Giant TV

A large number of the people that went to Germany to watch the Fifa's World Cup could not got hold of tickets to get into the stadiums. you are talking about roughly 40,000 people. This is the Frankfut's solution for these people to watch the games.

The Longest Tail on a Horse

Crystal Socha, 26, of Augusta, Kan., shows her American Paint horse, Summer, during the 11th annual EquiFest of Kansas at the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita Friday, Feb. 29, 2008. Eleven-year-old Summer holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for the longest tail on a horse, at twelve feet, six inches.

Hop on board! Meet Thailand's easy-riding biker frog

This is "Nong Oui", Thailand's amphibian answer to the Hell's Angels.There is nothing the black-spotted frog likes better than taking her Harley out for a spin - even if she is a bit of a poseur.

But, tragically for bikers and frog-lovers everywhere, Nong Oui's owner Tongsai Bamroongtai, 52, says she has now been grounded - because she can no longer predict winning National Lottery numbers.

Mrs Bamroongtoi came across Nong Oui outside her house in the Thai province of Roi-Et.



"The frog had a small chick in its mouth. I looked her straight in the eye and knew I could communicate with her. I told her to drop the chick and she did and then came hopping in," she claimed.

2009 Office-Chair Racing Championship

The Germans have done it again. We really thought they were a really serious people, focused only on their work, but it turns out they know how to have fun as well.

After they organized the Ice Swimming Festival in Neuburg, early this year, the Germans strike again with the 2009 Office-Chair Racing Championship. The rather unusual racing competition was held, in Bad Koening Zell, in western Germany. Competitors raced on a 200-meter-long course, in basic or modded office-chairs.



The Office-Chair Racing Championship was first held in 2008, but it’s already growing in popularity and, who knows, it could become an Olympic sport pretty soon.

Biscuit city

A Chinese artist has built a huge city in miniature out of biscuits at Selfridges department store in London:An estimated 72,000 biscuits, including digestives, chocolate digestives, rich tea,hobnobs, caramels and fruit shortcake, will be used during the week-long project.Mr Dong has also built biscuit cities in Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Paris.

Strange Buildings of the World

1. The Crooked House (Sopot, Poland)

Construction of the building started in in January 2003 and in December 2003 it was finished. House architecture is based on Jan Marcin Szancer (famous Polish drawer and child books illustrator) and Per Dahlberg (Swedish painter living in Sopot) pictures and paintings.

2. Forest Spiral - Hundertwasser Building (Darmstadt, Germany)

The Hundertwasser house “Waldspirale” (”Forest Spiral”) was built in Darmstadt between 1998 and 2000. Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the famous Austrian architect and painter, is widely renowned for his revolutionary, colourful architectural designs which incorporate irregular, organic forms, e.g. onion-shaped domes.The structure with 105 apartments wraps around a landscaped courtyard with a running stream. Up in the turret at the southeast corner, there is a restaurant, including a cocktail bar.

3. The Torre Galatea Figueras (Spain)

Etna Volcano

Mount Etna (East coast of Sicily) is the largest active volcano in Europe, currently standing about 3,326 m (10,910 ft) high, though it should be noted that this varies with summit eruptions. The mountain is 21.6 m (71 ft) lower now than it was in 1865

Etna Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of eruption. Although it can occasionally be very destructive, it is not generally regarded as being particularly dangerous, and thousands of people live on its slopes and in the surrounding areas.

10 Most Fascinating Galaxies of our Universe

1: The Sombrero Galaxy

The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as M104 or NGC 4594) is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +9.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes. The large bulge, the central supermassive black hole, and the dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.

2: Black Eye Galaxy

A spiral galaxy in the Coma Berenices constellation, Messier 64, the famous "Black Eye" galaxy or the "Sleeping Beauty galaxy," has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus. It is well known among amateur astronomers because of its appearance in small telescopes.

3: 2MASX J00482185-2507365 occulting pair

The 2MASX J00482185-2507365 occulting pair is a pair of overlapping spiral galaxies found in the vicinity of NGC 253, the Sculptor Galaxy. Both galaxies are more distant than NGC 253, with the background galaxy, 2MASX J00482185-2507365, lying at redshift z=0.06, and the foreground galaxy lying between NGC 253 and the background galaxy (0.0008 < z < 0.06). This pair of galaxies illuminates the distribution of galactic dust beyond the visible arms of a spiral galaxy. The heretofore unexpected extent of dust beyond the starry limits of the arms, shows new areas for extragalactic astronomical study. The dusty arms extend 6 times the radii of the starry arms of the galaxy, and is shown silhouetted in HST images against the central and core sections of the background galaxy.

