tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-337535562024-03-07T11:12:21.343+05:30Immense KnowledgeCollect A Immense Information.Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-52221486305114127542021-09-30T22:23:00.001+05:302021-09-30T22:23:10.317+05:30Ten 'Fun and Exciting' Facts About Engineering<p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.45; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DID YOU KNOW THAT...</p><ol class="maintext" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 20px 30px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The snowboard was invented by an engineer? <br />With some engineering twists and turns along the way, the snowboard has become a marvel of geometry, chemistry, and biomechanics. Since the snowboard allows deft turns, ski manufacturers have quickly adopted some of the snowboard innovations, enabling skiers to turn with less effort.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Engineers design running shoes for protection, performance, and comfort? <br />Engineers understand how much force travels from the ground through the shoe to the foot. Through the work of engineering, weight is distributed throughout the whole foot -- heel to toe.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A civil engineer created the slippery part of the water slide? <br />A civil engineer designed a pumping system to circulate just the right amount of water to the flume. Without the right flow of water, there is no ride. Additionally, civil engineers have designed the slide to withstand the weight of people, the water, and even the force of the wind blowing on it.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The launch and return of spacecraft, from the Apollo to the Shuttle, is a monumental engineering triumph? <br />The space program has greatly expanded the world's knowledge base. The technological advancement by engineers in energy, communications, materials, structures, and computers, have made space travel possible.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Ferris Wheel is considered one of the greatest engineering wonders in the world? <br />The first Ferris Wheel was created by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania engineer, George W. Ferris, in 1893. The wheel is supported by two 140-foot steel towers and connected by a 45-foot axle -- the largest single piece of forged steel ever made at that time.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Engineers make interactive television possible? <br />Engineers are involved in all aspects of interactive TV technology, from designing new cables, to creating new film emulsions, to engineering better sound quality. This technology allows viewers to select any program, film, or game from more than 500 channels.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Engineers play an instrumental role in the theme park industry? Theme park engineers are involved in designing, building, lighting, and even controlling the crowd flow in theme parks around the world.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Companies and universities are using engineers to form the Virtual Reality and Simulation Initiative? This technology applies computer simulation and visualization to 3-D modeling projects, such as virtual offices.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bioengineers are creating a new and exciting medical technology? This technology will utilize virtual reality to help surgeons reconstruct facial birth defects.</li><li style="background: none; border: 0px; color: #595959; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.45; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Computer engineers, in conjunction with animators, have created special effects in movies such as "Jurassic Park," "Forrest Gump," and "Interview with the Vampire"? Through "morphing" technology, images are digitally mastered to appear realistic.</li></ol>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-14175080161988109372014-03-17T11:58:00.003+05:302014-03-17T11:58:50.194+05:30We are ready to sell this website. Anybody interested can reach us.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We are ready to sell this website.<br />
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Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-1157214837948651952011-02-26T21:32:00.000+05:302014-03-17T11:55:30.049+05:30MATHEMATICS GENIUS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A<br />
1<span style="font-size: 180%; font-weight: bold;">----1----</span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/1600/pic12052.4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/400/pic12052.4.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">----2----</span></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/1600/pic16941.5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/400/pic16941.5.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />----3----</span></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/1600/pic21724.5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/400/pic21724.5.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">----4----</span></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/1600/pic27350.2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/400/pic27350.2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />----5----</span></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/1600/pic01150.5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3051/3199/400/pic01150.5.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a></div>
Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-69502340722860016772010-07-16T19:03:00.000+05:302010-07-22T16:07:30.694+05:30Over 2.5 million Muslims threaten to leave Facebook: ReportLONDON: Angry over the removal of certain Islamic pages from Facebook, more than 2.5 million Muslim users are likely to quit the social networking website, according to a media report.<br /><br />Following the removal of four extremely popular Islamic pages from the website, the Muslim community has expressed anger and a template letter that has been pasted into numerous Facebook pages accused the website's founder Mark Zuckerberg of "ignoring the feelings of more than 2.5 million Muslims", the Daily Mail reported.<br /><br />The letter reads: "Although you have attended the world's best communication skills courses you have been most successful in growing great hatred and hostility between you and Muslims around the world, but seriously this time you have caused an almost unrepairable [sic] damage."<br /><br />The letter demanded not only that the pages are reinstated but that new rules are introduced which make it a violation of Facebook's terms to post anti-Islamic comments.<br /><br />Apart from reinstating the four deleted pages, the letter demanded the website to ban disrespecting Islamic religious symbols and disable any Facebook page which does so.<br /><br />It warned that unless its demands are met Facebook's "2.5 million Muslim users" will join 'madina.com' - a social networking site for Muslims.<br /><br />A spokeswoman for Facebook said that the Islamic pages, which included "I love Mohammed" and "Quran Lovers", were taken down because they were being used to 'spam' users, which is against the company's policy.<br /><br />The letter also accused Facebook of "irresponsible behaviour" for allowing to host "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" pages which sparked controversy for encouraging users to draw portraits of the Prophet.<br /><br />According to the report, there is no specific ban on images of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed in the Quran but there is one line which is commonly taken to mean that it is impossible for human hands to recreate his likeness. To attempt to do so is an insult to Allah, it is believed.<br /><br />Madina.com is a site set up specifically for the Muslim community. It pledges to abide by the Islamic principles and encourages unity among the community.<br /><br /><p>It also asks female users not to use their photographs in their profile.<br /></p><p>Source: <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Over-25-million-Muslims-threaten-to-leave-Facebook-Report/articleshow/6177204.cms">Times of India</a></p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-80444522926060919842008-07-07T16:54:00.000+05:302008-07-08T01:26:43.111+05:3020 Interesting Facts<span style="font-size:130%;">1. A zebra is white with black stripes. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">2. All the planets in our solar system rotate anticlockwise, except Venus. It is the only planet that rotates clockwise. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">3. Hummingbirds are the only animal that can also fly backwards. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">4. Insects do not make noises with their voices. The noise of bees, mosquitoes and other buzzing insects is caused by rapidly moving their wings. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">5. The cockroach is the fastest animal on 6 legs covering a meter a second. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">6. The word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent". </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">7. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">8. A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">9. India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">10. The whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">11. A hippopotamus can run faster than a man. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">12. India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">13. 'Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia' is the fear of long words. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">14. Didaskaleinophobia is the fear of going to school. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">15. A snail can sleep for 3 years. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">16. The names of the continents all end with the same letter with which they start. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">17. In 1883 the explosion of the volcano Krakatau put so much dust into the earth's atmosphere that sunsets appeared green and the moon appeared blue around the world for almost two years. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">18. "Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">19. Twenty-Four-Karat Gold is not pure gold since there is a small amount of copper in it. Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">20. Electricity doesn't move through a wire but through a field around the wire.</span>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-2067972172543508342008-07-02T14:50:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:27:38.770+05:30Muslims Contribution To Science<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Lots of Christians left christianity & the reason was clearly : It contradicts science ! What about Muslims ? Here you can read a brief information about Muslims & Science in the past ..<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Astronomy :</strong> </span></span><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLbAN36RuX_JNd8V6QvnEVoYvY4KiB28y_V-AyPy9LVa_5C9wiQv4FOILd6QtmQuEfbIC7oaSbDuBPq6dbCdCYxQ1Kcccr2AhXV01JXsY9C98Z89_A_0ckS4iDCEHZ18BNJQR1/s1600-h/planets.montage.jpl.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092357954656254994" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLbAN36RuX_JNd8V6QvnEVoYvY4KiB28y_V-AyPy9LVa_5C9wiQv4FOILd6QtmQuEfbIC7oaSbDuBPq6dbCdCYxQ1Kcccr2AhXV01JXsY9C98Z89_A_0ckS4iDCEHZ18BNJQR1/s400/planets.montage.jpl.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Muslims have always had a special interest in astronomy. The moon and the sun are of vital importance in the daily life of every Muslim. By the moon, Muslims determine the beginning and the end of the months in their lunar calendar. By the sun the Muslims calculate the times for prayer and fasting. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">It is also by means of astronomy that Muslims can determine the precise direction of the Qiblah, to face the Ka'bah in Makkah, during prayer. The most precise solar calendar, superior to the Julian, is the Jilali, devised under the supervision of Umar Khayyam. The Qur'an contains many references to astronomy. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"The heavens and the earth were ordered rightly, and were made subservient to man, including the sun, the moon, the stars, and day and night. Every heavenly body moves in an orbit assigned to it by God and never digresses, making the universe an orderly cosmos whose life and existence, diminution and expansion, are totally determined by the Creator." <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">[Qur'an 30:22]</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">These references, and the injunctions to learn, inspired the early Muslim scholars to study the heavens. They integrated the earlier works of the Indians, Persians and Greeks into a new synthesis. Ptolemy's Almagest (the title as we know it is Arabic) was translated, studied and criticized. Many new stars were discovered, as we see in their Arabic names - Algol, Deneb, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Aldebaran. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Astronomical tables were compiled, among them the Toledan tables, which were used by Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Kepler. Also compiled were almanacs - another Arabic term. Other terms from Arabic are zenith, nadir, albedo, azimuth. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Muslim astronomers were the first to establish observatories, like the one built at Mugharah by Hulagu, the son of Genghis Khan, in Persia, and they invented instruments such as the quadrant and astrolabe, which led to advances not only in astronomy but in oceanic navigation, contributing to the European age of exploration.<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><strong>Geography:</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FsdNa1SrBh4yzPg10Tb2Mwi0mO2iKbDH6E06NeRcJaPX77o_lEyaGXrSpd27216E8HAY9tKRAe75BVWFZbAdH5QPnlBVfLV23DM_Q4ord9bc3ZlX7b1Kj4K0FYgI-q6psyeg/s1600-h/Geography-world+map+compass.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092358650440956962" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FsdNa1SrBh4yzPg10Tb2Mwi0mO2iKbDH6E06NeRcJaPX77o_lEyaGXrSpd27216E8HAY9tKRAe75BVWFZbAdH5QPnlBVfLV23DM_Q4ord9bc3ZlX7b1Kj4K0FYgI-q6psyeg/s400/Geography-world+map+compass.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> Muslim scholars paid great attention to geography. In </span><a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2006/10/50-interesting-science-facts.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">fact</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, the Muslims' great concern for geography originated with their religion. The Qur'an encourages people to travel throughout the earth to see God's signs and patterns everywhere. Islam also requires each Muslim to have at least enough knowledge of geography to know the direction of the Qiblah (the position of the Ka'bah in Makkah) in order to pray five times a day. Muslims were also used to taking long journeys to conduct trade as well as to make the Hajj and spread their religion. The far-flung Islamic empire enabled scholar-explorers to compile large amounts of geographical and climatic information from the Atlantic to the Pacific.