Funny Stuff

Open Sewers Of The World

2009-03-20T16:54:00.012+01:00

We have seen the interesting sewerages of Japan, Canada & Germany. But that's not the whole world. Here are some pictures of other parts of the world that shows the reality too. Just by closing the eyes the day doesn't turn to night.

We did receive a lot of comments when Japanese sewers were posted, some said its like space ship while others said it looks like a sci-fi inspiration gallery, like something out of The Fifth Element, like levels on Halo & all, now lets see what you got to say on these sewers where humans are staying in inhuman conditions.

Sewage runs in the streets of Ramadi.
In the countryside there is enough space for simple sanitation methods to work well.

open sewerLane with open sewer. The photo was taken in Georgetown, Penang Island, Malaysia by Oliver Laumann.

open sewer in mumbai indiaIn the Dharavi in India, a girl stands by an open sewer. Photo: Stephanie Colvey/CIDA-ACDI .

In Karachi, Pakistan, an open sewer running along the lane.
Kids playing near an open sewer in PRC.
Bangkok's canal network is both a transportation system & an open sewer.

open sewer in Bangkok 1 Open sewer running beside the market fruit stalls Bangkok.
Open Sewer in Accra.
Lots of people share the same toilet, & open sewers run through the streets, Kamwokya in Uganda.
Open sewer in Elubo Ghana Market.
An open sewer on the outskirts of Basra.
An open sewer overflows a walkway in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in West Africa

An open sewer near Belen's central plaza, Peruvian, Amazon Basin.

open sewer in kinshasaOpen sewers running in residential area in Kinshasa

In I.T capital of India.

open sewer in india An open drain in another city ( near Ondipudur) of India.
This is an open drain & not a river, Mysore India.

Japanese Creepy Bentou

2009-03-17T10:45:00.004+01:00

Creepy Japanese Bentou (Japanese lunch box) from a Japanese bentou maker. The creepy atmosphere would definitely affect my food eating mood if I were to eat one.

Birth Of A Scorpion

2009-03-16T18:29:00.004+01:00

Scorpions give birth to its babies through an opening near its featherlike structures underneath its body. The mother might eat its own babies if it is stressed too much during birth. The babies at birth bears an all white colored body and they ride on the back of their mother for the first week or so.

TOP 10 Bad Side Dishes for the Holidays

2009-03-15T17:41:00.011+01:00

10: BBQ Beetles
Crunchy, tasty treats with that tangy barbecue taste we all love.

9: RATS

Truly a classic. Rats can be served many ways, one of the more popular is boiled then lightly grilled.

8: ESCAMOLES

The larvae of ants harvested from the roots of the agave plant in Mexico. Considered a delicacy and sometimes referred to as “insect caviar”.

7: GRILLED SPIDER

A popular snack along the banks of the Tonle Sap. Just throw the tarantula on the grill and enjoy.

6: KOPI LUWAK

Coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the cat-sized mammal called the Asian Palm Civet. Also known as…Poop Berries.

5: HASMA

Hasma is frog ovaries, or more precisely, the fallopian tubes of the hermaphrodite frog. Served as a delicious soup.

4: WATERBUG CHILI PASTE

Nothing says down-home chili like Asian waterbugs in paste form.

3: WITCHETTY GRUB

Australian grubs, ready to eat. An aboriginal favorite.

2: BABY TURTLES

“I like turtles.” But not enough to eat them live as recently seen on Survivor.

1: BALUT

The ever popular fertilized duck egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell.
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Beware Of The Monkeys

2009-03-14T17:16:00.001+01:00

Funny viral from the Institution of Engineering and Techynology, UK.

We have Shared Bikes, Why Not Scooters?

2009-03-13T12:20:00.005+01:00

Here is an idea that builds on the idea of bike-share but takes up a lot less space: Shared electric scooters.

It is another wonderful entry in the Australian Design Awards competition, by Anton Grimes of the University of New South Wales. He writes:

The Link scooter system is designed as a modular transport solution that can be retrofitted to existing Streetscape Smart Poles. It allows users to hire a small lightweight electronic scooter from a hub and ride to the desired destination and then return the scooter to another hub, where it is recharged. The use of existing light poles reduces the cost of the unit and provides strong anchors that carry both telecommunications and power to the hub. The device was designed to suit the Sydney 2030 plan to reduce cars in the CBD and make the city more pedestrian oriented.

I would have thought that scooters are not as safe as bicycles, and indeed the designer has thought about this, noting that

"The speed of the scooter is limited to 16km/h and the user is issued with a helmet that they must wear when they register to use the system. Users are required to comply with existing cycling and road rules. "

It is so inconspicuous, folded up and attached to the lamp-post. If we could all learn to ride the things without getting ourselves or pedestrians killed the benefits are significant:

With increasing demand on an already over-stretched transport infrastructure it makes sense to shift the way that we move, by taking up less space per individual while in transit. The energy required to move the individual is also greatly reduced by reducing the size and weight of the vehicle.
The device also removes direct emissions away from the city and with the addition of environmentally sustainable power generation off-site, the device has the potential to have no net emissions.

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Baby Animals

2009-03-09T17:27:00.017+01:00

A handout picture shows polar bear cub Flocke (snowflake) for the first time in her new outside enclosure, at the zoo in Nuremberg April 8, 2008. Flocke was separated from her mother Vera after officials at the Nuremberg zoo became concerned she might harm the cub.

Three baby meerkats cuddle in the cold at Bristol Zoo, April 4, 2008, in Bristol, England. The 4-week-old new arrivals -- two boys and a girl -- are being well looked after by four adult meerkats and are already proving a hit with visitors who can see them out in their enclosure more as the weather gets warmer. Meerkats are quite lively and sociable animals, carnivores and belong to the family of mongooses, but can only be found in Southern Africa.

A keeper holds one of five oriental small-clawed otter cubs after its first veterinary examination at the Veszprem Zoo, about 67 miles southwest of Budapest, Hungary. All five cubs born to 6-year-old Nora are female. The cubs are less than 8 inches and weigh less than 7.4 ounces.

A Biblical Zoo employee plays with Sylvester, an 8-week-old Sumatran tiger cub in Jerusalem Feb. 24, 2009. The zoo's veterinarians have raised Sylvester, ever since his mother abandoned him. The Sumatran tiger is an endangered species, according to the zoo's spokesperson, and there are only about 400 Sumatrans still living in the wild.

One-month-old elephant twins play around their mother's leg at an elephant breeding center in Chitwan Dec. 6, 2008. The pair, born to a 30-year-old elephant, are Nepal's first jumbo elephant twins. Authorities celebrate the twins as a conservation success, as elephants are protected by law in the Himalayan nation.

Molly, a 3-day-old baby giraffe, is bottle-fed by neonatal veterinarian technician Maggie Underwood at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton, Mass., Feb. 26, 2009. The female calf, at 5 feet tall and 86 pounds, is being nursed with cow's milk because its mother cannot produce milk of her own. Molly was born at Southwick Zoo in nearby Mendon and is doing quite well, according to her caretakers, though she is still at risk for infection.

This baby male gorilla meets the press for the first time Feb. 12, 2009. He was born Dec. 8, 2008, at the San Francisco Zoo and now weighs 11.3 pounds. Have a good idea for his name? The zoo announced a global "Name the Baby" contest, as well as an online gift registry for its newest arrival. To participate, go to sfzoo.org. The zoo is hand-rearing the gorilla while training a female gorilla to be his surrogate mom, after the birth mother showed no interest in the newborn.

Zookeeper Renae Zammit holds Monifa, a 3-week-old pygmy hippopotamus, in her enclosure at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, Nov. 7, 2008. Monifa was born Oct. 15 after a difficult breech birth.

Nineteen-day-old male ox Heart, born with a heart-shaped marking on his forehead, relaxes at Yamakun Farm in Fujisawa, near Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. Farm owner Kazunori Yamazaki, 51, said, "Good timing for Valentine."

A Red Panda cub born this year at Fuzhou Panda World pushes a toy cart on Sept. 10, 2008, in Fuzhou, Fujian province, China. Of the ten Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) cubs bred at the research center this year, including two sets of triplets and one pair of twins, the eight surviving cubs were shown to the public for the first time today.

A 4-week-old baby lion wanders around its enclosure with its mother at a zoo in the western German city of Dortmund Feb. 18, 2009. It has been two years since the zoo has experienced the birth of baby lions.

A baby koala clings to its mother's back in the koala enclosure at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Friday, Sept. 26, 2008. It was national Save the Koala Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about the dwindling numbers of the animal in the wild.

A Langur infant is seen in the zoo in Hanover, northern Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, where two Langurs were born during the last three weeks. Langurs predominantly feed leaves and the Hanover zoo freezes leaves in summer to feed to the Langurs during winter time.

A caregiver looks after twin giant panda cubs, the first twins delivered this year at the Bifengxia base of the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Yaan in Sichuan province, China, Oct. 24, 2008. Following the traditional Chinese custom, the center held a naming ceremony for the twin cubs 100 days after their birth. Thirteen giant pandas have been born at the base this year.

Three eleven week old Siberian Tiger cubs, Sayan, Altai, and Altay with mum Nika at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Bekesbourne, England, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008. Siberian tigers feature in the top 10 of the world's most endangered creatures. The three cubs have been named after mountain ranges in Siberia.

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Sculpta Sutra

2009-03-09T16:21:00.007+01:00

If you like to spend most of your time in the bedroom practicing your kinky gymnastics, then chances are you know every move there is! You've got all the books, and watched all the videos, but there just doesn't seem to be anything new for you to try.

The only way to bring a few new ideas to the boudoir is to get childishly scientific! It's safety first with the Sculpta Sutra Kama Sutra guide; before you do yourself a mischief, run a few tests and build some models to assess the outcome of your wild ideas!

With the Sulpta Sutra, you are supplied with all the bits and bobs to make your own duo of flexible characters - one of you, one of your prospective partner. Just place them in the little bedroom you get with the kit and either use the guide to discover some new, fun sexual positions, or just use your characters to think up a few new ones to add to the list!

Once you've catalogued a big list of everything you've worked out with the Sculpta Sutra set, the real fun can begin! Throw your notebook aside and make your way to the bedroom to put everything into practice!

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The World's Most Expensive Bike

2009-03-04T13:33:00.012+01:00

Swarovski Crystal and 24k Gold Plated Bike Is The World's Most Expensive
I realize that blogging about 24 karat plated, crystal adorned bicycles during the United States present economic climate is nothing short of obnoxious. But it doesn't detract from the perverse fascination I have for these sort of luxury items. And this one is a doozy. And costs $102,418.60 USD

above: Each bike is hand built, plated with 24 carat gold and hand-adorned with more than 600 Swarovski crystals.

The limited to ten, the crystal and gold bike was created by a company named Aurumania, whose self-proclaimed purpose is to conceive of and design items with the extravagant use of gold, thereby turning familiar objects into collectible art. Their collection thus far consists of fifty 24 karat gold plated bikes, a gold plated bike rack and the special Swarovski crystal adorned 24 karat plated version. As one would expect for these prices, their products are hand delivered anywhere in the world.

the details:

These 10 limited-edition bikes represent a cornucopia of delights for any feinschmecker.

The designers have employed all the classic principles in their overall appearance, and every detail has been under careful consideration.

The handlebar grips (above) are made of hand-sewn, chocolate-brown leather and a moulded Brooks leather saddle (below) provides the right nostalgic touch.

The Aurumania logo appears stylishly and enticingly on the crossbar (below). A limited edition number is discreetly embossed with gold leaf and set into a leather badge, placed prominently on the front of the bike.

To ensure potential buyers the greatest possible degree of discretion, these gold bikes are exclusively available via www.aurumania.com and they are delivered to the buyer personally using a White Glove service, in a specially designed package that exudes extreme luxury on par with the golden bike inside.

Of course, they have a matching gold and crystal wall mountable rack for the bike:

Pricing:

The crystals a little bit too much for you? Don't fret, they've made 50 of the gold plated bikes without the Swarovski Crystal adornments. These too, have the leather Brooks saddle and hand sewn leather handles.

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Do these mysterious stones mark the site of the Garden of Eden?

2009-03-02T11:12:00.010+01:00

For the old Kurdish shepherd, it was just another burning hot day in the rolling plains of eastern Turkey. Following his flock over the arid hillsides, he passed the single mulberry tree, which the locals regarded as 'sacred'. The bells on his sheep tinkled in the stillness. Then he spotted something. Crouching down, he brushed away the dust, and exposed a strange, large, oblong stone.

The man looked left and right: there were similar stone rectangles, peeping from the sands. Calling his dog to heel, the shepherd resolved to inform someone of his finds when he got back to the village. Maybe the stones were important.

They certainly were important. The solitary Kurdish man, on that summer's day in 1994, had made the greatest archaeological discovery in 50 years. Others would say he'd made the greatest archaeological discovery ever: a site that has revolutionised the way we look at human history, the origin of religion - and perhaps even the truth behind the Garden of Eden.

The site has been described as 'extraordinary' and 'the most important' site in the world

A few weeks after his discovery, news of the shepherd's find reached museum curators in the ancient city of Sanliurfa, ten miles south-west of the stones.

They got in touch with the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul. And so, in late 1994, archaeologist Klaus Schmidt came to the site of Gobekli Tepe (pronounced Go-beckly Tepp-ay) to begin his excavations.

As he puts it: 'As soon as I got there and saw the stones, I knew that if I didn't walk away immediately I would be here for the rest of my life.'

Remarkable find: A frieze from Gobekli Tepe

Schmidt stayed. And what he has uncovered is astonishing. Archaeologists worldwide are in rare agreement on the site's importance. 'Gobekli Tepe changes everything,' says Ian Hodder, at Stanford University.

David Lewis-Williams, professor of archaeology at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, says: 'Gobekli Tepe is the most important archaeological site in the world.'

Some go even further and say the site and its implications are incredible. As Reading University professor Steve Mithen says: 'Gobekli Tepe is too extraordinary for my mind to understand.'

So what is it that has energised and astounded the sober world of academia?

The site of Gobekli Tepe is simple enough to describe. The oblong stones, unearthed by the shepherd, turned out to be the flat tops of awesome, T-shaped megaliths. Imagine carved and slender versions of the stones of Avebury or Stonehenge.

Most of these standing stones are inscribed with bizarre and delicate images - mainly of boars and ducks, of hunting and game. Sinuous serpents are another common motif. Some of the megaliths show crayfish or lions.

The stones seem to represent human forms - some have stylised 'arms', which angle down the sides. Functionally, the site appears to be a temple, or ritual site, like the stone circles of Western Europe.

To date, 45 of these stones have been dug out - they are arranged in circles from five to ten yards across - but there are indications that much more is to come. Geomagnetic surveys imply that there are hundreds more standing stones, just waiting to be excavated.

So far, so remarkable. If Gobekli Tepe was simply this, it would already be a dazzling site - a Turkish Stonehenge. But several unique factors lift Gobekli Tepe into the archaeological stratosphere - and the realms of the fantastical.

The Garden of Eden come to life: Is Gobekli Tepe where the story began?

The first is its staggering age. Carbon-dating shows that the complex is at least 12,000 years old, maybe even 13,000 years old.

That means it was built around 10,000BC. By comparison, Stonehenge was built in 3,000 BC and the pyramids of Giza in 2,500 BC.

Gobekli is thus the oldest such site in the world, by a mind-numbing margin. It is so old that it predates settled human life. It is pre-pottery, pre-writing, pre-everything. Gobekli hails from a part of human history that is unimaginably distant, right back in our hunter-gatherer past.

How did cavemen build something so ambitious? Schmidt speculates that bands of hunters would have gathered sporadically at the site, through the decades of construction, living in animal-skin tents, slaughtering local game for food.

The many flint arrowheads found around Gobekli support this thesis; they also support the dating of the site.

This revelation, that Stone Age hunter-gatherers could have built something like Gobekli, is worldchanging, for it shows that the old hunter-gatherer life, in this region of Turkey, was far more advanced than we ever conceived - almost unbelievably sophisticated.

The shepherd who discovered Gobekli Tepe has 'changed everything', said one academic

It's as if the gods came down from heaven and built Gobekli for themselves.

This is where we come to the biblical connection, and my own involvement in the Gobekli Tepe story.

About three years ago, intrigued by the first scant details of the site, I flew out to Gobekli. It was a long, wearying journey, but more than worth it, not least as it would later provide the backdrop for a new novel I have written.

Back then, on the day I arrived at the dig, the archaeologists were unearthing mind-blowing artworks. As these sculptures were revealed, I realised that I was among the first people to see them since the end of the Ice Age.

And that's when a tantalising possibility arose. Over glasses of black tea, served in tents right next to the megaliths, Klaus Schmidt told me that, in his opinion, this very spot was once the site of the biblical Garden of Eden. More specifically, as he put it: 'Gobekli Tepe is a temple in Eden.'

To understand how a respected academic like Schmidt can make such a dizzying claim, you need to know that many scholars view the Eden story as folk-memory, or allegory.

Seen in this way, the Eden story, in Genesis, tells us of humanity's innocent and leisured hunter-gatherer past, when we could pluck fruit from the trees, scoop fish from the rivers and spend the rest of our days in pleasure.

But then we 'fell' into the harsher life of farming, with its ceaseless toil and daily grind. And we know primitive farming was harsh, compared to the relative indolence of hunting, because of the archaeological evidence.

To date, archaeologists have dug 45 stones out of the ruins at Gobekli

When people make the transition from hunter-gathering to settled agriculture, their skeletons change - they temporarily grow smaller and less healthy as the human body adapts to a diet poorer in protein and a more wearisome lifestyle. Likewise, newly domesticated animals get scrawnier.

This begs the question, why adopt farming at all? Many theories have been suggested - from tribal competition, to population pressures, to the extinction of wild animal species. But Schmidt believes that the temple of Gobekli reveals another possible cause.

'To build such a place as this, the hunters must have joined together in numbers. After they finished building, they probably congregated for worship. But then they found that they couldn't feed so many people with regular hunting and gathering.

'So I think they began cultivating the wild grasses on the hills. Religion motivated people to take up farming.'

The reason such theories have special weight is that the move to farming first happened in this same region. These rolling Anatolian plains were the cradle of agriculture.

The world's first farmyard pigs were domesticated at Cayonu, just 60 miles away. Sheep, cattle and goats were also first domesticated in eastern Turkey. Worldwide wheat species descend from einkorn wheat - first cultivated on the hills near Gobekli. Other domestic cereals - such as rye and oats - also started here.

The stones unearthed by the shepherd turned out to be the flat tops of T-shaped megaliths

But there was a problem for these early farmers, and it wasn't just that they had adopted a tougher, if ultimately more productive, lifestyle. They also experienced an ecological crisis. These days the landscape surrounding the eerie stones of Gobekli is arid and barren, but it was not always thus. As the carvings on the stones show - and as archaeological remains reveal - this was once a richly pastoral region.

There were herds of game, rivers of fish, and flocks of wildfowl; lush green meadows were ringed by woods and wild orchards. About 10,000 years ago, the Kurdish desert was a 'paradisiacal place', as Schmidt puts it. So what destroyed the environment? The answer is Man.

As we began farming, we changed the landscape and the climate. When the trees were chopped down, the soil leached away; all that ploughing and reaping left the land eroded and bare. What was once an agreeable oasis became a land of stress, toil and diminishing returns.

And so, paradise was lost. Adam the hunter was forced out of his glorious Eden, 'to till the earth from whence he was taken' - as the Bible puts it.

Of course, these theories might be dismissed as speculations. Yet there is plenty of historical evidence to show that the writers of the Bible, when talking of Eden, were, indeed, describing this corner of Kurdish Turkey.

Archaeologist Klaus Schmidt poses next to some of the carvings at Gebekli

In the Book of Genesis, it is indicated that Eden is west of Assyria. Sure enough, this is where Gobekli is sited.

Likewise, biblical Eden is by four rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates. And Gobekli lies between both of these.

In ancient Assyrian texts, there is mention of a 'Beth Eden' - a house of Eden. This minor kingdom was 50 miles from Gobekli Tepe.

Another book in the Old Testament talks of 'the children of Eden which were in Thelasar', a town in northern Syria, near Gobekli.

The very word 'Eden' comes from the Sumerian for 'plain'; Gobekli lies on the plains of Harran.

Thus, when you put it all together, the evidence is persuasive. Gobekli Tepe is, indeed, a 'temple in Eden', built by our leisured and fortunate ancestors - people who had time to cultivate art, architecture and complex ritual, before the traumas of agriculture ruined their lifestyle, and devastated their paradise.

It's a stunning and seductive idea. Yet it has a sinister epilogue. Because the loss of paradise seems to have had a strange and darkening effect on the human mind.

Many of Gobekli's standing stones are inscribed with 'bizarre and delicate' images, like this reptile

A few years ago, archaeologists at nearby Cayonu unearthed a hoard of human skulls. They were found under an altar-like slab, stained with human blood.

