Amazing World 4 u

15 Science Factlets You Don’t Know

2011-09-26T01:58:00.001-07:00

Now that we are fully settled into the New Year, it is time torefresh our brains with another list of fascinating factlets. Thesemini-facts are all science based and, for the most part, should be newsto most readers. Let’s get the New Year off to a good start with somelearning!

Factlets 1 – 5

1. Raindrops are not shaped like a teardrop (as they are almost always depicted in drawings) – they are actually spherical.
2. When something “sublimes” it turns directly into a gas from asolid – bypassing the liquid state. This is what would happen if youthrow dry-ice into a fire.
3. Gorillas sleep in nests (pictured above) – they weave togethersoft foliage and bent branches from trees. Males tend to like sleepingon the ground while females like to have their nests in trees.
4. Champagne doesn’t fizz because of carbon dioxide – it fizzesbecause of dirt or dust. In a completely smooth glass with no dustmolecules in it, champagne would be completely still.
5. Most digestion occurs, not in the stomach, but in the smallintestine. This may be the reason that a person can be bulimic whilststill staying fat.

Factlets 6 – 10

6. The red juice that comes out of rare steak is not blood – it ismyoglobin a close relative of blood. Almost all the blood has beenremoved from a steak by the time it hits the market.
7. Plastic bags are better than paper bags for the environment. Themanufacturing process that makes paper bags requires far more energythan that which produces plastic. Recycling paper bags takes moreenergy than recycling plastic, and paper bags take up more space in alandfill. Because landfills are usually airtight beneath the surface,paper and plastic are equally bad at biodegrading.
8. Polar bears are fascinating creatures. Their fur is transparent(not white), their skin is black (not white), and when kept in warmhumid environments, their fur can turn green from algae.
9. Pet allergies are usually not allergies to fur but allergies tothe animal’s dead skin, saliva, or waste matter. Regularly cleaningpets can dramatically reduce allergies.
10. The tongue map is a lie – you can taste all tastes on all partsof the tongue. The tongue map is derived from a discredited Germanpaper from 1901.

Factlets 11 – 15

11. When you hold a shell to your ear to hear the sea, the sound youhear is actually your own blood rushing through your veins! You can useany cup shaped object to hear this effect.
12. When you are alive, your brain is pink. When you die, it turnsgrey. While we describe the brain as “gray matter” and “white matter”,this is not a true description of its color.
13. Mercury, the fascinating liquid metal is not the only liquidmetal. Gallium (Ga – pictured above) is solid at room temperature butwill melt if held in your hand, caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr) – thesecond rarest naturally occurring element, can also be liquid at ornear room temperature.
14. Dolphins don’t drink water – if they drank sea water it wouldmake them ill and potentially kill them. They get all of their liquidneeds through the foods they eat.
15. The Soviet Union was the first country to have a spacecraft onthe moon – not the Unites States. In 1959, Luna 2 was the first craftto crash-land on the moon. In February, 1966, Luna 9 was the firstsoft-landed craft on the moon which relayed back pictures. Four monthslater, the United States landed its first craft on the moon (SurveyorI).

Top 15 Misconceptions about Evolution

2011-09-26T01:56:00.001-07:00

Biological evolution is descent with modification. This definitionencompasses small-scale evolution (changes in gene frequency in apopulation from one generation to the next) and large-scale evolution(the descent of different species from a common ancestor over manygenerations). Evolution helps us to understand the history of life.While evolution is very widely accepted, many people hold tomisconceptions about it. This list should help to dispel some of thosemyths.

15. Evolution is a theory about the origin of life
The theory of evolution primarily deals with the manner in which life has changed afterits origin. While science is interested in the origins of life (forexample the composition of the primeval sludge from which life mighthave come) but these are not issues covered in the area of evolution.What is known is that regardless of the start, at some point life beganto branch off. Evolution is, therefore, dedicated to the study of thoseprocesses.
14. Organisms are always getting better

While it is a fact that natural selection weeds out unhealthy genesfrom the gene pool, there are many cases where an imperfect organismhas survived. Some examples of this are fungi, sharks, crayfish, andmosses – these have all remained essentially the same over a greatperiod of time. These organisms are all sufficiently adapted to theirenvironment to survive without improvement.
Other taxa have changed a lot, but not necessarily for the better.Some creatures have had their environments changed and theiradaptations may not be as well suited to their new situation. Fitnessis linked to their environment, not to progress.
13. Evolution means that life changed ‘by chance’
In fact, natural selection is not random. Many aquatic animals needspeed to survive and reproduce – the creatures with that ability aremore suited to their environment and are more likely to survive naturalselection. In turn, they will produce more offspring with the sametraits and the cycle continues. The idea that evolution occurs bychance does not take the entire picture in to account.
12. Natural selection involves organisms ‘trying’ to adapt

