27 March 2021 - WHO INITIATED THE FIRST SUSPENSION BRIDGE?

 

WHO INITIATED THE 

FIRST SUSPENSION BRIDGE?

 

G'day folks,

The Inca people of South America were noted for making durable suspension bridges by weaving mountain grasses and other vegetation into thick cables. These sturdy ropes were ideal for crossing long gorges and were called simp’achaka, which means “braided bridges.” 

 

Workers would create the cables at the site where the bridge was to be erected and it was a technique that was used centuries later for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City in 1864. 

 

 

 

Many of these suspension bridges stretched longer than what even European engineers of the time had made with stone. Today, the last remaining Incan-style grass cable suspension bridge, the Queshuachaca, can be found over a gorge in Peru’s Canas Province.

Clancy's comment: I've walked on some of these bridges and did so with great fear.

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29 March 2021 - THE ORIGINS OF CORN

 

THE ORIGINS OF CORN

 

G'day folks,

Here's another piece of historical information.

The Americas domesticated the corn plant 10,000 years ago. Farmers in northern Guatemala and southern Mexico bred teosinte, a wild grass, for several generations. This eventually helped develop kernels that were soft enough for human consumption. After the corn plant was created, the invention was soon adopted throughout the Western Hemisphere. 

 

Historians have found that the first grown by Native Americans had small ears and consisted of only six to nine kernels per cob. Later on, they went on to develop many more varieties and corn became a dietary staple for the people of Mesoamerica.  

 

In fact, at one archeological site in Mexico, researchers have found fossilized popped corn kernels over 5,000 years old.

Clancy's comment: A very versatile grain.

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4 June 2020 - Artist Uses 200k Recycled Bottle Caps To Create A Mural

Artist Uses 200k Recycled Bottle

 Caps To Create A Mural

G'day folks,

I'm always looking for bright, young artists to share their work. Here is an inventive young man from Venezuela.

Many artists around the globe have begun shifting towards art that draws everyone’s attention to the ever-rising issue of climate change. Among these examples, we have yet another artist, 23-year-old Oscar Olivares from Venezuela, who has been making headlines recently with his gigantic mural made from bottle caps.

“Besides the techniques, I have always used my art to be happy and to express what I feel and think,” explained the inspiration behind his art. “I am deeply happy when I am drawing or painting and I want the people that look at my work to feel the same happiness that I feel during the creative process. To be honest, at the end, I didn’t make the decision to become a visual artist—it is just what I am and if I wouldn’t have become an artist, I would have been a totally different person.”

Oscar Olivares, in collaboration with the local environmental organization OkoSpiri and Movimiento en la Arquitectura para el Futuro (eng. Movement in Architecture for the Future), has created a gigantic mural using recycled plastic bottle caps and container lids.

It took 2.5 months to plaster over 200,000 various plastic caps on a wall of a small square, Plaza Escalona in El Hatillo Municipality, Caracas. The mural extends a total of 45 meters in length, measuring 3.5 meters at its shortest point and 7.25 meters at its highest point.

“The initiative came from ONG OkoSpiri—they invited me to participate as the artist of the project of creating the first eco-mural of Venezuela using just bottle cap,” elaborated the young artist. “At first, it sounds impossible, but I did some research and dove deep into pointillism and color. It helped me understand that it was not only possible to make a good mural using caps, but also something hard yet impressive and thus worth it.”

Clancy's comment: Go, Oscar.   Love ya work!

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28 March 2019 - RIO CELESTE IN COSTA RICA

RIO CELESTE 

IN 

COSTA RICA

G'day folks,

This neon blue river gets its color from a unique mix of bacteria and volcano minerals. 

 Nestled in the Costa Rican wilderness, the Rio Celeste is a stunning tropical gem whose iconic blue hue has turned it into a popular nature spot. 

Located amidst the forests of the Tenorio Volcano National Park the long river twists and turns through the wilderness maintaining its bright cerulean color all the way. The river gets its coloration from a mixture of sulfur and calcium carbonate which are seeded into the water from the nearby volcano. 

Along the river there are multiple hot springs and an impressive waterfall, all the same, seemingly unnatural blue. Pictures of the waters are regularly accused of being photoshopped or invented, but the simple chemistry in the river’s depths is very real, as countless hikers experience each year.  

 Rio Celeste is located within the Tenorio Volcano National Park. The closest airport is Liberia International Airport. Many of the surrounding guesthouses/hotels have walking paths that lead directly to Rio Celeste (typically 1-2 miles). Some of guesthouse/hotel trails can be closed due to inclement weather, but the park's main entrance is usually reliable. Entrance for non-residents is $12. A 4x4 is STRONGLY recommended for getting to the park entrance, and for Costa Rica in general. 

Locals will try and convince you to rent galoshes at the entrance, but you will be fine in sensible shoes.

 

Clancy's comment: Wow. I'd love to see it.

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