#sand

#sand

This Off-Grid Toilet Uses Sand and a Conveyor Belt to FlushFast Company tells us that half a billion people do not have regular access to private toilets or reasonably sanitary communal latrines. This can create serious public health problems. In response, Archie Read, a graduate student in architecture at Dundee University, designed the Sandi.This toilet requires no running water at all. The design separates urine and feces. The urine is stored in a bucket that should be emptied and used as fertilizer every seven days. The white handle on the side operates the flushing mechanism for feces, turning a sand-covered conveyor belt into a different container. Once full, that container can be buried for four weeks and then used as compost.Reed discovered that sand prevents feces from sticking to the conveyor belt, thus inspiring the product name of Sandi.#toilet #sand #ArchieReed

Winners of the Close-up Photographer of the Year 2021The top 100 winners of Close-up Photographer of the Year 03 (2021) or CUPOTY 03 are now featured on its website showing the winners gallery.The Close-up Photographer of the Year website was the brainchild of husband-and-wife duo Tracy and Dan Calder of Winchester, UK. They wanted to put close-up, macro and micro photography on the center stage and be celebrated in its own right.Tracy, a former editor of Outdoor Photography and a features editor at Amateur Photography, has over 20 years experience in the photo magazine industry. She’s also a photography instructor at West Dean College in Sussex, and an author of Close-up & Macro Photography, which has been translated into French and Chinese. Dan is a contributor to Black + White Photography magazine.This year’s Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY 03) has more than 9000 photos from 55 countries across nine different categories. These categories are insects, animals, plants and fungi, underwater, butterflies and dragonflies, intimate landscape, manmade, micro, and young.From each category, the top three winners were chosen alongside with the other finalists. Here are the top three winners per category.#photography #CUPOTY #MacroPhotography #CloseupPhotography #photographycompetitionInsects

Stonefish Hiding in the SandHiroyuki Kasuga of Southern Islander Dive Tours uploaded this video clip where a diver saw a strange face in the sand.That turned out to be a species of stonefish (Synanceia), which often buries itself in the sand on the seabed, leaving just its eyes and mouth visible. The stonefish's mottled colorations complete the camouflage - it's very difficult to spot a hidden stonefish!Stonefish are the most venomous fish known to man. Its venom contains potent neurotoxins secreted from glands at the base of their dorsal fins. Their penchant for burying themselves in the sand often results in swimmers accidentally stepping on them, and getting stung. Stonefish stings are extremely painful and, if left untreated, can be fatal.#stonefish #sand #camouflage