Check Out These Gorgeous Color Photos From World War II

 

As the generation that fought World War II passes on, it can be difficult for younger people to remember that it was a war fought not by the elderly in black and white, but by millions of Americans in vivid color. These gorgeous images, via Shorpy, remind us just how vivid that war was. 5

Originally shot by the War Department in gorgeous Kodachrome film, the saturated hues and crisp edges bring that era to life in a way that few other forms of media can. These photos document the trucks, planes, trains, and other various machines that were being prepared on the home front in anticipation of the conflagration sweeping the globe.

 

For the rest of the story: http://jalopnik.com/check-out-these-gorgeous-color-photos-from-world-war-ii-626224712

Amazing photos of Egypt’s massive demonstrations

 

Egyptian protesters wave national flags and a red card with Arabic reading “leave” during a protest Sunday. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil).

Huge numbers of Egyptians gathered in Cairo on Sunday to protest the government of President Mohamed Morsi, sworn in one year ago, as a smaller number of Morsi supporters gathered in a different part of town.

Read Abigail Hauslohner’s story to get a sense of the tension in Cairo, where protesters are hoping to topple Morsi’s year-old rule and many fear the demonstrations could devolve into violence. CNN’s Ben Wedeman, a veteran of the region, called Sunday’s anti-Morsi demonstration the largest public protest he’d ever seen in Egypt.

Photos of the protests drive home their vast size and scale, still remarkable even two-plus years after mass demonstrations led to the end of Hosni Mubarak’s reign.

 
For the rest of the story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/06/30/amazing-photos-of-egypts-massive-demonstrations/

The Earth-shattering Loch Ness Monster that wasn’t

 

Summer is traditionally Silly Season, when newspapers publish strange stories about aliens and monsters again and again to bridge holiday time – and so will July on “History of Geology” be dedicated to frivolous science stories…

In 2001 the Italian geologist Luigi Piccardi presented during the Earth Systems Processes meeting in Edinburgh a hypothesis explaining the supposed appearance of the sea/lake monster “Nessie” as a result of geologic forces.

According to Piccardi’s idea the historic description of the monster – appearing on the surface with great (earth)shakes and rumours – could be associated with bubbles emanating from the bottom of the Scottish lake of Loch Ness in response of seismic activity along the Great Glen fault system, passing below the lake.

In an interview published June 28 in the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica“ Piccardi explains:

For the rest of the story: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/2013/06/30/the-earth-shattering-loch-ness-monster-that-wasnt/

Afghan Soldier Defuses Suicide Vest As Terrorist Is Still Wearing It

Would-be martyr was captured by Afghan soldiers in Jalalabad earlier today
It comes as 43 die in three explosions across the border in Pakistan
 

Covered from head to foot in padded protective gear, but with his extremities still dangerously exposed, this Afghan bomb disposal expert took his life in his hands to defuse this suicide bomber's explosive vest.

Security forces captured the would-be martyr before he blew himself up in Jalalabad earlier today, hog-tying the man to stop him detonating the device. 

But before the suspected terrorist could be taken in for interrogation, the bomb squad had to be called in for the risky job of disarming the bomb strapped across his chest.

 

For the rest of the story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2352009/The-real-Hurt-Locker-Brave-Afghan-soldier-defuses-suicide-vest-terrorist-wearing-it.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Panoramas From The Early 1900s Let You Gaze Far And Wide At The Past

When the iPhone got native panorama function in iOS 6, people started sharing tons of sprawling views. 360s of stadiums, the whole visible coastline at sunset. Laudable Facebook wallpapers all. But the urge to capture really wide shots didn't start a few years ago, it began in the 1800s when photographers like George R. Lawrence realized that aerial technology could help them take new kinds of photos.

Lawrence graduated from ladders to balloons to kites over the course of some experimentation, and eventually settled on using 17 Conyne kites (attached to each other with piano wire) to lift a 50 pound camera into the air. And we're talking 400 to 2,000 feet up. Lawrence captured wide views of cities all over the U.S., and his most famous series is probably a flattened San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake (above and below). That's real dedication to doing something new. [Open Culture]

 

For the rest of the story: http://gizmodo.com/panoramas-from-the-early-1900s-let-you-gaze-far-and-wid-627163814

Where the Hell Is the True North Pole?

For the rest of the story: http://gizmodo.com/where-the-hell-is-the-true-north-pole-632206503

Underground Submarine Base of the Cold War

This post is about one of the most grandiose structures of the Cold war built in the middle of the XXth century – the underground complex for submarines repair in Balaklava, Ukraine. It consists of of the repair base itself and a central base for nuclear weapons storage. For more than forty years the complex had been ready for self-sufficient existance and could accomodate all the population of Balaklava. However when Ukraine separated from the USSR they gave up on the complex, it became simply unneeded. In the period from 1993 to 2003 it was being plundered, its stuctures – dismantled. In 2004 a part of complex turned into a museum but nobody had restored it for that.

Museum visitors can see a zone around the channel which goes through the mountain, some shops and the armoury where torpedoes and nuclear warheads were kept. Out of the exposition are the bigger part of the channel, mine and torpedo part, generating station with a fuel storage unit and a system of unfinished adits.

For the rest of the story: http://englishrussia.com/2013/06/30/underground-submarine-base-of-the-cold-war/