TheEnigmaBytes (formerly TheUniverseBytes), blog was dormant due to personal reasons but now back in action.

Unique, Crazy and Wonderful buildings around the World!!


Atlantis Hotel, The Bahamas
Featuring a 42 acre water park and an 11 acre dolphin lagoon, all situated on the gorgeous blue water.Hotel in Bratislava, Slovakia

Dancing House, Prague, Czech Republic
The Nationale-Nederlanden Building is generally called the Dancing House, and has been known as the Drunk House and Fred and Ginger. Some people claim the building resembles Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Czech President Vaclev Havel lived next door to the house for many years.

Esplanade Theatres, Singapore
Theatres is correct. In the image only one dome is visible but there are actually two domes housing a 1,600 seat concert arena and a 2,000 seat theatre. On the third floor of one dome is a public arts library and above that an open space for viewing.

Habitat 67, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Originally built as affordable housing the apartment units are much more expansive than this one section indicates, stretching far along Montreol's Saint Lawrence River port. Due to the snazzy architectural styling the units are now far from affordable.

Sesto san Giovanni High School, Italy

Hotel Marques de Riscal, Elciego, Spain

House in the Clouds, Thorpeness, Suffolk, England
A bizarre home that you can rent. Sits on an acre of private gardens in the English countryside, has five bedrooms, and rents for $709 to $993 US dollars per night.

Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri
This amazing facade has to encourage a person to visit the library, to read a book.

Puerto de Europa Towers, Madrid, Spain
These office towers tilt at an angle of fifteen degrees, though it appears to be much steeper.

Steel House, Amarillo, Texas
Designed and welded from sheets of steel in the desert landscape of West Texas, it reminds one of so much dicarded and rusted metal perched on the hillside.

Stone House, Guimaraes, Portugal

The Crooked House, Sopot, Poland
Built in 2004 and inspired by fairy tales this structure, located in a shopping center, is the most photographed building in Poland

The Device To Root Out Evil, Vancouver, Canada
Dennis Oppenheim of New York City created this sculpture of a country church turned on it's steeple and when no New York location became available it was shuffled off to Stanford University in California. Stanford quietly sent it packing to laid-back Vancouver, Canada to avoid controversy about the upside-down church. As Stanford had, Vancouver made noise about wanting it and appreciating it and soon thereafter was looking to get rid of it. Calgary, Canada came to the rescue and for now at least that is where the work can be viewed.

HSB Turning Torso, Malmo, Sweden
At 54 stories and 623 feet the Turning Torso is the tallest building in Scandanavia, and being a residential structure, the tallest of all the residential buildings in the European Union. The twisitng skyscraper was based on a sculptue by architect Calatrava called Twisting Torso

Upside-Down House, Szymbark, Poland
Built in a tiny Polish town the home attracts thousands of visitors each year. It is said that the builder took an extremely long time to complete the project, meant as a statement against communism, because work crews beacme disoriented by the strange angle while working. Many visitors report feeling a bit queasy after the tour of the home.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California
Aqua Building, Chicago , Illinois
475 million dollars, 870 feet tall, 82 stories. The curved surfaces seem to undulate like the water on nearby Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. Because of the curving facade some residents have 12 foot wide balconies while others have none.

Experience Music Project, Seattle, Washington
This free-form wonder houses both the Experience Music Project and the Science Fistion Museum and Hall of Fame. Since opening in the year 2000 over 4.3 million people have visited.

GAS National Headquarters, Barcelona, Spain
A fantastical glass structure located on the spot where Spain's first gas works was located 160 years ago.

The Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino, Macau, China
Vast and some say beautifully tacky, the Las Vegas spirit has swept the wide world of architecture.

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10 Unsolved Mysteries of The World


Placebo Effect 

The placebo effect is when a person takes something they believe is medicine for an ailment they are suffering (which is not really a medicine),
and they get better. A placebo is an inert substance, and when taken (with the advice from others that it will cure them)
the person get better, simply because they were expecting or believed that it would work. Something similar,
called the nocebo effect, is when a person takes fake drugs and thinks they are experiencing problems that would have been
caused by the real drugs. They have been known to reduce pain as well.. Why they occur is mysterious and they are
only one of the many complicated things related to the body-brain connection. In fact, our own bodies hold many unsolved mysteries.
Panspermia

How did life on earth appear? Science suggests that life when the planet was favourable for habitation.
Yet did microscopic organisms just pop out of nowhere? One hypothesis is panspermia, which suggests that ‘seeds of life’ exist everywhere
around the universe, and that life on earth started when these ‘seeds’ came here, probably by a meteor. It also suggests that these
seeds are taken to other habitable places in the universe. Something similar to this is exo-genesis. It suggests that life was brought to
earth those billions of years ago, however it does not say that life is also taken to other habitable places. Some people
believe aliens brought life to our planet, as suggested by the theories of Erich Von Daniken. Although some are sceptical as to how
life could exist in space and get carried to other planets, there is substantial evidence that certain life forms, like spores and
certain types of bacteria can actually exist in space, perhaps in a dormant state.
Mass extinctions

