10 Weird Science facts you didn't know

Animals can rain from the sky

Raining animals is a meteorological phenomenon, with occurrences reported from many countries throughout history. Sometimes the animals survive the fall, especially fish, suggesting a small time gap between the extraction and the actual drop. Several witnesses of raining frogs describe the animals as startled, though healthy, and exhibiting relatively normal behavior shortly after the event. In some incidents, however, the animals are frozen to death or even completely enclosed in blocks of ice. These occurrences may be evidence for the transport of the victims to high altitudes, where the temperature is below zero, and they show how powerful meteorological forces can be. Most recent occurrences include the rain of frogs and toads in Serbia (2005) and London (1998), and rains of fish in India (2006) and Wales (2004).

In Honduras, the Lluvia de Peces (Rain of Fishes) is a unique phenomenon that has been occurring for more than a century on a yearly basis in the country of Honduras. It occurs in the Departamento de Yoro, between the months of May and July. Witnesses of this phenomenon state that it begins with is a dark cloud in the sky followed by lightning, thunder, strong winds and heavy rain for 2 to 3 hours. Once the rain has stopped, hundreds of living fish are found on the ground. People take the fish home to cook and eat them. Although some experts have tried to explain the Rain of Fishes as a natural meteorological phenomenon, the fish are not sea water fish, but fresh water fish; they are not dead, but alive; they are not blind, they have eyes; they are not big fish, but small; and the type of fish is not found elsewhere in the area. There is no valid scientific explanation for this phenomenon. Many people believe this phenomenon occurs because of Father José Manuel Subirana, a Spanish catholic missionary and considered by many to be a Saint. He visited Honduras from 1856-1864, and upon encountering so many poor people, prayed for 3 days and 3 nights asking God for a miracle to help the poor people by providing food. The Rain of Fishes has occurred ever since.

The universe is beige

Cosmic Latte is the color of the universe, according to a team of astronomers from Johns Hopkins University. In 2001, Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry determined that the color of the universe was a greenish white, but they soon corrected their analysis in "The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: constraints on cosmic star-formation history from the cosmic spectrum", published in 2002. In this paper, they reported that their survey of the color of all light in the universe added up to a slightly beige white. The survey included more than 200,000 galaxies, and measured the spectral range of the light from a large volume of the universe. The hexadecimal RGB value for Cosmic Latte is #FFF8E7.
In a Washington Post article, the color was displayed. Glazebrook jokingly said that he was looking for suggestions for a name for the new color. Several people who read the article sent in suggestions. "Cosmic Latte" was selected.

Poisoning can make masses to dance hysterically

Dancing mania is the name given to a phenomenon that occurred mainly in mainland Europe from the 14th century through to the 17th century, in which groups of people would dance through the streets of towns or cities, sometimes foaming at the mouth or speaking in tongues, until they collapsed from exhaustion. The first major outbreak of the mania was in Aachen, Germany, in July 1374. The dancers went through the streets screaming of wild visions, and even continued to writhe and twist after they collapsed from exhaustion. The dancing quickly caught on, and spread rapidly throughout France and the Low Countries. The mania reached its peak in 1418 in Strasbourg. At at least one point, so many people had either been afflicted with the dancing mania, or caught up in the dancing, or were trying to give assistance, or simply watching the events unfold, that the town was brought to a complete halt.
Although no real consensus exists as to what caused the mania, some cases, especially the one in Aix-la-Chapelle, may have had an explainable physical cause. The symptoms of the sufferers can be attributed to ergot poisoning, or ergotism, known in the Middle Ages as "St. Anthony's Fire". It is caused by eating rye infected with Claviceps purpurea, a small fungus that contains toxic and psychoactive chemicals (alkaloids), including lysergic acid (used in modern times to synthesize LSD). Symptoms of ergot poisoning include nervous spasms, psychotic delusions, spontaneous abortion, convulsions and gangrene; some dancers claimed to have experienced visions of a religious nature.

The Moon is moving away from the Earth

The Moon's orbit (its circular path around the Earth) is indeed getting larger, at a rate of about 3.8 centimeters per year. (The Moon's orbit has a radius of 384,000 km.) The reason for the increase is that the Moon raises tides on the Earth. Because the side of the Earth that faces the Moon is closer, it feels a stronger pull of gravity than the center of the Earth. Similarly, the part of the Earth facing away from the Moon feels less gravity than the center of the Earth. This effect stretches the Earth a bit, making it a little bit oblong.
It is expected that in 15 billion years, the orbit will stabilize at 1.6 times its present size, and the Earth day will be 55 days long equal to the time it will take the Moon to orbit the Earth.