Organisms do not “try” to adapt – it is natural selection thatenables various members of a group to survive and reproduce. Geneticadaptation is entirely outside of the power of the developing organism.
11. Natural selection gives organisms what they ‘need.’
Natural selection has no “intelligence” – it can not tell what aspecies needs. If a population has genetic variants that are moresuited to their environment, they will reproduce more in the nextgeneration and the population will evolve. If a genetic variant is notpresent, the population will most likely do – or it will survive withlittle evolutionary change.
10. Evolution is ‘just’ a theory

Scientifically speaking, a theory is a well substantiated idea thatexplains aspects of the natural world. Unfortunately other definitionsof theory (such as a “guess” or a “hunch”) cause a great deal ofconfusion in the non-scientific world when dealing with the sciences.They are, in fact, two very different concepts.
9. Evolution is a Theory in Crisis
There is no debate in science as to whether or not evolutionoccurred – there is, however, debate over how it happened. The minutiaeof the process is vigorously debated which can cause anti-evolutioniststo believe that the theory is in crisis. Evolution is sound science andis treated as such by scientists worldwide.

8. Gaps in the Fossil Record Disprove Evolution

Actually, many transitional fossils do exist – for example, thereare fossils of transitional organisms between modern birds and theirdinosaur ancestors, as well as whales and their land mammal ancestors.There are many transitional forms that have not been preserved, butthat is simply because some organisms do not fossilize well or exist inconditions that do not allow for the process of fossilization. Sciencepredicts that there will be gaps in the record for many evolutionarychanges. This does not disprove the theory.
7. Evolutionary Theory is Incomplete
Evolutionary science is a work in progress. Science is constantlymaking new discoveries with regard to it and explanations are alwaysadjusted if necessary. Evolutionary theory is like all of the othersciences in this respect. Science is always trying to improve ourknowledge. At present, evolution is the only well-supported explanationfor all of life’s diversity.
6. The Theory is Flawed

Science is an extremely competitive field – if any flaws werediscovered in evolutionary theory they would be quickly corrected. Allof the alleged flaws that creationists put forth have been investigatedcareful by scientists and they simply do not hold water. They areusually based on misunderstandings of the theory or misrepresentationof the evidence.
5. Evolution is not science because it is not observable
Evolution is observable and testable. The confusion here isthat people think science is limited to experiments in laboratories bywhite-coated technicians. In fact, a large amount of scientificinformation is gathered from the real world. Astronomers can obviouslynot physically touch the objects they study (for example stars andgalaxies), yet a great deal of knowledge can be gained through multiplelines of study. This is true also of evolution. It is also true thatthere are many mechanisms of evolution that can be, and are studiedthrough direct experimentation as with other sciences.
4. Most Biologists have rejected Darwinism

Scientists do not reject Darwin’s theories, they have modified itover time as more knowledge has been discovered. Darwin considered thatevolution proceeds at a deliberate, slow pace – but in fact it has nowbeen discovered that it can proceed at a rapid pace under somecircumstances. There has not been, so far, a credible challenge to thebasic principles of Darwin’s theory. Scientists have improved andexpanded on Darwin’s original theory of natural selection – it has notbeen rejected, it has been added to.
3. Evolution Leads to Immoral Behavior
All animal species have a set of behaviors that they share withother members of their species. Slugs act like slugs, dogs act likedogs, and humans act like humans. It is preposterous to presume that achild will begin to behave like another creature when they discoverthat they are related to them. It is nonsensical to link evolution toimmoral or inappropriate behavior.
2. Evolution Supports “Might Makes Right”

In the 19th and early 20th century, a philosophy called “SocialDarwinism” sprung up from misguided attempts to apply biologicalevolution to society. This philosophy said that society should allowthe weak to fail and die, and that not only is this an ideal situation,but a morally right one. This enabled prejudices to be rationalized andideas such as the poor deserved their situation due to being less fitwere very popular. This was a misappropriation of science. SocialDarwinism has, thankfully, been repudiated. Biological evolution hasnot.
1. Teachers Should Teach Both Sides
There are tens of thousands of different religious views concerningcreation. It is simply impossible for all of these views to bepresented. Furthermore, none of the theories are based in science andtherefore have no place in a science classroom. In a science class,students can debate where a creature branched off in the tree of life,but it is not right to argue a religious belief in a science class. The“fairness” argument is often used by groups attempting to inject theirreligious dogmas in to the scientific curricula.