From the death of the dinosaurs, to the disappearance of the creatures in the Permian Era, mass extinctions are occurring even now.
Sometimes, the cause is clear. We are destroying the biosphere and the atmosphere, and scientists predict that in the next 100 years,
50% of all species will become extinct. But sometimes, the real reason is unclear. It may have been due to competition from other species,
dramatic climate changes, or the impacts from an asteroid/meteor (the last one being quite a popular one). Yet some questions remain
unanswered. Why was it that some species died out, and others survived, some to this day (famous example: the coelacanth).
During the extinction of the dinosaurs, crocodiles and turtles were around, but they survived, even to this day, while the dinosaurs,
the pterosaurs, the marine reptiles and others died out. While some people believe that those species were unable to cope with
the (possibly) new surroundings, others are not convinced. To this day, they are a mystery, and without a machine,
we may never know. Other popular theories include:- flood basalt events, smaller asteroid showers, global warming/cooling, sea level drops.
Zombies in Haiti 
Haitan vodou, part of their religious practices, has long been considered to be evil. And the base of this suspicion is that the vodou is used to create zombies.
Not zombies as in Hollywood zombies. Not animated brain ****ing zombies. Zombies like, sub-conscious humans who do everything they are told. Wade Davis,
a Canadian ethno-biologist, uncovered a lot of info on this. Apparently, it originated in Africa, and two drugs (or poisons) are inserted into the victim’s bloodstream.
One a deathlike trance, and one makes the victim seem like they have no brain of their own, thus rendering them able to do whatever they are told.
3 important facts Davis found was:- zombification is not random, it is not common, and it is used as a kind of severe punishment,
most likely to those that have broken the sacred vodou laws.
Intuition 

Ever learned something without really understanding how you know it? That’s intuition. Sometimes called a sixth sense or gut feelings,
intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without a clear source or without reasoning it. Some people claim that they get a
feeling that someone is watching them, and they look around and find that somebody is, or was, watching them. Or a police officer
may look at some suspects for a crime and somehow know which one is guilty, and later discover they were right.
Though some people say that these things are all coincidences, others believe that the human brain has a special ability
to get knowledge around them without conscious realization. It is another mystery of the human mind.
2012

What makes this so special? The fact that the Olympics are taking place in London? No. The ancient Maya civilization,
from Central America, had a special calendar that was mind-blowingly accurate. And it predicted that the end of the human life
cycle was on December 21st, 2012, the winter solstice. The Mayans were also good at math and astrology(they accurately
predicted an eclipse that occurred hundred of years later). So people are guessing that they were right about the end of the world thing,
too. Something else that has gotten scientists curious is that there are some major astronomical things happening in 2012.
Apart from the occasional eclipse and comet, the entire solar system is supposed to pass through the center of our galaxy, s
omething that happens only once every 26,000 years. And, there’s a risk of our planet’s poles switching.
Sounds crazy, but scientists say this has already happened. Also, the Indian calendar, the Kali Yuga, ends at about the same time.
Coincidence? I think not.
Life on exoplanets

Exoplanets, short for extra-solar planets, are planets beyond the solar system. There are 277 recorded exoplanets to date.
However, there is no confirmation that there is life on any of them, or in the universe, for that matter. However, it is still a mystery.
This is different from UFOs as UFO are unidentified flying objects, meaning something unidentified that has been seen on earth.
Some likely candidates for supporting life are Gliese 581 d and HD 189733 b, the latter supposedly containing water vapour and organic matter.
There are also questions as to whether there are moons orbiting these planets. Some people believe that there may even
be life in our solar system that we don’t know of. Some moons, like Neptune’s Triton or Saturn’s Europa, may possible have, or had,
life, and there is substantial evidence that water once flowed through Mars. Still, no one knows.
Nazca Lines

Etched into the earth on the Nazca Plains in Peru are giant symbols drawn perfectly straight. Some are hundreds of metres long.
They look as if they were drawn by some giant hand two thousand years ago. And the strange thing is, they can only be seen from the air.
So how did the ancient Nazcans draw them? Researchers say they could have created hot air balloon or kites to fly and view their work.
Indeed, an experiment was carried out and it proved that the Nazcans could have made a working balloon. The symbols themselves are of animals
and plants. Yet some are long strips of land without any direct meaning.. A writer named Erich Von Daniken believed that these were
landing strips for alien spacecraft, and that aliens could have drawn them. They may also be for contacting these aliens. Maria Reiche,
an astronomer, says that these lines may be used as a calendar, or to keep track of the stars and planets. There is a monkey drawing
that has a coiled tail that looks similar to the orbital lines of our solar system. There are even more obscure theories that suggest
that there were giant people 2,000 years ago. Yet, they are still a mystery.
Megalithic Structures