Fly larvae helps to heal wounds quicker

Long ago, some doctors noticed soldiers that had maggots on their wounds healed quicker than those without maggots. Maggots eat the dead skin cells and bacteria. Maggot Therapy (also known as Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT), larval therapy, larva therapy, or larvae therapy) is the intentional introduction of live, disinfected maggots or fly larvae into non-healing skin or soft tissue wounds of a human or other animal. This practice was widely used before the discovery of antibiotics, as it serves to clean the dead tissue within a wound in order to promote healing.

Animals can naturally explode

Natural animal explosions can occur for a variety of reasons. On 2004, a buildup of gas inside a decomposing sperm whale, measuring 17 meters (56 ft.) long and weighing 50 tons, caused it to burst in Taiwan. The explosion was reported to have splattered blood and whale entrails over surrounding shop-fronts, bystanders, and cars.
A significant population of toads in Germany and Denmark were exploding in April 2005 in an act described as a self-defence mechanism that failed, as it consisted of puffing up to look bigger while under attack by crows.

You can still have an erection once dead

A death erection (sometimes referred to as "angel lust") is a post-mortem erection which occurs when a male individual dies vertically or face-down with the cadaver remaining in this position. During life, the pumping of blood by the heart ensures a relatively even distribution around the blood vessels of the human body. Once this mechanism has ended, only the force of gravity acts upon the blood. As with any mass, the blood settles at the lowest point of the body and causes edema or swelling to occur; the discoloration caused by this is called lividity.
If an individual dies vertically such as in a hanging, the blood will settle in the legs and pool at the feet. The pressure will be greatest as the weight of the blood pushes down. This causes the blood vessels and tissues in the feet to engorge to their greatest elastic capacity and hold the greatest volume of blood possible. This effect occurs right up the legs although to a lesser extent than the feet and is also notable at the waist. The blood which remains in the torso attempts to move to a lower position due to gravity, and as the blood in the waist (which cannot move down due to the legs being full) causes the penis, consisting of erectile tissue, to fill with blood and expand. This is the death erection. As long as the body remains in this position the effect will continue.

Male seahorses can get pregnant

Seahorses reproduce in an unusual way: the male becomes pregnant. Pipefishes and seahorses are the only species in the animal kingdom to which the term "male pregnancy" has been applied.
The male seahorse has a brood pouch in which he carries eggs deposited by the female. The mating pair entwine their tails and the female aligns a long tube called an ovipositor with the male's pouch. The eggs move through the tube into the male's pouch where he then fertilizes them. The embryos develop in ten days to six weeks, depending on species and water conditions. When the male gives birth he pumps his tail until the baby seahorses emerge.
The male's pouch regulates salinity for the eggs, slowly increasing in the pouch to match the water outside as the eggs mature. Hatched offspring are independent of their parents. Some spend time developing among the ocean plankton. At times, the male seahorse may try to consume some of the previously released offspring. Other species (H. zosterae) immediately begin life as sea-floor inhabitants (benthos).

A fetus can get trapped inside of its twin

Fetus in fetu (or Foetus in foetu) describes an extremely rare abnormality that involves a fetus getting trapped inside of its twin. It continues to survive as a parasite even past birth by forming an umbilical cord-like structure that leeches its twin's blood supply until it grows so large that it starts to harm the host, at which point doctors usually intervene. Invariably the parasitic fetus is anencephalic (without a brain) and lacks internal organs, and as such is unable to survive on its own, though it may have almost human (albeit underdeveloped and bizarre) features such as limbs, digits, hair, nails and teeth. Fetus in fetu is such a rare condition that only some 91 cases worldwide have ever been reported. Fetus in fetu happens very early in a twin pregnancy, when one fetus wraps around and envelops the other. The dominant fetus grows, while the fetus that would have been its twin lives on throughout the pregnancy, feeding off its host twin like a kind of parasite. Usually, both twins die before birth from the strain of sharing a placenta. Sometimes, however, the host twin survives and is delivered.

15 Greatest Works of Light Graffiti

Light graffiti, also known as light painting, is a photographic technique in which exposures are made usually at night or in a darkened room by moving a hand-held light source or by moving the camera; in most cases the light source itself does not have to appear in the image. Meet some of the best light artworks we've found.


