Aside from zoos, roadkill, and the occasional kangaroo punch, we have few opportunities to appreciate the full majesty of mother nature’s untamed creatures. Wildlife photography is the closest we get to experiencing the animal kingdom, and no one captures its beauty and brutality better than the winners of the annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.

The UK’s Natural History Museum announced the winners of the 2017 competition this week. They were chosen from more than 50,000 entries submitted from 92 countries, a handful of which are now on display at the London museum.

This year’s top prize was awarded to photojournalist Brent Stirton, who immortalised the heartbreaking scene of a rhino freshly slain and stripped of its horns by poachers in South Africa.

“To make such a tragic scene almost majestic in its sculptural power deserves the highest award,” competition judge Roz Kidman Cox said in a press release. “There is a rawness, but there is also great poignancy and therefore dignity in the fallen giant. It’s also symbolic of one of the most wasteful, cruel and unnecessary environmental crimes, one that needs to provoke the greatest public outcry.”

“The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition isn’t just about beautiful images and technical ability – it is also about provoking and stimulating debate,” said Richard Sabin, the NHM’s Principal Curator of Mammals. “This image is difficult to look at, but what it shows is an inescapable part of the human exploitation of the natural world.”

Fortunately for those with weaker constitutions, the competition wasn’t all doom and gloom and butchered beasts. Daniël Nelson, the 16-year-old grand title winner of the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year category, captured a gleeful gorilla, while Ashleigh Scully, Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the 11-14 Years section, snapped a not-so-cunning fox.

The post See The Winners From The 2017 Wildlife Photography Awards appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

When it comes to the holy grail of classic supercars, nothing is quite as unique as the iconic McLaren F1.

Penned by Formula One designer Gordon Murray back in 1989, the F1 roadcar tossed out the supercar rulebook of the time and did what no other supercar manufacturer did before it.

With racing performance at the forefront of its inception, the limited-run car featured a full carbon composite chassis paired with a central mounted driving position, a 627hp naturally aspirated V12 from BMW, real gold lining in the engine bay and wind tunnel proven aerodynamics. These credentials were enough to make it one of the fastest cars of its time whilst attracting a serious price tag that appreciated with time.

Why are we telling you this? One particular McLaren F1 just got listed for sale and it’s practically brand new from the factory with just 239km on the clock – all of which comes from factory testing alone and none from the driver/owner on public roads.

The pristine state of this Dandelion Yellow McLaren F1 can be credited to its Japanese businessman owner who must have had some serious lessons in self-restraint. That’s because he never even sat in the car let alone taking it out for a sneaky mountain pass.

In fact the car was kept in a climate-controlled building for almost 30 years and comes with all of the factory protective wrapping in the interior (the owner didn’t want to sit in it incase it damaged the protective wrapping), factory delivered accessories such as gold-plated titanium tools and an equally rare TAG Heuer owner’s timepiece.

The car is so kitted out with all of the options that it even comes with Gordon Murray’s hand-written signature on the rear bumper.

Insane? Perhaps. But wait till you see the price tag which is expected to fetch around AU$20 million. Place your bid here.

The post This Immaculate McLaren F1 Could Be Yours For A Small Fortune appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

There’s nothing like feeling the serenity in a home which absorbs noise like a ravenous black hole.

Modern interiors that are filled with open-plan spaces and hard surfaces often look great but can do little in the way of shielding third party noises like your 75-year-old neighbour’s bedroom antics or noisy traffic.

Alas, there is a solution. Pay close attention to your doors, windows, floors, walls and ceiling as these are the noise-absorbing interior hacks that could save you from endless sleepless nights.

Up The Wall

Cover plasterboard walls using products made with materials boasting a noise reduction coefficient (NRC) of at least 0.85 (with 1.00 representing total noise absorption).

Fabric wrapped acoustic wall panels are a popular option for those of us with paper-thin walls. Available in a variety of fabrics, colours and patterns, installation is almost as simple as hanging a framed photo and it looks hella-cool in the home.