Top 20 Amazing Science Facts

2011-09-26T01:54:00.000-07:00

Another trivia list! This list explores a variety of fascinatingscientific facts that you probably are unaware of. Science is still avery mysterious subject so there are millions of trivial facts about it– this will be the first of many scientific fact lists in the future.
Facts 1 – 5

1. There are 62,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body – laid end to end they would circle the earth 2.5 times
2. At over 2000 kilometers long, The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth
3. The risk of being struck by a falling meteorite for a human is one occurrence every 9,300 years
4. A thimbleful of a neutron star would weigh over 100 million tons
5. A typical hurricane produces the energy equivalent of 8,000 one megaton bombs
Facts 6 – 10

6. Blood sucking hookworms inhabit 700 million people worldwide
7. The highest speed ever achieved on a bicycle is 166.94 mph, by Fred Rompelberg
8. We can produce laser light a million times brighter than sunshine
9. 65% of those with autism are left handed
10. The combined length of the roots of a Finnish pine tree is over 30 miles
Facts 11 – 15

11. The oceans contain enough salt to cover all the continents to a depth of nearly 500 feet
12. The interstellar gas cloud Sagittarius B contains a billion,billion, billion liters of alcohol [JFrater is planning to move therein the near future]
13. Polar Bears can run at 25 miles an hour and jump over 6 feet in the air
14. 60-65 million years ago dolphins and humans shared a common ancestor
15. Polar Bears are nearly undetectable by infrared cameras, due to their transparent fur
Facts 16 – 20

16. The average person accidentally eats 430 bugs each year of their life
17. A single rye plant can spread up to 400 miles of roots underground
18. The temperature on the surface of Mercury exceeds 430 degrees Cduring the day, and, at night, plummets to minus 180 degrees centigrade
19. The evaporation from a large oak or beech tree is from ten to twenty-five gallons in twenty-four hours
20. Butterflies taste with their hind feet, and their tastesensation works on touch – this allows them to determine whether a leafis edible

Outstanding News in Pictures: September 21, 2011

2011-09-26T01:43:00.001-07:00

Just three weeks after typhoon Talasleft 106 Japanese people dead or missing, typhoon Roke hit Japan’s mainland on September 21, 2011, causing strong winds of 100 mph, heavyrains and train delays. As of Wednesday evening, six people had beenkilled.

An aerial view of flooded Toyokawa, central Japan on September 21, 2011

Passengers wait for the train service resumption at Shibuya station in Tokyo after the Typhoon Roke on September 21, 2011

ManyPalestinians gather at the squares of major West Bank cities onSeptember 21, 2011 to rally President Mahmoud Abbas's bid for statehoodrecognition at the United Nations

Aboat capsizes after it is hit by another one on the flooded JialingRiver in southwest China's Chongqing municipality on September 21, 2011

A woman is spotted on a roadside after she is evacuated from her flooded home in Tando Allahyar, Pakistan on September 21, 2011

Aninjured anti-government protester in Sana'a, Yemen is carried by fellowprotesters on to a motorcycle after their clashes with security forceson September 21, 2011

Indianwomen in traditional costumes perform the Garba dance before theNavratri festival that celebrates the Hindu goddess Durga on September21, 2011

Membersof the New York City police department, fire department and the PortAuthority police take part in the first responders wreath-layingceremony at the September 11 Memorial

ShaneBauer, one of the U.S. hikers captured in Iran on charges of espionage,reunites fiance Sarah Shourd upon his arrival in Muscat after hisrelease from Tehran's Evin prison on September 21, 2011

Thecrime scene where 35 bodies, including 23 men and 12 women, were foundin Boca del Rio, Veracruz metropolitan zone, Mexico on September 20,2011. They were believed to be members of Los Zetas cartel and werekilled by their rivals, Gulf cartel

Typhoon Roke Hits Japan on September 2011

Best Photos of Month: August 2011

2011-09-26T01:41:00.000-07:00

Entitled “Plasticizer”, the photo captures Chinese artist Liu Bolinblending into lines of soft drinks after he was painted by assistantsto complete the illusion at his studio in Beijing on August 10, 2011.The artwork describes Bolin's speechlessness as discovering plasticizercontamination in food products. Plasticizers are additives normallyused to make plastic and other nonfood products.