No one is sure, but this may be the earliest evidence for human sacrifice: one of the most inexplicable of human behaviours and one that could have evolved only in the face of terrible societal stress.

Experts may argue over the evidence at Cayonu. But what no one denies is that human sacrifice took place in this region, spreading to Palestine, Canaan and Israel.

Archaeological evidence suggests that victims were killed in huge death pits, children were buried alive in jars, others roasted in vast bronze bowls.

These are almost incomprehensible acts, unless you understand that the people had learned to fear their gods, having been cast out of paradise. So they sought to propitiate the angry heavens.

This savagery may, indeed, hold the key to one final, bewildering mystery. The astonishing stones and friezes of Gobekli Tepe are preserved intact for a bizarre reason.

Long ago, the site was deliberately and systematically buried in a feat of labour every bit as remarkable as the stone carvings.

The stones of Gobekli Tepe are trying to speak to us from across the centuries - a warning we should heed

Around 8,000 BC, the creators of Gobekli turned on their achievement and entombed their glorious temple under thousands of tons of earth, creating the artificial hills on which that Kurdish shepherd walked in 1994.

No one knows why Gobekli was buried. Maybe it was interred as a kind of penance: a sacrifice to the angry gods, who had cast the hunters out of paradise. Perhaps it was for shame at the violence and bloodshed that the stone-worship had helped provoke.

Whatever the answer, the parallels with our own era are stark. As we contemplate a new age of ecological turbulence, maybe the silent, sombre, 12,000-year-old stones of Gobekli Tepe are trying to speak to us, to warn us, as they stare across the first Eden we destroyed.

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How to Avoid Looking Like an American Tourist

2009-03-01T15:55:00.002+01:00

As an American traveling in a foreign country, the last thing you want to do is stand out like a sore thumb. Not only do you have a greater chance of getting sucked into tourist traps, but you’re also a more obvious target for getting mugged or even kidnapped. So, are you aware of the things you do, say, and wear that make you look like the stereotypical tourist?

Steps:

Clothing

1. Ditch the athletic shoes. White athletic shoes (otherwise referred to as tennis shoes, or sneakers) are stereotypically American. Any shoes that don’t look like they were meant for exercise will suffice. If you do wear socks, make sure they’re dark. Flip-flops are also very noticeable as American attire, unless you’re in a country like Brazil where Havaianas reign, or Australia or New Zealand where the Brazilian flip-flops are also ubiquitous.
2. Buy accessories at local stores, especially ones that you see the locals wearing, like scarves. Sometimes not wearing something could signal that you are a tourist. For example, in some countries, hats or scarves are worn by the majority, or, in winter, most people might wear neck scarves. Also, head scarves in some religious establishments. It would be wise to research this in advance and be prepared to take something with you if you plan to visit religious places.
3. Avoid US brand name clothing with easily readable names (eg. Nike, Gap, Abercrombie, Patriotic, Texas A&M, etc.). In fact, don’t wear any slogans (like “Virginia is for lovers”) that will tie you to a specific place. Notoriously American brands are becoming more popular outside of the US due to globalisation, however, it’s still a good idea to stick to non-slogan clothing.
4. Dress a little nicer than usual. Casual dress (wearing sneakers, sweatshirts, t-shirts, jeans, or shorts (especially athletic shorts) instead of slacks or skirts with shirts or blouses) is not as common outside the US. Jeans are not universally accepted as appropriate in all social situations. Take some pairs of trousers or slacks in lieu of jeans. And don’t wear shorts, especially if you are a woman. Look around and see whether people tuck their shirts in, or leave them hanging out–sometimes this differs for men and women in the same country.
5. Dress appropriately for the local weather. Shorts and a t-shirt in cool climates (or winter time) are a clear sign that you are not in touch with the local weather.
6. Camouflage. What colors do the locals wear? Mostly black and other neutral shades, like in London, or bright, bold colors like in the Caribbean? Wear colors that you see the locals wearing. Your hot pink sweater vest or bright blue collared shirt might be fashionable in Minneapolis, but it won’t fly in Budapest.
7. Leave your baseball hats, backpack and water bottles at home
Food

1. Take whatever condiments they give you. Requesting typical US condiments (ketchup, salt, pepper, etc.) is a sure giveaway that you are an American tourist. Use the typical condiments in your host country, and if you don’t like them or can’t bear to eat without your American condiments, bring your own. Take small packets with you to use rather than insisting that the restaurant supply you with it.
2. Give up the ice. In many parts of the world, you will be served your drinks with little or no ice - much less than you’re accustomed to in the US. Of course, if you want ice in your drink because that’s how you prefer it and you’re paying for it, you’re perfectly entitled to ask for it…but the point of this article is to help you avoid being labeled as an American, and requesting ice is a definite giveaway, and be warned, the drinking water of some other countries aren’t as safe as the water back at home… the water in the glass might be filtered, but the ice sometimes isn’t, and with that you can get a bad case of food poisoning.
3. Eat local food. Many American tourists visit US chain restaurants for every meal, afraid to dabble in the local cuisine, but becoming a regular at the local McDonald’s and Pizza Hut will tip everyone off that you’re an American really quickly.
4. Use local table manners. For example, in Europe, a fork and knife are used differently than in the US. In some Southeast Asian nations chopsticks might be more appropriate.
5. Order like a local. In some countries, for instance, a salad is the last item served, not the first. In others, people don’t eat what we in the US think of as a “salad”.
6. Don’t request decaf unless you can see in the menu that it is offered.
7. Don’t ask for a seat in the “non-smoking” section, unless you already know there is one.
8. Don’t insist on drinking “Coke” with every meal.

Behavior

1. Keep the map out of sight. Pulling out and looking at your map in a public space is a no-no. Study it before you leave your hotel, and if you do need to consult your map, step into a store or any other less public place. Have the maps pre-folded so they may be easily accessed and read. Same goes for other items:
* If you must use a dictionary to translate a sign or menu, be discrete. For example, copy down the words of the sign and move aside to a less public place to work out the translation.
* Don’t carry US newspapers, magazines or books in plain view.
2. Be quiet! Many Americans are recognized for being louder than is customary in other parts of the world. Large arm and hand movements and boisterous behavior should be avoided until you know how the locals act. Adults in many non-American cultures use lower voices in public places. Either way, you’re always better off being a little more reserved and quiet, at least for starters, than blasting onto a foreign scene with your vitality and making the wrong impression.
3. Don’t brag or be showy. When you pull things out of your bag in public to show your friends or family what you purchased, you might as well yell “I have money and I’m ready to spend it, unless you want to take it from me against my will!”
4. Avoid talking about the local people and culture. Something as seemingly harmless as “Oh, I just love the scarves here!” will mark you as a tourist. And don’t assume people can’t understand what you’re saying, just because you said it in English. In many parts of the world, people are taught to speak English along with their native language.
5. Mind your personal space. Not every country is as “spacious” as the US (unless you’re in New York City, where space is at a premium). When you’re at a counter, for example, don’t spread out your arms; when you’re sitting down on the bus or train, don’t stretch out your legs in a way that might get in someone’s way.
6. Hands in Pockets. If you are touring a religious place or a place of great national pride, it can be considered very disrespectful to have your hands in your pockets.
7. Don’t chew a lot of gum. It’s just not very common outside of the US, and even within the US, it’s a breach of etiquette under some circumstances.
8. Don’t wear your camera around your neck. When traveling to a foreign country, you are bound to take pictures. However, having a camera strap and wearing it around your neck for easy access is a sure way to look like a tourist. If you can, keep it in a pocket or in a purse and pull it out when needed.
9. Try to speak the language. Why not try to make an effort to speak the local language? It’s a sign of respect and appreciation of the local culture. Learn a few basic words like “Hello”, “Please” and “Thank you”. Nobody will mind if your accent is not perfect; the fact that you’ve been willing to speak their language, even when you could well have spoken yours, is a thing that many people appreciate in tourists.

Tips:

* These are only guidelines. You can do whatever you want as a tourist, but this article outlines some things you might want to avoid doing if fitting in and avoiding unwarranted attention is a concern.
* In the UK, most men wear closely-fitted, dark clothing. If you are visiting during winter months, a snugly-fitted jacket will help you blend in with the local crowd.
* Avoid baseball caps if possible.
* If you are travelling alone, especially a woman, buy the local newspaper and keep it under your arm when walking, or open it if on a bus or train.
* Always buy a pair of local shoes - especially what people wear for comfort.

Warnings:

* Don’t wear a fanny pack. They make you a ridiculously easy target for pickpockets. A pickpocket could unzip the fanny pack and effortlessly take out the contents without you being aware. Furthermore, fanny packs are outdated by a decade and look ridiculous.
* If you look different (like if you have different color skin, or are more overweight or underweight than everyone else) people are going to think you’re a tourist, or at least a foreigner, no matter what. But if you follow the steps above, hopefully they won’t think you’re a stereotypical American tourist, and they won’t treat you as such.
* It is best to wear your personal items such as money, ID, passport, credit card, etc. close to your body. You may not feel someone pulling objects out of your pocket. Inner pockets, or pockets on the front are easier to guard.
* Don’t hold your fork in your right hand. It makes Americans stand out from a distance no matter what they wear or which language they are speaking.

SOURCE

The Sea Gypsies of the Andaman Sea

2009-02-26T16:18:00.006+01:00

They may look like regular folks frolicking in the water on a hot summer’s day, but they’re really much more remarkable than that. They are the Moken, a group of about 2,000 to 3,000 people who are born, live and die traveling the Andaman Sea around Southern Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). Settling only during monsoon season, these “Sea Gypsies” live more than half the year in boats called kabang, each made from a single tree. They are master fishermen and expert divers, catching fish on spears with ease, while collecting a variety of other fruits of the sea by hand, such as sea cucumbers at low tide and shellfish at high tide.

Moken children learn how to swim before they can walk. The Moken can plunge to depths of 75 feet without any life support gear and can also lower their heart rates in order to hold their breaths for twice as long as other humans. And that’s not all: Swedish scientist Anna Gislen also found that Moken children have the power to constrict their pupils to tiny pinpoints when they’re in the water, enabling them to sharpen their sight and see much better underwater than the rest of us.

But how do they do it? At first, scientists thought that there might be some super-sighted genetic variation in play; after all, the Moken have been diving for hundreds of years. Perhaps, but Gislen’s studies with European children showed some pretty cool results - after four to six months of training, Swedish youngsters would automatically constrict their pupils when they came in contact with water, though not to the extent of the Moken children, who have been practising this exercise far longer.

With their almost superpower diving abilities, the Moken could easily exploit the sea, reaping more than they require to sell or trade, but they choose not to. They live simple, low-impact lives, never catching more than is required to survive. A peaceful and nonviolent people, the Moken treat everyone as family, sharing what they have and abstaining from the accumulation of worldly possessions.

To be sure, the Moken’s animist beliefs led them to worship the sea and respect its power. They know how to read the signs that the mighty ocean herself sends them, enabling them to find higher ground before anyone else knew that the 2004 Tsunami would hit.

Watch this interview with an old Moken about how they knew the tsunami was coming:

When asked how the Moken people knew that the tsunami would come, they speak of the Laboon, or the “wave that eats people,” a legend that has been passed down through the generations. Angry ancestral spirits bring on this “Big Wave,” but before it arrives, the sea recedes. Saleh Kalathalay, the village headman, recognized these signs before the 2004 Tsunami struck, and ran to warn everyone to move to higher ground to avoid the impending wave. Everyone was spared, except for one handicapped tribesman who was forgotten on the beach, and for this lapse of memory, the tribe believes it is cursed and will not rebuild their village in the same spot.

And although the Moken survived the devastating disaster of 2004, the traditional nomadic life and the knowledge of the sea that comes part and parcel with it, could soon be lost. Only about 1,000 Moken still lead the traditional life and the numbers continue to dwindle.

Until the 1980s, the Sea Gypsies were largely untouched by modern civilisation. With the influx of entrepreneurs and tourists over the past 30 years and pressure from government, some Sea Gypsies are being forced to settle in permanent villages. Moken men are overworked by Burmese fishermen, often dying from the bends after diving deep and resurfacing quickly. And military presence restricts free movement of the Moken, resulting in difficulties ranging from an inability for young people to find spouses to a lack of trading opportunities for staples such as rice.

Dire though the situation seems, there is still hope. Moken leaders continue to forge ahead to bring people together and pass down the stories and rituals that have enabled these people to live for so long in partnership with the sea. Certainly, the knowledge that the Sea Gypsies have passed on to the rest of the world is something we won’t soon forget.

SOURCE

Belive it or not !!!

2009-02-26T11:22:00.008+01:00

Believe It or Not!, an American vegetarian held 11 Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches in his mouth for ten seconds to beat the world record. Previously, the record was only nine of the two-to-three inch insects. Mr. Fessler, the champ, is no stranger to the bugs: he owns over 1,000 as pets

Gunter Voelker owns a German restaurant in Northern Iraq and was proud to recently present a German tradition: Oktoberfest! The festivities included traditional German food, music and beer. He was glad to share the event with Iraqi people, Turkish people, Kurdish people, Americans and Germans alike. Voelker hoped the three-day party helped to show Iraq as a holiday destination where beer can bring people together. Believe It or Not!

A Malaysian woman threw back a baby shark after she discovered it had legs with webbed feet. The baby shark was about a meter long and would have made a great lunch for her family, but according to Chinese belief, eating fish with unusual features could bring bad luck or disaster, so they decided not to chance it. She did manage to get a picture before returning it to the fishery. Scientists say the animal must have come from northern waters because only North Sulawesi or South African waters have fish with legs. Believe It or Not

At only one-year-old, Buffy the hen has to wear a sweater to keep warm as the fall approaches because she lost all her feathers. The hen was rescued by the RSPCA from a battery farm where she was over stressed; causing her to lose her feathers and be more than two pounds underweight. Buffy’s health had been restored, and her lack of feathers has made her a bit of a celebrity at the animal shelter! Believe It or Not!

100% duck, all chicken. This Chinese duck was purchased by a farmer, but he noticed something was wrong when the duck wouldn't go swim the the river with the other ducks. Ten days after the purchase, the farmer finally realized that the bird has chicken feet! Instead of the webbed toes of a duck that help in swimming, all its toes are separate. This is probably why it's scared of the water. Believe It or Not!

Believe It or Not!, At 53 years old, Sally was 7ft, 7 ¼ in tall. She was born an average 6.5 pounds, but by the time she was 10, she had already reached 6 ft 3 in. Sally had been ill for a while.

Canyons across the World

2009-02-25T20:13:00.010+01:00

The red of cactus blooms pops in a Grand Canyon valley. Cut by the Colorado River over millions of years, the Grand Canyon is considered one of the finest examples of arid-land erosion in the world. The immense canyon is 277 miles (446 kilometers) long and averages 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) deep, but it is only 15 miles (24 kilometers) across at its widest.

Sheer basalt towers rooted in flood-carved gorges mark the Simen Mountains in Ethiopia. This harsh landscape, sometimes called the African Alps, is the only home of the endangered gelada baboon. The monkeys find protection from jackals, hyenas, and leopards on the canyons' sheer cliffs.

Water rushes around rocks as the Colorado River continues to cut its way through the Grand Canyon. It takes two days by foot or mule to get to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back, and at least two weeks to complete the journey through the canyon by raft. In 1963 the Glen Canyon Dam was completed upstream of the Grand Canyon, radically changing the flow of the Colorado.

With Mexico on the left and the United States on the right, the Rio Grande forges a clear barrier between the two countries. On the U.S. side the river winds through the Santa Elena Canyon in Texas' Big Bend National Park. Towering 1,500-foot (460-meter) cliffs of solid limestone mark the canyon.

A slot canyon scores the Arizona desert, just one of many dotting the state's border with Utah. Slot canyons are comparatively short and unusually narrow canyons that can be several hundred feet deep. A region needs a special combination of rainfall and geographical features to make slot canyons possible. Rainwater and snowmelt cut and rubbed the red rock of this region for eons to form these slots.

A waterfall cascades down the sheer face of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. In addition to the mighty Colorado River running through the canyon, water—a vital resource in the arid Southwest—exists in the form of springs, streams, and seeps.

Sunlight sneaks into the crevices of Arizona's Antelope Canyon, painting the undulations crafted by years of flash floods and other erosive processes. The slot canyon is one of the most visited canyons in the Southwest.

Rock formations jut from the floor of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park. Floods from melting glaciers helped carve this canyon, deepening it and removing most of its sand and gravel.

Carved rock stretches as far as the eye can see in Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. Canyon de Chelly is unique among U.S. national parks—it is composed entirely of Navajo Tribal Trust Land, which remains home to a Navajo community. According to Navajo beliefs, a deity named Spider Woman lived on top of Spider Rock, the sandstone monolith in the foreground of this picture. She devoured children who misbehaved, and their bleached bones turned the top of Spider Rock white.(NGC)

A waterfall cascades down the sheer face of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. In addition to the mighty Colorado River running through the canyon, water—a vital resource in the arid Southwest—exists in the form of springs, streams, and seeps.

Sunlight sneaks into the crevices of Arizona's Antelope Canyon, painting the undulations crafted by years of flash floods and other erosive processes. The slot canyon is one of the most visited canyons in the Southwest.

Rock formations jut from the floor of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park. Floods from melting glaciers helped carve this canyon, deepening it and removing most of its sand and gravel.

Carved rock stretches as far as the eye can see in Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. Canyon de Chelly is unique among U.S. national parks—it is composed entirely of Navajo Tribal Trust Land, which remains home to a Navajo community. According to Navajo beliefs, a deity named Spider Woman lived on top of Spider Rock, the sandstone monolith in the foreground of this picture. She devoured children who misbehaved, and their bleached bones turned the top of Spider Rock white.(NGC)

The white bite: Meet the blue-eyed alligator who stands out like a sore thumb

2009-02-24T12:41:00.005+01:00

With his piercing blue eyes and pale skin this rare alligator stands out like a sore thumb.

Weighing over 500 pounds, Bouya Blan is one of only 12 white alligators in the world.

The 22-year-old, whose name means white fog, lives along with three other giant leucistic alligators at the world famous Gatorland theme park in Florida.

'People are awestruck when they see them, and just one look into those icy, blue eyes will give you chills,' says Mark McHugh, President & CEO of Gatorland.

Rare: 22-year-old Bouya Blan is one of only 12 white alligators in the world and is kept at Gatorland theme park in Florida

'We're excited to bring these thrilling animals to Florida.'

Collected from deep in a Louisiana swamp, the ivory reptiles were part of a clutch of seventeen infants recovered by workers from the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company while surveying the area in 1986.

The group later brought the hatchlings to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans where only a few of the rare reptiles survived, before they were brought to Gatorland last year.

'People are awestruck': Bouya Blan with his handler Tim Williams at Gatorland

'This is the largest group of giant white gators in the world,' says Tim Williams of Gatorland.

'These are not albino animals, they are what we call leucistic, which means they have a little bit of pigmentation around the mouth and a 'little touch on the tail and they have piercing blue eyes.'

Leucistic animals have rare genetic condition that reduces the colour pigmentation in their skin.

Out of the five million American alligator population there are thought to be only 12 leucistic gators.

'They are just like alligators and they eat the same food,' explains Tim.

'The biggest concern is that they never would have survived in the wild. They are like little beacons out shining "come eat me".

The beady blue eye: Due to the alligator's distinct colour he would be unlikely to survive for long in the wild

'They are each ten to eleven plus feet in length and vulnerable to many predators because their lack of skin pigmentation deprives them of natural camouflage.'

Due to their condition, the alligators are housed in special enclosures to protect them from sunlight - and the unwanted attention of other males.

'We have four white alligators here at Gatorland and because they are all males they cannot be in the same enclosure as they are all very big and they would all fight with each other,' says Tim.

'They are also very sensitive to direct sunlight, so we have to keep them in an environment where they get a tiny bit of sunlight during the day.

'They need to have a bit of Vitamin D but that is supplemented in their diet where we feed them chicken, fish, red meat and vitamin supplements.

'They each have their own pool and a haul out area and wooden decking they crawl out and bask in the heat.'

Tim and his team are now hoping to breed white alligators with two female American gators who carry the leucistic gene.

'We also have two normal females who carry the gene for the leusitic offspring,' he says.

"'Our hope is that with some candle light, soft music and maybe a little wine we are hoping to breed some leusitic gators in the near future,' he added.

Source

Look Out It’s a Bear…. Sleeping Bag

2009-02-24T00:06:00.002+01:00

Cure your fear of bears by pretending you are the mighty hunter and have slayed the terrifying bear. Then strut around the room wearing the huge bearskin to show off your prowess. OR take the sleeping bag camping and you can scare the be-jezuz out of your friends when they wake up next to you.

Both are possible with this incredible new sleeping bag by artist Eiko Ishizawa. This fun design is so cool (and a little creepy looking) that we just had to share it with all of our readers.

