Life in the Fast Lane » Weird Science

Worlds First Flying Skycar Takes Off from London to Timbuktu

Deborah — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:00:14 +0000

A group of daredevils set sail on the ultimate magical childhood dream adventure today, traveling in a flying car for a 42 day journey from London to Timbuktu — a place that’s had a mystical, “middle of nowhere” reputation for decades. The ‘Parajet Skycar’ can change from ground to flying mode in a mere 3 minutes, and will make the epic 3,600-mile (5,800-kilometer) journey by both land and air.

Photo Sun

The “world’s first road legal bio-fuelled flying car” is essentially a 1,000lb (480 kilo) dune buggy with a fan motor and paragliding wing attached. It can reach altitudes of up to 15,000 feet (4,570 meters), with a normal cruising height of 2,000 to 3,000 feet (600 to 900 meters), and a flight range of 185 miles (300 kilometers).

Skycar runs on the ground on a biofuel-powered 4-cylinder, 1,000cc engine, accelerating from zero to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds flat, has a top speed of 110 mph (180 km/h), with a range of 240 miles (306 kilometers), and an independent 4-wheel suspension to cope with the toughest terrain.

Taking off. Photo Sun

Photo Sun

A special nylon wing is unpacked from the trunk before unfurling the parachute on the ground to the rear and takes barely 3 minutes to convert into an aircraft.

Its powerful rear fan’s thrust propels the buggy forward and provides enough lift for the “ParaWing” to take off at just 45 mph (70 km/h), from any “airstrip” longer than 650 feet (200 meters), and once in the air it can fly at speeds of up to around 70 mph (110 km/h), cruising at 600-900 meters with a paraglider-style canopy holding it aloft.

Once airborne, the driver uses pedals in the zero-carbon vehicle’s foot well to steer it by tugging cables that change the wing’s shape. Should something go wrong, the pilot can launch an emergency parachute, which should allow the buggy to safely drift gently back to ground, the descent slowed by the wing.

The 2-seater Skycar was designed by engineer and inventor Giles Cardozo, from Dorset, in just 18 months.

On its maiden flight. Photo Sun

Landing … touchdown. Photo Sun

Led by pilot Neil Laughton from West Sussex who served in the SAS, the team took off in the vehicle that can “drive like a car” and “fly like a plane” from Knightsbridge, London to begin its journey.

The expedition will travel through France, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara and the desert city of Timbuktu in Mali, with plans to drive the Skycar where there are roads, and fly over the Straits of Gibraltar, the Atlas mountains in Morocco and the trackless wastes of the Empty Quarter of the Sahara.

Their goal is to reach Timbuktu on February 20th, with a supporting group of up to 13 people following on the ground in all-terrain vehicles and motorbikes.

The team had hoped to fly the Skycar over the English Channel but were prevented by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations. A spokesman for the CAA said there were no regulations prohibiting the Skycar from flying across the Channel, but since it doesn’t have full European certification, permission would also be needed from the French authorities.

The CAA had worked with the Skycar team to help get a permit to fly, he added.

Photo Sun

Laughton admitted the car had not yet been tested to any “distance, heat or endurance” and that there was an element of “mad Brits” about the adventure.

“Clearly the reliability of the car is crucial. We’re going to have to cope with wind chill temperatures as low as -30C (-22F) and blistering heat up to 50C (122F). But it’s been fully tested at a secret location and it 100% works.”

Laughton said he was particularly looking forward to visiting villages in West Africa.

“I just can’t wait to see their faces when we fly in and start playing football with them.” he said. “I don’t think they will be able to believe somebody in a flying car has just visited them.”

The team – Neil Laughton, left, and pilot Giles Cardozo. Photo Sun

The team is keenly aware that it’s is not just the natural barriers which could prove hostile. Neil Laughton said the journey through the Sahara posed some serious dangers.

“Sadly the political situation in some areas on our route is not good and there are some unsavory people about so we must be careful.” said Laughton.

The annual Paris-Dakar rally was cancelled in 2007 amid reported threats from Islamic militants in Mauritania.

“We have been following the Foreign Office advice on the political situation in the area northwest of Timbuktu. There is a significant kidnap threat in that area so we will be choosing our route very carefully and not publicizing it too widely.”

The vehicle will have to negotiate a minefield in Mauritania – “I might fly that one.” said Laughton. An estimated 40% of the journey will be by flight.

All aboard the flying machine. Photo Sun

Giles Cardozo — dubbed the “boy genius” by Laughton — will join the expedition as co-pilot for the African leg of the Skycar’s maiden voyage, which is backed by famous British explorer Ranulph Fiennes.

Even Laughton — who’s scaled the highest mountains on 7 continents and trekked at the North Pole — admits his latest “boy’s own” adventure is a little eccentric.

“I like variety and thought this would be an interesting challenge.” he said. “Also Timbuktu is an iconic and quirky destination.”

Photo Sun

Cardozo’s Wiltshire-based firm, Parajet, manufactures the industrial paramotors that propel the Skycar once it’s airborne and has been dreaming of creating a flying car since childhood.

“The inspiration came from realizing we can drive and we can fly, so why can’t we do both? The problem all along has been the wing technology, which we think we’ve cracked with the Skycar.” said Cardozo.

The self-taught engineer built and co-piloted the powered paraglider which took British TV survivalist Bear Grylls over the summit of Mount Everest in 2007.

With the help of sponsors, the team has invested about $380,000 (£250,000) developing the vehicle.

He plans to sell Skycars to the public for “beating congestion, or providing a low-cost method of reaching remote regions” at $76,000 (£50,000) each if it can prove its mettle on the Timbuktu mission.

But the expedition isn’t only about proving the viability of this unique vehicle. The team plans to raise more than £100,000 for a number of charities, including Alive and Kicking, which distributes footballs bearing health advice in Africa.

Sources: Telegraph, BBC, and Guardian

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Post from: Life in the Fast Lane

Worlds First Flying Skycar Takes Off from London to Timbuktu

Natures Spectacular Geometry of Snowflakes Frost and Ice

Deborah — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:26:05 +0000

While widely believed that no 2 snowflakes are alike, a researcher caused a frosty flurry when she made the first discovery of a matching set of snow crystals over 2 decades ago. Here we will take a look at the wintery wonderland of Mother Nature all her splendor and glory as she reveals her spectacular artwork with incredible geometry of ephemeral snowflakes, frost and ice.

Snow flakes by Wilson Bentley : “Studies among the Snow Crystals, The Snowflake Man”
from Annual Summary of the “Monthly Weather Review” for 1902. Bentley was a bachelor
farmer whose hobby was photographing snow flakes.

Although it’s extremely unlikely for any 2 macroscopic objects in the universe to bear an identical molecular structure, there are nonetheless no known scientific laws that prevent it. The theory was put under the microscope when Nancy C. Knight, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, reported that she discovered matching snow crystals in 1988. The crystals were however not exactly snow flakes in the usual sense, but hollow hexagonal prisms.

