A collection of information: November 2008

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Blood donors from various parts of India in one database - friends2support.org

Blood is the need of the hour for many persons most of the times due to various reasons. But can everyone afford to buy it from blood banks when it is required on a regular basis ?

Well I believe its not possible. As a human being we believe in helping others with the best possible way we can. Donating blood is one such social activity if we can afford to do it. Any social cause which is meant for the welfare of the society we live in should be wholeheartedly supported. I came across this website which contains the database of interested donors who volunteer to donate blood http://www.friendstosupport.org/

This database contains the list of people who have volunteered to donate blood anytime and can be contacted directly on their phone with a simple search in this website.

Lets find it out with Ramesh Susarla the chief Advisor and founder of this website regarding what motivated him and what it take to maintain this database which is meant for all our needs.

1. What inspired you to start this social cause
Ramesh:Five students of Narsaraopet Engineering College began this website when they got number of calls from people for blood donation frequently. They used to maintain a list of their friends physically to provide information about voluntary donors. Later they thought they could build a website on which they were getting trained. I joined them three months later and my motivation was the suffering we had to undergo for arranging A - ve blood for my aunt at Hyderabad NIMS

She was down with lukemia and at the end she needed almost one unit every three days. I am myself A -ve and donated thrice to her. I used to send pager messages and ask people to contact me at my residence No. and then take them to the blood bank in NIMS during 1998-99.That give me a realistic picture of how grave the situation was. So I also decided to do some social work in this regard by spending some of my salary savings in this form.

2. Do you take any sponsorship ?
Ramesh: we do not take any advertisement or sponsorship from people for this activity

3. Does your group conduct any blood donation camps ?
Ramesh: We do not organise blood donation camps. We are against mega blood donation camps as they lead to wastage of a lot of blood.

4. How does the friendstosupport database work out for the needy?
Ramesh: Ours is only a blood donors information service or you can call it as a registry of Blood Donors all over India with every district and Assembly constituency wise. All the 17 blood groups including sub-groups are divided for the sake of voluntary donors contact information like normal address, e-mail address, contact phone Nos. age sex etc. Our database works as a catalyst between the needy and the search for a donor becomes very easy for the needy and we have created a platform for both of them to come together.

5. How do you spread the information about this database to the common man ?
Ramesh: we do not have any ground level organisation. But only volunteers like you who wish to spread the concept and help people get helped in case of need. we only organise awareness camps and programmes to help poeple know that such a facility is available and that they could register themselves as Voluntary donors to help others.

Recently we organised essay competition online and elocution competition for college students of Acharya Nagarjuna University and on December 1st 2008 we are organising one for all Pharmacy students.

6. How long has this journey been since you started this cause ?
Ramesh: We completed 3 years on November 14, 2008. We are also supporting six meritorious poor students in their studies with our own funds.

7.How do you raise funds for maintaining this database ?
Ramesh: We pool up money from among the core group of seven members from our own salary savings. we do not take up any fund-raising exercise - that is our first principle.

8. Who maintains website and organizes events ?
Ramesh: Web hosting, designing is done by our own members who are good at it and designing the events and organizing them is done by me. I also keep writing pamphlets or other literature for spreading awareness. We also got National Award "Manthan Award' for best Website using digital information for development of society from Department of Information Technology Government of India and UNDP During November 2007.

We have volunteer groups in Pune, Bangalore, Dlehi and Chennai who also keep organizing some program or other even at Hyderabad.

9. Do you guys work full time for this or its time dedicated after the individual professions ?
Ramesh: Yes, it is done during our spare time. None of us work full time for this nor do we have any employee for this. We believe in taking all people along with us and they also should get a feeling that it is theirs (F2S) and we do not monopolize on it, but just keep a track of goings on so that it does not wayward or gets misused. Open-end and free information on Blood Donors for entire India is our dream and we desire to end the monopoly of some blood banks or hospital on information of blood donors.

