By Bertrand Monney
Located on the border of Switzerland and Italy the Matterhorn towers over the surrounding alps creating some of the most breathtaking images.
I was lucky enough to ski the slopes around the Matterhorn, even though these pictures are incredible nothing can do this giant justice!
By Andreas Jones
By Jorg Lutz
By Felix Lamouroux
CoolBieRe
Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
By Andrea Visca
Found on: My Modern Met
Swiss origami master Sipho Mabona (previously) plans to fold a massive life-sized elephant from a specially produced 2,500 square foot (125 sqm) sheet of paper at the Art Museum in Beromünster, Switzerland. Titled White Elephant, the artist is currently raising funds for the endeavor through Indiegogo so he can fund the production of paper and hopefully film the project in a timelapse video similar to the animation above. Mabona is offering a number of rewards such as origami instructions and original folded pieces including his famous koi and swallows.
Found on: Colossal
In January 2013, extreme sports photographer Thomas Senf went to Norway with a team of fearless ice climbers to capture the professional athletes against huge walls of ice. What made this project so unique, however, was that the icefalls (or frozen waterfalls) were lit up in stunning colors like blue, orange and green using colored flares and spotlights.
Swiss mountain sports manufacturer Mammut worked with Swiss light artist David Hedinger to create the surreal atmosphere. It took several hours to prepare for the shots as lamps had to be fixed in the ice using time-consuming rope constructions and connected to 500 meters of cable.
Of course, what they achieved was nothing short of spectacular. As Mammut states, “The colors, reflective ice and moving shadows created images that appear to be from another world, the world of myth and legend.”
Found on: My Modern Met
Over 1,500 paintings previously thought destroyed in World War II have been found in Germany after officials followed up on a hunch. Three years ago, customs officials performed a routine check on a train from Switzerland. On the train was Hildebrandt Gurlitt, a Munich resident who reportedly had a “shifty demeanor.” They could never have imagined that the reason for Gurlitt’s behavior was an unimaginable “treasure trove” of important artworks.
Found on: The Verge
Located in Tragoess, Austria, this lagoon is a functioning park where visitors can stroll around and cross the small bridges or sit on one of the park benches along the water’s edge. When snow from the Karst mountains melts, the lake floods and submerges everything around it. Diver Marc Henauer from Switzerland heard about the phenomenon and took these beautiful photos:
When I was underwater, it felt like I was swimming in a magical world, it was so beautiful. Swimming over the green grass, flowers, paths, rocks and trees was like being in a fairy tale. All pictures were taken in natural light without a flash. I am very delighted with the result because we had a lot of problems with the heavy rain, thunderstorms and wind. We only had a very short time to take images when the sun was in a perfect position. Diving is possible only for a month in the spring. Throughout the year the depth of the lake is too low. The visibility is just incredible. Usually you only see water like this in tropical seas.
A new study published this week seems to suggest that good health hygiene (i.e. avoiding germs) is linked with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and dementia. Put more ironically, living in a wealthy, developed, “first-world” country and being exposed to fewer bacteria and viruses appears to raise your risk of Alzheimer’s.
The study, published in Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, found that industrialized countries with better sanitation and water quality had significantly higher rates of Alzheimer’s and dementia than poorer countries where germs run rampant.
Led by Molly Fox, researchers from Cambridge University analyzed data (age-adjusted) from the World Health Organization (WHO) and found that some of the wealthiest – and most hygienic – countries in the world, such as France, the UK, Switzerland, and Iceland, also had much higher rates of Alzheimer’s and dementia
The question the researchers asked was whether “differences in microbial diversity” – i.e. exposure to fewer germs – could explain “patterns of age-adjusted Alzheimer’s Disease rates between countries.” Their conclusion: “Hygiene is positively associated with AD risk.”
via: Forbes
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