(by Simon Dehn)



(by rafoto)



(by rafoto)



(by Lichtfaktor)



(by Toby Keller)





(by Eric Staller)



(by lightmark)



(by Mishel Churkin)



(by lichtfaktor)



(by Eric Staller)



(by eric castro)



(by versi16)



(by Path of Light)



(by robokon_gt)



(by MRI)

The 4 Most Compelling Theories of Everything

A theory of everything (ToE) is a hypothetical theory of theoretical physics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena. There have been numerous theories of everything proposed by theoretical physicists over the last century, but as yet none has been able to stand up to experimental scrutiny, there being tremendous difficulty in getting the theories to produce experimentally testable results. So here are the top 4 most important Theories of Everything nowdays:

Superstring theory: "Everything comes from excited strings"

Think of a guitar string that has been tuned by stretching the string under tension across the guitar. Depending on how the string is plucked and how much tension is in the string, different musical notes will be created by the string. These musical notes could be said to be excitation modes of that guitar string under tension.

In a similar manner, in string theory, the elementary particles we observe in particle accelerators could be thought of as the "musical notes" or excitation modes of elementary strings.

In string theory, as in guitar playing, the string must be stretched under tension in order to become excited. However, the strings in string theory are floating in spacetime, they aren't tied down to a guitar. Nonetheless, they have tension. The string tension in string theory is denoted by the quantity 1/(2 p a'), where a' is pronounced "alpha prime" and is equal to the square of the string length scale.

If string theory is to be a theory of quantum gravity, then the average size of a string should be somewhere near the length scale of quantum gravity, called the Planck length, which is about 10-33 centimeters, or about a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a centimeter. Unfortunately, this means that strings are way too small to see by current or expected particle physics technology (or financing!!) and so string theorists must devise more clever methods to test the theory than just looking for little strings in particle experiments.

String theories are classified according to whether or not the strings are required to be closed loops, and whether or not the particle spectrum includes fermions. In order to include fermions in string theory, there must be a special kind of symmetry called supersymmetry, which means for every boson (particle that transmits a force) there is a corresponding fermion (particle that makes up matter). So supersymmetry relates the particles that transmit forces to the particles that make up matter.

Supersymmetric partners to to currently known particles have not been observed in particle experiments, but theorists believe this is because supersymmetric particles are too massive to be detected at current accelerators. Particle accelerators could be on the verge of finding evidence for high energy supersymmetry in the next decade. Evidence for supersymmetry at high energy would be compelling evidence that string theory was a good mathematical model for Nature at the smallest distance scales.

Holographic paradigm: "The universe is an Hologram"

The holographic paradigm is joining of two concepts that were developed independently:

That the universe is in some sense a holographic structure — proposed by David Bohm

That consciousness is dependent on holographic structure — proposed by Karl Pribram
This paradigm posits that theories utilizing holographic structures may lead to a unified understanding of consciousness and the universe.

The physicist David Bohm, who died in 1992, developed a sophisticated approach to this concept of the universe, which he termed 'undivided wholeness'. Bohm outlined his approach in the classic 1980 book, 'Wholeness and the Implicate Order'. He used the analogy of the hologram to illustrate the concept of undivided wholeness. A hologram is a special kind of photographic plate produced with the highly coherent light of a laser source, i.e. light which is all of the same frequency and which does not disperse. Whereas an ordinary photographic plate records a flat image of an illuminated object, a hologram provides a three-dimensional reconstruction of the object. If a hologram is illuminated with the same coherent light with which it was produced, then the optical effect is as if the original object were being observed. When the observer moves his/her head around, different perspectives of the object can be seen. A remarkable property of holograms is that even if only a portion of the plate is illuminated the whole of the object is reconstructed, although the resolution of the reconstruction is not as great as when the complete plate is illuminated. One may say that the reconstructed object is embedded in any arbitrary segment of the plate.

Now, the physics of holograms is well understood. The point here is that the hologram serves as a simple analogy for Bohm's concept of undivided wholeness. The universe is like a hologram, in which the whole image is contained within every segment. In other words, the whole is enfolded within each segment. By shining laser light on a part of the hologram, an unfolding occurs in which the form and structure of the whole become apparent. Similarly, processes of unfolding occur continually in the universe, yielding the patterns and structures which we can see and measure.