Utilise Rugs

Carpet is becoming increasingly unpopular and aside from bedrooms, most homes and apartments now have floorboards, tiles or linoleum, all of which amplify noise.

Absorb some of the sound with thick, shaggy rugs placed around the home, particularly in high traffic areas where you might even consider layering a few different rugs on top of each other. Size matters – so go big or go home and consider attaching a foam-rubber backing or sound-absorbing padding to the underside of rugs.

Whereas hard surfaced will reflect sound waves, softer ones will absorb it. So think beyond just rugs and buy some wall-hangings, plush pillows, and a fluffy oversized couch for maximum noise absorption.

Grow Your Concrete Jungle

Concrete might not sound too cosy, but it looks awesome – especially in a masculine setting – and is one of the best materials at absorbing sound.

Cork floorboards are similar, in that they absorb most sound it comes into contact with. However, if you can’t give up your beloved floorboards, go the floating route. Floating boards maintain a gap between the sub-floor to dampen sound.

Employ Curtains & Drapes

Forget flimsy curtains because noise-absorbing and sound blocking drapes (with a thick wool core) are a real thing, and perfect for guys dealing with street noise.

If this option is too pricey, invest in some decent lined curtains made using thicker materials like velvet, which has the added benefit of insulation and keeping the cold conditions outside where they belong. Plus, they’re great for privacy and blocking out light.

Shield Your Appliances

The washing machine and the dryer are two of the noisiest household items. Dampen the monotonous rumbling with foam insulation (the kind used in recording studios) inside the laundry walls.

Strategise Furniture Placement

Placement is key when it comes to noise absorption. For example, if you and a neighbour have a shared wall separating your properties. Line this wall with furniture to keep Mr and Mrs Jones out of earshot. A bookshelf stacked with literature, linen and other nick-knacks will go a long way to reducing noise.

Look At Sound Blocking Doors

Sound blocking doors can be expensive, but the benefits are tremendous for those living in noisy environments. Unlike standard doors made with hollow core construction, ‘solid core’ doors stifle the transference of noise.

Particleboard-core and composite-core doors are also better at barring sound than their hollow counterparts. If you’d prefer not to go down this route, there are simpler alternatives to muting your doors. One of the easiest is to use weatherstrips or self-adhesive soundproofing tape to prevent noise creeping in through the cracks around the door.

In fact, the majority of noise comes via these cracks rather than through the door itself, making a secure seal almost as important as the door’s core.

Don’t forget the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor, where rubber bulb weatherstripping gaskets and a door sweep will suffice.

Become A Spakfilla Fella

Cracks and holes in your home or apartment will promote sound and air leaks. Go over your walls, doors and windows with a fine tooth comb and fill in any holes with Spakfilla or weather-strips.

Need More Help…

8 Items Interior Design Experts Avoid In Their Own Home
Interior Design Ideas For When You’re A Bit Of A Tightass

The post Clever Interior Hacks For Absorbing Unwanted Noise At Home appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

He’s the world’s fastest man on four wheels but Lewis Hamilton is proving that he has another talent worthy of a mention – insanely loud bomber jackets.

The British Formula One driver was recently spotted out and about in New York for the TIDAL X: Brooklyn at Barclays Center of Brooklyn event amongst some of the world’s biggest musical acts. Forget about Beyonce though because the real star of the show was Hamilton’s quilted blue bomber complete with zany gothic motifs which the 32-year-old paired with white denim and a white sweater complete with matching high tops.

The loud bomber jacket is a look that a many conservative men will find hard to pull off and that’s a fair point. But with some guidance from Hamilton’s history of bomber selection it can certainly be done to a more subtle degree. Pairing a loud bomber jacket with the rest of your outfit begins with the jacket itself and the colours it wears.

Hamilton opts to pair his loud bombers with solid and muted under garments such as a white shirt or black shirt. this keeps the attention drawn to the jacket detail without going over the top – a simple yet effective style move if you’re going to go down this route.