10.What is the average number of people/requests you get through this website for blood ?
Ramesh: We have a database of 60,000 voluntary donors on website and we do not get requests as the needy contacts the donor directly - we are only facilitators and none contacts us in any manner except those who know us personally for a personal favour and we do not take up the service of arranging blood donors for needy it is upto them to contact the donors.

We run a toll-free Telephonic helpline at Guntur 0863-2351725 which is toll-free in AP and at Regular charges from elsewhere in the country.

11. Dont you feel that only maintaining website puts restriction in spreading this info of database as the percentage of people who have access to internet is less ?
Ramesh: This is for those who do not have access to internet at remote places
but all do not need acceess to internet if the hospitals and any relative of the needy or the nursing homes or blood banks where the needy approach as the first choice. If these people have access or can just log into it from a public net cafe, which are available even at a remote village,they can help them like his family circle, immediate bosom friends circle.

They are the people who usually contact us for any kind of help and even we can help them if they are within our reach. So it is the willingness to help people that is more important and not forwarding mails and SMS seeking blood immediately or informing about a need in some corner of the country.I personally encountered some of these where when I contacted the need was over more than six months ago or a minimum of a week.

Well guys we should truly appreciate the efforts of Mr. Ramesh and his team. Lets join our hands in spreading the word and also by directly or indirectly helping the others.

I would say : What can happen to others can happen to you also. Help others and get helped.

For more Information on this database click here
You can also find the FAQ's about this blood donors database in the below link
http://www.friendstosupport.org/inner/news/faqs.aspx

Monday, November 24, 2008

Jog Falls - Highest waterfalls in India

The Jog falls also known as " jogada gundi " is one of the highest waterfalls in Asia. Jog falls is nestled in the Western ghats. The drive up the hill is glorious giving a birds eye view of the festile and magical western ghats. It is located in Shimoga District, Karnataka state, southern India. It is set in the wild and unspoilt surroundings. Nature here has not been disturbed for the tourist tappings i.e unneussary constructions and falling of trees. The Sharavati river crashes nearly nine hundred(900) feet down forming four main channels named king, queen ,rocket and roarer. The four streams are named in accordance with their perceived trajectories:

Raja (King): Named so because of its apparently ’dignified’ and ’serene’ fall.It falls 250 m below forming a 40 m deep pool.

Rani (Queen), also called Lady: The stream has a winding, twisting trajectory, said to resemble the movements of a female dancer

Roarer: This stream appears out of a mass of rocks, making a tremendous amount of noise (hence the name).

Rocket: Consists of a large volume of water streaming out of a small opening at a very high speed. Associated with the waterfall is the nearby Linganamakki dam across the Sharavati river, and the hydro-electric power station that it serves. The dam has led to a reduction of the amount of water reaching the falls during the summer months. During the rainy season (June-October), the floodgates of the dam need to be opened and the waterfall runs full. This is also the main tourist season at the waterfall. Just after the monsoon season or rainy season the falls are a magnificient and awesome sight to see. At this time the falls are surrounded by mists. The walk to the bottom of the falls for the hale and hearty is recommonded and one can take a dip in the pool created below by the falls, during the dry season. This venture would be impossible during the monsoons as the flow in the falls increase and the mist shrouds these falls. There is dampness everywhere and the vegetation becomes bright green with water drops dripping from the trees.

How to reach: Jog is situated around 32 Km from a small town Sagara, and is 379 Km away from Bangalore.

Recommended way to reach: Bangalore to Shimoga by train, Shimoga to Sagara by Non-stop bus and to Jog by bus from Sagar. For those who would like to travel by bus there are direct KSRTC busses from Banagalore to Jog (8.30 Hrs Travel).

Nearest Railway staion: Shimoga City

Nearest Towns: Sagara, Siddapura, Sirsi.

Climate: Jog falls is situated up the cool climes of the Western-Ghats.

Clothings: Light cool dresses for summer. During the monsoon season the nights are cool. Warm clothings will be required for the winter months i.e. December to February.