Looking carefully at the photo, you can recognize its optical illusion aspect

Billy Stinson comforts his daughter as they sit on the steps of their cottage ruined by Hurricane Irene on August 28, 2011. Built in 1903, the home was named in the National Register of Historic Places

An armed rebel kicks a ball when Muammar Qaddafi'sBab al-Aziziya compound, which was captured by Libyan rebels after daysof fighting to take control Tripoli, is torched on August 23, 2011

Aphoto released on August 22, 2011 shows masses of sardines gatheringnear a diver off Pescador Island in Philippines. The phenomenon hasattracted divers all over the world since it was first found out inthis countries two years ago

Workersin makeshift welding masks pose at a construction site in Tianjin,China on August 23, 2011. Migrant workers from rural areas have floodedChinese cities, many of them work in construction field

FreddyNock, a Swiss tightrope walker, takes the scenic route to the cable carstation on the top of Diavolezza, a 9,770 feet (2,978 meters) mountainin Switzerland's Upper Engadin region on August 23, 2011

HalimaHassan kisses her severely malnourished seven-month-old son,Abdulrahman Abshir, at Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia on August14, 2011. It is estimated that some 30,000 children in southern Somaliahad been killed by famine and drought in the last 90 days

Theman-made saltwater swimming pool in China's Sichuan Province, alsoknown as China's Dead Sea, provides escape from the summer heat. It ispart of an indoor water park accommodating up to 10,000 people

SethAltamus stands on his paddleboard while a gray massive whale swims justfeet from him in California's Klamath River on August 4, 2011

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Chinese artist Liu Bolin's Artwork

Weekly Impressive Space Pictures: 12 September 2011

2011-09-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

The discovery of young star cluster NGC 2100,green clouds, the rings of Saturn, border zone between India andPakistan and dust devil are among weekly impressive space pictures ofthe week 12 September 2011.

Gassy Star Cluster

TheEuropean Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope (NTT) hasunveiled the stunning and striking images of the young star cluster NGC2100. The 15-million-year-old brilliant star cluster is located in theLarge Magellanic Cloud just near the satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.Thanks to position near the colorful Tarantula nebula, NGC 2100 issurrounded by bright gas from the outer parts of the nebula. In NGC2100, thousands of stars are only loosely bound by gravity.

The brilliant star cluster NGC 2100 is seen in a picture from European Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope

Dangling Dione

A picture taken by members of NASA's Cassini spacecraft and released September 5 demonstrates the rings of Saturn

Martian Devil

Adust devil, which leaves a shadow in the Martian landscape, is seenfrom HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter onSeptember 7. The dust devils can reach the height of five to six miles(eight to ten kilometers) due to the summer heat close to the ground.

Martian Devil

Aurora in Hiding

Thepicture shows off an auroras tint the clouds green covering the nightsky of Breivikeidet, Norway on September 9. The stunning scene iscreated due to charged particles hurled off the sun a few days earlier.

The picture is taken by Thilo Bubek

Border Zone

Theorange line snaking across the landscape marking the border zonebetween India and Pakistan is seen from the International Space Stationon September 5. The bright cluster helps to define the Indian capitalof New Delhi on the upper left in this frame and another nighttime light area nearest to the border is Pakistani city of Lahore.

Border Zone

Mars Ice Pits

A picture taken from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiteron September 7 shows off roughly ten-foot-thick (three-meter-thick)layer on the red planet's South Pole which are created by carbondioxide ice on Mars and can remain the whole year.

Mars Ice Pits

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ESO: Zooming Into Star Cluster NGC 2100 [720p]

16 interesting photos from the New Delhi World Book Fair 2010

2011-07-25T09:38:00.001-07:00

These are some interesting photos from the 19th New Delhi World Book Fair (Pragati Maidan). I was there from about 11:30 am to 4 pm on 4 February 2010. Please see the end of the post for links to many more photos of the Book fair and the Pragati Maidan. What I did not like was that this time there was no stationery fair ( I love stationery).

Stack of Books!

In the Book fair you will find many such eye-catching arrangements:

Beware of Book Pirates

:a pictorial message by a publisher on its stall

Amar Chitra Katha!

Tamil Pulp Fiction!

Gandhiji, Bapu!

Pustak Mahal, a nice-looking stall

Mills and Boon! Romance is in the air!

Book Stalls from Pakistan

Iqbal Academy, Lahore

Empty Stall (Pakistan)

This Pak stall had put up an apology notice (visible in the photo) informing about the delay in his arrival

Kids

They read the books right there (it was some sketch work that they were doing).