The post Lewis Hamilton Shows You The Secret To Wearing A Loud Bomber Jacket appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Airports go to extreme lengths to be exciting experiences for travellers (and if not exciting, at least “marginally more fun than a root canal”). The wildest have museums, golf courses, yoga rooms, therapy dogs, swimming pools, slides, video games, cinemas, and even butterfly gardens.

Couple that fierce competition to be crowned world’s least shitty layover with the notorious outrageousness of Dubai, and magic was bound to happen. The latest OTT announcement from the city of 3D printed buildings, drone racing, indoor rainforests, firefighters with jetpacks and cops with McLarens is a new approach to airport security: virtual face-scanning fish.

Come 2018, Dubai International Airport will ditch standard security counters in favour of a digital aquarium tunnel that scans faces or irises as passengers pass through. The tunnel will be equipped with around 80 cameras set up in every corner. As for the fish, their job is to capture the passengers’ attention – and simultaneously, their biometrics.

Foreign affairs chief Major Gen Obaid Al Hameeri told The National: “The fish is a sort of entertainment and something new for the traveller but, at the end of the day, it attracts the vision of the travellers to different corners in the tunnel for the cameras to capture his/her face print.”

The tunnel can be programmed to display other natural settings along with the aquarium, such as the desert, or to display advertisements. Upon reaching the end, a passenger who is already registered will receive a green message that says “have a nice trip.” If the person is wanted for some reason, a red sign will alert the operations room to take action.

The idea for the face-scanning tunnel came about after 18 months of brainstorming about how to best to accommodate the continually increasing number of passengers travelling in the Dubai airport. General Civil Aviation figures show that more than 124 million passengers are expected to pass through the city’s airports by 2020, up from 80 million passengers currently.

The first of these “biometric borders” will be installed by the end of the summer of 2018 at Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, home of Emirates. By 2020, the tunnels will be rolled out at other Dubai terminals. Check out the simulation below:

قريبا في #دبي.. ممر ذكي لإنهاء إجراءات السفر في المطارات في 10 ثوان فقط #أسبوع_جيتكس_للتقنية #البيان @GDRFADUBAI @GITEXTechWeek pic.twitter.com/c9cGB1OA76

— صحيفة البيان (@AlBayanNews) October 9, 2017

The post Dubai Airport Is Replacing Security Checks With Virtual Face-Scanning Fish appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Anyone who’s enjoyed a moderately-sized group of mates knows the ups and downs of having a, for lack of a better word, sleazy mate amongst the group.

The Johnny Drama. The bumbling Casanova. They can either be wildly successful with the ladies or a complete imbecile who’s simply over-endowed with confidence.

Either way, they’re always good for a funny story or two, as long as you’re happy to deal with a heaped serving of social embarrassment when forced to confront their dealings with the fairer sex.

Here’s how you can keep them in check.

They’re Great If You Have Clinginess Issues

Guys, especially if they’re coming out of a relationship or are inclined to get too attached to girls too quickly, often need a lesson or two about how to have fun occasionally.

Of course, your sleazy mate is the seasoned expert on this, so they can often be a great source of advice on how to handle things like rejection, clinginess and finding happiness without companionship.

You may even pick up a few tips on how to get a little more no-strings attached action in your life, should that be what you’re after. On no account though, should you ever take actual dating advice from them.

Use Their Confidence When You Can

It may be a cliché, but it’s pretty plain logic that the ideal wingman is someone who’s not afraid to approach (and introduce you to) people.

As such, that sleazy guy may be fun to go on a night out with, but only if he’s the embarrassingly confident side of the spectrum, not the ‘gross’ or ‘creepy’ side of the spectrum (in which case you should either call him out on it, or re-consider the friendship).

If he’s a good bloke though, you’ll probably provide a fantastic counterpoint to the Lothario that everyone immediately judged as soon as he went up and cracked his sleazy smile.

Above All, Have A Laugh

Whether or not your sleazy mate is actually successful with women (or men, or whomever floats your boat…) or not, one thing generally separates him from people like you: he generally gives less fucks.

As such, it’s probably best not to take any time you spend with him too seriously, provided he’s not screwing over one of your mates or bonking someone else’s significant other.