Photo CaptPiper

Snowflake magnified. Photo ViaMoi

Photo Elif Ayse

But how are snowflakes actually created? The process begins in a saturated cloud with subfreezing temperatures. Snow crystals grow as water vapor is deposited on microscopic particles, and the snow flakes form when the crystals collide and stick together. Crystals can be shaped like stars, columns, needles, plates or lumps.

The exact details of the sticking mechanism remains controversial — possibilities include mechanical interlocking, sintering, electrostatic attraction as well as the existence of a ’sticky’ liquid-like layer on the crystal surface.

Photo Jenny Downing

Photo CaptPiper

Ice crystals formed in the appropriate conditions can often be thin and flat. These planar crystals may be simple hexagons, or if the supersaturation is high enough, develop branches and fern-like features with 6 approximately identical arms, as per the iconic ’snowflake’ popularized by Wilson Bentley. The 6-fold symmetry arises from the hexagonal crystal structure of ordinary ice, and the branch formation is produced by unstable growth, with deposition usually occurring near the tips of branches.

Photo CaptPiper

The shape of the snowflake is determined largely by the temperature and humidity at which it forms. Rarely, triangular snowflakes can form in 3-fold symmetry at a temperature of around 28 °F (−2 °C). The most common snow particles are visibly irregular, although near-perfect snowflakes may be more common in pictures because they’re more visually appealing.

Planar crystals — thin and flat — grow in the air between freezing temperature of 32 °F (0 °C) and 27 °F (−3 °C). Between 27 °F (−3 °C) and 18 °F (−8 °C), the crystals will form needles or hollow columns or prisms — long thin pencil-like shapes. From 18 °F (−8 °C) to −8 °F (−22 °C), the habit goes back to plate-like, often with branched or fern-like features.

The maximum difference in vapor pressure between liquid and ice is at about 5 °F (−15 °C) where crystals grow most rapidly at the expense of the liquid droplets. At temperatures below −8 °F (−22 °C), the crystal habit again becomes column-like, although many more complex habits also form such as side-planes, bullet-rosettes and planar types depending on the conditions and ice nuclei.

Photo CaptPiper

Most samples of snow crystals are observed by researchers at moderate magnifications of 30X to 500X, often using a low temperature scanning electron microscope (LT-SEM).

Snow samples are very fragile and exposure to the light necessary to photograph them using light microscopes can change structures and even melt them. Using LT-SEM, samples are frozen to temperatures below −170 °C where they can be placed in a vacuum and observed for many hours with no structural changes.

Photo CaptPiper

Ghost of a melting snowflake. Photo Audreyjm529

The 4 classes of snowflakes include:

• Columns — a class of snow flakes shaped like a 6-sided column.

• Dendrites — the classic snow flake shape that has 6 points, making it somewhat star shaped. A crystal dendrite is a crystal that develops with a typical multi-branching tree-like form. Dendritic crystal growth is very common and illustrated by snowflake formation and frost patterns on a window. Dendritic crystallization forms a natural fractal pattern.

• Needles — a class of snow flakes that are acicular in shape — their length is much longer than their diameter, like a needle.

• Rimed snow — snowflakes that are partially or completely coated in tiny frozen water droplets called rime. Rime forms on a snow flake when it passes through a super-cooled cloud.

Watermelon snow is a reddish-pink colored snow that smells like watermelons, and is caused by a red-colored green algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis.

Magnification of a snow crystal using a low temperature scanning electron microscope.
Photo Agricultural Research Service, USDA

Photo Jerome Mathey

Photo Lalofont

Robin in a snow storm (the white streaks are falling snow). Photo Noel Zia Lee

Nature’s Fantastic Frost
When Jack Frost celebrates winter leaving his dazzling crystal patterns on windows on cold winter mornings, it’s a magnificently fleeting sight to behold, captured here for eternity in photographs.

Photo Clairity

Photo Fdecomite

Photo Ms. Tea

If a solid surface is chilled below the dew point of the surrounding air and the surface itself is colder than freezing, frost will form on the surface. Frost consists of spicules of ice which grow out from the solid surface. The size of the crystals depends on time, temperature, and the amount of water vapor available, and is usually translucent in appearance.

Because cold air is denser than warm air, in calm weather cold air pools at ground level. This is known as surface temperature inversion, and explains why frost is more common and extensive in low-lying areas. Areas where frost forms due to cold air trapped against the ground or against a solid barrier such as a wall are known as “frost pockets.”

Photo Clearly Ambiguous

A crystal forest. Photo Clearly Ambiguous

Crystal shore. Photo Clearly Ambiguous

There are many types of frost, such as radiation — also called hoar frost or hoarfrost — and window frost.

Hoar frost refers to the white ice crystals loosely deposited on the ground or exposed objects that form on cold clear nights when radiation losses into the open skies cause objects to become colder than the surrounding air. A related effect is flood frost which occurs when air cooled by ground-level radiation losses travels downhill to form pockets of very cold air in depressions, valleys, and hollows. Hoar frost can form in these areas even when the air temperature a few feet above ground is well above freezing.

Hoar frost on a birch tree by a river. Photo Ptrktn

Located between Calcutt and Stockton, Warwickshire. Photo Dave Hamster

Photo M^3

Hoar frost may have different names depending on where it forms:

• Air hoar is a deposit of hoar frost on objects above the surface, such as tree branches, plant stems, and wires.

• Surface hoar is formed by fernlike ice crystals directly deposited on snow, ice, or already frozen surfaces.

• Crevasse hoar consists in crystals that form in glacial crevasses where water vapor can accumulate under calm weather conditions.

• Depth hoar refers to cup shaped, faceted crystals formed within dry snow beneath the surface.

Depth hoar is a common cause of avalanches when it forms in air spaces within snow, especially below a snow crust, and subsequent layers of snow fall on top of it. The layer of depth hoar consists of angular crystals that do not bond well to each other or other layers of snow, causing upper layers to slide off under the right conditions, especially when upper layers are well bonded within themselves.

Hoar frost that grows on the snow surface due to water vapor moving up through
the snow on cold, clear nights. Photo JossDude

Hoar frost. Photo G.Goodwin Jr. and Snark

Hoar frost in Lower Saxony, Germany. Photo Daniel Schwen

Window frost — also called fern frost — forms when a glass pane is exposed to very cold air on the outside and moderately moist air on the inside. If the pane is not a good insulator, such as a single pane window, water vapor condenses on the glass forming magnificent patterns. The glass surface influences the shape of crystals, so imperfections, scratches or dust can modify the way ice nucleates.

Advection frost — also called wind frost — refers to tiny ice spikes forming when a very cold wind blows over branches of trees, poles, and other surfaces, and can rim the edge of flowers and leaves. It usually forms against the direction of the wind, and can occur at any hour of day and night.

