They finally met, with disbelief in each other's uniqueness.
Bao Xishun, former world's tallest man, who stands at 7.9 feets tall shook hands with one of the shortest man, He Pingping at height of 2.4 feet (73cm). Amazingly, both of them actually lives in the same region of Inner Mongolia.
Bao Xishun was once registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest man in 2006, but his record was beaten just earlier this month by a Ukrainian. He Pingping, however, is not the world's shortest man as the current record belongs to Lin Yih-Chih from Taiwan who measured at 67.5cm, 5.5cm shorter than Pingping.
Source : dailymail.co.uk
Friday, August 31, 2007
Mr. tall hangs with mr. short
Lucky but unlucky
The chances of matching a lottery number is very slim, and when it did you'll feel that you're on top of the world.
Not neccessarily true for everyone. In June 1980, Maureen Wilcox bought 2 sets of lottery number in both the Massachusetts lottery and the Rhode Island Lottery. Amazingly, both sets of numbers came out. But unfortunately, she didn’t win a penny.
That's because her Massachusetts numbers won the Rhode Island lottery and her Rhode Island numbers won the Massachusetts lottery. She should've chosen only 1 set of numbers, that way she'll win either one. Well, that's life.
Source : msnbc.msn.com
Million to one
This story might be old, but it's amazing. Laura Buxton had always wanted a pen pal she can write to. So her Grandfather had a brilliant idea for Laura. He took a helium balloon from the little party they had earlier in conjunction with her grandfather's 50th wedding anniversary and on the end of the ribbon tied a little tag that had her mailing address, phone number and some words saying "please write to Laura Buxton".
Hoping that maybe, just maybe someone would find it and write it back. Normally the balloon would get caught in high in a tree or went very high up into the atmosphere and will eventually burst without gaining much distance. There were strong wind that day and the balloon traveled far and eventually landed on a farm.
Andy Rivers, of Milton Lilbourne, near Marlborough, was checking cows in a field and found a balloon in a hedge. Closer inspection revealed the balloon had a label on it with the name Laura Buxton and an address near Stoke on Trent, about 140 miles away. Mr Rivers knew his neighbours Peter and Eleanor Buxton had a daughter called Laura so gave the balloon to them.
The discovery of the deflated balloon has sparked off an amazing series of coincidences from then on. The first suprise Laura Buxton got is the caller also name Laura Buxton. The girls discovered they shared more than a name and just a few months difference in age.
Soon they discovered they're both are the only child, both fair haired, in Year 5 at primary school, have black three-year-old female Labrador dogs and have a rabbit and a guinea pig each.
The odds of this event are millions, perhaps trillions to one.
Source : thisiswiltshire.co.uk
Jeans dye cures cancer
Next time if your boss prohibits you from wearing jeans to work, tell him it can cure cancer. Well, not exactly the jeans itself unless your boss really believes your story.
The common dye found in blue jeans and also ballpoint pens is called phthalocyanine and is a light activated agent with cell destroying properties.
Using nanotechnology, researcher found a way to inject phthalocyanine into the cancer cells. It'll bind and on activation, causes substantial cell death.
At this stage, it has only been performed on human cervical cells in the labotory, and the procedure is complicated and expensive. Scientist believe and hope that it'll be available for human trials within five years and it just need to be injected into the bloodstream or directly into a tumor.
BBC News
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Robotic sommelier
NEC System Technologies and Mie University have designed a robot that can taste — an electromechanical sommelier able to identify dozens of different wines.
This cutie is slightly larger than a soccer ball, complete with eyes, a head that swivels and a mouth that lights up whenever the robot talks. However, it don't need to literary drink and taste the wine. The robot armed with a infrared spectrometer and When objects are placed up against the sensor, the robot fires off a beam of infrared rays. The reflected light is then analyzed in real time to determine the object's chemical composition. 
Initially, it was developed to identify food. Now, it's concentrated to wine tasting. In terms of absorbance spectra, differences among different types of wine are smaller than those among other types of foods. For this reason it is more challenging for the robot to discriminate between different types of wine than it is to differentiate between other types of food.
When it has identified a wine, the robot speaks up in a childlike voice. It names the brand and adds a comment or two on the taste, such as whether it is a buttery chardonnay or a full-bodied shiraz, and what kind of foods might go well on the side.
The robot is equipped with the functionality of asking questions to determine a customer's wine preferences. Like a human sommelier, the robot asks a minimum number of questions in order to narrow down the choices among the best wines. It can also alert its owner to possible health issues, gently warning against fatty or salty products.
