Tennis anyone? Sky is the limit

In February 2005, tennis pros Roger Federico and Andre Agassi were in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the ATP's Dubai Duty Free Men's Open, a$1 million International Series Gold event. While in town, they took part in publicity stunt, engaging in a friendly exhibition tennis match on the grass helipad atop the luxurious Burr Al Arab hotel. 

The Burr Al Arab hotel, built upon a man-made island and designed in shape to resemble the sail of a dhow, features a large cantilevered helipad that extends out from one side of the hotel and over the ocean. The helipad itself rests 692 feet above ground level, and on the day depicted in these photographs it was temporarily set up as a tennis court for the exhibition. (A year earlier, golf star Tiger Woods had engaged in a similar publicity stunt,hitting several golf balls off the helipad and into the waters of the Persian Gulf.)  

As Andre Agassi said of the experience of playing tennis on a platform several hundred feet in the air: "This was an absolutely amazing experience. When you first get over how high you are and start playing it's an absolute joy and it was a great time. I had no issues with the height as long as I didn't have to bungee jump off the side." 

Black and White Twins

A mixed-race British mom, Kyle Hodgson, gave birth in 2005 to twins, one of each. No, not a boy and a girl. Two girls — one black, the other white. The odds of such a birth are about a million to one, experts said. Although occurrences of this nature sometimes occur when a woman conceives twins fathered by two different men, this was a much rarer case in which a single pairing produced twins with distinctly different physical attributes (e.g., skin tone, hair color, eye color) rather than a blending of their parents' characteristics. 

The parents, Kyle and her partner, Remi Horder, are of mixed race themselves, both having been born to white mothers and black fathers. Their twin girls — Kian and Remee — were both born with blue eyes, with Renee having blonde hair and Kian having black hair and somewhat darker skin than her sister. Since then, Renee's skin tone has become lighter, while Kian's has become darker and her eyes have turned brown. 

Suicidal Bear Reconsiders

On 15 September 2007, a 250-pound bear wandered onto Rainbow Bridge on Old Highway 40 near Donner Summit in the Lake Tahoe, California, area of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Apparently frightened by approaching automobile traffic, the large bruin went over the railing, then caught a ledge and pulled itself onto a concrete girder beneath the 80-foot-high bridge. 

Animal control officials initially left the bear alone, undecided about what action they could take to help it out of its predicament. But when they found the bear asleep on the ledge the following morning, they enacted a plan to rescue it.

While volunteers held a nylon net (purchased at an Army surplus store) in place beneath the ledge, an animal control officer shot the bruin with a tranquilizer dart. The volunteers used a pole to push the groggy bear into the net then lowered it to the floor of the ravine spanned by the bridge, where, after the bruin recovered consciousness, it was guided away from the crowd of onlookers and back into the wilderness.

Bizarre Illegal Immigration techniques

Plenty of inventive (and desperate) people have come up with a number of imaginative schemes for sneaking themselves and others across national borders. 

On 2003, Illegal immigrants from India and Pakistan being smuggled from mainland China to Hong Kong were found inside suitcases). 

On 2001, a 135-lb. woman was hidden behind the dashboard of a car. The "passenger" might be quite cramped and uncomfortable and the automobile difficult to maneuver after the modifications, but the ruse wouldn't have to be maintained for long — the car could be loaded just out of sight of border agents, driven the short distance to the crossing, and unloaded not far across the other side.

Similarly, another would-be border crosser was caught attempting to enter the U.S. concealed inside a seat occupied by another passenger:

Smallest Works of Art on Earth

Willard Wigan was born in Birmingham, England in 1957 and is the creator of the smallest works of art on earth. From being a traumatised and unrecognised dyslexic child, he is now emerging as the most globally celebrated micro-miniaturist of all time and is literally capable of turning a spec of dust into a vision of true beauty. Willard can create a masterpiece within the eye of a tiny sewing needle, on the head of a pin, the tip of an eyelash or a grain of sand. Some are many times smaller than the fullstop at the end of this sentence. 