<br /><br />Among the most famous names in the field of geography, even in the West, are Ibn Khaldun and Ibn Batuta, renowned for their written accounts of their extensive explorations. In 1166, Al-Idrisi, the well-known Muslim scholar who served the Sicilian court, produced very accurate maps, including a world map with all the continents and their mountains, rivers and famous cities. Al-Muqdishi was the first geographer to produce accurate maps in color. It was, moreover, with the help of Muslim navigators and their inventions that Magellan was able to traverse the Cape of Good Hope, and Da Gama and Columbus had Muslim navigators on board their ships.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><strong>Humanity:</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SCPY35dgsDqYdoem5_4P9s9cP6-JcNh9E4weTgnkv52K4Qsh3sy_XY6f8udVQZu6OuMh0e-IdqgHcbFW03ZQUByoFpkBHisp_UTjlrBwS2ydjTJi-5QY0GytkM5ViueH-YqW/s1600-h/when_humanity_fails.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092359307570953266" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SCPY35dgsDqYdoem5_4P9s9cP6-JcNh9E4weTgnkv52K4Qsh3sy_XY6f8udVQZu6OuMh0e-IdqgHcbFW03ZQUByoFpkBHisp_UTjlrBwS2ydjTJi-5QY0GytkM5ViueH-YqW/s400/when_humanity_fails.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> Seeking knowledge is obligatory in Islam for every Muslim, man and woman. The main sources of Islam, the Qur'an and the Sunnah (Prophet Muhammad's traditions), encourage Muslims to seek knowledge and be scholars, since this is the best way for people to know Allah (God), to appreciate His wondrous creations and be thankful for them. Muslims were therefore eager to seek knowledge, both religious and secular, and within a few years of Muhammad's mission, a great civilization sprang up and flourished. The outcome is shown in the spread of Islamic universities; Al-Zaytunah in Tunis, and Al-Azhar in Cairo go back more than 1,000 years and are the oldest existing universities in the world. Indeed, they were the models for the first European universities, such as Bologna, Heidelberg, and the Sorbonne. Even the familiar academic cap and gown originated at Al-Azhar University.<br /><br />Muslims made great advances in many different fields, such as geography, physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, pharmacology, architecture, linguistics and astronomy. Algebra and the Arabic numerals were introduced to the world by Muslim scholars. The astrolabe, the quadrant, and other navigational devices and maps were developed by Muslim scholars and played an important role in world progress, most notably in Europe's age of exploration.<br /><br />Muslim scholars studied the ancient civilations from Greece and Rome to China and India. The works of Aristotle, Ptolemy, Euclid and others were translated into Arabic. Muslim scholars and scientists then added their own creative ideas, discoveries and inventions, and finally transmitted this new knowledge to Europe, leading directly to the Renaissance. Many scientific and medical treatises, having been translated into Latin, were standard text and reference books as late as the 17th and 18th centuries. </span></p><p><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><strong>Mathematics:<br /></strong></span><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzhgM-zmrw2X2tMzwrOV0dm6GF34xysXkaOAe9ctVqYSIXLUUO1w8kjqIfrBe3fNEFMKMxi2rTOfmlRpsw-gDIRDxe4uESI38ybX035bP8otD5jHq8lLPEBLjlSW4Aswymc4u/s1600-h/math.gif"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092360870939049026" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 321px; height: 283px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzhgM-zmrw2X2tMzwrOV0dm6GF34xysXkaOAe9ctVqYSIXLUUO1w8kjqIfrBe3fNEFMKMxi2rTOfmlRpsw-gDIRDxe4uESI38ybX035bP8otD5jHq8lLPEBLjlSW4Aswymc4u/s400/math.gif" border="0" height="336" width="363" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />It is interesting to note that Islam so strongly urges mankind to study and explore the universe. For example, the Holy Qur'an states:<br /><br />"We (Allah) will show you (mankind) Our signs/patterns in the horizons/universe and in yourselves until you are convinced that the revelation is the truth."</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> [Qur'an, 14:53]<br /></span><br />This invitation to explore and search made Muslims interested in astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, and the other sciences, and they had a very clear and firm understanding of the correspondences among geometry, mathematics, and astronomy.<br /><br />The Muslims invented the symbol for zero (The word "cipher" comes from Arabic sifr), and they organized the numbers into the decimal system - base 10. Additionally, they invented the symbol to express an unknown quantity, i.e. variables like x.<br /><br />The first great Muslim </span><a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2006/09/mathematics-genius.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">mathematician</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, Al-Khawarizmi, invented the subject of algebra (al-Jabr), which was further developed by others, most notably Umar Khayyam. Al-Khawarizmi's work, in Latin translation, brought the Arabic numerals along with the mathematics to Europe, through Spain. The word "algorithm" is derived from his name.<br /><br />Muslim mathematicians excelled also in geometry, as can be seen in their graphic arts, and it was the great Al-Biruni (who excelled also in the fields of natural history, even geology and mineralogy) who established trigonometry as a distinct branch of mathematics. Other Muslim mathematicians made significant progress in number theory.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><strong>Medicine:</strong><br /></span><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFehkDb2nqhtOJ0T2emTnIvjoKgumGxDneUFOzk6eZ7ocGZvlOrpEo3m0XQsx6gFvRXJ5NwcBZN83KA1O7MN-KVTcQ5I7ANh3YNHcRxZdxvxo9dKtoka0L8_u6UEzNxzDw_5VW/s1600-h/CRIB_drug_cocktail.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092361433579764818" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFehkDb2nqhtOJ0T2emTnIvjoKgumGxDneUFOzk6eZ7ocGZvlOrpEo3m0XQsx6gFvRXJ5NwcBZN83KA1O7MN-KVTcQ5I7ANh3YNHcRxZdxvxo9dKtoka0L8_u6UEzNxzDw_5VW/s400/CRIB_drug_cocktail.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />In Islam, the human body is a source of appreciation, as it is created by Almighty Allah (God). How it functions, how to keep it clean and safe, how to prevent diseases from attacking it or cure those diseases, have been important issues for Muslims. </span></p><span style="font-size:130%;">Prophet Muhammad himself urged people to "take medicines for your diseases", as people at that time were reluctant to do so. He also said: "God created no illness, but established for it a cure, except for old age. When the antidote is applied, the patient will recover with the permission of God." </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This was strong motivation to encourage Muslim scientists to explore, develop, and apply empirical laws. Much attention was given to medicine and public health care. The first hospital was built in Baghdad in 706 AC. The Muslims also used camel caravans as mobile hospitals, which moved from place to place. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Since the religion did not forbid it, Muslim scholars used human cadavers to study anatomy and physiology and to help their students understand how the body functions. This empirical study enabled surgery to develop very quickly. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Al-Razi, known in the West as Rhazes, the famous physician and scientist, (d. 932) was one of the greatest physicians in the world in the Middle Ages. He stressed empirical observation and clinical medicine and was unrivaled as a diagnostician. He also wrote a treatise on hygiene in hospitals. Khalaf Abul-Qasim Al-Zahrawi was a very famous surgeon in the eleventh century, known in Europe for his work, Concessio (Kitab al-Tasrif). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Ibn Sina (d. 1037), better known to the West as Avicenna, was perhaps the greatest physician until the modern era. His famous book, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, remained a standard textbook even in Europe, for over 700 years. Ibn Sina's work is still studied and built upon in the East. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Other significant contributions were made in pharmacology, such as Ibn Sina's Kitab al-Shifa' (Book of Healing), and in public health. Every major city in the Islamic world had a number of excellent hospitals, some of them teaching hospitals, and many of them were specialized for particular diseases, including mental and emotional. The Ottomans were particularly noted for their building of hospitals and for the high level of hygiene practiced in them. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><strong>Definition:</strong></span> </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The word ISLAM has a two-fold meaning: peace, and submission to God. This submission requires a fully conscious and willing effort to submit to the one Almighty God. One must consciously and conscientiously give oneself to the service of Allah. This means to act on what Allah enjoins all of us to do (in the Qur'an) and what His beloved Prophet, Muhammad (pbuh) encouraged us to do in his Sunnah (his lifestyle and sayings personifying the Qur'an). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Once we humble ourselves, rid ourselves of our </span><a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2006/10/1000-great-english-proverbs-and.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">egoism</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> and submit totally to Allah, and to Him exclusively, in faith and in action, we will surely feel peace in our hearts. Establishing peace in our hearts will bring about peace in our external conduct as well. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Islam is careful to remind us that it not a religion to be paid mere lip service; rather it is an all-encompassing way of life that must be practiced continuously for it to be Islam. The Muslim must practice the five pillars of the religion: the declaration of faith in the oneness of Allah and the prophet hood of Muhammad (pbuh), prayer, fasting the month of Ramadan, alms-tax, and the pilgrimage to Makkah; and believe in the six articles of faith: belief in God, the Holy Books, the prophets, the angels, the Day of Judgment and God's decree, whether for good or ill. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">There are other injunctions and commandments which concern virtually all facets of one's personal, family and civic life. These include such matters as diet, clothing, personal hygiene, interpersonal relations, business ethics, responsibilities towards parents, spouse and children, marriage, divorce and inheritance, civil and criminal law, fighting in defense of Islam, relations with non-Muslims, and so much more. </span>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-72325040250116062742008-06-20T11:29:00.003+05:302008-12-12T05:27:38.916+05:30Firefox claims world record after software downloaded 8million times in one day<p><span style="font-size:130%;">The new version of the web browser Firefox was downloaded a record 8 million times on its first day of release, the software's developers have claimed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">At its peak, the Firefox <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/09/google-turns-10.html">website</a> was serving 17,000 copies a minute. Downloads came from some 200 countries, led by the United States, Germany, Japan, Spain and Britain.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The total could have been much higher if the huge demand hadn't overloaded the servers for more than an <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/08/scientists-unlock-secrets-of-rubiks.html">hour</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Tuesday's release was delayed after visitors checking for the update overloaded Firefox's web servers. The site was slow or unreachable for about two hours from 5.45pm (BST) on 17th June.</span></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9JGbQRVjOtcX39LG-65yHhNdPhzih6cKKyq-yccowqWeUarxfZEIl6ADFLvBHYGPwXOA-NbFzpkhi3VkAwbfcEnWlMQAQwiOCSYz4Ax9LPZYD_u-AUcmWQlBvzZHtxVd-9gS/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9JGbQRVjOtcX39LG-65yHhNdPhzih6cKKyq-yccowqWeUarxfZEIl6ADFLvBHYGPwXOA-NbFzpkhi3VkAwbfcEnWlMQAQwiOCSYz4Ax9LPZYD_u-AUcmWQlBvzZHtxVd-9gS/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213839770247362114" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Firefox Logo<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Firefox comes from Mozilla, an open-source <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/09/search-startup-ready-to-challenge.html">community</a> in which thousands of people, mostly volunteers, collectively develop free products. Firefox 3 is available in 50 languages.</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">They were seeking to set a world record for most software downloads in a 24-hour period. Their claim is currently being assessed by the Guinness Book of World Records.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Firefox is the number two web browser behind <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/07/microsofts-copy-protection-cracked.html">Microsoft's </a>Internet Explorer.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The latest version, Firefox 3, includes enhancements to help users organize their frequently visited websites and block access to sites known to distribute viruses and other malicious software.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">“We’re really proud of Firefox 3 and it just shows what a committed, energized global community can do when they work together,” said John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla.</span></p></div>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-70764658448623997372008-05-29T12:02:00.003+05:302008-12-12T05:27:41.156+05:30The stunning fossil of a fish giving birth that proves animals had 'sex for fun' 380 million years ago<span style="font-size:130%;">Sex for pleasure is a lot older than we thought, according to a stunning new fossil find announced by scientists yesterday.<br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;">A fossil of an ancient, extinct Australian fish which died just before giving birth to a live baby is, according to the scientist who made the discovery, 'the earliest evidence of vertebrates having sex by copulation – not just spawning in water, but sex that was fun'.