How we live today has a definite effect on the future. With overpopulation becoming a more a more real threat to our existence every day and the impact that our current lifestyles have on the ecosystem around becoming very drastic very quickly, the time for us to change our lifestyles is now. While most of us realize that making changes on a scale like this don’t happen overnight and often take years to really pan out, the truth is that we’re also getting better and better at coming up with creative solutions to help fix the problem. These three home designs could help change the way we live and the world around us!

Skinny Starter Homes

As the cost of living goes up, the size of our lifestyles decreases in relation to the amount of money that we earn. In order to find a decent compromise, architects at the Jonathan Tate office in Louisiana created these small but spacious homes designed for younger start-up couples or small, lower-income families.

Greener Homes

In order to combat and reduce the amount of carbon emission that each home creates over the course of their lives, architects have started approaching the issue from the ground up – literally. Greener homes will be built from materials that are more ecologically friendly and have features that make them more practical for lasting a long time while still reducing their carbon footprint or dependency on resource-heavy technologies. They will utilize things such as solar power, small-scale crop rotation, and ergonomic designs.

Shipping Container Homes

Shipping container homes have become all the rave in recent years and by building your future home out of one of these, you can save yourself a great deal of money and lead a greener, more eco-friendly lifestyle. Because a lot of shipping companies literally just let these things rot once they’ve finished using them, picking up containers in good condition is easy if you look around and will be helping both you and the companies. So for someone looking for a quick and easy housing solution with the ability to really turn something into a luxurious passion project for a much smaller cost than traditional housing, look no further than shipping containers.

Sometimes when we look at something that seems familiar, our brain can trick us into thinking it looks like something else. It’s an unusual phenomenon that we’ve all experienced at one point or another and actually exists in a lot more places than we realize. We’ve put together a collection of everyday objects that, upon second glance, appear to be something else.

Upon first glance it seems obvious what’s going on here, several bowls and a pitcher were left in plastic wrap. But the reality is actually much more surprising. The truth is that what’s covering these plastic objects isn’t plastic wrap, or shrink-wrap as it’s sometimes called, but rather ice.

It’s unclear what caused the ice to form this shape, but it can be inferred that the water that froze is very clear and very pure to have this sheen.

Taking a peek at a photo like this, it looks like something out of a video game, or a Lego set that someone had delicately placed to have even spacing from one another. In fact, this is an actual neighborhood where real people live.

It’s called the San Buenaventura Complex in Mexico. Don’t believe us? It’s clear from the upper right-hand corner that the trees there are very much real. Only the neighborhood itself looks like something computer-generated.

This looks like something out of a movie about dinosaurs. What looks like a massive prehistoric creature making its way through a forest is actually a type of goose walking in very small shrubs.

However, many scientists do believe that birds evolved directly from dinosaurs. So in a way this technically is a dinosaur that’s making its way through a forest, this dinosaur has just evolved in order to allow it to live more easily in the world today.

When we first looked at this photo we thought it was an image of a beautiful tropical beach somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. To our surprise, this is actually a picture of a geyser from a national park in Iceland.

It’s almost hard to believe that this isn’t an aerial view of a beach. The only clue that it isn’t is the line of green algae that is growing where the water meets the shore, more indicative of a geyser.

Imagine stepping outside and finding this on your front lawn. We’d likely think that it was the hand of some horrifying monster that had somehow been left right before our very eyes.

There’s no doubt that the white part of this looks like claws, the likes of which could do some serious damage if they were ever able to wrap around its prey. What this actually is though is a horseradish, that has somehow sprouted several heads at one time.

Just looking at this photo makes us want to sink our teeth into a delicious chocolate donut. Although we can tell from the photo on the right that there is something off about this particular donut.

Either this donut is unusually big, or this guy is shopping at a bakery that caters primarily to giants. The truth is that neither is correct, and what this actually is is a strange mushroom whose colors somehow look like a tasty doughy treat.

It’s difficult to surmise what’s going on here without actually being told what’s happening. When we first saw it, we thought that someone had dropped a bunch of feathers in front of the camera.

The person who posted it wrote that they thought it looked as if a flock of birds were going after his garage door. What it actually is is the ice that has frozen on this person’s car windshield, giving it a strange yet beautiful dancing effect.

