WORLD AMAZING

10 such nightmarish places on earth

2012-01-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

The world is a giant jigsaw puzzle, spotted with both exquisitely beautiful and potentially dangerous places. While you may dream of spending a lifetime in some of the true paradises-on-earth, you should be equally wary of stepping up in some real hell spots for your own safety. But not everyone is fortunate enough to get a cozy and safe home and there are places on earth where people are actually living on the edge of peril.

Here are top 10 such nightmarish places on earth where you would never want to live:

Dharavi in Mumbai, India

The slums of Mumbai / Photo from sarahlane

Roughly half the residents of Bombay live in crowded slums such as these.
/ Photo from bwillen

Sprawling over 175 hectares between Mahim and Sion, Dharavi has emerged as the largest slum of Asia inhabiting a population exceeding 600,000. Dharavi has its rival in Orangi Town in Karachi, Pakistan that has a notorious filth and expanse. Dharavi presents a brighter picture as a cheap pocket in the midst of expensive Mumbai where you could stay for as low as 4 US dollars rent per month.

Dharavi, the most biggest slum of the world / Photo from sandrinecohen22

Dharavi is an abode for various small-scale industries like pottery, embroidered garments, leather and plastic goods. Unbelievably the total net income of the residents of Dharavi amounts to almost650 million US dollars. But Dharavi is no paradise – its inadequate water supply and toilet facilities get worse during the monsoon floods and the unhygienic environment of Dharavi poses serious threats to public health issues.

Rocinha – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil / Photo from Leonardo Martins

Photo from razorbern

The largest favela (basically meaning shanty town) in Rio De Janeiro. / Photo from -bos[s]-’

Situated between the São Conrado and Gávea districts of Rio de Janeiro, Rocinha meaning small ranch in Portuguese is the largest slum or “favela” in South America. Posed on a hillside within one kilometer of the beach, Rocinha originated as a shanty to transform quickly into a modern slum neighborhood. You will find it better off than many shanties because of its brick buildings, sanitation, plumbing and other urban facilities.

Favela, Rio de Janeiro / Photo from dreamindly

What makes Rocinha a potentially dangerous place to live is the prevalence of a violent drug trade. This leads to endless tussles and encounters between the drug peddlers and the police, giving rise to a dangerous ambiance. The population of 100,000 has a poor economic state and high mortality rates. What is more, Rocinha being built on steep mountain slope is susceptible to landslides, rock falls and floods.

Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya

1,000,000 residents live on a mountain of Garbage. / Photo from Chicago Wedding Photographer, Wes Craft

Kibera, meaning ‘forest’ in Nubian is the home for a million people, which earned notoriety for being the biggest slum in the whole of Africa. Most of the population here are tenants with no rights living in mud-walled shacks owned by landlords who have vacated Kibera. Most of the population is African Muslims, who huddle up eight per shack, often sleeping on the floors.

Photo from alongtheway

Just 20% of Kibera has electricity and no regular supply of clean water. The dam water that people use is the root to cholera and typhoid, aggravated by poor sewage condition. There is widespread menace of AIDS and the total absence of government medical facilities. What worsens the general livelihood of Kibera is the availability of a cheap alcoholic drink called ‘Changaa’.

Faced with rampant unemployment, most of the slum-dwellers resort to Changaa early in life and grow into criminals, drunkards and rapists. The problem is aggravated by the availability of cheap drugs and tendencies of glue sniffing. The result is the rising rate of unwanted pregnancy among girls of all ages who invariably turn to abortion. Some charities and churches are working towards the betterment of the condition.

Linfen, China

Pollution / Photo from sheilaz413

Located right at the center of Shanxi Province of China’s coal region, Linfen is one of the most polluted cities in the world. The air is thick with dust and smoke to a degree that hampers visibility. The three million people who live in Linfen take regular doses of arsenic rich water, further polluted with fossil fuels and poisonous gases through the air they breathe. You can actually catch a lasting stink when you step in Linfen with overflowing sewage everywhere.

Young coal worker in Linfen (Shanxi, China) / Photo from andi808

The river flowing by Linfen has its water thickened with oil. No wonder! The inhabitants using this water have high occurrences of cancer. When you look at the trees around the Linfen factories, they present a sad withered picture. It is the last place on earth that you would think of sending someone, even your worst enemy.

Kabwe, Zambia

Photograph by Blacksmith Institute / Photo from nationalgeographic.com

The lead and cadmium accumulations in this former British colony have skyrocketed since their discovery in 1902 when Zambia was valued for a rich lead mine. Although the mines have closed and no smelters are operational now, Kabwe residents have faced the threat of lead poisoningthrough decades. Blood tests in the children have revealed lead concentrations exceeding 5-10 times the normal limit that could turn fatal any day. Only recently, the World Bank has allotted funds for tackling the problem.

Photo from livescience.com

Chernobyl, Ukraine

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant / Photo from Ken and Nyetta

Radiated Apartment Building / Photo from Stuck in Customs

Talking of life-threatening pollution and poisoning, nothing could beat the nuclear reactor accident record set by Chernobyl that has left about 5.5 million people facing the threat of thyroid cancer. The fallout that occurred in April 26, 1986 has led to the leakage of nuclear radiation 100 times more pronounced in volume and effect than that of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions. It is a horror that thousands of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian children living close to the damaged plant still cannot escape the radiation impact.

This used to be the public gym, back in 1986. / Photo from philippe simpson

Dzerzhinsk, Russia

Dzerzhinsk / Photo from Oleg aka Xtraboy

Situated beside the Oka River in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast of Russia, Dzerzhinsk is named after the Russian leader Feliks Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky. Right From its inception, Dzerzhinsk has remained a chemical industry hub and has been producing chemical weapons for Russia. It has been labeledone of the worst polluted cities of the world with a staggering death rate.

Skyline of Dzerzhinsk / Photo from Spendruleziya

In Dzerzhinsk, the average life of men is just 42 years and women 47 years. Environmentalists attribute such high mortality rate to the ceaseless production of organic chemicals like toxic dioxins, hydrogen cyanide, lead and sulfur mustard. The phenol and dioxin contents in the Dzerzhinsk waters surpasses the normal limit by seventeen million times.

Cubatão – São Paulo, Brazil

Cubatão / Photo from Alceu Bap

The city of Cubatão extending over 142 square kilometers is more appropriately known as the ‘Valley of Death’ for its precarious living conditions. It has a high air pollution level that has led to the destruction of forests over the surrounding hills and birth of children with congenital organ defects.

sticker mundo / Photo from caio antunes

The life threatening pollution took a new dimension in 1984 when an event of oil spill burnt down the town, killing almost 200 people. Only recently extensive steps worth $1.2 billion are being taken to improve the damages caused by organic pollutants. Despite such measures, it is quite impossible to clean the soil and underground water from the spreading tentacles of pollution thus making Cubatão unfit for staying.

Bassac Apartments, Cambodia

One of the architectural jewels of Cambodia, the innovative apartment complex designed in the early 1960s by Lu Ban Hap / Photo from Rich Garella

Photo from jinja_cambodia

The 300-metre-long Basaac Apartments were built due to the town planning director Lu Ban Hap’s initiative to put up a low-cost social housing project in the 1960s. However, this government-financed housing project has been the home to 2,500 refugees since 1979, when its legal tenants vacated the property because of the onset of decay. The structure made of concrete and brick has now given way to dangerous gaps in between the reinforced concrete walls marked by the ingrowths of parasitic plants. The building can collapse any time burying alive its 2500 residents.

Mogadishu, Somalia

A rusty and bullet-ridden Coca Cola sign gives a telling welcome for visitors to the volatile city of Mogadishu. / Photo from khairi_us

Pictures from an armed convoy trip in Mogadishu / Photo from ctsnow

Mogadishu, an advanced former port has been witnessing the 17-year tussle between rival military camps since the fall of the government in 1991. It turned into the most chaotic and anarchic city of the world, marked by civil unrest and insurgencies. Such disturbances caused its original inhabitants to flee, leaving Mogadishu to be controlled by military factions. Only recently, a new federal government has taken up the reins of control and is trying to re-establish law and order.