But sommeliers need not fear for their jobs just yet. Of the thousands of wines on the market, the robot can be programmed to accurately identify only a few dozen at most. It also has more trouble with the task after the bottle has been opened and the wine begins to breathe and thus transform chemically. "Wines are notoriously similar in their spectral fingerprints," Shimazu said. "The variation this robot detects is very subtle." But he said the robot could be used in the near future at wineries to test the taste of each bottle without actually unscrewing any corks.
"It's still like a child," he said. "But not a completely ignorant one."
Industry experts note the shortcomings but agree on the robot's possibilities.
"I see the potential to analyze expensive and old wine to say whether it is authentic or not," said Philippe Bramaz of the Italian winemaker Calzaluga. "Auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's could use this technology to test wine without opening it."
Source NEC System
Source BBC News
A priviledge glance into the White House
It's been most people dream wanting to know how the White House actually looks like. But with it's stringent security and limitations, only the few VVVIP will have that priviledge.
Don't be dampen, if you're really eager to find out head on to the The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. It has the whole replica of the White House, inside and out in miniature. 
Created on a scale of one inch to one foot, The White House in Miniature is a remarkable creation with captivating detail. Featuring exact representations, this miniature mansion is a large, 60 feet long by 20 feet wide replica that took John and Jan Zweifel and a dedicated corps of volunteers more than 35 years to research, design, and construct.
From the tiny working telephones, to the tiny TV that works, hand-carved chairs and tables, crystal chandeliers, portraits exactly like those that grace the White House's walls and miniature carpets that reproduce the originals stitch by stitch-each nuance of the White House is painstakingly reproduced to capture the elegance of one of the world's most recognized residences.
For more info click here
Elephant that can talk
Elephants are one animal that can never stop to amazed us. They can actually mimic sound. In a South Korean Zoo, Trainer Kim Jong-kap who takes care of Koshick for about 10 years could not believe what he heard. The elephant named Koshick start to say words like "Good" and "Lie down" in Korean. The trainer said 2 years ago Koshick voiced words that were unclear, but now his pronunciation is very clear."
Just to make sure, Kim asked his colleagues to videotape Koshick at night. Kim said he was amazed as the elephant appeared to be practicing his pronunciation. According to a professor at the School of Electronic Engineering elephants normally make sounds lower than 20 Hertz. At this low frequency people cannot hear. But Koshick's voice was measured at 132 Hertz.
What's more amazing is that Koshick's word have a 94 percent resemblance to it's trainer's voice. This means the two voices are almost impossible to differentiate.
Source : NDTV.com
How to tell a fishes’ age
Scientist had found a way that can determine the fish age, where they have been and what they eat. It's all available in the earbone. Fish have bones in their heads called otoliths (oto meaning ear and lith meaning stone). These bones is similar like a gyroscope will help the fish keeping its balance in the water. 
When a fishes’ grow slows in the winter a darker denser ring forms. In the warmer months when a fish is growing faster and a clearer ring is formed. These yearly growth rings are called annuli, which are similar to the rings found in tree stumps. You can count the rings in the otolith or stump and determine age. When an otolith is removed from a fish, sectioned into thin slices and viewed through a microscope, it reveals a pattern of light and dark concentric rings.
Otoliths can tell us about age and growth patterns, even about the environments in which the fish have lived. As technology improves, scientists are able to get more and more information from these tiny bones.
Source : http://www.gulf-shores-alabama.net/fish-age.html
Source : http://www.reef.crc.org.au/media/otolith.htm
Rich Bitch Trouble
Leona Helmsley was a billionaire New York City hotel operator and real estate investor. She was a flamboyant personality and had a reputation for tyrannical behavior that earned her the nickname "Queen of Mean". She and her late husband built a company which managed some of New York's most prestigious addresses, including the Empire State Building, as well as hotels across the country. She passed away on August 20, 2007.
This is the interesting part, she has left $12m (£5.97m) to her pet dog, Trouble. The pampered pooch will receive the largest cut of the pie from Mrs Helmsley's will. The will also said that when Trouble dies, she is to be buried alongside Mrs Helmsley and her late husband, Harry, in their mausoleum. 
Her grandchildren doesn't fare so well, with 2 out of 4 grandchildrens were left out. David and Walter Panzirer, were left $5m each on condition that they visit their father's grave at least once a year. Their father, Mrs Helmsley's son Jay Panzirer, died in 1982. But grandchildren Craig and Meegan Panzirer received nothing - "for reasons which are known to them", according to Mrs Helmsley's will. She also left $100,000 for her chauffeur.
