Opus – Page 199 – Encyclopædia of the sublime

Plain of Jars

The Plain of Jars is a large group of historic cultural sites in Laos containing thousands of stone jars. Archaeologists believe that the jars were used 1,500–2,000 years ago. Most of the excavated material has been dated to around 500 BC–800 AD. Anthropologists and archeologists have theorized that the jars may have been used as funeral urns or perhaps storage for food. Lao stories and legends claim that there was a race of giants who once inhabited the area. Local legend tells of an ancient king called Khun Cheung, who fought a long, victorious battle against his enemy. He supposedly created the jars to brew and store huge amounts of lao lao rice wine to celebrate his victory.

Gustav Zander

Gustav Zander was a Swedish physician who created over 70 different exercises "machines" at the turn of the century.

The Thousand-hand Bodhisattva dance

Thousand Hand Guan Yin is a dance created by Chinese choreographer Zhang Jigang. This dance describes the legend that Bodhisattva Guan Yin has one thousand hands. Thousand Hand Guan Yin dance became one of the most popular Chinese dance in the world.

Phineas Gage

Phineas P. Gage was a railroad construction foreman now remembered for his incredible survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying one or both of his brain's frontal lobes.

Greta oto

Glasswing Butterfly (Greta Oto) is a brush-footed butterfly where its wings are transparent. The tissue between the veins of its wings looks like glass.

Avshalom Cave

Avshalom Cave is a 5,000 sq m cave in Israel, unique for its dense concentration of stalactites. Some of the stalactites found in the cave are four meters long, and some have been dated as 300,000 years old.

Juliane Köpcke

Juliane Köpcke was the sole survivor of 93 passengers and crew in the December 24, 1971 crash of LANSA Flight 508 in the Peruvian rainforest.

Black Star of Queensland

The Black Star of Queensland, is a black sapphire, and was the world's largest gem quality star sapphire until The Star of Adam was discovered. The stone was reportedly discovered by 12-year-old Roy Spencer in the mid-1930s in the Queensland gem fields. Roy showed the stone to his father who assumed that it was merely a large black crystal. Not realizing the value of the stone with its rough exterior, the family used it as a doorstop in their home for over a decade, until they took a closer look and discovered the gem hidden within.

Portuguese Diamond

The Portuguese Diamond is an unusual Octagonal Emerald cut known for its flawlessness and clarity. It weighs 127.01 carats and is regarded as one of the world’s most magnificent diamond gems.

Sticky foam

Sticky foam is an incapacitant, used when less lethal force is required, consisting of various extremely tacky and/or tenacious materials carried in compressed form with a propellant and used to block, entangle, and impair individuals.