Photo from Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone

Make Yourself Sleep In 40 Sec

2012-01-21T01:24:00.001-08:00

adams-bridge-1750000-year-old-man-made-bridge-between-sri-lanka-and-india

2012-01-21T00:28:00.000-08:00

Ram crossed here to lanka / Photo from joshivatsal

Sri Lanka may not be an Island nation after all – a chain of limestone shoals called Ram Setu or Pamban Bridge remains faint evidence to the former land connection between the Mannar islands of northwestern Sri Lanka and Rameswaram in the Indian southwestern coast. The 3 ft to 30 ft depth of the sea surrounding this 30 miles (48 km) long bridge is not good enough to allow proper navigation. Earlier there used to be a regular ferry service between Talaimannar of Sri Lanka and Rameswaram of India, which is currently withheld due to the continuing civil disorder within Lanka.

Adams Bridge Map

The first mention of this reportedly man-made bridge was found in the accounts of Ibn Khordadbeh in his Book of Roads and Kingdoms. Since then, it has been attributed with several names like Set Bandhai, meaning ‘Bridge of the Sea‘, Rama’s Bridge and Adam’s Bridge. The Islamic legends state that it was used by Adam to traverse the route to Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka to repent for 1000 years, during which he kept standing on one foot. This perhaps explains the large footprint hollow you can find on the Peak.

On the other hand, the Indian or rather the Hindu legend behind this superbly curved sandstone bridge relates it to the epic Ramayana. Accordingly, it is deemed to be built by the ‘vanara sena’ (monkey army) of the glorious incarnation of Shri Rama, the hero of the epic, to rescue his holy wife Sita from the clutches of Ravana, who ruled over Lanka. The radiocarbon dating of the bridge verges on around 1,750,000 years, which roughly coincides with the Indian estimate of the mythical ‘Treta Yuga’.

Virgin Comics’ Ramayan reinvents the ancient stories of the Ramayana in graphic-novel style. Below, the Hindu goddess Devi, as reinterpreted by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and series artist Mukesh Singh. / Photo from albill

The space footages of the Ram Setu provided by NASA has neither confirmed nor rejected these controversial claims. Contrary to the Vaishnava News Network’s insistence on the Rama legend, after taking its 2002 remote sensing images, NASA simply stated that the much-hyped bridge was only a naturally formed chain of shoals and refused to comment on the possible human involvement in its construction.

Landsat 5 image of Adam’s Bridge / Photo from Global Land Cover Facility, www.landcover.org

Picture taken by NASA in the year 2005 of Shri Ram Setu (Adma Bridge) / Photo fromdheerajway

However, opposing ideas have continued to surface about the origin of the bridge. S. Badrinarayanan, the director of the Geological Survey of India along with the head of Post-Graduate Department of Geology and Research Centre, Prof. N. Ramanujam has given a scientifically inclined explanation of the possible natural occurrence of the sand banks with the corals on top. The Madras Court has stuck to the man-made theory.

Rama, Laksman and their friends building a bridge to Demon country Lanka where the abducted Sita-devi is being held captive. On every stone the Name of Rama is written./ Photo from Yadupati

In spite of such controversies, the Ram Setu has never ceased to attract the attention of geological experts. There are several theories to suggest the age and formation of this mysterious bridge. One of these theories attributes the formation of the bridge to random sand deposition and sedimentation. Another suggests the opposite movement of the longshore drifting currents along the landmasses gave rise to the tombolo. Still another team of geologists proposes the atoll and coral reef composition of the 103-patch ridge to be due to the thinning out of the earth crust, barrier islands, a sand spit or a local uplift.

Such varied explanations have not diminished the religious value of the Ram Setu for Indians. The Indian government had planned the prestigious and expensive Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project in 2001 to improve the navigation across the Palk Strait. It was shelved primarily because of the sacred associations of the divine figure of Shri Ram, though environmental and economic reasons were the other grounds as well. To push its plan to success, an affidavit was lodged by the Indian Government in the Supreme Court of India rubbishing the epical notion of the bridge’s formation.

“Adam’s Bridge”, the narrow ribbon of land joining India to Sri Lanka, viewed from space / Photo from tmosprmo

Yet the near-destructed Ram Setu stands with all its glory, drawing thousands of pilgrims every year and continues to baffle the scientists and theorists world over. Some say that this much-studied bridge was perhaps what protected the Kerala coastline from the fury of the 2004 Tsunami.

Some World's Biggest Animals

2012-01-11T08:11:00.000-08:00

World’s Biggest Horse

Radar, a Belgian draught horse, is the World’s Tallest Living Horse. This huge horse, at 6ft 71/2in from hoof to shoulder, is from Mount Pleasant, Texas. At 2,400lb, he has a giant appetite to match, putting away 20 gallons of water a day and 18lb of grain.

World’s Biggest Cow

As big as a small elephant, Big Cow Chilli and he’s described as a gentle giant. Chilli the giant bullock stands at 6ft 6ins and weighs well over a ton. Despite his grand stature, Chilli only grazes on grass during the day and enjoys the occasional swede as a treat.

World’s Biggest Pig

The Liaoning Provincial Agricultural Museum is appealing to the Guinness Book of Records to recognise a 900 kg (1984 pounds) pig which died on February 5 as the biggest pig ever. When the pig died it was 2.5 metres long, had a waistline of 2.23 metres and a tusk of 14.4 centimetres long. According to XU Changjin, a farmer of Wafangdian city, the pig was only 5 years old. He kept his pig in a good built sty and gave it quality food all its life.

World’s Biggest Catfish

At 646LB this Mekong Giant Catfish is the largest freshwater fish in the world. With nearly nine feet long (2.7 meters) and as big as a grizzly bear, this huge catfish caught in northern Thailand may be the largest freshwater fish ever recorded. Although there are many claims and rumours about the world’s largest freshwater specimens, especially from misguided anglers. However, in the eyes of scientist’s the Mekong Giant Catfish has taken pole position with the recorded capture of this huge 646LB specimen by local fishermen in 2005. Many anglers over look the fact that some larger fish that can be caught in the worlds rivers, such as Sturgeon, migrate between river and sea, and therefore not considered to be freshwater species in the true sense of the word.

World’s Tallest Dog

Hercules might be the biggest dog in the world, but the tallest according to the Guinness World Records is Gibson, a Harlequin Great Dane, who is 42.2 inches. The 170-pound Dane is more than 7 feet tall, taller than most NBA basketball players.

World’s Biggest Cat

Jungle Island in Miami is home to a liger (a hybrid cross between a male lion and a female tiger) named Hercules, the largest non-obese liger. The liger is recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest cat on Earth, weighing in at 900 lbs.

World’s Biggest Shark ever caught

More likely to eat than be eaten, this giant whale shark was caught off the coast of China by hardcore fishermen who managed to harness the ten-metre, eight-tonne whopper. Whale sharks are the world’s largest living fish, it is estimated that they can reach an 18 metre length. They live in warm water along the coast and open seas and spend most of their time near the surface.

World’s Biggest Dog

Say hello to this gargantuan specimen named Hercules, purportedly the Guinness Record holder for World’s Biggest Dog. Hercules is an English Mastiff and has a 38 inch neck and weighs 282 pounds.

With “paws the size of softballs”, the three-year-old monster is far larger and heavier than his breed’s standard 200lb. limit. Hercules owner Mr. Flynn says that Hercules weight is natural and not induced by a bizarre diet: “I fed him normal food and he just grew, and grew, and grew”.

Amazing Baseball Catch!

2012-01-11T06:58:00.001-08:00

Amazing baseball catch! brought to you by Funny Jokes

Fish With Transparent Head!!!

2012-01-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

Fish With Transparent Head!!! brought to you by Funny Pictures

Apartment On Wheels

2012-01-02T06:01:00.000-08:00

It’s like people actually are trying to fit their whole living space into a tiny box. By the looks of it, that accomplishment shouldn’t be too far off. We have seen everything, even people making their 2 bedroom apartment into a 27 room mansion. We have seen tiny houses on wheels, and also some rather interesting geek traveling options including foldable living quarters. However, when does it become too small? That might be a question that pops into our heads. Well, never!

Designer Cornelius Comanns has some ideas on how to make your entire life fit into a tiny three wheeled car. It shouldn’t be possible, but as you can see from the pictures, he managed to cramp down space so much that it actually doesn’t look like a bad idea. If you’re thinking about hosting dinner parties, gatherings and an occasional movie night, I can with certainty tell you this is not the way to go.

