PAVAN MICKEY

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Thousands of Giant Jellyfish Appear in Swarms off Britain's Coast

In waters off the coast of Britain, giant Barrel Jellyfish are appearing in extraordinarily large groups. The jellyfish measure up to 5 feet in length and tens of thousands of them have been showing up in this area. "They were just everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it," stated photographer Steve Trewhella to Daily Mail

Thousands of Giant Jellyfish Appear in Swarms off Britain's Coast

. Trewhella is also a conservationist who spotted the jellyfish swarm when he was taking his grandson out for a trip on his dive boat. Luckily, the creature's sting is harmless and can only cause a rash, so the diver was able to photograph and even swim with them.
Barrel Jellyfish are known for being harmless giants, since they only feed on minuscule prey such as plankton. It is rare for these beautifully colored aquatic animals to swim close to the coast, which is why recent sightings have made headlines. If the jellies stick around during the summer and autumn, their swarms will end up growing even bigger, since they breed in warm water at a phenomenal rate.

Adorable Pug May Be the Smallest in the World

In January, Joanne Astley's pug Ruby gave birth to a litter of four puppies and one of them turned out to be a bit different from the others. Pip weighs about 1 lb. and is less than 4 inches tall, making her owner think that she could be the smallest pug in the world. "She must be Britain's smallest pug – if not the smallest pug in the world," Astley told Daily Mail. After she was born, Pip ended up surviving numerous cases of pneumonia caused by her cleft palate, but vets say that she is completely healthy and that her size is not having a harmful effect on her.
According to Guinness World Records, the smallest living dog is a female Chihuahua named Lily, who is only 3.8 inches tall. In terms of length, chihuahua Heaven Sent Brandy is the world's smallest, measuring a mere 6 inches from nose to tail. Now that she is four months old, Pip is half the size of a normal pug, so only time will tell if she is able to measure up when it comes to world records. For right now, the adorable pup seems to enjoy being safely carried around in her owner's handbag, especially since people tend to admire her petite stature. "People stop and stare – they can’t believe she’s real, they all think she’s a toy," explained Astley.

Adorable Elephant Takes Incredible "Elphie"

Two months ago, 22-year-old Christian LeBlanc was spending a semester abroad in Bangkok when one of his Instagram photos went viral. While exploring Thailand, Christian had come across an elephant sanctuary on the side of the road and decided to spend some time there. "I see a sign that for 50 cents you can feed the elephant. So my girlfriend and I go and buy a basket of bananas and we start feeding the elephant," LeBlanc told CBC News. While the mammal was gleefully grabbing for more bananas, he grabbed the 22-year-old's GoPro by accident, not realizing that they'd run out of bananas. "I didn't even have time to think. It all happened so fast," stated Christian.
In one quick movement, the gigantic creature threw its trunk into the air and snapped an incredible elphie, which stands for elephant selfie. Luckily, the GoPro was on time-lapse mode when the photogenic animal grabbed it, so he didn't even have to press a button when the image was captured. After sharing the snapshot to Instagram, the elphie immediately went viral, allowing viewers everywhere to admire the elephant's clever camera skills.

Parents Give Their Daughter a History Lesson by Recreating Photos of Famous Heroines

When Brooklyn photographer Marc Bushelle and his wife Janine decided to teach their daughter Lily about famous African American women, they had her dress up as the historical figures for a series of photos. The Black Heroines Project has not only taught Lily about strong and courageous women, it has also gone viral and has been educational for others. “When people talk about black history, there is a list of names they rattle off. But we wanted to cover women that were not normally at the tip of people’s tongues,” Marc explained to Flickr.
So far, Lily has dressed up as the first black female pilot Bessie Coleman, ballerina Misty Copeland, entertainer Queen Latifah, the first black female astronaut Mae Jemison, and many other notable African American women. Thanks to the outpouring of support that the Bushelle family has received for their project, they decided to broaden the series to include important women of all races. "Malala was a no-brainer,” stated Marc, describing their portrait of Lily as the 17-year-old Pakistani activist and Nobel Prize winner. Another recent addition to the brilliant series features Lily posing alongside the humanitarian Mother Teresa.

Above: Lily as Toni Morrison

Lily as Mae Jemison

Lily as Admiral Michelle Howard

Lily as Nina Simone

Lily as Shirley Chisholm

Lily as Grace Jones

Lily as Queen Latifah

Lily as Misty Copeland

Lily as Malala Yousafzai

Lily as Mother Teresa

Family Photos Reveal the Lives of Famous Artists

Curator Merry Foresta has spent the last few years collecting one-of-a-kind snapshots of famous artists from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. These images feature world-renowned artists in a natural setting, where their guard is down and they are simply living in the moment. More than 100 of these candid shots are now available for the public to admire in a new photo book entitled Artists Unframed. Within the pages of this book, you can find Jackson Pollock carving a turkey, Una Hanbury sculpting a bust of Georgia O’Keeffe, John Lennon with his arms wrapped around Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol, and Picasso smiling on a balcony with his daughter Maya. A tiny annotation penned by an unknown hand proclaims that Picasso is "very much in love."
The captivating book reveals a different side to the artists that have been loved and honored for decades. We see what happens when artists are not posing before the public eye. In unveiling these memorable photos, Foresta hopes to humanize both the individuals pictured and the overall elusive figure of the artist.
Artists Unframed is available now and can be bought here.
Pablo Picasso and his daughter Maya

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo

Lee Krasner, Stella Pollock, and Jackson Pollock

Una Hanbury sculpting a bust of Georgia O’Keeffe

Walt Kuhn

Gertrude Abercrombie and Dizzie Gillespie

Yoko Ono, John Lennon, and Andy Warhol

Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Villon, and Raymond Duchamp-Villon

David Hockney

Helen Lundeberg

Jackson Pollock

Ansel Adams

Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Easter Island

The Moai, huge sculptures shaped human head, the main tourist attraction of Easter Island, Valparaíso Region, Chile. Easter Island has several settlements called Ahu "Altars", where a group of more or less numerous Moai meets, but always perfectly organized and looking in the same direction. Ahu Tongariki is the name of the settlement largest moai in terms of size and situation. Ahu Tongariki is located on the east coast of the island, about 20 kilometers from the capital Hanga Roa, between the coves of Hanga Hanga Hotu Iti and Nui. Ahu Tongariki is an altar, one composed of 15 figures aligned parallel to the coast, stand with their backs to the sea, as virtually all of the island Moai facing the center of it.

Photo credit Ferran Altimiras

Currently Ahu Tongariki is considered the largest ceremonial center of Easter Island and even the largest of all the islands of Polynesia, and also one that has greater diversity because the statues are totally different from each other or in another words it different sizes, different thicknesses, etc. and representing various types of ancestors who inhabited the island centuries ago. As a historical note, note that in 1960 the area was devastated by a tsunami caused by an earthquake in the Chilean city of Valdivia. Most of the statues were completely buried under sand and remained for more than three decades until between 1992 and 1996 the restoration works were undertaken place. The 15 Moai were exhumed and returned to its original position, but only one of them was able to return the "hat", since the rest were badly damaged and are at serious risk.