Language: Kannada is the principal language of this region. Few people also understand English and Hindi.

Best Time to visit: August-November is the best time to visit.

Places to Stay: There are facilities to stay in Jog.

(a) The government owned (Karnataka Tourism) "Sharavati Tourist Home" is comfortable clean and reasonble priced. It offers good view of the falls.
(b) Tunga Tourist Home : This is also a cheap and comfortable place to say.
(c) Inspection Bunglow at Jog falls : This is often heavily booked and its booking can be done at the District Commissioners at Shimoga.
(d) Guest-House near the falls : Reservations has to be done if one plans to stay here, through the Supt. Engineer (Elec.) Mahatma-Gandhi Mydro-electric works Jog Falls.
(e) Jog-falls Guest house : Maintained by the Tourist department. Reservation can be done through its resident manager.
(f) Woodlands : This is another place where one can stay at Jog Falls but is not upto the mark.

Other Places of interest: Honnemarudu, a water adventure centre, is few miles away

Some of the photos taken at different times of the year:

Mighty nature in action

Power of the nature

A comparision between summer and rainy season

View of the falls from the British Bunglow

Jog Falls from 1984 to 2006 and After 2006

Sunday, November 23, 2008

People with unbelievable medical condition

The world has always witnessed strange things happening around us. But when it comes to health, everyone would like to or dream of having a perfect body, good health and longevity. But not all are lucky enough to have their dream fulfilled.

Below are the people who have unbelievable medical conditions. These conditions can sometimes be positive and sometimes be negative to ones life. But the fact still remains that these conditions are "not everyones cup of tea"

1. The Woman Who is Allergic to Modern Technology

For most people talking on a mobile phone, cooking dinner in the microwave or driving in a car is simply part of modern living in 21st century Britain . But completing any such tasks is impossible for
Debbie Bird - because she is allergic to Cell Phones and Microwaves.

The 39-year-old is so sensitive to the electromagnetic field (emf) or 'smog' created by computers, mobile phones, microwave ovens and even some cars, that she develops a painful skin rash and her eyelids swell to three times their size if she goes near them. As a consequence, Mrs Bird, a health spa manager, has transformed her home into an EMF-free zone to try and stay healthy. 'I can no longer do things that I used to take for granted,' Mrs Bird said. "My day-to-day life has been seriously affected by EMF".

2. The Girl That Collapses Every Time She Laughs

Kay Underwood, 20, has cataplexy, which means that almost any sort of strong emotion triggers a dramatic weakening of her muscles. Exhilaration, anger, fear, surprise, awe and even embarrassment can also cause sufferers to suddenly collapse on the spot.

Kay, of Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire (UK), who was diagnosed with the condition five years ago, once collapsed more than 40 times in a single day. She said: "People find it very odd when it happens, and it isn't always easy to cope with strangers' reactions. "

Like most cataplexy sufferers, Ms Underwood is also battling narcolepsy - a condition that makes her drop off to sleep without warning. Narcolepsy affects around 30,000 people in the UK and about 70 per cent of them also have cataplexy.

3. The Musician Who Can't Stop Hiccupping

Chris Sands, 24, from Lincoln , hiccups as often as every two seconds - and sometimes even when he is asleep. He has tried a variety of cures, including hypno sis and yoga, but nothing has worked. Mr Sands thinks his problem stems from an acid reflux condition caused by a damaged valve in his stomach. "If the acid levels are severe enough they are going to do keyhole surgery and grab part of my stomach and wrap it around the valve to tighten it," he said.

Mr Sands, who is a backing singer in the group Ebullient, said the condition has hampered his career as he has only been able to perform four times. In the
next couple of weeks --as of the day of the report--, doctors at Nottingham 's Queen's Medical Centre will put a tube into his stomach to monitor acid levels and decide if keyhole surgery is possible.

4.The Girl Who Eats Only Tic Tacs

Meet
Natalie Cooper, a 17-year-old teenager who has a mystery illness that makes her sick every time she eats anything. Well, almost anything. She can eat one thing that doesn't make her sick: Tic tac mint!

