Have wheel will travel

You saw these unusual vehicles called Monowheels in the ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics, but the idea of riding inside a single wheel is not a new one. This blog looks at some other incarnations of the concept.

Everything's relative

I just liked this photo.

Here is a link to other shots by the same photographer.

Beijing 2008 - Photographic Memories

Over the past couple of weeks, in Beijing, China, over 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries participated in 302 events in 28 sports. After the link, you will find are some beautiful photographic highlights of the Olympics in Beijing, and a few shots of the Closing Ceremony in the National Stadium.

The Architectural Genius of Antoni Gaudi

"A Nut, or a Genius?"
Barcelona has become Gaudí's city, which is ironic since Gaudí didn’t start out as the city’s cultural icon. Far from it: for a long time his only real supporter was the very-rich Eusebi Güell. It was only much later that the city, and Gaudí's critics, finally began to understand what he was doing.
I have yet to get to Barcelona but it is at the top of my Travel Wishlist to see Gaudi's work first-hand.

Missing scenes from Fritz Lang's Metropolis turn up after 80 years

The cinematic world was today celebrating the rediscovery of missing scenes from German director Fritz Lang's legendary 1927 silent film Metropolis [ IMDB link ]- thought lost for 80 years, until they were found in the archive of a museum in Argentina.

Key scenes cut from the science fiction picture - either because they were considered to be too brutal or too long - will now be available for the first time since May 1927, when the original version was last shown in Berlin, where it flopped badly.

The head of the Berlin film museum Deutsche Kinematik, Dr Rainer Rother, called the find a "sensational discovery", adding that one of the most famous films of all time "can now be seen through new eyes".

Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found in Mexico

Archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld.

Clad in scuba gear and edging through narrow tunnels, researchers discovered the stone ruins of eleven sacred temples and what could be the remains of human sacrifices at the site in the Yucatan Peninsula.

What is a hero?

You may know him from the Stanford Prison experiment where he put people into a prison scenario as either a prison guard or prisoner, then watched what happened.

Now Dr. Philip Zimbardo, with a team of researchers, is conducting a new study concerning helpful behavior. The goal is to discover how individuals perceive the behavior of helpfulness.

Unfortunately, it seems that this survey has officially closed, but I found that doing the survey offered me the chance to understand what I think a hero is - you might want to try it yourself.

You can find more about the Hero Workshop at thejanuscenter.com/heroworkshop.