Some German Show

This German stall had a fixed time for some show (audio; see the earphones) at about 2:30 pm

Chetan Bhagat in Hindi

Ma Saraswati

In some Hindi publisher’s book stall

Cutting Out the Crap 2/3: Negative Emotions

2011-07-25T04:53:00.001-07:00

Cutting Out the Crap 2/3: Negative Emotions

Simply put, these are the emotions you should banish from your life. I just picked the five worst emotions I could think of because the list would get quite lengthy otherwise :)

Regret

..is feeling bad for something you have done in the past, something you cannot change. Maybe you’re feeling it because of guilt or simply because you did something foolish. Either way, regret is not doing you any good. The past is the past, and your regret is not going to change or mend it. Every hour you spend regretting is an hour you could have been using to do something good with the knowledge from your mistake.

Worry

..is like regret but for the future. The future cannot be controlled so worrying is just sucking up your focus and energy in the current moment. Most things tend to just work out if you let me them and if they don’t mind, you’ll deal with it then. This is life! It’s not supposed to go right all the time or even most of the time. Expect and accept problems and look at them as learning experiences, fun little mole hills in your life experience. I also like the saying, “If you’re thinking about the millions of ways you could miss the baseball, how in the hell are you going to hit it?” Worrying is not only useless, it’s toxic to confidence and ability. Read any self-help book out there and you’ll see stated very clearly that worry is extremely counter-intuitive to success.

Indecision

What do you want? You should decide what you want out of this life and do everything to get it. Indecision is laziness. Choose and act upon your decision!

Hatred

I am far from Christian but I agree with this the “Love thy enemy” concept completely. First off, if you hate someone so much that you know you won’t be able to drop it, refer to Part 1 of this series. Otherwise you should try to acknowledge that hatred is hurting you more than it’s hurting the object of your hatred. If someone has given you reason to hate them, I seriously doubt they care how you feel about them. Now please ask yourself “is this hatred bettering my life in any way?” If your answer is yes, I’d love to hear some reasons in the comments! If that isn’t good enough, think about how satisfying it would be to give an honest, warmhearted smile to someone that hates your guts :)

Impatience

You’re sitting in traffic, the doctor’s office or maybe your date is running late. You’re a pretty patient person but this wait is just too much and you’re starting to get anxious and annoyed. But why? You are putting yourself in bad mood over something you cannot change. Nothing you do (besides maybe jumping out of your car and running through traffic) is going to help things move faster! I hope you’re seeing the trend of futility here…

So how do you get rid of these?

1) Rationalize — Give yourself some sound logic as to why the emotion is not doing you any good or even harming you.
2) Stop and Smile — Whenever you find yourself feeling that emotion, stop for a moment. Take a deep breath, smile and think about something positive. Associate some happiness with whatever is causing that emotion.
3) Freak Out! — If you’re still seething with hatred through those smiles, you’ll need to take this a step further. Just go crazy. Scream, pound on walls, feel that negative emotion burn through your soul. Get it out of your system with a bang and maybe some broken furniture. It’s worth it to get that crappy emotion out of your head for good.
Have any other emotions you hate (Ha irony!) or release techniques you want to share? Please take out your anger on the comment section below!

Amazing Events Around the World

2011-07-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

Amazing Events Around the World

Here are the most bizarre/amazing events around the the world that you are missing out on every year by not exploring. This is motivation for you to go out and see what else is out in the world!
(I apologize in advance for making your local concerts and street fairs look like petting zoos)

LA TOMATINA

Bunyol, Spain — August 26th – 11am

Every year 30,000 people assemble in the streets of Bunyol, Spain to participate in the largest tomato fight in the world. 125,000 kg of tomatoes are brought into the city via truck so ammunition is never short. 5 massive tomato-packed rockets are exploded in the air to commence the fight. There are only two rules:

1) You must squish each tomato before throwing it so that the force of the vegetable against you target’s head will not cause injury

2) Only tomatoes can be thrown

BURNING MAN

‘Black Rock City’, Nevada, USA — September 3rd-5th

The official site for Burning Man describes the event as “a city in the desert dedicated to radical self reliance, radical self-expression and art.” Even that description cannot do Burning Man justice, however; there is just too much going on. Basically 50,000+ people swarm to the middle-of-no-where, Nevada and build a temporary city that they call Black Rock City. Those who attend are simply expected to contribute whatever they can to the Burning Man community.

The name gets its roots from the giant wooden effigy that is ritually burned every year (as seen below). There is also a temple that has constructed and burned every year since 2000. Artists construct huge art pieces all over Black Rock City and music is always being played by musicians. Nudity and psychedelic drugs are very prevalent. Need I say more?