He is the creator of the world's smallest sculptures, often taking months to complete one, working between heartbeats to avoid hand tremors. "You have to control the whole nervous system, you have to work between the heartbeat - the pulse of your finger can destroy the work." Wigan uses a tiny surgical blade to carve microscopic figures out of rice, and fragments of grains of sand and sugar, which are then mounted on pinheads. To paint his creations, he uses a hair plucked from a dead fly (the fly has to have died from natural causes, as he refuses to kill them for the sake of his art). His sculptures have included a Santa Claus and a copy of the FIFA World Cup trophy, both about 0.005mm (0.0002in) tall, and a boxing ring withMuhammad Ali figure which fits onto the head of a match.

The 1993 British film An Eye on X follows Wigan's quest in carving two statues of American black activist Malcolm X, one life size and the other on the head of a toothpick. Additional footage in the production archive includes Willard flying aircraft made out of thin balsa wood, carving on the head of a toothpick and talking about his early life. Wigan was inspired to do his work beginning at the age of 5. He is learning disabled, and doesn't know how to read or write. He said that his childhood teachers "made [him] feelsmall, made [him] feel like nothing." He decided to prove that "less is more," and that "nothing could be everything." 

In May 2007, Wigan's 70-piece collection was purchased by tennis playerand businessman David Lloyd, who has insured the collection for a total value of £11.2 million. 

Arthur Mole's Extraordinary Mass Photography

Almost a century ago and without the aid of any pixel-generating computer software, the itinerant photographer Arthur Mole (1889-1983) used his 11 x 14-inch view camera to stage a series of extraordinary mass photographic spectacles that choreographed living bodies into symbolic formations of religious and national community. In these mass ornaments, thousands of military troops and other groups were arranged artfully to form American patriotic symbols, emblems, and military insignia visible from a bird's eye perspective. During World War I, these military formations came to serve as rallying points to support American involvement in the war and to ward off isolationist tendencies. 

Living Portrait of President Woodrow Wilson, for which 21,000 troops assembled at Camp Sherman in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1918, is the best-known of Mole's photographs. The image is characteristic of Mole's work in that it wavers between the compositional effect of the whole (i.e. a portrait of Woodrow Wilson) and the desire to focus upon the obscured individuals who constitute the image, thereby undermining the optical illusion of the totality to a degree. 

 On a stifling July day in 1918, 18,000 officers and soldiers posed as Lady Liberty on the parade [drill] grounds at Camp Dodge. According to a July 3, 1986, story in the Fort Dodge Messenger, many men fainted — they were dressed in woolen uniforms — as the temperature neared 105°F. The photo, taken from the top of a specially constructed tower by a Chicago photography studio, Mole & Thomas, was intended to help promote the sale of war bonds but was never used. 

 For The Human Liberty Bell, Mole and Thomas traveled to Camp Dix, New Jersey (not far from the City of Brotherly Love), to assemble 25,000 troops in the shape of this national icon. The photo stages the Liberty Bell replete with its famous crack to increase its mimetic likeness and symbolic power. The human inscription of the word “LIBERTY” at the top of the bell signals an advance over the cue cards used in earlier images, such as the Zion Shield. Given that this patriotic symbol is composed of troops, the image delivers the platitude that American military involvement is always undertaken in defense of liberty. 

The most intriguing thing about these images is that Mole called them “livingphotographs.” From the photographer's perspective, the emblems are brought to life by means of the living soldiers who embody them. But one can also look at these images from the opposite perspective: we deaden the human beings into form and formation by making them into emblems. The emblem only comes into focus when the living element drops out of the group portrait in these spectacular optical illusions. This total subjection of the individual to the symbolic order also exposes the fascistic tendency inherent in such images. Mole's “living photographs” thinly disguise the forces of death that in fact adhere to all community. His complete works can be found at the United States' Library of Congress (thanks Lorien!). 

