Do you know what's a Nautilus? yes it was the Captain Nemo's submarine, but mainly it is a mollusc, a cephalopod with a many-chambered, spiral shell.
Inspired by this particular shell, the architects from Senosiain Arquitectos realized this incredible house for a couple from Mexico City.
The open concept inside the house is dominated by smooth surfaces, spiral stairs and natural plantings that makes the inhabitants feel like they're living inside a snail who swallowed the entire contents of somebody's back yard. While the house is surrounded on three sides by the bustling Mexico City, its West side (where most of its portal-style windows are located) has a breathtaking view of the mountains.

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Scientists have discovered a new gigantic colony of "brittle-stars" on the peak of a submerged mountain. The colony was discovered on the Macquarie Ridge, south of New Zealand.

Brittle Stars (Ophiuroidea), are closely related to starfish.
The main difference is that they do not, like sea stars, depend on tube feet. Brittle stars move fairly rapidly by wriggling their arms which are highly flexible and enable the animals to make either snake-like or rowing movements. Using their five flexible arms (which may reach up to 60 centimeters in length on the largest specimens) they can crawl across the sea-floor much faster and efficiently than the star fishes.

In the newly discovered colony the Brittlestars are tens of millions, living crammed together, arm tip to arm tip, packed so tightly that scientists have dubbed the seamount "brittlestar city".

Their incredible success is due to the seamount's shape and to the swirling circumpolar current flowing over and around it at roughly four kilometers per hour.
It allows the brittle stars to capture passing food simply by raising their arms, and also sweeps away would-be predators such as fish.








The scientists recorded life at the Macquarie Ridge for the CenSeam programme, which is funded by the Census of Marine Life. Click here for more info

Photo and Video courtesy of Niwa

Wilfredo Lee, AP

About 45 feet beneath the ocean's surface lies a cemetery with gates, pathways, plaques and even benches. The Neptune Memorial Reef, which opened last fall in open waters 3 1/4 miles off the coast of Key Biscayne, is seen by its creators as a perfect final resting spot for those who loved the sea and at the same time a unique site for diving .

Read more here

and if you are interested in it explore the official website


Wilfredo Lee, AP

Wilfredo Lee, AP


Wilfredo Lee, AP

Barry Bland/Barcroft Media LTD

This picture of a Puffin is so beautiful that, in my opininon, it seems a portrait made in studio rather than a wild life shot! I'm not sure if it resemble more an old mustached nobleman or Futurama's Doctor Zoidberg!
The Puffin is a wonderful bird (three slightly different species) which for the white and black colour of the plumage and for having its habitat in the coldest coastal lands is often considered the "penguin" of the northern hemisphere. The differences however are more important than the similarities and the biggest one is that the puffins can perfectly fly. They primarily feed by diving from the cliffs where they live, their short wings are adapted for swimming with a flying technique under water. In the air, they beat their wings rapidly (up to 100 times per minute) in swift flight, often flying low over the ocean's surface.

The picture above is part of a nice set describing the battle a Puffin had to fight against three opportunistic black-headed gull to take its preys to the nest. You can see the pictures here below:





To read the story click here

Two weeks ago this video has appeared in Youtube and immediately it started a war of comments if this is real or fake. Obviously it is fake!
The guy in the video is a famous surfer, Jamie O'Brien, and the whole thing is a clever advertising by Arnette, a famous sunglasses brand, for their new line "Notorious".

However even if it's fake, it's a funny and well made.



Other Pros from different extreme sports are involved in this "mysterious" ad campaign: The motoGP pilot Dani Pedrosa, the skateboarder Willy Santos, the snowboarder Antti Piirainen and another surfer: Roy Powers.
One week later the appearance of the video of the shark, with the same advertising tecnique based on the web buzz about the truth of a video in the youtube community, it has appeared another funny/incredible footage about a moto rider (Pedrosa), another week later a video about a Skateboarder (Santos). For sure in the next weeks we'll see the appearance of the video about Piirainen and Powers.
Here you can find the 3 videos already out and check for the others (you'll have to wait one week for each one)

We've already spoken here about the huge shark that made his quite scaring appearance in the middle of the TP52 fleet during a regatta of the Audi MedCup Ciruit in Alicante.
In the last two days many media have reported the news (somotimes adding a little bit of suspense to the real history and enlarging from time to time the shark length..)

However I just would like to post this video footage in which you could see the shark better than in the previous photo while it swims between Platoon and Audi Q8

REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu

In the legendary reef break in Teahupoo the best surfers of the world have just competed for the Billabong Pro Surf Tournament. Bruno Santos from Brazil has won.
Enjoy the pictures from the Reuters Photographer Joseba Etxaburu


REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu


REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu


REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu


REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu


REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu


REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu

"It's high time you got it!"
USA has added Polar Bear to the list of threatened animals... This one in particular seems to have it's own ideas about it...

The government of The U.S. has declared The Polar Bear a threatened species in need of increased protection. But another round of legal battles surrounding the majestic animal may be just beginning.
The Interior Department put the bear under the protective umbrella of the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday, concluding what biologists have been saying for years — the bear is on the way to extinction because of the rapid disappearance of the Arctic sea ice upon which it depends.
I would like to understand what kind of measures they will take against the main cause of the global warming (and consequently of the decrease of the polar bears) which is our dependence to petroleum...

Read more here

The photo above is by Joseph Napaaqtuq Sage via AP


AP/Dan Crosbie/Canadian Ice Service

No, it's not the consequence of the Big One.... just an advertising from Panasonic in Spain:

The lily pads are without any doubt the most effective and aesthetically satisfying solar panels you could ever find...

Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture has come up with a way to deliver more renewable energy to Glasgow: solar panel lily pads. Yep, they want to populate the River Clyde with a series of gigantic solar islands that'll soak up the rays all day long, sending electricity to the grid while also acting as an aesthetically-pleasing attraction. Initially an entry in the International Design Awards "Land and Sea" competition where it took first prize, the Glasgow city council is now considering testing out a small run of the solar lily pads in the river.

Read more on Inhabitat