Like a Branch Over Troubled Water

What do the smell of alcohol prep pads, Tyler Perry movies and orange traffic barrels all have in common? They all cause a sharp, stress-induced rise in my blood pressure. However, while my issues with getting a shot and awful filmmaking will probably never go away, I've now realized that construction around here isn't so bad - at least, by comparison to construction in Meghalaya.

Do you know how long it takes them to build a bridge in Meghalaya? Do you even know where Meghalaya is? That's ok, neither did I. But now we can both know that it's in India, and a bridge there can take up to 15 years to make.

Why? Because their bridges are made of trees. Check it out:

In this little Indian city (with a population of over 2 million people), they get over 15 meters (20,000 leagues) of rain every year, so traditional wooden bridges will rot. So the people train the roots of trees to grow across chasms and over rivers to make these "living bridges." The bad news is that these types of bridges can take 10 to 15 years to become fully ready to cross. The good news is that they get stronger with time - and they look like something out of Lord of the Rings, which is always a bonus.

Thanks to, alert reader, Ethan for sending this one in!