Please ignore our other... um... crashed airliner

The cabin announces: "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for choosing to fly with Mandarin Airlines. As we taxi out to the runway please make yourself comfortable... and for those of you sitting on the right side of the plane... pelase ignore our other... um... airliner." 

On August 22, 1999, Mandarin Airlines Flight 642 from Bangkok to Hong Kong crashed upon landing. The plane, an MD-11, encountered a 24-knot crosswind coincident with Typhoon Sam and came down too hard on its right side, causing the No. 3 engine to hit the runway and the right wing toseparate from the fuselage. The MD-11 rolled over and slid off the runway upside down, bursting into flame and grinding to a halt on a grassy area adjacent to the runway, and stayed there for a couple of days, so all passengers from arriving flights came to see it. 

Now that must be a one happy groom...

The bride's name is Anna Atamanchuk, a professional belly dancer in St.Petersburg, Russia.

World's Drunkest House: 70,000 Beer Cans

When property manager Ryan Froerer got a call from a realtor to check on a townhouse, he knew something was up. "It was the sickest thing I've ever seen. Just unimaginable that someone could live in that." He couldn't even open the front door. It was blocked from inside. As he finally entered the house, he found about 70,000 empty beer cans. 

Inside, he took just a few snapshots to document the scene. Beer cans by the tens of thousands. Mountains of cans burying the furniture. Froerer e-mailed his photos to a couple of friends, who sent them to friends, and so the news spread through the internet.

The water and heat were shut off, apparently on purpose by the tenant, who evidently drank Coors Light beer exclusively for the eight years he lived there. "It's just unbelievable that a human being could live like that", said Froerer.

To all outward appearances, the person who lived in the townhouse was the perfect tenant. He always paid on time and he never complained. He kept a low profile in the neighborhood. The cans were finally recycled for 800 dollars, an estimated 70,000 cans: 24 beers a day for 8 years. 

Saving space in your fridge: Square Watermelons!

For years consumers struggled to fit the large round fruit in theirrefrigerators. And then there was the problem of trying to cut the fruit when it kept rolling around. 

But 20 years ago a forward-thinking farmer on Japan's south-western island of Shikoku solved the problem. The farmer, from Zentsuji in Kagawa prefecture, came up with the idea of making a cube-shaped watermelon which could easily be packed and stored. 

To make it happen, farmers grew the melons in glass boxes and the fruit then naturally assumed the same shape. The square boxes are the exactdimensions of Japanese refrigerators, allowing full-grown watermelons to fit conveniently and precisely onto refrigerator shelves.

Today the cuboid watermelons are hand-picked and shipped all over Japan. But the fruit, on sale in a selection of department stores and upmarket supermarkets, appeals mainly to the wealthy and fashion-conscious of Tokyo and Osaka, Japan's two major cities, since the fruit comes with a caveat: Each square watermelon costs 10,000 yen, the equivalent of about $82. Regular watermelons in Japan cost from $15 to $25 each.

10 Most Bizarre Zoo Signs

7 Most Amazing Caves of our World

Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves (Austria): largest Ice Caves known to man

 There are many ice caves throughout the world, but the Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves in Austria are some of the largest known to man. They are located within the Tennengebirge Mountains near Salzburg and stretch for a remarkable 40 kilometers. Only a portion of the labyrinth is open to tourists but it's enough to get a taste of what the remaining network is like: a truly mesmerizing palate of Mother Nature's handicraft. Ice caves are very different from normal caves. They have a strange feeling about them, as though they are not from this planet, and one has just temporarily stepped into their world when spelunking their depths. 

Cave of Crystals (Mexico): world's largest known natural crystals

 Known as "the Sistine Chapel of crystals," Mexico's Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) contains some of the world's largest known natural crystals—translucent beams of gypsum as long as 36 feet (11 meters). The cave is 950 feet (290 meters) underground. The Naica mining complex, which yields lead, zinc, copper, silver, and gold, zigzags nearly half a mileunderground (760 meters). Deep inside Naica mountain, the Cave of Crystals is a horseshoe-shaped cavity in limestone rock about 30 feet (10 meters) wide and 90 feet (30 meters) long. 