The money for Trouble's upkeep was left in the hands of her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, who himself inherited $10m. This dog should be named Lucky instead of Trouble.
Source : BBC News
Spiderman suit nearer to reality
Wish you can climb like spiderman? It's possible according to scientists who have worked out how to make a sticky Spider-Man type outfit.
The researchers say it is possible to make clothing that mimics the natural stickiness employed by spiders and geckos, which would allow a person to scurry up the side of a building or hang upside down from the ceiling.
The key, they said, is a type of microscopic Velcro capable of adhering to even smooth surfaces such as concrete or glass, but which can be easily detached, allowing the wearer to move around.
Insects and spiders have tiny hairs on their feet that grip vertical surfaces by weak attractions known as Van der Waals forces. Italian scientists, led by Nicola Pugno at the Polytechnic of Turin, have calculated how sufficient stickiness could be similarly generated to support the weight of a fully grown human.
They believe microscopic hollow fibres called carbon nanotubes might be used to make the suit. "There are many interesting applications for our theory, from space exploration and defence to designing gloves and shoes for window cleaners of big skyscrapers," said Prof Pugno, whose research appears in Condensed Matter, the Institute of Physics journal.
The hooks and hairs of geckos and spiders are self cleaning and water resistant, suggesting that clothing made to mimic them would not get clogged up in dirty conditions.
"There are a number of other mechanics that need addressing before the Spider-Man suit can become a reality," Prof Pugno added. "Size effects on the adhesion strength require further research. Moreover, man's muscles are different to those of a gecko. We would suffer great muscle fatigue if we tried to stick to a wall for many hours. However now we are this step closer it may not be long before we are seeing people climbing up the Empire State Building with nothing but sticky shoes and gloves to support them."
BAE Systems is in the quest for the first Spider-Man-style suit, last year announcing it was developing a material called Synthetic Gecko. A one-metre patch of the fabric would be sufficient to hoist a family car into the air, the company said.
The fabric was developed at BAE's research facility near Bristol and uses thousands of polymer filaments. Only small amounts of the fabric have so far been manufactured, but the firm expects to find a wide range of uses, from sticky patches for damaged aircraft to tyres capable of gripping smooth surfaces
However, people like Alain Robert (pic) wouldn't need it anyway. He's the famous and illegal skyscraper climber without any safety gear. Such incredible feats earn him the title of real spiderman.
Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Grand Canyon skywalk
The horseshoe-shaped glass walkway, at a 1,200 meter (4,000 ft) height above the floor of the canyon exceeds those of the world's largest skyscrapers. The Skywalk is not directly above the main canyon, Granite Gorge, which contains the Colorado River, but instead extends over a side canyon and affords a view into the main canyon.
The Grand Canyon Skywalk is a tourist attraction along the Colorado River on the edge of the Grand Canyon (Grand Canyon West) in the U.S. state of Arizona.
Just how high is 4000ft? Here's a chart listed together with some of the tallest buildings in the world. Easily 2 times taller than any man made structure made till this date. Dare to take a walk, or will your batophobia gets in the way?
Source : www.grandcanyonskywalk.com
How fanatic are you in James Bond?
When my friend told me he has the whole collection of James Bond movies, books and a few collectible items, I consider him as a fanatic.
But this is one extreme fanatic, David Fearn, a council worker in Walsall, Stafford UK has changed his name to James Bond and included all Bond film titles as middle names. He is now to be known as James Dr No From Russia with Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live and Let Die The Man with the Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View to a Kill The Living Daylights Licence to Kill Golden Eye Tomorrow Never Dies The World Is Not Enough Die Another Day Casino Royale Bond.
Mr Bond, from Walsall, said: "I wanted to be James Bond and now I am - it's the ultimate fantasy. I can't wait for the first time somebody asks me what my name is."
The 69 word name is the longest ever recorded on a UK Deed Poll.
Source : news.scotsman.com
Unexplained mysteries
Biologists at the University of Manchester want help in cracking their "miracle" discovery of three fish inside a sealed egg. The group found the duck egg in a small pond on a field trip to the French Alps and noticed something moving inside it. 
When they cracked open the shell, three live minnows were inside.
They have enlisted the help of other experts, but despite their extensive combined knowledge, the biologists admit they are "baffled".
Dr Matthew Cobb, a lecturer in animal behaviour at the university, said: "As 21st century scientists rather than 17th century antiquarians we think it's unlikely this represents a hitherto unknown mode of fish reproduction.