This concept car named “Bufalino” is nothing less than a marvel. This mini-RV has the capacity to seat two people, a stove to make your dinner, a foldable bed, a fridge, a basin that acts like a sink and a tank for water. The car is also equipped with a ton of storage space for you to bring with you whatever you feel you can’t be without during your travels. Sure, there is no shower, but that can probably be taken care of with a portable shower that you can buy at pretty much any hobby store located close to you. A life in a car, imagine the freedom! Imagine the claustrophobia. Whatever be thy choice.

Two Headed Creatures

2011-12-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

Kim Kardashian’s Mansion Interior Design

2011-12-21T05:31:00.000-08:00

Kim Kardashian’s $4.8million five-bedroom mansion is located in Beverly Hills and made in Tuscan-style featuring four bathrooms and spa. The 4,000sq ft house also has a swimming pool, garden with a waterfall, media room, outdoor living room with a fireplace. The house has many floor-length windows but the high walls and security gates will keep Ms. Kardashian’s privacy intact.

The mansion’s interior design is made in traditional luxurious style. Every room from the entrance hall to outdoor living area are decorated with luxurious curved furniture in mixture with modern steel furniture. Some furniture pieces’ upholstery is in subtle floral prints. The furniture itself is in white and powder tones.

All the rooms are painted in light colors which contrasts with various tints of wood featured in window frames, tables, floors and furniture. The house has many living areas with the furniture arranged neat the fireplace or wide-screen TV. There are also a dining room with arched windows and terrace entrance and a bedroom.

The kitchen also has these huge windows which lets the day light in which reflects from white walls and kitchen equipment which is also mostly in white. The kitchen also has a fireplace which gives it a cozy atmosphere. There is also an outdoor barbecue-equipped area with the fridge, sink and storage.

Top 5 Snakes

2011-12-21T05:23:00.001-08:00

Top 5 Snakes

Posted on Sep 01, 2011

5. Pareas iwasakii

This tiny but rather large-headed Japanese has one of the most oddly specific diets in the animal kingdom; its asymmetrical jaws are adapted for preying entirely upon snails…so long as their shells spiral clockwise. A once rare mutation is known to produce snails with counter-clockwise shells, and since these provide a greater challenge to the snakes, the “mirrored” snails may be growing steadily more common.

4. Atractaspis

The “stilleto” snake has also been called a “mole viper” and “burrowing asp.” Though highly venomous, it spends most of its time tunneling through soil with little or no room to open its jaws and strike. Instead, it possesses switchblade-like “pop out” fangs, which it hooks into subterranean prey by jerking its head backwards, hooking into their flesh.

3. Scolecophidians

“Blindsnakes” or “threadsnakes” are another group of burrowers, nonvenomous but quite a bit weirder than our last serpent. With eyes covered over by thin scales,tubular worm-like bodies and mouths tucked underneath their heads, these animals are completely adapted to a fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle, and feed primarily on soft subterranean insects such as termites and ant larvae. Some species even possess tiny, movable finger-like sensory growths on their snouts,much like a star-nosed mole.

2. Eunectes murinus

No list of snakes is complete without the green anaconda, the heaviest alive today and one of the world’s longest predators. While their typical recorded length is up to sixteen feet, reports of anacondas over thirty feet in length have circulated for centuries. Like all constrictors, they wrap their bodies around prey to restrict breathing and kill by asphyxiation, swallowing the prey whole when it finally stops struggling.

1. Naja ashei

With their deadly venom and famous “hooded” threat display, cobras are easily the world’s most iconic, most dramatized reptiles, and none are as fearsome as the various “spitting” cobras, who can spray venom several feet from their fangs with muscular contraction, often aiming deliberately for the eyes of attackers and capable of causing blindness. Naja ashei, a species from Kenya, is the largest and most venomous spitting cobra in the world, reaching lengths of up to nine feet from head to tail.

Beautiful Cars

2011-12-21T05:16:00.000-08:00

A collection of beautiful cars that are sometimes concept and at others, coming in the near future. Either way, enjoy them.

Architecture of Future

2011-12-21T05:06:00.000-08:00

As the modern architecture has followed the Industrial Revolution we saw the simplification of form, clear lines and little of no embellishments. Now looking at the projects of the future architectural designs we can see how the modern architecture has evolved in so many different ways.

Exploring material properties and forms, playing gravity, angles and structures modern architects project absolutely stunning buildings the world haven’t seen before. The simplicity of the modern design goes behind as the new complex forms crawl into the design of the modern ambitious architects.

Inspired by new things and sometimes even simple ones around us modern architects come up with the projects of gigantic buildings in forms of dragonfly’s eye, giant chair, body of flame, etc. Thus get to experience a whole new concept of the modern architecture.

Top 5 Snakes

2011-09-19T06:32:00.001-07:00

5. Pareas iwasakii

This tiny but rather large-headed Japanese has one of the most oddly specific diets in the animal kingdom; its asymmetrical jaws are adapted for preying entirely upon snails…so long as their shells spiral clockwise. A once rare mutation is known to produce snails with counter-clockwise shells, and since these provide a greater challenge to the snakes, the “mirrored” snails may be growing steadily more common.
4. Atractaspis

The “stilleto” snake has also been called a “mole viper” and “burrowing asp.” Though highly venomous, it spends most of its time tunneling through soil with little or no room to open its jaws and strike. Instead, it possesses switchblade-like “pop out” fangs, which it hooks into subterranean prey by jerking its head backwards, hooking into their flesh.
3. Scolecophidians

“Blindsnakes” or “threadsnakes” are another group of burrowers, nonvenomous but quite a bit weirder than our last serpent. With eyes covered over by thin scales,tubular worm-like bodies and mouths tucked underneath their heads, these animals are completely adapted to a fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle, and feed primarily on soft subterranean insects such as termites and ant larvae. Some species even possess tiny, movable finger-like sensory growths on their snouts,much like a star-nosed mole.
2. Eunectes murinus

No list of snakes is complete without the green anaconda, the heaviest alive today and one of the world’s longest predators. While their typical recorded length is up to sixteen feet, reports of anacondas over thirty feet in length have circulated for centuries. Like all constrictors, they wrap their bodies around prey to restrict breathing and kill by asphyxiation, swallowing the prey whole when it finally stops struggling.
1. Naja ashei

With their deadly venom and famous “hooded” threat display, cobras are easily the world’s most iconic, most dramatized reptiles, and none are as fearsome as the various “spitting” cobras, who can spray venom several feet from their fangs with muscular contraction, often aiming deliberately for the eyes of attackers and capable of causing blindness. Naja ashei, a species from Kenya, is the largest and most venomous spitting cobra in the world, reaching lengths of up to nine feet from head to tail.

sea-creatures

2011-07-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

Lizard Fish

Prickley Shark

Chimaera Pup Fish

Chimaera Fish

Blob Fish

Umbrella Mouth Ggulper Eel

Aphyonus

Basketwork Eel

Coffin Fish

Crab

Fangtooth

Hatchet Fish

Shovel Nosed Lobster

Stargazer

Great and Beautiful Waterfalls

2011-07-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the collection of some extremely beautiful photos of waterfalls. Enjoy.

Victoria Falls

In the world of great waterfalls the grand Victoria Falls of South Africa has truly stolen away the lime light from the last many years. It has been one of the major tourist attractions of South Africa. People just love to view the exotic and spectacular natural beauty of these great falls. Most of the tourists from all across the world enjoy their vacations with their family members in the lapse of these huge water curtains. The great Victoria Falls of South Africa are one of the Seven Wonders of the World today. These great waterfalls are located on the Zambezi River which lies in the Southern Africa. The grand Zambezi River lies between the two countries of South Africa and they are Zambia and Zimbabwe. These great waterfalls are also known as “Mosi-Oa-Tunya” by the local residents of South Africa which literally means the Smoke of the Thunders. The chilled water of the great Victoria Falls from a height of 1200 meters which make this water fall one of the highest waterfalls of the world.

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Iguazu Falls

In the world of ostentatious and majestic waterfalls of the world, the great Iguazu Falls have stolen away the glare of publicity. The great Iguazu Falls have been the major tourist attractions from the last many years. These giant water curtains are cited in the lapse of the grand Iguazu River which is located on the frame of the Brazilian State and the Argentine prefecture. These grand and glorious waterfalls divide up the Iguazu River into two parts: one part is the upper Iguazu and the other part is the lower Iguazu. These gigantic waterfalls are one of the major tourist’s attractions for the visitors as well as the local residents of Brazil and Argentina. These mammoth waterfalls are comprised up with entire natural beauty and splendor. These waterfalls mainly separate two major countries and they are Brazil and Argentina. These giant water curtains are taller than the famous Niagara Falls and they are as wide as 275 cascades. For the duration of the rainy season in between November and April, the water level of these falls tremendously increases and adds enough charm to its gorgeousness and attractiveness.