E8-based Theory of Everything: "Our universe is this beautiful shape"

On November 6, 2007, Antony Garrett Lisi, an American-born theoretical physicist, published the paper called "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything", describing a new unified field theory that connects the theories of quantum physics and gravitation using the mathematical shape E8.

Lisi's inspiration lies in this elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 - a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan. E8 encapsulates the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional and is itself is 248-dimensional. Lisi says "I think our universe is this beautiful shape."

What makes E8 so exciting is that Nature also seems to have embedded it at the heart of many bits of physics. One interpretation of why we have such a quirky list of fundamental particles is because they all result from different facets of the strange symmetries of E8. Lisi's breakthrough came when he noticed that some of the equations describing E8's structure matched his own.

What Lisi had realised was that he could find a way to place the various elementary particles and forces on E8's 248 points. What remained was 20 gaps which he filled with notional particles, for example those that some physicists predict to be associated with gravity. Physicists have long puzzled over why elementary particles appear to belong to families, but this arises naturally from the geometry of E8, he says. So far, all the interactions predicted by the complex geometrical relationships inside E8 match with observations in the real world.

The crucial test of Lisi's work will come only when he has made testable predictions. Lisi is now calculating the masses that the 20 new particles should have, in the hope that they may be spotted when the Large Hadron Collider starts up.

"The theory is very young, and still in development," he says. "Right now, I'd assign a low (but not tiny) likelyhood to this prediction. For comparison, I think the chances are higher that LHC will see some of these particles than it is that the LHC will see superparticles, extra dimensions, or micro black holes as predicted by string theory. I hope to get more (and different) predictions, with more confidence, out of this E8 Theory over the next year, before the LHC comes online."

Integral theory: "everything in creation --except perhaps creation itself-- is a holon"

Integral theory is a term often used to describe the teachings and work of the American writer Ken Wilber, referring either to the synthesis of different perspectives and methodologies, or to his own "AQAL" theory. More recently, the term has been adopted Hungarian systems theorist Ervin László in a scientific context.

A key idea in Wilber's philosophical approach is the holon, which came from the writings of Arthur Koestler. In considering what might be the basic building blocks of existence, he observed that it seems every entity and concept shares a dual nature: as a whole in itself, and as a part of some other whole. For example, although you are made of parts (your nervous system, your skeletal system, etc.), you are also a part of your society, and of your nation-state. A letter is a self-existing entity and simultaneously an integral part of a word. Everything from quarks to matter to energy to ideas can be looked at in this way — everything in creation except perhaps creation itself is a holon.

AQAL (pronounced aqual or ah-qwul) represents the core of Wilber's recent work. AQAL stands for "all quadrants all levels", but equally connotes 'all lines', 'all states' and 'all types'. These are the five irreducible categories of Wilber's model of manifest existence. In order for an account of the Kosmos to be complete, Wilber believes that it must include each of these five categories. All of Wilber's AQAL categories — quadrants, lines, levels, states, and types—relate to relative truth in the two truths doctrine of Buddhism, to which he subscribes. According to Wilber, none of them are true in an absolute sense: only formless awareness, "the simple feeling of being," exists absolutely.

Each holon, or unit of reality that is both a whole and a part of a larger whole, has an interior and an exterior. It also exists as an individual and (assuming more than one of these entities exists) as a collective. Observing the holon from the outside constitutes an exterior perspective on that holon. Observing it from the inside is the interior perspective, and so forth. If you map these four perspectives into quadrants, you have four quadrants, or dimensions (these are unrelated to the three spatial dimensions)

To give an example of how this works, consider four schools of social science. Freudian psychoanalysis, which [interprets people's interior experiences, is an account of the interior individual (or, in the diagram, the upper-left) quadrant. B. F. Skinner's behaviorism, which limits itself to the observation of the behavior of organisms, is an exterior individual (upper-right) account. Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics interprets the collective consciousness of a society, and is thus an interior plural (lower-left) perspective. Marxist economic theory examines the external behavior of a society (lower-right).

Thus all four pursuits – psychoanalysis, behaviorism, philosophical hermeneutics and Marxism – offer complementary, rather than contradictory, perspectives. It is possible for all to be correct and necessary for a complete account of human existence. Wilber has integrated these four areas of knowledge through an acknowledgement of the four fundamental dimensions of existence. Further, these four perspectives are equally valid at all levels of existence.