"Perhaps the egg fell into the pond following some kind of predatory attack but we're baffled as to how the minnows got to be inside. "Certainly, we didn't see any crack in the egg."
Dr Cobb and his colleague, Henry McGhie, head of natural sciences at the Manchester Museum, have written to the New Scientist magazine in the hope readers will help solve the mystery. Minnows are small freshwater fish, often used as bait by anglers.
Source : BBC News
Youngest Rubik Cube solver
Since Rubik Cubes been popularised in the 80's, there had been countless ways showing who's the best at Rubik Cube. Some can solve it under 10 seconds, others using 1 hand, and even blindfolded.
But this is something that amazed me, a 3 years old kid manage to solve it! What's more, she can solve it in 114 seconds. It took me months of practice and yet I only can solve it in 15 minutes. Most childrens have not master their mechanical skill at the age of 3, yet you can see how precise she made those movements with that Rubik Cube.
Watch the video in youtube
Let's play Monopoly, the outdoor way
Bored in playing Monopoly indoors? Make a change and try to play it outdoor. And since it's outdoor that means it's not restricted to space, so let's play with a huge board. And it's recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest permanent Monopoly board. 
Located in San Jose, CA Discovery Park, behind the Children's Discovery Museum, it measured at a staggering 930 square feet. For $300 for four hours, up to 12 people can play rolling mammoth dice, giant game token hats, and mega-sized game pieces based on the miniature version. And if you go to jail, you must don the striped prison wear! A banker, announcer, and game coordinator also come with your reservation to ensure everyone sticks to the rules and has a great time. The board is open to the public, but can be reserved for exclusive use at www.monopolyinthepark.com
Fish with good memory
Can you remember something that happens to you only once 25 years ago? A goldfish can! Well, not exactly 25 years for the goldfish since it only have a 3 year lifespan.
Culum Brown (of the Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology at the University of Edinburgh) studied the crimson spotted rainbow fish while in Queensland. He compared fish that knew their tanks well, with fish that had just been placed in tanks. He introduced a net with a central hole into a tank, and then swept it from one end to the other. The fish that had a strong memory of their tank were better able to escape through the central hole - presumably because they could ignore what they remembered to be familiar and non-threatening to them (their tank), and instead, could concentrate on the new threat (the net). The fish that knew their tank remembered the trawling net so well, that they could escape it in a follow-up study some 11 months later. 
By the way, 11 months is nearly one third of his fish's 3-year lifespan. That's a very long time to remember something that has happened to you only once, and in human terms, about 25 years ago.
More info here
Burial Ideas
Want a special burial, but can't think of a good one? Okay, here's one. Have you ever heard of space burial? What's that? Sounds really expensive.
Space burial is a burial procedure in which a small sample of the cremated ashes of the deceased are placed in a capsule the size of a tube of lipstick and are launched into space using a rocket. Only about 150 people have been "buried" in space. At the moment, only ashes can be send into space. To date, the notion of sending an intact human corpse into outer space for burial is simply too expensive and complex to be of any practical use.
Depending on your budget or preference, there's 4 different service for you to choose ranging from $495 to $ 44,995. The difference of the service available are :-
1) Earth Rise Service Spaceflight with return to Earth
2) Earth Orbit Service Launch into Earth orbit
3) Luna Service Launch to lunar orbit(English terms, the moon) or surface
4) Voyager Service Launch into deep space
Interested? Go visit Space Services Inc
World's Largest Diamond
A SOUTH African mining company yesterday claimed to have discovered the world's biggest diamond, twice the size of the current biggest known stone, the Cullinan.
Brett Jolly, a spokesman for the company, Two Point Five Construction, said the rough diamond - reportedly a 7,000-carat stone about the size of a coconut - had been transported under tight security to Johannesburg and deposited in a bank vault.
Mr Jolly, in a local radio interview, said he was now consulting with lawyers about future steps concerning the diamond.
The Cullinan, which was discovered in South Africa more than 100 years ago, became part of Britain's Crown Jewels.
Before anything else happens, in the country's strictly controlled diamond mining industry, the stone will have to be examined by the South African Diamond Board, which registers all diamonds, to confirm its authenticity and that it was found at a licensed diamond mining site.
In the north-west of the country, where Two Point Five operates, hundreds of small diamond prospecting companies are registered.
It is illegal to attempt to sell stones other than from registered sites and both the Diamond Board and the government's Ministry of Minerals and Energy have to register stones and give permission for export. It would also be subjected to the Kimberley Process, a system aimed at controlling the sale of "blood diamonds" used to finance Africa's many wars.
