Clipmarks | hitchhiker08's 'canada' clips

Rocks May Be Oldest on Earth, Scientists Say

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:58:32 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Rocks May Be Oldest on Earth, Scientists Say

Some scientists say ancient bedrock found in Canada could turn out to be younger rock formed from much older remnants.

A swath of bedrock in northern Quebec may be the oldest known piece of the earth’s crust.

In an article appearing in Friday’s issue of the journal Science, scientists report that portions of that bedrock are 4.28 billion years old, formed when the earth was less than 300 million years old.

Other scientists are intrigued, but not yet entirely convinced that the rocks are quite that old.

“I hope that I’m wrong,” Dr. Mojzsis said. “If that happens, I believe there will be a land rush by geologists to northern Quebec.”

If the rocks are as old as claimed, the significance would be that “they’re not dramatically different from rocks you would find today in Japan or places like that,” Dr. Carlson said.

That suggests that the process of plate tectonics, reshaping and moving continents, could have already started on the very early earth.

Tags: quebec, geology, canada, oldest rocks

Skydivers set for new heights over Everest

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:55:26 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Clip Source: in.reuters.com

Skydivers set for new heights over Everest

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Dozens of skydivers will attempt the first parachute jumps over Mount Everest next week, organizers said on Tuesday.

At least 34 skydivers from 14 countries, including Britain, the United States, Canada, Denmark and New Zealand plan to jump from an aircraft flying 465 feet above the Everest summit on October 2.

"This will be the most important event in the Himalayan adventure since 1953," said Nigel Gifford, owner of the British company High & Wild which has organized the team.

Each participant will wear an oxygen mask and carry a larger than normal parachute to help a fast descent through the thin air of the world's highest drop zone.

"It is a very big adventure, it is a truly historic adventure," said 40-year-old Danish participant Per Wimmer.

Not finding the drop zone after the fall, extreme cold and malfunctioning of oxygen masks were some of the potential hazards, Wimmer said.

Tags: skydivers, record, mt. everest, drop zone, parachutes, world record

5 Retarded Space Travel Ideas (That Might Actually Work)

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:44:44 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Clip Source: www.cracked.com

5 Retarded Space Travel Ideas (That Might Actually Work)

#5.

The Gigantic Space Cannon

Gerald Bull was a physics genius, and without a doubt the greatest weapons designer that Canada has ever produced, which may very well be impressive for all we know of Canadian weapon designers.

a field called "super-artillery"

#4.

The Atom Bomb-Powered Spacecraft

Even when space travel was still on the drawing board, mankind was full of visions of missions to Mars and space hotels.

people could only go up in tiny little capsules with stale air

Freeman Dyson totally doesn't look crazy or anything.

#3.

Buzz Aldrin's Martian Gravity Express

NASA veteran Buzz Aldrin came up with a clever idea to save money going to Mars: Don't use any fuel.

use Earth's gravity like a slingshot

Above: Cracked's childlike grasp on this complex concept.

Clip Source: www.cracked.com

#2.

Farming Man-Made Space Meat

#1.

Project Daedalus: The 50,000 Ton Interstellar Suicide Machine

The model they came up with was a 570-foot behemoth called the Daedalus.

Tags: space travel, intergalactic, nasa, rockets, outer space, astronauts

Japan's Landfills Abound with Gold, Silver and Platinum

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:20:33 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: No kidding!

Clip Source: www.ecogeek.org

Japan's Landfills Abound with Gold, Silver and Platinum

In Japan's landfills, there is enough gold, silver and platinum to propel the country into the top tier of resource-producing countries - along with Australia, Brazil and Canada.

The millions of electronics that are discarded each year, including televisions, mobile phones, MP3 players and computers, have created so-called “urban mines.”

