaii Island) offers the best adventure, tourism and surfing. The site is famous for is vast natural beauty among biologist, tourist and volcanologists alike. The best thing to explore at Hawaii are the Volcanos and Volcano National Park and numerous waterfall. The island has two commercial airports; Hilo International Airport and Kona International Airport.

Image: ClassicalArchives.com

Watch iPhone 4 Antenna Song [Video]

Usman Aziz — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:20:02 +0000

Apple iPhone 4 antenna issue is taking momentum especially Apple recently fully acknowledged the issue and offered free bumpers. This problem has seen a lot of media coverage, especially because Apple’s products are known for their durable and reliable designs and performance. This iPhone Antenna song is getting famous which was shown by Steve Jobs at the iPhone 4 press conference.

Lyrics:

there’s an awful lot of hoopla
around the iphone 4 antenna
when you grip it with the death grip
and you’re call slips away
the media loves a failure
in a string of success
the facts won’t ever matter
if they can make bigger messes
sure i can make it happen
but in terms of daily usage
i’ve yet to drop a call
so this whole damn thing is stupid
and you can call me a fanboy
i’ve been called worse things
but gizmodo just ridiculous
pulling their anti-apple strings
you bought a stolen prototype
get over it and move on
or hey even better
let’s all sing this song

Video:

Video of iPhone 4 Antenna song:

Twelve Ways To Hold iPhone 4, Take That Apple

Usman Aziz — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:13:53 +0000

Apple released the new iPhone 4 a few months ago, and since then, it’s facing the issue of call drop due to problems with the newly designed antenna. Apple has acknowledged this problem which occurs by holding iPhone through ’death grip’. David T. Cole from Glark.org has researched to propose 12 new ways to hold the iPhone 4 to avoid loss of signal strength.

via Glark

Amateur Unearths 52,000 Ancient Roman Coins

Jawad Masood — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 07:55:44 +0000

A hospital chef, Dave Crisp, obsessed with treasure hunting has found over 52,000 Roman coins worth $1 million. He used a metal detector to unearth these coins from a field near Frome, Somerset in southwestern England. David Crisp was in search of metal objects buried in the field where he found 21 coins and called for archaeological help to excavate the land. The coins, stored in 160kg pot, date from AD 253 to 293 and most of them are made of debased silver or bronze. The are cleaned and transferred to the British Museum in London.

Source: CNN

Extreme Sunsets: On Earth and From the Space

Jawad Masood — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:15:00 +0000

You might have witnessed sunset at beach or from a hillside and imagined that this is the most beautiful scene on the planet. Well, we have compiled a list of best sunset scenes from all over the world and from outer space to match with your best ever sunset experience.