Photo Active Metabolite

‘Ice ferns.’ Photo Active Metabolite

‘Ice fern forest.’ Photo Active Metabolite

Frosty chaos. Photo Active Metabolite

Photo Active Metabolite

Frozen aqua. Photo Active Metabolite

Photo Active Metabolite

Photo Mila Zinkova

Photo EZS

Photo Sister72

Photo Muffet

Frost on lingonberry leaves. Photo Staffan Enbom

Photo Lepiaf.geo

Frosted marigold. Photo Micky

Fuchsias in frost. Photo Recursion

Photo Mclaire

Photo Jenny Downing

Frost on spider web. Photo No Prawns

Nature’s Beauty in Ice
Nature paints her land with ice appearing in forms as varied as snowflakes and hail, icicles, glaciers, pack ice, and entire polar ice caps.

Icicles. Photo Muffet

Forgotten bits of Lake Erie hang from a railing. Photo Laszlo Photo

Winter ice wonderland. Photo Mysza

Icicles form similar to stalactites in appearance, as water drips and re-freezes. Over time continued water runoff will cause the icicle to grow. If an icicle grows long enough to touch the ground — or its corresponding ice spike growing up from the ground — it’s called an ice column.

Ice column. Photo Kankie

Ice curls. Photo Theedster123

Photo C-66

Photo Mysza

Photo Dan Zen

Photo Striatic

Bizarre ice crystals. Photo Clearly Ambiguous

Photo Clearly Ambiguous

Iceman. Photo Erling Magnusson

Wood and ice. Photo Active Metabolite

Photo Barfooz

Feather ice on a plateau near Alta, Norway. The crystals form at temperatures
below −22 °F (−30 °C). Photo Craig Thom

Photo Fdecomite

Frozen bubble. Photo Fdecomite

Frozen raindrop. Photo Audreyjm

Iced dandelion. Photo Strelitzia

Ice formation reminiscent of birds resting on the branch or icy claws. Photo Mysza

Photo Mysza

Iced over Untermeyer fountain. Photo Ralph Hockens

The subsequent photos are the effects of a storm followed by sub zero temperatures in Versoix, a town near Geneva City, Switzerland, on the Leman Lake.

Photo SD-05

Source: Wikipedia

Recommended reads:
Brass Meets Bricks: 20 Steampunk LEGO Creations by WebUrbanist
Hellish Weather on Other Planets by Dark Roasted Blend
3 Reasons to Take Your Clothes Off in the City by Deputy Dog
5 Things About Shakespeare You Didn’t Know by Neatorama
Folding Plane by Been Seen

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Post from: Life in the Fast Lane

Natures Spectacular Geometry of Snowflakes Frost and Ice

35 Ghosts of Nature – Albino Animals of the Wild

Deborah — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:07:43 +0000

Albino animals are very rare in nature, and man has long had a fascination for these creatures since ancient times. Some cultures regard albinos as sacred animals, and they have even been the basis of great legends and folklore. Due to their uniqueness and rarity, albino animals are some of the most valuable attractions in zoological centers and circuses throughout the world. We present 35 of nature’s rarest albino, leucistic, and white creatures to you.

Peacock. Photo Gaetan Lee

Leucistic animals are often mistaken as being albino creatures, such as white lions. Leucism is a condition similar to albinism, characterized by reduced pigmentation in general and can also affect distribution of pigment on the hair shaft, but unlike albinism, it’s caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin. Chinchilla and other mutations can also cause white animals, such as some of the animals depicted here, including white peacocks, and white tigers, which are typically white rather than albino.

About Albinism
Albinism is a form of hypopigmentary congenital disorder, characterized by a partial or total lack of melanin pigment in the eyes, skin, and hair. Albinism results from inheritance of recessive alleles (genes), and the condition is known to affect mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

An albino peacock opens its plumage at Botanic Garden in Bogota, Colombia, June 15, 2005. Photo Eliana Aponte / Reuters

Albinism is hereditary and cannot be transmitted through blood transfusions or other vectors. The principal gene which results in albinism prevents the body from making the usual amounts of the pigment melanin. Most forms of albinism are the result of the biological inheritance of genetically recessive genes passed from both parents of an individual, though some rare forms are inherited from only 1 parent.

The chance of offspring with albinism resulting from the pairing of one with albinism and another without albinism is low, but because organisms can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits, albinistic offspring can be produced by 2 non-albinistic parents. Albinism usually occurs with equal frequency in both genders with the exception of ocular albinism, because it’s passed on to offspring through X-linked inheritance. Therefore males more frequently have ocular albinism since they don’t have a second X chromosome.

The lack of enough dark pigment melanin also makes the skin unusually sensitive to sunlight and thus susceptible to sunburn from the sun’s UV rays. Lack of melanin in the eye also results in problems with vision, related to photosensitivity.

The term peafowl can refer to the 2 species of bird in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male’s extravagant tail which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock and the female a peahen, though it’s common to hear the female also referred to as a peacock. Peafowl are forest birds that nest on the ground. The Pavo peafowl are terrestrial feeders but roost in trees. Photo Pavelrybin

Most humans and many animals with albinism appear white or very pale. In some animals, especially albinistic birds and reptiles, ruddy and yellow hues or other colors may be present on the entire body or in patches due to the presence of other pigments unaffected by albinism, as well as carotenoid pigments derived from the diet. Some animals are white or pale due to pigment cell defects, do not lack melanin production, and have normal eyes — referred to as leucistic.

The eyes of an animal with albinism occasionally appear red due to the underlying retinal blood vessels showing through where there is not enough pigment to cover them. This is rare humans, as a human eye is quite large and thus produces enough pigment to lend opacity to the eye, often coloring the iris pale blue. There are cases however in which the eyes of albinistic people appear red or purple, depending on the amount of pigment present.

Those with albinism usually have impaired vision due to one or more conditions. While a person with albinism may suffer from nearsightedness, farsightedness, photophobia or light sensitivity, the visual problems particularly associated with albinism arise from a poorly-developed retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) due to the lack of melanin.

The albinistic are generally as healthy as the rest of their species, and the condition by itself does not cause mortality.

Peacock. Photo BY-YOUR

Many animals with albinism lack their protective camouflage and are unable to conceal themselves from their predators or prey, thus their survival rate in the wild is usually quite low. However the novelty of albino animals has occasionally led to their protection by groups such as the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society.

Intentionally-bred albinistic strains of some animal species are commonly used as laboratory animals in biomedical study and experimentation such as rats, rabbits, axolotls, zebrafish, and frogs. The incidence of albinism can be artificially increased in fish by exposing the eggs to heavy metals.