Amazing Photos of an Atomic Blast (taken at 1/1000,000,000 of-a-second)

Harold Edgerton built a special lens 10 feet long for his camera which was set up in a bunker 7 miles from the source of the blast which was triggered Nevada - the bomb placed atop a steel gantry anchored to the desert floor by guide wires. The exposures are at 1/100,000,000ths of a second.


In a millisecond the blast expands; lightning caused by the force of the energy travels down the guide wires The desert floor was turned to glass.





In another millionth of a second, a planet of fire exists, silhouetting and dwarfing the Joshua Trees.

10 Most Impressive Photos of our Universe

Eskimo Nebula

The Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392), also known as the Clownface Nebula, was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1787. From the ground, it resembles a person's head surrounded by a parka hood. In 2000, the Hubble Space Telescope produced this image of it. From space, the nebula displays gas clouds so complex that they are not fully understood.

The Eskimo Nebula is clearly a planetary nebula. It is surrounded by gas that composed the outer layers of a Sun-like star only 10,000 years ago. The visible inner filaments are ejected by strong wind of particles from the central star. The outer disk contains unusual light-year long orange filaments. NGC 2392 lies about 5000 light-years away and is visible with a small telescope in the constellation of Gemini.

Pillars of Creation

This Hubble image, showing star forming pillars in the Eagle Nebula, is one of the most popular poster images of outer space, and often appears in science-fiction movies. The Eagle Nebula was one of the space regions passed through during the opening "zoom out" shot of the movie Contact (1997), and appeared in the opening scene of the Babylon 5 episode Into The Fire. The Eagle Nebula, along with the Hourglass Nebula, was featured in the liner notes of Pearl Jam's 2000 album Binaural.

Pale Blue Dot

"Pale Blue Dot" is the name of THIS famous Voyager 1 photograph of Earth, and the title of a book by Carl Sagan inspired by the photo. On February 14, 1990, NASA commanded the Voyager 1 spacecraft, having completed its primary mission, to turn around to photograph the planets it had visited. NASA ultimately compiled 60 images from this unique event into a mosaic of the Solar System. One image Voyager returned was of Earth, 4 billion miles distant, showing up as a "pale blue dot" in the grainy photo. Britt describes the distance as "more than 4 billion miles". The picture was taken using a narrow-angle camera at 32º above the ecliptic, and created using blue, green, and violet filters. Narrow-angle cameras, as opposed to wide-angle cameras, are equipped to photograph specific details in an area of interest. In addition, only 0.12 pixels represents Earth in the photo.

Sagan said the famous Earthrise picture taking during the Apollo 8 mission, showing the entire Earth above the moon, forced humans to step back and see the Earth as just a part of the universe. In the spirit of that realization, Sagan said he pushed for Voyager to take a photo of the Earth from its vantage point on the edge of the solar system.

There was danger to the spacecraft's optics from the nearby Sun. Voyager took similar pictures of Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Thus the Pale Blue Dot photo was part of a "portait" of the Solar System that was created by Voyager 1.

Supernova 1987A

SN 1987A was a supernova in the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs from Earth, close enough that it was visible to the naked eye. It was the closest supernova since SN 1604, which occurred in the Milky Way itself. The light from the supernova reached Earth on February 23, 1987. As the first supernova discovered in 1987, it was labeled "1987A". Its brightness peaked in May with an apparent magnitude of about 3 and slowly declined in the following months. It was the first opportunity for modern astronomers to see a supernova up close.

Since 51.4 kiloparsecs is approximately 168,000 light-years, the cosmic event itself happened approximately 168,000 years ago. To put this in perspective, Homo sapiens sapiens (modern humans) evolved about 200,000 years ago.

Antennae Galaxies

Hubble produced this image in October 1997. The Antennae Galaxies (also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039) are a pair of galaxies about 68 million ly away in the constellation Corvus. They were both discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1785.

The chaotic swirls of blues and oranges represent a firestorm of new star birth ignited by the head-on collision of interstellar hydrogen. The long arcing insect-like "antennae" represent matter flung from the scene of the accident.

Hubble Deep Field

The Hubble Deep Field (HDF) is an image of a small region in the constellation Ursa Major, based on the results of a series of observations by the Hubble Space Telescope. It covers an area 144 arcseconds across, equivalent in angular size to a tennis ball at a distance of 100 metres. The image was assembled from 342 separate exposures taken with the Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 over ten consecutive days between December 18 and December 28, 1995.