4: The Whirlpool Galaxy

Also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194, the Whirlpool Galaxy is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy located at a distance of approximately 23 million light-years in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is one of the most famous spiral galaxies in the sky. The galaxy and its companion (NGC 5195) are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may even be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professional astronomers, who study it to further understanding of galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.

5: Grand spiral galaxy

Also known as NGC 123, this fascinating galaxy is dominated by millions of bright stars and dark dust, caught up in a gravitational swirl of spiral arms rotating about the center. Open clusters containing bright blue stars can be seen sprinkled along these spiral arms, while dark lanes of dense interstellar dust can be seen sprinkled between them. Less visible, but detectable, are billions of dim normal stars and vast tracts of interstellar gas, together wielding such high mass that they dominate the dynamics of the inner galaxy. Invisible are even greater amounts of matter in a form we don't yet know - pervasive dark matter needed to explain the motions of the visible in the outer galaxy.

6: Supernova 1987A

Two decades ago, astronomers spotted one of the brightest exploding stars in more than 400 years: a doomed star, called Supernova 1987A. This image shows the entire region around the supernova. The most prominent feature in the image is a ring with dozens of bright spots. A shock wave of material unleashed by the stellar blast is slamming into regions along the ring's inner regions, heating them up, and causing them to glow. The ring, about a light-year across, was probably shed by the star about 20,000 years before it exploded. In the next few years, the entire ring will be ablaze as it absorbs the full force of the crash. The glowing ring is expected to become bright enough to illuminate the star's surroundings, providing astronomers with new information on how the star expelled material before the explosion. The image was taken in December 2006 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and R. Kirshner; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

7: Galaxy NGC 1512

A barred spiral galaxy located some 30 million light years away toward the constellation Horologium, Galaxy NGC 1512 is bright enough to be seen with amateur telescopes. The galaxy is some 70,000 light years across, which is nearly as large as our own Milky Way galaxy. The core of the galaxy is remarkable for its "circumnuclear" starburst ring, which is an amazing circle of young star clusters that spans some 2400 light years across. Galaxy "starbursts" are episodes of vigorous formation of new stars and are found in various galaxy environments.

8: Galaxy NGC 3370

A dusty spiral galaxy located some 98 million light years away toward the constellation Leo, the center of NGC 3370 shows well delineated dust lanes and an uncommonly ill-defined nucleus. This view of NGC 3370 was obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope using the Advanced Camera for surveys and is sharp enough to identify individual Cepheid variable stars in the galaxy. Cepheid variable stars are used to establish extragalactic distances. In 1994, a Type Ia sypernova exploded in NGC 3370. (Credit: NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team and A. Riess; STScI)

9: M81

The big and beautiful spiral galaxy M81, in the northern constellation Ursa Major, is one of the brightest galaxies visible in the skies of planet Earth. This superbly detailed view reveals its bright nucleus, grand spiral arms and sweeping cosmic dust lanes with a scale comparable to the Milky Way. Hinting at a disorderly past, a remarkable dust lane runs straight through the disk, below and right of the galactic center, contrary to M81's other prominent spiral features. The errant dust lane may be the lingering result of a close encounter between M81 and its smaller companion galaxy, M82. Scrutiny of variable stars in M81 (aka NGC 3031) has yielded one of the best determined distances for an external galaxy -- 11.8 million light-years.

10: Hoag's Object

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A non-typical galaxy of the type known as a ring galaxy, the appearance of Hoag's Object has interested amateur astronomers as much as its uncommon structure has fascinated professionals. Is this one galaxy or two? This question came to light in 1950 when astronomer Art Hoag chanced upon this unusual extragalactic object. On the outside is a ring dominated by bright blue stars, while near the center lies a ball of much redder stars that are likely much older. Between the two is a gap that appears almost completely dark. How Hoag's Object formed remains unknown, although similar objects have now been identified and collectively labeled as a form of ring galaxy. Genesis hypotheses include a galaxy collision billions of years ago and perturbative gravitational interactions involving an unusually shaped core. The above photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in July 2001 reveals unprecedented details of Hoag's Object and may yield a better understanding. Hoag's Object spans about 100,000 light years and lies about 600 million light years away toward the constellation of Serpens. Coincidentally, visible in the gap is yet another ring galaxy that likely lies far in the distance.

30 Fascinating Cigarette Smoking Facts

30 Fascinating Cigarette Smoking Facts

The world’s view on smoking cigarettes has changed dramatically over the last century. The habit was once considered to be cool, sexy, good for your health, and widely enjoyed by many people. It was promoted by sportsmen, and advertised all over television. No one could be seen acting in a movie without a lit cigarette in their hand! Today, smoking is considered to be a nasty addictive habit that can kill you and those around you. You wont find them advertised anywhere - nor will you see anyone smoking inside a public building. It seems that these days smokers are considered to be anti-social and are often frowned at if seen smoking outside in crowded places. Below is a list of interesting facts about cigarettes.