OKTOBERFEST

Theresienwiese, Germany — Sept 19th to Oct 4th

Oktoberfest, the celebration of beer, is the biggest festival in the world with over 6 million people attending annually. Reportedly over 6 million liters of beer are consumed within the beer gardens there. Yet despite all of the alcohol-consumption, Oktoberfest boasts a great family atmosphere with a huge fairground to entertain kids and adults alike. The event kicks off on the first Saturday with a huge procession of the tent concessionaires, all of which are pulled by those gigantic horses you see on beer commercials. Oktoberfest is nothing short of epic…especially if you’ve been participating in some of the beer-drinking activities.

CANNABIS CUP

Amsterdam — November 22 – 26

High Times magazine hosts the Cannabis Cup annually to celebrate the wonders of marijuana as well as the legalization movement. Participants are encouraged to purchase a judge’s badge which allows them access to all ceremonies, concerts, seminars, the expo and of course, the right to vote on the best strain of cannabis. The hundreds of different coffee shops in Amsterdam all create their own strains of marijuana (like micro-breweries for marijuana).
While High Times states that samples must be purchased from the coffee shops, there are tons of booths at the expo that give out free samples including joints, small sacks and full vaporizer bags. The coffee houses take immense pride in their strains so they will do whatever possible to win the competition.

different strains of cannabis

vaporizer bag full of marijuana vapor

SONGKRAN

Thailand — April 13-15

Songkran is the celebration of the Buddhist New Year that takes over Thailand for 3 full days in April. The goal? To “cleanse” everyone and everything in sight. Yes, prayer is involved but the main way of cleansing is to douse everything in water. Participants are all armed with buckets, water guns, hoses and whatever they can get their hands on that can get others wet. Even the police are not spared from being soaked! You gotta love Thailand for that fact alone

SAN FERMIN

Pamplona, Spain — July 6-14

Made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The Sun Also Rises,’ the festival of San Fermin is simply incredible. Most of you have heard of the running of the bulls, or ‘el encierro’ as it is called by the locals, which takes place each morning at 8am. After those wounded from the bulls have been removed from the streets, however, the real partying begins. Alcohol and great food are everywhere. The bars are open and filled with people by 9am so you can imagine the atmosphere of the festival’s entirety. Bull fights take place each night at 6:30pm which can usually only be attended if you buy tickets in advance.

Note: Make sure you wear all white with a red bandanna around your neck if you plan to attend or you will be the ONLY person there without such attire.

Amazing Events in picture

2011-07-25T04:40:00.001-07:00

An image of the Earth captured by Russian weather satellite Elektro-L. Launched in January 2011 from Baikonur Cosmodrome the satellite has been orbiting the Earth at 36,000km above the equator, capturing new images of Earth.

London Mayor Boris Johnson takes former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger for a ride on one of his 'Boris bikes'

Here's a real-life Angry Bird. Telegraph reader Gerard Girling sent us this fantastic picture, writing: "Angry Birds are all the rage at the moment - but I have never seen one so furious as this tiny female Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, (Poliopitila caerulea).

Scientists have unveiled the most accurate map ever produced of the Earth's gravity. It seems it is shaped not like a sphere but a potato. A precise model of Earth's geoid is crucial for deriving accurate measurements of ocean circulation, sea-level change and terrestrial ice dynamics. The geoid is also used as a reference surface from which to map the topographical features on the planet. In addition, a better understanding of variations in the gravity field will lead to a deeper understanding of Earth's interior, such as the physics and dynamics associated with volcanic activity and earthquakes.

Space shuttle Endeavour suffered minor damage on the launch pad as severe thunderstorms swept through Kennedy Space Centre. Lightning struck and there were reports of hail. Wind gusts reached 90 mph (145 kph). Two funnel clouds were reported as the severe weather continued. Funnel clouds are rotating columns of wind coming off clouds; if they touch the ground, they form tornadoes. Endeavour's external fuel tank sustained minor damage to some of its insulating foam, said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.

Severe weather moves in over the vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida

This picture is one of a series taken by photographer Chris Fallows, 36, that show albatrosses diving for fish less than a metre above dozens of hungry sharks. The birds were spotted swimming precariously close to the sharks as they were being fed fish by a boat full of tourists. The daring birds even pecked at the sharks and stole their lunch - yet the sharks remained unfazed and continued to swim less than a metre beneath them.

A goat from Yanji in northeast China's Liaoning Province has been nicknamed "Strong-willed goat" as it has learned to walk on just its front two forelegs. Yang Yang the goat was born without hind legs in January and has learned walk on its front legs. And within a month Yang Yang had learned how to balance, walk and even run upside down on just his front legs.