For reasons that doctors are unable to explain, Tic tacs are the only thing she can stomach, meaning she has to get the rest of her sustenance from a specially formulated feed through a tube.

5. The Woman Who Can't Forget

That's the
story of AJ, an extraordinary 40-year-old married woman who remembers everything.

McGaugh and fellow UCI researchers Larry Cahill and Elizabeth Parker have been studying the extraordinary case of a person who has "nonstop, uncontrollable and automatic" memory of her personal history and countless public events. If you randomly pick a date from the past 25 years and ask her about it, she'll usually provide elaborate, verifiable details about what happened to her that day and if there were any significant news events on topics that interested her. She usually also recalls what day of the week it was and what the weather was like.

The 40-year-old woman, who was given the code name AJ to protect her privacy, is so unusual that UCI coined a name for her condition in a recent issue of the journal Neurocase: hyperthymestic syndrome.

6. The Girl Who is Allergic to Water

Teenager
Ashleigh Morris can't go swimming, soak in a hot bath or enjoy a shower after a stressful day's work - she's allergic to water. Even sweating brings the 19-year-old out in a painful rash.

Ashleigh, from Melbourne , Australia , is allergic to water of any temperature, a condition she's lived with since she was 14. She suffers from an extremely rare skin disorder called Aquagenic Urticaria - so unusual that only a handful of cases are documented worldwide.

7.The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep: stayed awake 24 hours a day for years

Rhett Lamb is often cranky like any other 3-year-old toddler, but there's one thing that makes him completely different: he has a rare medical condition in which he can't sleep a wink.

Rhett is awake nearly 24 hours a day, and his condition has baffled his parents and doctors for years. They took clock shifts watching his every sleep-deprived mood to determine what ailed the young boy.

After a number of conflicting opinions, Shannon and David Lamb finally learned what was wrong with their child: Doctors diagnosed Rhett with an extremely rare condition called chiari malformation.

"The brain literally is squeezed into the spinal column. What happens is you get compression, squeezing, strangulating of the brain stem, which has all the vital functions that control sleep, speech, our cranial nerves, our circulatory system, even our breathing system," Savard said.

8.The Man Who Doesn't Feel Cold

Dutchman
Wim Hof, also known as the Iceman, is the man that swam under ice, and stood in bins filled with ice. He climbed the Mt. Blanc in shorts in the icy cold, harvested world records and always stands for new challenges.

Scientists can't really explain it, but the 48-year-old Dutchman is able to withstand, and even thrive, in temperatures that could be fatal to the average person.

9. The man who cant get fat

Mr Perry, 59, can eat whatever he likes - including unlimited pies, burgers and desserts - and never get fat. He cannot put on weight because of a condition called lipodystrophy that makes his body rapidly burn fat.

He used to be a chubby child, but at age 12 the fat dropped off "almost over night". He initially tried to eat more to gain weight, but it had no effect. Mr Perry, of Ilford in Essex , endured a decade of tests before the illness was diagnosed. It finally emerged that his body produces six times the normal level of insulin. Doctors have admitted that the condition would be a "slimmer's dream".

Friday, November 21, 2008

Miss Philippines wins Miss Earth 2008 Pageant

Miss Philippines Karla Henry (C), 22, reacts after winning the Miss Earth 2008 beauty pageant at the Expo amphitheatre in Clark air base in Pampanga, north of Manila November 9, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Miss Philippines Karla Henry (C), 22, is congratulated by other beauty contestants after winning the Miss Earth 2008 beauty pageant at the Expo amphitheatre in Clark air base in Pampanga, north of Manila November 9, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters)

Miss Philippines Karla Henry and Miss Earth

Miss China Zhou Yingkun and Miss Macao Qian Wei Na attend the Miss Earth 2008 beauty pageant in Angeles City of Pampanga, north of Manila, Philippines, November 9, 2008. Eight-five beauties from all over the world attended the contest and Miss Philippines Karla Paula Henry won the title of Miss Earth. (Xinhua/Liu Hua)