The 10 Weirdest U.S. Museums

2009-02-23T23:44:00.003+01:00

If you’re in the US and didn’t know there are so many odd museums all over the country, it’s time for a road trip. For those outside, here’s an even better reason to visit the country and see what are the downright weird attractions.

1. First created in 1927 to help adults that wanted to quit smoking, Pez later received the well-known heads on its dispensers in 1952. The different shaped head dispensers grew to such a number that they needed their own museum - the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia in Burlingame, CA. The Pez fans grew once the dispensers were featured in movies such as “The Client”, “Stand By Me”, “E.T. The Extraterrestrial” and “Seinfeld”. The pride of the collection is a 1952 Mickey Mouse head, possibly the first ever, Mary Poppins or a counterfeit Hitler dispenser. [website]

2. The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices or “Quackery Hall of Fame” located at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Pieces displayed at the museum include the Prostate Gland Warmer (a 4.25 inch probe with a blue light bulb at the end), a machine that determines the personality by measuring the bumps on one’s head or a rejuvenator that uses magnetism, radio waves, infra-red and ultra-violet rays. There are numerous devices in the museum, many of which still work to this date. [website]

3. The Glore psychiatric museum in St. Joseph, Missouri comprises the history of psychiatrics from the beginning till present. It starts with the first therapy methods, when a sharp sticks or a club were used, and goes to the Middle Ages, when the treatment involved public humiliation or even burning at the stake. By the 20th century, there was no more horror, the pacients receiving icy baths or electroshock therapy. The Glore museum also exhibits more than 1,000 metal objects removed from a patient’s stomach, straitjackets, dungeons and even cages formerly used for pacients. [website]

4. It can get more sick than this. The National Museum of Health and Medicine located in Washington DC is one of the oldest museums, founded by the U.S. Army during the Civil War. The extensive collection encompasses over 24 million items, including organs, skeletons or bone fragments. Among the prized objects of the museum, you’ll find pieces of Abraham Lincoln’s skull and the bullet that killed him, a mummified head of a Kentucky girl preserved with arsenic, an eviscerated woman or a stocmach-shaped hairball from a hair-eating girl. [website]

5. Devil’s Rope Museum located in McLean, Texas presents every detail and aspect of barbed wire: artifacts, significance and impact of the development back in the Old West. There are number displays of both common and rare barbed wire, tools and devices used in constructing it. There is also a demonstration on how to make a barbed wire, for those curious, if any, and an exhibit around studying the “Evolution Of The American Cowboy”. For a little bit of art in the museum, you can check out the 45 sculptures made out of barbed wire. There are also 58 illustrations by western artist Al Martin Napoletano and more than 100 photographs with fences. [website]

6. If you’re a fan of art, you’ll surely enjoy the Museum of Bad Art located in Dedham Square, Massachusetts - the only museum in the world dedicated to bad art of all sorts. MOBA was founded in the fall of 1993 and presented its first show one year later. The good response lead to an ever growing collection, that people from all corners of the world contributed to. There are also special events that the museums hosts such as “Fine Wine/Bad Art”. There is also an online collection to enjoy over at the museum’s official [website]

7. Just north of Helendale, California lies the Exotic World Museum or the Burlesque Hall of Fame. Operated by Dixie Evans, a former dancer, the museum depicts the golden age of burlesque, when exotic dancers or strippers were very popular. It has a great collection of extravagant costumes, memorabilia, posters, photos and even G-strings. Dixie Evans is know as being the former “Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque”; she’ll show you around the museum but she’ll also show you a few moves and secrets of the trade. [website]

8. Aliens are among us, at least this is what the following museum preaches. The International UFO Museum & Research Center was founded by the people that took part in the Roswell incident. Trying to bring light to the UFO crash, the museum has outgrown 2 locations since it first opened in 1991 in Roswell, New Mexico. Activities around the UFO incident include trade shows, alien costume contest, parades and visits from Hollywood celebrities. [website]

9. “Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum is known from coast to coast, like butter and toast. From headlines to bedlines, from school rooms to pool rooms, this place is like no other that can be found in the contiguous United States and other environs of the free world.” We couldn’t have said it any better. You can find anything here related to the amusement world: from animatronic dummies to rides, from pinball machines to video games and from model airplanes to robots or neons. There is also a large collection of the oddest coin operated machines, out of which almost all work. [website]

10. The Circus World is America’s Circus Museum located in Baraboo, Wisconsin, state formerly known as the “Mother of Circuses,” when more than 100 travelling circuses met. The museum is now operated by a not-for-profit, educational foundation, now known as Circus World Museum Foundation. Displays include a very large collection of circus memorabilia, including posters, photos, films, costumes, props, and over 200 circus wagens. Best visits are between May and September, to catch the shows, animal rides, concerts or parades. [website]

Hurry Up

2009-02-23T23:32:00.004+01:00

Hurry Up, a piece that out-paced Fail Harder in hours spent is currently on display in the W+K Lobby (224 NW 13th Ave in Portland). An intimate reception was held on January 4th and the show will be on display through the end of the month.

The process began by sculpting pink insulation with hack saws and electric carving knives. After that, we covered them in a thick layer of plaster.

We chiseled, filed, and sanded until the plaster was smooth, then added additional plaster for details. The color was an inaccurate amalgum of coffee, white and ocher paints, tea, gel medium, sand and dirt. One more round of sanding, and they were ready to hang.

Suspended from 25 foot crossbeams, the bones were hung with fishing line fed through eyelets. (Minimal) kerning and leading later, we were done. No one but Bernie and I will know how slow the Hurry Up process actually was. Kind of nice that way.

15 Classic Science Fiction Cars

2009-02-23T16:22:00.008+01:00

Classic Science Fiction is as much about plot as it is setting and vehicle concepts. From Batman to Blade Runner, production geniuses have created some of the most memorable modes of transportation for characters to drive (or hover, or fly) around in, literally moving the story along. Besides, who says future cars will have to stay grounded? Have a look at the our favorite sci-fi vehicles, and chime in if you think we’ve left any out (or included something that makes you gag!)

1. Blade Runner

Let’s face it - Philip K. Dick’s Blade Runner (from his 1968 book entitled Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?) is one science fiction story referenced time and time again. The film’s design by artist Syd Mead has been mimicked since their introduction to celluloid in 1982. Rick Deckard (BR’s main character played by Harrison Ford) is chauffeured around by Gaff (Edwards James Olmos) in a police “Spinner” - part ground car, part flying-police interceptor. The Spinner, well, spins as it ascends past the rooftops of 2019 Los Angeles. According to a recent behind the scenes documentary, underneath the futuristic Spinner bodies were the chaises of Volkswagens.

2. Batman

The Batmobile has taken many forms - from a Lincoln concept car to the now famous Tumbler. The ride of Bruce Wayne’s alter ego has been barreling down Gotham streets for decades, and into the hearts of every kid’s imagination. Our 21st century anti-crime lab on wheels is complete with various gun and missile cannons, sensor units (both audio and visual) and a detachable motorcycle.

Honorable Mention:

Batman: The Animated Series from the 1990’s was celebrated by cartoon fans for its striking art-deco designs. Personally, we find this animated Batmobile on this version of the caped crusader’s car a personal favorite.

3. Star Wars

We searched high and low…and yes, there is a car in Star Wars…sort of. Cloud City’s “Twin-pod cloud car” patrols the skies in a galaxy far, far away. Two identical armored vehicles are connected by a thruster engine, along with matching laser blasters coming out of the front end, reminiscent of P-51 Mustang fighter planes from WWII. We want to know if each pod is independent of the other, or its connecting engine.

4. Minority Report

Also based on a story by Sci-Fi author Philip K. Dick (famous for the aforementioned Blade Runner) Minority is set in 2054 Washington DC, where pre-crime police capture criminals based on foreknowledge, provided by three psychic pre-cognitives. The vehicles provided by Lexus/Toyota were futuristic concepts, which came complete with a future press-release:

In the year 2054, some cars will be self-cleaning, some will drive in an accident free system, and some will change colors on command…In the film’s design…a mass transportation system uses electrical/magnetic energy - much like that which sends a bullet train speeding along - with horizontal and vertical surfaces covered with “roadways” made of magnetic discs that support and propel various vehicles.

5. Mad Max

Mad Max is a classic post-apocalyptic revenge story. Australian cop Max is out to get back at a violent motorcycle gang after they killed one of his wife, their son and a fellow officer. Along for the ride is Max’s sawed-off shotgun and his 1973 Ford XB Falcon. dozens of other custom 70’s muscle cars and super-charged bikes are roaming the outback wasteland, hunting for food (sometimes in the form of people) and precious oil, which has become a commodity more precious than life.

6. The Road Warrior

Mad Max 2, as it is also named, continues with the oil subplot, as a group of hardened civilians try to escape their heavily fortified compound with a tanker truck full of gasoline. The only thing standing in their way is a leather-chap clad gang of homicidal maniacs. Luckily, Mel Gibson is back in the lead roll, and he is still pretty pissed off.

Honorable Mention:

Between the Mad Max films and Convoy you have a wide variety of armored Mack Trucks - including a fuel hauler with gun torrents and arrow launchers.

7. Back to the Future

Great Scott! If not for Back To The Future the DeLorean DMC-12 would have been just an obscure automotive legend. Instead, the gull-winged sports car is engraved in the psyches of movie buffs the worldwide. This DeLorean wasn’t much for surpassing 88-mph - not without traveling to 1885 or 2015. Doc Brown’s car consisted of a radioactive flux-capacitor, advanced time-travel system and a flying mode. A near perfect DeLorean was recently spotted at this Sacramento used car dealership.

Speaking of flying cars…

8. The Fifth Element

Ok, so Fifth Element may not be considered “classic science fiction” - but we love the New York Checkered Cabs of 2263 Manhattan. Bruce Willis spends his days catching fares and nights returning a mystical female oracle (played by the gorgeous Milla Jovoich) to the other four elements in an attempt to save the world. Why is it always the job of Willis to save the rest of us? Poor guy. Other flying vehicles include everyday pedestrian cars, police cruisers and a floating Chinese food stand.

9. Dune

In the year 10,191 one would think humans (or whatever evolves from us) will have little to no use for a car. When you’re trapped on the dunes of Arrakis with a sand worm hot on your tale, the only thing that can save you is a well-armored tank (or Sting in a leather jumpsuit). Dune’s Harvesters not only keep its two-dozen or so occupants safe from worms, it allows them to meticulously pick the land clean of the addictive “spice melange” - which sells to the highest bidder. The Harvester is big and tough, but slow as a snail, and needs a huge spacecraft to do desert pick-ups and drop-offs.

10. Akira

Soon to be a live-action motion picture, Akira is a beautiful piece of Japanese animation, which helped Manga become popular on this continent. Akira is the name of a child who was given almost “god-like powers” while undergoing military experiments for ESP in 2019 Neo-Tokyo.During the story, Akira grows out of control, threatening to destroy the entire city. Who will safe this futuristic faux-Tokyo? A bunch of delinquent 16 year olds in a motorcycle gang of course! Yes, bikes are not cars, but they are still sleek looking vehicles. We hope the live-action versions don’t look too plastic, or worse yet, CGI like a certain recent Speed Racer flick.

11. Death Race 2000

Yet another dystopia future? It may be looking bad for us humans, but the car industry (and, seemingly, weapons industries) will surely flourish! As the Aussies brought us Mad Max America brought us Death Race 2000. Set in (guess what year!) the thin yet entertaining plot revolves around outlaw racers who challenge one another, along with any pedestrian who crosses their path. Points are scored not only by how fast you reach a check point, but also by the number, gender and age of those you murder along the way. Talk about road rage! (wakka wakka) - Some of the cartoonishly-violent vehicles featured include a Fiat Spider, custom Chevy Nova and a custom Cimbria Super Sport (pictured above). Doesn’t this sound like the perfect mix of movie violence, cheese and entertainment? Hollywood sure thought so, because they are remaking the film this summer…

12. Death Race (2008 Remake)

…with an army of updated cars, trucks and SUV’s equipped with Vulcan cannons, flame throws and lots of heavy-looking metal plating. The big draw is Ford’s new Mustang as Death Race’s star. There’s also a late 60’s Buick Riviera featured, presumably blown up at one point in the film, which makes us all in Vermont cry just a tiny bit.

13. Escape from New York

Another great taxi for “Snake Plissken” (Kurt Russell) to help rescue the President after his plane is shot down over a Manhattan Island turned maximum security prison. The Checker Marathon cabs were made specifically for the livery services throughout their years of service, until the early 80’s when Ford and Chevrolet cars became your normal yellow cabs in New York. The cabbie (who is fittingly named “Cabbie” and played by Airwolf’s Ernest Borgnine) who assists snake in finding the Chief of Staff stocks his taxi with Molotov cocktails. Those probably came in pretty handy behind the scenes, shooting at night in downtown NYC during the early-1980’s.

14. Ghost in the Shell

Another anime, though this time we really have cars to feature! Ghost in the Shell is another world-famous manga revolving around the officers of Section 9, whose job it is to fight the most violent of cyber and technological crimes. A new animated series spin-off of the 1995 film includes a couple of animated Nissan concept vehicles - there’s Nissan’s Sport pictures above - which may come to life in the not-to-distant future.
15. Aliens
Syd Mead is back with more visually stunning vehicles for the sci-fi lover to gawk over. Aliens’ APC (armored personal carrier) was based on the trucks used to tow civilian and military airplanes to/from hangers. Mead again pushes the boundaries of imagination (while staying within budget) and brings us functional, realistic designs of cars we may all be driving…one day. Hopefully, we can figure out better ways to fuel these various modes of transit, so we won’t be shouting…

Improve Your Looks With Bodypainting Art

2009-02-19T15:43:00.011+01:00

World BodyPainting Festival: Photo by Gerhard Kozissnik

The World Bodypainting Festival is a show held every year that features artists showcasing their work on the human body.

World BodyPainting Festival: Photo by Herbert Steurer

Each year since 1998, this festival has taken place in Austra and is the largest bodypainting event. Thousands of people show up each year to admire the work of these talented artists.

They also offer an Academy on the site, where they teach beginners to experts on the art of bodypainting and its techniques.

World BodyPainting Festival: Photo by Gerhard Boehler

On the day of the festival, the artists start painting in the public park and are later judged by professionals. The artists compete in four categories; brush and sponge, airbrush, special effects and the World Fluoro Award, which is a contest at night for UV effects. For the World Fluoro contest, models are painted in fluorescent colors and are lit with backlights so that they glow while on stage.

World BodyPainting Festival: Photo by Joachim Bergauer

The artists are free to use male or female models. All of the models have to be wearing some type of underpants while being painted, but female models are free to go topless.

This year the festival will be held in Austria on July 13-19th, 2009.

World BodyPainting Festival: Photo by Joe Aichner

World BodyPainting Festival: Photo by Martin Clark

World BodyPainting Festival: Photo by Martin Clark

World BodyPainting Festival: Photo by Peter Krautner

All of the work I’ve seen looks stunning. Has anyone ever been to the World Bodypainting Festival?

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Upside Down Faces

2009-02-19T13:22:00.008+01:00

These are some very funny and pretty unusual pictures - two faces in one

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Crazy wedding customs (Weirdest)

2009-02-11T18:33:00.012+01:00

All over the world, people practice numerous wedding customs that have been passed on through many generations. Although each has a long history of meaning and significance, many just seem strange and out of place in today’s culture.

Check out some of the historical wedding customs that are still practiced today, much to the intrigue and wonderment of its audience.

Blackening the Bride

In the Scottish pre-wedding tradition of “Blackening the Bride,” The bride is taken by surprise and covered with foul substances, such as eggs, various sauces, feathers, and well you name it…

The bride to be, officially blackened, is the then paraded around town, and of course a few pubs, for all to see.

Filmed in Fraserburgh and Rosehearty, in the north east of Scotland in 2007. A bride to be is subjected to a traditional ‘blackening’, one of the strangest of all pre-wedding traditions.

Broken Dishes, Kidnapping the Bride, and Log Sawing

Broken Dishes

A rather interesting German tradition involves shattering a large number of dishes before the wedding and having the bride and groom cleaned it up.

It is believed that the action of cleaning up the mass collection of broken dishes, which the family and friends have worked so hard to make, will help prepare the couple for their new lives together.

It might be a little destructive but everyone seems to enjoy themselves and like most customs, bring the couple good luck.

Kidnapping the Bride

In many small villages throughout Germany, friends of the bride and groom will kidnap the bride and hide her somewhere.The groom then has to search to find her.

Of course the search always begins in the local pub, for obvious reasons, where the groom will invite everyone to join him in the search, after buying them all a drink.

This ritual has been known to end badly. . .

Log Sawing

Log sawing is just another tradition that seems to really test the bride and grooms physical skills.

After the couple are married, a log is positioned between two sawhorses where both the newlyweds must saw in half working together.

This is supposedly a sign of how they will handle things together once they are married.

Germans also wear their matching wedding bands on their right hands not their left.

The couple in this first video obviously have some challenges to look forward to in married like.

However, this bride and groom are going to live happy and in perfect harmony with one another.

Mehndi, Steal the Groom’s Shoes, and the Coin Game

Mehndi

Indian weddings, which are traditionally multi-day affairs, involve many intricate ceremonies, such as “medhndi”, the practice of painting intricate patterns on the bride’s hands and feet.

The idea is to make the bride feel like a princess as she is about to start a new life.

As the video below shows, there is also a special dance and song associated with the Mehndi process.

Stealing the Groom’s Shoes

It might seem odd, but in this custom everyone is either out to steal the groom’s shoes or protect them.

During the ceremony the groom has to remove his shoes prior to entering the alter to be married. Members of the bride’s family are obligated to try to steal the grooms shoes and will go to great lengths to do so. The groom’s family, on the other hand, must protect the shoes and they will also go to extreme measures in order to hide the shoes.

If the bride’s family is successful in stealing the groom’s shoes, then the groom must pay whatever amount of money they request to get his shoes back.

Coin Game

The Coin Game occurs after the wedding festivities, when the bride and groom go to the groom’s parents’ house.

Coins and other items are placed into a large bowl filled with red colored water tinted with sindoor.

The newlyweds place both hands in the bowl in an attempt to retrieve a particular item.

This is done repeatedly and the one who pulls out the most specified items is fated to be the ruler of their home.

Coins and Kissing the Guests

Coins in the Bride’s Shoes

An old, adorable Swedish custom is for the bride to carry coins in her shoes.

A silver coin from her father is placed in the left shoe, while a gold coin from her mother in the right shoe, ensuring she will never go without.

Guest Kissers
At Swedish wedding receptions, guests may get an opportunity to kiss the bride or groom.

If the bride goes to the restroom, all of the women at the reception line up to kiss the groom.

If the groom exits the room and is out of sight, the men line up to kiss the bride.

Clanging Pots and Pans

The French have an interesting after-wedding tradition known as Chiverie.

During this traditional prank, friends and family of the newly married couple gather in the evening and clang pots and pans, ring bells, and blow horns intended to startle and interrupt the couple.

Upon hearing the noise, the newlyweds are to come out, still wearing their wedding attire, and provide their tormenters various refreshments.

Jumping the Broom

African Americans embrace the “Jumping the broom” ritual. Its origin is a little vague, but its meaning is agreed as the beginning of the newlyweds creating their happy home.

The “Jumping the Broom” is a ceremony in which the bride and groom, either at the ceremony or at the reception, signify their entrance into a new life and their creation of a new family by symbolically “sweeping away” their former single lives, former problems and concerns, and jumping over the broom to enter upon a new adventure as wife and husband.

This “leap” into a new life (marriage as wife and husband is performed in the presence of families and friends. You can be as creative as you want when planning for this special ceremony.

Couples celebrate this rich cultural heritage, irrespective of race, religion, and nationality. The most important thing is its significance;

* Honoring and respect of your ancestors, their legacy, and your rich African and African American heritage.

* Coming together of both families, and commitment to each other as wife and husband.

* It represents strength, love, togetherness, loyalty, and respect which is essential for a successful marriage.

This ceremony can also be performed at an anniversary or a renewing of vows ceremony.

Iron, Veil, and a Shattered Vase

In Italy it was customary for the groom to carry a talisman, piece of iron, in his pocket on the day of his wedding. The talisman was believed to ward off misfortune, while the bride’s veil covered and protected her from evil spirits.

When the wedding day came to an end, the newly married couple would shatter a vase or glass into many pieces. The number of pieces represented the expected number of years they would be happily married.

Arras

In Mexico, during the wedding the Groom bestows his bride a gift of 13 coins, or arras, representing Jesus and his 12 apostles. The coins are to be blessed by the priest and bear the groom’s promise to care for and provide for his wife.

Both Feet on the Floor

In the old days of Ireland, couples dined on salt and oatmeal at the beginning of their reception: both the bride and groom would take three mouthfuls as a protection against the power of the evil eye.