A megalithic structure is some thing big made of rock. It could be a statue, or just some rocks strewn around in a pattern.
The truly mysterious thing about the ancients is, how were they able to create such enormous things? They did not have the technology
needed to efficiently make them. Stonehenge is a good example.. A bigger one is the Great Pyramid in Giza, or the pyramids themselves.
Sometimes, even their purpose is unclear (Stonehenge) , while other times, the structures in question are mysterious and seemingly
supernatural (the pyramids). A megalith (I know, sounds like something from Di-Gata Defenders), a giant rock, is used most of the time,
especially in the case of Stonehenge and the Carnac stones. Still, there are a few megalithic structures that are not mysterious
(like Great Zimbabwe), but mostly it seems impossible that the ancients made these things themselves. Now, many would like
to think aliens helped them. Yet even scientists say queerer things. They suggest that there may have been a lost ancient civilization
that was extremely advanced, and they may have given later civilizations the knowledge to build such things. Yet there is no
substantial evidence of either.. Other examples: Easter Island Heads, Pyramid of the Sun (in Mesoamerica) ,
other pyramids in central and south America, Colossus of Rhodes.
Creation of the Universe

The universe is vast and unknown. It holds many mysteries. And possibly the biggest mystery is how the universe was created.
Scientists have suggested that there was a massive explosion billions of years ago called The Big Bang. That theory is now generally accepted,
and scientists are looking for trails of energy left behind from
the colossal explosion that created a trillion stars. Yet there is no absolute proof. But the creation of the universe is something too
big to happen so simply. Religious folks will say God/Allah/Vishnu created the universe. But scientists will say that there was a Big Bang,
and that there is energy from the bang moving through the universe, and they are trying to locate the epicentre. So, the debate
continues. Religion vs. Science is probably the biggest conflict in the world. But what is religion? There are so many different types.
And the difference between the Christian religion and Greek mythology? No one believes in Greek mythology anymore. But what is science?
And math? Things created by man. So before saying that man created God and science proves it, people should realize man
created science as well. And maybe, the universe is just something made up in our minds.

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Chinese eggs in the urine of young boys


Strange custom exists in the Chinese province of Zhejiang. Since the beginning of spring there ready to specific local dish - chicken eggs, cooked in the urine of boys. They are called Tuntszydan . For their preparation in the local schools collect the urine of boys under ten years, pushing for this special capacity. Cook an egg to a whole day, so the smell, raznosyaschiysya over villages, incomparable in its vonyuchesti. But as claimed by culinary connoisseurs, the eggs are obtained are very tasty and go with trays like hotcakes at the price of one and a half yuan
As usual, the sum under the Chinese custom of eating eggs, cooked in the urine, a medical basis, explaining that the spring energy imbalance of yin and yang. Urine is the child in traditional Chinese medicine is often used as an ingredient in medicines to improve the effectiveness of treatment.



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Rarely seen Cloud formations


There seems to be no end to strange cloud formations! From Punch hole clouds to cloud vortices, enjoy these rarely seen cloud formations !




Punch Hole Clouds may appear as a circular or oval holes in a layer of supercooled clouds; sometimes they assume a form of a perfect circle and persist for quite a long time, drifting together with the cloud layer. One explanation seems to blame the air traffic (the jet contrail intersections) combined with a thermal inversion (a circular motion of a rising warm air).
Here is one, observed over the Gunnison Valley in Colorado :

Another strange hole in the cloud, reported from Mobile, Alabama USA, Dec. 2003 (and covered by BBC News) :

Photo taken in Melbourne, Australia in 2003 :

It seems both rising and sinking air currents can create the same effect. Sometimes a very stable, uniform layer of high-altitude clouds can get "punched though" by a pocket of cold air, which sinks toward the ground - creating the circular hole formation.

These "cloud holes" can look like the footprints of some celestial being (UFO enthusiasts rejoice!) or can be amazingly round, like this pair observed in Gallatin, Tennessee by Wayne Carter :



NASA takes satellite images of this phenomenon
NASA Terra satellite equipped with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has captured these images over Acadiana area in southern Louisiana - a splattering of round holes actually stretched over several states: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Some were elongated, some appeared to have smaller clouds inside them.



Cloud Vortices : Theodore von Karman's "Cloud Vortices" are something else, again: they form when the wind encounters a barrier - such as the Aleutian islands, in this case - and the flowing eddies of cloud create a weird pattern. The image you see below was photographed from the International Space Station, and the animation shows the double row of vortices, which rotate opposite from each other.

More Incredible and Fascinating Clouds that make our sky worthy to look at from time to time (those who only look at the computer monitor, take note). Here is an extremely strong thunderstorm cloud that brewed over northwest Calgary :


Another supercell cloud in Alberta skies, this time over Edmonton :



Shrooms :

Another cloud "wave", similar to the one over South Dakota Badlands :

Roll clouds - get into a small plane and start "surfing" them ! :


A Cloud Angel :

Two light-sabers get crossed in the sky :

A fire-breathing rabbit-dragon, and a fantastic cloud edge :

A "genie", coming out of a bottle :

Spectacular lenticulars in the morning light and a whole "pancake" stack of them, over at Mount Rainier in Washington :


Stormy :

An interesting rainbow effect :

Nacreous clouds :

Prepare to get squashed, Earthlings ! :

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