 Volcanic activity that began about 26 million years ago created Naica mountain and filled it with high-temperature anhydrite gypsum. When magma underneath the mountain cooled and the temperature dropped, the anhydrite began to dissolve. The anhydrite slowly enriched the waters with sulfate and calcium molecules, which for millions of years have been deposited in the caves in the form of huge selenite gypsum crystals. 

Fantastic Cave Pit (USA): deepest known cave pit in the continental US

 Fantastic Pit is 586' deep, which is the deepest known cave pit in the continental United States. This pit is big enough to hold the Washington Monument (555'). It is a truly fantastic rappel, it takes almost 8 seconds fora rock to hit the bottom. 

Cave of the Ghost (Venezuela): so vast that two helicopters can comfortably fly into it

 "Cueva del Fantasma" — Spanish for "Cave of the Ghost" — is so vast that two helicopters can comfortably fly into it and land next to a towering waterfall. A waterfall coming down one wall forms a small pond at the floor. When it was recently discovered, researchers also discovered a new dendrobatid frog species, Colostethus breweri, named for the frog's identifier, Charles Brewer-Carías. 

Waitomo Glowworm Cave (New Zealand): a glowworms' paradise

 The Waitomo Glowworm Cave is a cave on the North Island of New Zealand, known for its population of glowworms, Arachnocampa luminosa. These glowworms spin a nest out of silk on the ceiling of the cave and then hang down. Then, the larva glows to attract prey into its threads, so that the roofof a cave is covered with larva can look remarkably like the heavens at night. A hungry larva glows brighter than one which has just eaten. 

 A silicon strand is lowered from the ceiling, alongside hundreds of others.Beautiful though these threads are, they have a sinister purpose. To trap its prey it [the cave glow worm] goes fishing with a line of silk. That ghostly blue light is the result of a chemical reaction taking place inside a special capsule in its tail... Insects seem irresistibly drawn towards the source and then get trapped by the sticky lines. Once stuck, there is no escape. Now it's just a matter of reeling in the line and slowly consuming the catch - alive. By ensnaring the insects that hatch in this cave, these glow worms have solved the biggest challenge that permanent cave dwellers face finding a regular and reliable source of food. 

Majlis al Jinn Cave (Oman): world's second largest cave chamber

 Majlis al Jinn is the second largest cave chamber in the world. It is located in a remote area of the Selma Plateau at around 1600 meters altitude in The Sultanate of Oman. It was discovered in 1983 by Don Davidson, a geologist studying water resources in the Sultanate. Davidson presumably died some ten years later when he left Oman permanently and went hiking in the Andes. He rented a car, drove it to a trailhead, left a note on it saying where he was going, and was never seen again.

 Access is through a hole in the ground with a rope. The inner height is between 120 and 150 metres. The cave floor 300 by 200 metres. To give an idea of scale, the Great pyramid of Giza of Egypt (the largest Eygptian pyramid) would almost exactly fit inside the cave chamber; that is, its base is approximately the area of the chamber floor, and its height is also similar. 

Dongzhong Cave (China): a primary school

 Not actually a fascinating cave in itself, until you consider dozens of children attend everyday to the school on it! The Dongzhong (literally meaning "in cave") is a primary school at a Miao village in Ziyun county, southwest China's Guizhou province. The school is built in a huge, aircraft hangar-sized natural cave, carved out of a mountain over thousands of years by wind, water and seismic shifts. 

World's Most Creative Buildings

The Crooked House (Poland)

 Polish architect of the Crooked House, Szotynscy Zaleski, was inspired by the fairytale illustrations of Jan Marcin Szancer and the drawings of the Swedish artist and Sopot resident Per Dahlberg. The most photographed building in Poland, the 4,000 square meter house is located in Rezydent shopping center in Sopot, Poland. 

The Dancing House (Czech Republic)

 The Dancing House is the nickname given to an office building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by Croatian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunic in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The construction started in 1994 and was finished in 1996. 