</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIkQcoheRVtoayU8bzEz1msQ8ZNmTV7RynTjQdzLQHju2txCVJisPeHx_N09SAG_yQGhy8ZMqb-S_Jo2oIiyV1GmzkXLBOOo-FiTlz2MhwvvRFNBIQ_kJtm3PheolsBpMjLnB/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIkQcoheRVtoayU8bzEz1msQ8ZNmTV7RynTjQdzLQHju2txCVJisPeHx_N09SAG_yQGhy8ZMqb-S_Jo2oIiyV1GmzkXLBOOo-FiTlz2MhwvvRFNBIQ_kJtm3PheolsBpMjLnB/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205686973888413954" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">These are the fossil remains of the 375-million fish - the oldest vertebrate mother ever discovered</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />The find, revealed in the journal Nature, is by far the oldest 'viviparous', or live, birth yet found by scientists.<br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The fish, one of a primitive extinct group called the 'Placoderms', lived in the seas of Devonian Earth and has been dated to 380 million years old.</span></p><div class="clear"> </div> <p><span style="font-size:130%;"> The fossil, discovered by Professor John Long at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, shows the bones of the tiny baby fish, still attached by its umbilical cord. It is thought the mother fish was about to give birth to maybe three or four babies just before she was killed.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> “When I first saw the embryo inside the mother fish my jaw dropped, I was silent, stunned like a mullet. I realised that in my hands was the oldest known vertebrate embryo.”</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNiGedU7Pi7ThMTZW8kfXhK9we5ABcgtx1xRby3-aE8vF40LoWJOSWNt7ck4FuG4AvA5Ei9a6BYc8VVtHOUZbp17X1iL7kjv2rBst5Iu4W6uA3Lj8MqwTSx0pdCljkwaTnVV_/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNiGedU7Pi7ThMTZW8kfXhK9we5ABcgtx1xRby3-aE8vF40LoWJOSWNt7ck4FuG4AvA5Ei9a6BYc8VVtHOUZbp17X1iL7kjv2rBst5Iu4W6uA3Lj8MqwTSx0pdCljkwaTnVV_/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205686978183381266" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The embryo can clearly be seen in this image of the fossil - even, amazingly, the umbilical cord</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The find was made in the Gogo rock formation east of the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, and pushes back the record for a live birth by 200 million years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:130%;">The fish, a new species, has been named Materpiscis attenboroughi, 'Attenborough's mother-fish' in honour of Sir David, who featured the extraordinary fossil beds at Gogo in his 1979 TV series Life on Earth.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">“The discovery is certainly one of the most extraordinary fossil finds ever made. It is not only the first time ever that a fossil embryo has been found with an umbilical cord, but it is also the oldest known example of any creature giving birth to live young,” said Dr Long.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">“The existence of the embryo and umbilical cord within the specimen provides scientists with the first ever example of internal fertilisation - i.e sex - confirming that some placoderms had remarkably advanced reproductive biology. This discovery changes our understanding of the evolution of vertebrates,” he added.</span></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxZQ2NZIhBCCYwe12qfvXYCMRYUaK-FeMYneC0lwV96kGZxHNhFix34Zc1oDcILYVbweKB7CbSqeHohTf1enlbHPLybF9HVyyLaXBCrvcGiThPg_1Pc1YxI4Wks4uDB06GXsE/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxZQ2NZIhBCCYwe12qfvXYCMRYUaK-FeMYneC0lwV96kGZxHNhFix34Zc1oDcILYVbweKB7CbSqeHohTf1enlbHPLybF9HVyyLaXBCrvcGiThPg_1Pc1YxI4Wks4uDB06GXsE/s400/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205686982478348594" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Dr John Long points out the umbilical cord on the fossil, the fossilised remains of the oldest mother ever discovered</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbW8SXB-wk1tsiE_SN9OBLBAUkbYw4Q1ZVgGsVn8-P5EMNf4jnOTOmRtwV_n9TnllX_eYampLdAvki9bag07C2f7Mv-jVTvVk6CnQyVrnkDf27BdMAxsQ9l1zdvpCSvtBdLOb/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbW8SXB-wk1tsiE_SN9OBLBAUkbYw4Q1ZVgGsVn8-P5EMNf4jnOTOmRtwV_n9TnllX_eYampLdAvki9bag07C2f7Mv-jVTvVk6CnQyVrnkDf27BdMAxsQ9l1zdvpCSvtBdLOb/s400/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205686986773315906" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The fossilised fish has been named in honour of Sir David Attenborough</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">The vertebrates consist of the fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Only birds, among these, are exclusively egg-laying but live births among fishes were thought to be confined to the sharks and rays.<br /><br /></span> <p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Like the sharks, this species of Placoderm possessed a pair of bony graspers with which the male grasped the female while fertilising her with his sperm. “It might have been fun, for the male at least,” said Dr Long.<br /><br />Placoderms were fearsome looking creatures, with powerful nutcracker jaws, clad in bony armour plating and thought to be efficient predators. The fossil is of a specimen about the size of a mackerel but some placoderms grew to a length of nearly 20ft, and the group as a whole formed the dominant vertebrates of the Devonian era, a time when other species of fish were starting to crawl out onto the land and evolving into the first four-legged animals.<br /><br />It is thought the placoderms became extinct as a result of climate change at the end of the Devonian; their place in the pecking order was taken by a new group of fishes to have evolved: the sharks.<br /><br />The announcement of the finding was made at the grand opening of the refurbished Royal Institution in London yesterday, at which the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were present at the press conference.</span></p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-51909557093840004292008-05-28T09:27:00.002+05:302008-12-12T05:27:43.281+05:30The amazing telescope that lets you see New York from London's Tower Bridge<p><span style="font-size:130%;">Deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean, forgotten for the best part of a century, lies a tunnel linking London and New York.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">It was built on the whim of a Victorian inventor with the aim of linking two great cities and developing the kind of friendship that still exists today.</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFLfAXLvQQsNtQm9fZbaLJ1qWEnPAtv_vlks8mH2M_0kwDV8PmBGQnRSSGXKHLeDH6m54L5RVqVwSVmLp-P3kqlGzXxAt6tnW5eSk97H9YFDidQVhT4kWq81lpomeeOnXzj6w/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFLfAXLvQQsNtQm9fZbaLJ1qWEnPAtv_vlks8mH2M_0kwDV8PmBGQnRSSGXKHLeDH6m54L5RVqVwSVmLp-P3kqlGzXxAt6tnW5eSk97H9YFDidQVhT4kWq81lpomeeOnXzj6w/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205274923315970226" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">London waving: Looking down the Telectroscope at Tower Bridge end</span><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">But bad fortune befell the venture - and the tunnel lay idle ever after.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Until today, that is, when the project was rekindled with a modern twist.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Using a giant "electronic telescope" and state-of-the-art technology, <st1:country-region st="on">England</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on">America</st1:country-region> were joined once again when the tunnel entrances were reopened beside <st1:placetype st="on">Tower</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype st="on">Bridge</st1:placetype> in <st1:city st="on">London</st1:city> and <st1:placename st="on">Brooklyn</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Bridge</st1:placetype> in <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">It meant that New Yorkers and Londoners could wave to each other across the sea and begin the kind of mute dialogue that was only a dream all those years ago for eccentric engineering entrepreneur Alexander Stanhope St George (deceased). <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Or at least, that's the way the story goes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size:130%;">What is certain is that now you can indeed stand on the South Bank of the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> end of the 21st century "Telectroscope" - and see someone standing 3,460 miles away across the water.</span></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Iro3Tn05W2UVqUXAAs-y4QcnV-8-UWrmzOcO3cmqPQ79T5XncPd9pM7ZD_N_VBobU-I9OaqWckKCR05ZqcjUDd2PxlxjTSA44ei4awqAZJJTvSXfsKDOvkaWzoYqKtTtg_1n/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Iro3Tn05W2UVqUXAAs-y4QcnV-8-UWrmzOcO3cmqPQ79T5XncPd9pM7ZD_N_VBobU-I9OaqWckKCR05ZqcjUDd2PxlxjTSA44ei4awqAZJJTvSXfsKDOvkaWzoYqKtTtg_1n/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205274927610937538" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">It's raining in New York: Taking in the view on Brooklyn bridge<br /><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">And - oh dear - it didn't take us Brits too long to utilise it for a bit of fun at the expense of our American cousins.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">First there was the chap unbuttoning his shirt for an interested party on the other side.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Then came the group whose hand-held banner urged an assembly of curious New York cops to hop on one leg (which, incidentally, they declined).</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Goodness only knows what everyone will get up to when darkness falls. But artist and creator Paul St George is delighted that this reworking of his great-grandfather's project is helping to spread a little happiness.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">It takes some while to grasp the concept of the Telectroscope, unless you're happy enough to accept as gospel the story behind its creation.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">According to the publicity material being handed out yesterday, the original tunnel was pioneered by an orang-utan running its entire length in a safety test before disappearing with the wife of the New York City mayor. Perhaps you get the picture now.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The truth is that the Telectroscope - installed by Artichoke, the same people who spectacularly paraded a mechanical elephant through London two years ago - probably employs the latest broadband, camera and satellite technology to close the gap between our two great nations.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Anyone you asked today, however, simply put it down to magic.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The Telectroscope uses 6ft screens and a Jules Verne style telescope that gleams with brass and an array of Victorian dials. Participants peer into one end of the screen - and hey presto - they can see anyone standing at the other side.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Much of the first few hours of this morning were taken up by bemused-looking Americans gazing cautiously at the antics of the London transatlantic gazers before realising that it wasn't a set-up, that they weren't being filmed for a candid camera TV stunt, and that it wasn't a terrorist threat.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDK4FkU9pozht7AP5aCdZ_NLPbE4jxTfPAmgxcZxUNHOU_0CrWpYPe4U9VEYMPvwnvXdz94cji-iSAsR4kNsvfesYZ3un17nLA3nHpQJBiQJJQJ2Mi4StD9LgJ2DQFxDny_Tt/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDK4FkU9pozht7AP5aCdZ_NLPbE4jxTfPAmgxcZxUNHOU_0CrWpYPe4U9VEYMPvwnvXdz94cji-iSAsR4kNsvfesYZ3un17nLA3nHpQJBiQJJQJ2Mi4StD9LgJ2DQFxDny_Tt/s400/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205274936200872146" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Aliens at City Hall? The London Telectroscope looks like something out of War Of The Worlds<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;">One of them broke the ice with a message they must have thought was a subject close to British hearts - the weather.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"Raining here!" said the Yank's handwritten note, pressed tentatively to the screen. "Sunny here!" replied a trio of blondes in London, before fanning their faces and performing heat-wave actions in mime.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Jewellery company worker Annie McDonald, from North London, exchanged kisses at a stranger standing beneath Brooklyn Bridge after beginning a semaphore style conversation with him.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">I tried it with a 30-something who looked as if she was on her way to work - but she just giggled, pointed to her watch, and disappeared from view. Ho hum. That's the thing about Telectroscope flirting - if you don't fancy it, you can just step aside.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">So unless you happen to find someone in Brooklyn who can lip-read, it's impossible to talk the talk.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">But you can still chalk the chalk. Thus, with the used of a liberated restaurant blackboard, I tried a transatlantic conversation with Todd Glass, 41, who was pushing his five-month-old son Simon in a buggy.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">He assured me he was not a hologram - but, crucially perhaps, was unable to tell me who the next President would be. So was he really real? "You bet," he replied.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Andy Slater, 28, from Edinburgh, visited the Brooklyn screen with his girlfriend Sarah Cook, 33, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The message from these Brits abroad was classically simple: "Send Tea!"</span><br /></p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawnZMNYle2_wEg2N1gwmNYwD8mZ_d04Vms1K2f-TKWflI1Vq-vdfV4BtqRaHsnfKdhZmQvfcSIU3Of2s51_7LvFE9Q0TUr3EnOdYFfeefPUCikxeDvLvCfejIRB1v9t5s-DLo/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawnZMNYle2_wEg2N1gwmNYwD8mZ_d04Vms1K2f-TKWflI1Vq-vdfV4BtqRaHsnfKdhZmQvfcSIU3Of2s51_7LvFE9Q0TUr3EnOdYFfeefPUCikxeDvLvCfejIRB1v9t5s-DLo/s400/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205274936200872162" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Police chase: Keeping an eye on crime in New York from Tower Bridge</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"></span></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Visitors to the Telectroscope web site - www.tiscali.co.uk/telectroscope - have already revealed online that they will use its wizardry to bond with friends or relatives abroad, show off an unseen grandchild to grandparents in New York, and - who knows - maybe even to propose marriage.</span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> One couple plan to use it so their Manhattan friend can flick through brochures of apartments they are trying to rent.