(from L to R) Miss Brazil Tatiane Kelen Alves, Miss Mexico Abigail Elizalde Romo, Miss Philippines Karla Henry, and Miss Tanzania Miriam Odemba, pose for a photo during the Miss Earth 2008 beauty pageant in Angeles City of Pampanga, north of Manila, Philippines, November 9, 2008. Eight-five beauties from all over the world attended the contest and Miss Philippines Karla Paula Henry won the title of Miss Earth. (Xinhua/Liu Hua)

Miss Philippines Karla Henry (C), 22, waves to her supporters after winning the Miss Earth 2008 beauty pageant at the Expo amphitheatre in Clark air base in Pampanga, north of Manila November 9, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Miss Philippines Karla Henry reacts after she won the Miss Earth 2008 beauty pageant in Angeles City of Pampanga, north of Manila, the Philippines, November 9, 2008. Eight-five beauties from all over the world attended the contest and Miss Philippines Karla Henry won the title of Miss Earth. (Xinhua/Liu Hua)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

History of religions in 90 seconds

Here is a brief but interesting & beautiful flash presentation of the History of Religion in 90 seconds - Geographical Evolution (Flash)

how has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries, and where has it sparked wars? This map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds? Ready, Set, Go! Click on the link below:

http://mapsofwar.com/images/Religion.swf

Science Facts

Science has always proved the reasons for many things that we see/encounter in our daily life. Some of the facts that science has revealed to the mankind are breathtaking.

We just get stunned or speechless when we come across these facts which are proved by the human being. With the ability of thinking and acting, humans have always created wonders.

I am listing some of the facts which are unique to the world of science.

