ERITREA'S DEBRE BIZEN MONASTERY

Debre Bizen is the best-known monastery of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, located at the top of the Debre Bizen mountain near the town of Nefasit. Debre Bizen was founded in the 1350's by Abba Filiposwho was a student of Abba Absadi.


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Pictured above is the dwellings of monks perched on the mountain of Debre Bizen


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Pictured above is the misty path leading to the monastery.


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Pictured above is a small winding street in the monastery compound.


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Pictured above is one of the storage towers of the monastery.


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THE FANTASTIC PIT IN ELLISONS CAVE

The Fantastic Pit in Georgia's Ellisons Cave is 586' deep (179 m), which is the deepest known cave pit in the United States. This pit is big enough to hold the Washington Monument.


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FRUIT FOR THOUGHT: The Brazilian Grape Tree

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The Jabuticaba, also known as the Brazilian Grape Tree is a unique fruit-bearing tree native to Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. The tree has purple fruit similar to plums that develops, not at the end of smaller branches, but straight from the trunk of the tree, a truly peculiar sight. Each fruit is about 3-4 cm in diameter, contains four seeds and has sweet rose-coloured flesh. Because the fruit ferment quickly – about three to four days after being picked – it is most often eaten raw, but is also used for making liqueurs, strong wines, baked products and jams.

The tree has evolved its unique fruit-bearing manner to enable animals that can’t climb trees, to access the succulent fruit. In return it ensures that the seeds get scattered via animal droppings over a wide stretch of forest. The fruit are known to have various medicinal uses such as aiding in the treatment of tonsillitis, asthma and diarrhea, compounds of the fruits are also used in the battle against cancer. The Brazilian Grape Tree is yet another example of how beautifully quirky mother nature can be, and how much we still have to learn.

AWESOME PHILIP TREACY HATS

Philip Treacy's work is clearly part of the fashion world, but his 'unlikely' sculptures crosses the boundary into visual art. Born in County Galway, Ireland, Philip Treacy studied fashion design in Dublin before winning a place at the Royal College of Art.

Here are some of my favourite Philip Treacy 'head art'.

THE FAST WAY TO MAKE BRICK ROADS

The Tiger-Stone is a six meter wide machine that easily creates brick roads. This is another machine that replaces human labour. I still think it is very impressive.