Tom Tweedy, a spokesman for De Beers, the world's biggest diamond company, said that if the find were genuine it would be "the stone of the century".
However, he said photographs of the "diamond" show it to be light green in colour, which while possible is very rare. "I have my doubts that it is real," Mr Tweedy added.
Various diamond industry spokesmen said that while the precise site of the find had yet to be revealed, it was standard practice not to do so with a potentially very valuable diamond for security reasons.
It is also common for the owner of a big find to keep details under wraps initially for the purposes of increasing buyer interest.
"If it is what it is, it's very, very rare," said Les Milner, a gem scientist with the Jewellery Council Laboratories, the umbrella organisation of South Africa's precious stones trade.
"I tend to be very sceptical about this kind of thing."
But Mr Milner added that photographs show it has the typical octahedral shape of a diamond.
Meteor size of a softball with forces of TNT
If you think about how much space stuff hits the atmosphere-protected Earth on a regular basis, you can begin to imagine how many meteoroids and comet-expelled projectiles smash into the moon every day. The moon has no atmosphere protecting it. Anything can hit the moon, completely unhindered. So while a meteoroid the size of a softball in space would never even make it to Earth's surface -- it would burn up completely in Earth's atmosphere -- that same meteoroid is still the size of a softball when it smashes into the moon. And when it does, it explodes with the force of about 150 pounds (70 kg) of TNT.
On May 2, 2006 a rock about 10 inches (25 cm) across, traveling at about 85,000 mph (38 km/s), hit the moon and exploded with the energy of 4 tons of TNT and left a crater about 46 feet (14 meters) wide and 10 feet (3 meters) deep.
Article from Howstuffworks
Please send this mail to : The Washing Machine Man
A postcard sent by a boy to his grandfather addressed only to "The Washing Machine Man, Ixworth" arrived at the right address two days later. James Tungate, 6, posted the card while on holiday in Bude, Cornwall. His father Richard wrote on top of the postcard: "I bet the Royal Mail can't deliver this."
Two days later the card arrived at the home of Gordon Palastanga, 62, of Ixworth, Suffolk UK, who is known as a washing machine repair man in the area. James also wrote on the card, which was posted first class: "Dear Granddad, we caught 57 crabs. From James." Mr Palastanga said: "I suppose I am well-known in the West Suffolk area as I have been working in the business for 27 years. "But it was a great achievement for the Royal Mail."
Article from Bbc News!
Riding a Horse in a Plastic Ball
In 2006 at the Stockholm International Horseshow, Oliver Garcia rides a horse inside a huge plastic ball.
Good horsey, don't panic or else I have nowhere to run.
Tags : Stockholm International Horseshow Oliver Garcia plastic ball
Wear anything you like to this wedding.
Everytime when you're going to a wedding, you're preparing yourself to look best. Selecting the best dress, putting on the best make up, making sure your shoes are as glossier as ever. Well, If you're going to attend this wedding, forget about all this hassle.
In Dec'06, The Datong Coal Group in Shanxi province held weddings for 10 miners on Saturday 300 metres (1,000 ft) down the pitshaft, the People’s Daily said on Monday. “The weddings were unprecedented nationwide, even worldwide,” mine manager Liu Suisheng told the newspaper. “We’re going to apply to Guinness World Records.”
China has the world’s deadliest coal mining industry with fatal accidents occurring almost daily as safety regulations are ignored and production is pushed beyond safe limits in the rush for profit. The weddings aim to “lessen the depressing impression” of the mining industry, Liu told the newspaper. “Marrying the man I love in his workplace is really meaningful to me,” one of the brides, 22, was quoted as saying. “I had been considering a unique wedding, but never thought of down a mineshaft.”
Hmmm........I wonder what they're giving as door gifts, a chunk of coal?
Tags : Guinness book world records China Shanxi wedding coal mine mining Datong coal group
Lost & found car, after 7 months
Have you ever parked your in a shopping mall, and then later when you've finished shopping you forgot where's your car? Well, usually we can find it within moments. One man, to the extreme forgot where he parked his car and only found it 7 months later!
Eric King, went to a sight-seeing trip on Feb'06 and forgot where he has parked his car. He reported lost thereafter, but could not make an insurance claim since the car is not being stolen. He finally got the car back in Sept'06 after it was reported abandoned where he had left it, in Blackbird Drive on the Moreton Hall estate. Apart from an expired roadtax and a flat battery, the black X-reg Ford is still in one piece. Well, you may not be so lucky if you would've parked it in New York.
Tags : lost found X-reg Ford car
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