The Second World War (WWII) Motorcycles
These motorcycles are from different countries and all date from WWII.
Germany
Germany
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Posts Tagged world
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Top 5 Most Dangerous Roads in the World
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Earth’s Toughest Spots
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World’s Worst Intersections & Traffic Jams
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Wonderful Lakes Around the World
1. Bolivia’s “Road of Death”
North Yungas Road is hands-down the most dangerous in the world for motorists. If other roads could be considered impassable, this one clearly endangers your life. It runs in the Bolivian Andes, 70 km from La Paz to Coroico, and plunges down almost 3,600 meters in an orgy of extremely narrow hairpin curves and 800-meter abyss near-misses.
A fatal accident happens there every couple of weeks, 100-200 people perish there every year. In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank named the La Paz-to-Coroico route “the world’s most dangerous road.”
Among the route there are many visible reminders of accidents, wrecked carcasses of lorries and trucks lie scattered around at the bottom… (read BBC article)
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Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) ride out high surf on blue-ice icebergs near Candlemas Island in the South Sandwich Islands.
For trees that grow on mountaintops near Cape Town, South Africa, wind can be a magnificent sculptor. Trees that can handle the wind’s effects best will alter their shape to deal with the load of the wind.
Silhouetted by the sun, the Hand of Fatima rock formations near Hombori village stretch toward the sky in Mali. The tallest tower rises 2,000 feet (610 meters) from the desert floor. Lore has it that the formation’s name stems from the five towers’ resemblance to a hand from the sky.
Erosion’s force becomes clear in these limestone cliffs in Port Campbell National Park, Australia. About five million years ago the area was a limestone plateau, but as sea levels rose the effects of surf and rain began to carve out these magnificent cliffs, along with stacks and arches.
A storm passes over Yellow Mounds Overlook in South Dakotas Badlands, casting light and shadow below. Although the regions name derives from the Oglala Sioux.
Travertine chimneys near Lake Abbe, Djibouti, were created by hot springs depositing
calcium carbonate the same process that creates stalactites and stalagmites. Some of the formations reach 165 feet (50 meters) near the lake located on the Ethiopia-Djibouti border.
A thick blanket of snow covers West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. There are more geysers in this park than anywhere else in the world.
Towers of salt and a riverbed colored by crystallized salt create an otherworldly landscape in Ethiopias Danakil Desert. Sitting more than 300 feet (90 meters) below sea level, with temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius), local inhabitants prize the Danakil for one thing: its salt deposits.
A deep gorge drops some 650 feet (198 meters) near the abandoned city of Araden, Crete. Visitors can descend into the gorge and walk a little more than 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) to the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to magnificent scenery, the gorge provides a 2,460-foot (750-meter) descent to the sea.
Towering in close symmetry, these basalt columns near Fingals Cave form the base of the
Scottish island of Staffa. The columns formed when cooling lava flows met bedrock and the regions cold weather. The island contains three main caves.
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They should pay you to enter these interchanges
There is a difference between “going mental” and making mental calculations how to get out of this traffic mess… at least we hope there is.
The complexity of modern interchanges can be daunting. Here is an exaggerated vision of what the future may look like:
(image credit: Syd Mead)
And this is present day in Japan (does that make your heart beat faster?)
(original unknown)
But here are a few more that definitely ask to be included into the
“Most Complex Junctions” Hall of Fame:
- Shanghai, China
(see that little circle on the side: this is a trap for amateur drivers, in which they swirl around forever)
- Taganskaya Square, Moscow
(shaped like a huge dumb loaf of bread… and just as unpalatable)
- Tokyo, Japan
(this one’s actually quite elegant)
- Arc de Triumph, Paris
(Place Charles de Gaulle - pretty much free-for-all there)
Nice Chicago arrangements:
You also gotta love this one in Minneapolis:
(between 35W and 94)
Golden Glades interchange in N. Miami Beach, FL.
Looking like some strands of yarn: Rt. 440 in New Jersey:
(images courtesy Google Earth)
Magic Roundabout
Something to shock you into disbelief, and leave you utterly shattered: getting in and out of the “magic mushroom circle” in England:
There are three intersections like this in UK: in Swindon, Hemel and in Cardiff. See exactly how it works here and here.
A cheat sheet “how to get out” is more helpful:
China is at the forefront of traffic circles (and spiral bridge approaches), as well:
Some vintage visions of intersections
Little did the urban planners of yesteryear and futurist designers imagined how complex our traffic infra-structure would become. The closest perhaps was the “Futurama” display in the 30s:
Looks actually quite orderly:
There is a highway in my basement
Another solution for the busy intersection: put a “traffic-control” tower smack in the middle (and on top) of it!
This strange concoction comes from “Modern Mechanics” 1932 issue and is called “Safety Tower” - basically a multi-level interchange, with space above it used for businesses and entertainment (including air traffic control beacons!)
(image credit: Modern Mechanix)
Amazingly, same idea came to Russians recently, as they put a huge “flying saucer” mall on top of major intersection.
and of course, a humorous solution (that might just work in Russia, who knows)
Railway intersections: “Diamond Crossings”
Quite a few of them can be found in US, but not that many in the rest of the world. US railway companies liked this kind of intersection which does not allow a train switch to a rival company’s tracks.
Here is a couple: in Poland and Russia:
(original unknown)
Traffic Jams from Hell
What a better way to greet Monday than to publish a collection of horrendous traffic congestion pictures, which may cause even most patient driver to shudder and say “Boy, am I glad I’m not in this mess right now”.
First picture is taken from the window of Red Hat’s offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil, followed by various location around the world, with Russia featured quite prominently -
(image credit: Glommer’s Mind)
Bucharest, Romania
Unregulated mess somewhere in Russia:
Here is the classic traffic jam that terrorized Moscow Sadovoye Koltzo (ring road) in October 2007:
Continuing well into the night:
(images credit: Anton Nossik)
This particular congestion is not actually a traffic jam. It happened in Italy during the strike, creating bottle-necks for trucks at the border:
(still very hairy situations with long waits involved) -
(original unknown)
Jacek Yerka’s unique solution to urban traffic problems, in surreal light:
(image credit: Jacek Yerka)
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Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains…
The Eden of that Dim Lake by Ben Heine
Yamdrok Tso (Turquoise) Lake, Tibet by Katarina 2353
Reflection in Saif-ul-Malook Lake by meansmuchtome
Mirror Lake… no, Kinney Lake! by Claude@Munich
Rush Lake (4700m) - Highest in Pakistan by windinhishair
Yamdrok Tso (Turquoise) Lake, Tibet by Katarina 2353
Black Lake, Pass of Dunloe by kaysare
Sparks Lake, Oregon by David Gn Photography
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