Abandoned amusement parks, vacant villages, and mysterious islands are just a few of the world’s forsaken destinations with serious scare appeal.

The average tourist heads to a remote hotel or a private island when he wants to get away from it all. But for the bravest of the brave, going beyond the beaten track means exploring places that are hauntingly uninhabited. It doesn’t get more “away from it all” than being the only sign of human life.

Kolmanskop | Namib Desert, Namibia

A hundred years ago, Kolmanskop was a happening town. Miners flocked to the settlement following the discovery of diamonds in the area, building amenities and institutions including a hospital, school, ballroom, theatre, power station, and casino. The town declined after World War I as the diamond field ran dry, and was eventually abandoned in 1954. Today the desert has reclaimed the ghostly, sun-bleached buildings, many of which are slowly filling with sand. Visitors can tour Kolmanskop provided they secure a permit to enter.

Buzludzha Monument | Central Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s UFO-shaped Buzludzha Monument was built in the 1970s to commemorate the country’s communist government. The concrete behemoth stands watch from atop a 1441-metre peak, its striking architecture still intact because the current government can’t afford to renovate or knock it down. Vandals, thieves, and graffiti artists have had their way with the building, but no amount of mischief has made it any less fascinating to intrepid urban explorers. The monument isn’t difficult to reach by road, and although the main entrance has been sealed, it isn’t a deterrent for anyone determined to see the spectacular dome from the inside.

Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

In 1984, the very first Winter Olympics held in a communist state were in full-force in the city of Sarajevo. Twenty thousand luge spectators and 30,000 bobsleigh spectators flocked to a track on Trebević mountain to watch the action. The track remained in use for World Cup competitions until the start of the Yugoslav wars in 1991, when it was damaged in the Siege of Sarajevo while being used as an artillery position. The track is still intact, though it bears a few war wounds, plenty of graffiti, and encroaching vegetation.

Centralia | Pennsylvania, USA

The bizarre store of Centralia, Pennsylvania, has inspired novels, films, and video games, most famously the Silent Hill series. Tragedy hit the bustling mining town in 1962 when an underground fire caught light in the mines, releasing toxic gas and smoke into the air. The blaze still burns today, and at its current rate, could burn for over 250 more years. Most of the town has been abandoned and razed as a result, however a handful of residents were given permission to live out their lives in Centralia. Upon their deaths, their homes will be demolished by the government. Fewer than 10 inhabitants remain.

Hashima Island | Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan

Hashima – also known as Gunkanjima or Battleship Island – is one of more than 500 unoccupied islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. It was a lively coal mining hub during its heyday, but when petroleum replaced coal in Japan, Hashima was deserted. Nature is now the only denizen of the island’s crumbling concrete buildings, which tourists have been permitted to visit since 2009. You may recognise its desolate landscape from the James Bond film Skyfall, in which it served as the baddie’s lair.

Isla de las Muñecas | Teshuilo Lake, Mexico

Any horror movie fan knows how creepy dolls can be. Now imagine an island full of mutilated and decapitated dolls that’s also haunted by the ghost of a little girl. Just south of Mexico City, that island exists. Isla de las Muñecas is home to hundreds of the terrifying toys, which are said to be possessed by the spirit of a girl who was found drowned nearby. Legend has it that the island’s caretaker, Don Julian Santana Barrera, began hanging the dolls as a tribute to the girl before he too was found dead, drowned in exactly the same spot.

Bhangarh Ruins | Bhangarh, India

This dusty, rust-coloured city is thought to be the most haunted place in India. According to one story, Bhangarh was abandoned overnight after a holy man cursed all residents to death. Another tale tells of a wizard who hexed the city after failing to make a princess fall in love with him. Spirits are rumoured to roam the ruins of Bhangarh, with plenty of odd incidents being reported by visitors. The myths are taken so seriously that entrance to the city is legally forbidden before sunrise and after sunset.

Lake Shawnee Amusement Park | Princeton, West Virginia

There’s something especially chilling about an abandoned amusement park. Seeing a once bright and cheery place become dull and dangerous is enough to rattle even the steeliest nerves. Lake Shawnee Amusement Park takes the creep factor even further, because it’s set on a Native American burial ground. The land is believed to be cursed and haunted, leading to several tragic accidents and deaths at the park. It’s now closed, but there are regular opportunities to tour and even camp on the grounds… if you dare…

The post 8 Eerie Abandoned Places You Can Visit appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

When Tesla‘s $5 billion Gigafactory is complete it will be a factory with the largest footprint in the world with 560,000 square metres of floor space.