The field is so small that only a few foreground stars in the Milky Way lie within it; thus, almost all of the 3,000 objects in the image are galaxies, some of which are among the youngest and most distant known. By revealing such large numbers of very young galaxies, the HDF has become a landmark image in the study of the early universe, and it has been the source of almost 400 scientific papers since it was created.

Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus. The nebula was first observed in 1731 by John Bevis. It is the remnant of a supernova that was recorded by Chinese and Arab astronomers in 1054. Located at a distance of about 6,300 light years (2 kpc) from Earth, the nebula has a diameter of 11 ly (3.4 pc) and is expanding at a rate of about 1,500 kilometres per second.

The nebula contains a pulsar in its centre which rotates thirty times per second, emitting pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified with a historical supernova explosion.

Cat's Eye Nebula

The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Draco. Structurally, it is one of the most complex nebulae known, with high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope observations revealing remarkable structures such as knots, jets and sinewy arc-like features. It was discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786, and was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated, by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins in 1864.

Modern studies reveal several mysteries. The intricacy of the structure may be caused in part by material ejected from a binary central star, but as yet, there is no direct evidence that the central star has a companion. Also, measurements of chemical abundances reveal a large discrepancy between measurements done by two different methods, the cause of which is uncertain.

Gamma Ray Explosion

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a gamma ray explosion [shown at two different scales] on January 23, 1999. At the time it was the most powerful explosion ever recorded.

According to NASA, gammaray bursts "may represent the most powerful explosions in the universe since the Big Bang, the explosive birth of our universe. Hubble images showed that these brief flashes of radiation come from far-flung galaxies that are forming stars at enormously high rates. By pinpointing the host galaxies, Hubble also identified the sources of the 'bursts': the collapse of massive stars."

Protoplanetary Disks

A Hubble Space Telescope image shows "proplyds," or protoplanetary disks, in the Orion Nebula.

According to NASA, nebulae, flattened disks of gas and dust, "are the likely birthplaces of new planetary systems. Hubble provided visual proof that pancake-shaped dust disks around young stars are common, suggesting that the building blocks for planet formation are in place."

10 Coolest Classic Cars

Pontiac Bonneville Special (1954)

The Pontiac Bonneville Special was a purpose-built concept car unveiled at the General Motors Motorama in 1954, the first 2-seater sports car Pontiac ever produced. Designed by renowned designer Harley J. Earl and hand built by Hommer LaGassey and Paul Gilland, the Special was an experimental car, a two door, grand touring sport coupé that incorporated innovative breakthrough styling like an all-plexi canopy with gull-wing panels on a sleek fiberglass body. Two Special prototypes, one painted metallic bronze and one emerald green, were built with the intention of unveiling them simultaneously at the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf in New York and the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles in 1954.

The design of the Special drew its visual impetus from America's fascination with aeronautic and rocket design in the 1950s, employing a wind-tunnel inspired profile and high-tech bright work throughout the body, hood and grill. Glass covered recessed headlights, like those on the 1953 Corvette, two rows of louvers on the fenders and twin "silver-streaks"[2] on the hood that lead to functional air scoops were it's most distinguishing features. The rear end styling was its most over-the-top visual cue. Featured between two rather bold fender fins were ultramodern twin exhaust chrome-ports, similar to today's Porsches, and a custom spare tire enclosure with space-age wheel disc that gave the car a jet-powered appearance.

Interior styling in the Special was state of the art for its time, and indeed would pass muster against today's computer-designed automobiles. The dashboard was a sleek, wing like design that incorporated a clean horizontal layout of working instruments that gave the interior a futuristic cockpit look. Even underneath the dash, the gauges were sealed in by a contoured metal facia with brushed finish, assuring by Earl that no detail would go unnoticed. Between unique, parabolic shaped, leather bucket seats lay a matching metal, center console with functionally modest gear shift handle, twin vent-control levers, and ignition key slot. Centered over the three spoke, Corvette-style steering wheel was a single, large speedometer that read a top speed of 120 mph.

As of 2006, both cars still exist, belonging to Joseph Bortz of Highland Park, IL. One of the 2 existing 1954 Bonneville Specials was last seen in 2006 Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, selling for $2,800,000 (+8% commission).

