Here's What's Awesome: Street Illusions, Tree Sculpture

Looking for holiday gift ideas? How about a subscription to a set of links to the unusual, unique and occasionally mind-blowing? Give Here's What's Awesome to a friend this holiday season. It's free, it's fun for all ages... it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Who could imagine... they would freak out on Main Street
Street artists and architects are finding some pretty ingenious ways to make a trek downtown a little more fun. Architectural optical illusions like the one on the right (the "hole" in this sidewalk purports to let you look all the way to China) play with the senses to fool you into seeing something that isn't there, or at least look at your surroundings differently. The link includes 20 popular illusions, including a "tunnel" painted into a wall in Montreal, just like in the old Roadrunner cartoons. [WebUrbanist]

New letters in "God's great alphabet"
Arborsculpture is the art of nudging trees and plants to grow in certain directions to create unusual shapes and patterns. Keep in mind that this is somewhat different than topiary, where you're mostly shaping greenery; the art is in teaching the woody part of the tree to grow into a shape. It appears you can indeed grow two trees and tie them together in a knot. [Webphemera]

Where all the heat went
Energy efficiency is all about making the most of your energy use - except that most houses have at least a few places where insulation, windows or other materials aren't keeping in the heat as well as they should. A new thermal leak detector lets consumers find the spots where their homes are sharing energy with the great outdoors. It looks like a stud-finder; you point it at the wall and it shines a special light on spots where there's a temperature difference. The bad news? It won't go on sale until March, so if you want to save energy this winter, you're on your own. [CleanTechnica]

Now it's your turn - in this season of sharing, we'd be as happy as a kid with a new arborsculpture if you posted an awesome link of your own in the comments field.

(Photo by Lee Jordan)