Why exactly does the electric car company need such an immense space in the middle of the Nevada desert? Batteries. Lots of batteries.

The new building will form part of Elon Musk‘s master plan which will see 500,000 vehicles roll off the the production line annually starting from 2018. With that lofty goal comes the requirement of a dedicated battery plant which can keep up with the demand. Tesla won’t be going it alone though with technological support from Panasonic and the state of Nevada’s 6,500-strong workforce.

Construction is already in full swing with Tesla last week showing off the structure through a tentative grand opening. The ultimate goal of course is Musk’s push to eradicate human dependancy on fossil fuels altogether by using the batteries and developments afforded at the Gigafactory.

Once complete, the factory which Musk calls ‘The Machine’ will churn out battery packs for the entry Model 3 as well as other cars in its range. It will do this whilst driving down the cost of lithium-ion car batteries by 30% so that customers can reap the benefits and Musk’s vision of an electric future will be further realised.

Still curious as to what the future holds for potential Tesla customers? Read our review of the top of the range Model S P90D.

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Happy Monday. It’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, this Monday is a cause for celebration as Dry July is FINALLY OVER and we have another juicy instalment of Pointless & Awesome for you.

Whether you’re curious about the origins of wacky tobacky, where you should relocate to in Sydney, who your next celebrity crush should be, why hot weather makes you ready for a fight or how to romance the hell out of your partner, we have the random facts for you. Enjoy.

#1 Humans Were Smoking Weed 10,000 Years Ago

You may think pot-smoking is a modern day phenomenon but it looks like our ancestors also knew how to party, according to Complex.

Scientists from the German Archaeological Institute recently published a report showing evidence that humans were using marijuana since Europe’s glaciers began their final retreat, a whopping 10,000 years ago.

The report also found that humans in Europe and Asia simultaneously yet independently discovered the drug, but didn’t use it as a hallucinogenic like many might assume. Tribes reportedly picked the seeds for nutritional supplements and used the hemp fibres for clothing.

Most surprisingly, however, is the fact that humans didn’t start drinking alcohol until about 3,000 years after they discovered the marijuana plant. It was literally the Stone(d) Age.

#2 Sydney’s Most Liveable Suburbs Revealed

With it’s blue waters and white sands, Sydney is a pretty damn desirable place to live, but out of the city’s 600-odd suburbs which one is the most liveable?

The Domain Liveable Sydney 2016 study has drawn together data to rate the quality of life in neighbourhoods across Greater Sydney to find the most liveable suburb of all. Here’s the top 10, via Domain.

1. Lavender Bay
2. Milsons Point
3. McMahons Point
4. Kirribilli
5. Waverton
6. Wollstonecraft
7. North Sydney
8. Millers Point
9. Elizabeth Bay
10. Darling Point

Other suburbs that made it into the top 50 included Balmain, Paddington, Potts Point, Darlinghurst, Double Bay, Chatswood, Bondi Junction, Surry Hills, Glebe and Manly.

The study took into account factors like access to employment areas, proximity to train, bus, light rail or ferry, whether there are cultural facilities nearby, like libraries, museums and art galleries, the level of traffic congestion, and closeness to schools, shopping, cafes and restaurants.

It must be mentioned, however, that what is considered ‘liveable’ to a 21-year-old single compared to that of a retiree will no doubt be vastly different, so the results of the survey are definitely up for debate.

#3 These Are The Most Beautiful Women In The World

The world is full of stunning women, but as well as your natural instinct’s ability to determine attractiveness, science has been able to tell us a lot about beauty as well.

Julian De Silva, M.D., of the Centre for Advanced Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery recently took an ancient Greek philosophy called the Phi ratio, as well as computer facial mapping to determine which famous women have the ideal face ratio and symmetry. Here’s are the top ten most beautiful women in the world according to De Silva’s findings, via Esquire.