There are 206 bones in the adult human body and there are 300 in children (as they grow some of the bones fuse together).
Flea's can jump 130 times higher than their own height. In human terms this is equal to a 6ft. person jumping 780 ft. into the air
The most dangerous animal in the world is the common housefly. Because of their habits of visiting animal waste, they transmit more diseases than any other animal.
Snakes are true carnivorous because they eat nothing but other animals. They do not eat any type of plant material.
The world's largest amphibian is the giant salamander. It can grow up to 5 ft. in length.
The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes or stirrup bone located in the middle ear. It is approximately .11 inches (.28 cm) long.
The longest cells in the human body are the motor neurons. They can be up to 4..5 feet (1.37 meters) long and run from the lower spinal cord to the big toe.
The blue whale can produce sounds up to 188 decibels. This is the loudest sound produced by a living animal and has been detected as far away as 530 miles.
The largest man-made lake in the U.S. is Lake Mead, created by Hoover Dam.
A new born blue whale measures 20-26 feet (6.0 - 7.9 meters) long and weighs up to 6,614 pounds (3003 kg).
The first coast-to-coast telephone line was established in 1914.
Skylab, the first American space station, fell to the earth in thousands of pieces in 1979. Thankfully most over the ocean..
It takes approximately 12 hours for food to entirely digest.
Human jaw muscles can generate a force of 200 pounds (90.8 kilograms) on the molars.
The Skylab astronauts grew 1.5 - 2.25 inches (3.8 - 5.7 centimeters) due to spinal lengthening and straightening as a result of zero gravity.
An inch (2.5 centimeters) of rain water is equivalent to 15 inches (38.1 centimeters) of dry, powdery snow.
Tremendous erosion at the base of Niagara Falls (USA) undermines the shale cliffs and as a result the falls have receded approximately 7 miles over the last 10,000 years.
40 to 50 percent of body heat can be lost through the head (no hat) as a result of its extensive circulatory network.
A large swarm of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) can consume 20,000 tons (18,160,000 kilograms) of vegetation a day.
The largest telescope in the world is currently being constructed in northern Chile. The telescope will utilize four - 26 ft. 8 in. (8.13 meters) mirrors which will gather as much light as a single 52 ft. 6 in. (16 meters) mirror.
The Hubble Space Telescope weighs 12 tons (10,896 kilograms), is 43 feet (13.1 meters) long, and cost $2.1 billion to originally build.
The longest living cells in the body are brain cells which can live an entire lifetime.
The largest flying animal was the pterosaur which lived 70 million years ago. This reptile had a wing span of 36-39 feet (11-11.9 meters) and weighed 190-250 pounds (86-113.5 kilograms).
The Atlantic Giant Squid's eye can be as large as 15.75 inches (40 centimeters) wid.
Armadillos, opossums, and sloth's spend about 80% of their lives sleeping.
The starfish species, Porcellanaster ivanovi, has been found to live in water as deep as 24,881 feet (7,584 meters).
The tentacles of the giant Arctic jellyfish can reach 120 feet (36.6 meters) in length.
The greatest tide change on earth occurs in the Bay of Fundy. The difference between low tide and high tide can be as great as 54 ft. 6 in. (16.6 meters).
The highest temperature produced in a laboratory was 920,000,000 F (511,000,000 C) at the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor in Princeton, NJ, USA.
The most powerful laser in the world, the Nova laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA, USA, generates a pulse of energy equal to 100,000,000, 000,000 watts of power for .000000001 second to a target the size of a grain of sand.
The fastest computer in the world is the CRAY Y-MP C90 supercomputer. It has two gigabytes of central memory and 16 parallel central processor units.
The heaviest human brain ever recorded weighed 5 lb. 1.1 oz. (2.3 kg.).
The deepest part of the ocean is 35,813 feet (10,916 meters) deep and occurs in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. At that depth the pressure is 18,000 pounds (9172 kilograms) per square inch.
The largest cave in the world (the Sarawak Chamber in Malaysia) is 2,300 feet (701 meters) long, 980 feet (299 meters) wide, and more than 230 feet (70 meters) high.
The hottest planet in the solar system is Venus, with an estimated surface temperature of 864 F (462 C).
The ears of a cricket are located on the front legs, just below the knee.
The first electronic digital computer (called ENIAC - the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was developed in 1946 and contained over 18,000 vacuum tubes.
The leg muscles of a locust are about 1000 times more powerful than an equal weight of human muscle.
The cosmos contains approximately 50,000,000,000 galaxies.
There are between 100,000,000, 000 and 1,000,000,000, 000 stars in a normal galaxy.
Sound travels about 4 times faster in water than in air.
Scientists have discovered that copper pollution of the atmosphere occurred about 2500 years ago. This was discovered by analyzing ice cores from Greenland. The pollution was attributed to the Romans who used copper for military purposes and to produce coins.
Hydrofluoric acid will dissolve glass.
In a full grown rye plant, the total length of roots may reach 380 miles (613 km).
In a full grown rye plant, the total length of fine root hairs may reach 6600 miles (10,645 km).