During the reception, when the couple is dancing, the brides feet must remain on the floor. It is said that Fairies love beautiful things and their favorite beautiful thing is a bride. If the bride was to have even one foot off the ground, then she could be swept away by the Fairies.

It is bad luck for a bride, as well as anyone attending the wedding, to wear green at an Irish wedding. It’s also bad luck for a bride or the groom to sing at their own wedding. Of course that last one might have just resulted from a few too many weddings with bad singers…

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Poor cats destined to be eaten!

2009-02-10T18:39:00.005+01:00

These boxes with thousands of cats wait for their train to Guangzhou (China)
Only 5000 cats were sent there for the last three days.
The cries of these poor animals could be heard far beyond the platform.
Actually, there’s a whole industry that deliver cats for preparation of special dish called «Shui Zhu Hua Mao".
To prepare this dish, a cook puts a cat into the boiling water.
Then, they take it, clean it, chop and make a soup out of it.
According to statistics, more than 100 thousand cats are eaten everyday in the province of Guangdong.

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Anti-Valentine Art: 10 That Will Break Your Heart

2009-02-10T17:42:00.010+01:00

Sweet, hot, and mutually adoring love may be what everyone aspires to, but as far as art goes, the conventional wisdom is that it's the painful side of love that produces great art. That explains why Anti-Valentine art, now a category unto itself, is meaningful well beyond a single day of the year. Here are 10 of my favorite Anti-Valentine posters this year.

1. Anti-Valentine by Wicked Hailey

Wicked Hailey is a professional photographer from Austin Texas. She is an anti-valentine and so is her model, Kristine, aka Ms. Red.

"My husband and I do not do valentines," writes Ms. Hailey. "It is just another day for us... I act the same way as I always do. I do not need corporations telling me when to love someone."

Hailey specializes in portraiture, but her subjects represent "every woman." You can purchase prints and posters from her web site.

2. Anti-Valentine by Imogene Munday

An Australian artist from Sydney, 16 year-old Imogene calls herself "just your average teenage girl," with math worries and a part-time job, but her artistic portfolio... WOW! You can purchase Ms. Munday's work from her redbubble? page.

3. Anti-Valentine, Artist Unidentified

With apologies to the artist, I have not been able to identify the origination of this poster. I found it on MySpace on the page of a person identified only as Anti-Valentine's Day, but I want to share it with you anyway, as it's quite a good representation of anime.

4. Anti-Valentine by Despair.com

If you couldn't fine an Anti-Valentine on Despair.com, where would you find one? Cleverly, this print, available in calendar and poster, is not called "Anti-Valentine," but "Destiny." But, it'll do!

5. Anti-Valentine by Emo

As you can tell by this image, I dug up Anti-Valentine art wherever I could find it. This is Emo Background6 for MySpace . The sentiment is quite sympathetic compared to some of the other Anti-Valentines.

There is no shortage of Anti-Valentine events in February, parties for singles as well as Anti-Val couples who refuse to go "the corporation way." Search for an Anti-Valentine's Party in your area; there are open parties from Raleigh to Seattle, usually sponsored by restaurants or taverns, that have plenty of entertainment and games planned. Anti-Valentine cruises and bar-hopping tours are some of the other events you'll find. But, I digress....

Most of the following poster art is just that; art created for a poster that advertises an event. The artists may not be identified except by user-names, but if you connect to my linked sources, you may be able to find the artist or publisher and get one of these masterpieces for yourself.

6. Anti-Valentine, Artist Unidentified

Beginning the "countdown to Halloween," a bit early, it looks like New Yorkers are going to spend the better part of 2008 in costume! Actually this Anti-Val event will take place on February 17, 2008 at Element, 225 East Huston Street. This event will mark the 10th yearly Element Anti-Valentine's party in NYC. For information about the event and, of course, the poster, contact Sabertooth.

7. Anti-Valentine by Jenn Duong

This bleeding heart is whimsically nuzzled with nature's most loving animals and flowers. Ms. Duong is a resident of Vancouver Island going for her Master's degree in design. Her work is available on her web page under her company name, BW-INC.

8. Anti-Valentine by Bowbeforenone

No one depicts a darker side of love than Goth artists. I'm guessing that Bowbeforenone is the artist for The Saints of Pain, a "bone crunching metal" Goth group, as there are several similar posters on his page Bow's page is definitely worth a peek and can be purchased from there.

9. Anti-Valentine by Addam

Addam is a talented photographer, graphic artist, music producer, and DJ. Now residing in Northampton, MA, his posters and photographs have been shown at galleries in New York City and Boston; several can be seen on his website , which is well worth viewing.

10. Anti-Valentine by Scott Lanes

Content clashes with this very colorful, carefully layered poster by photographer Scott Lane. The poster looks innocent enough, but are the cupid angels lighting up logs or barbed wire in that heart?

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Skeletons Come to Life! - Saúl Hernández

2009-02-08T19:31:00.011+01:00

When I think about skeletons, I usually associate them with death. What makes Saúl Hernández's skeletons so special is how they are so alive. These extraordinary bronze sculptures are part of his “208 OSEOsidades” collection. Saul is from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and his collection of skeletons are 8.27 inches (21 centimeters) in height and a 1:8 scale replica of real skeletons. All the sculptures are mounted on a base made of marble, onyx and stainless steel while the skeletons themselves are made of bronze with a wax of silver. Great work Saúl!!

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The Most Beautiful FireFox Wallpapers ever!

2009-02-07T21:04:00.007+01:00

Incidents which made HISTORY

2009-02-07T19:42:00.017+01:00

The Skirt that made HISTORY

On September 15, 1954, a famous skirt made history. The wearer was Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. The skirt in question was blown up by a blast from a subway vent in New York, for a scene in the film The Seven Year Itch. It would go on to adorn the walls of homes the world over for decades after.

It had taken Monroe a long time to reach that level of stardom. From life in a foster home, she had struggled to make it in Hollywood. There were men, bad marriages, the odd nude photo shoot. In short, she had paid her dues. By the time she was shooting her last film, The Misfits in 1961, she was among the most famous movie stars on earth.

As for that famous scene, there have been numerous attempts to recreate it. But is there really a star around who can fit Monroe’s shoes?

When Road Runner came home

To the eternal delight of children - and a fairly large number of adults - the Road Runner cartoon made its television debut on September 16, 1949. It came to us courtesy Warner Bros. in a short film titled Fast and Furry-ous.

As Wall-E proves, animation isn’t what it used to be. There will always be a sense of nostalgia for most of us though, whenever we hear that voice go ‘Beep, beep!’

When the guitar god died

A drug overdose claimed the life of 28-year old guitar god Jimi Hendrix on September 18, 1970.

Born in Seattle in 1942, Hendrix began playing his instrument of choice at an early age. He may have given it up after joining the army as a paratrooper but, luckily, received an honourable discharge following an injury. After playing as a back-up musician for legends like B B King, Sam Cooke and Little Richard, he started out on his own. Pretty soon, he had a fan following.

By the time Hendrix made his now-legendary appearance at Woodstock in 1969, audiences had grown used to the idea of being in the presence of genius. With his death, the music industry lost someone who was just beginning to understand his own potential. The options before him were limitless.

Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.

The track that made history

Here’s a bit of information old-timers will smile about. On September 19, 1960, Chubby Checker’s song The Twist went to the top of the charts.

By the time it went off them, it had become one of the most successful singles in pop music history. And here’s the more interesting bit. The track is the only one to top the charts twice, after it was released again in 1962!

It stayed on the charts for a very impressive 39 weeks, and launched a dance move that can still be seen today � if you are invited to the right kind of parties!

When the first online newsgroup was launched

The legendary David Bowie got his first of many number one hits with Fame, on September 20, 1975.

It had taken the high school dropout eight years � after the release of his first album The World of David Bowie in 1967 � to get to the top, despite the phenomenal success of his influential The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in 1972. By the time the eighties rolled up, Bowie was a certified pop star the world over, and had begun dabbling in acting as well.

What many aren’t aware of is his success as an entrepreneur though. One of the first major artists to take an interest in the Internet, he launched the first artist newsgroup online and was the first to release an Internet-only single titled Telling Lies, in 1997.

When the X-Files Clicked

Television show The X-Files premiered on September 10, 1993. It was our first taste of the chemistry between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. By the time it had finished with television on May 19, 2002, TV Guide had called it the second greatest cult television show (after Star Trek) of all time!

It’s hard to put a finger on why the series, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, became as huge as they did. It could be the timing — it fit right in with a nation�s distrust of governance — or the content, which focused on everything from conspiracy theories to extraterrestrial life. Or, then again, it could just be the fact that both actors were very good together.

Whatever the reason, something definitely clicked. The X-Files was nominated for a staggering 141 awards, and won 61 individual awards including the Golden Globes, Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Go, re-live the action on DVD.

When Dire Straits topped the charts

More music news. Dire Straits topped the Billboard charts on September 21, 1985, with Money for Nothing. Apparently, he wrote the track after hearing an employee at an electronics store making fun of MTV. The man’s monologue was used for the song’s lyrics!

Rather humble beginnings for a track that continues to inspire children of the 1980s to get down and boogie. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Ask your parents.

When Cleopatra was filmed

On September 1, 1959, Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor signed on the dotted line with 20th Century Fox to make the film Cleopatra. She was paid $1 million. It was the culmination of a long road to stardom that began with her first appearance on screen at the age of 10!

Unlike the fate that befalls most child actors — and a number of instances in Bollywood spring to mind — Taylor retained her charm into her teens. From movies like Lassie, she moved to romantic roles. By 18, she was married — her first of many lawful unions.

As for the making of Cleopatra, it was during this period that Liz began a long-term affair with co-star Richard Burton, whom she married in 1964 after divorcing her fourth husband.

By the late 70s, her career had begun to slow down, although she still starred in TV movies, launched a perfume line and involved herself in charity to fight AIDS.

Going where no man has gone before!

On September 2, 1969, the final episode of science-fiction television series Star Trek was aired. It had first hit television screens a mere three years before, and didn’t rise beyond the number 52 spot in the ratings. And yet, four decades on, the William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy-starrer continues to attract new generations of fans.

Following the success of the original series, Star Trek eventually grew to four TV series and a surprising nine movies. Worse, it inspired a countless number of folk to don fake plastic ears and meet at Trekkie conventions. The saga continues.

On the same day, in 1995, Michael Jackson’s single You Are Not Alone entered the Billboard Hot 100 at the number one spot. Why is this important? Simply because it was the first song in history to debut at the top of the chart! It was the singer’s thirteenth number one single, and made Michael — who turned 50 a week ago — the number three all-time chart-topper behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

For now, we can only hope the King of Pop makes a comeback and hits the top once more.

A Prince’ly’ symbol

On September 5, 1992, newspapers reported that American pop star Prince had signed a $100 million contract with Warner Bros., making him the highest-paid pop artist in the United States.

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis, this son of a jazz musician began learning piano as a child. By the time he was a teenager, he could play a lot more instruments — something that continues to astonish fans familiar with his mastery of them.

He entered the music business via local radio, where he was given free studio time in exchange for his work. After his demo attracted the attention of Warner Bros. in 1978, he released one album a year until 1982, becoming one of the first black performers on MTV by the eighties.

Interestingly, soon after his million-dollar paycheque, Prince and Warner Bros. decided they couldn’t really get along. It led to his changing his name from Prince to an unpronounceable symbol, and the media referred to him as ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Prince’ for the next seven years. But that’s another story.

These days, Prince continues to wow millions with his live performances, and frustrate record labels with interesting distribution strategies for new music. May his tribe increase.

The day the music died

Musician Buddy Holly was born on September 7, 1936. He was to be recognised as a pioneer for creating the standard rock band format of two guitars, a bass and drums.

By the time he hit his teens, he was lead singer for a band called the Crickets. They recorded a number of songs that became hits, including Peggy Sue, Maybe Baby, and Early in the Morning. His story ended tragically when he — along with musicians Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper — chartered a plane that crashed soon after taking off on February 3, 1959. Buddy Holly was just 22.

In the 1972 hit American Pie, singer Don McLean referred to the event as ‘the day the music died.’ It was an apt tribute to an artist whom Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, among many others, have named a major influence.

Making the world LOL

Born in New York in 1890 Groucho — along with brothers Chico, Harpo and Zeppo — got into showbiz early, encouraged by their mother. They would, eventually, make America and the world laugh out loud with their antics, both on screen and off.

From the vaudeville circuit, the Marx brothers moved to Broadway in the 1920s. One of the comedies they created became their first film, and the hits started to roll in. Groucho had a successful performing career even after the brothers stopped making films though. He performed constantly, doing a one-man show at Carnegie Hall when he was 82!

How funny was this man? He’s the one who said things like: ‘A black cat crossing your path signifies the animal is going somewhere’; ‘Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot’; and ‘Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough.’ If that’s not funny, what is?

This Police is watching you!

English band The Police played their first gig on August 18, 1977. They would go on to become one of the world�s biggest bands, and give us a truckload of hits including Every Breath You Take — possibly among the most misunderstood tracks in the history of pop music.

Gordon Sumner (we know him better as Sting), Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland got together for their first gig at a nightclub in Birmingham.

They released a single a year later and, by 1979, had a record deal in the bag. The successes began to pile up, with one chart-topping album after another.

By 1983’s Synchronicity, however, they had run out of steam, and decided to take a break while still on top. They didn’t officially get back ever again, except for a few reunion concerts earlier this year.

For fans, Sting may still be a superb pop musician, but The Police will always boast their own brand of magic.

Star struck!

Gene Roddenberry was born on August 19, 1921, possibly to make life on earth a happier place for some. His legacy would be a race of people in silver clothing referred to, somewhat affectionately, as Trekkies.

Despite studying criminal justice, he first began his career as a pilot, was shot down on a bombing mission during World War II, and won a medal in the process. He had a second crash while flying a commercial airplane, which convinced him to stop flying and become a police officer. The money offered by the television industry soon tempted him to try his luck there and, in a nutshell, the world promptly received a sci-fi programme titled Star Trek, in 1966.

Considering it ran for a mere three years, and didn’t exactly top the ratings charts, it’s hard to understand why Star Trek continues to attract new generations of fans, while inspiring a hundred prequels and sequels in the process. For Trekkies the world over, however, life just isn’t the same without a pair of pin-on Vulcan ears to call their own.

When Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, he became one of the first people to be buried in space. It was the obvious resting place for a man clearly intrigued by life beyond the stratosphere.

They made life bearable!

The legendary duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made it to the cover of Life magazine on August 22, 1938.

At a time when America was struggling with its Great Depression, the photograph was looked at as one of hope, proof that entertainment always plays a huge role in making ordinary life more bearable.

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How to Understand the Least Intelligent Dog Breeds

2009-02-07T18:05:00.007+01:00

In 1994, nearly 200 judges from the Canadian and U.S. Kennel Clubs were asked to complete a questionaire about the characteristics of various dog breeds, most notably the intelligence level of these breeds. The intelligence ratings were based on how many repetitions it took for a certain breed to master a new command. The breeds on our list took at least 80 repetitions (or more) to learn a new command, and tended to obey first commands less than 25 per cent of the time. By the way, if your dog is on the list, don't despair, it doesn't make him love you any less!
While all dogs are intelligent in their own way, some dog breeds have a reputation for being more or less intelligent than another. On the basis of this, the Canadian and U.S. Kennel Clubs composed a list of the least intelligent dog breeds. Here they are:

Borzoi

This breed tends to be rather independent and aloof which may be misinterpreted as a lack of intelligence on the part of their owners. Dog intelligence tends to be rated on the basis of their ability to perform people pleasing behavior. The Borzoi is not as eager to please as most dog breeds.

Chow Chow

This dog is extremely loyal to its family, almost to a fault. Leary of strangers they will leap into action if they sense any ill intention on the part of visitors. Many Chow owners report their Chow dog is quite intelligent but a bit stubborn. It's possible their stubborn tendency is mistaken for stupidity.

Bulldog

Bulldogs are known to be both affectionate and fiercely protective of their family which makes them popular pets despite their reported lack of intelligence. They are trainable and most owners report their Bulldogs can carry out commands and perform simple tricks.

Basenji

This dog breed is distinctive in its personality even if not known for its keen intelligence. Commonly known as the “barkless dog”, this dog breed makes a distinctive noise to alert its owner of impending trouble. It's described as being almost like the sound a human makes when crying. They tend to be a challenge to train in some cases.

Afghan Hound

This particular breed to dog is known to be quite sensitive and loving which may make up for some of their perceived lack of intelligence. They are tend to be rather difficult to train and have a propensity to be “disobedient” according to the trainers and breeders who work with them. With such a nice disposition, who's worried about their lack of brains?

There are many intelligent dogs of all breeds and much of a dog's apparent intelligence is dependent upon how he is trained and treated by his owner. Hopefully this list will serve as a general guide to help you better interact with the dog breed you choose.

Creepiest Secret Underground Tunnels From Around the World

2009-02-05T02:33:00.003+01:00

This shot shows a stunning parabolic arch. in the Megatron drain under Sheffield, England.

This shot in a London Storm Relief Sewer, nicknamed the Labyrinth, is truly cinematic.

The Japan’s Futuristic Underground Flood Tunnel looks like it would make a great level for Quake or Unreal.

The Tyburn River, like many of the Thames’ tributaries that crossed central London became the course for a sewer. Although not as Grand as sewers favored by London Urban Spelunkers, such as the Westbourne, its a spooky wonderland, no less so because its name is infamous as the place where public executions were traditionally carried out.

Fleet Sewer, London. Its become a classic place for urban explorers who have taken some marvelous shots such as this.

Rankine Tailrace Niagara Falls. This is one of the seven overlooked wonders of the modern world. A mile from the falls themselves, sits a disused unlikely neo-classical power station that contained Tesla’s very first AC generators. Billions of gallons of water were sucked in from the nearby Niagara river and flung 10 storeys underground onto giant turbines. Huge tailrace tunnels then channeled the waste water right to the foot of the horseshoe falls.

Australian underground drains. Separate storm drains are common beneath Australian cities and are commonly explored by the notable urban exploration group called the Cave Clan.

Crystal Phallus drain, Birmingham.

A wildlife photographer's last labour of love

2009-02-03T22:39:00.004+01:00

They are not, admittedly, the most intimidating of felines for a wildlife photographer to capture. In fact, with their fluffy coats, bright eyes and soft paws, they're absolute pussycats.

But these enchanting pictures are a poignant testament to the skill and patience of the woman who captured them, the nature photographer Jane Burton, who died in 2007 after a brave battle against cancer.

Puppy love: Photographer Jane Burton captures a rare moment of affection between a dog and a kitten

Hello kitty: Photos like this one have now been printed in a book called A Cat's Life

Cat nap: Jane used her skill and patience to capture her pets at the perfect moment

Along with her husband Kim Taylor, Jane adopted and raised more than 60 cats (along with their two sons) over the years at their home in Surrey.

With an incredible eye for detail and immovable patience - she sometimes waited for four hours to capture the perfect moment on camera - as well as the courage it took to fight the disease, Jane photographed her beloved pets with their similarly furry friends (puppies, squirrels and rabbits) as an antidote to her dangerous missions picturing wildlife in the field.

Now these beautiful images are being printed for the first time in a book, A Cat's Life, which is also the first volume of Burton's work to be published since she died aged 74.

Give us a hug: A squirrel embraces a reluctant kitten

Bedtime: A mother cat carries her kitten in another of Jane's enchanting shots

Furry friends: Jane, who died from cancer in 2007, raised more than 60 cats like this one throughout her life

A pioneer in her trade, Jane was one of the early women wildlife photographers to leave Britain for West Africa in 1960 - when Kim's job as an agricultural adviser took them to Nigeria.

Together, they travelled the world and in their spare time made several documentaries, including A Cave Of Bats for ITV and Camera In The Caribbean for the BBC.

But despite having photographed wildlife worldwide, Kim says it was his wife's ability to capture the nature and character of cats that was her greatest talent.

'Cats are notoriously hard to photograph in the studio, but Jane managed to achieve what many photographers have been unable to do. Knowing the precise moment to press the shutter was one of her greatest talents.'

Hair-raising: Jane's husband, Kim Taylor, said one of her greatest talents was knowing the precise moment to press the shutter

Cuddle up: A kitten befriends a rabbit in another of Jane's photos

Tom and Jerry: This puppy has found a way to stop his kitten friend walking away

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A statue of the shoe hurled at former US President George W Bush has been unveiled in Iraq.

2009-02-01T22:29:00.003+01:00

Mr Bush had to duck during a press conference in Baghdad when journalist Muntadhar al Zeidi threw his size nines in anger.

Footage of the incident spread around the world, prompting rallies in the Arab world and political satire in the US and UK.

See The Shoe Statue In Iraq

Now, a giant fibreglass and copper statue of the shoe has been unveiled in Tikrit - the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Artist Laith al Amari said his work was in honour of the pride of the Iraqi people.