A common misconception is that albinistic individuals of a species are sterile, but they are in fact fully capable of reproducing. Many also believe that people with albinism live short life spans. This is not true in general, but may be a distorted view of a more reasonable fact that people with albinism have a higher risk of skin cancer if they don’t use proper protection from the sun. It has also been misunderstood that those with albinism will become blind halfway through life, which is incorrect.

Peacock. Photo Ian Wilson

Leucism is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and / or migration from the neural crest to skin, hair, or feathers during development. This results in either the entire surface — if all pigment cells fail to develop — or patches of body surface having a lack of cells capable of making pigment.

Since all pigment cell-types differentiate from the same multipotent precursor cell-type, leucism can cause the reduction in all types of pigment. This is in contrast to albinism, for which leucism is often mistaken. Albinism results in the reduction of melanin production only, though the melanocyte is still present. Thus in species that have other pigment cell-types, albinos are not entirely white, but instead display a pale yellow color.

A further difference between albinism and leucism is in eye color. Due to the lack of melanin production in both the RPE and iris, albinos often have red eyes due to the underlying blood vessels showing through, in contrast to leucistic animals which have normally colored eyes

About 1 in 17,000 human beings has some type of albinism, although up to 1 in 70 is a carrier of albinism genes.

Albino, Leucistic and White Animals
While some albino, leucistic, and white creatures in the animal kingdom are quite common such as white ferrets and albino rabbits, others are very rare and unique in every sense.

Gorilla
Snowflake was an albino Western Lowland Gorilla, and the most popular resident of the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, where he spent most of his life. He was known worldwide, mentioned in tourist guides and put on postcards, becoming the unofficial mascot for the city.

Snowflake the albino gorilla at Spain’s Barcelona Zoo taken Sept. 14 2003,
shortly before he died. Photo Cesar Rangel, AFP / Getty Images

Ape specialist Jordi Sabater Pi found him in 1966 in Ikunde, modern-day Equatorial Guinea. The only albino gorilla known to man, he was captured in the Equatorial forest of Nko, near Rio Campo, by Benito Mañé, an ethnic Fang farmer, who had killed the rest of his group in order to obtain this unusual albino animal. During the massacre, his mother was shot by Mañé and the small creature was found clinging to his mother’s neck, his head buried deep in her black fur.

Snowflake the albino gorilla. Photo Maarten Utreg

Benito transported him to Bata, where he was purchased by Sabater Pi, who worked for the Barcelona Zoo’s Ikunde Center. A National Geographic-funded study of gorillas in the region was underway at the time of Snowflake’s discovery.

Snowflake the albino gorilla.

Snowflake had suffered from an unusual form of skin cancer in 2001, almost certainly related to his albinism condition, known as oculocutaneous albinism type 1, and died November 24 2003. While the average lifespan of a gorilla in the wild is 25, he was thought to be between 38 and 40 years old.

Albino Squirrel
Known as the “White Squirrel Capital of the World,” Olney, Illinois, is home of the world’s largest known albino squirrel colony. Kenton, Tennessee is home to about 200 albino squirrels. There are also albino squirrels on the main campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Brevard, North Carolina and Marionville, Missouri have a substantial population of white (not albino) squirrels.

Albino Squirrel. Photo Stephen Kniatt

Albino squirrel nicknamed Snowy scavenges for nuts in a garden in England.
Photo Empics / Landov

Photo Sara Atkins

Western Kentucky University has a locally famous population of white squirrels. Exeter, Ontario in Canada is known for having non-albino white squirrels, believed to be the result of a genetic mutation in the early 20th century. The Snow Belt in Western and Central New York (Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse) also has a significant white squirrel population

Photo Sara Atkins

Photo Dulouz Cats

The Albino Squirrel Preservation Society was founded at the University of Texas at Austin in 2001, and its sister chapter at University of North Texas (UNT) petitioned for an election to name their albino squirrel as the university’s secondary mascot. The University of Louisville in Kentucky also has a documented population of albino squirrels.

Kangaroo
The kangaroo is a national symbol of Australia — its emblem is used on the Australian coat of arms, on some of its currency, and by some of Australia’s best known organizations, including Qantas.

Albino Kangaroo. Photo Ana Cotta

Kangaroos have large, powerful hind legs, large feet adapted for leaping, a long muscular tail for balance, and a small head. Like all marsupials, female kangaroos have a pouch called a marsupium in which ‘joeys’ complete postnatal development.

Albino kangaroo. Photo Michael

Albino kangaroo. Photo Gaetan Lee

They’re the only large animals to use hopping as a means of locomotion, travelling anywhere from an average 13 to16 mph (20 to 25 km/h) — some can attain speeds of up to 44 mph (70 km/h) over short distances. Due to their long feet, they cannot walk correctly. To move at slow speeds, kangaroos use the tail to form a tripod with their 2 forelimbs, and then raise their hind feet forward, in a form of locomotion called “crawl-walking.”

Albino Deer
Deer generally have lithe, compact bodies and long, powerful legs suited for rugged woodland terrain, making them excellent jumpers and swimmers. They are ruminants, or cud-chewers — the teeth are adapted to feeding on vegetation, and like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors, instead having a tough pad at the front of their upper jaw.

Albino deer. Photo Illinois Wildlife Lover

Nearly all deer have a facial gland in front of each eye, which contains a strongly scented pheromone used to mark its home range. Bucks of a wide range of species open these glands wide when angry or excited.

Albino deer. Photo Illinois Wildlife Lover

Albino deer. Photo Allie Caulfield

Albino Elk
The elk, or wapiti, is one of the largest species of deer in the world and one of the largest mammals in North America and eastern Asia. In the deer family, only the moose is larger, and the “Sambar” deer can rival the elk in size.

Albino Elk. Photo Troublethensome

Albino elk. Photo mqcq777

Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. Although native to North America and eastern Asia, they have adapted well to countries where they’ve been introduced, including New Zealand and Argentina. Their high level of adaptability poses a threat to endemic species and ecosystems where they’ve been introduced.

Albino Moose
The North America moose is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males — other members of the family have antlers with a “twig-like” configuration.

Albino moose by Fort St. John, BC, Canada. Photo Wayupstream

Albino Moose, Drayton Valley, AB, Canada. Photo Jaystonernusa

Moose typically inhabit boreal and mixed deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates. Behind only the bisons, the Moose is the second largest land animal in both North America and Europe.

Albino (White) Billy Goat
Most goats naturally have 2 horns of various shapes and sizes depending on the breed. While horns are a predominantly male feature, some breeds of goats have horned females, and polled (hornless goats) are not uncommon. Their horns are made of living bone surrounded by keratin and other proteins which are used for defense, dominance, and territoriality.

Albino (White) Billy Goat. Photo Allie Caulfield

Goats are extremely curious and intelligent, easily housebroken and trained to pull carts and walk on leads. Goats are very coordinated and can climb and hold their balance in the most precarious places — widely known for their ability to climb trees, although the tree generally has to be on somewhat of an angle.