These mines, according to a new survey by the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, have untapped resources that no one has figured out how to extract yet. With all the materials found in the discarded electronics, Japan now has three times as much gold, silver and indium, a thin coating used for LCDs, as the world needs each year. The amount of platinum hidden in them thar landfills is six times as much as global consumption.

consumers in Japan replace their electronic items very quickly and only 13 per cent, or about 550 tonnes a year, are recycled.

Tags: recycle, landfills, japan, gold, silver, platinum, electronics, mobile phones

Bicycle thief caught!

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:09:56 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Perhaps got the wrong idea about 'recycling'!

Clip Source: www.eyeweekly.com

To catch a thief

Theft of any kind is pretty despicable, but to take from those who often have so little, those who in their daily commuting or errand-running inflict so little burden on the rest of us — there must be a special circle of hell reserved for such scum.

Well, if there is, there’s a place of dishonour in it reserved for Igor Kenk. Among the cycling community, he’s long been notorious for rumours that he buys and sells stolen bikes out of his Queen West shop. Now we all know just how well deserved that notoriety likely was, after he was arrested by Toronto police this week and charged with theft. In his shop, and in several storage locations around the city, it appears he may have had more than 2,000 stolen bikes in his possession. The charges he faces indicate that his operation was a driving force behind Toronto’s reputation as the bike-theft capital of North America.

long jail sentence might demonstrate to the criminals just how it feels to be robbed of your freedom

Tags: thief, burglar, crime, steal, bicycle, totonto, canada

10 Homes that Defy Gravity

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:19:03 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Amazing pads!

Clip Source: www.oddee.com

10 Homes that Defy Gravity

Wozoco Apartments (Amsterdam-Osdorp, Netherlands)

A zoning law and blueprint flub were the inspiration for this apartment complex.

Floating Castle (Ukraine)

Supported by a single cantilever --and quite discussed at Panoramio, this mysterious levitating farm house belongs in a sci-fi flick.

Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada)

Apartments connect and stack like Lego blocks in Montreal's Habitat 67.

Free Spirit Spheres (British Columbia, Canada)

Free Spirit Spheres can be hung from the trees as shown, making a tree house.

Cube House (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Living in a tilted house is much easier than it looks—just ask the people living in these the Kijk-Kubus homes.

Gangster's House (Archangelsk, Russia)

Russian gangster Nikolai Sutyagin’s home is certainly unusual.

begun in 1992 stands 13 floors, 144 feet high.

Mushroom House (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Upside-Down House (Syzmbark, Poland)

Pod House (New Rochelle, New York)

Heliotrope Rotating House (Freiburg, Germany)

Tags: architecture, gravtational force, apartments, housing

Guy Films Space Shuttle Launch from Passing Airliner

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:31:26 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Amazing footage...wow!

Clip Source: gizmodo.com

Guy Films Space Shuttle Launch from Passing Airliner

[Video]

Watching a space shuttle launch from the ground is undoubtedly very awe inspiring, but this video of a launch takes the biscuit: It's filmed from thousands of feet in the air. A lucky guy managed to film a shuttle rocketing off the ground (possibly STS-124) from inside a passing Air Canada airliner. It's less fire, smoke and thunder than a sea-level view, more "Holy crap, look how fast it goes!" Check it out... you may be as amazed as it sounds like he was. [PointNiner]

Tags: space shuttle, rocket, air canada, videos, launch

Strange are the ways of the wild...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:45:35 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: "The photographer was sure that he was going to see the end of his huskies when the polar bear materialized out of the blue, as it were: But something else happened. The Polar Bear returned every night that week to play with the dogs..." Amazing!

Clip Source: valdezlink.com

Where did this happen?

The photographer was sure that he was going to see the end of his huskies when the polar bear materialized out of the blue, as it were: But something else happened. The Polar Bear returned every night that week to play with the dogs...

Tags: polar bear, canada, huskies, saskatchewan, manitoba, alberta

Club Made From Ice

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:19:42 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Gives a new meaning to 'on the rocks'? Cheers!