John Sutton gets to play with his very own nuclear submarine - docked on the river Medway in Rochester, Kent. The underwater vessel was part of a fleet under the command of the Soviet Union. John Sutton has looked after the war machine for nine years. "This weekend is her 44th birthday as she was built in Russia on the first of April 1967," explained John. "It was her job to hunt down enemy sea vessels. The Soviet Union never went to war with America so she didn't see combat. She was used for patrolling the Baltic Sea and training sailors. By 1994 the submarine was decommissioned. Inside the maze-like inside of the submarine the red stars and other symbols of the Soviet Union look the same as the day Communism fell. The 78 seamen shared their sleeping area with live nuclear torpedoes and had to work 12-hours-per-day

Prince William sits at the controls of a Sea King helicopter at RAF Valley on Anglesey, Wales. Prince William is serving as a search and rescue helicopter pilot, based at RAF Valley on Anglesey.

An aerial view of Quito city is seen from an aircraft flying above Mariscal Sucre Airport, which is located 2,813 metres (9,229 feet) above sea level in the Andes Mountains.

A Libyan rebel rocket launcher misfires while shelling pro-Gaddafi forces, along the front line outside the eastern town of Brega

Amazing Events in Pictures

A Woman answers her mobile phone using a traditional receiver in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China

Ann Widdecombe posed in front of the Houses of Parliament in London to launch a campaign from Action on Hearing Loss which is encouraging the British public to get their hearing tested

Eighteen-year-old Junrey Balawing receives a certificate proclaiming him as the world's shortest man from the Guinness Book of World Records, in the rural southern Philippine township of Sindangan, Zamboanga Del Norte. Balawing, who measured 59.93 centimetres or 23.5 inches, was officially declared the world's shortest man as he celebrates his 18th birthday, stripping Nepal's Khagendra Thapa Magar of the title...

...The previous world shortest living man, Khagendra Thapa Magar, measuring 67.08 centimetres (26.4 inches), shows off his Guinness World Records medals in Pokhara, west of Kathmandu. He is more than 7 centimetres taller than Junrey Balawing.

Zookeeper Sarah Jurgens looks at a pygmy marmoset named Reillo. She nursed Reillo after he was abandoned by his parents shortly after birth on May 7th at the Lincoln Children's Zoo in Nebraska. Reillo was only as long as a human thumb when he was born, and now weighs in at a healthy 60 grams.

Pan Zhiyi, a Chinese builder angry at being made to pay a 33,000 Yuan ($5,281.19) court fine, paid the entire amount using coins and small denomination notes. He packed the money into five large bags and drove them to the courthouse in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, to pay the fine. "We helped both parties to transport the coins into a nearby bank, which said they don't have the time to clear it," said a courthouse worker. He finally paid the compensation in large denomination notes the next day.

Lightning flashes in the ash cloud of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano eruption, as seen from Entre Lagos, Chile

A visitor passes by a work by artist Maurizio Cattelan during the preview day of the Art 42 Basel fair and exhibition which will take place from June 15 to June 19, 2011 in Basel

An aerial view of a bridge that collapsed when a flood hit Tongcheng, in central China's Hebei province

Festival goers lie in the mud during the final day of the Isle of Wight Festival

British performance artist Alice Newstead hangs by shark fishing hooks to protest against the slaughtering of sharks for their fins in Hong Kong

Cast members rehearse on the giant floating stage on Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria, for the opera Andre Chenier by Italian musician Umberto Giordano. The opera, directed by British director Keith Warner, will have its premiere on July 20 at the annual Bregenz festival

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, right, playing for a Tusk Trust team and Prince Harry playing for a Sentebale team shake hands at the end of a Sentebale Polo Cup match in Ascot

Christopher Winter (C) of team Koenig Pilsener and Philip Selkirk of team Maus Immobilien compete during the Julius Baer Beach Polo World Cup at Hoernum beach in Germany

Boats are rowed on Grand Canal in Venice, during the 37th edition of the 'Vogalonga', a non-competetive 32 km regatta around the Venetian lagoon

An artist performs at the two-day Kiev Fire Fest, Ukraine

Queen Elizabeth II unveils a statue of classic winner Yeats on day one of the Royal Ascot Meeting at Ascot Racecourse, Berkshire

Dining chairs designed by Jordanian Khaled Sharaan go on display in Amman before sending the collection to an auction house in London. The dining chairs collection - the Never ending Dinner - includes images which the artist considers to be controversial leaders who lived throughout modern history