</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicltOAmIo7PKL-bfZzK5S29kXBDiSnhWflVIGKdvh_fvTTg0Li9TC_9Q4DQ_UhE3fGxy9psiNfrAKsCficYC80bfaEuoKRBO8siTl70j710qT9PagJ2m3LCFUQXr0h5J71O70B/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicltOAmIo7PKL-bfZzK5S29kXBDiSnhWflVIGKdvh_fvTTg0Li9TC_9Q4DQ_UhE3fGxy9psiNfrAKsCficYC80bfaEuoKRBO8siTl70j710qT9PagJ2m3LCFUQXr0h5J71O70B/s400/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205274936200872178" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Designer: Paul St George</span><br /></div><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"Part of the idea is just to allow people to use it in whatever way they want," said Mr St George, 53, from Bristol, who insists he developed the Telectroscope after discovering his great-grandfather's dusty notes and diaries in an attic. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"The thought of a tunnel under the Atlantic is fascinating," he said.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"What child has never dug a hole at the beach and wondered how long it would take to go through to the other side of the world?</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"The Telectroscope is a stage, and the people who use it are the performers.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"Their unpredictability is all part of it. It's encouraging people think about different ways of communicating, to see people living everyday lives thousands of miles away - and, perhaps, to study the way everyone reacts differently to something they're not quite sure about."</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">As we speak, another group of NYPD cops pulls up at the Brooklyn end in a squad car with flashing red lights.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">At first they give only wooden waves to the Brits assembled at Tower Bridge. Then one of them - dressed in uniform and packing a handgun - is encouraged to assume a cowboy-style pose. Across the Atlantic, an unheard cheer goes up.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The cop becomes an instant hero. Here's lookin' at you, kid...</span></p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-14314404201295575452008-05-23T11:23:00.008+05:302008-12-12T05:27:45.515+05:30The Art of Extreme Sleeping!<div align="center"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Sweet dreams are only part of the story</span></div><div align="center"><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span> </div><div align="left">Like any extreme activity, it requires the nerves of steel, good choice of timing, location and the absence of suspicious cops. All this however is easier to achieve, because you are, well... asleep, so you can trust the unseen powers to take care of the rest. Long & restful sleep is by no means guaranteed, but perhaps somebody will take your picture and you'll wake up famous.</div><div align="left"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9CmrqPGsVazNlumnFvklF7E8TO3uIYhSj9DJ6Ho2IjygKwGtRbBWEQBiWCqLy7Pq5on4F_E1oAS_bqgeB9t-pnxY0X10aDHzgJ7nhxQvTHdXwCUX742n9XbyPoAcBML02n07/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203451980281757810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9CmrqPGsVazNlumnFvklF7E8TO3uIYhSj9DJ6Ho2IjygKwGtRbBWEQBiWCqLy7Pq5on4F_E1oAS_bqgeB9t-pnxY0X10aDHzgJ7nhxQvTHdXwCUX742n9XbyPoAcBML02n07/s400/1.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a><span style="color:#ff0000;">Location, Location, Location</span></p><p align="center">The best site to explore (or to learn this useful skill) is Sleeping Chinese. It's a constantly growing collection of impossible sleeping positions:<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYO9_pdA37l3p38jSn7_Gx_dkWYNthsGPiM7uw8jUTAqFuofoKKZ1yQdux9MtpXHLD5JG9ohG29NCLnkdEeGOuxaYIy7B5cWJqarHtD1GHrtS28Ak3sq3N1MWzh-l_GfX2vCb/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203451984576725122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYO9_pdA37l3p38jSn7_Gx_dkWYNthsGPiM7uw8jUTAqFuofoKKZ1yQdux9MtpXHLD5JG9ohG29NCLnkdEeGOuxaYIy7B5cWJqarHtD1GHrtS28Ak3sq3N1MWzh-l_GfX2vCb/s400/2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh52WAqxbCVPBJ9Z25QNgDvu5L8vemf1qoGxP4ejlPJ3yeS3L8Yh1YdudO4nQ9618I_E8slE2ABsSbdc7QHqjO0zB2TgpaRAXEOAKJaQmmyEMw2bwOIN6t1YqCNJmB1KytFWqZi/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203451984576725138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh52WAqxbCVPBJ9Z25QNgDvu5L8vemf1qoGxP4ejlPJ3yeS3L8Yh1YdudO4nQ9618I_E8slE2ABsSbdc7QHqjO0zB2TgpaRAXEOAKJaQmmyEMw2bwOIN6t1YqCNJmB1KytFWqZi/s400/3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zZjV_zuMCTJ2r8tgQYdlnZEMd5uyPsb0WKOFEQJDhUScQvaq-OTzfP0biuohHRNUL_H0VtVzLarPVYPt-Ae8c7kkAww8a9_MtZv4tkuJXOsFuFHiqJ52NKBz7OJyHsCNUf0s/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203451984576725154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zZjV_zuMCTJ2r8tgQYdlnZEMd5uyPsb0WKOFEQJDhUScQvaq-OTzfP0biuohHRNUL_H0VtVzLarPVYPt-Ae8c7kkAww8a9_MtZv4tkuJXOsFuFHiqJ52NKBz7OJyHsCNUf0s/s400/4.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAiTCSQvOug5r8VcHiWeNVI9mAsH4Q1LHIt1W2m9C6_F-vgvJuij_l6J3MMiSqWyxyhPG0SHa45Rb65eNF7A3mHuVAzH_z-c7B8b_wZxF_3ZiVdNIYp66sGqKqgBB9RkV2UQj/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203450773395947554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAiTCSQvOug5r8VcHiWeNVI9mAsH4Q1LHIt1W2m9C6_F-vgvJuij_l6J3MMiSqWyxyhPG0SHa45Rb65eNF7A3mHuVAzH_z-c7B8b_wZxF_3ZiVdNIYp66sGqKqgBB9RkV2UQj/s400/5.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyy13biLkCOGDI7IWgOn7NQdK9HIWUz65czany3shKhZeXhs2To3gyZ065kJGN41MLVMtUBkpZaUxkw5KsenXgtV2L21gUzofT9lJD3sx7kutQBQnv3Z7Q-yHAhULqNRzJfOB/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203450777690914866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyy13biLkCOGDI7IWgOn7NQdK9HIWUz65czany3shKhZeXhs2To3gyZ065kJGN41MLVMtUBkpZaUxkw5KsenXgtV2L21gUzofT9lJD3sx7kutQBQnv3Z7Q-yHAhULqNRzJfOB/s400/6.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="color:#ff0000;"> Ignore the crowds</span></div><div align="center">According to this site, Japan's Public Sleeping is a constantly evolving art:<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSNvhere9SW5NeXhwrJQi1664AIPNgj00pw8v_GevOIlWuPuxo448HB92g_Od4rRkrRAr_L5Jla-UBk-fqeIm-ShuDV2X_G7b8J9-CTGei7qjj9LZOWP7VIGvTOMkRJ0kJxnu/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203450777690914882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSNvhere9SW5NeXhwrJQi1664AIPNgj00pw8v_GevOIlWuPuxo448HB92g_Od4rRkrRAr_L5Jla-UBk-fqeIm-ShuDV2X_G7b8J9-CTGei7qjj9LZOWP7VIGvTOMkRJ0kJxnu/s400/7.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDSBqhaCmHurzEM0Knyi0AAuWVZ2chviyOGoM4DgUkyd0lhb0fB1D_FXqKlhyphenhyphenXrX7a3yum1tSPc8jCLXPntQx9A3bA-ZpDI-JKqJu72VR5fK-STxWHKc48WJRz_OZQImg2Go6/s1600-h/8.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203450781985882194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDSBqhaCmHurzEM0Knyi0AAuWVZ2chviyOGoM4DgUkyd0lhb0fB1D_FXqKlhyphenhyphenXrX7a3yum1tSPc8jCLXPntQx9A3bA-ZpDI-JKqJu72VR5fK-STxWHKc48WJRz_OZQImg2Go6/s400/8.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-4co2gVvg4TQFLqkAbjmD8KYYFLu3opiLAIO9i9FfCz2V6EWv50QkDlla0MKPa8KIetyqmTSePmBb6bNnowr36fcK0tiytbkP6AXUhKntxkdUk4gi_544zmp7vZQLtGYDa35/s1600-h/9.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203450781985882210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-4co2gVvg4TQFLqkAbjmD8KYYFLu3opiLAIO9i9FfCz2V6EWv50QkDlla0MKPa8KIetyqmTSePmBb6bNnowr36fcK0tiytbkP6AXUhKntxkdUk4gi_544zmp7vZQLtGYDa35/s400/9.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdrYbqg7FzIg4EodFtNwS5-qtr8VVSkVAwy0RNEy9mHyOTrpMxNPSoLRhhLK9DXFOQECg69NbEX1ZWbTi99Y89Syf4kU_2ffN5yvMerLWPPWoZhY8KByNnufbq_t5fP3ga1Q9/s1600-h/10.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203449648114515922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdrYbqg7FzIg4EodFtNwS5-qtr8VVSkVAwy0RNEy9mHyOTrpMxNPSoLRhhLK9DXFOQECg69NbEX1ZWbTi99Y89Syf4kU_2ffN5yvMerLWPPWoZhY8KByNnufbq_t5fP3ga1Q9/s400/10.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9i_nL03pyd2nxkQEzMqjClNn5_WC-p51Q6VtWp7fKl77NQRPPu75pCEPY1GNeH8xmGyWayM0e_4lj8RWsYvzEEzDTaCQBNfiyrn4hFW_rQBItq9buqcRqA3jP69WF_FMG3P9A/s1600-h/11.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203449652409483234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9i_nL03pyd2nxkQEzMqjClNn5_WC-p51Q6VtWp7fKl77NQRPPu75pCEPY1GNeH8xmGyWayM0e_4lj8RWsYvzEEzDTaCQBNfiyrn4hFW_rQBItq9buqcRqA3jP69WF_FMG3P9A/s400/11.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="color:#ff0000;"> Schools are made for sleeping</span></div><div align="center">Studying obviously leads to extreme mental and physical fatigue:<br /></div><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsM69_JUuDNXZrZReP886lUjVmEOYfCxa3RWnhEjatxx12lobng9FOyY2nJYyTfx-fBSWCDk92oraMlJ7ePLoiGZWxCa9fU6nZkmZMfxE6kUjZKSduWim-9vSXM3w6aBSJk_Ah/s1600-h/12.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203449652409483250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsM69_JUuDNXZrZReP886lUjVmEOYfCxa3RWnhEjatxx12lobng9FOyY2nJYyTfx-fBSWCDk92oraMlJ7ePLoiGZWxCa9fU6nZkmZMfxE6kUjZKSduWim-9vSXM3w6aBSJk_Ah/s400/12.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXEVB-sDddNIeEnCBaKgczynvH6Oeo7Y-F7qtMW0jMhR3DEmuatrd0j18wHWHPPUbNgJQCApKLv-4UCugNXe47R1r6atbN3bQmQFFPTTv1nZYmEInTBl1HsfR2sXKNECVq9FC9/s1600-h/13.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203449656704450562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXEVB-sDddNIeEnCBaKgczynvH6Oeo7Y-F7qtMW0jMhR3DEmuatrd0j18wHWHPPUbNgJQCApKLv-4UCugNXe47R1r6atbN3bQmQFFPTTv1nZYmEInTBl1HsfR2sXKNECVq9FC9/s400/13.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="color:#ff0000;">Learn from kids</span></p><p align="center">Of course, children are "professional" sleepers:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIEfa-WPnju3CCmhybuMwgiLFi9blSRONhyduGKqsHp-xh4Rqe9nDt-ZgpuSwlSrvJdNUW62TtlAIM7ZGA-CCm_e-BRJam5bz9UFHrC_Gq_WB3DmFlgW4mKeIyEX8TIF2knE-/s1600-h/14.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203449656704450578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIEfa-WPnju3CCmhybuMwgiLFi9blSRONhyduGKqsHp-xh4Rqe9nDt-ZgpuSwlSrvJdNUW62TtlAIM7ZGA-CCm_e-BRJam5bz9UFHrC_Gq_WB3DmFlgW4mKeIyEX8TIF2knE-/s400/14.jpg" border="0" /></a> </p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-88867773794138558482008-03-26T12:57:00.000+05:302008-03-27T16:58:48.791+05:30Amazing Science Facts<span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">1- Turtles can live for more than 100 years.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">2- An elephant trunk has no bone but <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/08/60-interesting-facts-of-world-earth.html">40,000 muscles.</a><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">3- The cicada, a fly found in Africa, spends 17 years of its life sleeping; and only two weeks is awake during which mates and then dies.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">4- The ant can lift things 10 times its own weight.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">5- If your skin is laid flat it will cover an area of 18 square feet.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">6- A Giraffe has the same number of bones in its neck as a man.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">7- Ocean waves can travel as fast as a JET Plane.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">8- The first drawings of a helicopter are nearly 500 years old.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">9- A butterfly warms up its body up to <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/08/worlds-strangest-laws.html">81 degrees Fahrenheit</a> before flying.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">10- A whale can swim for 3 months without eating.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">11- A human being drinks 16,000 tons of water in a lifetime.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">12- We blink 25 times a minute.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">13- To melt away 1 pound of fat you will need to walk 34 miles.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">14- The star fish is actually not a fish, its an animal. (<em> phylum : Echinodermate </em>)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">15- Male <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2006/10/50-interesting-science-facts.html">mosquitoes</a> do not bite, so blame the females next time.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">16- A person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">17- The body's largest internal organ is the small intestine at an average length of 20 feet.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">18- Oysters can change from one gender to another and back again.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">19- The small intestine is 7-8 meters long, making it the <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/07/125-interesting-real-facts.html">largest organ</a> inside the human body. The large intestine is only 1-1.5 meters long!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:130%;">20-The largest lizard in the world is the Komodo dragon which reaches up to 3 meters and sometimes longer was named because of it's fiery tongue. It is often longer than a car.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><br /> liShakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-81316403852615705522008-02-02T10:50:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:27:49.160+05:30Microsoft makes £22.4bn bid to take over internet giant Yahoo<span style="font-size:130%;">Microsoft is planning to challenge the dominance of Google with a £22billion buy-out of rival internet search engine Yahoo.<br /><br />The company set up by Bill Gates has made an offer for Yahoo in what would be one of the biggest internet deals in history.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwswSytOhhBzBty6uJkkEEQ7rl6HjX0BLeeQB4WXGXz5yhrsgxYItq4nYnKP7QaHvSAEJC0fwx7h6AVoh_JPqpa4XPb5PvluTKaPS0ekZOH_MxUjdT-H0DXWIf_nh0YKPnXH_N/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwswSytOhhBzBty6uJkkEEQ7rl6HjX0BLeeQB4WXGXz5yhrsgxYItq4nYnKP7QaHvSAEJC0fwx7h6AVoh_JPqpa4XPb5PvluTKaPS0ekZOH_MxUjdT-H0DXWIf_nh0YKPnXH_N/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162248884792648754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. The company's bid for Yahoo signals an attempt to grab a bigger chunk of business in online services</span></span></div><p><span style="font-size:130%;">But the offer has led to further concerns about the growing power of <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/07/microsofts-copy-protection-cracked.html">Microsoft,</a> which makes gross profits of about £20billion and has fought allegtions of anti-competitive behaviour in courts on both sides of the Atlantic. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Late last year it bought a £120million stake in the online networking sensation Facebook. Many fear that if the Yahoo deal does go through the company really will wield too much power. </span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Among the criticisms levelled at the company is that it deliberately locks customers into its products. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> This has led to complaints that computers cannot be bought without a <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/08/101-websites-that-will-change-your-life.html">Microsoft</a> operating system being pre-installed. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Many fear that if Microsoft gets hold of Yahoo it will be able to increase its influence over internet usage. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Currently Microsoft and Yahoo's search engines trail a long way behind Google - in America 56.3 per cent of searches are carried out through Google. Yahoo is in second place with 17.7 per cent and Microsoft follows with 13.8 per cent.</span> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjggmFitf4PmJnTmsXlDmTTWZERbxnliuTGqVinIwy6CS3kVkWWJCFtkdGrWzn1I2doSsQtEefaJq9XZnE8KtkZ9qt2Og9FXUbeqdlSQiY1-uVyQHtV8Q7SA6ZgjT93rBguFLjc/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjggmFitf4PmJnTmsXlDmTTWZERbxnliuTGqVinIwy6CS3kVkWWJCFtkdGrWzn1I2doSsQtEefaJq9XZnE8KtkZ9qt2Og9FXUbeqdlSQiY1-uVyQHtV8Q7SA6ZgjT93rBguFLjc/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162248893382583362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Google, founded by Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page, right, faces an assault by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/09/search-startup-ready-to-challenge.html"> Google's</a> success has been based on the perception that its searches are wider and more relevant than rivals. </span><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Microsoft say it wants to create 'credible alternative' to the domination of Google. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">But if any deal is agreed it could be subject to heavy scrutiny by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">This is because, as well as both operating powerful search engines, Microsoft and Yahoo are players in the wider online advertising market. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster has called for UK competition authorities to look at the deal. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"Everybody should be concerned about the growing dominance of <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/09/google-turns-10.html">Microsoft</a> in every aspect of our lives," he said. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"While they have done much good for us, we have to be incredibly careful that they don't become so dominant that innovation and creativity is stifled." </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">He urged the Competition Commission to look into the deal, if it was able to.</span> </p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UMQIb8kFh2jo0uNiIYJYeSnsVNP0ymBlyRLIytdeb9wbp9P0ux8UvM4hlJfjanY1nDPsK4_P_Z2mm6Bws1ZuHvK6nMy2YdFtuqLgoSQKs1PUNaQfp9cHCJJbo0WjhOeqepME/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UMQIb8kFh2jo0uNiIYJYeSnsVNP0ymBlyRLIytdeb9wbp9P0ux8UvM4hlJfjanY1nDPsK4_P_Z2mm6Bws1ZuHvK6nMy2YdFtuqLgoSQKs1PUNaQfp9cHCJJbo0WjhOeqepME/s400/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162248897677550674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Yahoo's headquarters in Sunnyvale, in California's Silicon Valley<br /></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">In the early days of the internet, Yahoo, founded by two U.S. students, was the most popular search engine. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The engines work by picking out key words from every internet page which can be accessed by its network. The contents of each page are analysed and categorised on an database. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">When someone enters a query into a search engine it will search its index and come up with the best matches. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">While it has been losing out in recent years to Google, it is still widely used for emailing and its news services. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The two Americans behind Yahoo are likely to pocket £2.2billion if the deal goes through. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Jerry Yang, 39 and David Filo, 41, started Yahoo as a website listing board while students at Stanford University in California in 1995. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Originally called Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web, Yang and Filo changed soon switched to Yahoo, named after a race of brutes in the Jonathan Swift novel Gulliver's Travels. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The unexpected offer comes as Yahoo and Microsoft have fallen behind <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/08/google-adsense-to-distribute-videos.html">Google </a>in the race to capture online advertising. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Internet advertising is a massive growth industry and there are predictions that the online market will double in size to around £40.2billion by 2010. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The potential deal is so big that it boosted shares on the FTSE 100 index yesterday, </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">A <a href="http://immenseknowledge.blogspot.com/2006/10/best-company-in-world.html">Microsoft spokesman</a> said: 'Today this market is increasingly dominated by one player. </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">"Together, Microsoft and Yahoo can offer a competitive choice while better fulfilling the needs of customers and partners."</span></div><p> </p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></span></div></div>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-43231259548830491042008-01-24T00:00:00.001+05:302008-12-12T05:27:50.075+05:30Life on Mars? Amazing photos from Nasa probe reveal mystery figure on Red Planet<span style="font-size:130%;"> Perched on a rock, she could be waiting for a bus. </span><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">But if so, she could be in for an awfully long wait. </span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">This photo of what looks remarkably like a female figure with her arm outstretched, was taken on Mars.</span></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPRpXfkAApcZtCLgH_R9LDyFNElV6SiumTNF5ZZwS06qkxFGlGbll6_ohjU1rlbKTfU5T7uBcNR83A39fEMHjPmh64nfFufGkOyzaWVrZl4XeVZ3fEp3Vd0w29FQVFw1GXsTm/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPRpXfkAApcZtCLgH_R9LDyFNElV6SiumTNF5ZZwS06qkxFGlGbll6_ohjU1rlbKTfU5T7uBcNR83A39fEMHjPmh64nfFufGkOyzaWVrZl4XeVZ3fEp3Vd0w29FQVFw1GXsTm/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158741472764814130" border="0" /></a></p><p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Call me rocky: The intriguing image captured by Nasa on Mars</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Perhaps unsurprisingly, it has set the Internet abuzz with claims that there really is life on the red planet. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Others may well feel that it is simply an optical illusion caused by a landscape.</span> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxVnh__J3W4ZtsABbnJuVnSZ5LxmE6J0ag9PEp8rNBUXDZ8r82C3Oaz1SLcb9B6wOazHEvoXXLNX0peZmWCISJezA-VeN8xwl0LdNe0yHmLt9MuX1m1dDD0oT6zHvb5Gun6Uk/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxVnh__J3W4ZtsABbnJuVnSZ5LxmE6J0ag9PEp8rNBUXDZ8r82C3Oaz1SLcb9B6wOazHEvoXXLNX0peZmWCISJezA-VeN8xwl0LdNe0yHmLt9MuX1m1dDD0oT6zHvb5Gun6Uk/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158741481354748738" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Alien life: What seems to be a human-like Martian is pictured on Mars<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The image was among many sent back to Earth by Spirit, Nasa's Mars explorer vehicle which landed there four years ago.<br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Initial inspections revealed nothing unusual, but closer examination by amateur astronomers has thrown up this intriguing picture.</span> </p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpmWlpFyVq_QPS_UVm4dzXTLbPI4uflBWG4ECu7DGIiv1itXoM1WV7vsLTVNgWo3dVatloLoCqPGmfKcsN-cQ94kh_EFdtC3XV_FRXupVoNSE6NfBbN3XrHbMrdUhUi8wY95D/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpmWlpFyVq_QPS_UVm4dzXTLbPI4uflBWG4ECu7DGIiv1itXoM1WV7vsLTVNgWo3dVatloLoCqPGmfKcsN-cQ94kh_EFdtC3XV_FRXupVoNSE6NfBbN3XrHbMrdUhUi8wY95D/s400/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158741485649716050" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Painstaking: Space enthusiasts spent four years analysing this image, which on much closer inspection shows the 'alien'<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">As one enthusiast put it on a website: "These pictures are amazing. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what appears to be a naked alien running around on Mars."<br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Another, dismissing cynicism about the somewhat stony look of the "alien", wrote: "If you show me another rock in another photo from Mars, or Earth, that naturally looks like that, I will reconsider."</span> </p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCo8uRllZXxF4Pp2YnrSNSK1SOu9Mb1iJ8DuXqB6_GimkjPKDwArD7tlejy9LUBz21UhpiFvBJzg40t0YGy4YG0gD2CNVXrwhJpZnHjU_2AUjyU9YD_lI7pDNsq4i-x9_CAq_M/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCo8uRllZXxF4Pp2YnrSNSK1SOu9Mb1iJ8DuXqB6_GimkjPKDwArD7tlejy9LUBz21UhpiFvBJzg40t0YGy4YG0gD2CNVXrwhJpZnHjU_2AUjyU9YD_lI7pDNsq4i-x9_CAq_M/s400/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158741494239650658" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Say cheese: The mystery image was captured by Nasa's explorer vehicle, Spirit<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> A third contributor, who might have come closer to the majority view, said: "Ah, the human eye can be tricked so easily."<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></div></div>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-55791217942218233322007-12-15T12:36:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:27:50.741+05:30Some 3,800 young people homeless in New York<span style="font-size:130%;">An estimated 3,800 people under age 24 go homeless each night in New York City, but they blend in so well they are hard for social workers to find, according to the city's first-ever census of homeless youth.<br /><br />Three-fourths come from minority groups, with black youths accounting for nearly half the total and Latino youths representing a quarter, said the survey, released on Friday</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK6eNC6WeG8KWLujWd9vuu5N1i5XbHO1UOayw9m3kLhTAsSAj3rEhME2PGCLih9yX9TBhTbiyZpWF111g4hnHSpXACpCUuygouCmN4TaI0doLhRa5n1YT3ZS1HlwFTVGeXtto/s1600-h/12.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK6eNC6WeG8KWLujWd9vuu5N1i5XbHO1UOayw9m3kLhTAsSAj3rEhME2PGCLih9yX9TBhTbiyZpWF111g4hnHSpXACpCUuygouCmN4TaI0doLhRa5n1YT3ZS1HlwFTVGeXtto/s400/12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144093978459301170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">Gay, lesbian and bisexual youths were especially vulnerable, accounting for nearly a third of homeless cases.<br /><br />"Young people who are homeless take great care to look like everyone else. They're unbelievably creative in their ability to find ways to make it look like they're not homeless at all," said Margo Hirsch, executive director of the Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services, which conducted the survey for the city.<br /><br />While many homeless youth found temporary shelter with a friend or a relative, some 1,600 reported spending nights on the street, in an abandoned building or in a bus or train.<br /><br />Selling sex, another 150 spent nights with a clients.<br /><br />The count was conducted in July and surveyed just under 1,000 youth who were either homeless or at risk for homelessness.<br /><br />Earlier this year, the New York City Department of Homeless Services reported that 3,755 New Yorkers of all ages, out of a total population of 8.2 million people, were living without shelter on any given night, down from 4,395 in 2005.</span>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-53514191058694261492007-12-13T20:20:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:27:51.405+05:30THE WORLD'S FASTEST HUMAN CALCULATOR<h1 style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The human calculator: 393 trillion answers - and he picks the right one in 70 seconds</span><br /></span></h1><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">When the answer is 2,407,899,893,032,210 you know the question is tough.<br /><br /></span><p> <span style="font-size:130%;">Not so tough, however, that Alexis Lemaire could not work it out in his head. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> His challenge yesterday was to come up with the 13th root of a computer-generated 200-digit number.</span> </p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttwTchjsTx9we6CXqVACBBd-BTDKIE5bE8zvjpVnBr_gTnAIy__pehk7EZxMa-TOvyGCNtOY3XqBhE4UOhCOnNuf6GCmPjR1qFSdG5CbVmQhRoHMQSqls8WDVAntVQSAsMCBr/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttwTchjsTx9we6CXqVACBBd-BTDKIE5bE8zvjpVnBr_gTnAIy__pehk7EZxMa-TOvyGCNtOY3XqBhE4UOhCOnNuf6GCmPjR1qFSdG5CbVmQhRoHMQSqls8WDVAntVQSAsMCBr/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143471650864849090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">And, with 393 trillion possible answers to choose from, the PhD student made it almost look easy. </span><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> A mere 70.2 seconds later, he cracked it and officially became the world's fastest human calculator. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> A slight frown and a stare of deep concentration had been the only sign the 27-year-old "mathlete" was doing anything more than running through the eight times table. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Appropriately, the Frenchman broke his previous world record of 72.4 seconds at the Science Museum in London, where he had a backdrop of Charles Babbage's 1840s Difference Engine No2, the first successful mechanical calculator. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> For those in the know, 13th roots are a yardstick in mental arithmetic for mathletes determined to show ever greater feats of brainpower. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> A 13th root is - if your maths is no longer at Mr Lemaire's level - a number that multiplied by itself 13 times matches the initial figure.</span> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyVcUNiHwSekH3U8gSPkkYH-XdT8ltnt5EIgJbcgFNjbnrK7wfT4927xkso8xkLx8iji5ZRpgGWFPgXprCGmnpHv7_Zhyphenhyphen34KoVCUvrp0BJaXX_SsO32K-vZRrGl0gPBvhoVUf/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyVcUNiHwSekH3U8gSPkkYH-XdT8ltnt5EIgJbcgFNjbnrK7wfT4927xkso8xkLx8iji5ZRpgGWFPgXprCGmnpHv7_Zhyphenhyphen34KoVCUvrp0BJaXX_SsO32K-vZRrGl0gPBvhoVUf/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143471655159816402" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" > Lemaire used a computer to generate a massive 200-digit number before working out its 13th root<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Mr Lemaire, from Reims, began demonstrating his mental prowess by finding the 13th root of a random 100 digit number. </span><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> But this soon became too easy. The first time he tried a 200-digit challenge, it took him 40 minutes. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Since then, he has put himself through a mental training regime that has seen him repeatedly cut his time. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Cracking the answer is, apparently not all about maths, it also owes a lot to memory. Mr Lemaire, who is single, has memorised thousands of combinations of 13th root numbers. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> "It's a bit like multiplication tables but with huge digits," he said. "It's a combination of techniques, partly memory and partly maths." </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Asked to explain further, he would only say: "I won't give you my secret." </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> He did, however, agree to try the Daily Mail's 30-Second Challenge, and finished the advanced task in eight seconds. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> It was a more than respectable performance - but, for a champion "13th rooter", it didn't seem that impressive. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Perhaps he was still tired after his world record.</span> </p></div></div>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-60148155804046455432007-11-24T12:07:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:27:51.506+05:30Record-busting scorpion was bigger than man<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 420px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcouYXnPKDcX5Stu7e6CAiTTRWgL4x3QLN3B5rfQUz39iuVzVBOEy3mlPQAOUx0ekh5thszK4sIbYFBc0utsC62Eo8tljabkwKRSXgp8oWoyWc2nZepopfExKPyMc4DKk_hPn/s400/30-02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136293079512202306" border="0" /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Paris:</strong> This was a bug you couldn’t swat and definitely couldn’t step on. British and German researchers reported Wednesday that they had discovered the giant fossilised claw of an ancient sea scorpion that, hundreds of millions of years ago, would have been over 8 feet long - much taller than the average man, and almost as long as a car.<br /><br />The find, in a quarry near the German town of Pruem, is the biggest specimen of arthropod ever found, they said in a study published by Biology Letters, a journal of Britain’s Royal Society.<br /><br />“This is an amazing discovery,” said Simon Braddy, from the University of Bristol in England.<br /><br />“We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches and jumbo dragonflies, but we never realised until now just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were”</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">The 18.4-inch claw was wielded by a species of sea scorpion called the Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, which lived between 460 and 255 million years ago.<br /><br />Using the claw as a benchmark, the scientists believe its owner was between 7.57 and 8.41 feet long.<br /><br />Chelicerae - wand-like appendages used to grasp food and bring it to the beast’s mandibles - would have added another 1.6 feet.<br /><br />“This exceeds the previously-recorded maximum body length of any arthropod by almost half a metre, the chelicerae not included,” their study says.<br /><br />Despite their name, sea scorpions, known as eurypterids, were not true scorpions. Equipped with long, flat, jointed carapaces, they stalked warm shallow sea waters from around 500 million to 250 million years ago, eventually moving into fresh water.<br /><br />Biologists delving into Earth’s distant past are divided as to how some arthropods were able to develop into such monstrous size.<br /><br />Some suggest that they benefit from an oxygen-rich atmosphere, while others argue that they had to get bigger in order to keep up with the super-sizing of their likely prey, the early armoured fish.<br /><br />“There is no simple single explanation,” said Braddy. “It is likely that some ancient arthropods were big because there was little competition from the vertebrates, as we see today. If the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere increased suddenly, it doesn’t mean all the bugs would get bigger.”</span>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-45216654458205706842007-11-03T10:17:00.001+05:302008-12-12T05:27:52.035+05:30A new speed record, but not a good one<span style="font-size:130%;">Olympique Lyon's Czech forward Milan Baros was caught speeding at 168 miles per hour in his Ferrari, a club source confirmed Friday.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-DEZT1cST1TyCMWASNcJ7svSfDRF2jaTyRWpDru62JbsMaEDn7OUP0DLJYA9DZ0uk5wsYm_X-Nm6u3gue-Q0ajCktQaVGyiomlidSMjzwxbyyNa4MWrZaaCApXWr_-EXYZ-C/s1600-h/www.reuters.com.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-DEZT1cST1TyCMWASNcJ7svSfDRF2jaTyRWpDru62JbsMaEDn7OUP0DLJYA9DZ0uk5wsYm_X-Nm6u3gue-Q0ajCktQaVGyiomlidSMjzwxbyyNa4MWrZaaCApXWr_-EXYZ-C/s400/www.reuters.com.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128471366186312546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">Local newspaper Le Progres quoted police as saying the former Liverpool player had broken the record for speeding for that French region, set by a motorcyclist who reached 154 mph in 2000.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> <p><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Baros was driving on a motorway not far from Lyon on Thursday when he was caught by French police, who confiscated the black Ferrari and took his driving license.</span></p><span style="font-size:130%;"><span id="midArticle_2"></span></span> <p><span style="font-size:130%;">The 26-year-old, sidelined by an injury, had to take a taxi back to Lyon. He faces a heavy fine and a three-year driving ban.</span></p><span id="midArticle_3"></span> <span id="midArticle_4"></span>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-51047886027969779312007-10-31T13:23:00.002+05:302008-12-12T05:27:52.465+05:30Could Ming the mollusc hold the secret to Nature's greatest mystery?<span class="b"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Growing old and and dying is inevitable yet meet the mighty Ming who has been around for 405 years<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> Growing old and dying is as inevitable as paying taxes.</span><br /><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> However much we may moan and rage or smear ourselves with youth-preserving potions, we'll be lucky to blow out the candles on our 90th birthday cake. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> For one of our fellow creatures, however, nine decades is scarcely the length of its childhood. The ocean quahog (a type of deep-sea clam) can, it seems, chug on and on and on for several centuries. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> In fact, one specimen that has been dredged from the Atlantic sea-floor off the coast of Iceland has just set a record as the oldest living creature on the planet. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Meet the mighty Ming, whom scientists say has been around for a grand total of 405 years. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> And no, he wasn't named after the former Lib Dem leader. This chap was given his title in honour of the Imperial dynasty that ruled China at the time of his birth — at the start of the 17th century.</span> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyhiW9ijfGZ-WEgEj4RpCp41ZttNdfF-M3Rpdgb_RGOileQAqLB2fOkumR95AwEvu_80gK3Qcd-fvjpNxKN470MHNNfWHnLgAb853rq8ZZEI29NndpsJ-5bUwKJ5gMsIIHBe5/s1600-h/molluscDM2810_468x577.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyhiW9ijfGZ-WEgEj4RpCp41ZttNdfF-M3Rpdgb_RGOileQAqLB2fOkumR95AwEvu_80gK3Qcd-fvjpNxKN470MHNNfWHnLgAb853rq8ZZEI29NndpsJ-5bUwKJ5gMsIIHBe5/s400/molluscDM2810_468x577.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127407056110494546" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;">Record-breaker: Ming was 405 years old when he died</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"></span></div><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Having seen off Queen Elizabeth I, the English Civil War, the entire Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, two World Wars and the advent of reality TV, Ming was caught last year when scientists from the University of Bangor were dredging the seabed near Iceland as part of a study into climate change. </span><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> He was taken back to the laboratory where tests were conducted on his shell to determine his age. As the quahog's shell grows at different rates at different times of the year, it consists of hundreds of distinct layers that can be counted like rings in a tree trunk to give its age. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Researcher Alan Wanamaker found the first layers of Ming's shell were made more than four centuries ago. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> That made him 32 years older than the previous oldest recorded creature (another quahog) whose shell is now in a German museum. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> But that is not the only reason why scientists have got so excited about the discovery. For although Ming may be small — he'd fit in the palm of your hand — he could hold a mighty secret. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Creatures like him may show us why some species are able to cheat ageing and death for so much longer than others. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> And perhaps — just perhaps — he can show us that our own lifespan is not so inevitable after all. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> That's the hope of charity Help the Aged, which has given the marine biologists from Bangor University £40,000 to investigate why this animal lives so long. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> For if we discover how a living creature can live into its fifth century, then we might be able to do something to extend human longevity as well, or at least make old age a little more palatable. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> That is the theory, anyway. In the meantime, we still have to get to grips with just why there are such fantastic differences in the lifespans of different species. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Some Galapagos tortoises, for instance, have been recorded to reach nearly 200 years. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> And bowhead whales have been found recently with antique harpoons embedded in their skulls dating from the 1790s. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Unless these were a freak, this means that in the sea today there may be large, intelligent animals that pre-date the invention of the railway engine. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Other Methuselahs include orange roughy, a Pacific fish increasingly popular as food. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> These cold-water fish can live to more than 150 years old, meaning that your dinner could date back to a time when Queen Victoria was still middle-aged. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> But how do these creatures live so long? </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> In fact, while the lifespans of different species may seem random, there is a pattern. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Generally, big creatures live longer than small ones — and this goes for plants as well as animals. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> At one end of the scale are mice and shrews, which live just a couple of years, while at the other are large animals like rhinos, hippos, giant tortoises, lions and elephants, which have life expectancies measured in decades — or even centuries. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> But there are some interesting anomalies. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Humans, for instance, live longer than is to be expected for our size — the record stands at 122 years, achieved by the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who personally knew Vincent van Gogh and died in 1997. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> We certainly do better than our closest relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees, which are lucky to make 70, even in pampered captivity. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Horses and cattle, however, do badly despite their large size, while some parrots live for 70 years or more despite being small. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> And fish and molluscs can, as we have seen, survive for centuries. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> So, what determines how long a species can live? Biologists used to think that animals (and plants) die because, like machines, they simply wear out. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> But unlike machines, animals' bodies are equipped with efficient repair mechanisms. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> The question is: why do these fail and what determines how old we are when they do? </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> The evolutionary theory of ageing, now widely accepted, states simply that animal lifespans reflect the amount of time an organism can expect to survive in the wild before being killed by predators, cold, disease or starvation. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> This explains why big animals tend to live longer than small ones — they are simply less likely to be eaten or die of starvation, so their bodies have evolved to age and develop more slowly, as time is not of the essence for them. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> The theory also explains the anomalies: bats and birds have long lifespans because they can fly, making them far safer from predators than comparably sized ground-living creatures. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Tortoises, too, live a long time because they are armour-plated — as are clams. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Few things eat whales, or large crocodiles, and it takes a long time for a big animal to die of starvation. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Mice, on the other hand, are so vulnerable to being eaten or squashed that their bodies are designed for speed, not endurance. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> They have rapid, high-octane metabolisms that help them do just one thing — make lots of babies, very quickly, before getting eaten. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> However, these fast, superheated metabolisms take a toll on their bodies. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Flooded with sex hormones and corrosive sugars, small mammals soon succumb to cancers and other ageing diseases, even if protected in the lab. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> But is it possible to use this knowledge to increase human longevity? </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Could we tweak our metabolisms in some way so that we could live as long as Ming the clam? </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> The answer is almost certainly yes, but not any time soon. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> Some scientists believe it may be possible to fool our bodies into ticking over more slowly by going on a very low-calorie diet, living in a state of near-starvation. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> But in the future, our best hope probably lies with genetic manipulation, combined with drug therapies to defuse the genetic timebombs left in our DNA by our savannah ancestry. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> That's all a long way off. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> But the good news for our generation is that while the human lifespan is probably unassailable for now, human life expectancy is not. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> In other words, the numbers of us who can expect to live close to the current maximum possible age for humans is growing all the time. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> A girl, born to affluent middleclass parents in the world's richer countries, now has a life expectancy of more than 85 (80 for boys) and this will increase further. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> This alone may cause us problems, as the ratio of pensioners to workers changes dramatically. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> What would happen in a world where people lived to be 405 can only be guessed at. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> As for Ming? Well, he's already paying the price of fame. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> By the time the mollusc had been inspected in the lab, and his record confirmed, he'd passed over to that great ocean bed in the sky. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"> No one can say it wasn't an impressive innings.</span> </p><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"></span>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-69413606527198503992007-10-18T10:36:00.001+05:302008-12-12T05:27:52.942+05:30British Teens Top Pregnancy Rates<h2 style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><span style="font-size:130%;">The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe, according to a worldwide report on sexual health.</span></h2><p style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"> </p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNvq6_Cm_eGk_qTq54GeZQeawNJxX4zXY_JHjbJ6ZI6hbUkJvFP6GUfz1tLTn9vuXF4XieQiNQMTpOZoTxEh4UEYIfM4Yzu1WF0AGTxEwhpQRQhgZVoLT6T2H8WUpxKMws3gH/s1600-h/1600221.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122544930311746738" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 177px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 191px" height="202" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNvq6_Cm_eGk_qTq54GeZQeawNJxX4zXY_JHjbJ6ZI6hbUkJvFP6GUfz1tLTn9vuXF4XieQiNQMTpOZoTxEh4UEYIfM4Yzu1WF0AGTxEwhpQRQhgZVoLT6T2H8WUpxKMws3gH/s400/1600221.jpg" width="181" border="0" /></a> <p style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-A3sYBNa18M1uHE_pmF9aDJOsaRdlwKv32-85Vcbnup2nohzeiFESTcmGo5sTckybyJdEveT91fCihc4-tvMVGl7e10HwCoNw-8dcAUl15JwFpdg07lv0z2qtoswPrmzXPjcW/s1600-h/1600221.jpg"></a><span style="font-size:130%;">It ranked Britain as one of the safest countries regarding health risks to women. </span></p><p style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><span style="font-size:130%;">But, at 19th safest, the UK still lagged behind countries like Croatia, Estonia, Cuba and the Czech Republic.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The report's authors warned that teenagers, who often had unplanned pregnancies, ran a higher risk of complications in pregnancy and childbirth.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Reducing teenage pregnancy and improving sexual and reproductive health are priority areas for the UK Government.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"Teenage pregnancy rates are at their lowest for 20 years. Between 1998 and 2005 the under-16 conception rate has fallen by 12.1%."</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">She added: "The UK is one of the safest countries in the world in which to have a baby."</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The report, released by Population Action International, also found that the lifetime risk of maternal death is more than 250 times higher in developing countries than in developed countries.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">It ranked 130 countries, comprising 96% of the world population, into categories from highest to lowest sexual and reproductive risk for women.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Report authors looked at factors including HIV prevalence, teenage birth rates, maternal deaths and infant mortality rates.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The Netherlands had the lowest risk of all, ranked at 130, while the UK was placed at 112.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The highest sexual and reproductive health risk was in Niger, ranked at number one. Chad, Mali, Yemen and Ethiopia are also in the highest risk category.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-638275101516211702007-09-28T11:57:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:28:00.814+05:30Weird And Wonderful Ways To Set Records<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Remarkable Records<br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;">The 2008 edition of the Guinness World Records book features brand new weird and wonderful achievements from around the globe.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Let's start with a category that must be one of the most hotly contested.</span></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmWXwwLt25v7G5NIXR-ZjTxRWkCx0X8R_6oT2Ovj45tc9Qn_tahIIBaqwj1AyUffOrFZm1m-QDuJnzrP2MTF8bbQNj2xRLinonJo5z8kU0nsT5OCJWZ8vtYDyo-Xq8l2_rL6w/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115140350858867442" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmWXwwLt25v7G5NIXR-ZjTxRWkCx0X8R_6oT2Ovj45tc9Qn_tahIIBaqwj1AyUffOrFZm1m-QDuJnzrP2MTF8bbQNj2xRLinonJo5z8kU0nsT5OCJWZ8vtYDyo-Xq8l2_rL6w/s400/1.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">It's no wonder he looks chuffed after setting the record for unhooking the most bras.</span><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisBoxQTsVXL66mBsrIDRJ1E8U1pcjkhfIpcDgT-ji0GZgXTyZQZ_CM_Rb95TCrl5Kt4dOsb1rh8Ru-YLdOUtzNAu0tEPp0j1h88XfmjBo6xDHDv4fNqBSLLz7DfRCXuZ0Po5h/s1600-h/2.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115140359448802050" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisBoxQTsVXL66mBsrIDRJ1E8U1pcjkhfIpcDgT-ji0GZgXTyZQZ_CM_Rb95TCrl5Kt4dOsb1rh8Ru-YLdOUtzNAu0tEPp0j1h88XfmjBo6xDHDv4fNqBSLLz7DfRCXuZ0Po5h/s400/2.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">Who said sofas were for couch potatoes?<br />And who would have thought there was a record for the fastest furniture?</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-Qir_9DgxaVIw94KQkQ9L6g1ldKEO-zYkhR6TmjIRCIIp21cZROdXMuLBU678daAe4jW2jHHbvqHzjgYSUitAwWrYKQD9-k-iOElODis1HSjZQTNEPU1GmH-wCOWvWn8jGau/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115140359448802066" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-Qir_9DgxaVIw94KQkQ9L6g1ldKEO-zYkhR6TmjIRCIIp21cZROdXMuLBU678daAe4jW2jHHbvqHzjgYSUitAwWrYKQD9-k-iOElODis1HSjZQTNEPU1GmH-wCOWvWn8jGau/s400/3.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">Now that is some serious squirting.<br />Don't try this at home or you'll be crying over spilt milk.</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzmCWGyAS3w9eY9pUIgYU0xiRjvo1L0WpCrawI1X8z6e-jTDAI3fjkNdOeYT7WXDyd474qhtxWgAfX7lzXovcpli_xshC_r992b8vf2oEJDowBAts5-LuGWib-f-uNnlWqKye/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115140359448802082" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzmCWGyAS3w9eY9pUIgYU0xiRjvo1L0WpCrawI1X8z6e-jTDAI3fjkNdOeYT7WXDyd474qhtxWgAfX7lzXovcpli_xshC_r992b8vf2oEJDowBAts5-LuGWib-f-uNnlWqKye/s400/4.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">"When I grow up I want to be just like you."<br />The tallest and smallest horses suss each other out.</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpNq6fuu2GxvDgtEhyphenhyphen7lNOBPaxT79QC7IMqara4ZFjlBxdG6DOhsL2ghKWmSP27ARdyuFSygQ8MD2tAf25RJiY6A-9WzxwqnMC4AatTl9rtX2830pyPks3SwaHvneldiBxYFZ/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115140363743769394" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpNq6fuu2GxvDgtEhyphenhyphen7lNOBPaxT79QC7IMqara4ZFjlBxdG6DOhsL2ghKWmSP27ARdyuFSygQ8MD2tAf25RJiY6A-9WzxwqnMC4AatTl9rtX2830pyPks3SwaHvneldiBxYFZ/s400/5.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">Here's a record that will make your head spin.<br />89 times in one minute to be precise.</span><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlMqzUrvGoN1c3FSdjVOVJtrc5ZvCkzhU2E-wvaTow05V5_e5y7jY16HytxNirOshSxOaYYSS_BZfpWkgh7q5X3Me9YgPTFtzGfoEBPg2kRpCkbqtb34_ALvtqcwgq8Ke-OuA/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115139822577889954" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlMqzUrvGoN1c3FSdjVOVJtrc5ZvCkzhU2E-wvaTow05V5_e5y7jY16HytxNirOshSxOaYYSS_BZfpWkgh7q5X3Me9YgPTFtzGfoEBPg2kRpCkbqtb34_ALvtqcwgq8Ke-OuA/s400/6.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">How many hula hoops could you handle?</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7_ijsBEdXnfs374WygCOxVoOXjkkHVByIN68XlgC07ofCUnY4mSqeLHsy7eMThXWcz0qbYTfdl51gETBFxiB6XF9g0PV2153vmdAHD2Q-2CkGKKBaZuXqcaAnQMsekbFp0lj/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115139826872857266" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7_ijsBEdXnfs374WygCOxVoOXjkkHVByIN68XlgC07ofCUnY4mSqeLHsy7eMThXWcz0qbYTfdl51gETBFxiB6XF9g0PV2153vmdAHD2Q-2CkGKKBaZuXqcaAnQMsekbFp0lj/s400/7.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">The appropriately named Bigfoot 5 makes it into the book as the largest monster truck.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIMstMztnpy1YWz9Y-yGzUqB6MIY2WPje_83YZX0pv9kbl5SbSEu6YlkwtYrJbqaBrwQFl3KbvRn9k0X7xEdN4CaFS9FIbOKolQRx9VCuI6ikcn4CdZn4paeRDYl3iAqT9MRL/s1600-h/8.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115139826872857282" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIMstMztnpy1YWz9Y-yGzUqB6MIY2WPje_83YZX0pv9kbl5SbSEu6YlkwtYrJbqaBrwQFl3KbvRn9k0X7xEdN4CaFS9FIbOKolQRx9VCuI6ikcn4CdZn4paeRDYl3iAqT9MRL/s400/8.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">What looks like steps to the sun is actually a tower of milk crates balanced on the chin.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbN9AD4dBRx7dYRVDuXEWtlz6tQAixwTUeMstLAZLZfnd9BXbvP0uBBHGMwyRLPm_qk3PGKd7dmV2OORgMYBNvAd3t2JcdsTqeQT_o64Q1Z6EcghXOzjpLkwLmvZBw55xSGMT/s1600-h/9.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115139831167824594" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbN9AD4dBRx7dYRVDuXEWtlz6tQAixwTUeMstLAZLZfnd9BXbvP0uBBHGMwyRLPm_qk3PGKd7dmV2OORgMYBNvAd3t2JcdsTqeQT_o64Q1Z6EcghXOzjpLkwLmvZBw55xSGMT/s400/9.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">Look Mum, no feet!<br />Helium balloons are probably not the most reliable form of air travel but they are great for setting a wacky record.</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLAwLbs1H1We_WW9arEjFb3ia0jzoo59mxkecefni5-WsFjKufz0AtGDp9LTwuL339B5HevGfkS7g2whpn8W0In0sTguTmEGC3K3L35fXZOgX1SVDgbjR2681NVPUk8Uecjld/s1600-h/10.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115139831167824610" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLAwLbs1H1We_WW9arEjFb3ia0jzoo59mxkecefni5-WsFjKufz0AtGDp9LTwuL339B5HevGfkS7g2whpn8W0In0sTguTmEGC3K3L35fXZOgX1SVDgbjR2681NVPUk8Uecjld/s400/10.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">It's not worth walking over hotplates for anything, or is it?</span></p><p style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;">Well maybe if you get your name in the Guinness World Records book...................................</span></p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-31987317966899241782007-09-27T23:53:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:28:01.015+05:30The world's tiniest baby - born at 24 weeks and weighing just 10oz<span style="font-size:130%;">Tiny Kimberley Mueller weighed just over 10 ounces when she was born - making her the world's smallest surviving baby. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Her chances of living were rated at worse than 1,000-1 when she was born 15 weeks prematurely. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">These incredible pictures published for the first time today show that Kimberley was about the size of a mobile phone at birth. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Now six months old, the miracle baby has been allowed home for the first time.<br /></span><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114951690125423058" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLmskrMD3Z5KEGaTkZ4t9s2K2OSlYp5S81EgzwPmfLojWSALbY-Krp6YQUmP9l9n1PjcwXAZ9soXCcSN9sYeQWbjwf6MbMJgUmLn6pxDtN5iqLVuR-6nIiXggLYiv1KMDN2in/s400/bab1BILD2709_468x302.jpg" border="0" /> <p style="text-align: center; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;">The size of a mobile phone: Kimberley Mueller weighed just over 10 ounces when she was born in Hanover, Germany - making her the world's smallest surviving baby</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">But Kimberley, who was just 10.2cm long, spent months on a life support system as doctors in Germany fought to save her. </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">The tiny mite was kept in an incubator for warmth and drip-fed, while a respirator help her breathe. </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">British birth experts said it was "incredible" that she had survived.</span> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qWvYz3lbG1vBOx4XGb6C_q_D301v_JG28oY8Rt2qACxDDfEnEKRmPta6OliJLX4rnorFppIfLYyNARA1TXeQqZ7Ix44wupr67uuiaraFk53cQBknSVa04p_BaKYw-eO4r1BM/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114951694420390370" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qWvYz3lbG1vBOx4XGb6C_q_D301v_JG28oY8Rt2qACxDDfEnEKRmPta6OliJLX4rnorFppIfLYyNARA1TXeQqZ7Ix44wupr67uuiaraFk53cQBknSVa04p_BaKYw-eO4r1BM/s400/2.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" >Now six months, Kimberley has been allowed home for the first time (Above with mother Petra and father Andreas)</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">Dr Arvind Shah, consultant paediatrician at Great Ormond Street's Middlesex unit, said: "This is amazing - she must be a little fighter. </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">"Now we have more sophisticated equipment premature babies do have a better chance of living. But there are obviously huge health risks."</span> </p><p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjypMpM12jMrbOHHivAo1N5YnDMEE9dqT3Hm-JtRMiMU3cCj5beB7p5lL6dluml1Kf7d8nDCtg3nlhsqWmQ9Uk7SL420NwODWjDPxmmv5twRaK5TzSNmSGzR4jNXFjggSj00f0x/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114951694420390386" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjypMpM12jMrbOHHivAo1N5YnDMEE9dqT3Hm-JtRMiMU3cCj5beB7p5lL6dluml1Kf7d8nDCtg3nlhsqWmQ9Uk7SL420NwODWjDPxmmv5twRaK5TzSNmSGzR4jNXFjggSj00f0x/s400/3.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Kimberley's chances of living were rated at worse than 1,000-1 when she was born 15 weeks prematurely</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">Kimberley's mother Petra Mueller, from Hanover, said: "I was allowed to stroke her with my finger and I always spoke to her. </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">"It was the nicest thing when she would grip my finger in her tiny hands."