A large sunspot can last for about a week.
If you could throw a snowball fast enough, it would totally vaporize when it hit a brick wall.
Boron nitride (BN) is the second hardest substance known to man.
The female Tarantula Hawk wasp paralyzes a large spider with her sting. She then lays her eggs on the motionless body so that her developing young have a fresh supply of spider meat to feed on.
The seeds of an Indian Lotus tree remain viable for 300 to 400 years.
The only letter not appearing on the Periodic Table is the letter "J".
Velcro was invented by a Swiss guy who was inspired by the way burrs attached to clothing.
Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
October 10 is National Metric Day.
If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 87 feet long.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
Super Glue was invented by accident. The researcher was trying to make optical coating materials, and would test their properties by putting them between two prisms and shining light through them. When he tried the cyano-acrylate, he couldn't get the prisms apart.
No matter its size or thickness, no piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.
A car traveling at 80 km/h uses half its fuel to overcome wind resistance.
Knowledge is growing so fast that ninety per cent of what we will know in fifty years time, will be discovered in those fifty years.
According to an old English system of time units, a moment is one and a half minutes.
The typewriter was invented in 1829, and the automatic dishwasher in 1889.
The wristwatch was invented in 1904 by Louis Cartier.
When glass breaks, the cracks move at speeds of up to 3,000 miles per hour.
By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand.
Ten minutes of one hurricane contains enough energy to match the nuclear stockpiles of the world.
Most gemstones contain several elements. The exception? The diamond. It's all carbon.
Diamonds are the hardest substance known to man.
Which of the 50 states has never had an earthquake? North Dakota.
When hydrogen burns in the air, water is formed.
Sterling silver contains 7.5% copper.
Cars were first made with ignition keys in 1949.
J.B Dunlop was first to put air into tires.
Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, also set a world water-speed record of over seventy miles an hour at the age of seventy two.
It is energy-efficient to turn off a fluorescent light only if it will not be used again within an hour or more.
This is because of the high voltage needed to turn it on, and the shortened life this high voltage causes.
The Earth's equatorial circumference (40,075 km) is greater than its polar circumference (40,008 km).
Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.
Due to gravitational effects, you weigh slightly less when the moon is directly overhead.
The Earth's average velocity orbiting the sun is 107,220 km per hour.
There is a high and low tide because of our moon and the Sun.
The United States consumes 25% of all the world's energy.
Flying from London to New York by Concord, due to the time zones crossed, you can arrive 2 hours before you leave.
There is enough fuel in a full tank of a Jumbo Jet to drive an average car four times around the world.
The surface speed record on the moon is 10.56 miles per hour. It was set with the lunar rover.
If you could drive to the sun -- at 55 miles per hour -- it would take about 193 years
The moon is one million times drier than the Gobi Desert.
Just twenty seconds worth of fuel remained when Apollo 11's lunar module landed on the moon.
A Boeing 707 uses four thousand gallons of fuel in its take-off climb.
The planet Saturn has a density lower than water. So, if placed in water it would float.
Since 1959, more than 6,000 pieces of 'space junk' (abandoned rocket and satellite parts) have fallen out of orbit - many of these have hit the earth's surface.
It takes 70% less energy to produce a ton of paper from recycled paper than from trees.
Every year in the US, 625 people are struck by lightning.
Hawaii is moving toward Japan 4 inches every year.
The rocket engine has to supply its own oxygen so it can burn its fuel in outer space.
The North Atlantic gets 1 inch wider every year.
Oxygen is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust, waters, and atmosphere (about 49.5%)
A stroke of lightning discharges from 10 to 100 million volts & 30,000 amperes of electricity..
A bolt of lightning is about 54,000°F (30,000°C); six times hotter than the Sun.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe (75%).
The average distance between the Earth & the Moon is 238,857 miles (384,392 km).
The moon is 27% the size of the Earth.
The Earth weighs 6.6 sextillion tons, or 5.97 x 1024 kg.
The center of the Sun is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million °C).
Sunlight takes about 8 minutes & 20 seconds to reach the Earth at 186,282 miles/sec (299,792 Km/sec).
The highest temperature on Earth was 136°F (58°C) in Libya in 1922.
The lowest temperature on Earth was -128.6°F (-89.6°C) in Antarctica in 1983.
Sunlight can penetrate clean ocean water to a depth of 240 feet.
The average ocean floor is 12,000 feet.
The temperature can be determined by counting the number of cricket chirps in fourteen seconds and adding 40.
House flies have a lifespan of two weeks.
Chimps are the only animals that can recognize themselves in a mirror.
Starfish don't have brains.
The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