The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time. Czech president Vaclav Havel, who lived for decades next to the site, had supported it, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity. Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - the house vaguely resembles a pair of dancers) the house stands out among the Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous. 

 On the roof is a French restaurant with magnificent views of the city. The building's other tenants include several multinational firms. (The plans for a cultural center were not realized.) Because it is situated next to a very busy road it depends on forced air circulation, making the interior somewhat less pleasant for its occupants. 

The Astra House (Germany)

 The strange building is actually a brewery in Hamburg, Germany. The floors can move up or down on it's skinny column core. As of now, the unique building has been destroyed. One of it's more famous beer brands was recently bought by a big refreshment corporation. And that beer brand was called Astra. 

The Basket Building (United States)

 What started out as a dream by Dave Longaberger, Founder of The Longaberger Company, has been built Home Office into a giant basket to house the entire corporate offices of the company. Dave believed the idea was one of his best and would draw attention to the company, while simultaneously helping to build our brand. However, when he started spreading the idea of building a Home Office that was really a basket, he found that most people just thought that Dave was making a joke as Dave was a notorious practical joker. Not only did the bankers, architects andconstruction companies not take Dave seriously, neither did many of the employees who worked for The Longaberger Company, but Dave persevered. The dream was achieved on December 17, 1997 when the Home Office that is designed to resemble a basket finally opened for business. 

The Blue Building (Netherlands)

 The borough of Delfshaven, Rotterdam, asked Schildersbedrijf N&F Hijnen to come up with a plan for a block of derelict buildings, which will eventually be demolished. The agreement with the neighbourhood is that the block will remain blue as long as there isn't a new plan for the area.

 This was once one of the most unseen blocks of houses in Rotterdam, and by applying a layer of only 2 micron of blue paint onto it, it became Rotterdam's most photographed one. 

Kansas City Library (United States)

 Kansas City Library has one seriously cool façade. Local residents were asked to nominate influential books that represent Kansas City, humungous versions of the winning nominations were then used as the exterior of the library car-park. 

The Piano House (China)

 This unique piano house was built recently in An Hui Province, China. Inside of the violin is the escalator to the building. The building displays various city plans and development prospects in an effort to draw interest into the recently developed area. 

The Robot Building (Thailand)

 The Robot Building, located in the Sathorn business district of Bangkok, Thailand, houses United Overseas Bank's Bangkok headquarters. It was designed for the Bank of Asia by Sumet Jumsai to reflect the computerization of banking; its architecture is a reaction against neoclassical and high-tech postmodern architecture. 

 The building's features, such as progressively receding walls, antennae, and eyes, contribute to its robotic appearance and to its practical function. Completed in 1986, the building is one of the last examples of modern architecture in Bangkok and has garnered international critical acclaim. 

Sam Kee Building: six feet deep, world's thinnest (Canada)

 The Sam Kee building is situated at 8 West Pender Street. It runs from the corner of Pender and Carral to the lane at the halfway point of the block. It is two storeys tall and 1.5 meters (six feet) deep. The story behind the building is as exotic as the structure with several intriguing twists and turnsincluded in its telling. The City of Vancouver provided the original owner, Chang Toy, with a challenge when it expropriated all but two meters of his property as part of an expansion of Pender Street. No compensation was provided to its owner who was left with what most believed to be a useless property. In a creative turn of events fuelled by spite and some say a bet an architect was hired to design a building to fit the remaining property. The rest is history in more ways than one. 

This building was home to 13 businesses at one time. It was the only place in Chinatown for residents to enjoy hot baths. There is a tunnel beneath the building that was used as an escape route from raids on Opium dens situated on neighbouring Shanghai Alley. The building is also fronted by the only remaining glass sidewalk in Chinatown. As part of the ongoing history of this structure, issues still arise between the owners and the city with respect to encroachment and overhangs. In spite of each side having an element of right it seems to boil down to the proverbial "tit for tat". It makes for an interesting study in civics.