It is inscribed with a poem which pays tribute to the missile-throwing journalist.

Al Zeidi himself is still awaiting trial for "assault" against a foreign leader.

He reportedly intends to apply for political asylum in Switzerland, after claiming he was beaten up in custody.

Source

Inventory: 13 sidekicks who are cooler than their heroes

2009-01-30T20:36:00.004+01:00

1. Tonto, the Lone Ranger movies

The Lone Ranger’s faithful Indian companion debuted in the 1930s, an age not known for its enlightened attitudes toward minorities. And writers like Sherman Alexie have pointed out Tonto’s more problematic aspects, like his stereotypical broken English. But from the beginning, Tonto was depicted as a heroic figure in his own right, and not so much the Lone Ranger’s assistant as his friend. Tonto was saddled with pidgin dialogue, but he wasn’t dumb, and could track bandits and right wrongs with a skill equal to the masked man’s. Also worth noting: The similar character dynamic in the Lone Ranger spin-off The Green Hornet, between the Hornet and his Asian sidekick Kato, led to Bruce Lee’s American breakthrough role on the short-lived 1966 TV series. And few people, sidekicks or not, are cooler than Bruce Lee.

2. Hobbes, Calvin & Hobbes

Yes, 6-year-old Calvin had the better imagination, and his best friend Hobbes, the stuffed tiger who was only alive when nobody else was looking, didn’t have the drive or the creative chaos to sustain a strip by himself. But he was the one with the brains, the experience, the knowledge, the conscience, and the ability to foresee the outcome of the wacky stunts they planned. And yet he still generally went along with them anyway, trusting that the fun would outweigh the pain. How cool is that? Besides, as he would no doubt be the first to explain, tigers are just plain cooler than people.

3. R2D2, Star Wars

He’s shaped like a trash can on wheels and communicates entirely in digital bloops and squeals, yet the little astromech droid R2D2 is in many ways the heart and soul of the Star Wars movies. Robot or not, he’s one of its most human characters, and he expresses a greater range of emotion than some of the flesh-and-blood actors. Though small and fragile, Artoo is also plucky, resourceful, and reliable enough to earn the trust of the Jedis and pilots who outrank him. Indeed, the first third of A New Hope hinges on Artoo’s top-secret mission to deliver the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. True, his underdog heroics in the original trilogy were ballooned into cartoonish super-competence in the prequels. But it’s a testament to the character that his slide into late-period Lucasian mediocrity wasn’t as sharp a decline as that of the newly petulant Darth Vader. When even the new Star Wars movies can’t make a character completely uncool, that’s a sign of endurance.

4. Willow, Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Either one of the two charter members of “The Scooby Gang”—Alyson Hannigan’s Willow or Nicholas Brendon’s Xander—made for better company than Buffy herself. Part of the reason is the hero’s burden: While Buffy always had to grapple with the cosmic responsibility of keeping the Hellmouth under wraps, the sidekicks were freed up to joke around, develop their loveable idiosyncrasies, and go on little side adventures. But Willow was truly special, an adorable bookworm who brightened Sunnydale’s perpetual darkness with sparkling wit and optimism while still breaking viewers’ hearts on a semi-regular basis. Willow’s sheepishness, brought out by Hannigan’s halting rhythms of speech, also masked surprising courage and even a little brassiness on occasion, like when she discovered her leather-clad, badass doppelgänger in Season Three. It should also be said that her sexual reawakening never seemed forced, but more of a natural outgrowth of her curiosity and her deep connection to other people. Even when her Wiccan experiments got the best of her, the forces of evil ultimately couldn’t smother her irrepressible Willowness.

5. Samwise Gamgee, The Lord Of The Rings

Here’s the hero complex again. Frodo was brave and true… and kinda bland, honestly. Especially in Peter Jackson’s films, in which his primary purpose was to have the biggest, saddest, most soulful, most suffering eyes in the film. Meanwhile, his buddy Sam made the exact same exhausting cross-Middle-Earth trip on less food and water, with less complaint, and with nothing in mind but love and loyalty. And he managed to not get his lame hobbit ass captured by orcs. Clearly, he wins.

6. Nobody, Dead Man

Johnny Depp is one of cinema’s most reliably eccentric actors, but in Jim Jarmusch’s 1995 existential Western, he played it pretty straight as lead character William Blake, a meek accountant who gets in way over his head when he travels to a lawless mining town for a job that doesn’t actually exist, kills a man in self-defense, and ends up on the run from a bounty hunter, while slowly dying of a bullet wound. Instead, the movie really belongs to Gary Farmer’s terrific performance as Nobody, the eccentric Indian who takes Depp under his wing and serves as his guide from the mining town to the coast, and from this world to the great beyond. Nobody approaches the world in an easygoing combination of lyrical mysticism and touching naïveté, believing Depp’s character to be the English poet of the same name, and wondering why he doesn’t remember having written any of his poems. In a movie that’s essentially a long, slow, murky meditation on the inexorability of death, Nobody brings in a spark of life. It’s hard to imagine the film being even half as watchable without him.

7. Arthur, The Tick

Sure, The Tick is stronger, sillier, and more quotable. That’s why he’s the hero. But in all iterations—Ben Edlund’s original comic, the animated Saturday-morning spin-off, and the live-action version—Arthur is the soul of the show. Pudgy, meek, awkward, and in fact a bit cowardly, Arthur is the one who’s not only smart enough to know that he’s living out a dream by becoming a superhero, but also that he has to make a conscious effort to fulfill that dream every day by overcoming his weaknesses. He’s also the one with all the backstory and all the personality. He isn’t cooler in a fight than The Tick is, but he’s always more nuanced and more interesting.

8. Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

One quote that stands out among the many memorable lines in The Princess Bride: Inigo Montoya’s much-practiced declaration of revenge to the six-fingered man. “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” What does it matter that his story is just a sidelight to that of the dashing pirate Westley, who accomplishes great feats of daring to rescue his one true love from the evil prince? Inigo’s quest for vengeance is by far the most compelling subplot in the story, and especially so in William Goldman’s novel, because Goldman so succinctly captures the boundless grief that drives the Spaniard to train obsessively for 20 years in hopes of becoming good enough to beat the deadliest swordsman in the known world. It helps, too, that Inigo also doubles as comic relief, along with his rhyme-trading friend, the affable giant Fezzik.

9. Dr. Pretorius, Bride Of Frankenstein

It’s so hard to find good help these days, as Dr. Henry Frankenstein found out. In the original movie, his lab assistant steals the wrong brain. In the sequel, Bride Of Frankenstein, his old teacher shows up and nearly steals the entire film. Though Henry is nominally the lead scientist in their partnership, Dr. Septimus Pretorius wins hands down in the “mad scientist” department, swanning through the movie with such gleefully macabre abandon that he makes the wet-blanket Henry instantly forgettable. Where Frankenstein is plagued by his wishy-washy conscience, Pretorius revels in his blackmails and grave robberies, and even goes tomb-looting with a sense of style, sticking around after the corpse is dragged away, and having a light supper and a smoke inside a mausoleum.

10. Rocky, Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends

The Rocky and Bullwinkle series went through so many name changes (The Bullwinkle Show, Rocky And His Friends, Adventures Of Bullwinkle And Rocky) that it’s a little hard to tell who the sidekick was, but Rocky was more likely to provide the straight lines and to stand by while Bullwinkle wandered off and got into trouble. Also, Bullwinkle was taller, and how many other sidekicks get to be significantly bigger than their heroes? Anyway, assuming Rocky was the sidekick, he was still the smart one, the talented one, and the one who generally saved the day.

11. Marvin, The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

Douglas Adams’ science-fiction satire contains no shortage of characters who’d be fun to get drunk with. And even terminally bewildered protagonist Arthur Dent seems like a nice enough guy. But no character captured the hearts of Adams’ fans as much as the gloomy Marvin, the Paranoid Android. Though Marvin’s constant melancholy was a source of irritation to his shipmates on the Heart Of Gold, it was easy to sympathize with the slump-shouldered robot. Marvin may have exaggerated and obsessed over his many burdens—pain in all the diodes on his left side, or being forced to park cars for millions of years while his friends went to a fancy restaurant. But in Douglas Adams’ mixed-up and often terrifyingly random universe, Marvin’s weary resignation was one of the only sane responses to life. Besides, Marvin was more than a piece of miserable machinery, he was also the series’ stoic hero figure—often the only character smart enough to know what was actually going on, he repeatedly saved the lives of his (usually ungrateful) friends at great peril to himself. Whether it meant facing down an intelligent battle tank unarmed or staying behind on a doomed starship while the others teleported to safety, Marvin was always willing (though never eager) to put himself in harm’s way. Perhaps Marvin’s popularity also owed something to Adams’ own identification with the character—though it was inspired by a fellow writer named Andrew Marshall, Marvin’s disconsolate pessimism also came from Adams’ own bouts with depression.

12. Raymond “Mouse” Alexander, the “Easy” Rawlins series

Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, the hero of Walter Mosley’s detective series, is one of the most well-rounded protagonists in the mystery genre, growing and revealing new aspects of his character over the course of eight novels and assorted short stories. A black man in mid-century Los Angeles whose crime-solving job is just one way up the economic ladder, Easy is at times a drunk, a devoted father, a socially conscious fighter for justice, and a miser secretive to the point of paranoia. But every time his friend Mouse Alexander enters the story, all eyes go to the sidekick. Mouse is Easy’s loyal, lifelong friend, and the guy Easy goes to for muscle. But he’s also amoral and violent to the point of being a psychopath, and so unpredictably and implacably dangerous that even his friends fear him. He’s almost a force of nature, and he shrugs off criticism of his temper with lines like “If you didn’t want me to kill him, why did you leave me alone with him?” And like Sherlock Holmes, Mouse is one of those literary characters who can even survive the author’s attempt to kill him off; he proved too important to the series to stay dead after being shot in A Little Yellow Dog. Don Cheadle captured Mouse to perfection in the 1995 movie version of Devil In A Blue Dress.

13. Sideshow Bob, The Simpsons

He’s smarter than his old employer, Krusty The Klown. He’s more sophisticated, more refined, more ambitious, and generally less pathetically dragged down by greed and mind-altering chemicals. If only he didn’t have that damn fixation on Bart, he could rule the world while Krusty was still out negotiating a contract to put his face on yet another shoddy product. He’s the ultimate in sidekicks who are cooler than the heroes they go with. Problem is, he knows it, and he’s out to take the hero slot himself.

SOURCE

Gray Wolves Start To Make a Comeback, Only to be Illegally Hunted

2009-01-30T20:35:00.000+01:00

How can we protect our Environment, if we not only refuse to protect, but go out of our way to kill those species who live within the environment, that are at greatest risk?

Growing up in Michigan, I never saw a wolf in the wild, though they once ranged widely across much of North America. Predator control programs wiped them out in most of the lower 48 states and they had disappeared from Michigan’s Lower Peninsula by the early 20th century and were all but gone from the Upper Peninsula by 1960, when a state bounty program was repealed.

As a child, I’d heard stories though, of wolves that had inhabited the forests that my Grandfathers farms sat on, and during the winter, I’d sit in the snow under those trees and pretend that I could hear them howling.

In Segola Michigan, Brian Roell got word from an aerial surveillance crew that a gray wolf’s radio collar was indicating no movement, he knew what it probably meant.

A few hours later, the wolf program coordinator for Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources was trudging through a swampy backwoods near this township in the Upper Peninsula with another wildlife biologist and a DNR conservation officer. Guided by a hand-held antenna that picked up the radio collar’s rapid beeps, the searchers made their way into a thick black cedar stand. There, in a slight depression, lay the dead wolf on its back, legs jutting skyward.

The 6-year-old male, his neck soaked with blood, appeared to have been dragged to this spot. The wound on the right side of his chest left no doubt about the cause of death: a bullet from a small-caliber rifle.

The wolf was among more than three dozen believed to have been deliberately and illegally killed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula within the past five years, according to DNR data obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. Officials in other north central and Rocky Mountain states report scores of wolf shootings despite legal protection for the animal driven to near extinction in many areas.

Some residents of the sprawling, rural Upper Peninsula deeply resent the wolf’s presence. Among them are hunters who believe the wily predators are decimating the whitetail deer herd and farmers who have lost livestock to wolf raids.

This battle between Ranchers and Carnivorous Animals goes back as far as Humanity itself. Since man has raised domesticated meat, animals like wolves have preyed on that meat. Granted, it’s not an easy equation, when deciding between the priority of someones ability to raise meat unmolested and a species of animals extinction. But it is when we go from “Culling down the numbers in an attempt to support ourselves” to “placing negative iconic representation on a certain animal and then sport hunting it to extinction” that I get upset.

One Michigan rancher was quoted as saying “They’re natural born killers!” Well of course they are you moron! Just like we are! But the difference is that we evolved into a culture that does our killing with our dollars at the grocery store. We pay you, Mr. Rancher, to do our killing for us. Just as assuredly as that wolf kills your cow, we kill your cow too, every time we buy meat. Lets not talk about natural born killers Mr. Rancher.

You see, that’s the thing with us, we don’t get the whole “Circle of Life” thing. We think the circle starts and stops with us, and does not involve any other person, group, process or species other than ourselves.

I digress. I neither advocate nor do I shun hunting. I am a firm believer in the “Shoot what you eat” philosophy though, and I believe that any single species of animal is neither good nor evil. It’s not natural to place human emotions on an animal. Animals have their place in nature, not in our heads.

Consider what happened when the Wolf was almost hunted to extinction in areas of the Western United States. Wolves, as a prey driven animal, hide when they stalk game. The game, in this case, Caribou, learned not to go into the places where the wolves like to stalk. (Well sheltered areas amongst the trees, near creeks and rivers.)

As the wolf numbers fell, due to hunting, the Caribou were free to forage amongst the trees and shrubs that had once hidden the wolves. The result? Without a natural predator, the Caribou numbers exploded, and the result of that was the death of thousands of trees due to overgrazing. The mouse and rodent population exploded to, as 90% of a wolfs diet is mice, and the dominoes just kept on tipping, effecting one species after another.

I think that we need to realize that we are the only species on the planet that is not relied upon by another species for it’s survival. Yet we rely on the whole ecological system for our own.

What do you think?

Adam Shake

SOURCE

Full Moon Names for 2009.

2009-01-30T20:31:00.001+01:00

Full moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. Those tribes of a few hundred years ago kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred.

There were some variations in the moon names, but in general the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers followed their own customs and created some of their own names. Here is a listing of all of the full moon names, as well as the dates and times for 2009. Unless otherwise noted, all times are for the Eastern Time Zone.

Jan. 10, 10:27 p.m. EST — Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the moon after Yule. In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next moon. The moon will also be at perigee (its closest point to Earth) on this day, at 6:00 a.m. EST, at a distance of 222,138mi. (357,497 km.) from Earth. Very high ocean tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full moon.

Feb. 9, 9:49 a.m. EST — Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon.

Mar. 10, 10:38 p.m. EDT — Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation.

Apr. 9, 10:56 a.m. EDT — Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and — among coastal tribes — the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed three days later on Sunday, April 12.

May 9, 12:01 a.m. EDT — Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.

Jun. 7, 2:12 p.m. EDT — Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.

Jul. 7, 5:21 a.m. EDT — Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes this is also called the Full Hay Moon. Since the moon arrives at apogee less than 13 hours later, this will also be smallest full moon of 2009. In terms of apparent size, it will appear 12-percent smaller than the full moon of Jan. 10

Aug. 5, 8:55 p.m. EDT — Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

Sep. 4, 12:03 a.m. EDT — Full Corn Moon. Sometimes also called the Fruit Moon; such monikers were used for a full moon that occurs during the first week of September, so as to keep the Harvest Moon from coming too early in the calendar.

Oct. 4, 2:10 a.m. EDT — Full Harvest Moon. Traditionally, this designation goes to the full moon that occurs closest to the Autumnal (fall) Equinox. The Harvest Moon usually comes in September, but sometimes it will fall in early October as is the case in 2009; the next time won’t come until 2017. At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work into the night by the light of this moon. Usually the full moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice — the chief Indian staples — are now ready for gathering.

Nov. 2, 2:14 p.m. EST — Full Beaver Moon. Now it is time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon come from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. This is also called the Frosty Moon, and as this is also the next full moon after the Harvest Moon, it can also be referred to as the Hunters’ Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, also other animals, which have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest.

Dec. 2, 2:30 a.m. EST — Full Cold Moon. December is usually considered the month that the winter cold begins to fasten its grip.

Dec. 31, 2:13 p.m. EST — Full Long Night Moon. Nights are at their longest and darkest. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long and the moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter full moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite to the low Sun. This is the second time the moon turns full in a calendar month, so it is also popularly known as a “Blue Moon.” Full moons occur on average each 29.53 days (the length of the synodic month), or 12.3683 times per year; so months containing two full moons occur on average every 2.72 years, or every 2 years plus 8 or 9 months. There will be a partial lunar eclipse that will be visible from Europe, Africa and Asia with this full moon. At its maximum 7.6-percent of the moon’s diameter will become immersed in the Earth’s dark umbral shadow.

source

Fact or Fiction?: Elephants Never Forget

2009-01-30T20:29:00.001+01:00

Elephants do not have the greatest eyesight in the animal kingdom, but they never forget a face. Carol Buckley at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., for instance, reports that in 1999 resident elephant Jenny became anxious and could hardly be contained when introduced to newcomer Shirley, an Asian elephant.

As the animals checked one another out with their trunks, Shirley, too, became animated and the two seemingly old friends had what appeared to be an emotional reunion. “There was this euphoria,” sanctuary founder Buckley says. “Shirley started bellowing, and then Jenny did, too. Both trunks were checking out each other’s scars. I’ve never experienced anything that intense without it being aggression.”

Turns out the two elephants had briefly crossed paths years earlier. Buckley knew that Jenny had performed with the traveling Carson & Barnes Circus, before coming to the sanctuary in 1999, but she knew little about Shirley’s background. She did a little digging, only to discover that Shirley had been in the circus with Jenny for a few months—23 years earlier.

Remarkable recall power, researchers believe, is a big part of how elephants survive. Matriarch elephants, in particular, hold a store of social knowledge that their families can scarcely do without, according to research conducted on elephants at Amboseli National Park in Kenya.

Researchers from the University of Sussex in England discovered that elephant groups with a 55-year-old matriarch (elephants live around 50 to 60 years) were more likely to huddle in a defensive posture than those with a matriarch aged 35 when confronted by an unfamiliar elephant. The reason: they were aware such strangers were likely to start conflicts with the group and possibly harm calves, Karen McComb, a psychologist and animal behaviorist at Sussex, and her colleagues reported in Science.

Other researchers, who studied three herds of elephants during a severe 1993 drought at Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park, found that they not only recognize one another but also recall routes to alternate food and water sources when their usual areas dry up.

The scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York City reported in Biology Letters that pachyderm groups with matriarchs, ages 38 and 45, left the parched park, apparently in search of water and grub, but the ones with a younger matriarch, age 33, stayed put.

Sixteen of 81 calves born in the park that year died in a nine-month period, a 20 percent mortality rate, much higher than the typical 2 percent; 10 of the dead were from the group that remained in the park, where feed and water were scarce.

Researchers concluded that the older elephants recalled a drought in the park that lasted from 1958 to 1961, and how their packs survived the slim pickings by migrating to lusher areas a distance away. None of the elephants that stayed behind were old enough to remember the previous dry spell.

Elephants also apparently recognize and can keep track of the locations of as many as 30 companions at a time, psychologist Richard Byrne of the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland and other researchers discovered during a 2007 study at Amboseli.

“Imagine taking your family to a crowded department store and the Christmas sales are on,” Byrne says. “What a job to keep track of where four or five family members are. These elephants are doing it with 30 traveling-mates.”

The scientists tested this memory by placing urine samples in front of female elephants, who thoroughly checked them with their trunks and acted up when they came across one that did not come from a member of their brood, and thereby should not have been there. “Most animals that hang around in packs, such as deer, probably have no idea who the other animals in their pack are,” Byrne says. But elephants “almost certainly know every [member] in their group.”

Such “working memory” is “far in advance of anything other animals have been shown to have,” Byrne adds, and helps the elephant monitor the family units that move, forage and socialize together.

When it comes to smarts, elephants are right up there with dolphins, apes and humans, says WCS cognitive scientist Diana Reiss and colleagues at Emory University in Atlanta. They reported in 2006 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA that elephants, like the other mammals in that exclusive circle, are the only animals known to recognize their reflections in a mirror.

Zoologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants in Nairobi, Kenya, is an authority on pachyderms who has studied them since the 1960s. He recounts becoming so well acquainted with an elephant in Tanzania’s Lake Manyara National Park early in his career that he could actually walk beside her in the wild. He left the area in 1969 to write his thesis and did not return again for four years. But when he came back, he says, it was as though he’d never left. “She came right back up to me and behaved the same way,” he says, noting that they resumed their friendly strolls.

