Chicago River Turns Green for St. Patrick's Day

While some cities may offer green beer or bagels to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Chicago takes it up a notch by transforming its river into an emerald stream each year. The Windy City resumed its annual tradition this weekend, which marked the 51st time the Chicago River was dyed green since the ritual's introduction in 1962.

Though the exact formula for the solution remains a Chicago secret, it is an orange dye used to turn the blue waterways into the magnificent green river that marks St. Paddy's Day each year. Native Chicagoans and out-of-city spectators alike gather to witness the ceremonious tradition. Even this year, hundreds of thousands of people braved the low temperatures for the festivities, which included a man dressed as a leprechaun riding a water propelled Flyboard. See the festive guy in action, below.

AIPAD Photography Show

Goodyear GZ-20A Blimp

When traveling, it's typical to see the sides, the front, even the tail of an airplane, but it's not often that you get to see the details of a plane's underbelly. American photographer Jeffrey Milstein gives us this opportunity in his project, entitled Aircraft: The Jet as Art. Each machine is perfectly centered within the composition, which results in a sense of graphic symmetry and precision that is unique to the perspective. By presenting them in this way, the artist encourages his viewers to examine the beauty and form of this modern technology.

When exhibiting the photographs, Milstein produces large prints so that his viewers can almost feel the rush of air from each plane as it zips past. When documenting each plane, Milstein says, "It’s like shooting a moving duck. The planes are moving so fast, and I have only a hundredth of a second to get my shot. I have to keep the camera moving with the plane and then fire the shot exactly at the top dead center. It took a lot of practice.”

If you are interested in this project, Milstein's work will be exhibited at the AIPAD Photography Show in New York from April 4-7, 2013.

Alaska Airlines "Disneyland" Boeing 737-400

Harrier Jump Jet

America West Airlines Airbus A320-200

Citabria 7GCBC

Southwest "Shamu" Boeing 737-700

Southwest Boeing 737-700

United Airlines Boeing 757-200

USAF Learjet C-21A

America West Express Bombardier CRJ900

Plane Built With 6,500 Egg Cartons

Eggs for Soldiers is an ongoing fundraiser that gives a percentage of their free-range eggs sales directly to Help for Heroes, an organization providing direct support to wounded soldiers. In an effort to support the organizations' March Fourth 2013 campaign, artists Jack Munro and Charlotte Austen built an aircraft completely out of the charitable egg cartons. Modeled after a Mark I Spitfire, a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used during the Second World War, the piece stands approximately 40 feet long and 42.5 feet wide.

Across the course of 6 weeks, Munro and Austen constructed the life-size model out timber and steel framing, and covered the structure first with canvas, then with 6,500 egg boxes, 1.5 gallons of glue, 5,000 nails, 2.5 gallons of paint, and 10,000 staples. Munro said, “The biggest challenge in building the structure of the Eggs for Soldiers Spitfire was to recreate the plane's iconic but complex geometry as accurately as possible." The piece was recently unveiled at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford and stands alongside many other classic aircraft's.

Toy Robots Made Up Of Recycled Electronic Components

Portugese product designer Marco Fernandes built some fun robots out of electrical components salvaged from the trash heap. So far Fernandes has designed nine figures as part of his R³bot series, I think #R³bot nine is definitely my son favorite. 

16,000 Pairs of Shoes Lined Up Together

Heel the world: Incredible time lapse video shows more than 16,000 pairs of shoes lined up together in huge world record attempt — Thousands of shoes of all shapes and sizes, lined up alongside each other heel to toe, you could be forgiven for thinking this was some kind of modern art installation. In fact these startling images are from a new Guinness World Record set by National Geographic Kids magazine for the largest number of shoes collected for recycling in one place as part of their Run for the Planet campaign. Staff at the headquarters in Washington D.C emptied more than 50 gigantic boxes filled with unwanted trainers of all kinds sent by families and children from across America and set a new record of 16,407.

Sole solution: National Geographic collected 16,407 pairs of unwanted shoes to recycle breaking a Guinness World Record. 

Running total: It was the second world record set by National Geographic after they set the record for the most people to run 100 metres in 24 hours with 30,914.

Down at heel: An adjudicator from the Guinness Book of World Records examines shoes at the attempt

But celebrities also contributed to with some famous footwear coming from the likes of Taylor Swift, One Direction, Eli Manning, Danica Patrick, and Amanda Beard.

The athletic shoes will be sent to the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program which recycles shoes into a material used in surfaces like basketball courts and running tracks.

Last year, National Geographic Kids magazine set another Guinness World Record after 30,914 people helped take the title for most people running 100 metres in 24 hours.

National Geographic staff emptied more than 50 boxes full of shoes and arranged them outside their headquarters heel to toe.

All the trainers came from families and children who wanted to make a difference.

Celebrities including Taylor Swift and One Direction contributed to the attempt.

The shoes which will be recycled by Nike into material for athletic surfaces used on basketball pitches and running tracks.

Map Made from Wood Matches

U.S.A. (burnt/unburnt) is a 2011 installation by Paris-based artist Claire Fontaine. Art of “Evidence of Bricks” at the 2011Time-Based Art Festival. 

Fontaine has made somewhat of a name for herself with her match installations and flaming geography, most recently completing a similar U.S.A. map at Queens Nails Gallery in San Francisco. Unlike the installation in Portland above, the Queens Nails artwork was actually set on fire, and while it may not have gone exactly as intended, the final post-flame artwork is impressive nonetheless. 

Amazing Transparent Smartphone

Smartphones have been pushing the envelope of our technological capabilities most notably symbolized by the Steve Jobs led Apple powerhouse up to present-day. They are considered the most influential technology on everyone’s list. Samsung recently introduced its flexible OLED screen, which offers us a taste of what is on the frontier of smartphone evolution. The Taiwanese company Polytron has now stepped into the fray to give us a preview of what a futuristic, sci-fi tech infused phone may one day look like.

Polytron Technologies, a worldwide leader and manufacturer of optical and electronic vision glass, recently unveiled the world’s first transparent phone. Yes sci-fi lovers, the first iteration of Tony Stark’s phone has been created. Though only a prototype, it is clear from the images released that not all of the phones components are yet capable of being transparent. The device is essentially a phone-shaped piece of glass with a small, cen.

The smartphone industry is assuredly fiercely competitive, and any technological edge a manufacturer can get is sure to earn them a handful of interested consumers. Though the benefits of a transparent phone are not immediately apparent at this time, Polytron remains hopeful by stating that the technology may be available by the end of 2013. The time frame might be a stretch, but the results are there nonetheless - reality is plowing full-steam ahead toward the technological possibilities predicted in many of our favorite sci-fi media. Maybe if we can somehow get these smartphone manufacturing companies to collaborate, Tony Stark’s phone would be a reality. 

Rubber Man

Actually, Vijay has earned the nickname “Rubber Man” in his native country of India, for performing incredible flexibility stunts.

Vijay is able to wrap his legs over his head, wind his arms around his back, crawl his body through a tennis racket and even drink from a coke bottle held between his toes. The 27-year-old shop assistant says his passion for extreme flexibility tricks comes from watching Jackie Chan movies when he was a kid.

Vijay Sharma discovered his unusual talents when he began taking martial arts lessons, so he could follow in the footsteps of his idol. He started crawling into tight spaces, curling up in boxes, and before he knew it, he was earning the title of  “Rubber Man” in the Limca Book of records. That’s India’s version of the Guinness Book of Records.

Te ambitious young man has made appearances on national TV shows and won the silver medal in a body flexibility tournament, and says he will stop at nothing to reach the international fame he deserves. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from Rubberboy