Ark Hotel amazing construction by an Russian.

ARK HOTEL

 

Russian architectural firm Remistudio has taken the concept of a man-made biosphere and gone to sea with its vision for the floating "Ark Hotel." Designed to withstand floods, tidal waves and rising ocean levels as well as earthquakes and other natural disasters, the hotel concept would float and function independently on the surface of a body of water, providing a green, self-sustaining environment for guests who presumably, would never have to leave.





The shell-inspired Ark design has a load-bearing system of arches and cables which maintain an even weight distribution to withstand earthquakes, whilst the prefabricated frame allows for a fast and easy construction.


The internal garden provides a lush escape for guests by acting as a greenhouse and enough daylight is filtered throughout the internal rooms to reduce the need for lighting.




The design also integrates photovoltaic solar cells, a rainwater collection system and a frame that is protected with layer of self-cleaning and recyclable ethyltetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) – the same material used in the Beijing National Aquatic Center.


Aside from the eco-credentials, it's a stunning design that seems to jump straight out of a science-fiction film. We can only hope that the worst global warming predictions prove inaccurate and it doesn't become the 22nd Century's holiday destination of choice.



The Ark was designed by Remistudio with the assistance of the International Union of Architects’ program “Architecture for Disaster Relief.”

Why do Ants go in a Line?

This is because ants leave a chemical trail for other ants to follow.
They are following a trail laid out by another ant that will take them to food, water or their home. Ants leave this trail of pheromones or scent as they travel. After finding food they return to the nest (following their own scent trail) and communicate this fact to other ants who then follow the scent trail to the food. As more ants travel the trail the scent gets stronger (easier to follow) and the random bumps are smoothed out making the trail straighter.

The Loneliest Whale in the World

According to a 2004 New York Times article on the subject, this particular baleen whale has apparently been tracked by NOAA since 1992, using a "classified array of hydrophones employed by the Navy to monitor enemy submarines." It sings at 52 Hertz, which is roughly the same frequency as the lowest note on a tuba, and much higher than its fellow whales, whose calls fall in the 15 to 25 Hertz range.


To make matters worse, the high-pitched whale "does not follow the known migration route of any extant baleen whale species." The result, according to Dr. Kate Stafford, a researcher at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, is that the lonely whale keeps "saying 'Hey, I'm out here,'" but "nobody is phoning home."

The cryptozoologist Oll Lewis speculates that the lonely whale might be "a deformed hybrid between two different species of whale," or even "the last surviving member of an unknown species." Gagliano points out that the whale's plight, though poignant, has a silver lining for scientists:

Because this one whale’s song is totally different than any other whale’s, it’s easy to track it and hear how its voice changes over time. So now we know, for instance, that a whale’s voice gets deeper as it ages.