“NASA's Pathfinder, Pathfinder Plus, Centurion and Helios Prototype were an evolutionary series of solar- and fuel-cell-system-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. AeroVironment, Inc. developed the vehicles under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program. They were built to develop the technologies that would allow long-term, high-altitude aircraft to serve as “atmospheric satellites”, to perform atmospheric research tasks as well as serve as communications platforms”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The solar-electric Helios Prototype flying wing is flies over the Hawaiian islands of Niihau and Lehua during the first solar-powered test flight July 14, 2001 from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, HI. The 18-hour flight was a functional checkout of the aircraft's systems and performance in preparation for an attempt to reach sustained flight at 100,000 feet altitude later in the summer. (Photo Courtesy of NASA/Getty Images)

Throughout time, people invented and reinvented rollerblades. Of course everyone’s dream was to combine them with regular footwear, so that at one moment you’re riding down the road, and in 5 seconds you’re walking into a shopping mall, without the mall cop chasing after you. The most resent inventions were heelys (sneakers with a wheel located in the heels) and Xsjados (aggressive skates, the exterior of which could be removed to reveal regular sneakers). In the past, people made similar attempts, however, these inventions were very inefficient and the trend never caught on. Omnia’C has found and made photos of one of such inventions: pop out roller skate sandals all the way from 1970s. Though their design is pretty cool, it seems like they would be very uncomfortable, since they totally lack ankle support.

When you first see the art works created by a Thai metalworker Ban Hun Lek, you are completely stunned by the level of detail of the metal sculptures that he creates. One of his most prominent creations is a full sized sculpture of a Hulk. The fact that this sculpture was created practically solely out of steel nuts adds to the rugged feeling of force that emanates from this creation. And if you think that this creation is amazing, you should look at his other works such as the Ganesha – the god of wisdom, knowledge and new beginnings, or the Predator. For that matter, almost every sculpture that he creates blows your mind away, making you wonder just how many hours has he put into making these amazing pieces of art. (Photo by BanHunLek)

Supporters of the presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressive Congress hits with a motorbike another supporter during celebrations in Kano March 31, 2015. Nigeria's opposition APC declared an election victory on Tuesday for former military ruler Buhari and said Africa's most populous nation was witnessing history with its first democratic transfer of power. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

A woman poses on the flooded St. Mark's square during an acqua-alta (high-water) alert in Venice, on November 19, 2013. (Photo by Andrea Pattaro/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures, as usual, are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

Thoughts. They fly through the broad expenses of our mind, floating gracefully in midair, going into the clouds, and then reemerging once again. Some are quick and furtive, others are grand and majestic. We reflect upon them as they enter our minds, and once they leave, they are usually gone for good. However, some thoughts are different. These thoughts resemble a flock of angry birds or a swarm of hungry moths that invade your mind, slowly eating away at your sanity, strength, and desire to live. Such thoughts often plague that minds of people with Obsessive Compulsive disorder. They completely occupy their time; constantly there; ever-present. With his book sculpture, Thomas Wightman was able to accurately convey the way these thoughts consume the mind, slowly building a nest within it, resisting all attempts to drive them away.

A general view shows solar panels to produce renewable energy at the photovoltaic park in Les Mees, in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, southern France March 31, 2015. The solar farm of the Colle des Mees, the biggest in France, consists of 112,780 solar modules covering an area of 200 hectares of land and representing 100 MW of power. (Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)