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Huangguoshu, China

Also known as Yellow Fruit Tree Waterfall, Haungguoshu waterfall is one of the largest plunge in Asia. Witnessing this cascading water, its mightiness can be only first thing one can think of. Positioned on Baihe River, Huangguoshu is around 77.8 meters high and about 101 meters wide. Hundred of thousands of people visit this place every year. Besides the Great Wall, this is undoubtedly the best attraction in China.

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Blue Nile Falls, Ethiopia

This waterfall is also christened as Tis Issat, which means smoking water. Along with being a major tourist attraction, Blue Nile Falls is extensively used generate power in the area. More and more people are visiting this place, providing Ethiopia a great tourist income. It is located on Blue Nile River and is probably the best spot to visit, when in Ethiopia.

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Angel Falls, Venezuela

Feel the peak of mightiness at Angel Falls, where huge mass of water plummets beautifully from the height of 978 meters, making it the highest waterfalls of the world. The source of this fall is the pinnacle of Auyan Tepuy, a mountain from where the water plunges without any interruption. However, more interesting than the fall is the entrance. This fall can be accessed from Canaima National Park, the only gateway to Angel Falls, and is reached by air. Witnessing all these falls in a lifetime is an ecstasy rarely gained. However, visit to any one also promises remarkable gratification.

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Niagara Falls, Canada/USA

With more than 14 million visitors every year, Niagara Falls is probably the most admired waterfall around the world. This magnificent plunge shares its beauty with two countries and is a combination of three falls. The Bridal Veil Falls and American Falls can be witnessed from New York City. And the glorious panorama of Horseshoe Falls can be viewed from Canada. Due to the natural vista around the falls, this destination has attracted various tourist businesses like hotels, adventures, and tour packages.

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Jog Falls, India

Gushing over River Sharavathi, Jog Falls is considered to be the largest waterfall in India. The plunge is around 829 feet high, which is roughly 253 meters. To witness the most splendid views of Jog Falls, it’s advisable to visit this destination in monsoon season, as very little water can be seen in arid days. However, during monsoon, this plunge exceeds the volume and height of Kaiteus Falls.

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Gullfoss, Iceland

Also known as ‘the Golden Falls’, Gullfoss waterfall is a remarkable double cascade with an altitude of 32 meter, perfectly positioned on White River. This destination is considered to be one of the most popular tourist places in Europe mainly because of the panorama it creates in summer days. During arid season, the glacial runoff and rainwater makes its way through this waterfall and runs into the White River. It is probably the best attraction in Iceland.

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Dettifoss Water Falls

Dettifoss is 44m tall and 100m wide. The stream is so powerful and you can hear the roar from distance if you visit Jökulsárgljúfur National Park, Iceland. The waterfalls transfers 500 cubic meters of waters per second from Vatnajökull glacier down to the sea. You can snap beautiful objects from the two different side of the waterfalls.

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Sutherland Falls

The waterfalls is located in Fiorland National Park, New Zeland. It is famous for the rough stream, beautiful scenery, and the Milford Track. Loads of people know that this tack is one of the finest track in the world.

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Kaieteur Falls

If you have enough money, you can go to Kaieteur falls in Postaro river, Guyana. Because the transportation is poor, not so many people know about this beautiful object. The Kaieteur Falls drops 221m and spreads 100m from one side to the others. The current is so strong so that the power is often matched with Iguazu falls, Niagara falls and Victoria falls.

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Yosemite Falls

The waterfalls is known as one of the tallest in the world and it stands 2425ft from the lower course. Yosemite Falls is the eye of Yosemite national park and if you come in a right time, you can get this waterfall flowing its hard and rough stream from the cliff.

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Angel Falls

Angel falls plunging 979m down and it is known as the tallest waterfalls on earth. Local people named this place as Auyantepuy (Devil’s Mountain). This waterfalls hides many histories and stories. You can see this place at the rain forest of Canaima National Park, Venezuela.

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Plitvice Waterfalls

Plitvice Waterfalls is renowned since the late of 19th century. Plitvice Waterfalls offers the beauty of 2 lakes and green areas around it on this area, you can find a 70m tall waterfalls and beautiful Boardwalks. If you like to visit Plitvice Waterfalls, you should go to Northern Dalmatia. It is located at 2-hour drive south Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia actually.

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Great Falls

Great Falls, also known as Grindstone Falls, has a height of 10m or 33 feet, and a crest width of 5m or 16 feet. It is located on the Grindstone Creek in Waterdown section of Hamilton just off Mill Street, and has year round flow. A viewing platform has been built beside the waterfall as well as a parking lot. This area, known as Smokey Hollow, was once heavily industrial, as the Grindstone Creek was a power source for a sawmill at the base of Great Falls, as well as other mills that appeared over the years. By 1912, however, the mills had all closed, as the water level in Grindstone Creek had gone down and the steam engines that propelled the waterpower were acknowledged to be too dangerous. Today, thanks to a rehabilitation program implemented by Waterdown residents, the locality is a beautiful and well-kept park.

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Damajagua Falls

This inspiring activity for nature lovers takes you beyond the gold-sand beaches of Puerto Plata and into the silver-capped mountains for the 27 waterfalls of Damajagua, a fairytale-like labyrinth of tunnels and caves set against a backdrop of rural mountain scenery. Trek through jungle and scale rock mounds as high as 40 feet before cascading into crystal-clear natural swimming pools. The most intrepid explorers hike the hour required to reach the highest waterfall before descending a three-hour-long track. A shorter but no less challenging trail scrambles up and down the first seven falls with plenty of swimming breaks in between.

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Kegon Falls. Japan

It IS one of Japan’s three great waterfalls, taking water from the nearby Lake Chuzenji down 318 feet off the edge of a cliff to a river below. You can took an elevator down to an observation deck for a spectacular view.It is usually shrouded in fog and mist. To the side of the falls is an impressive display of cobalt rock formations.

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Top 10 Castles of the World

2011-07-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

PALACE OF VERSAILLES

The Palace of Versailles was the official residence of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790. It was originally a hunting lodge, built in 1624, by Louis XIII. It was expanded by Louis XIV beginning in 1669. He used it as a little lodge as a secret refuge for his amorous trysts with the lovely Louise de la Valliere and built a fairy tale park around it. Jules Hardouin Mansart, the king’s principal architect, drew the plans to enlarge what was turning more and more into a palace from A Thousand and One Nights. The terrace that overlooked the gardens was removed to make way for the magnificent Hall of Mirrors, the Galarie de Glaces. It is here from which the king radiated his power and where the destiny of Europe was decided over a century. The French classical architecture was complemented by extensive gardens.

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CHENONCEAU

Chenonceaux, small agricultural community in the department of Indre-et-Loire in northwestern France,18 miles east of Tours. Located on the Cher River. Chenonceaux is best known as the site of the 16th-century Chateau de Chenonceaux, which is situated on the north bank of the river.
In 1515 Thomas Bohier, revenue collector for King Francis I, began the construction of the Chateau de Chenonceaux. Unfinished at the time of his death, construction of the chateau was completed by Bohier’s wife and son. In 1535, however, Francis I took the estate in payment of debts. King Henry II, son of Francis I, gave the chateaux to Diane de Poitiers, duchesse de Valentinois, who extended the structure by a bridge across the Cher. Catherine de Medicis, widow of Henry II, forced Diane de Poitiers to deed the chateaux to her. Catherine de Medicis constructed the gallery above the bridge and the stables known as the Batiment-des-Dames. The chateau became her favorite residence, and it was there that her son Francis II and Mary, Queen of Scots, were married in 1560.

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The Chateau of Chambord

Chambord, chateau, park, and village in the department of Loire-et-Cher in central France. The chateau of Chambord was a retreat for French kings, especially Louis XIV It was under his auspices that French dramatist Moliere’s Monsieur de Pourceaugnac and Le bourgeois Gentilhomme were first produced there.

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Linderhof

Ludwig II built this secluded hunting lodge, it was known as the Kings Hut. Ludwig decided that this will be a New Versailles. It was planned as a modest villa but had become a splendid Rococo palace in the ornate French style. Linderhof is the smallest of the three royal castles, and the only one which was completely finished. (1878).

