A Nun asked her class to write notes to God.
Here are some they handed in:
**********
Dear God :
I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset You made on Tuesday. That was cool.
**********
Dear God:
Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't You keep the ones You already have?
**********
Dear God :
Maybe Cain and Abel would not have killed each other if they had their own rooms. That's what my Mom did for me and my brother.
**********
Dear God:
If You watch me in church on Sunday, I'll show You my new shoes.
**********
Dear God :
I bet it is very hard to love everyone in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I'm having a hard time loving all of them.
**********
Dear God:
In school they told us what You do. Who does it when You are on vacation?
**********
Dear God :
Are You really invisible or is it just a trick?
**********
Dear God:
Is it true my father won't get into heaven if he uses his bowling words in the house?
**********
Dear God:
Did You mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident?
**********
Dear God:
Who draws the lines around the countries?
**********
Dear God :
I went to this wedding and they kissed right in the church. Is that OK?
**********
Dear God:
Did You really mean "do unto others as they do unto you"? Because if You did, then I'm going to get my brother good.
**********
Dear God:
Thank You for the baby brother, but I think you got confused because what I prayed for was a puppy.
**********
Dear God:
Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up.
**********
Dear God:
I want to be just like my Daddy when I get big, but not with so much hair all over.
**********
Dear God:
You don't have to worry about me; I always look both ways.
**********
Dear God :
I think about You sometimes, even when I'm not praying.
**********
Dear God:
Of all the people who worked for You, I like Noah and David the best.
**********
Dear God :
My brother told me about being born but it doesn't sound right. They're just kidding, aren't they?
**********
Dear God:
I would like to live 900 years just like the guy in the Bible.
**********
Dear God :
We read Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday school they said You did it. So, I bet he stole Your idea.
*********************************
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Barber Shop!!!!!!!!!!!!
A guy stuck his head into a barber shop and asked,
"How long before I can get a haircut?'
The barber looked around the shop full of customers and said, "About 2
hours."
The guy left.
A few days later the same guy stuck his head in the door and asked, "How
long before I can get a haircut?"
The barber looked around at the shop and said, "About 3 hours."
The guy left.
A week later the same guy stuck his head in the shop and asked,
"How long before I can get a haircut?"
The barber looked around the shop and said, "About an hour and half."
The guy left.
The barber turned to a friend and said, "Hey, Bill,
do me a favor. Follow that guy and see where he goes.
He keeps asking how long he has to wait for a haircut, but then he doesn't
ever come back."
A little while later, Bill returned to the shop, laughing hysterically.
The barber asked, "So where does that guy go when he leaves?"
Bill looked up, tears in his eyes and said,
"Your house!"
A Beautiful Story...........
An old man lived alone in a village. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work.
His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison.
The old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation:
Dear Son,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden, because your mother always loved planting time. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren't in prison.
Love,
Dad
Shortly, the old man received this telegram: "For Heaven's sake, Dad, don't dig up the garden!! That's where I buried the GUNS!!"
At 4 a.m. the next morning, a dozen FBI agents and local police officers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns.
Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asked him what to do next.
His son's reply was: "Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad.. It's the best I could do for you from here."
Moral:
NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN THE WORLD, IF YOU HAVE DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING DEEP FROM YOUR HEART YOU CAN DO IT. IT IS THE THOUGHT THAT MATTERS NOT WHERE YOU ARE OR WHERE THE PERSON IS.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Top 10 Reasons We Should Revive the Dark Ages
First off, I must apologize for using the term “dark ages”, as it is a false term coined in the post-medieval period to cast aspersions over the middle ages. The dark ages were not dark – they were, in fact, a great time to live. I am a medievalphile, and suffer from hesternopothia so this list should come as no surprise! Here, we look at ten differences between then and now that are (subjectively of course) better than today. I expect this will probably be a controversial list, so do be sure to keep your comments friendly!
10
Low Tax
The tax rates in medieval England varied a lot, depending on the King and what was happening in society. The taxes seldom went above 15% but were more often closer to the 10% mark. For most people today this is nearly one third or half of the tax currently being paid. The taxes went to support the military and the King, and even in times of war the taxes were never excessive. Taxes were usually paid based on the quantity of land you owned, so people like serfs were often exempt from national taxes and paid, instead, tithes in the form (usually) of wheat to their land owners.