1. Cigarettes are the single-most traded item on the planet, with approximately 1 trillion being sold from country to country each year. At a global take of more than $400 billion, it’s one of the world’s largest industries.

2. The nicotine content in several major brands is reportedly on the rise. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Health Department revealed that between 1997 and 2005 the amount of nicotine in Camel, Newport, and Doral cigarettes may have increased by as much as 11 percent.

3. In 1970, President Nixon signed the law that placed warning labels on cigarettes and banned television advertisements for cigarettes. The last date that cigarette ads were permitted on TV was extended by a day, from December 31, 1970 to January 1, 1971 to allow the television networks one last cash windfall from cigarette advertising in the New Year’s Day football games.

4. U.S. cigarette manufacturers now make more money selling cigarettes to countries around the globe than they do selling to Americans.

5. The American brands Marlboro, Kool, Camel and Kent own roughly 70% of the global cigarette market.

6. Cigarettes contain arsenic, formaldehyde, lead, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and 43 known carcinogens.

7. In the early 1950s, the Kent brand of cigarettes used crocidolite asbestos as part of the filter, a known active carcinogen.

8. Urea, a chemical compound that is a major component in urine, is used to add “flavor” to cigarettes.

9. The ‘Cork Tip’ filter was originally invented in 1925 by Hungarian inventor Boris Aivaz, who patented the process of making the cigarette filter from crepe paper. All kinds of filters were tested, although ‘cork’ is unlikely to have been one of them.

10. In most countries around the world, the legal age for the purchase of tobacco products is now 18, raised from 16, while in Japan the age minimum is 20 years old.

11. Contrary to popular social belief, it is NOT illegal to smoke tobacco products at any age. Parents are within the law to allow minors to smoke, and minors are within the law to smoke tobacco products freely. However, the SALE of tobacco products is highly regulated with legal legislation.

12. Smoking bans in many parts of the world have been employed as a means to stop smokers smoking in public. As a result, many social businesses have claimed a significant drop in the number of people who go out to pubs, bars and restaurants.

13. Scientists claim the average smoker will lose 14 years of their life due to smoking. This however does not necessarily mean that a smoker will die young - and they may still live out a ‘normal’ lifespan.

14. The U.S. states with the highest percentage of smokers are Kentucky (28.7%), Indiana (27.3%), and Tennessee (26.8%), while the states with the fewest are Utah (11.5%), California ( 15.2%), and Connecticut (16.5%).

15. Cigarettes can contain more than 4,000 ingredients, which, when burned, can also produce over 200 ‘compound’ chemicals. Many of these ‘compounds’ have been linked to lung damage.

16. The United States is the only major cigarette market in the world in which the percentage of women smoking cigarettes (22%) comes close to the number of men who smoke (35%). Europe has a slightly larger gap (46% of men smoke, 26% of women smoke), while most other regions have few women smokers. The stats: Africa (29% of men smoke, 4% of women smoke); Southeast Asia (44% of men, 4% of women), Western Pacific (60% of men, 8% of women)

17. Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds after smoke is inhaled. It has been found in every part of the body and in breast milk.

18. Sugar approximates to roughly 20% of a cigarette, and many diabetics are unaware of this secret sugar intake. Also, the effect of burning sugar is unknown.

19. ‘Lite’ cigarettes are produced by infusing tobacco with CO2 and superheating it until the tobacco ‘puffs up’ like expanding foam. The expanded tobacco then fills the same paper tube as ‘regular’ tobacco.

20. Smokers draw on ‘lite’ and menthol cigarettes harder (on average) than regular cigarettes; causing the same overall levels of tar and nicotine to be consumed.

21. ‘Lite’ cigarettes are manufactured with air holes around the filter to aerate the smoke as it is drawn in. Many smokers have learned to cover these holes with their fingers or their lips to get a stronger hit.

22. The immune systems of smokers has to work harder every day than non-smokers. As a result, a smokers’ blood will contain less antioxidants, although a smokers immune system may be quicker to respond to virus attacks due to its more active nature.

23. Smokers often smoke after meals to ‘allow food to digest easier’. In fact, this works because the bodies priority moves away from the digestion of food in favor of protecting the blood cells and flushing toxins from the brain.

24. Some people (mostly males) can be aroused by the sight of smoker smoking (usually females). This is called the Smoking Fetish, and affects a small number of the population. As with most fetishes, the reason for this arousal can usually be traced back to incidents in childhood. However, cigarettes - particularly menthols, force blood away from the penis if smoked while aroused.

25. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 25% of cigarettes sold around the world are smuggled.

