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The largest Solar Furnace | Odeillo in Pyrénées-Orientales, France

The largest Solar Furnace is at Odeillo in the Pyrénées-Orientales in France, opened in 1970. It employs an array of plane mirrors to gather sunlight, reflecting it onto a larger curved mirror. Solar furnace consists of 10000 concave mirrors that reflect and focus the sun's rays on the square diagonal of 40 inches. Diameter mirror construction is 54 meters. An array of mirrors acts as a parabolic reflector, concentrating light into focus. Temperature is in focus, as if in this place at the same time sent 22,000 suns. It can reach 3500 ° C (all depends on the position of the mirrors). Solar furnace used for industrial purposes. With its help generate electricity, melt steel, creating hydrogen fuel and nano-materials.

Solar Furnace, 7 Rue du Four Solaire, 66120 Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, France

Image credit Florian

The ancient Greek / Latin term heliocaminus literally means "solar furnace" and refers to a glass-enclosed sunroom intentionally designed to become hotter than the outside air temperature. During the Second Punic War (218 - 202 BC), the Greek scientist Archimedes is said to have repelled the attacking Roman ships by setting them on fire with a "burning glass" that may have been an array of mirrors. An experiment to test this theory was carried out by a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005. It concluded that although the theory was sound for stationary objects, the mirrors would not likely have been able to concentrate sufficient solar energy to set a ship on fire under battle conditions. The first modern solar furnace is believed to have been built in France in 1949 by Professor Félix Trombe. It is now still in place at Mont Louis, near Odeillo. The Pyrenees were chosen as the site because the area experiences clear skies up to 300 days a year. Another solar furnace was built in Uzbekistan as a part of a Soviet Union "Sun" Complex Research Facility impulsed by Academician S.A. Asimov.

The largest Solar Furnace | Odeillo in Pyrénées-Orientales, France

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Festival of Music and Light | Sydney, Australia

Vivid Sydney, a festival of light art, music, and ideas, is going on now in Sydney through June 9, 2014, whose founder is a well-known musician Lou Reed, and helped his wife Laurie Anderson. So it was at first, but now the festival has an impressive team of organizers. It is also noteworthy that the festival has outgrown itself and today is considered a significant event not only for the metropolis. In Sydney attracts thousands of tourists and music fans to take an active part in many related events. We will not focus on the musical part of the festival and offer you some of the most striking images of the light part of the event.

Image credit Matt Weller

Image credit Rod Gotfried Photography

Image credit Prajwol Bhattarai (Silver Fox Photos)

Image credit Leighton Wallis

Image credit Brad Smith

Image credit Hai Linh Truong

Image credit Jean Delard de Rigoulières

Image credit Rod Gotfried Photography

Image credit Christopher Chan

Image credit Matt Weller

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The longest tree-lined avenue in the world | Cedar Avenue of Nikkō, Japan

The Cedar Avenue of Nikko is a street in Japan lined with approximately 13,000 cryptomeria trees, known as Sugi, the national tree of Japan. Consisting of three parts converging on the city of Imaichi, the Cedar Avenue of Nikko is 35.41 kilometers long and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest tree-lined avenue in the world. The Cedar Avenue of Nikko is the only cultural property designated by the Japanese Government as both a Special Historic Site and a Special Natural Monument. The cedar trees were planted approximately 400 years ago by Matsudaira Masatsuna, a feudal lord serving Tokugawa Ieyasu, who donated them to the Nikko Tosho-gu. This monumental project was begun around 1625 and required about 20 years to be completed. It is estimated that some 200,000 cedars were planted at this time.

The longest tree-lined avenue in the world | Cedar Avenue of Nikko, Japan

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Image credit Kuro no Kishi

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Super Creepy Sculpture | Implants Teeth into the Shoe Sole

UK artists Mariana Fantich and Dominic Young of Fantich and Young have covered the soles of shoes in hundreds of false teeth for their super creepy sculpture series “Apex Predator” for young girls. The pair of youth footwear are mary jane style, with hot red patent red surfaces and a buckled strap. at their sole, instead of the traditional rubber bottom, the creative duo have implanted hundreds of individual back and front teeth dentures into the base. the result transforms the otherwise adorable wearable into something a bit more sinister, resulting in a distributing twist on a classic childhood item.

Hong Kong Building Construction Sites | The Colorful Cocoons

Photographer Peter Steinhauer‘s drew attention to staying in Hong Kong, the appearance of bright multi-colored pillars in the midst of the gray mass of skyscrapers. Having studied the question carefully, the author has created a series of images. In his two Cocoons series, Steinhauer, who lived in Asia for near twenty years, beautifully captured the style of construction that is unique to Hong Kong in which the building is wrapped in silk fabric to prevent debris from falling onto the street and pedestrians below. It is noteworthy that it is not just the pillars of different colors. And even more interesting that these "pods" are used, both in the construction and dismantling at skyscrapers. Filmed an impressive selection of successful photos, Steinhauer decided to make a photo series, which so called "Cocoon". According to the author, he had seen similar technology in Japan, but not for houses such heights that it is really impressive.