pictures of the day

[picturesoftheday]

China's Ding Ning reacts after winning a point against South Korea's Kim Kyungah in the women's semifinal table tennis match between China and South Korea on Aug. 6.

[picturesoftheday]

April Ross (right) of the United States and Jennifer Kessy celebrate after winning match point during the women's beach volleyball semifinal match between United States and Brazil on Aug. 7

[picturesoftheday]

Dominican Republic's Felix Sanchez has a family photograph on hand as he reacts to his gold medal win in the men's 400-meter hurdles final at the Olympic Stadium on Aug. 6.

[picturesoftheday]

Jamaica's Usain Bolt crosses the finish line to win the men's 100-meter final at the Olympic Stadium on Aug. 5.

[thedailywhat]

Inspirational Motivational of the Day: Meet Dr. William Bell, the world record holder in pole vault for his age group.

The 90-year-old — the father of former Olympic silver medalist Earl Bell — is still jumping three times a week.

Watch as he tries to beat his own record with a vault of 7’2″.

[videogum]

[aredotna]

A Gigantic Animated Mural of Tokyo Shows The City, Samurai, And Sushi

[wetdirtandearth]

Dr. Samuel “Sammy” Lee, 91, was the first Asian-American to win an Olympic gold medal for the U.S. at the 1948 London games, and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving.

From Wikipedia:

As a twelve-year-old in 1932, Lee dreamed of becoming a diver, but at the time Latinos, Asians and African-Americans were only allowed to use Fresno’s Brookside Pool on Wednesdays, on what was called “international day”: the day before the pool was scheduled to be drained and refilled with clean water. Because Lee needed a place to practice and could not regularly use the public pool, his coach dug a pit in his backyard and filled it with sand. Lee practiced by jumping into the pit.

I’ve learned so much about Olympians in the past few weeks, and this guy was a fucking champ. This article on Investors Business Daily goes a bit more in depth on what Mr. Lee was up against. Only having access to a pool ONCE a week, having to swallow his pride and train with a douchebag eventually led him to the Olympics where he beat out his competitors who probably had an advantage over him with the luxury of being able to train in a pool at their leisure. Then he came back four years later and did it again!

Lee went on to become an ear, nose, and throat doc, serve in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during the Korean War–wonder what that was like for a Korean American–and, later, coach diving legend Greg Louganis to a silver medal in the 1976 Olympics. He’s a member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, has a square named after him in LA’s K-town, and is now retired and living in Huntington Beach, CA.

[vanimore-deactivated20181204]

The Chand Baori well, Rajasthan, India.

‘Built in the 9th century, it has 3500 narrow steps and 13 stories and is 100 feet deep.

Built back in the 10th century, the incredible well of Chand Baori, India was a practical solution to the water problem in the area. The arid climate forced the locals to dig deep for a dependable water source, one that would last throughout an entire year. Chand Baori well is 30 meters deep, it has 13 floors and 3,500 steps.

It is a fine example of the architectural excellence prevalent in the past. This impressive step well is as deep as a seven storeyed building. The famous Harshat Mata temple situated opposite to this well shows that there must have been a religious connection with the step-well. Length of well is 35 metres on each side with steps leading down from each side and water can be drawn from any level.’

The well was used in the film The Fall, starring Lee Pace.

[theatlantic]

A few more photos of storm clouds, because they’re all incredible.

[Images: Camille Seaman]

[fastcompany]

The man-made mechanical forest, five years in the making, consists of 18 supertrees that act as vertical gardens, generating solar power, acting as air venting ducts for nearby conservatories, and collecting rainwater. To generate electricity, 11 of the trees are fitted with solar photovoltaic systems that provide lighting and assist with water flow in the conservatories below. 

Singapore’s Supertrees Light Up The Night

[egrlfrnd-deactivated20231228-de]

Lake Retba in Senegal

A boat floats on what looks like a huge strawberry milk-lake.

The wooden vessels were photographed from the air bobbing on Lake Retba, in Senegal.

From above the mass of water - which spans one square mile - looks staggeringly similar to a giant milkshake.

And just like the Dead Sea swimmers are even able to FLOAT on the water with ease.

The bizarre colour is caused by high levels of salt - with some areas containing up to 40% of the condiment.

Michael Danson, an expert in extremophile bacteria from Bath University, said: “The strawberry colour is produced by salt-loving organism Dunaliella salina.

“They produce a red pigment that absorbs and uses the energy of sunlight to create more energy, turning the water pink.

“Lakes like Retba and the Dead Sea, which have high salt concentrations, were once thought to be incompatible with life - hence the names. But they are very much alive.”

Salt collectors can often be seen scouring the expanse to remove the valuable mineral - but first have to coat their skin with sheer butter.