If he ruins your shot by repulsing the friend of someone you’re talking to, so be it. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. If not, enjoy the ride. You’ll have some stories to tell by the end of it.

Always Have Boundaries

There is a very, very thin line between banter and straight out emotional abuse. There’s also a very thin line between playing the field and the development of a mindset that women are nothing more than sexual objects.

And Another Thing…

Why Every Man Needs A Friend Who’s A Bad Influence

The post How To Keep A Sleazy Mate In Check Without Ruining The Bromance appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Fans of minimalist timepieces will be glad to hear that German watchmaker NOMOS Glashütte have released not one but fourteen new models as part of its At Work collection.

The distinct series of office-friendly timepieces all come in a slim 39mm diameter stainless steel case which houses NOMOS’ very own DUW 3001 automatic calibre. There’s no date window function here but what it does provide is an impressive 43 hour power reserve alongside hours and minutes functions and a contrasting seconds hand in a sub-dial.

RELATED: Cool Minimalist Watches That Prove Less Is More

The watch face is where the true beauty lies though with the most striking piece featuring a silvercut finish. This uniques aesthetic feature is created using a nine-step process that employs a gold and rhodium-plated dial blank which is lacquered and wet blasted to numerous times to result in a flat surface with a horizontally brushed finish.

Colour-wise the At Work collection comes in an option of a dark blue Nachtblau dial, a Weiss (white) dial and the aforementioned silvercut dial for both square and round cases. For an extra touch of class, the At Work Metro neomatik 39 model comes in a rose gold option for those after minimalism with a bit of flair.

Prices vary across the board depending on the model and case material but as a reference the cheapest NOMOS At Work piece starts at AU$5,240 and tops out at the rose gold model with an asking price of AU$13,400.

The post NOMOS Glashütte Debut A New Minimalist Collection For The Daily Grind appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Volvo’s performance division known as Polestar have unveiled their first ever standalone model, the Polestar 1.

The electric-hybrid performance coupe will boast a commendable 441kW of power and 1,000Nm of torque, all derived from a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that is both supercharged and turbocharged to drive the front wheels. Meanwhile, two independent electric motors drive the rear wheels that can also accommodates for torque vectoring when things get sporty.

Whilst the drivetrain might sound overtly heavy, Polestar have ensured that weight was kept to a minimum with an upper body made entirely of carbon fibre with some help from fellow Swedish supercar maker, Koenigsegg. That input allows the vehicle to save about 230kg of weight whilst increasing torsional rigidity by 45 percent. The result is car which can move with haste in a straight line whilst still being nimble around corners.

Those after luxury appointments will also be pleasantly surprised with features such as an automatic retractable spoiler, panoramic glass roof, handcrafted leather seats and a premium Bower & Wilkins sound system.

Whilst the Polestar 1 isn’t a direct competitor to the faster current generation Tesla Model S, the car’s unique DNA will form the basis for the upcoming Polestar 2 and 3 which will be fully electric and more in line with Tesla’s current portfolio.

Another surprising fact is that the Polestar 1 will be manufactured in China so the quality of the car will certainly be a talking point amongst potential buyers when production begins in 2019. Meanwhile you can check out the teaser below which is pretty much a direct jab at Tesla.

The post Volvo's Polestar 1 Performance Car Is A Warning To Tesla appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

He’s done it before and he’s done it again. Ryan Reynolds is proving to the world that when it comes to layering, he’s the man at the top of his game.

In his most recent spotting in New York alongside wife Blake Lively, Reynolds was caught in a navy over coat, waist coat and casual dress shirt-tie combo. Whilst it doesn’t stray far from Reynolds’ signature outfit, it does show men how to layer properly with minimal effort and maximum effect.

For the uninitiated, layering is the simple process of pairing different contrasting garments over one another to form a distinct look for the colder months without diminishing style. It can range from anything with suits to denim to casual wear – a point our main man Ryan Reynolds has conquered during his rise to the top.

Need Some Extra Help…

How To Master The Art Of Layering

The post Ryan Reynolds Proves Why He's The King Of Layering appeared first on DMARGE Australia.