Albino (White) Llama
The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a pack animal by the Incas and other natives of the Andes mountains. llamas are still used as beasts of burden today In South America, as well as for the production of fiber and meat.

Albino (White) Llama. Photo Esparta

Llama overlooking Machu Picchu, Peru. Photo Schuyler Shepherd

Using llamas as livestock guards in North America began in the early 1980’s and some sheep producers have used llamas successfully. The use of guard llamas has greatly increased since a magazine article in 1990, when national attention was drawn to the potential use of llamas for guarding sheep.

Albino Alpaca
Along with Camels and Llamas, the Alpaca are classified as Camelids, and have been domesticated for thousands of years. The closest living species are the wild Vicuna, also native to South America. Alpacas are smaller than the other Camelid species, but they are however larger than the wild Vicuna. The Moche people of Northern Peru often used Alpaca images in their art.

Albino Alpaca from the Nashville Zoo. Photo Travis Hightower Imaging

Albino Camel
Camels are even-toed ungulates within the genus Camelus, native to the dry desert areas of western Asia, and central and east Asia, respectively. The dromedary, one-humped or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the Bactrian camel has 2 humps.

Camel with an albino colt at Skazka Zoo, Yalta, Ukraine. Photo ITAR-TASS / Landov

Albino camel. Photo Emma is rad

White Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species. Males can be 16 to 18 feet (4.8 to 5.5 meters) tall and weigh up to 3,800 pounds (1,700 kilos). The record-sized bull, shot in Kenya in 1934, was 19.2 feet (5.87 meters) tall and weighed about 4,400 pounds (2,000 kilos). Females are generally slightly shorter, and weigh less than males.

White Giraffe. Photo Pinball PW

White Giraffe. Photo Author Unknown

Giraffes have spots covering their entire bodies except their underbellies, each with their own unique pattern of spots. They have long, prehensile tongues which are distinctly blue-black to protect from sunburn. Giraffes have long necks, which they use to browse the leaves of trees, but possess only 7 vertebrae in the neck (the usual number for a mammal). Their forelegs are slightly elongated, about 10% longer than their hind legs.

The Rothschild Giraffe, also known as the Baringo Giraffe or Ugandan Giraffe, is the most endangered of giraffe subspecies, with around 40 believed to exist in the wild.

Albino (White) Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths frequently circle artificial lights. One hypothesis for this behavior is that moths use a technique of celestial navigation called transverse orientation. By maintaining a constant angular relationship to a bright celestial light, such as the Moon, they can fly in a straight line. When a moth encounters a much closer artificial light and uses it for navigation, the angle changes noticeably after only a short distance.

Albino (White) Moth. Photo Martin Kingsley

Albino Hedgehog
A hedgehog is any of the small spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 16 species of hedgehog found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to North America — those in New Zealand are introduced. Hedgehogs have changed little over the last 15 million years. Like many of the first mammals they have adapted to a nocturnal, insectivorous way of life.

Albino Hedgehog. Photo Simpler

Albino African Pygmy Hedgehog. Photo Meantux

Albino baby hedgehogs. Photo Essexjan

Hedgehogs are easily recognized by their spines, which are hollow hairs made stiff with keratin. Their spines are not poisonous or barbed and cannot easily be removed from the animal, but they do come out when a hedgehog sheds baby spines and replaces them with adult spines, called ‘quilling.’ When under extreme stress or during sickness, a hedgehog can also lose spines.

A defense that all hedgehogs possess is the ability to roll into a tight ball, causing all of the spines to point outwards. Its effectiveness however depends on the number of spines, and they’re much more likely to try to run away or sometimes even attack the intruder, trying to ram into them with its spines, leaving rolling as a last resort.

Albino Cat
The “C” gene codes for the enzyme tyrosinase, the first step in pigment production. Its recessive alleles determine whether a cat is a complete albino (pink-eyed) or a temperature sensitive albino. The temperature sensitive albino genotypes are cbcb Burmese, cscs Siamese, and cbcs Tonkinese. The cscs gene can turn a cat’s eyes blue due to a reduced number of melanocytes, affecting pigmentation of the eyes. If a cat has the dominant C allele, then the cat is non-albino and full pigment production occurs.

Albino cat. Photo A of Doom

Albino cats. Photo Kngsrivr

Albino cat. Photo Xabier M

With the white masking gene, W/w, the “W” gene prevents the normal replication and migration of pigment producing cells during embryologic development. As a result, WW and Ww cats have a greatly reduced number of melanocytes and appear white, no matter what other color genes it may carry. Only a cat that’s homozygous recessive (ww) will express normal pigmentation. Some cats with the W allele of this gene are deaf and / or have de-pigmentation of the iris of one or both eyes, resulting in blue eye color.

White Bengal Tiger
White tigers have a genetic condition that nearly eliminates pigment in the normally orange fur, although they still have dark stripes. Another genetic condition in snow-white or ‘pure white’ tigers also makes the stripes of the tiger very pale. When a tiger inherits 2 copies of the recessive gene for the paler coloration, they may have a pink nose, pink paw pads, grey-mottled skin, ice-blue eyes, and white to cream-colored fur with black, grey, or chocolate-colored stripes.

White Bengal Tiger. Photo Averette

White Bengal Tiger. Photo Soham Pablo

White tigers do not constitute a separate subspecies of their own and can breed with orange ones, although all of the resulting offspring will be heterozygous for the recessive white gene, and their fur will be orange. The only exception would be if the orange parent was itself already a heterozygous tiger, which would give each cub a 50% chance of being either double-recessive white or heterozygous orange.

White Bengal Tiger. Photo Soham Pablo

White Bengal Tiger. Photo Shuan Lo

If 2 white tigers breed, 100% of their cubs will be homozygous white tigers. A tiger which is homozygous for the white gene may also be heterozygous for many different genes. Inbreeding promotes homozygosity and has been used as a strategy to produce white tigers. Inbreeding is detrimental when deleterious genes are present, otherwise it’s harmless. The white gene may be considered deleterious (harmful, or have a damaging effect), or categorized as a genetic defect.

In the 1970’s a pair of heterozygous orange tigers named Sashi and Ravi produced 13 cubs in Alipore Zoo, 3 of which were white.

White Lion
The white lion is not a separate subspecies nor is it albino, but a rare color mutation of the Kruger subspecies of lion that has been perpetuated by selective breeding in zoos around the world. They’re occasionally found in wildlife reserves in South Africa, and white cubs have sporadically turned up among tawny lions in the Timbavati and Kruger National Park regions.

White lion. Photo Stano Novak

White Lion at Cango wildlife ranch, Oudtshoorn, South Africa. Photo My Angel G

The white color is caused by a recessive gene known as chinchilla or color inhibitor. They vary from blonde through to near white, but some can also be red. This coloration gives white lions a distinct disadvantage in nature because they’re highly visible, giving them away to their prey and making them an attractive target for hunters. According to Linda Tucker in “Mystery of the White Lions – Children of the Sun God,” they’re bred in camps in South Africa as trophies for canned hunts.