This helps protect their skin from exposure to the intense salt levels in the three metre deep lake.

Salt crystals cling to the bodies of miners who work the lake everyday to extract its contents.

And towering piles of collected salt litter the shoreline.

Villagers then process it before selling and using the valuable mineral. (via)

[aredotna]

Singapore constructs a forest of steel “supertrees” over Marina Bay.

[dendroica]

The head of a Buddha statue peeks above the dirt in Handan, China, where archaeologists have reportedly unearthed nearly 3,000 Buddha statues, which could be up to 1,500 years old.

The discovery is believed to be the largest of its kind since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, an archaeologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told reporters in late March, according to the Associated Press.

The Buddha statues—most of which are made of white marble and limestone and many of which are broken—could date back to the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties (A.D. 534 to 577), experts say.

The statues—discovered during a dig outside of Ye, the ancient capital of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties—may have been rounded up and buried after the fall of the Northern Qi dynasty by later emperors in an attempt to purge the country of Buddhism.

(via Pictures: 3,000 Ancient Buddhas Unearthed in China)

[inothernews]

SPIKE LEAN   A worker cleaned the roof of the Esplanade Theater in Singapore Wednesday. (Photo: Wong Maye-E / AP via the Wall Street Journal)

[vicemag]

Japanese Women of the Sea

Nina Poppe is a German photographer and curator who published Ama, one of the best photo books of 2011. The images tell the story of contemporary Japanese female pearl divers, aka ama. These women make their living by diving for abalone, a slimy sea snail that produces pearls. The Japanese tradition suggests that this practice may be two millennia old. Even today, an ama dives according to the old ways: without equipment, relying only on lung power. The Japanese believe that the majority of ama are women because of how their bodies differ from men: The fat on a female body is distributed differently than that on men, which ensures that they can stay warmer in colder water. Ama is an extinguishing profession; most of these women are around 60, some are over 80. Nina decided to photograph these women before it was too late, before no ama was diving into the blue anymore and the only one we would have remembered was Kissy Suzuki in James Bond’s You Only Live Twice. So I decided to call Nina and talk about this. 

VICE: How long did this book take to shoot and for what lengths of time were you staying with theama? Nina Poppe: In 2010 I went to Japan twice, first in May and then I went back in August and September. On my second travel I stayed on the Island of Ise-Shima with the ama for two weeks. Was it a struggle getting them to accept you into their community? How did you cope with the language barrier? The language was indeed a big problem. I donʻt speak any Japanese. I always had a little book with me, where I had some basic sentences written down. Who I am, what Iʻm doing, what I want from them… It felt really strange. It was a total loss of communication, as nobody could speak any English on that island. It was a feeling like someone cut my tongue. I was a total stranger with my blond hair and blue eyes. I could feel it everywhere, all the time, which was exhausting. Everybody stared at me, but in a friendly and curious way. Still, after two weeks I ran away from the island, as I had such a need for communication. The good thing about it is that all your senses are very concentrated when you canʻt communicate. Being a woman helped a lot, I think. The ama were very open and friendly with me. I think they didn’t understand what I was doing there, but they took me on their boat and let me into their huts. It felt that the ama are very open toward other women, and they were maternal with me. I could have been their daughter.

At what age do these women start diving? How deep do they go, and for how long at a time? Most of them start early, as a teenager. They dive up to 30 meters deep without equipment. They dive two times a day for exactly an hour and a half at fixed times. They are underwater for about 2 minutes, and do this up to 60 times in one diving session. The frequency makes it so hard.

Continue

[theatlantic]

In Focus: North Korea Prepares for a Milestone Year

The North Korean government recently invited dozens of foreign journalists into its secretive country to cover the 100th birthday celebration for founder Kim Il Sung on April 15. Among pageants and openings, the event drawing the most attention is the scheduled launch of a three-stage Unha-3 rocket carrying a weather satellite. The launch is already drawing criticism from Western governments: If successful, it could demonstrate North Korea’s capacity to produce an intercontinental missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. Despite their official invitation, foreign photographers are still restricted — escorted wherever they go and unable to photograph more than they can see within selected facilities or from the windows of buses and trains.

See more. [Images: AP, AFP/Getty]

[fotojournalismus]

Gaza runner Bahaa al-Farra stretches during a training session as children mimic him while posing for the camera in Shati refugee camp in Gaza City March 25, 2012. The 19-year-old trains for three hours a day in Gaza’s Yarmouk soccer stadium, along the dusty streets and on the beach in well worn trainers that were donated to the Palestine Olympic Committee by wealthy Gulf state, Qatar, as he prepares to race at the London Olympics.

[Credit : Mohammed Salem/Reuters]