This incredibly picturesque moment looks too perfect to be real life. But, like many things, the truth can be more surprising than the story itself. Even though this looks like someone hung a lovely photo on their wall, it’s actually a real-life window from the inside of a barn.

It’s unclear where this barn is, but it certainly is in a lovely part of the world. Imagine waking up every morning and getting to see this unbelievably gorgeous view.

Many consider Yosemite National Park in California to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Containing huge granite mountains, lush towering forests, and picturesque rivers and lakes, the place has long been a draw for adventurers, tourists, and many others who eagerly flock to experience its beauty.

This moment, captured on camera, shows how there’s always something new to discover at this place, as this person managed to capture what looked like a stream becoming a waterfall.

Here’s something that’s so spooky that even though the photo was taken in the day time it still manages to send shivers down our spine. The image in the foreground of the photo is clearly a log, but upon second glance, it seems to also have a face, which appears to be wearing a hood.

It’s a terrifying image, but imagine if it were night time and you shone a flashlight on this thing – we’d probably run away while screaming.

How could it be possible that this photo wasn’t taken during the day? One look and it would seem obvious that whoever took this photo, took it during daylight or at the very least evening hours. In fact, this photo really was taken at night.

The photographer and their friend had gone outside to watch the lightning storm taking place in front of their house and happened to take a photo just as a bolt of lightning happened to strike.

Here’s a photo that would give anyone scared of the ocean even more nightmares. Looking at this photo it seems as though we’re seeing some monstrous fish about to eat the diver for nothing more than a midday snack.

Fear not though, it’s not a giant man-eating fish, but rather the bow of a sunken ship being explored by a pair of divers. What’s grown on this ship is algae, meaning that in a way it is actually alive.

This photo manages to be both beautiful and strange at the same time. Two skyscrapers next to each other manage to give the impression that they are sharing energy with one another when in reality it probably has something to do with the lens of the photographer.

It could also be that the building on the right is stealing all the energy from the building on the left, no doubt in order to get one step closer to world domination.

We’ve all heard of food trucks but few of us have seen a pastry truck with so many beautiful baked goods being displayed on shelves from the inside of a vehicle.

What’s actually going on here is that the reflection on the glass of this coffee shop’s pastry section gives this truck the unusual appearance of having various pies and other treats for sale from its trunk. While it’s not real, it is giving us a pretty good business idea.

The first time we saw this photo our jaws dropped in horror. It looked like someone’s family pet had died and they’d decided to mount its head on their walls! What kind of people would do such a thing to a poor puppy?

In fact, the truth is much less sad than that, and actually rather cute. This dog is actually sitting on a beige carpet and just happens to be looking up as it patiently waits for a treat.

Don’t say that we didn’t warn you if you think about walking along this pathway. Why might that be the case you ask? Well, this isn’t actually a pathway, what this is is a stream that has had so many leaves fall on it that it looks like solid ground.

Hopefully, in real life, this stream is actually moving so that people can clearly see that it’s liquid. If not, then hopefully they have a towel waiting in their cars.

This seems like one of those photos that the government might try and confiscate so that they can tell everyone that it was a hoax. What appears to be Godzilla smashing his way through this town is actually a lizard that is crawling on someone’s windshield as they drive along the road.

But with the clouds framing him in the background, this is one perfect shot. But we hope they stopped and helped this poor lizard off of their windshield.

It’s amazing how in nature, things can form such beautiful and familiar shapes all on their own. This rock, frozen in ice, was next to a river of running water, which allowed the ice to be slowly eroded and form into lovely shapes.

This one in particular looks almost exactly like a human heart and, based on experts, seems to be about the same size as one more or less. Of course, it could always belong to something else…

Anyone who’s been camping understands the importance of bringing plenty of firewood. Not only because watching the fire dance around is something that is weirdly mesmerizing for people to look at, but it’s an important source of warmth and how else are you going to make smores?

The firewood here actually came from a pallet, and it has been burnt in such a way that it seems like part of it is a group of birds gazing at the fire.

Yet again we have what appears to be a scenic photo hanging on a wall. What this actually is, is a window, and the person standing on the other side is taking a picture of what is actually happening outside.

Unlike the previous photo, we know that this is in the Australian Outback, although exactly where in the Outback is a bit of a mystery. It was taken from inside an old ruin though, one that had a spectacular view.