A vendor carries plastic balls for sale as he walks down the streets in New Delhi

Officers from the municipal authorities of Huaian city perform songs at the Huaian Great Hall of the People in Huaian, Jiangsu Province of China. This year's celebrations will mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China

A boy plays with a sculpture of a cossack's horse during the celebrations for the 383rd anniversary of the foundation of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk

Extra Legged & Headed Animals

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Extra Legged & Headed Animals

Amazing Pictures Taken at Right Time

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Amazing Pictures Taken at Right Time

Interesting and Amazing Collection Of Funny Photo manipulation

2011-07-24T02:08:00.000-07:00

Interesting and Amazing Collection Of Funny Photo manipulation

Amazing Pictures of Crazy People Arounds The World

2011-07-24T01:51:00.001-07:00

In this post we have show you the amazing pictures of crazy people around the world. We hope you will enjoy this wonderful Showcase. Feel free to share your opinion with us and let us know which one is your favorite!

Pictures of Amazing Phone Designs

2011-07-24T01:43:00.000-07:00

In this post we have show you the Cool gallery of interesting designs of phones. We hope you will enjoy this wonderful Showcase. Feel free to share your opinion with us and let us know which one is your favorite!

Funny and Cool Animals With Humanized Expression

2011-07-24T01:37:00.000-07:00

Unseen Photos of Sachin Tendulkar

2011-07-24T01:29:00.000-07:00

Unseen Photos of Sachin Tendulkar

Wonderful Twins

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Beautiful Twins

Top ten Techies who changed the world

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Steve Jobs, Apple – Maverick entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs is the current grandmaster of technology. Business savvy and a risk taker, Jobs is the visionary who redefined technology with world changing products like the Personal Computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook – Whizkid Zuckerberg almost single handedly transformed the Internet from a place people went to get information to a place they went to meet each other. Facebook gave the virtual world a patina of humanity, the real world a new medium of interpersonal relationships, and made Zuckerberg not only this generation's phenomenon, but also the second youngest billionaire in the world. Interesting fact: The youngest billionaire is Dustin Moskovitz – co-founder of Facebook and 8 days younger than Zuckerberg, his Harvard roommate

Bill Gates, Microsoft – The Microsoft founder has passed the legion of supergeeks into the pantheon of technological demi-gods. The richest man in the world from 1995 to 2007 is currently the second richest. He holds 8 percent of Microsoft stock and now functions as the non-executive chairman of the company. Over the years, Gates and wife Melinda have made philanthropy their primary concern and recently pledged to give away at least half their fortune to charity with time.

Linus Torvalds, Linux – This Finnish engineer is virtually unknown outside the inner circles of technology, yet he is among the most influential figures in software development. A believer in open source software, Torvalds initiated thedevelopment of the Linux Kernel. He now acts as the coordinator of the project. The Linux operating system runs the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world and a diverse range of hardware including the smallest of devices. A modified version of the Linux kernel powers the ubiqitous Android OS

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google – Co-founders of internet behemoth Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin ran Google from a rented garage in 1998. Twelve years later, Google has left it's Silicon Valley startup past way behind to become the world's largest media corporation.

Evan Williams, Twitter & Blogger – Virtually unknown in the real world, this college drop-out created two key communication technologies that shaped the Internet – Blogger and Twitter. He no longer works at Twitter but he's left an indelible handprint on the cyberworld.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo – Even if you've never played a video game, chances are you've heard of Super Mario Bros. Shigeru Miyamoto is the Japanese game designer behind popular Nintendo titles like Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, and the grand old man of gaming, Mario.

Jeffrey Bezos, Amazon – In 1994, this Princeton graduate started Amazon.com from his garage in Seattle and changed the face of online retail forever. He began with selling books online but soon diversified into, well, almost everything. Amazon made him a billionaire as well as Time magazine's person of the year in 1999.

Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web – 20 years ago British physicist and computer scientist Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, the first web browser and the first web server. This man is the reason we can access webpages and surf the Internet using browsers today. (Photo: AP)

Akio Morita, Sony – Former naval officer Akio Morita left his family business of sake, miso and soy sauce to co-found Sony Corporation in 1946. Most of Sony's path-breaking products like magnetic tapes, tape recorders, pocket-sized radios, the Walkman and the Discman were developed under his leadership. (Photo: AP)

11th Man: Woz – The other Steve who founded Apple with Steve Jobs was Steve Wozniak. Affectionately called Woz, he has been credited with developing the Apple I and Apple II computers in the 1970s. He no longer works full time with Apple, but is still a shareholder and employee of the company.