Shrimp's hearts are in their heads.
Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.
The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds
Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards.
Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.
Porcupines float in water.
An ostrich's eye is bigger that its brain.
An iguana can stay under water for twenty-eight minutes.
The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both infra-red and ultra-violet light.
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
The pupil of an octopus' eye is rectangular.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
The leg bones of a bat are so thin that no bat can walk.
Ants cannot chew their food, they move their jaws sideways, like scissors, to extract the juices from the food.
Hummingbirds are the only animals able to fly backward.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
A cat's jaws cannot move sideways.
Armadillos get an average of 18.5 hours of sleep per day.
Armadillos can walk underwater.
There are more beetles than any other kind of creature in the world.
Certain frogs that can survive the experience of being frozen.
Only humans sleep on their backs.
The human brain is 80% water.
Everyone's tongue print is different.
As an adult, you have more than 20 square feet of skin on your body--about the same square footage as a blanket for a queen-sized bed.
In your lifetime, you'll shed over 40 pounds of skin.
15 million blood cells are produced and destroyed in the human body every second.
Every minute, 30-40,000 dead skin cells fall from your body.
The brain uses more than 25% of the oxygen used by the human body.
If your mouth was completely dry, you would not be able to distinguish the taste of anything.
There are more living organisms on the skin of a single human being than there are human beings on the surface of the earth.
Muscles are made up of bundles from about 5 in the eyelid to about 200 in the buttock muscle.
Muscles in the human body (640 in total) make up about half of the body weight.
The human body has enough fat to produce 7 bars of soap.
The human head is a quarter of our total length at birth, but only an eighth of our total length by the time we reach adulthood.
Most people blink about 17,000 times a day.
Moths have no stomach.
Hummingbirds can't walk.
Sea otters have 2 coats of fur.
A starfish can turn its stomach inside out.
A zebra is white with black stripes.
The animal with the largest brain in relation to its body is the ant.
The largest eggs in the world are laid by a shark.
A crocodile's tongue is attached to the roof of its mouth.
Crocodiles swallow stones to help them dive deeper.
Giraffes are unable to cough.
Sharks are immune to cancer.
Despite the hump, a camel's spine is straight.
Cheetah's can accelerate from 0 to 70 km/h in 3 seconds.
A giraffe's neck contains the same number of vertebrae as a human.
The heart of giraffe is two feet long, and can weigh as much as twenty four pounds.
On average, Elephants sleep for about 2 hours per day.
Lobsters have blue blood.
Shark's teeth are literally as hard as steel.
A mosquito has 47 teeth.
Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen make up 90% of the human body.
Seventy percent of the dust in your home consists of shed human skin
Fish are the only vertebrates that outnumber birds.
A cockroach can live for several weeks without its head.
The average human produces a quart of saliva a day -- about 10,000 gallons in a lifetime
Elephants have been known to remain standing after they die.
The embryos of tiger sharks fight each other while in their mother's womb, the survivor being the baby shark that is born.
Ants do not sleep.
Nearly a third of all bottled drinking water purchased in the US is contaminated with bacteria.
Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over 1 million descendents.
An Astronaut can be up to 2 inches taller returning from space. The cartilage disks in the spine expand in the absence of gravity.
The oldest known fossil is of a single-celled organism, blue-green algae, found in 3.2 billion year-old stones in South Africa.
The oldest multicellular fossils date from ~700 million years ago.
The earliest cockroach fossils are about 280 million years old.
Healthy nails grow about 2 cm each year. Fingernails grow four times as fast as toenails.
20/20 vision means the eye can see normally at 20 feet. 20/15 is better; the eye can see at 20 feet what another eye sees at 15 feet.
The average person has 100,000 hairs on his/her head. Each hair grows about 5 inches (12.7 cm) every year.
There are 60,000 miles (97,000 km) in blood vessels in every human.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Benefits of Eating Fruits and Vegetables in raw

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All o f the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

Taj Mahal, The new wonder of the world

Taj Mahal, one among the new seven wonders of the world is a great pride of India.

The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

While the white domed marble and tile mausoleum is most familiar, Taj Mahal is an integrated symmetric complex of structures that was completed around 1648. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer of the Taj Mahal.

360 Degree view of the Taj Mahal

World Currency

Every country on this earth has a unique currency for trade. Here I am giving a snippet of information regarding the currencies available in some countries.