9
Great Lifestyle
We all know the Middle Ages had a more obvious separation of classes. However, regardless of which class you were in, you would have lived a better lifestyle. By “better” I mean healthier and easier. If you were an aristocrat you wouldn’t have worked a day in your life. You would eat delicious food all the time, and would have plenty of activities to keep you occupied. On the other hand, if you were a serf, you would work your fields during the summer months and laze about during the winter months enjoying your harvests (after the taxes you pay to your land owner). The only real requirement as a serf was that you pay your tithes (usually in wheat) and do a few other odd jobs, but, aside from that, you could do anything you wanted with your land, and the land owner had to guarantee you protection from criminals and provide for you in times of famine. Some serfs became incredibly wealthy through the wise use of their land.
8
Crime
The middle ages knew roughly 5 serial killers. Most of you will be able to name three of them: Elizabeth Bathory, Gilled de Rais and Sawney Bean (who may not have existed at all). Now try to name as many serial killers from the modern ages that you know. A lot more I bet. There were definitely a lot of murders in the Middle Ages, but the chances of the average person being a victim of murder were low. Murderers were tried and executed, and those who committed petty crimes were usually publicly shamed or fined. The stories we hear of people’s hands being cut off for stealing were usually from Eastern countries, or were during the very early years of the Middle ages, when Europe was establishing itself into the formation we generally know it today.
7
No Lobbyists
Unlike most of our countries today, there were no lobbyists, and governments (mostly ruled over by Kings) were not prone to switching policies every other year. In our current system we can expect to see fairly drastic changes to the laws under which we live every few years – in the Middle ages you had the same law (with a few exceptions) for most of your life. Life under a benevolent King was good for law abiding citizens, and you knew that unless the King was old, sick, or off fighting a war, tomorrow would be the same as today. This stability is something most of us have never known, so it can be hard to appreciate how much better it was than the present systems which have given rise to all manner of bizarre ideas such as the fart tax.
6
Money was Money
Since the end of the gold standard, money has become more a concept than a reality. In the Middle Ages, money was money. If you had gold, you had gold. Today’s monetary systems are largely controlled by the International Monetary Fund, and the ability of a nation to print money on demand has caused the recent devaluation of many currencies. The old adage says money doesn’t grow on trees – but, unfortunately, modern governments don’t know it. Food prices were relatively constant (with the exception of times of famine and during the price revolution), and people didn’t need to spend half their income paying off debts for things they didn’t need. In fact, society took a great turn for the worse in the so-called renaissance, which started a smear campaign against the Medieval feudal system in order to gain support for the new capital-based system. An economy based on production was replaced by an economy based on how much gold the King released to the public. Here is a quote from Life Inc: How Corporatism Conquered the World, and How We Can Take It Back.
“Land was no longer a thing the peasants could grow stuff on, land became an investment, land became an asset class for the wealthy. Once it became an asset class they started Partitioning and Enclosure, which meant people weren’t allowed to grow stuff on it, so subsistence farming was no longer a viable lifestyle. If you can’t do subsistence farming you must find a job, so then you go into the city and volunteer to do unskilled labor in a proto-factory for some guy who wants the least-skilled, cheapest labor possible. You move your whole family to where the work is, into the squalor, where conditions are overcrowded and impoverished — the perfect breeding ground for plague and death!”
Oh – and for a point of reference, the average wage in the mid 1400s was about 6 pennies a day – that equates to 130 modern pounds a day – compared to the current average in the UK of around 96 pounds per day.
5
Live Long and Prosper
People in the Middle Ages did (on average) prosper. And, contrary to popular belief, they also lived long! In general, a person in the Middle Ages who reached the age of 21 would live to just one or two years below the current average human life expectancy rate (mid-late sixties). Where the idea of dying at thirty came from, I do not know, but this myth has given rise to untold others, such as the “fact” the people had to marry in their early teen years (or worse – pre-teen years) because they would be dead before long. Infant mortality rates were higher than today, but, generally, people in the Middle Ages didn’t have on-demand access to the medical knowledge we have now. And, despite the death rates, most families had more children than today’s planned family structures, which could potentially result in a human population decline, as is already happening in some nations. Such nations include Italy and Russia (contrary to the bizarre and wrong notion that the Earth is overpopulated). Out of interest, here is a small list of countries currently in population decline: Russia, including Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. And here are nations about to go into decline: Greece, Spain, Cuba, Uruguay, Denmark, Finland, Austria and Lesotho.