“They’re long-lived animals, and memory would be a benefit to a long-lived animal, making it more adaptive to circumstances,” Douglas-Hamilton says. “Clearly if elephants experience extremes of climate and they can remember where the food is during a year, they can survive.”

So the next time someone says you have a memory like an elephant, take it as a compliment.

SOURCE

The 5 Reasons Luke Skywalker a Complete Idiot

2009-01-29T22:58:00.003+01:00

We all know Luke Skywalker as the main protagonist throughout the original Star Wars movies and onward into the novels of questionable quality. We all grew up wanting to be him—learning to use the Force, blowing up the Death Star, saving the galaxy. But the thing is, despite all his badass moments, he actually kind of sucks. Perhaps not as much as his father Anakin, but that could be due to Mark Hamill’s acting ability, in that he can act. Sure with the emotional music and all the screen time Luke Skywalker seems to be the hero, but really he’s an idiot who makes bad decisions and has a series of terrible ideas, and he’s lucky it all kind of works out for him, his friends, and the Rebel Alliance in the end.

5) Trusting the Force to Help Him Blow Up the Death Star

I have never really figured out what was so special about Luke using the Force in attacking the first Death Star. As far as I could tell, it did nothing but give Darth Vader a slightly higher level of difficulty in blasting his X-Wing, which he seemed to aptly overcome as he blew up R2-D2, and proceeded to almost blow the crap out of Luke’s X-Wing had Han Solo not saved his ass with the Millennium Falcon. Some might say his use of the Force involved him turning off his targeting computer and trusting himself to shoot the exhaust port. If that’s using the Force then I am using the Force every time I turn off my cruise control in my car. I mean, they make targeting systems for a reason, Luke—and chances are, the Rebel’s would prefer to trust your X-Wing’s highly sophisticated on-board computer than a mystical power you spent a few hours learning yesterday afternoon.

4) Refusing to Listen to the Only Living Jedi in the Galaxy

Luke gets a vision of his dead mentor Obi-Wan telling him to go to Dagobah to get training from the Jedi Master, Yoda. Luke obeys, goes out to Dagobah, finds Yoda, and then proceeds to ignore him at every important turn. Yoda tells him not to go into the scary cave with weapons, Luke doesn’t listen. Yoda gives him a lesson about overcoming great obstacles, and Luke doesn’t take it to heart, can’t lift his own X-Wing and gets all pissy. Yoda and the Ghost of Obi-Wan both tell him not to go running off to Bespin to save his friends as he’s going to endanger everything they fought for. Luke doesn’t listen, goes off to Bespin, helps nobody and gets his damn hand chopped off.

Well done, Luke. Why should “Obi-Wan coming back as a ghost to give important instructions” convey any significance to you? Why should not pay attention to the one muppet who knows how to use the Force? You’re just a jerk who nearly turned into a Hoth-sicle—you surely know better than both of ‘em!

3) His Insanely Stupid Plan To Rescue Han Solo from Jabba The Hutt

Let us imagine that Luke Skywalker is trying to tell you his plan to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt.

Luke: “Okay so, first we get Lando Calrissian posing as a guard inside Jabba’s Palace.”

You: “How do we do that?”

Luke: “We just get him a costume and he—just walks in.”

You: “Um, okay, say it’s that easy. So then Lando gets Han out of the carbonite and we pick them up and get away?”

Luke: “No. What happens next is that I put my lightsaber in a hidden compartment in R2-D2 and send R2-D2 and C3PO to Jabba the Hutt as gifts.”

You: “Wait, why-“

Luke: “Just listen. Next we have Leia pose as a bounty hunter arriving at Jabba’s palace with Chewbacca captured. She’s going to hand over Chewbacca to Jabba.”

You: “Wait, why? Wouldn’t that mean we would now have to rescue Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C3PO? That just makes it more difficult, right?”

Luke: “Just go with me here. Next, Leia is going to sneak around at night and get Han Solo out of the carbonite, but get captured.”

You: “What? Why would we get everyone captured like that?”

Luke: “Now I’ll show up, use my Force powers to get in to Jabba’s fortress, get past the guards to an audience before Jabba and then use my Jedi mind trick to get Jabba to release everyone. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll get captured.”

You: “Okay, if you can just use your Force powers to get in to the palace and all the way to Jabba, then let’s just have you go in right now and get Han out.”

Luke: “No, that’s stupid. I’m going to get myself captured. Because then you see, we’ll be taken to the sarlacc pit and then, when we’re on the skiff, I’ll get sent out first and then R2-D2 will manage to get to the top of Jabba’s sail barge and shoot out my lightsaber, and then with Lando’s help, we’ll just—rescue everyone and then everything will be fine!”

You: “That is the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard of.”

Luke:“I’ve thought of everything.”

You: “Clearly you didn’t.”

2) Throwing Away His Lightsaber in Front of the Emperor

So Luke decides not to put his lightsaber through Darth Vader’s head once he realizes that he’s going along the same dark path as his father. So what does he do next? He tosses away his lightsaber and then proclaims to the Emperor that he is a Jedi. Thus, he has no way to defend himself when the Emperor blasts him with lightning and if it wasn’t for his Father saving his butt (please note how many times Luke gets saved by someone else) he would have been a charred piece of Tatooine bacon. Okay, yes, tossing away the lightsaber makes a definitive statement of renouncing Father-killing, but what did he think would happen other than the Emperor kicking his ass? Did Luke think that perhaps he would proclaim “I am a Jedi, like my father before me,” and the Emperor would suddenly shout “No! You are the purest good! I am nothing in the presence of your light!” and then fling himself backward into the chasm? Why didn’t Luke just try to give the Emperor a big hug and kisses and call him a ‘snookle bear.’ He’s a master of the Dark Side, so of course he’s going to kick your ass. Luke was warned not to underestimate the Emperor…so of course, he does exactly that.

1) Not Joining the Dark Side

No, seriously! Luke gets dumped on his whole life—his adoptive parents get killed, all his friends get injured or killed, the girl he falls in love with turns out to be his sister, his father turns out to be one of the most evil people in the galaxy, his hand gets cut off. Then he gets a chance to co-rule the galaxy. Who wouldn’t take that offer at that point?

What has Luke had to look forward to after the original trilogy? Mostly trying to start up the whole Jedi Order by himself, which is a ton of work, and watching Han have almost constant sex with Leia. Between that and ruling with Vader, it’s not unlike a choice between working in your local library and becoming President. Not really much of a choice there. And ou can comment all you want about the Dark Side being a path to pain and suffering and a loss of humanity, but let’s face it—the Dark Side is simply cooler. Members of the Sith have neat custom lightsabers, get to slap everyone around, and just plain look cooler. For Halloween, how many Luke costumes do you see people wearing nowadays? Zero. How many Darth Vader costumes do you see? Still too many to count. Bad is good, baby.

SOURCE

Our world may be a giant hologram

2009-01-26T22:06:00.002+01:00

DRIVING through the countryside south of Hanover, it would be easy to miss the GEO600 experiment. From the outside, it doesn't look much: in the corner of a field stands an assortment of boxy temporary buildings, from which two long trenches emerge, at a right angle to each other, covered with corrugated iron. Underneath the metal sheets, however, lies a detector that stretches for 600 metres.

For the past seven years, this German set-up has been looking for gravitational waves - ripples in space-time thrown off by super-dense astronomical objects such as neutron stars and black holes. GEO600 has not detected any gravitational waves so far, but it might inadvertently have made the most important discovery in physics for half a century.

For many months, the GEO600 team-members had been scratching their heads over inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. Then, out of the blue, a researcher approached them with an explanation. In fact, he had even predicted the noise before he knew they were detecting it. According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, GEO600 has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described and instead dissolves into "grains", just as a newspaper photograph dissolves into dots as you zoom in. "It looks like GEO600 is being buffeted by the microscopic quantum convulsions of space-time," says Hogan.

If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan, who has just been appointed director of Fermilab's Center for Particle Astrophysics, has an even bigger shock in store: "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram."

The idea that we live in a hologram probably sounds absurd, but it is a natural extension of our best understanding of black holes, and something with a pretty firm theoretical footing. It has also been surprisingly helpful for physicists wrestling with theories of how the universe works at its most fundamental level.

The holograms you find on credit cards and banknotes are etched on two-dimensional plastic films. When light bounces off them, it recreates the appearance of a 3D image. In the 1990s physicists Leonard Susskind and Nobel prizewinner Gerard 't Hooft suggested that the same principle might apply to the universe as a whole. Our everyday experience might itself be a holographic projection of physical processes that take place on a distant, 2D surface.

The "holographic principle" challenges our sensibilities. It seems hard to believe that you woke up, brushed your teeth and are reading this article because of something happening on the boundary of the universe. No one knows what it would mean for us if we really do live in a hologram, yet theorists have good reasons to believe that many aspects of the holographic principle are true.

Susskind and 't Hooft's remarkable idea was motivated by ground-breaking work on black holes by Jacob Bekenstein of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and Stephen Hawking at the University of Cambridge. In the mid-1970s, Hawking showed that black holes are in fact not entirely "black" but instead slowly emit radiation, which causes them to evaporate and eventually disappear. This poses a puzzle, because Hawking radiation does not convey any information about the interior of a black hole. When the black hole has gone, all the information about the star that collapsed to form the black hole has vanished, which contradicts the widely affirmed principle that information cannot be destroyed. This is known as the black hole information paradox.

Bekenstein's work provided an important clue in resolving the paradox. He discovered that a black hole's entropy - which is synonymous with its information content - is proportional to the surface area of its event horizon. This is the theoretical surface that cloaks the black hole and marks the point of no return for infalling matter or light. Theorists have since shown that microscopic quantum ripples at the event horizon can encode the information inside the black hole, so there is no mysterious information loss as the black hole evaporates.

Crucially, this provides a deep physical insight: the 3D information about a precursor star can be completely encoded in the 2D horizon of the subsequent black hole - not unlike the 3D image of an object being encoded in a 2D hologram. Susskind and 't Hooft extended the insight to the universe as a whole on the basis that the cosmos has a horizon too - the boundary from beyond which light has not had time to reach us in the 13.7-billion-year lifespan of the universe. What's more, work by several string theorists, most notably Juan Maldacena at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, has confirmed that the idea is on the right track. He showed that the physics inside a hypothetical universe with five dimensions and shaped like a Pringle is the same as the physics taking place on the four-dimensional boundary.
According to Hogan, the holographic principle radically changes our picture of space-time. Theoretical physicists have long believed that quantum effects will cause space-time to convulse wildly on the tiniest scales. At this magnification, the fabric of space-time becomes grainy and is ultimately made of tiny units rather like pixels, but a hundred billion billion times smaller than a proton. This distance is known as the Planck length, a mere 10-35 metres. The Planck length is far beyond the reach of any conceivable experiment, so nobody dared dream that the graininess of space-time might be discernable.

That is, not until Hogan realised that the holographic principle changes everything. If space-time is a grainy hologram, then you can think of the universe as a sphere whose outer surface is papered in Planck length-sized squares, each containing one bit of information. The holographic principle says that the amount of information papering the outside must match the number of bits contained inside the volume of the universe.

Since the volume of the spherical universe is much bigger than its outer surface, how could this be true? Hogan realised that in order to have the same number of bits inside the universe as on the boundary, the world inside must be made up of grains bigger than the Planck length. "Or, to put it another way, a holographic universe is blurry," says Hogan.

This is good news for anyone trying to probe the smallest unit of space-time. "Contrary to all expectations, it brings its microscopic quantum structure within reach of current experiments," says Hogan. So while the Planck length is too small for experiments to detect, the holographic "projection" of that graininess could be much, much larger, at around 10-16 metres. "If you lived inside a hologram, you could tell by measuring the blurring," he says.

When Hogan first realised this, he wondered if any experiment might be able to detect the holographic blurriness of space-time. That's where GEO600 comes in.

Gravitational wave detectors like GEO600 are essentially fantastically sensitive rulers. The idea is that if a gravitational wave passes through GEO600, it will alternately stretch space in one direction and squeeze it in another. To measure this, the GEO600 team fires a single laser through a half-silvered mirror called a beam splitter. This divides the light into two beams, which pass down the instrument's 600-metre perpendicular arms and bounce back again. The returning light beams merge together at the beam splitter and create an interference pattern of light and dark regions where the light waves either cancel out or reinforce each other. Any shift in the position of those regions tells you that the relative lengths of the arms has changed.

"The key thing is that such experiments are sensitive to changes in the length of the rulers that are far smaller than the diameter of a proton," says Hogan.

So would they be able to detect a holographic projection of grainy space-time? Of the five gravitational wave detectors around the world, Hogan realised that the Anglo-German GEO600 experiment ought to be the most sensitive to what he had in mind. He predicted that if the experiment's beam splitter is buffeted by the quantum convulsions of space-time, this will show up in its measurements (Physical Review D, vol 77, p 104031). "This random jitter would cause noise in the laser light signal," says Hogan.

In June he sent his prediction to the GEO600 team. "Incredibly, I discovered that the experiment was picking up unexpected noise," says Hogan. GEO600's principal investigator Karsten Danzmann of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany, and also the University of Hanover, admits that the excess noise, with frequencies of between 300 and 1500 hertz, had been bothering the team for a long time. He replied to Hogan and sent him a plot of the noise. "It looked exactly the same as my prediction," says Hogan. "It was as if the beam splitter had an extra sideways jitter."
Incredibly, the experiment was picking up unexpected noise - as if quantum convulsions were causing an extra sideways jitter

No one - including Hogan - is yet claiming that GEO600 has found evidence that we live in a holographic universe. It is far too soon to say. "There could still be a mundane source of the noise," Hogan admits.

Gravitational-wave detectors are extremely sensitive, so those who operate them have to work harder than most to rule out noise. They have to take into account passing clouds, distant traffic, seismological rumbles and many, many other sources that could mask a real signal. "The daily business of improving the sensitivity of these experiments always throws up some excess noise," says Danzmann. "We work to identify its cause, get rid of it and tackle the next source of excess noise." At present there are no clear candidate sources for the noise GEO600 is experiencing. "In this respect I would consider the present situation unpleasant, but not really worrying."

For a while, the GEO600 team thought the noise Hogan was interested in was caused by fluctuations in temperature across the beam splitter. However, the team worked out that this could account for only one-third of the noise at most.

Danzmann says several planned upgrades should improve the sensitivity of GEO600 and eliminate some possible experimental sources of excess noise. "If the noise remains where it is now after these measures, then we have to think again," he says.

If GEO600 really has discovered holographic noise from quantum convulsions of space-time, then it presents a double-edged sword for gravitational wave researchers. One on hand, the noise will handicap their attempts to detect gravitational waves. On the other, it could represent an even more fundamental discovery.

Such a situation would not be unprecedented in physics. Giant detectors built to look for a hypothetical form of radioactivity in which protons decay never found such a thing. Instead, they discovered that neutrinos can change from one type into another - arguably more important because it could tell us how the universe came to be filled with matter and not antimatter (New Scientist, 12 April 2008, p 26).

It would be ironic if an instrument built to detect something as vast as astrophysical sources of gravitational waves inadvertently detected the minuscule graininess of space-time. "Speaking as a fundamental physicist, I see discovering holographic noise as far more interesting," says Hogan.

Small price to pay

Despite the fact that if Hogan is right, and holographic noise will spoil GEO600's ability to detect gravitational waves, Danzmann is upbeat. "Even if it limits GEO600's sensitivity in some frequency range, it would be a price we would be happy to pay in return for the first detection of the graininess of space-time." he says. "You bet we would be pleased. It would be one of the most remarkable discoveries in a long time."

However Danzmann is cautious about Hogan's proposal and believes more theoretical work needs to be done. "It's intriguing," he says. "But it's not really a theory yet, more just an idea." Like many others, Danzmann agrees it is too early to make any definitive claims. "Let's wait and see," he says. "We think it's at least a year too early to get excited."

The longer the puzzle remains, however, the stronger the motivation becomes to build a dedicated instrument to probe holographic noise. John Cramer of the University of Washington in Seattle agrees. It was a "lucky accident" that Hogan's predictions could be connected to the GEO600 experiment, he says. "It seems clear that much better experimental investigations could be mounted if they were focused specifically on the measurement and characterisation of holographic noise and related phenomena."

One possibility, according to Hogan, would be to use a device called an atom interferometer. These operate using the same principle as laser-based detectors but use beams made of ultracold atoms rather than laser light. Because atoms can behave as waves with a much smaller wavelength than light, atom interferometers are significantly smaller and therefore cheaper to build than their gravitational-wave-detector counterparts.

So what would it mean it if holographic noise has been found? Cramer likens it to the discovery of unexpected noise by an antenna at Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1964. That noise turned out to be the cosmic microwave background, the afterglow of the big bang fireball. "Not only did it earn Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson a Nobel prize, but it confirmed the big bang and opened up a whole field of cosmology," says Cramer.

Hogan is more specific. "Forget Quantum of Solace, we would have directly observed the quantum of time," says Hogan. "It's the smallest possible interval of time - the Planck length divided by the speed of light."

More importantly, confirming the holographic principle would be a big help to researchers trying to unite quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of gravity. Today the most popular approach to quantum gravity is string theory, which researchers hope could describe happenings in the universe at the most fundamental level. But it is not the only show in town. "Holographic space-time is used in certain approaches to quantising gravity that have a strong connection to string theory," says Cramer. "Consequently, some quantum gravity theories might be falsified and others reinforced."

Hogan agrees that if the holographic principle is confirmed, it rules out all approaches to quantum gravity that do not incorporate the holographic principle. Conversely, it would be a boost for those that do - including some derived from string theory and something called matrix theory. "Ultimately, we may have our first indication of how space-time emerges out of quantum theory." As serendipitous discoveries go, it's hard to get more ground-breaking than that.
SOURCE

NASA Fakes Moon Landing! ( ironic )

2009-01-26T21:53:00.005+01:00

Heroic images or NASA fraud? At last we have the conclusive proof! The image on the left clearly shows the supposed 25,000 of thrust generated by the lunar lander to arrest its descent. Yet in the image on the right, where is the giant crater this would have created? Looks like the complex web of NASA lies is about to unravel!

Another apparently inspirational image from the NASA archive. All seems fine at first but notice the numerous directions in which the shadows are falling (marked with arrows). This indicates that the image is probably coposed of several images taken at different times (probably in a top secret studio guarded by specially trained aliens working as government agents) and joined together using advanced technology NASA always denies existed at the time.

This is the photographic equivalent of an automotive "cut-and-shut" job. If this image was your car, you wouldn't trust it to take you to the end of your road without breaking in half!

Not much wrong with this picture you may think. Yet, by thinking that, you would just become yet another of NASA's conspiracy victims.
Firstly, despite the absence of an atmosphere, no stars can be seen in the sky.
Secondly, the interior of the shopping basket can clearly be seen when all areas in shadow should be pitch black due to the absence of air molecules.
Nice try NASA but we are not fooled that easily!

Just way too many things wrong with this picture!
Notice the absence of stars again.
The arrows indicate the various directions in which shadows are falling, again showing evidence of inconsistent scene illumination. Yet there is something even more obviously wrong with this picture.
If the length of the lower support column of the lunar lander was 4 feet tall, this would indicate that the astronaut was over 8 feet tall, which none of the astronauts were.
Another careless mistake from NASA.

Oh yes NASA, it's all very well adding stars on this picture just to make us realise how wrong we have been. We are not fooled so easily!
If we look a bit more closely, we spot the constellation of Pegasus with the planet Saturn (marked S1) clearly visible in the top left corner. Yet at the time of the mission, although Saturn appeared to be near Pegasus from Earth, from the Moon it would have appeared to be in a completely different position (marked S2).
It is almost insulting to think that NASA could get away with this obvious howler!

Well, with this image where does one begin?!
Inconsistent shadows, too much ambient light and incorrect planetary positioning in the sky are all evident here.
Also notice how the focal length of the camera lens has changed compared to the pictures above, even though the astronauts' Hasselblad cameras were only fitted with a single type of prime lens.
Just how stupid did the NASA officials think the public were?