1. Amber Heard 91.85%
2. Kim Kardashian 91.39%
3. Kate Moss 91.06%
4. Emily Ratajkowski 90.8%
5. Kendall Jenner 90.18%
6. Helen Mirren 89.93%
7. Scarlett Johansson 89.82%
8. Selena Gomez 89.57%
9. Marilyn Monroe 89.41%
10. Jennifer Lawrence 89.24%

While standards of beauty vary by culture, the Phi ratio is an interesting approach to aesthetics. “The results were startling and showed several famous actresses and models have facial features that come close to the ancient Greek principles,” said De Silva.

#4 Interesting Effects Humans & Nature Have On Each Other

Our relationship with the natural world around us is far more complex than you would have ever thought. Here are some strange and interesting effects we have on our environment, via Listverse.

1. Warmer Climates Contribute To Violence: Many research studies over several decades have consistently suggested that rates of violent crime are always higher near the equator in warmer climates.
2. Light Pollution Causes An Early Spring In Urban Areas: Over time, bright lights in urban areas may have succeeded in slowly tricking surrounding trees and plants into thinking spring is arriving earlier than it once did.
3. Exposure To Nature Improves Mental Health: In 2013, a University of Essex study found that depression scores dropped markedly in 71% of participants after taking short nature walks. In comparison, a group that took their walks in a shopping centre saw reduced depression scores by 45% but 22% actually felt more depressed.
4. Impoverished People In Greener Areas Have Fewer Illnesses: University of Glasgow researchers found that with no other relevant underlying causes, higher levels of health and lower levels of mortality were found across the board in lower-income populations living near green areas.
5. Mothers Who Live Near Nature Deliver Bigger Babies: A 2014 Ben-Gurion University study observed that mothers in greener living spaces tended to give birth to babies with a much higher average birth weight. The study also found a much lower risk for low birth weight, which can lead to an array of potentially lifelong health issue.

#5 The Romance Women Really Want

What do women really want? That is the question. To celebrate Romance Awareness Month, eHarmony conducted a study on what Aussies want and need when it comes to romance, unveiling some surprising results.

Apparently, the number one act of romance for Australians are words of affirmation – specifically ‘I love you’ (49%) followed by simple acts of kindness like taking out the garbage without being asked (33%) and physical intimacy like a cuddle or kiss (24%).

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No matter how cultured or clued-up you consider yourself to be, sometimes you need a little helping hand when it comes to discovering your city’s hottest spots. Enter The HUNT, the latest edition in the popular, award-winning travel series The HUNT Guides.

Written by local Jasmine Crittenden, The HUNT Sydney gives the inside scoop on the city’s most exciting restaurants, bars, shops and lifestyle offerings.

From the most delicious brunch spots, stylish speakeasies and trendy boutiques to discover in the lead-up to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, to underground galleries and live music venues worth checking out during Sydney Fringe Festival and the most authentic pubs and breweries for fans keen on a pint after the Telstra Premiership Grand Final, The HUNT is perfect for locals and adventurous travellers alike.

If time is of the essence, The HUNT’s 48 Hours section provides a suggested itinerary for travellers just shooting through, while the guide’s user-friendly neighbourhood maps are ideal for city wanderers.

The post Discover Sydney's Best Kept Secrets With New Book The HUNT appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

It’s taken the Italian menswear label a whole year of design and preparation work for this day to arrive but it looks to have paid off. Brioni have opened the gates to their drastically revamped flagship store on Paris’ label-laden Rue Saint-Honoré with the help of designer David Chipperfield.

The fresh design falls in line with Justin O’Shea’s shake up of the brand and pushes the idea of a ‘gallery of clothes’ and a ‘destination point’. The design criteria required Chipperfield to create a store concept that merged the brand’s Roman roots and tailoring heritage with O’Shea’s future vision.

Most notably the Brioni font has changed from the classic calligraphy style to the new medieval gothic font, which blends perfectly with the recently announced Metallica ambassadorship.

Inside the store guests will find stark white walls combined with grey travertine floors and experimental interior appointments such as a series of transparent metal mesh partitions to create the effect of openness.

The store is split across two levels and joined with a giant staircase which leads into three areas – the main store, the VIP area and the changerooms.

Brioni said in a statement that “the idea behind the store display furnishing is that it should be adaptable and flexible, positioned in such a way that the store architecture becomes the background of the products.”

