World's Best Female Rock Climber is Just . . . 20 Years Old!Rock climbing, where participants ascend or descend natural rock formations is not an easy sport. It requires not only physical strength, but also, complete mental concentration. But don't tell 20-year old Sasha diGuilian that. This fearless girl who has been dominating the sport ever since she entered the fray, is just getting warmed up....
اقرأ المقالWith Meteor Explosions And Asteroid Flybys, The Skies Were Busy Last FridayFriday, February 15th, will go down in the record books as one of the busiest celestial days in recent history. First came the unexpected meteor explosion in Russia and then, Earth's closest encounter with an Asteroid yet!...
اقرأ المقالWhy This Nickel Could Be Worth Millions Of DollarsA nickel is a nickel is a nickel right? Wrong! Turns out that once in very rare blue moon, this five-cent coin may be worth millions! That apparently is the case with this special 1913 nickel, only five of which, were ever minted....
اقرأ المقالMathematician Unveils The World's Biggest Ever Prime Number Yet - And Don't Even Think Of Memorizing This OneIf you thought the world's longest word that took over three hours to say was a little lengthy, wait till you hear about this latest prime number that a US mathematician has managed to crunch up - It is, drum roll please . . . A massive 17,425,170 digits long! To put it in perspective, if you decided to hand write it at a pace of one digit per second nonstop for 12 hours, it would take more than a year. Want to print it? Get ready to use at least 5,000 - 6,000 sheets depending on the size of the paper and font!...
اقرأ المقال3D Printers Are Heading To The Moon - No Really!To say that 3D printing technology has grown by leaps and bounds is an understatement. It has been used to build construction models, artificial limbs and even a faux car for the most recent James Bond thriller, Skyfall. Now, if the scientists at the European Space Agency and designers at British architectural firm Foster and Partners are right, it may soon be heading to the Moon!...
اقرأ المقالIt's 'Super Baugh' Sunday! Time To Settle On The Couch And Eat And Eat And . . .Today Is Super Bowl or should we say 'Super Baugh' Sunday - America's biggest game day. While all football finals are highly anticipated, this one is even more so, because for the first time in the history of the NFL, the coaches of the two opposing teams - The San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens - are brothers!. This means more viewers, more parties and of course, more noshing!...
اقرأ المقالPunxsutawney Phil Predicts . . .It's Groundhog day! That means that people living in the Northern Hemisphere all eagerly tuned in to see what the legendary weather predictor Punxsutawney Phil had to say about the length of this year's dreary winter season. And, he did not disappoint!...
اقرأ المقالIndia's Maha Kumbh Mela AKA The Largest Single Gathering Of Humanity Has BegunFrom January 14th to February 23rd, 2013, an estimated 100 million Hindus are expected to converge to the northern Indian ciity Of Allahabad to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela. The festival that is often referred to as the largest gathering of mankind, also doubles up as a pilgrimage undertaken to absolve all worldly sins....
اقرأ المقالAre Micro Apartments The Future Of City Living?The vibrant borough of Manhattan in New York City is a big draw for young professionals who want to earn a decent living and enjoy its bustling night life and amazing restaurants. Its popularity is evidenced by the fact that it now boasts over 1.8 million households that have just one or two residents. While great, this has led to a severe shortage of affordable housing given that there are only about a million studio/one bedroom apartments available....
اقرأ المقالMalia And Sasha Enjoy The (Rare) Perks Of Being America's 'First Kids'While spending eight years in the White House may sound glamorous, life for Malia and Sasha Obama cannot be that much fun. After all, which teen/tween likes to sit through long boring speeches, be constantly hounded by the media and worst of all, have some secret service agent constantly watching all their movements? But, every now and again the job of being America's 'first girls' does bring some perks - One of which happens to be the 'Kid's Inauguration Ball', a tradition started by President Obama, where the girls get to invite and hobnob with music stars of their choice....
اقرأ المقالWhy Are Food Throwing Festivals So Popular In Spain?Spain is host to some of the world's most fun and crazy festivals - Events like Pamplona's Running of the Bulls and Castrillo de Murcia's El Colacho or Baby Jumping. But, what the Spanish seem to enjoy the most, is pelting food at each other, the most famous example of which is of course, La Tomatina. However, they have a few others that you have probably never heard of and if you thought throwing tomatoes at people was odd, wait till you read what gets thrown during these two annual celebrations....
اقرأ المقالWinning At All Costs . . . . . . A Good Strategy?Late last week, Lance Armstrong, the winner of seven consecutive titles (1999-2005) of the world's most grueling bike race - The Tour de France, finally confessed to something many people had suspected for years - The use of performance enhancing steroids during most of his storied career, to get an edge over his competitors....