Clip Source: thecontaminated.com

Club Made From Ice

You maybe want to chillin’ in this coolest club which is located in Toronto, Canada. Everything in this club is made from ice, starting with furniture and ending with martini glasses.

Tags: ice, frozen, club, alcohol, cocktails, martini, canada, bizarre

Coldest Places on Earth

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:44:44 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Did I hear someone say cool? Coolest!

Clip Source: www.mentalfloss.com

The Coldest Places on Earth
by Miss Cellania - January 24, 2008 - 4:05 AM

International Falls

International Falls, Minnesota is known as the coldest spot in the lower 48 states. The town of almost 7,000 people has an average temperature of 36.4 °F (2 °C). The average low for December, January, and February is below zero.

Umiat

Umiat, Alaska is the coldest place in the United States, with an average temperature of 10.1°F.

Snag

picture of Jim Brader shows what it’s like to be a meteorologist in Alaska

on his way to the Snag airstrip in Yukon, Canada.

Frozen breath hangs in the air for up to 15 minutes, making it easy to find where someone has gone.

Northice Station

The coldest place in the western hemisphere is Greenland

Yakutsk

Yakutsk, capital of the Yakutia region in Siberia claims to be the coldest city on earth

Verkhoyansk

Verkhoyansk, in the Yakutia region of Siberia

Oymyakon

Oymyakon, the other village

the Yakutia region of Russia

Vostok Station

coldest place

Vostok Station,

-89.2 °C

Tags: winter, ice, snow, alaska, russia, canada, freezing

Niagara Falls By Night

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:03:49 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Outtasite!

Clip Source: thecontaminated.com

Niagara Falls At Night

The most famous attraction of Niagara Falls are the water falls. The biggest ones are the “Canadian Falls” with a height of 54 meters (177 feet) and the American Falls with a height of 56 meters (184 feet).

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Niagara Falls, Ontario

Niagara Falls skyline at night

Niagara Falls is a Canadian city of 82,184 residents^[1] on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of south-central Ontario. It lies across the river from Niagara Falls, New York, and was incorporated on June 12, 1903.

Location of Niagara Falls in the Niagara Region

The city is dominated by the Niagara Falls waterfalls on the Niagara River and benefits from the fact, that both falls, American Falls and Horseshoe Falls, can be best seen from the Canadian side thus presenting the city one of the major tourist attractions of the world.

The city permitted the development of a tourist area along the falls and the gorge.

parking lots, souvenir shops, observation towers, high-rise-hotels, casinos

Tags: niagara falls, horseshoe falls, waterfalls, niagara river, tourism, sightseeing, canada, lighting

12 Monuments Dedicated to Amazing Women

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:55:02 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Clip Source: weburbanist.com

12 Monuments Dedicated to Amazing Women: From Joan of Arc to the Working Women of Amsterdam

In Zalongo, northwestern part of Greece, lies a grandiose monument dedicated to the Women of Kassope

on the Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, The Famous Five or The Valiant Five statues

n the memory of

the women’s rights movement in Canada in 1920s, because at that time women weren’t allowed to vote.

Queen Victoria

monument was sculpted 40 years later by Louis-Philippe Hébert, from Quebec

Unknown Woman Worker monument is located in Belfast, UK,

emblematic figure in French history

Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc)

National Women’s Monument or the Vrouemonument from Bloemfontein, South Africa

dedicated to

27,000 martyr women who died during the Boer War

Rosenstrasse monument

old Jewish quarter of Berlin

Dulcinea,

Located in Madrid, Spain

Sybil Ludington,

in Carmel, New York,

Molly Pitcher

in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

New York State Women Veterans Memorial

Madison Avenue

Red Light District Statue in Amsterdam

Tags: monuments, women, memorials, joan of arc, heroines, womens lib, womanhood

Endangered and threatened mammals

Fri, 23 May 2008 17:19:34 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Shed a tear and lets try and do our bit to save these beautiful creatures...

