Sapolai Yao represented Papua New Guinea in the steeplechase event at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Since he’s 4′10″, the hurdles were a bit much for him. So Yao used a potted plant nearby as a step stool to climb up on top of one hurdle, and then jump down. He was disqualified as a consequence:Towards the end of the grueling race, the diminutive runner couldn’t quite muster the energy to get over the water jump.
Ao the resourceful Yao did what any other vertically-challenged individual would – using his surroundings to help him out.
Spotting the pots below the hurdle, Yao gave himself a leg up onto the beam, stopped for a quick breather, and then leapt over into the water.
Colin Furze, a plumber in Stamford, UK, altered a mobility scooter. Thanks to a 125 cc motorbike engine, it can now go 69 MPH:He added: ‘I was told by Guinness that I could modify the engine but I wasn’t allowed to change the appearance in any way so I couldn’t give it bigger wheels or make it more stable.Furze’s next goal is to take the scooter up to 70 MPH on a racetrack.
‘I initially tried experimenting with battery power but I only got to about 30mph and the batteries died really quickly so I knew then it would have to be petrol powered.
These paintings became a way to explore how driving in weather shifts and changes the views outside the car as well how the driving experience informs our basic interpretation of environment. We easily understand how painting can mold cultural perception, which in turn influences landscape design to become more like painting (view points, scenic routes, etc.).
In 1837, Charles Babbage designed an early computer. He called it the Analytical Engine. Unfortunately, Babbage died before he could build it. But there’s a campaign underway to make one using the original blueprints:Elements of the engine have been built over the last 173 years, but this would be the first complete working model of the machine.
“It’s an inspirational piece of equipment,” said Mr Graham-Cumming, author of the Geek Atlas.
“A hundred years ago, before computers were available, Babbage had envisaged this machine.
“What you realize when you read Babbage’s papers is that this was the first real computer.
“It had expandable memory, a CPU, microcode, a printer, a plotter and was programmable with punch cards.
“It was the size of a small lorry and powered by steam but it was recognizable as a computer.”
Turf roofs in Norway are a tradition and you will see them everywhere. Roofs in Scandinavia have probably been covered with birch bark and sod since prehistory. During the Viking and Middle Ages most houses had sod roofs. In rural areas sod roofs were almost universal until the beginning of the 18th century. Tile roofs, which appeared much earlier in towns and on rural manors, gradually superseded sod roofs except in remote inland areas during the 19th century. Corrugated iron and other industrial materials also became a threat to ancient traditions. But just before extinction, the national romantics proclaimed a revival of vernacular traditions, including sod roofs. A new market was opened by the demand for mountain lodges and holiday homes. At the same time, open air museums and the preservation movement created a reservation for ancient building traditions. From these reservations, sod roofs have begun to reappear as an alternative to modern materials. Every year, since 2000, an award is also given to the best green roof proje
Rinderpest is a virus that kills cattle. Scientists believe that, except for samples in controlled laboratory conditions, they have wiped it out of existence. If true, this will be the second time in human history that a virus has been destroyed. The first was smallpox. BBC News reports:The eradication of the virus has been described as the biggest achievement in veterinary history and one which will save the lives and livelihoods of millions of the poorest people in the world.[...]
Rinderpest is one of the most lethal cattle diseases known to science. Typically, seven out of 10 cattle infected with the disease would die. But in the 1960s, veterinary scientist Walter Plowright developed a workable vaccine, allowing the disease to be brought under control.
But to begin with there was little to no co-ordination. Individual countries and groups of countries would attempt to vaccinate cattle, suppressing the disease for a while. But it would then re-appear.
Progress was only made once large unified projects were established to tackle the disease.
Any parts made of steel, including the watch’s single hand as well as the studs and pins that originally held the mechanism together, have corroded away. But most of the components are brass, and in excellent condition… The top and bottom plates are held together by square-section Egyptian tapered pillars, first used around 1640. Other parts of the mechanism are engraved with a floral design. The clockface itself is marked in Roman numerals with what appears to be a fleur de lys on each half-hour, and an English rose in the centre.Here you can view a video “flythrough” of the serial CT images.
The scarab was of prime significance in the funerary cult of ancient Egypt. Scarabs, generally, though not always, were cut from green stone, and placed on the chest of the deceased. Perhaps the most famous example of such "heart scarabs" is the yellow-green pectoral scarab found among the entombed provisions of Tutankhamen. It was carved from a large piece of Libyan desert glass. The purpose of the "heart scarab" was to ensure that the heart would not bear witness against the deceased at judgment in the Afterlife. Other possibilities are suggested by the "transformation spells" of the Coffin Texts, which affirm that the soul of the deceased may transform into a human being, a god, or a bird and reappear in the world of the living.
One scholar comments on other traits of the scarab connected with the theme of death and rebirth:
“ It may not have gone unnoticed that the pupa, whose wings and legs are encased at this stage of development, is very mummy-like. It has even been pointed out that the egg-bearing ball of dung is created in an underground chamber which is reached by a vertical shaft and horizontal passage curiously reminiscent of Old Kingdom mastaba tombs."
Cameras aboard JAMSTEC's Hyper-Dolphin ROV have captured footage of something strange lurking on the floor of Sagami Bay, southwest of Tokyo.
In case of a lack of laughing emergency, unscrew cap and place contents of jar strategically upon any proboscis. No prescription needed. This is the real thing, developed by professional clowns. Made from that infamous red squishy foam and packaged in a plastic jar.
Genevieve the lonely giraffe finally finds love
Deep dive: new fish discovered in ocean trench