austria

Never-Before-Seen Anal Embalming Method Kept This European Mummy Preserved for Nearly 300 Years

Scientists found a mummy's abdomen filled with wood and fabric—but it's how they got in there that's strange.

Austria on the Verge of Becoming First EU Country to Ban Controversial Roundup Herbicide

A popular herbicide currently in use worldwide, but controversially linked to cancer, is on the verge of being outlawed in Austria—the first European Union country to attempt an outright ban. Citing what the leader of the country’s Social Democratic party, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, called increasing “scientific evidence,” Austria’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday passed a…

I’m Sure Austria Is Really Scared by Uber’s Threats to Pack Up Its Toys and Go Home

Spurred on by looming unfavorable legislation and stock market disappointment, Uber is reportedly playing hardball again, this time with the entire country of Austria. Uber is already banned from operating in a number of cities and countries, often for undermining extant taxi industries in those places. Briefly, Austria joined the list of Uberless locales when,…

A New Technique Captures Stunning Timelapse Footage of the Smallest Living Things

Microscopes let us observe some of the smallest objects in our universe, but with limitations when it comes to movements that can take hours, days, even weeks to play out. So a team of Austrian scientists developed new software that allows microscopes to not only track a slowly-moving object, but also capture incredible timelapse footage,…

Beautiful Video Zooms All Over Vienna, Austria

I’ve never been to Vienna but I can tell you that it is beautiful because this video by FilmSpektakel basically takes you all over the capital of Austria through a fun zooming effect that teleports you to different landmarks. It’s sort of like traveling on a haze of drugs and booze. SPLOID is delicious brain…

The World’s Best Pedestrian Bridge and 7 More Stunning Urban Structures

From a bridge that makes walking an adventure to a cost-effective way to revitalize an aging port, Architizer’s A+ Awards announced yesterday include smart and simple architecture for everyday life. Here are a few public structures that make grand statements about our changing cities or solve a universal problem in a beautiful way. The annual…

The Tallest Tower in Europe Will Be … In a Quaint Swiss Village?

A new tower designed by Los Angeles architect Thom Mayne was announced today which, when complete, will be the tallest building in Europe. Is it in Moscow? London? Frankfurt? Nope. Mayne’s shiny slab will stab the sky in the tiny hamlet of Vals, Switzerland. Mayne’s firm Morphosis passed along details of the 80-story, 1250-foot tower,…

This Time-Lapse Was Made For People Who Think Time-Lapses Are Boring

Do time-lapse videos put you to sleep? This creatively edited footage of Austria’s various natural and cultural attractions is something you might actually enjoy. It’s easy to get burned out on time-lapses. When applied with little-to-no technical variation between cuts, the technique can quickly reach a point of diminishing returns. Even natural phenomena and bustling…

The stunning landscapes of Austria in one perfect time lapse

This time lapse took two years and about 5TB worth of footage to be completed. The result is stunning, and not only because the work of Peter Jablonowski is technically perfect, but also for its accurate depiction of Austria’s gorgeous cities and mesmerizing landscapes.

CERN Wants Artists and Architects Working Alongside Its Physicists

What do art and high-energy physics have in common? Quite a bit, if you think about it: Space, time, and the structure of the visible and invisible world, for starters. That’s why CERN has spent the past four years inviting artists into its headquarters, and why, for the first time, it’s now inviting an architect…

The fine line that separates normality from disaster in one single photo

It seems that, every time the heavy rain season comes, some Austrians live in a permanent situation of impending disaster. Just look at these homes right next to a flood protection wall that seems about to burst and destroy everything. I completely missed this when it happened back in 2013. It looks terrifying but, if…

This Tiny Hotel Pod Sits on the Roof of a 60-Year-Old Historic Building

The idea of super-dense cities building new structures on top of old buildings has been kicking around sci-fi novels and architecture circles for decades, but the idea still isn’t ubiquitous. In Austria, the owner of a 1950s-era building is giving it a shot. Hotel Daniel Graz is a boutique hotel in Graz, housed inside a…

For two weeks, a channel in Germany and Austria will play nothing but Star Wars. From Dec. 1 to 14, Sky Deutschland’s Sky Hits digital channel will show all the six films, featurettes, and documentaries on a 24-hour loop. Enjoy the early Christmas gift, German-speakers. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Gorgeous Images Of Central Europe Reveal A Region Teeming In History

Located directly in the heart of Europe, the countries of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria have been embroiled in some of the most pivotal moments in history. From the advent of Slavic Catholicism and the rise of the Hapsburg Empire to the start of the Great War and the fall of communism, these photos…

This Alpine House Looks Like It Was Beamed Down From Outer Space

Sure, the larch-wood cladding gives Ufogel a kind of rustic charm, but I’ll be damned if this Austrian guest house doesn’t really look like it just beamed down from a quaint corner of outer space. Architect Peter Jungmann designed the cozy 484-square-feet pod with a massive, angular window on one side—perfect to take in the…

This Austrian meadow is an underwater diving attraction for half the year

During the fall and winter, you can hike along the trails of Austria’s Grüner See (or Green Lake) park. But as spring comes on, the snows melt down from the surrounding mountains, turning the area into a beautiful lake where scuba divers can see what above-ground scenes look like underwater. By June, the lake’s waters,…

Chinese Real Estate Developers Successfully Cloned Entire Austrian Village

China has long been known for its knock-offs and copy-cat merch, but this latest project is some next-level kind of counterfeit crazy. The Austrian village of Hallstat—a centuries-old village of 900 and a UNESCO heritage site that relies heavily on season tourism to survive—was recently cloned by Minmetals Land Inc., the real estate development arm…

In Austria, an ice cave is an earthbound stand-in for Mars

An ice cave in Austria was recently used as a test landscape for experimental spacesuits and instrumentation systems-including 3D cameras-that might someday be used by humans on Mars. The Dachstein ice cave was chosen, Stuff explains, “because ice caves would be a natural refuge for any microbes on Mars seeking steady temperatures and protection from…

Man Saws Off Own Foot to Avoid Going to Work

Sounds like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays. Reuters reports that an unemployed Austrian man was so dead-set against returning to work he lopped off his left foot. The unidentified 56-year-old was set to meet with a labor board to evaluate his fitness to return to the Austrian workforce on Monday when the mutilation…

Austria’s Krampus Parade celebrates Santa’s child-eating monster

What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a parade? What I mean is, a parade honoring Santa’s long-tongued beast buddy who gobbles up all the really bad children? The Krampus is a holiday fixture that’s popular in the Germanic countries. Created to really enforce the whole “better watch out” Christmas ideology, the…