“It’s amazing the kind of things people create in their backyards. Just a few days ago we posted about the stunning Four Seasons Garden, and the impressive replica of the Golden Gate Bridge built by Larry Richardson, and let’s not forget the backyard Titanic we featured a while back. Today, I found some photos of a colorful castle like the one you usually see in children’s fairy tale books, and learned it was actually built by a retired bricklayer, right in his own backyard, in the German town of Dudweiler. The 76-year-old castle enthusiast spent 37 years building his masterpiece out of stones, bricks and thousands of bags of cement.” w/ photos

“Green, they may be. But electric cars have struggled to overcome one of the main shortfalls that put buyers off – an inferior range to their petrol-powered rivals. That may be about to change after a new electric car was unveiled that promises to go 500 miles (800km) before the battery needs recharging. This would be far more than one of the current leaders in the field, the battery/ gasoline Chevrolet Volt, which can do around 375 miles (600km) on one charge-up. The Modular Energy Carrier concept (MECc), created by three Danish companies, uses bio-methanol to bolster its battery life. Mogens Lokke, CEO of ECOmove, designers of the innovative ‘QBEAK’ car said bio-methanol was far better than diesel or gasoline because it produces substantially less carbon dioxide.” w/ photos

“With no brains, no heart, and no blood, it’s amazing jellyfish have existed for 650 million years!” — NatGeo

“Approximately 114 russian soldiers.” — therapide01

“MIT Media Lab researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of one trillion frames per second. That’s fast enough to produce a slow-motion video of light traveling through objects.”

“When the enormous Walmart on North 23rd Street in McAllen, Texas, decided to move to another location, it left a massive opportunity behind. At more than 124,000 square feet, the city opted to turn the superstore’s shell into a public library, stocking the shelves with thousands of books instead of sundries. The extensive redesign of the space has also earned the structure its first awards, taking home top place at the national Library Interior Design Awards… ‘This area is equivalent to nearly 2 1/2 football fields, making the new library the largest single-story library in the U.S.” w/ photos

“Not a new story but worth watching again and again! So amazingly touching – the story of Shirley and Jenny, two crippled elephants reunited at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee after a 22-year separation. The bonding was immediate, intense and unforgettable between the two former circus elephants. But long after the cameras were turned off, the wondrous moments would continue.” — britches1985

“We’ve shown you computer screens made of water and even a touchscreen built out of ice. But now Yoichi Ochiai from the University of Tokyo and colleagues have created the world’s thinnest screen from a soap bubble that can display vivid images that are either flat, textured or 3D. Compared to conventional screens that are opaque, a soap film varies in transparency and reflectance. The team was able to control these properties by using ultrasonic sound waves emitted from speakers to alter the surface. By using a single projector, the texture of an image can then be changed on the fly, for example to make a ball look smooth or rough. Several screens can also be combined to create a 3D effect.” w/ video

“Crazy lil ant pulling a roach across my front porch, be like me gettin up & pulling a semi across a couple football fields.” — 2ndSegundo

“If you can see yourself doing something you can do it, if you can’t see yourself doing it, usually, you can’t achieve.”