White Lion. Photo My Angel G

White lion cub. Photo EA210269

Because the gene is recessive and masked by the normal tawny color, white lions are very rare in the wild and only occur when 2 lions carrying the mutant gene are mated together. The greatest population of white lions is in zoos where they’re deliberately bred for color. The population of the white lion is unknown but the most recent count was in 2004 which reported 30 alive.

White lions are endangered. Regarded as divine by locals, white lions first came to public attention in the 1970’s in Chris McBride’s book, “The White Lions of Timbavati.”

Rare White Lion Cubs Greet the World

Two rare white lion cubs are feted at the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia, December 2008.

Raw news footage of 3 rare white lion cubs born June 2008
in the Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock safari park in Germany.

Albino Bison
Bison is a taxonomic group containing 6 species of large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Only 2 of these species still exist — the American bison and the European bison, or wisent, each with 2 subspecies. The American and European bison are the largest terrestrial mammals in North America and Europe.

Albino Bison. Photo Alana Elliott

Bison are nomadic grazers and travel in herds, except for the non-dominant bulls, which travel alone or in small groups during most of the year. American bison are known for living in the Great Plains. Both species were hunted close to extinction during the 19th and 20th centuries but have since rebounded, although the European bison is still endangered.

Albino Ferret
The ferret is a domestic mammal. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur, an average length of approximately 20 inches (51 centimeters) including a 5 inch (13 centimeter) tail, and weigh between 1.5 to 4 pounds (0.8 to 2 kilos). Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females.

Albino Ferret. Photo Xrrr

Albino Ferret. Photo Jasja Dekker

Albino Dingo
The Dingo, or Warrigal, is a feral domestic dog rather than a separate species, which mostly lives independently from humans. They have features in common with both wolves and modern dogs, and are regarded as more or less unchanged descendants of an early ancestor of modern dogs.

Albino Dingo. Photo The Girls NY

Though commonly described as an Australian wild dog, it’s not restricted to Australia, nor did it originate there. It’s generally thought to originate from a population of domesticated dogs, possibly at a single occasion during the Austronesian expansion into Southeast Asia. Modern dingoes are found throughout Southeast Asia, mostly in small pockets of remaining natural forest, and in mainland Australia, particularly in the north.

Albino Koala
The Koala is a thickset arboreal marsupial herbivore native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae, found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, from near Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula, but are not found in Tasmania or Western Australia.

Baby albino koala. Photo Ethan Hein

Albino koala. Photo Oct’vion

Populations also extend for considerable distances inland in regions with enough moisture to support suitable woodlands. The Koalas of South Australia were largely exterminated during the early part of the 20th century, but the state has since been repopulated with Victorian stock.

Albino koala. Photo Miss Star

Albino Seal
The true seals or earless seals are one of the 3 main groups of mammals within the seal suborder, Pinnipedia, and sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of family Otariidae. Fur seals are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears, relatively long and muscular foreflippers, and the ability to walk on all fours. They’re marked by their dense underfur, which made them a long-time creature of commercial hunting.

Albino Seal. Photo Ezbngrn

Albino Baby Seal. Photo Andrew’s Pics

Albino Fur Seal. Photo Albert Megger

Seals live in the oceans of both hemispheres and are mostly confined to polar, sub-polar, and temperate climes, with the exception of the more tropical monk seals.

Albino Whale
Whales are marine mammals which include the blue whale — the largest animal alive today. Orcas, colloquially referred to as killer whales, and pilot whales have whale in their name but for the purpose of classification they’re actually dolphins.

Albino Whale. Photo Jakcielynn

Whales have been hunted for meat and as a source of valuable raw materials for centuries. By the middle of the 20th century, large-scale industrial whaling had left many populations severely depleted, rendering certain species seriously endangered.

Albino Fish
The leucistic Long Finned Oscar is native to Peru, Colombia, Brazil and French Guiana and occurs in the Amazon river basin, along the Amazonas, Iça, Negro, Solimoes and Ucayali river systems, and also in the Approuague and Oyapock drainages. In its natural environment the species typically occurs in slow moving white-water habitats, and has been observed sheltering under submerged branches. Feral populations also occur in China, northern Australia, and Florida, US, as a by-product of the ornamental fish trade.

Leucistic Long Finned Oscar. Photo: Kurt Auerbach

A sexually-mature adult axolotl at age 18 to 24 months ranges in length from 6 to 18 inches (15 to 45 centimeters), although a size close to 9 inches (23 centimeters) is most common. Axolotls possess features typical of salamander larvae, including external gills and a caudal fin extending from behind the head to the vent. Their heads are wide, and their eyes are lidless. Their limbs are underdeveloped and possess long, thin digits.

Albino axolotls. Photo Erzengel

Albino Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines, their body mostly shielded by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs. The earliest known turtles date from 215 million years ago, making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than lizards and snakes. About 300 species are alive today, but some are highly endangered.

Albino Slider Turtle. Photo Julia Klarman

Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), albino. Photo David Monniaux

Albino Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura, characterized by long hind legs, a short body, webbed digits (fingers or toes), protruding eyes, and the absence of a tail, most noticeable by their call, which can be widely heard during the night or day, mainly in their mating season. Most frogs have a semi-aquatic lifestyle, but move easily on land by jumping or climbing.

Albino Frog. Photo Headexplodie

The distribution of frogs ranges from tropic to subarctic regions, but most species are found in tropical rainforests. They’re among the most diverse groups of vertebrates, consisting of more than 5,000 species, but populations of certain frog species are significantly declining.

Snakes
Snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica and range in size from the tiny, 4-inch (10 centimeter) long thread snake to pythons and anacondas of up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) in length. In order to accommodate snakes’ narrow bodies, paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side.

2-week-old Sri Lankan albino cobras show at the National Zoological Gardens in Colombo,
Sri Lanka, June 29 2005. Photo Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi / Reuters

Albino rat snakes. Photo Benimoto

Most species are non-venomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. A few possess venom potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans.

Albino Alligator
The alligator has been described as a ‘living fossil’ from the age of reptiles, having survived on earth for 200 million years. An average American alligator’s weight and length is 800 pounds (360 kilos) and 13 feet (4.0 meters) long, but can grow to 14.5 feet (4.4 meters) long and weigh 1,000 pounds (450 kilos).

Albino Alligator. Photo DeusXFlorida

Albino alligator. Photo Ishane

According to the Everglades National Park website, the largest alligator ever recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches (5.3 meters), although according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission web site the Florida state record for length is a 14 feet 5/8 inches (4.28 meter) male from Lake Monroe in Seminole County. The Chinese alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 7 feet (2.1 meters) in length.

