With the last pangs of winter finally behind us and the rays of sunlight growing ever warmer, summer is very much on our minds these days. With summer comes beach season and with beach season come sand castles. Here in Germany, entire fantasy worlds are moulded during the Sand World  festival at Travemunde, the beach resort near Luebeck where Thomas Mann's family used to congregate for curative sea air. Like the world of architecture, sand sculpting also has its Koolhaases and Herzogs and de Meurons. One of the highlights of Sand World each year is the work of a small company called Sands National , who sculpt some of the most inspiring sandscapes we've yet seen.

Picture Perfect

The word "exciting" is not necessarily one that is applied to the United States Geological Survey terribly often. But the USGS -- responsible for managing natural resources in the US as well as for research in the natural sciences -- has launched a new Web service  that is sure to be a hit. They have put 24,100 photographs, taken between 1868 and now, online in a database that includes pictures of natural disasters -- including a fine earthquake series -- natural parks, volcanoes and mining operations. The archive is free of charge, easy to use and will be updated continuously. All photographs are public domain and payment for use or reproduction is not required. The pictures are part of a 500,000 items strong collection at the U.S. Geological Survey and only few of the accumulated pictures have been previously published.