This looks like something that would appear in a J.R.R. Tolkien book – some mythical or magical creature that just burst out of the ground. What gives it an even eerier effect is that the forest that it’s in is completely fogged in.

Unfortunately for fans of the fantasy genre, this isn’t some magical creature emerging out of the forest floor. It’s just some grass growing over a stump. Something to watch out for on the Faroe Islands.

What looks like it could be something like concrete or cement under a microscope is actually something much bigger. Rather than being a microscopic look at the world, this strange grey pattern is actually an aerial view of New Delhi, the capital of India.

Although from this view, New Delhi seems like a very unattractive city, it is actually home to some of the most beautiful buildings in the entire country including the Lotus Temple, India Gate, and Humayun’s Tomb.

It was popular for a lot of people as children to lay on their backs outside and look at clouds passing by, remarking on how many of them took the shapes of everyday objects. Heck, with how busy the world is today that’s something we’d all love to be doing now!

Few clouds ever seemed to take on as much detail and precise shape as this one right here, which looks like a wave that’s about to crash on those mountains.

How crazy does this photo look right here? The light inside the clouds has formed an almost perfect circle with an exact geometric pattern underneath, giving us the impression that we’re looking at a massive UFO coming in for a landing.

Unfortunately, meteorologists decided to burst our collective bubble by saying that what’s happening here is light reflecting off the clouds to create the shape of an alien spacecraft. Although with recent Pentagon admissions about UAVs, who knows what’s happening?

Looking into this rock it almost seems like it’s a tiny, frozen slice of the ocean. As much as we’d like to wish that was true, it’s actually a gem called an Ethiopian Welo Opal new gem.

Named after the Wollo Province in northern Ethiopia, these beautiful gems have made Ethiopian opals some of the most desired in the world. The strange light patterns within the opals are just absorbed water particles, with this one having a uniquely beautiful design.

If anyone has ever wondered what a sculpture of a US Navy ship might look like, here it is. Clearly it has become something of a tourist attraction as these two kayakers have stopped to take a picture of this rock shaped ship.

What’s remarkable as well is that the rock ship here seems to have been built to scale similar to that of a ship. This shows that whatever we can do, nature can do just as better than people.

This was taken by a tourist in Tokyo who, when looking out their window, might have thought that they were so high up in the air that they were getting an aerial view of the sprawling city.

The truth is that this person was much closer to the ground, and the city that they thought they were looking at was actually a cemetery. The tombstones are differently shaped than what we’re used to in the States, and decorated with plants.

What appears to be nothing more than another landscape painting, is actually something much more authentic. This image is actually a photograph taken from the Namib-Naukluft National Park on the west coast of Namibia between the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of what is called the Great Escarpment.

Boasting a diverse array of plant and animal life, this park is considered to be the largest in Africa and the fourth largest in the world, making it an obvious tourist destination.

If it seemed to you like this is a bad computer rendering of the real world, think again. This is a real-life photo of a parking lot in Hawaii on a day when objects show no shadows. The reason for this is because, at a certain time of the day twice a year, the sun is directly overhead.

Scientists even have a name for days like these: they’re called zero shadow days, and it’s something that’s remarkable to see.

Upon first glance, you might be tempted to believe that whoever made this bag knows a thing or two about working with needle and thread. Or, more likely, there are two cats sitting really still in the bag.

We can confirm that the reality is, in fact, the latter. The person who posted this photo on Reddit wrote the following caption: “Our two cats look like they were cross-stitched onto the carrier.” Sometimes, something is so good to be true, because it is.

Looking at this image reminds us of going to an astronomy museum to look at the incredible nebula floating in space. A nebula is the resulting cloud of dust and chemicals that are left after a star explodes. But this isn’t that.

Rather, if you look at the bottom of the picture it’s obvious that there’s smoke coming out of something burning. This was actually a firework display that was captured on film at one perfect moment.

If you thought that the wave in the sky was remarkable, then this photo is truly something out of this world. When we first saw this photo we were convinced that it had to have been photoshopped.

After all, when has anyone seen clouds looking so perfectly like an ocean on a stormy night? The truth is that it just happens to be coincidental, this is an actual cloud formation looking like some moving liquid.

Here’s something that looks too incredible to be real. But if there’s one thing that we’ve learned from all these photos is that you don’t need human beings in order to make something beautiful. Nature can do all of that all by itself.