The post Step Inside Brioni's Immaculate New Paris Flagship Store appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

We’ve all been there. You arrive at a party or event where you are required to a) be on your best behaviour or b) schmooze the room and while we all walk into those situations with the best intentions, one awkward silence or misinterpreted kiss/hug is enough to send even the most gung-ho party guest into a spiral of self-doubt.

So, how does one make every interaction with a stranger a thing of long-lasting friendship, and minimal awkwardness? Luckily, we’re here to give you the lowdown on 8 ways you can master the art of small talk in true magnificent bastard style.

#1 Commit

Number one rule, don’t be hesitant and always commit. There’s nothing more awkward than watching someone strike up a conversation to run out of steam and slowly crash and burn into a tongue-tied mess right before your very eyes. Have a plan of attack and jump into the unknown, head first.

#2 Lower Your Expectations

Don’t walk into an interaction expecting to make a lifelong friend, score a number or seal a lucrative business deal. Go into it with a relaxed and open mind, and you might just come away with a business card or good book recommendation at the very least.

Relaxed people are generally more enjoyable to be around, anyway, so take a chill pill.

#3 Prepare Yourself

You’re not expected to have studied the Wikipedia, IMDB and LinkedIn profiles of all party guests before you meet them, but a little homework can go a long way. “I never approach a meeting, an industry function, or a networking event without at least three things to talk about,” author of The Fine Art of Small Talk Debra Fine told Fast Company. “When is the worst time to come up with something to talk about? When you have nothing to talk about!”

#4 Ask Questions

It’s a harsh reality, but most people’s favourite thing to talk about is, well, themselves. So give them a good reason to by asking questions. Avoid close-ended questions (with yes and no answers) and aim for ones that allow the person to tell their best stories.

#5 Greet People Appropriately

Don’t expect others to do all the heavy lifting. A general rule when making introductions is to announce names and offer a piece of information about each person to keep the conversation flowing. E.g. “Kate, this is Jane. Jane and her husband just moved here from Cincinnati. Jane is interested in painting and is an artist herself. Jane, this is Kate. Kate is the museum’s director of communications.”

When it comes to whether to kiss or not to kiss on first meeting someone, a handshake is a safer bet unless you’ve met previously.

#6 Diffuse The Awkward

Don’t panic when there is a lull in the conversation. “Silences aren’t as long as you think they are,” Bernardo J. Carducci, Ph.D., director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University told Real Simple. “Remember that if you say something, the other person may need to process it. Think of silence as a transition.” Roberts adds, “Sometimes silence is appropriate. You don’t want to seem like a babbling idiot.”

If you can sense someone wants out of the conversation, let them do so, otherwise throw something out there to keep things moving along.

#7 Make A Clean Escape

According to Debra Fine, using the phrase “I need” is the perfect way to exit a convo. “I need to get some food, I need to talk to a client over there, I need to meet the speaker.” For extreme situations, establish a ‘rescue me’ signal with your mate – this is something women have been perfecting for years.

#8 Read Body Language

Remaining perceptive to other party guest’s body language is the key to small talk success. Direct eye contact, laughter and a slow nod are all signs that you’re engaging well. Crossed arms, a restless or distracted nature, on the other hand, are all indications you might need to move on.

The post 8 Ways To Master The Art Of Small Talk appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Architects and interior designers dedicate their days to catering to clients’ whims, so on the rare occasions when they are their own customers, they go all out to create the most spectacular spaces they can dream up.

In the case of Attila F. Kovács and Zsuzsa Megyesi, the husband and wife team that make up A+Z Design Studio, that dream home is Loft 19. The four-story building in Budapest was once a weapons factory, but today serves a decidedly more warm and fuzzy purpose. Kovács and Megyesi restored and reconstructed the crumbling building over the course of two years and turned the entire tower-like structure into a handsome, unique home.

The first floor contains a large studio and showroom, as well as a guest suite. The second floor houses the bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets. The third floor is the public space with a living and dining area, and an open kitchen. On the fourth floor, there’s a pool, sauna, gym, library, laundry, and roof terrace.

The Budapest home boasts an interesting mix of minimalism and bold statements. The living and dining spaces sport clean lines, sleek furniture, and plenty of open space. Nothing is cluttered. The colours are soothing. Stroll into the bedroom, however, and you’re greeted by daring colours and statements inspired by a mid-century boudoir. The bathroom also makes a strong impression, as do the wall and floors made from vibrant yellow tiles.