De Lorean DMC-12 (1981)

The De Lorean DMC-12 is a sports car which was manufactured by the De Lorean Motor Company from 1981 through 1982. It is most commonly known as the De Lorean, as it was the only model ever produced by the company. The DMC-12 featured gull-wing doors with a brushed stainless steel body. It was famously featured in the Back to the Future trilogy.

The first prototype appeared in March 1977, and production officially began in 1981 at the DMC factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. During its production, several aspects of the car were changed, such as the hood (bonnet) style, wheels and interior. At least 8,500 DMC-12s were made before production ended in 1982, and as of 2006, 6,000 are estimated to still exist.

Despite being produced in Northern Ireland, DMC-12s were primarily intended for the American market. Therefore, all of the production models were left-hand drive (designed to be driven on the right side of the road). Some of them were converted to right-hand drive by specialist mechanics in the United Kingdom, but no right-hand drive De Lorean was ever put into production, thus limiting the vehicle's popularity in the United Kingdom.

Chrysler Thunderbolt (1941)

The year was 1941. Chrysler was a growing company and wanted to show the world that their technology and styling was up to date. Only six of these wild new cars were made and spread across the country for various shows. All of which had different trim and color schemes. It was nicknamed the “pushbutton car” because of its push button feature. A simple push of a button opened up the rear deck lid, doors, and windows without effort. The actual name “Thunderbolt” came from a land speed record car named the Thunderbolt. In 1938 at the Bonneville Salt Flats the twin Rolls-Royce 12 cylinder went an amazing 357.53 M.P.H.! It was then that Captain George Eyston granted Chrysler permission to use the name.

One of the most distinct things you will notice about the Thunderbolt is the slab sides, or smooth sides if you will. It does not have creases or bubbled out fenders. Aerodynamics was somewhat of a factor as much as looks itself. By designing and installing working “hide away” headlights, this car was definitely ahead of it's time!! Lack of body molding and enclosed wheels from the fender skirts also aid in the aerodynamic appearance. Nothing special under the hood for the show cars is known. A 143 horsepower Chrysler 323.5 cubic inch inline eight cylinder engine mated to the Chrysler Fluid Drive transmission powered the vehicle. The actual platform used for this project was a 1940 Crown Imperial. It had very strong structural integrity as you can see from the lack of A pillars. There are only 4 of the original 6 known to still exist.

GM Futurliner Parade of Progress (1950)

One of 12 built by GM, a self-contained display and transport vehicle created by the GM design staff under Harley Earl's direction. Opening side, lighting, retractable stage, distinctive center "cupola" cockpit driving position and dual wheel front axle. Used in the "Parade of Progress" touring exhibit created by "Boss" Kettering that complemented the GM "Motoramas" from 1940 through 1956.

One of only three survivors restored in their original "Parade of Progress" configuration (the others are in long term ownership by NATMUS and Peter Pan Bus Lines), this Futurliner is fully functional and has toured Canada in corporate promotions. Recently returned to its original "Parade of Progress" configuration and colors. Powered by a 400ci GM truck engine and fully equipped including an onboard motor-generator and updated air conditioning for the driver's compartment. A matchless symbol of the American auto industry at the height of its power and influence. One of them was restored in Montreal, Quebec Canada and sold for $4.1 million us at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Jan, 2006.

Chevrolet Corvette (1953)

The Corvette was America's first two-seat sports car. The outer body was made out of a revolutionary new composite material called fiberglass, selected in part because of steel quotas left over from the war. Underneath that radical new body were standard Chevrolet components, including the "Blue Flame" inline six-cylinder truck engine, two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, and drum brakes from Chevrolet's regular car line. Though the engine's output was increased somewhat, thanks to a triple-carburetor intake exclusive to the Corvette, performance of the car was decidedly lackluster.

In 1954, sales were still low, and GM was seriously considering shelving the project, but the influence of a Soviet emigré in GM's engineering department, Zora Arkus-Duntov, changed all. Arkus-Duntov simply took the new V8 and backed it with a three-speed manual transmission. That modification, probably the single most important in the car's history, helped turn the Corvette from a two-seat curiosity into a genuine performer. It also earned Arkus-Duntov the rather inaccurate nickname "Father of the Corvette."

Oldsmobile F-88 (1954)

In the late fifties, Harley Earl, Bill Mitchell, Ken Pickering and Zora Duntov were creating a roadster for Oldsmobile. They began the project by designing several showcars which were breathtaking and daring, especially compared to the Oldmobile aesthetic. Due to the poor sales of the Corvette, the car which inspired these GM Concepts, the F-88 project was cancelled at the conceptual phase. Before that time however, four very unique Oldsmobiles were completed.