Speeds have been clocked by alligators of up to 27 mph (43 km/h), making them one of the fastest large reptiles on the planet.

Albinism in Birds
Albinism in birds is rare, occurring to any extent in perhaps 1 in 1800 individuals, though near Prypiat, Ukraine most sparrows have slight albinism. Albino birds have white feathers in place of colored ones on some portion of its body. A bird that’s naturally white, such as a swan, goose, or egret, is not an albino, nor is a bird that has seasonally alternating white plumage.

Snowy egret. Photo Len Blumin

A completely albino bird is the most rare, lacking any pigment in its skin, eyes, and feathers. The eyes in this case are pink or red, because blood shows through in the absence of pigment in the irises. The beak, legs, and feet are very pale or white. Completely albino adults are very rarely spotted in the wild. They’re likely easier targets for predators because their color distinguishes them from their environment. A complete albino often has weak eyesight and brittle wing and tail feathers, which may reduce its ability to fly.

In flocks, albinos are often harassed by their own species. Falconers have observed that their trained birds are likely to attack a white pigeon in a flock because it’s conspicuous. Such observations have been made among red-winged blackbirds, barn swallows, and African penguins. In a nesting colony of the latter, 3 unusual juveniles — one black-headed, one white-headed, and one full albino — were shunned and abused by companions.

Albinism has been reported in all orders and in 54 families of North American birds. The American robin and house sparrow led bird species in the incidence of albinism. Albinistic white appears to replace brown pigments more often than red or yellow ones. Records suggest a greater incidence in crows, ravens, and hawks than in goldfinches or orioles.

Albino Mockingbird
Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the Mimidae family, best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of insect and amphibian sounds as well as other bird songs, often loudly and in rapid succession.

Albino mockingbird. Photo Glenn E Wilson

Snowy Egret
The Snowy Egret is a small white heron, and the American counterpart to the very similar Old World Little Egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas. Adults are typically 24 inches (60 centimeters) long. They have a slim black bill and long black legs with yellow feet. The area of the upper bill in front of the eyes is yellow, but turns red during the breeding season when the adults also gain re-curved plumes on the back, making for a ’shaggy’ effect.

Snowy egret. Photo David Hall

Snowy egret. Photo Glenn E Wilson

In warmer locations, some Snowy Egrets are permanent residents, but northern populations migrate to Central America and the West Indies. They may wander north after the breeding season, very rarely venturing to western Europe.

Snowy egret. Photo Glenn E Wilson

At one time, the beautiful plumes of the Snowy Egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women’s hats, which reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels. Now that they’re protected by law under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, their population has rebounded.

White Heron
The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons. However, egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and tend to be named differently because they’re mainly white and / or have decorative plumes, and while having the same build as the larger herons, tend to be smaller. Some members of this group nest colonially in trees, others, notably the bitterns, use reedbeds.

White Herons. Photo DeusXFlorida

White Heron. Photo DeusXFlorida

Albino Kookaburra
Kookaburras, or Cookaburras, are large to very large terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea, with a total length of 11 to 17 inches (28 to 42 centimeters). They’re generally not closely associated with water, found in habitats ranging from humid forest to arid savanna, as well as suburban and residential areas near running water and where food can be searched for easily.

Baby Albino Kookaburra baby. Photo Lander

Albino Kookaburra. Photo Chip Shipton

Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call which is uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter — from good-natured, if rather hysterical, merriment in the case of the well-known Laughing Kookaburra, to the maniacal cackling in the case of the slightly smaller Blue-winged Kookaburra.

Albino Owl
Owls are an order of birds of prey classified in the order Strigiformes, in which there are over 200 extant species, found in all regions of the Earth except Antarctica, most of Greenland, and some remote islands. Owls are mostly solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions such as the Burrowing Owl. They typically hunt small mammals, insects, and other birds, though a few species specialize in hunting fish.

Albino Owl. Photo RD Watson

Albino Owl. Photo Smile10e

Albino Owl. Photo Jake Gross

Albino Ostrich
The ostrich is a large flightless bird native to Africa (and formerly the Middle East), and share the order Struthioniformes with the Emu, kiwis, and other ratites. It’s distinctive in its appearance with a long neck and legs and the ability to run at speeds of about 46 mph (74 km/h) — the top land speed of any bird. The ostrich is the largest living species of bird and lays the largest egg of any bird species.

Albino Ostrich. Photo Karen Sum

They’re farmed around the world, particularly for their feathers which are decorative and also used for feather dusters. The skin is used for leather and its meat marketed commercially.

Albino Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid, and other forms of sealife caught while swimming underwater. They spend about half of their life on land and half in the oceans.

Albino Penguin. Photo Jammach UK

Snowdrop, an albino African Penguin, born in Bristol Zoo, Bristol, England. The keeper said that the other African penguins seemed unaware of Snowdrop’s special color. Snowdrop died in August 2004. Photo Adrian Pingstone

Albino Penguin. Photo Guido Claessen

Albino King Penguin. Photo Mila Zinkova

Albino Animals

Source: Wikipedia

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Post from: Life in the Fast Lane

35 Ghosts of Nature – Albino Animals of the Wild

Incredible Ice Hotels and Snow Castles of Finland

Deborah — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:36:16 +0000

Requiring over 1000 truckloads of snow and 3 weeks of work for a team of 15 sculptors to create, the largest ice hotel in Lapland reopens today. Enduring temperatures between 32 to 23F (0 to -5C), you sleep on beds made of ice complete with sleeping bags and fleeces — and a survival guide on how to make it through the night.

Photo Picture It Now

There’s no natural light — all rooms are lit with multi-colored lights and bedecked with elaborate carvings. An ice bar, restaurant, walkways and lobbies have also been built in the hotel at Snowvillage near Kittila, Finland.

Three additional rooms have been have been carved from the ice this year, so up to 60 guests per night can enjoy a frosty stay in the 30 igloo rooms at Lapland’s largest ever ice hotel.

To warm your bones in the morning, hot berry juice is served to help to thaw you out. There are also 2 “warm” subterranean rooms available for the less hardy or adventurous travelers that can’t cut the sub zero conditions.

An ice bar and restaurant, ice slides and ice sculptures have also been created to keep you entertained on the 3 square mile (7.5 square kilometer) hotel site which has been recreated every winter for the last 8 years.

Photo PIN

The entire ephemeral complex disappears come spring, as it melts away when temperatures rise once again.

“It seems that if we have a very cold autumn then the spring will be warm and the Snowvillage will melt earlier.” Snowvillage designer, Heini said

“But, as like this year, our autumn has been warm, our spring should be colder. So hopefully we’ll be taking guests until April next year.”

Kittila is popular holiday resort located in the province of Lapland, Finland, situated 124 miles (200 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle and surrounded by seemingly limitless winter wilderness.

All ice hotels are typically reconstructed every year, and are dependent upon constant sub-zero temperatures during construction and operation.