</span> </p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-89551469271029845292007-09-27T14:16:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:28:01.486+05:30Scientists create the world's first see-through frog<span style="font-size:130%;">Frogs come in nearly every colour of the rainbow - from the dull greens of British species, to the vivid yellows and reds of their tropical relatives. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">But Japanese scientists have gone one step further than mother nature - and created a transparent frog.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />The creature's see-through skin allows researchers to see details of its internal organs and blood vessels. They say this could bring huge benefits to medicine, making it easier and cheaper to study diseases such as cancer.</span><br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUgaziOAn1l4jVXdwAt-Eu9g183wsUh__sgMPG_JwTFI1d_A2zYjdlNVGOBg6IlZCvVmpRcW_TWKpbZ3hdBkY1oaVkH6BkpFQ7c5OoJONr6W-5RaO40OiNIrQXISEwLEDLeRe/s1600-h/frog2L2609_468x349.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114803243170771378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUgaziOAn1l4jVXdwAt-Eu9g183wsUh__sgMPG_JwTFI1d_A2zYjdlNVGOBg6IlZCvVmpRcW_TWKpbZ3hdBkY1oaVkH6BkpFQ7c5OoJONr6W-5RaO40OiNIrQXISEwLEDLeRe/s400/frog2L2609_468x349.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZtUMaKMzvCogfiBw7Fv2-X8GN3tnWakChWxZsCECuK-pAQPkTMCsUYwXywlvSP6Zj_qDeIl1kDZfTE6nb-926_qqllJpqIMpqpBRe3RlX9M_0E5Px_5VE6P0cmL2emcdZLazL/s1600-h/frogL2609_468x362.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114803247465738690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZtUMaKMzvCogfiBw7Fv2-X8GN3tnWakChWxZsCECuK-pAQPkTMCsUYwXywlvSP6Zj_qDeIl1kDZfTE6nb-926_qqllJpqIMpqpBRe3RlX9M_0E5Px_5VE6P0cmL2emcdZLazL/s400/frogL2609_468x362.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Professor Masayuki Sumida, who led the project at the Institute for Amphibian Biology at Hiroshima University, said scientists could look at the effect of drugs and chemicals on the frog's internal organs and blood vessels without the animals having to be killed and dissected. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">'Because the frogs remain transparent from their birth to adulthood, organs of the same frog could be studied throughout,' he said. 'This is simple and cheap when studying, for instance, how certain chemicals influence bones.' </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">By attaching green fluorescent markers to a stretch of DNA and injecting it into the frog, researchers can also study the behaviour of genes in a living organism. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The transparent frog (pictured) is the offspring of common Japanese brown frogs. It was created through traditional selective breeding, rather than genetic modification, using wild frogs with a mutation that gives them pale skin. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">By mating the palest frogs they could find and then breeding from their palest offspring the researchers were able to create the see-through strain.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The scientists say they plan to patent the technique but have yet to perfect the process. Only one in 16 frogs they breed has transparent skin and they have not succeeded in getting the transparent frogs to breed see-through offspring.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Most of the world's natural see-through creatures live underwater. Animals such as jellyfish, sea worms, sea snails and octopuses evolved transparency as a form of camouflage. In an environment where there are few hiding places, being see-through can give them an edge.</span></p><p> </p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-34424782904328452312007-09-22T16:25:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:28:17.376+05:30Strange facts about the human body<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yTPsqzbQUQ7RtS7QY7L-5YupeJvwXm13nffLR5Ka2EAGasYIqGzkLklMwIkBQPPdpbfvPHRZXnHcf_gxNRmvhr-26YunqQvKDMhpOnYebjZtipT_h4XGUmCkOzhOKSGtvEBE/s1600-h/humanartcopymu9.JPG"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112981373878381874" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yTPsqzbQUQ7RtS7QY7L-5YupeJvwXm13nffLR5Ka2EAGasYIqGzkLklMwIkBQPPdpbfvPHRZXnHcf_gxNRmvhr-26YunqQvKDMhpOnYebjZtipT_h4XGUmCkOzhOKSGtvEBE/s400/humanartcopymu9.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">1- Every single day you, unless you are already bald, will lose as many as 100 strands of hair ? that?s 36,500 in a year. This is rather worrying as the average human scalp has 100,000 hairs.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />2- A sneeze can blast out of your nose at a speed greater 100 mph.<br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;">3- The ashes of the average cremated person weighs 9 pounds.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">4- The human body can survive longer without food than without sleep. While starvation takes a few weeks you would die after about 10 days without sleep.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">5- An average human drinks about 16, 000 gallons of water in a lifetime. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">6- Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood we have only 206 in our bodies.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">7- Your heart beats some 37,000,000 times in a year. During your life it�s will beat some two-and-a-half billion times.<br /><br />8- Every square inch of your body is populated by an about 32 million bacteria.<br /><br />9- Your largest internal organ is the small intestine at an average length of 20 feet. If cut into pasta size pieces it would serve four.<br /><br />10- 85% of your brain is water.<br /><br />11- Three-hundred-million cells die in the human body every minute.<br /><br />12- The largest human organ is the skin, with a surface area of about 25 square feet.<br /><br />13- Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour - about 1.5 pounds a year. By 70 years of age, an average person will have lost 105 pounds of skin.<br /><br />14- Humans shed and regrow outer skin cells about every 27 days - almost 1,000 new skins in a lifetime.<br /><br />15- It takes 17 muscles to smile --- 43 to frown.<br /><br />16- The average duration of sexual intercourse for humans is 2 minutes. ?see pigs<br /><br />17- It is impossible to kill yourself by holding your breath.<br /><br />18- The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet.<br /><br />19- You blink about 84 million times in a year.<br /><br />20- When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop-- even your heart!<br /><br />21- 40 people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.<br /><br />22- Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until they are 2 -6 years old.<br /><br />23- In the course of a lifetime the average person will grow 2 Metres of nose hair.<br /><br />24- Ladies in nudist camps tend to use more makeup than ladies elsewhere.<br /><br />25- A team of medical experts in Virginia contends you're more likely to catch the common cold virus by shaking hands than by kissing.<br /><br />26- The human tooth has 55 miles of canal in it.<br /><br />27- Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">28- People have legs of slightly different lengths.<br /><br />29- The average cough comes out the mouth at 60 mph.<br /><br />30- Men / women The average person speaks about 31,500 words per day.<br /><br />31- Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.<br /><br />32- It is estimated that at any one time, 0.7% of the world's population are drunk.<br /><br />33- Number of times intestines can wrap round<br /></span></p>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-55448701050014397072007-09-22T15:53:00.000+05:302007-09-22T15:59:38.440+05:30Scientists ponder future of space exploration<span style="font-size:130%;">PASADENA, Calif. — In the next 50 years of space exploration, scientists are hopeful that we will find other life in the universe. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Weeks away from the 50th anniversary of space flight, a group of aerospace engineers, space entrepreneurs and astronauts met here Thursday at the California Institute of Technology to reflect on the past and discuss the coming 50 years of space exploration. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The two-day conference, called 50 Years in Space, is marked by the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik on October 4, 1957. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, astronaut and former U.S. Senator, called that event an "intellectual earthquake" for science and the first trigger of interest in space. To be sure, the United States formed NASA in November of the following year; and in 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced that Americans would land on the moon by the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed the first man on the moon.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">More than that milestone, early space flight paved the way for decades of technological innovation and scientific discovery and brought about a multibillion-dollar space industry. Scientists believe that new technology and knowledge about the universe will easily push us further in the years to come.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">"The first 50 years have given us a new view of the physical places in the universe, new knowledge; and obviously new technology was essential," Ed Stone, director emeritus of NASA's research center, the Jet Propulsion Lab at Caltech, said during a morning keynote speech.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">"An unexpected diversity in the universe has given us a new view. That diversity promises that there is so much more to be discovered and beckons us to expand new frontiers into space."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Paul Dimotakis, chief technologist at JPL and professor at Caltech, added that considering that all of the matter on Earth comprises only 4% of what's in the universe, "the next 50 years may well reveal (whether) we have company."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Stone named five frontiers of space: physical, knowledge, technology (developing the capability to travel to space), human and applications. "In the last 50 years, we've made remarkable progress in exploring and pushing those frontiers," Stone said. He gave some examples of new views of the universe brought about by work in those areas. Through the Cassini mission to Saturn, for example, scientists have seen plumes erupting from the surface, posing the question, "Where is this energy coming from?" Stone asked.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">In another example, the Mars rover mission, which landed in 2004, has yielded findings from crater bedrocks that indicate there was once a vast amount of water on the planet. "Here on Earth, wherever you find water you find life," he said.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Gentry Lee, chief engineer for the JPL's Planetary Flight Systems Directorate and a science fiction author, said the changes in his profession as space engineer over the last 50 years have been dramatic, especially considering there was no such profession when he was a child.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">He attributed one of the biggest changes to computers. At the beginning of the space program, for example, all simulations were done through hardware. Now, 99% of flight simulations are done through software, he said. For the Viking robotic mission to Mars in 1976, for example, the team might have run simulations of entry and landing on Mars all night on a mainframe computer. Now it would take "10 minutes on my desktop," said Lee, who worked on the Viking project for 12 years.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">"Where the computer has been a magnificent tool, there is a downside, too," Lee said. "Often the people using the computer programs didn't have a hand in building them, so we as engineers must remember that the computer and processes are tools there to guide us, and not the engineering substance itself."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The one common denominator between now and 50 years ago, he said, is the human factor. "The right processes, tools and computers are not enough, you must have the right people who can tie it all together and reduce the risks," Lee said. </span>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33753556.post-6029640431443097612007-09-21T10:52:00.000+05:302008-12-12T05:28:18.438+05:30Funniest image !!!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZ8ieQuCswq7nA9T627S3vlx8o5xXmJgpm6tl2muqNXlBT6bUqjcS1SAFH0ccVGO97r5Ag7iNK7cOfPDX-HQsvO84OJvuGtevz_bi5m2RyIjyYhACbmHrUPjjsQOKQuGXk0dj/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112523925501619410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZ8ieQuCswq7nA9T627S3vlx8o5xXmJgpm6tl2muqNXlBT6bUqjcS1SAFH0ccVGO97r5Ag7iNK7cOfPDX-HQsvO84OJvuGtevz_bi5m2RyIjyYhACbmHrUPjjsQOKQuGXk0dj/s400/1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3Jk2MNZlrEocyFgAeM8ACEXpL26VIfgN_CVmIpsJMkdrDBNWQpu2IjLwEVlSSDP1Nd7V0mg7ZtYrxrfUxtabEtRA-qME7tTDeX6UuE5ruOI3z7O5aiESpQhDj_v2zL_Y3NjE/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112523929796586722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3Jk2MNZlrEocyFgAeM8ACEXpL26VIfgN_CVmIpsJMkdrDBNWQpu2IjLwEVlSSDP1Nd7V0mg7ZtYrxrfUxtabEtRA-qME7tTDeX6UuE5ruOI3z7O5aiESpQhDj_v2zL_Y3NjE/s400/2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizhyktroxSe_jvwKL9EHucYuPWmJK27SBJvdXTku7sTOBL3MFC6_AA4yBab6ARi8XMOGhdynXZDiZAOBCRl12sV_92GlNBZkki9lCm864fRwdGu4V8YEusQ0y_g6S-0zUvrwyl/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112523938386521330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizhyktroxSe_jvwKL9EHucYuPWmJK27SBJvdXTku7sTOBL3MFC6_AA4yBab6ARi8XMOGhdynXZDiZAOBCRl12sV_92GlNBZkki9lCm864fRwdGu4V8YEusQ0y_g6S-0zUvrwyl/s400/3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLIiGaFTOfjpLtrFjwshKNuEQuHWT_itv6r-lwwG0IWQrglMZhboSUzMEqQW2RO0yGZGizrb4NwwGPspHLWQT9V6tDpCnZ7pe6JnM0kVlRAgs_D-G-EMBKEa25fM23Ur6uMpW/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112523938386521346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLIiGaFTOfjpLtrFjwshKNuEQuHWT_itv6r-lwwG0IWQrglMZhboSUzMEqQW2RO0yGZGizrb4NwwGPspHLWQT9V6tDpCnZ7pe6JnM0kVlRAgs_D-G-EMBKEa25fM23Ur6uMpW/s400/4.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-ANnCMisnWRq3DU0l3S5Wra_WQiSTd_Lt7e7oViCwjcWmsIL7qxLyvkxzGlxBACcDZre-TEvoj6MovJtla8bwhrYFhEmzesQxMMt3dUd1xTfug2EHQMBSMf_xQ1-VROAibSb/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112523938386521362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-ANnCMisnWRq3DU0l3S5Wra_WQiSTd_Lt7e7oViCwjcWmsIL7qxLyvkxzGlxBACcDZre-TEvoj6MovJtla8bwhrYFhEmzesQxMMt3dUd1xTfug2EHQMBSMf_xQ1-VROAibSb/s400/5.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Shakirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622221716671447497noreply@blogger.com0