At the 2005 Barrett-Jackson Auction, the sole surviving F-88 concept car sold for $3,240,000 USD. The General Motors concept car lasted through a fierce bidding war to become the highest selling car ever at the Barrett-Jackson auction (at the time).

Chevrolet Camaro (1967-1969)

The Chevrolet Camaro was introduced in North America by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors at the start of the 1967 model year as competition for the Ford Mustang. Camaro advertising would first be found on AM top-40 stations of the day - stations which appealed to young adults. Although it was technically a compact car (by the standards of the time), the Camaro, like the entire class of Mustang competitors, was soon known as a pony car. It may also be classified as an intermediate touring car, a sports car, or a muscle car. The car shared the same platform and major components with the Pontiac Firebird, also introduced in 1967. Production of both cars ceased in 2002 with only the Camaro going back into production in 2009.

The Camaro was the flagship for Chevrolet, and was for many years one of its most popular models. If its frequent inclusion in automotive enthusiast magazines is any indication, the Chevy Camaro is one of the most popular cars for modification in automotive history.

Plymouth Hemi Cuda (1971)

From 1966-71, Dodge stuffed the massive Hemi into small E-Bodies and the 1970 Hemi Cuda is widely accepted as one of the quickest and most saught after of these. Only 652 were built when new, including 14 rare convertibles, making an original Hemi 'Cuda a rare sight. These cars were forced in scarcity due to the extra $900 it cost to build one, nearly a third of the standard purchase price. At $250, the 390 bhp 440 V8 became the norm and made the Hemi Cuda an exception.

The long list of options made available for 1970 Barracudas included such goodies as rallye wheels, a range of exciting colors sich as Plum Crazy, pistol grip shifters, hockey stick sport stripes, hood pins and a variety of creature comforts. But of all the options, the R-code steet Hemi 426 was it, the most legendary muscle car engine ever made. It usually delivered 425 bhp through the solid 727 Torqueflight automatic and a 3.55:1 Sure Grip rear axle. That is, unless the car was one of the 284 that got a 4-speed manual.

With their classic shape, tire-shredding American power, limited production and huge popularity a 1970 Hemi 'Cuda can easily fetch over $150 000 USD. This is a remarkable amount for a car with the same build quailty as a mass-produced Plymouth. However, the aggressive sound of Hemi combined with visual street cred and Barrett-Jackson publicity now make these Cudas more expensive than most Ferraris produced in the same era.

Changes for 1971 were minimal and included a more complex 6 inlet grille design and fender gill louvers. Only 100 or so of these were built and the seven ultra-rare 1971 convertibles are the most expensive muscle cars money can buy. In 72, the government and EPA kicked the muscle car in the ass with emissions regulations. After that time, no more Hemi or more big block models could be ordered.

Ford Mustang (1964-1970)

The Ford Mustang was originally based on the Ford Falcon compact. The first production Mustang, a white convertible with red interior rolled off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964. Introduced to the public at the New York World's Fair on April 17, 1964, and via all three American television networks on April 19, it was the most successful product launch in automotive history, setting off near-pandemonium at Ford dealers across the continent.

Mustang inspired the term pony car and prompted many imitators. The Mustang's combination of sporty design, low price, and overall performance allowed it to sell over one million units in its first 18 months on the market. After a number of different generations and redesigns, the Mustang remains available today.

Chrysler D'Elegance (1952)

The d'Elegance joins the family of Chrysler experimental cars as another interpretation of sports car styling combined with practical passenger car fundamentals. Designed with emphasis on the American concept of comfort and handling, the d'Elegance shows what can be done with the sports type of Coupe so popular in Europe.

This three-passenger Coupe was entirely styled by the Engineering division of Chrysler Corporation. Ghia –a custom builder in Turin, Italy –hand formed the metal body from drawings and a 3/8 scale plastic model supplied by Chrysler engineers. The body is mounted on a Chrysler New Yorker chassis which is standard except for a modification in wheelbase to 115 inches.

In 1998, the showcar Chrysler Chronos was a modern interpretation of the D'Elegance. And today, the new Chrysler 300 designed by Tom Gale is heavily influenced by the d'Elegance. Few cars in history, if any, have influenced over 50 years of automobile design.