4
Beauty
While a lot of people like modern art, many don’t. But most who do like it also appreciate the beauty of traditional art. In the Middle Ages virtually everyone in the West had access to at least one or two items of beauty. Whether it be a statue, or an image in a Church or beautiful tapestries made by family members – life was not a dull gray existence. Tapestry making was a popular pastime in the Middle Ages, and the survival of many of those works of art teaches us a lot about history (the Bayeux tapestry being the most well known example). And, even if you didn’t have access to tapestries or paintings, you could see some of the most incredible works of art in the vestments worn by priests at Mass every day, which were often woven with the addition of gold thread.
3
Knights And Damsels
I am pretty sure that no one will disagree with this entry. Who wouldn’t want to live the life of a knight? You get to run around slaying the enemy in battles, dressed in armor and riding huge warhorses – and when you get some time off you get to save damsels in distress; and if we are to believe the story books, there are plenty of those to go around! Knights only had to give 40 days a year to their lord – after that they would spend their days in tournaments (initially very dangerous battles, but later more like games and competitions). A young man would start his knight training early and would become a full fledged knight between the ages of 16 and 20.
2
Amazing Food
No genetically modified food, no chemicals, no intensive farming, no need for the “organic” label. These are just four of the many reasons that medieval food was better than what we have today. But, perhaps most importantly, none of the food had had its flavor bred out of it in order to make it look appealing to supermarket shopping masses. And, contrary to popular belief, people in the middle ages ate very well. Here is what BBC says: “The average medieval peasant, however, would have eaten nearly two loaves of bread each day, and 8oz of meat or fish, the size of an average steak. This would have been accompanied by liberal quantities of vegetables, including beans, turnips and parsnips, and washed down by three pints of ale.” That equates to around 3,500 to 4,000 calories per day (the average man eats 2,700 these days).
1
Plenty of Work
The Middle Ages didn’t really have unemployment troubles like we do these days. If you were a serf, you worked the land. If you were in the unnamed middle class, you ran a shop or worked for a Lord. If you were upper class, you had hunting and fun stuff to do. In most cities huge Cathedrals were being built so most men could work in some capacity on those. If you really couldn’t work, it was usually because you were sick or had disabilities. People who couldn’t work were taken care of by charitable nuns and monks – or by their own families if they had sufficient funds to do so.
First off, I must apologize for using the term “dark ages”, as it is a false term coined in the post-medieval period to cast aspersions over the middle ages. The dark ages were not dark – they were, in fact, a great time to live. I am a medievalphile, and suffer from hesternopothia so this list should come as no surprise! Here, we look at ten differences between then and now that are (subjectively of course) better than today. I expect this will probably be a controversial list, so do be sure to keep your comments friendly!
10
Low Tax
The tax rates in medieval England varied a lot, depending on the King and what was happening in society. The taxes seldom went above 15% but were more often closer to the 10% mark. For most people today this is nearly one third or half of the tax currently being paid. The taxes went to support the military and the King, and even in times of war the taxes were never excessive. Taxes were usually paid based on the quantity of land you owned, so people like serfs were often exempt from national taxes and paid, instead, tithes in the form (usually) of wheat to their land owners.
9
Great Lifestyle
We all know the Middle Ages had a more obvious separation of classes. However, regardless of which class you were in, you would have lived a better lifestyle. By “better” I mean healthier and easier. If you were an aristocrat you wouldn’t have worked a day in your life. You would eat delicious food all the time, and would have plenty of activities to keep you occupied. On the other hand, if you were a serf, you would work your fields during the summer months and laze about during the winter months enjoying your harvests (after the taxes you pay to your land owner). The only real requirement as a serf was that you pay your tithes (usually in wheat) and do a few other odd jobs, but, aside from that, you could do anything you wanted with your land, and the land owner had to guarantee you protection from criminals and provide for you in times of famine. Some serfs became incredibly wealthy through the wise use of their land.
8
Crime
The middle ages knew roughly 5 serial killers. Most of you will be able to name three of them: Elizabeth Bathory, Gilled de Rais and Sawney Bean (who may not have existed at all). Now try to name as many serial killers from the modern ages that you know. A lot more I bet. There were definitely a lot of murders in the Middle Ages, but the chances of the average person being a victim of murder were low. Murderers were tried and executed, and those who committed petty crimes were usually publicly shamed or fined. The stories we hear of people’s hands being cut off for stealing were usually from Eastern countries, or were during the very early years of the Middle ages, when Europe was establishing itself into the formation we generally know it today.
7
No Lobbyists
Unlike most of our countries today, there were no lobbyists, and governments (mostly ruled over by Kings) were not prone to switching policies every other year. In our current system we can expect to see fairly drastic changes to the laws under which we live every few years – in the Middle ages you had the same law (with a few exceptions) for most of your life. Life under a benevolent King was good for law abiding citizens, and you knew that unless the King was old, sick, or off fighting a war, tomorrow would be the same as today. This stability is something most of us have never known, so it can be hard to appreciate how much better it was than the present systems which have given rise to all manner of bizarre ideas such as the fart tax.