Here is a perfect example of that, sitting just above this forest is the perfect combination of cloud and light. These clouds look like they could either be rolling sand dunes, or ocean waves that are calmly flowing.

Upon first glance, this looks like some sort of exotic caterpillar that is slowly making its way along this stick. But once you take a moment and zoom out, it’s obvious that this isn’t one creature, but nine!

Rather than being bugs, it’s nine birds that are all sitting on this branch incredibly close to one another. Maybe for warmth, maybe for comfort. Either way, together they all manage to look like something much bigger than just one of them.

Looking at this, we think everyone could agree that it looks like a slice of the sky that has fallen to the Earth. All the times anyone has wished they could capture a slice of the sunset and take it home with them, this is their chance.

That’s not what it really is though, what it is is yet another incredible opal, which has soaked in water. That water is able to reflect light in various colors creating incredible images.

If you haven’t caught on by now, every time something on this list looks like an aerial shot of what should be something massive – it’s not. This picture is no different. It looks like we’re looking down at a tropical island from an airplane or helicopter, but the truth is far more surprising.

In reality, this is nothing more than a small, mossy rock sitting in the middle of a frozen lake giving the impressions of waves splashing onshore.

If we were walking by this house one morning and saw this through the second story window we would probably panic and immediately call the fire department. So why, after they got there, would the fire department be so annoyed that we called them?

The reason is that this isn’t actually a fire. Instead, it’s the reflection of the sun rising from behind a tree. We guess next time we should’ve stopped and double-checked if there was any smoke rising.

Before the concept of Godzilla ever came to fruition filmmakers had another creature in mind, the giant lobster who would descend from space in order to take over the world.

Okay so none of that is actually true, but that was definitely the first thing that came to our minds when we first saw this photo. In reality, this is nothing more than a lobster sitting at the bottom of a bucket. But that reflection does look like North America.

How strange would it be if this anteater happened to find a barrel of some radioactive fluid, stuck his front leg in, and by the time he pulled it out it had transformed into a panda?

We’re guessing that’s not what happened although if someone wants to make a comic book about that please contact us. We’d love to talk. The reality is sadly much more boring. It’s front leg just has a strange hair pattern which completely surprised us.

It’s photos like these that make people, in part at least, doubt UFOs. Not because they don’t look real. This one looks just like a UFO about to beam somebody up to their alien spacecraft, but because at the end of the day most of them are easily explainable.

In this particular instance, it’s a car door that has tricked our eyes into thinking we’re looking at a UFO. Between the rain and the reflection, it makes for a convincing image.

Just looking at this blue curved image right here, it does seem as if we are getting a satellite’s view of the Earth from above. But upon second glance, we can see that above the curve, there’s a brick wall so clearly we’re not looking at the Earth.

What we’re actually looking at is the roof of a car that has frost on it. The frost gives the “water” that uneven look and it’s completed by the ray of light.

Looking at this picture, we’re reminded of all those pictures of apartments that we’ve seen that we can’t afford. The architecture seems so unique, modern, and well put together that we can easily imagine one of our favorite celebrities purchasing a place like this in order to host fancy cocktail parties.

What it actually is is the inside of a guitar, and upon second glance we can see the guitar strings above the opening. Not sure we can afford it though.

This is a terrifying image and something that looks like it belongs in a Gothic museum somewhere in Europe. Yet once again, mother nature is able to create something of stunning beauty that human beings can only marvel at.

This is actually a real life, active lava pit, and the strange-looking images that look like human bodies are thankfully not actually that. It’s cooled lava that was stopped in its place while trying to flow into the pit.

This is a lovely and serene image and looks like a picture of the night sky. If you wanted to know what it actually is, you’d have to point your camera not up, but down. This is actually the reflection of a puddle, which has managed to look like a night sky.

It seems like pollen or some other plant residue has fallen onto the puddle which gives us the impression we’re looking at billions of stars in the sky.

Currently, scientists are scouring our galaxy to find any planets that are “Earth-like” in nature. This means the same size, a solid planet, that’s in a star system similar to our own and just at the right spot for water to exist in its liquid form.

This looks like it could be a list of those discovered planets. However, it’s actually the bottoms of frying pans that have been used and burnt, creating these incredibly beautiful images.