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Tower of London

Castle building was an essential part of the Norman Conquest; when Duke William of Normandy invaded England in 1066 his first action after landing was to build a castle.After his coronation in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066, William ordered the construction of a castle in London for his triumphal entry. nitially the Tower had consisted of a modest enclosure built into the south-east corner of the Roman City walls, but by the late 1070s, with the initial completion of the White Tower, it had become the most fearsome of all. Nothing had been seen like it in England before. It was built by Norman masons and English (Anglo-Saxon) labor drafted in from the countryside. It was intended to protect the river route from Danish attack, but also and more importantly to dominate the City physically and visually.The White Tower was protected to the east and south by the old Roman City walls (a full height fragment can be seen just by Tower Hill underground station), while the north and west sides were protected by ditches as much as 750m (25ft) wide and 3.40m (lift) deep and an earthwork with a wooden wall on top. It is important for us today to remember that the functions of the Tower from the 1070s until the late 19th century were established by its Norman founders. The Tower was never primarily intended to protect London from external invasion, although, of course, it could have done so if necessary. Nor was it ever intended to be the principal residence of the kings and queens of England, though many did in fact spend periods of time there. Its primary function was always to provide a base for royal power in the City of London and a stronghold to which the royal family could retreat in times of civil disorder.

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Leeds, Kent

Leeds Castle, acclaimed as the most romantic castle in England, is located in south-east England, built on two adjacent island in the river Len.Leeds Castle was originally a manor of the Saxon royal family possibly as early as the reign of Ethelbert IV ( 856-860). The first castle was an earthwork enclosure whose wooden palisade was converted to stone and provided with two towers along the perimeter. This is now vanished. Traces of arches in a vault thought to be Norman were found at the beginning of this century. Around 1119 Robert Crevecoeur started to build a stone castle on the site, establishing his donjon where the Gloriette now is. Stephen, Count of Blois, and his cousin the Empress Matilda contested the crown of England. In 1139 Matilda invaded England with the help of his brother Robert, Earl of Gloucester, who held Leeds castle, but Kent was loyal to king Stephen and following a short siege he took control of the castle.The castle came into the possession of Edward I (1278) . He rebuilt much of the castle as it stood at the beginning of his reign, and enlarged it, providing an outer stone curtain round the edge of the larger island, with cylindrical open-backed flanking towers and a square-plan water-gate on the south-east. The gatehouse at the south-west, a single tower pierced by an arched passage was improved.Henry VIII, the most famous of all the owners of Leeds Castles, expended large sums in enlarging and beautifying the whole range of buildings. At the same time, he carefully retained the defenses of the castle for he often had cause to fear invasion from either France or the Spanish . The king entrusted the work of alteration to his great friend Sir Henry Guidford.Leeds has been constantly inhabited and rebuilt since then. Most of the castle today is the result of the nineteenth-century reconstruction and addition.

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Blois

Dominating the Loire River, the royal castle of Blois is not only one of the most prestigious Renaissance monuments in France but also a brilliant illustration of the evolution of the French architecture from the Middle ages to the 17th century.About the middle of the 10th century, the name of Thibaud I is recorded Count of Blois, he was the founder of the family who remained in power until 1230. Blois became the most important town in the region. The first stone castle was built to protect the town dates back to that period. An independent bastion surrounded the castle, and followed the line of the headland on which it was erected. The numerous medieval remains still exists. The best preserved medieval tower is situated on a terrace overlooking the Loire.While the Franco-Anglo was (named the Hundred Years War) raged in the real, an event took place that determined the future of the county of Blois, the ancient fortress became a royal castle. At the end of the 14th. century, the county of Blois was sold to Prince Louis of Orleans, son of the king of France Charles V. He lived in the castle for 25 years attracting a small court of scholars and poets. His grandson, Louis XII became king of France in 1498 and decided to move to Blois, in this way, the small town became a royal town and the capital of the Kingdom.Under Louis XII and Francis I the town of Blois grew considerably. But after the disaster of Pavia in 1525, Francis I never returned to Blois and his successors only paid short visits to the town. According to French and Gothic tradition, the initials and emblems of the owners of the place are sculptured in the stone: fleur de lis for the king and ermine spots for the queen, Anne de Bretagne. The equestrian statue of the king crowns the main entrance of the castle. The emblem of the king, the salamander, is sculptured eleven times in high relief on the Francis I facade. The staircase, which was at the center of the facade before Gaston d”Orleans began to modify the castle is a masterpiece. When the Italianate straight flights of stairs appeared in the Loire Valley after the Gothic period, the shape of the spiral staircase in a protruding octagonal cage was considered rather ordinary. The staircase, with its three floors of balconies looking on to the Court of Honor, is perfectly suitable for the display of more and more sumptuous ceremonies.

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Nymphenburg

The former summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria is located in the west part of the city in the middle of one of Munich’s most beautiful parks. Five generations of Wittelsbach rulers were involved in the construction of this Baroque castle.
The building of Nymphenburg Castle began in the reign of the Elector Ferdinand Maria: overjoyed by the birth of his son and heir, Max Emanuel, he had the central section built for his wife in the style of an Italian villa (Agostino Barelli, 1664-74). In about 1700, Max Emanuel commissioned Enrico Zuccali and Antonio Viscardi to extend the castle by adding galleries and pavilions.The central section owes its present appearance to the efforts of Josef Effner, who in 1715, designed the pilasters, arched windows and busts that now grace the exterior. A few years later, the south section of the castle was added to serve as the court stables. As a counterpart, the orangerie was added to the north.Central section: Stone Hall (Steinerner Saal; 1755-57) with ceiling frescoes by J. B. and F Zimmermann (Homage to the Goddess Hora); the Rococo stucco work is based on designs by Cuvillies.

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Mont St. Michael

Le Mont-Saint-Michel, rocky, cone-shaped islet in northwestern France, in the Gulf of Saint-Malo, connected by a causeway with the mainland. The islet, celebrated for its Benedictine abbey, has small houses and shops on its lowest level. Above these stand the monastic buildings, many of which date from the 13th century and are considered outstanding examples of Gothic architecture. The entire islet is crowned by the abbey church, about 73 m (about 240 ft) above sea level.The first chapel on this site was founded in 708 by Aubert, Bishop of Avranches , after the Archangel Michael has appeared to him in a dream. The Archangel Michel appeared here in the year 708. The Abbey takes the name of Mont saint Michel. The oratory, consecrated in 709 was served by a community of canons. It apparently survived the Norman invasions, but the observance of the rule became very relaxed. In 966 Richard I, Duke of Normandy, established there the Benedictine monks from St. Wandrille Abbeyunder the direction of Abbot Maynard, who began the reconstructions of the church and other buildings. The church was burnt in 922 and rebuilt on a larger scale by Abbot Hildebert II from 1023, at the time of the monastic reforms in Normandy carried out by Richard II and William of Volpiano. Mont Saint-Michel was built in a strong rock that measures 84 meters height. It is pure granite and is so hard that has resisted the passage of time.Mont Saint Michel was built as a medieval castle. It has two large towers to defend the entrance to the castle. St. Michael is a surety for freedom and thus this sanctuary also became a symbol of the allied landing in Normandy during the Second World War.

The World’s Most Mysterious Places

2011-07-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

Beautiful But Weird Fashion!

2011-07-05T07:07:00.001-07:00

Live from Heart~ Buddha Bar

2011-07-04T06:40:00.001-07:00

Water Drop amazing to see

2011-02-25T06:50:00.000-08:00

amazing-shark-pictures

2011-02-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

Top 10 Most Expensive Houses In the World

2011-02-11T06:04:00.000-08:00

Top 10 Most Expensive Houses In the World

10. Dracula’s Castle, Romania – $135million

Dracula’s Castle, Romania – $135million

9. Updown Court, Windlesham, Surrey- Price – $139 million

Updown Court, Windlesham, Surrey- Price - $139 million

8. “The Manor,” Los Angeles – Price – $150 million

8. “The Manor,” Los Angeles - Price - $150 million

7. The Pinnacle,” Montana – Price – $155 million

The Pinnacle, Montana - Price - $155 million

6. Franchuk Villa, Kensington – Price – $161 million

Franchuk Villa, Kensington

5. Hearst Mansion, Beverly Hills – Price – $165 million

Hearst Mansion, Beverly Hills

4. Fairfield Pond, The Hamptons – Price – $170 million

Fairfield Pond, The Hamptons

3. The Penthouse, London – Price – $200 million

The Penthouse, London

2. Villa Leopolda, Cote D’Azur, France – Price – $506 million

Villa Leopolda, Cote D'Azur, France

1. Antilla, Mumbai – Price – $1 billion

Antilla, Mumbai - Most Expensive House In The World

Tree With Teeth And Axe

2011-02-11T05:56:00.000-08:00

Raid de Himalaya LEG 6 (HD) : Video

2010-12-03T05:46:00.001-08:00

Metal Sculpture - Love

2010-11-19T05:42:00.000-08:00

In the Georgian spa town of Batumi, a new attraction - a metal sculpture of "Love".
It is noteworthy that the sculpture ... mobile. Seven meter schematic figures of men and women spinning move
toward each other and merge together.