اقرأ المقالA Library With No Books? Hmm . . . . .How would you feel if you walked into your local public library and instead of hundreds of shelves laden with all kinds of exciting books, you encountered a modern interior that resembles an Apple store complete with aisles of computers and other electronic gadgets? That, is exactly the vision Nelson Wolff has for BiblioTech, a new kind of public library that is scheduled to open in San Antonio's Bexar County, in fall 2013....
اقرأ المقالIreland's Loughareema Lake Plays Mind Games By Randomly VanishingYou may have encountered instances when you could have bet your life about something you had seen or done, but yet when you revisited, either the thing has vanished or the chore, left undone. If you happen to visit Ireland you may encounter the same feeling at the Loughareema Lake - However, in this case it is not your mind playing games with you, but the lake itself, which seems to sporadically appear and disappear....
اقرأ المقالGermany's Espionage Case Has All The Trappings Of An Exciting Spy Thriller!They were the regular Mr. and Mrs. Smith. 54-year old Andreas Anschlag was a car engineer who had worked at several companies, while 48-year old Heidrun Anschlag was a devoted housewife. The couple lived in a comfortable detached home in the quiet community of Marburg, West Germany. A perfectly boring existence right? Not quite!...
اقرأ المقالA New Super Hero Everyday? You Better Believe It!If you are a super hero fan you are probably wishing that someone would think up of a new character - After all how many iterations of Superman, Batman and Ironman can one watch? And, while putting them together like they did in The Avengers is fun, that too can get a tad boring! But fear not, because Pixar artist Everett Downing has been sketching brand new 'Supers' as he likes to call them, with all kinds of incredible powers - So far, he has dreamt up over 300 of them, and he is not done yet!...
اقرأ المقالEmperor Penguin Colony Welcomes First Human VisitorsIn December 2012, three men braved Antarctica's treacherous and remote Princess Ragnhild Coast to seek out a colony of Emperor Penguins that has hitherto just been suspected to exist. They were not disappointed!...
اقرأ المقال2013 Australian Summer May Be One For The Record BooksWhile summers in the world's driest inhabited continent AKA Australia can get a little uncomfortable, this year seems to be starting out a little more extreme than usual. On Monday January 8th, the Australian meteorological dept reported an average continent temperature of 104.6°F (40.33°C) - Surpassing a record set in 1972. And, the forecast for the rest of the season looks even worse....
اقرأ المقالYAY! Japan's Rare Black Amami Rabbits No Longer Endangered!After many years on the endangered list of animals, Japan's Amami Black rabbit can finally breathe a sigh of relief - That's because this year, the rare animal that is believed to be the only living remnant of the ancient rabbit that once inhabited Asia, is no longer in danger of being eradicated!...
اقرأ المقالRobot 'Trainee' Astronaut R2, Begins To Earn Its Keep At The ISSWhen Space Shuttle Discovery launched off to Space on its final mission on February 24th, 2011, among its roster of astronauts was a 'trainee' - And not just any ordinary rookie either, but the world's first humanoid robot astronaut that was heading to the International Space Station as a permanent resident....
اقرأ المقالElusive Giant Squid Finally Caught On CameraGiant squids, the kind referred to in Jules Verne's 1870 novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, have been known to exist for many centuries. However, finding the world's largest invertebrate in its natural habitat had proved a little elusive. Now, thanks to some patient Japanese researchers, we can all finally get a glimpse of this magnificent cephalopod!...
اقرأ المقالChips, The Bobcat Who Is Just Too Nice!Chips is like any other bobcat. She has black-tipped pointed ears, yellow eyes with black pupils, sharp hearing and vision and can even climb trees, as well if not better, than any other member of its species. But, she has one big problem - She is just too nice to be a bobcat! While that may be a good thing in most other species in her case, it is a kiss of death!...
اقرأ المقالHarbin's 29th Annual Ice and Snow Festival Is Spectacular!One might expect people living in subzero temperatures to escape to some warmer destinations or simply, hibernate. But the residents of Harbin in Northeast China do neither. They instead turn the hostile icy environment into such an amazing winter wonderland that millions of tourists from all over the world actually brave the chilly temperatures to experience it....
اقرأ المقالComing Soon To A Bookstore Near You - 500 New Fairytales!If you like most of us, have read and perhaps even seen all the old and new reiterations of Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel a zillion times, you are in luck. That's because a cultural curator in Germany has discovered a treasure trove of 500 new fairy tales that have been tucked away in the archives for over 150 years!...
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