The walls, fixtures, and fittings are usually made entirely of ice, and are held together by snice — a type of frozen water with physical characteristics that make it an intermediate between snow and ice — which takes the place of mortar in a traditional brick-built hotel.

SnowCastle of Kemi
The Mammut Snow Hotel is not an ice hotel per se, but a snow hotel, as it’s made entirely of snow, located within the walls of the SnowCastle of Kemi, which is the largest snow castle in the world. It includes The Mammut Snow Hotel, The Castle Courtyard, The Snow Restaurant and a chapel for weddings.

SnowCastle in Kemi, Finland 2006. Photo Dmitry Makarov

The SnowCastle is located at the port town of Kemi on the Gulf of Bothnia in northern Finland, 62 miles (100 kilometers) south of the Arctic Circle. Set close to harbor-side houses, the castle becomes visible through dim street lamps.

Built every year with a different architecture, the 24-bedroom castle takes about 2 months to complete. Many of its furnishings and decorations, such as the ice sculptures, are made of ice.

SnowCastle restaurant in Kemi, Finland 2006. Photo Dmitry Makarov

Photo LumiLinna Snow Castle

The SnowRestaurant has ice tables and seats covered with reindeer fur, as well as ice sculptures. The ecumenical SnowChapel with 50 to 100 snow pews has seen many weddings of couples from as far away as Britain, Japan, and Hong Kong, and features a great ice cross shining translucently at the altar.

The SnowHotel offers a choice of double rooms and a honeymoon suite, all of which are decorated by local artists using local materials.

The SnowCastle of Kemi also hosts such things as an adventure land for children, a theatre and ice art exhibitions with lights and sound effects. Many opera singers and dancers have performed in the SnowCastle of Kemi.

Photo LumiLinna Snow Castle

The area covered by the castle has varied from 14,255 yards to over 21,900 square yards (13,000 to 20,000 sq. meters). The highest towers have been over 65 feet (20 meters high), the longest walls over 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) long, and the castle has had up to 3 stories.

Natural snow is said to be too soft for good building results, and due to lack of enough available when winter begins, artificial snow is used to create the castle from the harbor water. Man-made snow is sprayed on to large moulds, which are removed once the structure freezes hard. The easiest and most effective shape to construct for a snow or ice room is an oval arch, which, when joined with other arches, forms a sort of barrel-vault.

Photo LumiLinna Snow Castle

Come April the entire hotel, sculptures, turrets, and all dissolves back into the sea. But knowing that another snow castle with more ice art will take shape the following winter adds to the prevailing air of madcap enchantment.

Kemi’s first snow castle was built in 1996 which drew 300,000 visitors, and evolved into a hotel by 1999. It was devised as a performance venue, with stage, restaurant and a playground for children. Despite its varying configurations, the snow castle has a few recurring elements — a chapel, restaurant, and hotel.

Photo LumiLinna Snow Castle

Photo Arcticroute.com

For 2009, Snow castle building of Inner Harbor begins in December and the opening is celebrated on Friday January 30 2009 at 18:00. Visit their website to learn more.

Hotel & Igloo Village Kakslauttanen
The other-worldly resort of the Hotel & Igloo Village Kakslauttanen almost literally takes your breath away with their famous unique glass igloos in the midst of the wilderness in Lapland, based on 200,000 cubic meters of snow. Located 6 miles (10 kilometers) south from Saariselka, it has snow igloos, glass igloos, an ice gallery, an ice chapel and a snow restaurant. The ice gallery has decorations made from ice and an ice chapel for wedding ceremonies.

Photo Arcticroute.com

The Snow Restaurant is inside a large Snow Igloo, fully equipped with a kitchen which offers full 3-course dinners or lunches in a very special environment with tables all made of crystal clear ice, and seating capacity of 150. It’s built every year, open from December till May.

Photo Arcticroute.com

For those who literally want the “white wedding,” you can arrive at the chapel in style in a sledge pulled by husky dogs or reindeer. Pyhan Olavin Kappeli (St. Olaf’s Chapel) and a small wooden Tievakappeli (Tieva Chapel) near Hotel & Igloo Village Kakslauttanen in Saariselka have been popular places for white weddings. Other possible venues include reindeer farms.

Photo Arcticroute.com

Despite the warm conditions elsewhere in Lapland, the Snow Village has had lasting cool early in the season — construction frequently starts in November and the hotel is ready for business by early December.

Saariselka is a mountain area partly in Urho Kekkonen National Park, and the village in Finland is located in Northern Lapland. It’s a popular tourist destination, providing activities such as skiing, hiking and a spa. The soil in Saariselka is mostly 2 billion year-old granulite.

Visit the Hotel & Igloo Village Kakslauttanen website to learn more.

Lainio Snow Village
Quite apart from the igloo resorts of Kakslauttanen, a wilderness snow complex has been created for the past 5 winters at the Lainio Snow Village. The retreat is a family business run by the Kurtakko family, whose property neatly becomes a woodland retreat of log cabin accommodation in the summer, located 93 miles (150 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle in Kittila, northern Finland and about 10 miles (17 kilometers) from the ski resort of Yllas.

Lainio Snow Village main entrance. Photo V31S70

The winter snow complex is a frozen accommodation ingeniously built over a permanent wooden building with sauna, bathrooms, and warm bedrooms that guests can use should the ice conditions prove too harsh to take for some.

Main lobby Lainio Snow Village. Photo V31S70

Lobby Lainio Snow Village. Photo V31S70

Snow restaurant with ice tables and chairs. Photo Nuhppir

In the Igloo Village there are 20 igloos and a honeymoon suite igloo, and an Ice Gallery where you can see ice sculptures created by artists from Lapland. In the Ice Gallery there is also an Ice Chapel for weddings and christenings, and a magnificent Ice Bar where you can enjoy hot drinks.

Photo V31S70

The Snow Village offers environmental art of large snow sculptures, snow-walls, snow hotel rooms, a restaurant, and ice art galleries. The frozen Arctic landscape, the winter darkness, the crackling frost and the clear starry skies with the spectacle of the Aurora Borealis offer a unique experience in the midst of untamed nature in the pristine snow-covered wilderness.

Bear’s Nest suite. Photo V31S70

Photo V31S70

Enjoy a Snowmobile Safari, Husky dog sledding and Reindeer safari, along with a guided tour of the Snow Village.

Visit the Lainio Snow Village website to learn more.

Photo V31S70

How to Build an Igloo

Sources: Telegraph, Daily Mail, and Wikipedia

bizatte, features, Finland, Ice Hotel, igloo, igloo hotel, Igloo Village, igloos, Kakslauttanen, Kemi, Kittila, Lainio, odd, Saariselka, Snow Castle, snow hotel, Snow Village, SnowCastle, travel, unusual

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Incredible Ice Hotels and Snow Castles of Finland

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