The Most Expensive House

2010-11-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

Mukesh Ambani from India, built a house worth $ 1 billion. This is the most expensive private house in history. The construction of this 27-storey building, which now lives a family of six people, took seven years.

Its height is 60 floors of conventional buildings, but the ceilings are almost three times higher than normal, and therefore in the palace was built only 27 floors. The total area of 37,000 square meters.

Home Get a truly unique - there each room has its own exclusive design. In addition, here are a health club with gym, dance studio, ballroom, yoga studio, swimming pools, numerous bars and guest rooms, as well as a room where you can escape the Mumbai heat with the help of artificial snow .. The house has 9 lifts, and the roof are three helipads. On the upper floors of the mansion offers a spectacular view of Mumbai and the Arabian Sea. The first six floors has a garage for 160 cars. One of the floors are given over to home theater. Also, the building has two floors of "security" which meant, apparently to hide the family of billionaire in the event of an armed assault.

The most Creative Ads on Buildings

2010-11-19T05:25:00.000-08:00

How to make the roads in Holland

2010-11-19T05:19:00.000-08:00

A Very Rare Type of Weapon

2010-11-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

This belt buckle pistol, was created in 30th years of last century in Nazi Germany.
Since the domain of the buckle pistol was very limited, they were released quite a bit.
Running the whole thing is very simple.
There are two types of buckles, guns - and dvuhstvolnaya Quadruple (7.65 and 5.6 caliber, respectively).
When you click on the upper part of the buckle is opened and immediately shot.
In other models, after opening the buckle must still pull the trigger.

Crocodile Attack on Elephant

2010-11-19T05:01:00.000-08:00

digg

2010-11-03T06:06:00.001-07:00

Amazing Flexible Body of Man

2010-09-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, we do many exercise for remain fit in our life cycle. But in this case here a man has a totally flexible and smooth body. He can bring his arm and leg in any positions. Really this is an amazing thing for ordinary persons. Guys Below you can see the pictures of amazing flexible body of man.

Look in the above photo he brings his hand backward from the body from passing between two legs.

What an excellent performance!! This is a so stunning picture. Here he put one lag one behind his head.

This seems too easy particularly for above photo's task but not easy for a normal persons.

Here the man stands on one leg and around the body I mean from behind to front part of the body while we are not supposed to stand with one leg.

We really can't touch our head to the legs while here he push his head more front and it's become amazing I mean he can able to see his ass and for other persons it's impossible.

In this photo he is trying to Yoga.

Amazing Rock In Saudi Arabia – Believe It Or Not!

2010-09-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

A huge rock in a village of Al-Hassa region, SAUDI ARABIA raises 11 cms from the ground level once in a year during the month of April and stays elevated for about 30 minutes!!!

They say that 17 years ago, one Mujahid was shot dead behind this rock as he was hidden there. This encounter happened in the month of April 1989. You can see the fresh blood stains on the rock. Most surprisingly, when the rock raises from the ground, these stains become darker, fresher and wet. Local residents tried to wipe off the stains several times, but after some time it appears again on the rock automatically…

ARR- Vandemataram & Jana gana mana

2010-09-03T07:02:00.001-07:00

Indian to be proud of Jana Gana Mana

2010-09-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

Incredible India

2010-09-03T06:52:00.001-07:00

Nice Creative

2010-07-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

Stunning Collection of Amazingly Realistic Sculptures

2010-07-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Stunning Collection of Amazingly Realistic Sculptures

The Colossus of Rhodes

2010-03-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

The Colossus of Rhodes

The island of Rhodes was an important economic centre in the ancient world. It is located off the southwestern tip of Asia Minor where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean. The capitol city, also named Rhodes, was built in 408 B.C. and was designed to take advantage of the island's best natural harbour on the northern coast. In 357 B.C. the island was conquered by Mausolus of Halicarnassus (whose tomb is one of the other Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), fell into Persian hands in 340 B.C., and was finally captured by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C..

When Alexander died of a fever at an early age, his generals fought bitterly among themselves for control of Alexander's vast kingdom. Three of them, Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Antigous, succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. The Rhodians supportedPtolemy (who wound up ruling Egypt) in this struggle. This angered Antigous who sent his son Demetrius to capture and punish the city of Rhodes. The war was long and painful. Demetrius brought an army of 40,000 men. This was more than the entire population ofRhodes.

When Demetrius attacked the city, the defenders stopped the war machine by flooding a ditch outside the walls and mining the heavy monster in the mud. By then almost a year had gone by and a fleet of ships from Egypt arrived to assist the city. Demetrius withdrew quickly leaving the great siege tower where it was. To celebrate their victory and freedom, the Rhodians decided to build a giant statue of their patron god Helios.

They melted down bronze from the many war machines Demetrius left behind for the exterior of the figure and the super siege tower became the scaffolding for the project. According to Pliny, a historian who lived several centuries after the Colossus was built, construction took 12 years. Other historians place the start of the work in 304 B.C..

The statue was one hundred and ten feet high and stood upon a fifty-foot pedestal near the harbour mole. Although the statue has been popularly depicted with its legs spanning the harbour entrance so that ships could pass beneath, it was actually posed in a more traditional Greek manner: nude, wearing a spiked crown, shading its eyes from the rising sun with its right hand, while holding a cloak over its left.

The architect of this great construction was Chares of Lindos, a Rhodian sculptor who was a patriot and fought in defence of the city. Chares had been involved with large scale statues before. His teacher, Lysippus, had constructed a 60-foot high likeness of Zeus. Chares probably started by making smaller versions of the statue, maybe three feet high, then used these as a guide to shaping each of the bronze plates of the skin.

The Colossus stood proudly at the harbour entrance for some fifty-six years. Each morning the sun must have caught its polished bronze surface and made the god's figure shine. Then an earthquake hit Rhodes and the statue collapsed. Huge pieces of the figure lay along the harbour for centuries.

It is said that an Egyptian king offered to pay for its reconstruction, but the Rhodians refused. They feared that somehow the statue had offended the god Helios, who used the earthquake to throw it down.

In the seventh century A.D. the Arabs conquered Rhodes and broke the remains of the Colossus up into smaller pieces and sold it as scrap metal. Legend says it took 900 camels to carry away the statue. A sad end for what must have been a majestic work of art.

The Great Pyramids

2010-03-09T06:52:00.001-08:00

The Great Pyramids of Giza

It's 756 feet long on each side, 450 high and is composed of 2,300,000 blocks of stone, each averaging 2 1/2 tons in weight. Despite the makers' limited surveying tools no side is more than 8 inches different in length than another, and the whole structure is perfectly oriented to the points of the compass.

Until the 19th century it was the tallest building in the world and, at the age of 4,500 years, it is the only one of the famous "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" that still stands. It is the Great Pyramid of Khufu, at Giza, Egypt.

Some of the earliest history of the Pyramid comes from a Greek traveller named Herodotus of Halicanassus. He visited Egypt around 450 BC and included a description of the Great Pyramid in a history book he wrote. Herodotus was told by his Egyptian guides that it took twenty-years for a force of 100,000 oppressed slaves to build the pyramid. Stones were lifted into position by the use of immense machines.
In 1638 a English mathematician, John Greaves, visited the pyramid. He discovered a narrow shaft, hidden in the wall, that connected theGrand Gallery with the descending passage. Both ends were tightly sealed and the bottom was blocked with debris. Some archaeologists suggested this route was used by the last of the Pharaoh's men to exit the tomb, after the granite plugs had been put in place, and by the thieves to get inside. Given the small size of the passageway and the amount of debris it seems unlikely that the massive amount of treasure, including the huge missing sarcophagus lid, could have been removed this way.