Most Popular Dog Breeds in the World

2009-01-26T17:54:00.012+01:00

Labrador

The main characteristics of Labradors are their coat, tail, head and temperament. They have a double coat: a soft, downy undercoat that keeps them dry and warm in cold water and a hard outer coat that helps them repel water. Their tail, described best as an otter tail, is thick at the base and tapers to a narrower point. It should not be carried over the back nor should it have a curl to it. It should, however, be at exactly coffee table height and always be ready to swipe one clean. Their head is clean cut and somewhat broad, with hanging ears. Their expression is alert and intelligent and conveys a kind, friendly temperament.
Their best feature is their temperament. Labs are loving, people oriented dogs. They are happiest when they are with you. Labs are retrievers and will bring you things they find laying about your house or yard. They tend to be quite patient with children and wonderful family dogs. They are not guard dogs. They may bark protectively, but will generally not act more aggressively. Labs are wonderful people dogs, more likely to lick someone to death than hurt them. They tend to be stable, not easily upset by strange things or occurrences. They will take many things in stride.
Labrador Retrievers, originally from Newfoundland, were initially used in work alongside fisherman, helping to pull in nets and catch fish that escaped from fishing lines. After being crossed with Setters, Spaniels and other Retrievers, the Labrador Retriever honed its skills as a true retriever. From this point in the breed’s history, "Labs," as they are affectionately called, were bred primarily to perform as an efficient retriever of game, with a stable temperament suitable for a variety of activities beyond hunting.

Yorkshire Terrier

The Yorkshire Terrier is one of the most popular dogs of the day. It rivals the Chihuahua for the title of the world's smallest dog. It is unlikely to be over-awed by larger animals, however, and is not the ideal choice for the stand-offish, because it wants to make friends with everybody. It has been described as a big dog inhabiting a small dog's body.
Named for the English city from which they originally hail, Yorkshire Terriers were used in the nineteenth century to catch rats in clothing mills. Surprisingly enough, in its beginnings, the Yorkie belonged to the working class, especially the weavers; in fact, facetious comments were often made about how the dogs' fine, silky coats were the ultimate product of the looms. Eventually, the breed left the workforce and became a companion animal to families of European high society.
Yorkies are easily adaptable to all surroundings, travel well and make suitable pets for many homes. Due to their small size, they require limited exercise, but need daily interaction with their people. Their long coat requires regular brushing.

German Shepherd Dog

The German Shepherd Dog is hailed as the world’s leading police, guard and military dog, however, this dependable breed is more than its 9-to-5 job.
The German Shepherd Dog originated in 1899 at Karlsruhe, Germany due to the efforts of Captain Max von Stephanitz and others. Derived from the old breeds of herding and farm dogs, the first German Shepherd Dog exhibited in America was in 1907. The fame associated with Rin-Tin-Tin and Strongheart, two members of the breed whose movies played on variations of the boy and his dog theme, shot the popularity of the breed sky-high.
Energetic and fun-loving, the breed is very fond of children once a relationship is established. He is a loyal family pet and a good guard dog, the ideal choice for many families. He requires regular exercise and grooming.

Golden retriever

Golden retrievers are well known for being great family pets. This breed above all others is known to be friendly and gentle with children. If you’re looking for a dog that will fit in as a part of your family, and want a medium to large sized dog, you should definitely be looking at golden retriever puppies.
Golden retrievers are known to be gentle around children, and are also highly intelligent and obedient dogs, similar to a German shepherd. Golden retrievers are more commonly thought of as family pets, however, due to the fact that they are not used as guard dogs or police dogs – so they don’t give the impression that they might be potentially dangerous.
The Golden Retriever originated in the Scottish Highlands in the late 1800s and was used predominantly for hunting. The breed was developed by Lord Tweedmouth, whose goal was to create a superb retriever suited to the Scottish climate, terrain and available game. He crossed his original "Yellow Retriever" with the Tweed Water Spaniel (now extinct) found on his estate. Later integrations of Irish Setter, Bloodhound, and more Tweed Water Spaniel produced the retriever we know today.
This active and energetic Sporting breed can adapt to many different living situations but requires daily exercise. His water-repellant double-coat sheds seasonally and needs regular brushing. With his friendly temperament and striking golden color, this breed is both beautiful to look at and a joy to own.

Beagle

The Beagle has a strong history as a pack animal, and this means that he loves the whole family. He is very good with children. Beagles are happy, friendly, cheerful dogs.
The Beagle is a merry, affectionate little fellow, loving humans and other pets alike. The Beagle adores children and is a wonderful companion, equally ready for a romp or to lie by your feet on the hearthrug. This breed is equally at home in a small house or a mansion, and will guard its home and owner faithfully. It is not a barker, being mostly heard at the chase, in full cry. But, like most other hounds, it has the wanderlust, so care must be taken never to leave gates ajar.
The Breed Standard states: a merry hound whose essential function is to hunt, primarily hare, by following a scent. Bold with great activity, stamina and determination. Alert, intelligent and of even temperament. A sturdy and compactly-built hound, conveying the impression of quality without coarseness.
The Beagle is one of the smallest of the hounds, embodying all their virtues. An ancient breed, the Beagle has proved a joy to sportsmen for hundreds of years. Beagles were first mentioned by name in writings published in 1475. Followed on foot and on horseback, they have been hunted in packs after hare from time immemorial, and were first imported to North America for this purpose.
Beagles are esteemed all over the world and have hunted many different quarries in varying climates, including jackal in the Sudan and Palestine, wild pig in Ceylon, and deer in Scandinavia. In the United States and Canada Beagles are used as gun dogs to seek out and retrieve game, and to hunt by scent in competitive Field Trials.

Boxer

Boxers are very affectionate and need constant interaction from its family
The Boxer by nature is not an aggressive or vicious breed, however, owners should be wary when a stranger enters the dog's domain without being properly introduced. It is important to remember that Boxer's are genetically known as guardians and therefor are very strict when territory is in question.
Boxers are known for the playful manner in which they carry themselves. They are spontaneous, goofy and willing to participate in just about anything active. More often than not, boxers will play fight or "box" with their front paws high in the air
Boxer's have short snouts and long distance running is not recommended, as they may not be able to properly ventilate.
Developed in Germany in the 19th century, Boxers were originally used for dog fighting and to run down and hold large game such as wild boar and bison until the hunter could arrive. The breed is known for standing up on its hind legs and batting at its opponent, appearing to box with its front paws. Imported to America after World War I, they began to grow in popularity in the late 1930s.
One of the breed's most notable characteristics is its desire for human affection, especially from children. They are patient and spirited with children, but also protective, making them a popular choice for families. The Boxer requires little grooming, but needs daily exercise.

Dachshund

The Dachshund was bred as a badger hound in its native Germany. What was needed was a short-legged hound, with a keen sense of smell, coupled with courage and gameness; and a dog that could burrow — an ability that, if unchecked, will cause your Dachshund to demolish your yard and garden.
Some Dachsunds are still bred as hunting dogs and will bravely tackle an opponent larger than themselves, such as the badger. The Dachshund will also defend its master until death. However, their role today is mainly as a companion and pet. They may be a little aggressive with strangers, if unchecked.
Dachshunds were first bred in the early 1600s in Germany. The goal was to create a fearless, elongated dog that could dig the earth from a badger burrow and fight to the death with the vicious badgers.
The breed became popular in the U.S. during the early 1900’s, but fell out of favor during World War I. After the war, a few U.S. breeders slowly rebuilt the gene pool by importing German stock, and the breed began to increase in popularity again.
Dachshunds are lovable, playful companions, and an ideal pet for many homes, including those with children with appropriate supervision. They require moderate exercise, and can adapt to most living environments. Depending on their coat type, Dachshunds may need regular grooming.

English Bulldog

Gentle, friendly, and adoring, with a mischievous dose of stubbornness, the English Bulldog is incessantly loyal to its family.
It usually gets along well with other animals, is particularly fond of children, and does best indoors. Highly spirited as a puppy, the English Bulldog grows up to be a calm adult. The breed prefers not to exercise, can easily overheat, and is prone to drooling and snoring.
The English Bulldog descended from ancient Mastiffs that originated in Asia and were brought to Europe by nomads. Mastiffs were bred for ferocity in fighting, holding, or bringing down aggressive prey.The Bulldog was bred in the early 13th Century for bull baiting. The short muzzle and wide lower jaw were needed for the dog to clamp itself to the bull's nose like a vise, and the nose had to be upturned so that the dog could still breathe while clinging to the bull. It is mentioned in many historical works, most notably, in Shakespeare's King Henry VI. When animal baiting contests were outlawed in England in 1835, these Bulldogs were increasingly exported to America and also to Germany, where they helped create the Boxer. The last of the working Bulldogs in England were crossed with Pug Dogs to create a stocky, docile, family pet-known today as the English Bulldog. The breed was first registered by the American Kennel Club in 1934 in the non-sporting group and today is a popular show dog throughout the world.
Affectionate, but sometimes stubborn; great with kids

Poodle

The Poodle has a character full of fun and is intelligent and obedient. It has proven to be a useful competitor in obedience competitions. Poodles have a fondness for water, if the owner permits, but is much favoured for the show ring where, exhibited in the traditional lion clip, it is a beauty to behold. It is also, debatably, the most difficult breed to prepare for the show ring, involving the owner in a day's canine beauty treatment.
The Poodle will enjoy a ball game in the garden, practising obedience exercises or trotting beside you in the park. Poodles make excellent pets for the apartment dweller.
The Poodle was originally a shaggy guard, a retriever and protector of sheep, with origins similar to the Irish Water Spaniel and, no doubt, a common ancestor in the French Barbet and Hungarian Water Hound.
The Poodle may not be, as many suppose, solely of French origin. It originated in Germany as a water retriever, even the word 'poodle' comes from the German 'pudelnass' or puddle, and from this large, sturdy dog, the Standard Poodle, The Miniature and the Toy Poodle have evolved.
The breed has been known in England since Prince Rupert of the Rhine, in company with his Poodle, came to the aid of Charles I in battle. The breed was favooured also by Marie Antoinette who rumor has it, invented the lion clip to match the uniform of her courtiers. The Poodle is a very popular breed the world over.
Affectionate, Intelligent and long-lived, Good sense of fun

Shih Tzu

The Shih Tzu is a happy and attractive little house-pet which adores human company and hates to be neglected. It is extremely intelligent, arrogant, and looks forward to the long, daily grooming sessions for which time must be allocated if you decide to buy this delightful breed.
The Lhasa Apso was highly prized by the Dalai Lama of Tibet who would habitually give prized dogs to emperors of China. It is likely that the Chinese may have crossed the Lhasa Apso with the Pekingese to develop the Shih Tzu. As with the Imperial Pekingese. export of the Shih Tzu from China was forbidden, and it was not until the death of Empress Tzu-hsi in 1908 that the little shaggy dogs were smuggled out to Europe.
Affectionate, Hardy, Intelligent, Loves children and animals, Suitable for city or country

Amy Winehouse the bodybuilder leads pack of stars transformed into muscled beefcakes

2009-01-26T13:36:00.006+01:00

We all know celebrities can be obsessive about their weight.

One minute they've slimmed down, the next they've piled on the pounds, perhaps to play a new film role.

But these digitally altered photos take the weight game to the extreme - by transforming the stars into bodybuilders.

Amy Winehouse is transformed into a bodybuilder on website www.worth.1000.com which digitally alters photos of celebrities

The pictures are the creation of website www.worth1000.com which is responsible for beefing-up a plethora of stars.

Those in the muscle-popping line-up include Amy Winehouse, Keira Knightley, Angelina Jolie and the troupe of Sex And The City actresses.

Keira Knightley is often criticised for being too thin - but she's beefed-up here

Angelina Jolie complete with bursting biceps bigger than husband Brad Pitt's

The images are created by superimposing the celebrities' heads on to photographic images of bodybuilders.

And the results will certainly make you take a second take as they look bizarrely realistic - even though Winehouse's scrawny frame has been transformed into a toned manly physique.

Imagine: Model Gisele Bündchen would hardly fit down the catwalk built like this

Cameron Diaz with muscles so big the veins in her arms are nearly bursting

The shots also show how photo trickery can truly transform the look of a person.

And it flies in the face controversial techniques glossy magazine use to make their front cover stars look thinner.

Larger than life: Sex And The City stars Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker

Charlize Theron striking a rather unfeminine pose with killer calf muscles

Instead, the results show the stars as they could look as a serious athlete.

The images were created using software from http://a.viary.com

Clint Eastwood gets a makeover with bustling pecs and washboard stomach

Bruce really Almighty: Jim Carrey gets extra muscle in the pose from the 2003 film Bruce Almighty
SOURCE

Five of the World's Weirdest Plants

2009-01-24T16:33:00.020+01:00

Everyone should be familiar with the genus Dionea or "Venus Fly Trap," and you may have

previously learned of certain ant-loving Acacia shrubs, but the vegetative world is home to plenty
stranger, and while perhaps not as adrenaline-pumping as Crustaceans or as gruesome as
Amphibians, plants have more than earned the spotlight just this once, providing food, shelter and
oxygen for the entire kingdom Animalia.

Bladderwort Traps

Rather unremarkable in appearance from above, these tiny aquatic plants are actually
carnivorous, and display one of the most sophisticated mechanisms in the known plant
kingdom.

The "bladders" of the plant's namesake are thousands of tiny, sac-like pods that hang
from submerged branches, each equipped with a hinged "door" and membranous seal
held shut by a delicate equilibrium of pressure. At the slightest touch by some tiny insect,
crustacean or even protozoa, the seal is broken and the bladder floods with water,
sucking in the prey for digestion.

Un-carnivorous Plants

Members of the genus Nepenthes are usually adapted to attract, trap and digest insect
prey in their fluid-filled "pitchers," but Nepenthes lowii favors an alternative, even less
savory diet. The rim of its "trap" secretes a sweet, milky substance that small birds may
find both an enticing treat and fast-acting laxative; only seldomly catching insects, lowii
derives most of its sustenance as a public toilet.

Another un-carnivorous pitcher is Nepenthes ampullaria. While other pitcher traps are
shaped to keep clear of fallen leaves, twigs and other inedible detritus, this scavenging
cannibal leaves itself open to whatever might fall into its gaping gullet, actually favoring the
digestion of vegetable matter.

"Sexual Deception" in Orchid Flowers

At first glance, the flowers of many orchid species can fool even a human into seeing
some colorful bee, fly or wasp, and the resemblance is far from coincidence. Each flower
not only approximates the size, shape and color of a different local insect, but imitates the
female reproductive pheromones of the appropriate species, attracting male insects in a
certain special mood.

Whereas other flowers promise food to attract pollinators, orchids such as these take
advantage of insect mating signals to avoid the costly process of nectar production. As
the insects attempt to reproduce with the imposters, their bodies carry pollen from one
sneaky plant to the next.

A Predatory team-up

Though adapted to attract and trap insects in its sticky coating, the "paracarnivorous"
Roridula genus produces no digestive enzymes of its own, leaving the final act of
predation in the hands of a second party...

Spending their entire lives on the foliage of Roridula, the assassin bugs Pameridea
roridulae and Pameridea marlothii prey exclusively on other insects trapped by their host
plant, which in turn derives nourishment as the predators defecate. This makes Roridula
the only known plant genus that provides food for a carnivore in order to farm its own
fertilizer.

The Parasitic Corpse Flower

Over a meter across, the flower of this rare Malaysian plant is the single largest known to
man, and that's only the beginning of Rafflesia arnoldii's unusual characteristics. The rest
of the plant consists only of a fungus-like filament, which grows as a parasite exclusively
within the vines of Tetrastigma, an exotic relative of the grape. Arnoldii produces its
titanic bud directly from the surface of its host, and grows for several months to bloom for
only a few days.

Often called a "corpse flower," the odor of this monstrous blossom is notoriously
unpleasant, imitating the decaying flesh of a dead animal. Its hairy, leathery texture and
reddish coloration contribute to this illusion, attracting flies and other scavengers for
pollination. It is not known exactly how its seeds reach other Tetrastigma, but may stick to
the fur of passing rodents. Only one will be produced from each flower.

10 Extraordinary 2008 Purchases by (Apparently) Extremely Rich Collectors

2009-01-22T13:52:00.007+01:00

As long as I can remember, I have always had my eyes open for something new to add to my collection. Usually the types of places I hunt for valuable finds are in flea markets and in old out of the way pawn shops, antique warehouses and used book stores.

Most of the time I have my eyes peeled for “collectors items” in the investment range of about $25. I usually try to negotiate with the seller to see if I can get the item for less, and I rarely spend more than that unless it is for something really special. Ok, I admit it - I am more of a budget collector. I am mostly seeking that undiscovered gem of potential value that I might find in the back of some old boutique.

The fact that I limit myself to a price range of $20 is not something that I specifically prefer, but more because of the fact that my current financial standing doesn’t really allow me to move much beyond the discount collector pieces.

Do you sometimes wonder what it would feel like to purchase some really rare item that would truly add monetary value to your collection? It seems that for some people cost is just not an issue, and they actually made some pretty extravagant purchases in the year 2008, most of them turning out to be pretty expensive investments as well…

1. 1961 Ferrari California Spyder Breaks Records with $10,894,900 Price Tag

This amazing looking car was purchased for an equally amazing price at an auction in Maranello, Italy last year by buyer Chris Evans, a popular British radio host. The Ferrari, previously owned by actor James Coburn, was finally sold at almost twice the price that it had been estimated to sell at. It seems that some people are happily willing to pay top prices for quality.

2. World’s Most Expensive License Plate Sold for $14.3 Million

It turns out that there is quite a demand for certain license plate numbers, especially among those buyers who have the kind of funds that are necessary to make this kind of a purchase. This particular deal cost roughly $14.3 million and was made by UAE based businessman Saeed Abdul Ghafour Khouri who paid this record breaking sum for the respect of showing that he is really number 1 - with a Abu Dhabi license plate aptly labeled “1” purchased at an auction held at the 7-star Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. I can’t help but wonder if the owner of the license plate and the Ferrari above shouldn’t just get together and combine their purchases to create one of the world’s highest priced car + license plate combinations ever… I wonder what the resell market price would be on an item like that?

3. Rare Blue Diamond Sells for World Record Price of $8.9 Million

We all know that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but it turns out that some girls have much more expensive taste in friends than other girls. The awesome blue diamond pictured above is a 13.39 carat beauty that sold for the record price of $8.9 million at a sale at Christie’s in Geneva last year. The diamond is considered quite rare and contains boron, giving it a slightly bluish color as well as giving it properties that make it a semi-conductor that conducts electricity. My grandfather would say that it had better do more than conduct some electricity - for that price you would expect at least bolts of lightning.

4. 1909 Honus Wagner Baseball Card Sells for $1.62 Million

You may think that this has got to be the record price paid for a baseball card. Actually no, the record price for a baseball card is really $2.8 million, which was paid in 2007 for another Wagner card. I guess this guy must have been a really good baseball player! I wonder how much his yearly salary was back in 1909…

5. Rare 3 Cent Stamp Sells for Over $1 Million

This 3-cent, rose-colored “B Grill” stamp is among only 4 examples of this valuable stamp known to be in existence. An anonymous buyer made this part of their personal collection when they secured the winning bid of $1,035,000. Nothing like purchasing a quality stamp for your collection.

6. Russian Oligarch Pays Record Breaking $750 Million for Riviera Villa

This mansion, built by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1902 was purchased in 2008 for a sum far above the going price, even for a luxurious villa on the French Riviera. Mikhail Prokhorov is said to have paid more than $750 million for Villa Leopolda, located between Nice and Monaco. Now this is the type of place where you can really entertain guests…

7. Painting by Francis Bacon Breaks Record with Selling Price of Over $86 Million

Triptych 1974-77 by Francis Bacon (1909-1992) sold for $86.3 Million in May last year making it the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction and the most valuable Contemporary work ever sold in Europe. If you have ever wondered how prices go so high for pieces like this, it turns out that some folks just seem to have more money for their “collection” budgets than many small countries.

8. $2.1 Million Paid for Opportunity to Dine with Billionaire Warren Buffett

In the most expensive charity auction ever held on eBay, a Chinese investment manager won the chance last year to have lunch with the billionaire Warren Buffett by bidding $2,110,100. Zhao Danyang of the Hong Kong-based Pureheart China Growth Investment Fund apparently has an investment philosophy that he says is similar to Buffett’s approach, basically one of finding companies with a competitive advantage that are selling for significantly less than what they are worth. I hope that this little dinner get together was worth the extraordinary price but I just have to wonder… Did he also have to pay the bill for the food as well?

9. European Billionaire Commissions World’s Most Expensive Watch

A $6.5 million watch was commissioned by a European billionaire for a one-of-a-kind timepiece made by Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin that will make it the world’s most expensive new watch. The timepiece, which could apparently take years to complete, is expected to include the following:

* Perpetual calendar and leap year
* Star chart and celestial annual calendar
* Tourbillon regulator
* Sunrise and sunset indication
* Perpetual time equation
* Phases and age of the moon
* Substantial power reserve
* Multiple time zones and day-night indication

At least he got some special features designed into it. I have always wanted a watch with a star chart and celestial annual calendar. Lucky guy!