6
Money was Money
Since the end of the gold standard, money has become more a concept than a reality. In the Middle Ages, money was money. If you had gold, you had gold. Today’s monetary systems are largely controlled by the International Monetary Fund, and the ability of a nation to print money on demand has caused the recent devaluation of many currencies. The old adage says money doesn’t grow on trees – but, unfortunately, modern governments don’t know it. Food prices were relatively constant (with the exception of times of famine and during the price revolution), and people didn’t need to spend half their income paying off debts for things they didn’t need. In fact, society took a great turn for the worse in the so-called renaissance, which started a smear campaign against the Medieval feudal system in order to gain support for the new capital-based system. An economy based on production was replaced by an economy based on how much gold the King released to the public. Here is a quote from Life Inc: How Corporatism Conquered the World, and How We Can Take It Back.
“Land was no longer a thing the peasants could grow stuff on, land became an investment, land became an asset class for the wealthy. Once it became an asset class they started Partitioning and Enclosure, which meant people weren’t allowed to grow stuff on it, so subsistence farming was no longer a viable lifestyle. If you can’t do subsistence farming you must find a job, so then you go into the city and volunteer to do unskilled labor in a proto-factory for some guy who wants the least-skilled, cheapest labor possible. You move your whole family to where the work is, into the squalor, where conditions are overcrowded and impoverished — the perfect breeding ground for plague and death!”
Oh – and for a point of reference, the average wage in the mid 1400s was about 6 pennies a day – that equates to 130 modern pounds a day – compared to the current average in the UK of around 96 pounds per day.
5
Live Long and Prosper
People in the Middle Ages did (on average) prosper. And, contrary to popular belief, they also lived long! In general, a person in the Middle Ages who reached the age of 21 would live to just one or two years below the current average human life expectancy rate (mid-late sixties). Where the idea of dying at thirty came from, I do not know, but this myth has given rise to untold others, such as the “fact” the people had to marry in their early teen years (or worse – pre-teen years) because they would be dead before long. Infant mortality rates were higher than today, but, generally, people in the Middle Ages didn’t have on-demand access to the medical knowledge we have now. And, despite the death rates, most families had more children than today’s planned family structures, which could potentially result in a human population decline, as is already happening in some nations. Such nations include Italy and Russia (contrary to the bizarre and wrong notion that the Earth is overpopulated). Out of interest, here is a small list of countries currently in population decline: Russia, including Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. And here are nations about to go into decline: Greece, Spain, Cuba, Uruguay, Denmark, Finland, Austria and Lesotho.
4
Beauty
While a lot of people like modern art, many don’t. But most who do like it also appreciate the beauty of traditional art. In the Middle Ages virtually everyone in the West had access to at least one or two items of beauty. Whether it be a statue, or an image in a Church or beautiful tapestries made by family members – life was not a dull gray existence. Tapestry making was a popular pastime in the Middle Ages, and the survival of many of those works of art teaches us a lot about history (the Bayeux tapestry being the most well known example). And, even if you didn’t have access to tapestries or paintings, you could see some of the most incredible works of art in the vestments worn by priests at Mass every day, which were often woven with the addition of gold thread.
3
Knights And Damsels
I am pretty sure that no one will disagree with this entry. Who wouldn’t want to live the life of a knight? You get to run around slaying the enemy in battles, dressed in armor and riding huge warhorses – and when you get some time off you get to save damsels in distress; and if we are to believe the story books, there are plenty of those to go around! Knights only had to give 40 days a year to their lord – after that they would spend their days in tournaments (initially very dangerous battles, but later more like games and competitions). A young man would start his knight training early and would become a full fledged knight between the ages of 16 and 20.
2
Amazing Food
No genetically modified food, no chemicals, no intensive farming, no need for the “organic” label. These are just four of the many reasons that medieval food was better than what we have today. But, perhaps most importantly, none of the food had had its flavor bred out of it in order to make it look appealing to supermarket shopping masses. And, contrary to popular belief, people in the middle ages ate very well. Here is what BBC says: “The average medieval peasant, however, would have eaten nearly two loaves of bread each day, and 8oz of meat or fish, the size of an average steak. This would have been accompanied by liberal quantities of vegetables, including beans, turnips and parsnips, and washed down by three pints of ale.” That equates to around 3,500 to 4,000 calories per day (the average man eats 2,700 these days).