Some have suggested that the pyramid was never meant as a tomb, but as an astronomical observatory.

Richard Proctor, an astronomer, did observe that the descending passage could have been used to observe the transits of certain stars. He also suggested that the grand gallery, when open at the top, during construction, could have been used for mapping the sky.

Most archaeologists, though, accept the theory that the great pyramid was just the largest of a tradition of tombs used for the Pharaohs of Egypt.

So what happened to Khufu's mummy and treasure? Nobody knows. Extensive explorations have found no other chambers or passageways. Still one must wonder if, perhaps in this one case, the King and his architects out smarted both the ancient thieves and modern archaeologists and that somewhere in, or below, the last wonder of the ancient world, rests Khufu and his sacred gold.

Seven wonders of the world

2010-03-09T06:47:00.000-08:00

The Temple of Artemis

The first shrine to the Goddess Artemis was probably built around 800 B.C. on a marshy strip near the river at Ephesus. TheEphesus Goddess Artemis, sometimes called Diana, is not the same figure as the Artemis worshipped in Greece. The GreekArtemis is the goddess of the hunt. The Ephesus Artemis was a goddess of fertility and was often pictured as draped with eggs, or multiple breasts, symbols of fertility, from her waist to her shoulders.

The shrine was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the next few hundred years. By 600 B.C., the city of Ephesus had become a major port of trade and an architect named Chersiphron was engaged to build a new large temple. He designed it with high stone columns. Concerned that carts carrying the columns might get marred in the swampy ground around the site, Chersiphron laid the columns on their sides and had them rolled to where they would be erected. This temple didn't last long. In 550 B.C. King Croesusof Lydia conquered Ephesus and the other Greek cities of Asia Minor. During the fighting, the temple was destroyed. Croesusproved himself a gracious winner, though, by contributing generously to the building of a new temple. This was next to the last of the great temples to Artemis in Ephesus and it dwarfed those that had come before.

The architect is thought to be a man named Theodorus. Theodorus's temple was 300 feet in length and 150 feet wide with an area four times the size of the temple before it. More than one hundred stone columns supported a massive roof. The new temple was the pride of Ephesus until 356 B.C. when a tragedy, by name of Herostratus, struck.

Herostratus was a young Ephesian who would stop at no cost to have his name go down in history. He managed this by burning the temple to the ground. The citizens of Ephesus were so appalled at this act they issued a decree that anyone who spoke ofHerostratus would be put to death. Shortly after this horrible deed, a new temple was commissioned.

The architect was Scopas of Paros, one of the most famous sculptors of his day. Ephesus was one of the greatest cities in Asia Minor at this point and no expense was spared in the construction. According to Piny the Elder, a Roman historian, the temple was a "wonderful monument of Grecian magnificence, and one that merits our genuine admiration." The temple was built in the same marshy place as before. To prepare the ground, Piny recorded that "layers of trodden charcoal were placed beneath, with fleeces covered with wool upon the top of them."

The building is thought to be the first completely constructed with marble and one of its must unusual features were 36 columns whose lower portions were carved with figures in high-relief (above).

The temple also housed many works of art including four bronze statues of Amazon women. Piny recorded the length of this new temple at 425 feet and the width at 225 feet. Some 127 columns, 60 feet in height, supported the roof. In comparison the Parthenon, the remains of which stand on the acropolis in Athens today, was only 230 feet long, 100 feet wide and had 58 columns. According to Piny, construction took 120 years, though some experts suspect it may have only taken half that time.

We do know that when Alexander the Great came to Ephesus in 333 B.C., the temple was still under construction. He offered to finance the completion of the temple if the city would credit him as the builder. The city fathers didn't want Alexander's name carved on the temple, but didn't want to tell him that. They finally gave the tactful response: "It is not fitting that one god should build a temple for another god" and Alexander didn't press the matter .

Piny reported that earthen ramps were employed to get the heavy stone beams perched on top of the columns. This method seemed to work well until one of the largest beams was put into position above the door. It went down crookedly and the architect could find no way to get it to lie flat. He was beside himself with worry about this until he had a dream one night in which the Goddess herself appeared to him saying that he should not be concerned. She herself had moved the stone in the proper position. The next morning the architect found that the dream was true. During the night the beam had settled into its proper place.

The city continued to prosper over the next few hundred years and was the destination for many pilgrims coming to view the temple. A souvenir business in miniature Artemis idols, perhaps similar to a statue of her in the temple, grew up around the shrine. It was one of these business proprietors, a man named Demetrius, that gave St. Paul a difficult time when he visited the city in 57 A.D.
St. Paul came to the city to win converts to the then new religion of Christianity. He was so successful that Demetrius feared the people would turn away from Artemis and he would lose his livelihood. He called others of his trade together with him and gave a rousing speech ending with "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" They then seized two of Paul's companions and a near riot followed. Eventually the city was quieted, the men released, and Paul left for Macedonia. It was Paul's Christianity that won out in the end, though.

By the time the great Temple of Artemis was destroyed during a raid by the Goths in 262 A.D., both the city and the religion of Artemis were in decline. When the Roman Emperor Constantine rebuilt much of Ephesus a century later, he declined to restore the temple. He had become a Christian and had little interest in pagan temples.

Despite Constantine's efforts, Ephesus declined in its importance as a crossroads of trade. The bay where ships docked disappeared as silt from the river filled it. In the end what was left of the city was miles from the sea, and many of the inhabitants left swampy lowland to live in the surrounding hills. Those that remained used the ruins of the temple as a source of building materials. Many of the fine sculptures were pounded into powder to make lime for wall plaster.

In 1863 the British Museum sent John Turtle Wood, an architect, to search for the temple. Wood met with many obstacles. The region was infested with bandits. Workers were hard to find. His budget was too small. Perhaps the biggest difficulty was that he had no idea where the temple was located. He searched for the temple for six years. Each year the British Museum threatened to cut off his funding unless he found something significant, and each year he convinced them to fund him for just one more season.

Wood kept returning to the site each year many despite hardships. During his first season he was thrown from a horse, breaking his collar bone. Two years later he was stabbed within an inch of his heart during an assassination attempt upon the British Consul in Smyrna.

Finally in 1869, at the bottom of a muddy twenty-foot deep test pit, his crew struck the base of the great temple. Wood then excavated the whole foundation removing 132,000 cubic yards of the swamp to leave a hole some 300 feet wide and 500 feet long. The remains of some of the sculptured portions were found and shipped the to British Museum where they can be viewed even today.

In 1904 another British Museum expedition under the leadership of D.G. Hograth continued the excavation. Hograth found evidence of five temples on the site, each constructed on top of the other.

Today the site of the temple is a marshy field. A single column is erect to remind visitors that once there stood in that place one of the wonders of the ancient world.

birth of Dolphin

2010-03-03T05:25:00.000-08:00

A dolphin born in an aquarium in the Netherlands is to be named by the public.

As these amazing photos show his mother Finagain gave birth in her pool in the Harderwijk Dolfinarium on the 22nd May.

Finagain, a common bottlenose dolphin, was herself born in captivity to Notchfin and Guy in 1992.

Her pregnancy lasted twelve months, and the as-yet unnamed calf is around 3ft long at birth, already fully capable of swimming. Unlike human babies dolphin calves are born “breech”, i.e. tail first.

It will live with its mother until it is six. Male dolphins become sexually mature around age nine to thirteen.

The Dolfinarium is home to sixteen dolphins and six harbour porpoise. As well as hosting dolphin displays it acts as a rehabilitation centre, taking in beached or injured cetaceans and preparing them for life back in the wild.

It was first opened in 1965 by Frits den Herder and his brother Coen. During its chequered history the park went bankrupt after an ill-advised expansion into other European countries.

Only a state intervention by the Dutch government restored it to the not-for-profit animal rehabilitation centre it is today.