10. Rare Marilyn Monroe Photographs Sell for $150,000

A collection of 36 rare photographs thought to be the last professional images of the star Marilyn Monroe were sold last year for $150,000 at an auction in New York. The famous actress posed nude in this photo shoot for a 1962 issue of Vogue only six weeks before she died of an overdose. The pictures, taken by photographer Bert Stern, were eventually published in the magazine as a final memorial to the iconic actress.
SOURCE

5 Comic Superheroes Who Made a Real-World Difference

2009-01-19T13:51:00.003+01:00

1. Superman Defeats the Ku Klux Klan

In the 1940s, The Adventures of Superman was a radio sensation. Kids across the country huddled around their sets as the Man of Steel leapt off the page and over the airwaves. Although Superman had been fighting crime in print since 1938, the weekly audio episodes fleshed out his storyline even further. It was on the radio that Superman first faced kryptonite, met The Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen, and became associated with “truth, justice, and the American way.” So, it’s no wonder that when a young writer and activist named Stetson Kennedy decided to expose the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, he looked to a certain superhero for inspiration.

In the post-World War II era, the Klan experienced a huge resurgence. Its membership was skyrocketing, and its political influence was increasing, so Kennedy went undercover to infiltrate the group. By regularly attending meetings, he became privy to the organization’s secrets. But when he took the information to local authorities, they had little interest in using it. The Klan had become so powerful and intimidating that police were hesitant to build a case against them. Struggling to make use of his findings, Kennedy approached the writers of the Superman radio serial. It was perfect timing. With the war over and the Nazis no longer a threat, the producers were looking for a new villain for Superman to fight. The KKK was a great fit for the role. In a 16-episode series titled “Clan of the Fiery Cross,” the writers pitted the Man of Steel against the men in white hoods. As the storyline progressed, the shows exposed many of the KKK’s most guarded secrets. By revealing everything from code words to rituals, the program completely stripped the Klan of its mystique. Within two weeks of the broadcast, KKK recruitment was down to zero. And by 1948, people were showing up to Klan rallies just to mock them.

2. Popeye Helps America Survive the Great Depression

Everyone knows Popeye’s secret. Whenever the cartoon sailor is on the verge of losing a fight, he squeezes open a can of spinach, pours the greens down his throat, and uses his supercharged muscles to pummel opponents. But fewer people know that the U.S. government is directly responsible for his dependence on canned vegetables.

In the 1930s, America was mired in the Great Depression, and the government was looking for a way to promote iron-rich spinach as a meat substitute. To help spread the word, they hired one of America’s favorite celebrities, Popeye the Sailor Man. It was a smart plan. In all of the comic strips to that point, Popeye’s superhuman strength had never been explained. But with the government’s campaign in place, Popeye was suddenly more than willing to share the secret to his strength. Sure enough, soon after Popeye took up spinach, American sales of the mighty veggie increased by one-third. Better still, American children rated it their third favorite food, right after turkey and ice cream.

But it wasn’t just spinach the government was endorsing. They were also pushing the merits of canned food. U.S. officials wanted Americans to know that cans were the perfect way to stock up on emergency rations.

While Popeye should be applauded for persuading a nation to eat its greens, he did mislead people a bit. The government’s enthusiasm for spinach was based in part on the calculations of German scientist Dr. E von Wolf, who’d discovered in 1870 that spinach contains iron. When calculating the results, he misplaced a decimal point, thereby making it “official” that spinach had 10 times more iron than it actually did. Not until years later were these figures rechecked. But by then, everyone was downing their spinach, hoping to be as tough as Popeye.

3. Captain Marvel Jr. Saves the Bad-Hair Day

Like most American kids in the 1940s, Elvis Presley fantasized about growing up to be like his favorite comic book superheroes. But it turns out that The King might have been more interested in their fashion statements than their special powers.

During his early teen years, Elvis was obsessed with Captain Marvel Jr., known as “America’s most famous boy hero.” A younger version of Captain Marvel, the character sported an unusual hairstyle that featured a curly tuft of hair falling over the side of his forehead.

Sound familiar? When Elvis set out to conquer America with his rock ‘n’ roll ways, he copied the ’do, thus making it one of the most famous hairstyles of the 20th century. But that wasn’t all. Captain Marvel also gets credit for the short capes Elvis wore on the back of his jumpsuits, as well as The King’s famous TCB logo, which bears a striking resemblance to Marvel’s lightning bolt insignia. Of course, Elvis never tried to hide his love for the Captain. A copy of Captain Marvel Jr. #51 still sits in his preserved childhood bedroom in an apartment in Memphis, and his full comics collection remains intact in the attic at Graceland. Plus, the admiration was mutual. Captain Marvel Jr. paid tribute to The King in one issue, referring to the singer as “the greatest modern-day philosopher.”

4. Donald Duck’s Scientific Breakthrough

In 1966, Danish engineer Karl Krøyer developed a method for raising sunken ships off the ocean floor by injecting them with polystyrene foam balls. However, when Krøyer tried to license his invention with the Dutch patent office, he was denied. Donald Duck had beaten him to the punch by 22 years.

Indeed, Krøyer’s concept could be traced back to a Donald Duck comic conceived by Carl Barks. In addition to being the most celebrated artist of the Donald Duck comics, Barks was known for his scientific prowess. So in a 1944 story, when Donald got a bump on his head that turned him into a genius, the duck managed to mumble, “If I mix CH2 [a methylene compound] with NH4 [ammonium] and boil the atoms in osmotic fog, I should get speckled nitrogen!”

Although it sounded like nonsense, it wasn’t. In 1963, chemists P.P. Gaspar and G.S. Hammond wrote a technical article about methylene that included a reference to the Donald Duck story. The final paragraph read, “Among experiments which have not, to our knowledge, been carried out as yet is one of a most intriguing nature suggested in the literature of no less than 19 years ago.” A footnote revealed that “literature” as the Donald Duck comic. It seems the web-footed children’s hero had deduced the chemical intermediate long before it had been proven to exist.

But why were these top American chemists looking to comics for inspiration? Apparently, Dr. Gaspar had been a lifelong Donald Duck fan, and he’d rediscovered Donald’s early reference to methylene while collecting old copies of the classic adventures. Gaspar never disclosed how much his work owed to Duckburg’s most famous resident, but then again, how many scientists would confess that they used comic books to bolster their research?

5. A Spider-Man Villain Keeps Folks Out of Jail

In a 1977 edition of Spider-Man, Peter Parker has the tables turned on him. The villain, Kingpin, tracks down Spidey using an electronic transmitter that he’d fastened to the superhero’s wrist. Although Kingpin loses in the end (he always does), one New Mexico judge saw beauty in his plan. Inspired by the strip, Judge Jack Love turned to computer salesman Michael Goss and asked if he could create a similar device to keep track of crime suspects awaiting trial.

In 1983, Goss produced his first batch of electronic monitors. Authorities in Albuquerque then tested the devices on five offenders, using the gadgets as an alternative to incarceration. Today, the transmitters are a common sight in courtrooms across the country, usually in the form of electronic ankle bracelets. Most famously, Martha Stewart donned one while she was under house arrest in 2004. Perhaps she would have felt better knowing that the gadget had once nabbed Spider-Man, too.
SOURCE

Butterflies use penis to gauge sex competition

2009-01-18T14:25:00.007+01:00

BUTTERFLY sex is not as elegant an affair as you might think. It seems that male monarch butterflies conduct an all-out sperm war based on a crude measure of how much sperm is stored inside a female from a previous mating.

During sex the males physically restrain the females for an entire day while injecting them with a fluid which contains fertile sperm as well as seemingly functionless cells without nuclei.

Michelle Solensky of The College of Wooster in Ohio paired male monarch butterflies with a selection of females that had had different numbers of partners.

She found that males could selectively increase or decrease the amount of fertile sperm in their deposits. For example, they deposited slightly more into a female for each of her previous mates (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.10.026). "This may explain earlier observations that the last male to mate has a reproductive advantage," says Solenksy.

She then arranged for some female butterflies to receive a large deposit from a single male, and others to have a small deposit from three different males adding up to a similar volume.

When males later mated with the females, they used the same amount of sperm irrespective of which experimental group the female butterfly had been in. This showed that the males were adjusting their sperm on the basis of volume - not the number of previous partners.

"I don't know of any other creatures that respond to the amount of sperm inside their mates," says Solensky. "The new aspect for butterflies is that they can assess the intensity of sperm competition without ever witnessing previous matings," says Simone Immler at the University of Sussex in the UK.

Because monarch butterflies do not use chemical signals like pheromones, Solensky suspects that sensors on the male penis detect the volume directly, like the dipstick in a car's oil tank. If so, the cells that lack nuclei may act to bump up the volume of the deposit and discourage rivals.

This behaviour backs a theory that males of some species can boost their sperm levels to raise the odds of passing on their genes. Male fish, for example, release more sperm into the water when they sense a nearby rival.

Even men who spend more time bonding with their girlfriend unconsciously release more sperm during sex. "Males can be just as choosy as females; sperm may be cheaper to make than an egg, but it still isn't free," says Solensky.

SOURCE

Year of the remake: Top 25 movies to watch in 2009

2009-01-13T20:09:00.002+01:00

Call it the year of the remake if you will. Seems that's what Hollywood's betting on to surpass 2008's record-breaking box office fever ignited by Indy, Bond, Iron Man and Batman.

It's a tall order to fill. But with a new slew of classic remakes, eye-popping 3D fare and a supernova of CGI-driven extravaganzas, Hollywood's dishing up some rare fine amusements for these tough times with its big blockbuster contenders for 2009.

'Avatar' (December)

Poised to become 2009's biggest blockbuster, James Cameron's US$185-million, 3D flick touts technological advancements never before seen in Hollywood. Set 200 years in the future, a paraplegic ex-marine (Sam Worthington) unwillingly travels on his race's behalf to the planet Pandora to exploit its natural resources. But this cosmic traveller with a conscience nixes his associate's plans for planetary genocide and joins the enemy in their fight for their survival.

Inspired by "every single science fiction book I read as a kid," bets say Cameron's extravaganza will tank "Titanic's" mega-success at the box office.

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' (July)

Disgruntled Potter fans won't have to gnash their teeth practicing Patronus spells any longer, not with the sixth entry of J.K. Rowling's boy wizard saga finally headed for theatres in July of 2009.

Bumped from its November 2008 release date, unprecedented millions could vanish from fans' pockets as they sweep into theatres faster than a Nimbus 2000 to see what happens to Harry, Lord Voldemort and the warring world of wizards and Muggles -- as if they didn't already know!

'Public Enemies' (July)

Christian Bale and Johnny Depp in the same movie? Is Santa bringing Christmas early? Starring in this gritty gangster epic from "Miami Vice" creator Michael Mann, Bale and Depp make some mighty fine Hollywood hay in this flick about the FBI's search for the Great Depression's slickest bank robbers: John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson and "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Nicely timed for 2009's tough recessionary times.

'Star Trek' (May)

Diehard Trekkies - and I mean those of you who are still peeved that William Shatner isn't in this movie - should get over it. To revitalize the stale sci-fi franchise, director J.J. Abrams has compiled a cast with the kind of plasticine perfection that emmotes volumes in a galaxy overrun with Klingons, Romulans and other pesky intergalactic scum.

Set before the first TV series, Abram's prequel follows the rip-roaring adventures of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban), and Scotty (Simon Pegg). With Eric Bana as Nero, the film's sexy Romulan villain, and Leonard Nimoy back as the older Spock, looks like it'll be fun times once more in space, the final frontier.

'Watchmen' (March)

Alan Moore's famed comic book from the 1980s finally gets the epic, Hollywood superhero treatment. Starring Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman and Matthew Goode, Zack Snyder's ode to this awesome adventure series is set in an alternate 1985 and follows a group of ex-vigilantes as tensions peak between the United States and the Soviet Union.

After one of the masked avengers is murdered, the superheroes reunite to prevent their destruction and, in the process, uncover a diabolical plot that threatens the world. If it's anything at all like Snyder's "300," "Watchmen" should KO moviegoers with plenty of knockout moments.

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' (May)

Hugh Jackman (aka People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive) is back in all his superhero glory in this prequel set 17 years before the franchise's first movie, 2000's "X-Men." Although critics panned 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand," the third instalment in the film series, this look back at Logan before his Wolverine days -- and the wicked hairdo -- should be enough to pack 'em in at the movie theatres this spring.

From the real story behind Wolverine's deadly talons to the secrets that define Logan's long lost life, this flick's got everything it takes to make this mutant and indestructible metal skeleton look super fine.

'Angels & Demons' (May)

Remember that blurp in time known as "Da Vinci Code" mania? Even if Ron Howard's 2006 movie didn't live up to Dan Brown's bestseller the A-list director is back again with another murderous adventure through Vatican City.

In this sequel Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) investigates the murder of a physicist branded with the Illuminati ambigram - a graphical figure that spells out a word not only in its form as it's presented but also in another direction. The symbol helps Langdon uncover the secret society's scheme to murder four cardinals and destroy St. Peter's Basilica during a papal conclave using antimatter Sounds like Armageddon to me!

Critics might still hate this one, but our bet says "Angels & Demons" brings home plenty of box office pancetta.

'Monsters vs. Aliens' (March)

The first computer animated movie produced in real 3D, this wild one from DreamWorks Animation could easily become 2009's family flick of the year.

Starring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd.Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Stephen Colbert and Kiefer Sutherland, the adventure begins when Californian resident Susan Murphy (Witherspoon) gets hit by meteorite rubble and then mysteriously grows to the gigantic size of 49 ft., 11 in.

Whisked off to a secret military base housing other inexplicable freaks, among them an insect-headed mad scientist (Laurie) and an indestructible gelatinous mass (Rogen), these odd outsiders show their real human metal when they ban together to save mankind from a pesky alien invasion. Take that, you intergalactic trash!

'Terminator Salvation' (May)

If you're expecting Arnold Schwarzenegger to show up in this blockbuster, don't. He's too busy running California.

With Christian Bale on hand to reinvigorate this killer robot franchise, this long-awaited future war segment of the Terminator saga finds John Connor (Bale) leading the anti-Skynet forces - the creeps causing all the ruckus since the film series began.

Set in a post-apocalyptic 2018, Connor and stranger Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) embark on a perilous odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations. There they discover a terrible secret that could destroy mankind for good. Did we expect anything less?

'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' (release date TBA)

From "Brazil" to "The Fisher King" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen" director Terry Gilliam has always specialized in cinematic oddities. But "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" pumps Gilliam's odd factor to unprecedented levels.

Known as Health Ledger's final film, that alone should make this one of the most-talked about movies of 2009. But with the help of Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, Gilliam moved this flick beyond Ledger's untimely death in 2008. Together Gilliam and team tell the strange, Faustian tale about Dr. Parnassus, the dark secret he harbours and his extraordinary "Imaginarium" -- a travelling show where people can choose a life lived between good and evil.

'Inglourious Basterds' (June)

Don't you just love it when those Nazi scumbags get their comeuppance?

In this wild ride from director Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt, Mike Myers and Rod Taylor -- the star of Alfred Hitcock's "The Birds" -- comprise a team of Jewish-American special forces operating behind German lines. With all the verve of those do-or-die guys in "The Dirty Dozen," these freedom fighters pop off Nazis faster than Hansel and Gretel can unhitch their lederhosen and start gorging on gingerbread. Tarantino's very eclectic casting should make this one of 2009's most memorable movie outings.

'The Soloist' (April)

Oscar buzz was trailing DreamWork's true-life tale back in November 2008, when this uplifting drama starring Robert Downey Jr. was first meant to hit theatres.

As L.A. journalist Steve Lopez, Downey discovers Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former classical musical prodigy. After developing schizophrenia during his second year at The Juilliard School of the performing arts in New York City, Ayers becomes one of L.A.'s many homeless people and plays his violin in the streets for pennies. Determined to help this down-on-his-luck virtuoso shine again, Lopez helps Ayers fulfill a life-long dream and, in the process, cements their unlikely friendship. Bring Kleenex!

'The Informant' (September)

Director Steven Soderbergh serves up a little of "The Insider" and "A Beautiful Mind" in this twisted black comedy about the highest-ranked American executive to ever turn whistleblower in U.S. history.

Starring Matt Damon as real-life, bipolar hero Mark Whitacre, this true tale about corrupt price fixing in corporate America serves up plenty of unexpected twists. Based as it is on Kurt Eichenwald's 2000 book, good guy Whitacre actually left in more hot water than the cons he helps convict.

'The Taking of Pelham 123' (July)

The remakes of film classics just keep coming in 2009! While many would argue that the 1970s' original starring Walter Matthau still stands up, director Tony Scott saw things a little differently.

With pal Denzel Washington on hand, as well as John Travolta, James Gandolfini and John Turturro to round out this cat-and-mouse thriller, this New York City subway hijacking comes with the kind of A-list acting ammo that should give the legendary Matthau a run for his money.

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' (June)

Oh Megan Fox! What would the Transformers ever have been without your pole dancer-worthy charms?

Not surprisingly, Fox, Shia LeBoef and director Michael Bay return for this sequel to 2007's box office hit. More action, more shape-shifting robots. More Megan Fox in clingy costumes. Yup, fine times all around for those tweens and 20-somethings destined to see summer's hottest piece of heavy metal.

'The Lovely Bones' (December)

In this Hollywood adaptation of Alice Sebold's bestselling novel, Saoirse Ronan narrates from beyond the grave as Susie Salmon, a girl who was raped and murdered by her scumbag neighbour (Stanley Tucci). From heaven's pearly gates she sees that this creep who has eluded the police is about to kill again. Torn between bringing him to justice and doing what she can to ease her parents' grief, (Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg), Susie's dilemma gets the deluxe treatment by "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson. Look for these lovely bones to be Oscar bound in 2010.

'2012' (July)

What would a recession be with an apocalyptic tale about the end of the world as we know it? Master of disaster Roland Emmerich ("The Day After Tomorrow," "Godzilla," "Independence Day") pulls out all the stops in this sci-fi thriller based on a 7th-century Mayan prophecy. Starring John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover, Emmerich does this one right: He starts his nail-biting epic with earth already destroyed by cataclysmic volcanic eruptions and typhoons and blows things up from there. Nice.

'Sherlock Holmes' (November)

Dubbed 2008's entertainer of the year by Entertainment Weekly, Robert Downey Jr. brings new, ass-kicking depths to super sleuth Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's retelling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic.

Detective Holmes and his stalwart partner Dr. Watson (Jude Law) engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a brilliant nemesis plotting to destroy all of England. Natch! And with talk of this becoming the first of "Sherlock Holmes," series, look for Downey and Law to make the doings at 221B Baker St, Holme's famed London residence, seem far from dull.

'Dorian Gray' (Fall 2009)

For those who consider the 1945 original with Hurd Hatfield in the title role a masterpiece, then this remake will seem as sinful as Dorian Gray's devilish deeds. But with its impressive collection of British acting eye candy, including Colin Firth, Emilia Fox and "Prince Caspian's" Ben Barnes, director Oliver Parker's update on the beautiful young man who wishes for eternal youth makes Oscar Wilde's chilling tale look mighty good. FYI: Be careful what you wish for!

'The Wolf Man' (November)

Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy have all been brought to life lately. So why shouldn't Hollywood resurrect the venerable Wolf Man and let him have a howling good time up on the big screen?

With Benicio Del Toro as unlikely lycanthrope Lawrence Talbot and Anthony Hopkins as his estranged nobleman father, Talbot is lured back to the family estate after his brother vanishes. As he searches the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor - a place he's spent decades trying to forget - Talbot encounters his own terrible troubles. Sure to be a fang-filled romp on the moors that'll be a scream

'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' (August)

Poised to become the big, popcorn-chomping winner at the box office next summer, this action adventure from "The Mummy" director Stephen Sommers features all the brawn and might-for-right battles it takes to keep G.I. Joe fans fabulously amused. Toss in Brendan Fraser, Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller and Christopher Eccleston and you've got all the necessary ammo to make this pitting of good against evil a kick-ass adventure.

'Nine' (December)

The guys who decided to remake Federico Fellini's masterpiece "8½" are either super brilliant or working with few bowls short of an all-out pasta smorgasbord.

Called one of the most influential films of the 20th century, messing with this masterpiece is, in some books, a pretty dumb-ass move. But if they can do it to Dorian Gray then why not to Guido Anselmi, the sullen, sexy character made famous in 1963 by Italy's Marcello Mastroianni.

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Dame Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and, mamma mia, Sophia Loren, if this remake tanks it won't be because of the talent.

'Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian' (May)

Security guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) infiltrates the Smithsonian Institute in order to rescue Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan), both of whom have been shipped to the museum by mistake. In the process, the Smithsonian comes to life. As if you didn't think it would?

From Amelia Earhart's airplane to Archie Bunker's lounge chair, once Larry and company are done, this venerable hall of history gets a new blast from the past. Fun times for the whole family.

'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' (July)

Playing fast and loose the dinosaur science and facts, this third "Ice Age" instalment has the primitive mammal heroes of the first two films getting mixed up with a "lost world" of surviving dinosaurs trapped beneath a glacier. John, Ray Romano, Denis Leary and Queen Latifah will surely entertain fans and infuriate paleontologists with their wacky ways.

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