The post A Weapons Factory In Budapest Becomes A Stylish Dream Home appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

This story was originally published on Collective Hub

We navigate much of life on autopilot. Which is fine, sometimes. Your morning shower, commute or queue for coffee need not be memorable. But no one wants to be a no-show – cerebrally speaking – when taking in the view from a mountaintop, conversing with your significant other or indulging in a meal that you or, more pressingly, someone else has bothered to prepare.

Alas, our ability to mindfully participate in such stuff-of-life moments is oft-thwarted by a wandering (or wondering?) cluttered conscience, where memories past (bet I misspelt my boss’ name in that email… was that the last of the milk this morning?) and fears future (How can I possibly meet my deadline? Will I make it home in time for Game of Thrones?) play on loop, shrouding our conscious in a fog scarcely lucid enough to dodge oncoming pedestrians.

On the topical (perhaps, pedestrians considered, life-saving) idea that we should strive to be more present, Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now, posited this solution: “Here is a new spiritual practice for you: don’t take your thoughts too seriously,” and now science says we should abolish them completely – especially in the pursuit of creativity.

This was the theory recently ventured by neuroscientist Moshe Bar, director of the Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University and professor at Harvard Medical School, in an opinion piece for the New York Times. Moshe cites a study he conducted alongside graduate student Shira Baror, published in this month’s Psychological Science, in which the pair “demonstrate that the capacity for original and creative thinking is markedly stymied by stray thoughts, obsessive ruminations and other forms of ‘mental load’.”

Their series of experiments saw participants undertaking a free-association task while simultaneously remembering a sequence of numbers. Half the participants were asked to remember seven digits, the other half only two. Keeping these to mind, they were posed with words (such as ‘table’) and asked to quickly respond with the first word that came to them (some might say, ‘chair’). Those with the string of seven numbers crammed in their craniums came back with decidedly less creative, “statically common” responses (“white/black”), while those with two digits gave more unique couplings (“white/cloud”).

“These experiments suggest that the mind’s natural tendency is to explore and to favour novelty, but when occupied it looks for the most familiar and inevitably least interesting solution,” writes Moshe. Which poses quite the conundrum, with our modern minds as occupied as an aeroplane toilet after two hours of turbulence.

Day-to-day life has us filling our heads with all manner of things – be it memorising the contents of your fridge, agonising over the imagined misinterpretation of an emoji or desperately trying to recall that person’s name (thank you, Facebook). Then there’s daydreaming, fantasising and, on a more compulsive note, stress and paranoia to contend with.

“Honing an ability to unburden the load on your mind, be it through meditation or some other practice, can bring with it a wonderfully magnified experience of the world — and, as our study suggests, of your own mind,” advises Moshe, himself having taken to an annual week of silence at a meditation retreat.

For some focus of the less gung-ho variety, try turning your attention to your breathing, your footsteps and the beauty that surrounds you. Ditch the dated Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” for En Vogue’s naughties pop-mantra: “Free your mind and the rest will follow” (we’ve come a long way since 1637). Give your brain a break and let the other senses bask and roll around in the glow of this very moment. You never know what might spring to a clean mind.

The post The Perfect (Scientific) Case For Thinking Less appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Bigger isn’t always better. With a mix of modern design and traditional materials, the Alpha Tiny Home is small on space and big on style.

Nashville-based New Frontier Tiny Homes is behind the petite, barn-inspired, multi-functional dwelling. It boasts a variety of trend-forward details, including clean modern lines and Scandinavian design influence, large glass windows, charred (shou sugi ban) cedar siding, a mechanical seam metal roof, hardwood floors, and a reclaimed barnwood ceiling. Other highlights are the custom fold down deck and awning, a tempered glass garage door, a large sliding glass door, and a custom 8-person dining table.

Despite its diminutive size, the Alpha Tiny Home is chock-full of amenities. The lofted bedroom (accessed by a custom oak library ladder) is home to a king-size mattress. The bathroom contains a full-size Jacuzzi tub and shower. The kitchen is fitted with stainless steel appliances and custom cabinets. Creative storage solutions ensure your stuff is stashed away, even in 22 sq m (240 sq ft).

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