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Endangered and threatened mammals

Manatees swim near a federal sanctuary in Crystal River, Florida.

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Preble's meadow jumping mouse is seen in the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site

Zapus hudsonius preblei, is a threatened species." />

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

ocelot, is believed to be one of only about 100 left in the U.S. Dallas Zoo

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Canada lynx

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Otorongo, Panthera onca,

Panthera onca, is seen at the Huachipa zoo in Lima on May 9, 2008. The cub was the third jaguar born in captivity in Peru." />

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Indiana bat. The most endangered bat in North America

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

California bighorn sheep in Nevada.

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

killer whale, star of the "Free Willy"

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

one of two extremely endangered right whales off the Georgia coast

The right whales are on the list of endangered species." />

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

sperm whale

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

A humpback whale jumps at a whale watching point,

Megaptera novaeangliae, is endangered." />

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

grizzly bear

The grizzly bear, Ursus arctos horribilis, is a threatened species.

The grizzly bear, Ursus arctos horribilis, is a threatened species." />

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

A gray wolf rests in tall grass

For many other areas of the United States, the gray wolf remains an endangered species. However in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, the gray wolf is not." />

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Polar bear and cub on iceberg, in Arctic islands.

U.S. Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species on May 14, 2008,

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Black-footed ferrets peep out of their hole at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Cente

The black-footed ferret is an endangered species," />

Tags: endangered, mammals, marine, ecology, sanctuary, zoo, national parks, animals

Same buildings - then and now...

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:11:06 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: If you have the time to click through, there's an entire collection of pics from Canada, France, UK and US. Truly nostalgic!

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

A Century Apart: Temple Meads

The 1870s joint railway station at Temple Meads. The early 1900s view (top) looks remarkably similar to how it does today (bottom). But as with the General Hospital, wartime bombing took its toll, in this case destroying the original French pavilion roof. An impressive array of early motors (presumably taxis) in the 1900s photo. Exterior lighting is present in the foreground of both shots, just with a different style and appearance.

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

1st St SW: 1928 / 2007

The only remaining portion of the Underwood Block is being integrated into Union Square condo development. A massive fire in the early 90's saw the large apartment block to be torn down. Parts of the old structure that were attached to the 3-story part were kept as to not disrupt the undamaged building.

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

Here's what it looked like in 2004 before the condo development was started:

Posted 6 weeks ago. ( permalink )

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

Woodland Motel Then and Now

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

1891-2008

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

Tags: structures, infrastructure development, usa, us, canada, france, buildings

Vedanthangal - oldest bird sanctuary in India

Fri, 09 May 2008 10:55:11 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Best of all, villagers close to the sanctuary enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the migratory birds. Some have been quoted as saying they don't want any factories to ever come up in the area, as this will scare away the birds - like the birds go out in search of food, so they too (villagers) will go looking for work elsewhere! Their forefathers also helped identify poachers and had the British issue banning orders!

Clip Source: travellady.com

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

The oldest bird sanctuary in India

This is one wonderful scene I will never forget. The sun is just about to set. The trees are dotted with birds. At a rough estimate, there are about 75,000 birds.

Archival records show that towards the end of the 18th century, local villagers complained to the then Collector Lionel Place about indiscriminate shooting of the birds by British soldiers. The Collector issued a ‘firman’ (order) - prohibiting any shooting of the birds in the entire village.

115 species of birds have been recorded in this sanctuary. I have compiled a list of the birds I could see and identify:

Garganey Teals Canada

Glossy Ibis Sri Lanka

Grey Heron Bangladesh

Grey Pelican Australia

Open-billed Stork Bangladesh

Painted Stork Siberia

Snake Bird Sri Lanka

Spoonbill Burma

Spot Bill Duck Canada

Clip Source: yoomilee.wordpress.com

Painted Storks in Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

Painted Stork in flight

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

Tags: vedanthangal bird sanctuary, avian, chennai, india