26. Most smokers take up the habit in their mid teens, well before the legal age for purchasing them, and is seen as a right of passage towards adulthood. Other perceived rights of passage include: aftershave, wearing stilettos, alcohol, drugs and sexual intercourse; with a combination of these sometimes being cited as the main causes of teenage pregnancy.

27. Smoking tobacco is the ultimate gateway drug in that it is legally available, and involves mastering a unique method of intake - much more so than alcohol (which has such a significant effect that users need look no further for stimulation). Smokers looking to get ‘high’ will very rarely do so from cigarettes after the initial stages of taking up the habit.

28. Smokers generally report a variety of after-effects; such as calmness, relaxation, alertness, stimulation, concentration and many others. In fact, smoking will produce a different effect in each individual depending on ‘what they expect to get’; turning the cigarette into the worlds most popular placebo (satisfying the brains hunger for nicotine being the only ‘relaxing’ factor). The smoker will then use these expectations as a means to continue the habit.

29. Several active ingredients and special methods of production are involved in making sure the nicotine in a cigarette is many times more potent than that of a tobacco plant.

30. ‘Toppings’ are added to the blended tobacco mix to add flavor and a taste unique to the manufacturer. Some of these toppings have included; clove, licorice, orange oil, apricot stone, lime oil, lavender oil, dill seed oil, cocoa, carrot oil, mace oil, myrrh, beet juice, bay leaf, oak, rum, vanilla, and vinegar.

Armless Girl Pilot

Jessica Cox, 25, a girl born without arms, stands inside an aircraft in this undated photo. The girl from Tucson, Arizona got the Sport Pilot certificate lately and became the first pilot licensed to fly using only her feet.TUCSON -- Jessica Cox of Tucson was born without arms, but that has only stopped her from doing one thing: using the word "can't."Her latest flight into the seemingly impossible is becoming the first pilot licensed to fly using only her feet.With one foot manning the controls and the other delicately guiding the steering column, Cox, 25, soared to achieve a Sport Pilot certificate. Her certificate qualifies her to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet."She's a good pilot. She's rock solid," said Parrish Traweek, 42, the flying instructor at San Manuel's Ray Blair Airport.He runs PC Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Services and has trained many pilots, some of whom didn't come close to Cox's abilities."When she came up here driving a car," Traweek recalled, "you knew she'd have no problem flying a plane."Finding a plane that was compatible with her abilities was a task within itself. She found it in the Ercoupe, a plane manufactured in the mid-1940s. Locating one took her to Florida and California, although she finally find one less than 70 miles away in San Manuel.

Flight lessons usually run more than $100 per hour, but Cox was able to get her 40-plus hours of training through an Able Flight Scholarship."Once you're with Jessica for about 20 minutes, you don't even notice she doesn't have arms," Traweek said from the one of the airport's hangars.Cox, unwrapping a piece of chewing gum with her toes nearby, was clad in a yellow T-shirt sporting a stick figure with truncated arms beneath the phrase: "Look Ma, No Hands.""Jessica's showing people there are no limits," he said.Most who meet her, especially on her motivational speaking circuit, agree. She's spoken at hundreds of gigs, from Wisconsin to Phoenix, where she shares her upbeat philosophy and incredible story.Doctors never learned why she was born without arms, but she figured out early on that she didn't want to use prosthetic devices."you realized it was more important to celebrate my difference," she said.She gave up the prosthetic arms for good when she turned 14 and her family moved to Tucson from their hometown of Sierra Vista."When you moved to Tucson, you had a fresh slate," she said.That slate is now covered with achievements from a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Arizona to two black belts in tae kwon do. She's also seeking a publisher for her life story.

Extreme Balancing Acts

29-year-old extreme balancing artist, Eskil Ronningsbakken has to be one of the world’s most amazing performers. Ronningsbakken has performed the most dangerous balancing acts We’ve ever seen, riding a bike upside down, balancing under a balloon in plain flight and on cliffs thousands of meters high. He says ‘That’s the balance between life and death, and that is where life is.’




His balancing career began when he was only five years old and he saw a yogin serenely balancing. Now he is one of the most famous extreme balancing artists in the world. His next dream is to perform his breathtaking stunts on top of the Burj al Arab Hotel, in Dubai.

Pen-covered Mercedes-Benz

Costas Schuler saw a book about art cars 5 years ago and was fascinated by them. He knew he wanted to make one of his own but didn’t know where to start, until one morning he woke up and knew he wanted to do something with pens. So he started covering his old 1981 Mercedes -Benz with pens, and he’s been doing it ever since using pens donated from people all around the world.




Costas is known as The Pen-Guy and his car is called Mercedes-Pens and together they travel the country collecting pens and putting smiles on the faces of those who spot them. The Mercedes-Pens is now covered with over 10,000 pens both on the inside and the outside.