Amazing flying seen in air

2010-02-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

tony jaa excluse 1

2009-10-28T21:38:00.003-07:00

Amazing artist

2009-10-28T21:38:00.001-07:00

amazing accident

2009-10-28T21:37:00.001-07:00

Cheetah vs lion - BBC wildlife

2009-10-11T02:35:00.001-07:00

TOP 20 MOST AMAZING AND UNBELIEVABLE PHOTOS PART 1

2009-09-17T22:00:00.001-07:00

Amazing Things About Everything The Second

2009-09-17T21:58:00.001-07:00

wonderfull rock house

2009-09-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

Never before seen Video of WTC 9/11 attack

2009-09-07T21:57:00.001-07:00

9/11 pentagon coverup conspiracy - no 757

2009-09-07T21:51:00.001-07:00

Amazing Hand Shadow show by Raymond Crowe

2009-09-07T21:49:00.001-07:00

Wonders in Monkey life

2009-08-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

Funny Monkey drama

2009-07-01T07:27:00.001-07:00

GREATEST RIVER AMAZON

2009-06-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

Greatest River....
AMAZON

How Great is the Amazon River?

The Amazon is the greatest river in the world by so many measures; the volume of water it carries to the sea (approximately 20% of all the freshwater discharge into the oceans), the area of land that drains into it, and its length and width. It is one of the longest rivers in the world and, depending upon who you talk to, is anywhere between 6,259km/3,903mi and 6,712km/4,195mi long.

For the last century the length of the Amazon and the Nile Rivers have been in a tight battle for title of world's longest river. The exact length of the two rivers varies over time and reputable sources disagree as to their actual length. The Nile River in Africa is reported to be anywhere from at 5,499km/3,437mi to 6,690km/4,180mi long. But there is no question as to which of the two great rivers carries the greater volume of water -the Amazon River.

At its widest point the Amazon River can be 11km/6.8 mi wide during the dry season. The area covered by the Amazon River and its tributaries more than triples over the course of a year. In an average dry season 110,000 square km of land are water-covered, while in the wet season the flooded area of the Amazon Basin rises to 350,000 square km. When the flood plains and the Amazon River Basin flood during the rainy season the Amazon River can be up to 40km/24.8 mi wide. Where the Amazon opens at its estuary the river is over 325km/202 mi wide!

Because the Amazon drains the entire Northern half of the South American continent (approx. 40% landmass), including all the torrential tropical rains that deluge the rainforests, it carries an enormous amount of water. The mouth of the Amazon River, where it meets the sea, is so wide and deep that ocean-going ships have navigated its waters and traveled as far inland as two-thirds the way up the entire length of the river.

Meet Dr. Zeb Hogan here on Extreme Science...

The Amazon - Home of Extremes

The Amazon River is not only the greatest in the world, it is home to many other "Extremes" of the natural world. Have you ever seen a catfish? They're usually found in warm, slow moving waters of lakes and streams, and some people keep them as pets in aquariums. Catfish are pretty creepy looking fish with big flat heads and "whiskers" on either side of their heads (hence the name, catfish). Most catfish that we're familiar with here in the U.S. are anywhere from eight inches long to about five feet, weighing in at up to 60 pounds. But the catfish that live in the world's greatest river have all the room in the world to grow as big as nature will allow - they have been captured weighing over 200 pounds! One of the largest freshwater fish in the world is found living in the waters of the Amazon River. Arapaima, also known locally as Pirarucu,Arapaima gigas are the largest, exclusively fresh water fish in the world. They have been found to reach a length of 15 ft/4m and can weigh up to 440lbs/200kg. (Read about the biggest freshwater fish in the world.)

The Amazon is also home to some other extreme creatures, featured here in "Extreme Science"; the Anaconda (biggest snake), and Piranha(most ferocious). Check it out!

Amazon River Facts

So, how did the Amazon get to be so big? The first reason has to do with its location - right at the equator. Around the "belt line" of the earth lies a warm, tropical zone where over 400 in/1016cm of rain fall every year. That averages out to more than an inch (3cm) of rain, everyday! A lot of water falls onto the land surrounding the river, what is called the "Amazon River drainage basin". A good way to understand what a drainage basin is to think of the whole northern half of the continent of South America as a shallow dish, or saucer. Whenever rain falls and lands anywhere in the river basin it all runs into the lowest place in the pan, which happens to be the Amazon River. The sheer volume of rain in the Amazon jungle, as well as the slope of the surrounding land, combine to create the enormous river known as the Amazon.

LARGEST LAND ANIMAL AFRICAN ELEPHANT

2009-06-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

Largest Land Animal....
AFRICAN ELEPHANT
Loxodonta africana

Imagine six, full-size pick-up trucks stacked on top of each other. That's how much the largest African elephant weighed. There are other species of elephants, namely the Asian and the Indian, but they are much smaller than the African. The African elephant is the king among the giants on land. No other land animal comes close to the size of these creatures. It would take 165 full-grown men to make up the same weight as the world's record African elephant. The noise of an elephant digesting its food (when its tummy's growling) can be heard up to 600ft/183m away. Elephants actually have control over their digestive processes because they are able to stop the sounds of digestion when they sense danger. Here are some other cool elephant factoids:
· In one year an elephant can drink 15,000 gal/57,000 liters of water
· Male elephants usually weigh about 16,500 lbs/7,425 kgs and are about 20 ft/6.1m long
· Elephants have only FOUR teeth, which they can lose and replace up to six times
· Elephants are herbivores, meaning they eat only plants and vegetation
· African elephants can live as long as 70 years
· Female gestation (length of pregnancy) in elephants is 22 months - almost 2 years!
· Both male and female elephants have ivory tusks, which they use to dig for water, strip bark off trees, and the males used to 'spar' with each other

An Elephant Never Forgets

Elephants are very intelligent animals, with a sophisticated system of communicating. Like whales, they can create sounds that are outside the range of human hearing (calledsubsonic* sound). By blowing air through large chambers in their nasal passages they can create low rumbling sounds that can carry as far as five miles (8kms). No matter how loudly you screamed, even through a megaphone or a public address microphone, you couldn't be heard by another person five miles away! Being able to communicate with other groups of elephants helps the elephants to detect danger and warn others, as well as to find water, which is extremely scarce in some parts of Africa. African elephants are intelligent enough to be able to detect water flowing underground and have been seen digging up water in a riverbed that has run dry. Elephants really are amazing animals!!!!

HISHEST WATER FALL IN THE WORLD

2009-06-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

Highest Waterfall ....
ANGEL FALLS

The Story of the Angel Falls Discovery

Angel Falls. Buy this poster at AllPosters.com

The Natives in Venezuela had known about the "Salto Angel" since the beginning of time. Then United States pilot Jimmie Angel was flying over the area in 1935 when he landed on the top of a lone mountain in search of gold. His plane got stuck in the boggy jungle on top of the mountain and he noticed a pretty impressive waterfall plunging thousands of feet down. He wasn't too happy about the 11 mile hike back to civilization, and his plane remained stuck and rusting upon the mountain as a monument to his discovery. Soon the whole world would know about the falls, which came to be known as Angel Falls, after the pilot who "discovered" them.

Angel Falls plunges from the top of a mesa, or what the natives call a Tepuyi. Named "Auyantepui", the Angel Falls mesa is one of over a hundred of its kind which are scattered about the Guiana Highlands of southeast Venezuela. Like so many slumbering giants, what characterizes these mesas (Tepuys) is their massive heights soaring up towards the sky, each with a flat top and totally vertical sides (check out the picture at left). Also called "table mountains" (which accurately describes their shapes) these Tepuys were formed out of sandstone billions of years ago. Their vertical sides are continually being eroded by the action of water from the heavy rainfall the Guiana Highlands gets.

amazing car sand pics

2009-03-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

wonder draculla catching a maN

2009-03-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

man face beauty
DRACULLA CATCHING A MAN

WORLD AMAZING SAND STATUE par 1

2009-03-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

world most amazing videos 1

2009-02-18T00:29:00.001-08:00

here is the different amazing vdos

India - Incredible India - One land everyone desire to see

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Hot girl on bike

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UNBELIEVABLE! Kids Stunting on Pocket Bike!

2009-02-08T08:06:00.001-08:00

a small boy amazing bike show

Ronnie Coleman - The Unbelievable

2009-02-08T07:48:00.001-08:00

Ronnie Coleman: The Unbelievable (Trailer)

2009-02-08T07:36:00.001-08:00

most amazing thing i've learned in college

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amazing college day lays

the most amazing acidents

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amazing one

AMAZING BUILDING WITH CAR PARKING

2009-02-07T22:01:00.000-08:00

AMAZING NATURE VDOS

2009-02-05T04:29:00.000-08:00

HAI ,

ALL HERE IS THE AMAZING THINGS TO COME.