1
Plenty of Work
The Middle Ages didn’t really have unemployment troubles like we do these days. If you were a serf, you worked the land. If you were in the unnamed middle class, you ran a shop or worked for a Lord. If you were upper class, you had hunting and fun stuff to do. In most cities huge Cathedrals were being built so most men could work in some capacity on those. If you really couldn’t work, it was usually because you were sick or had disabilities. People who couldn’t work were taken care of by charitable nuns and monks – or by their own families if they had sufficient funds to do so.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The world's ten extreme natural threats
The World's Biggest Wave
On 15 September 2004 the eye of a giant storm passed over a set of scientific gauges on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico. The instruments measured the size of the waves created by Hurricane Ivan as it headed towards the American coast.
A study published today in the journal Science reveals that the hurricane created waves measuring at least 90 feet (30m) from crest to trough - the tallest and most extreme open-ocean waves ever recorded by modern instruments.
By monitoring differences in water pressure on the seabed, the scientists were able to estimate the size of the column of water overhead.
The findings demonstrate that scientists have in the past underestimated the size of the waves that can be generated by hurricanes, said William Teague from the Naval Research Laboratory in Stennis Space Centre, Mississippi.
The waves recorded were the size of a 10-storey building but were probably not the largest that the hurricane had generated, Dr Teague said.
He estimated that even bigger waves up to 132 feet tall were being created in other parts of the huge tropical cyclone.
Hurricane Ivan had already ripped through the island of Grenada when the seabed readings were taken, and went on to cause death and destruction on Jamaica, the Cayman island and finally the United States where it petered out.
The wave-measuring instruments on the seabed are shaped liked barnacles and are designed to help engineers build structures such as oil platforms that have to withstand extreme conditions.
The worst hurricane
Hurricane Mitch, which killed about 11,000 people in 1998, is considered to be the most destructive hurricane of modern times. Mitch struck Central America in October and November, destroying about 100,000 homes and leaving about 2.5 million people dependent on relief aid. Wind speeds reached 180mph for a 24-hour period, making it the strongest hurricane in the Caribbean in more than a decade.
Hurricanes normally last for between nine and 10 days and move westwards at a speed of about 12mph, gradually curving away from the equator as they move.
They are one of the most dramatic and destructive forces in nature. According to Bill McGuire, author of Surviving Armageddon and a natural hazards expert at University College London, the past 12 months have been the worst on record for hurricanes.
Five have struck Florida alone and the forecast for this year is that there will be about four times as many hurricanes as the annual average.
Heaviest rainfall
About 1.8 inches (4.6cm) of rain fell in a minute at Basse Terre in Guadeloupe on 26 November 1970 and 53 inches fell over a 12-hour period at Belouve on La Reunion island in the Indian Ocean.
The highest average annual rainfall - some 450 inches - is at Mt Waialeale in Hawaii. The highest recorded annual rainfall was 1,042 inches (nearly 87 feet) at Cherrapunji, India. It also recorded the highest rainfall in a calender month - 366 inches, or 30ft 6in.
Bombay last month recorded the highest rainfall in a single day in India - 37.1 inches.
Coldest place on Earth
The lowest recorded temperature outside a science laboratory was at the Russian research station at Vostok in Antarctica on 21 July 1983. It was minus 89.2C (minus 128.6F), cold enough to freeze your breath.
The temperature there is regularly between minus 30C and minus 60C, a result of the exceptionally high speed of the winds at this part of the frozen continent and the lack of solar radiation during the winter, when the days pass in complete darkness.
And while minus 89.2C is the official record, Vostok station reported, unofficially, that Vostok reached the temperature of minus 91C during the winter of 1997.
Hottest place on Earth
There are many contenders for this record. A weather station in El Azizia in Libya recorded 57.8C (136F) - hot enough to fry an egg - in 1922.
This record meets technical requirement in being made using a thermometer 5 feet above the ground in an enclosed, shaded area.
Other locations have, however, almost certainly been hotter, but no formal record is available.
The Dallol Depression in Ethiopia, which is more than 100 meters below sea level, features yellow sulphur fields among the white salt beds. Temperatures can reach as high as 63C.
Another contender is Death Valley in California, which is also below sea level, where temperatures have been recorded as reaching 49C.
Wave of tornados
In April 1974, southern and mid-western US suffered its worst tornado episode. Over a 24-hour period, 148 swept through the region. Thirteen states from Alabama to Virginia were affected. After 16 hours, 330 people were dead and 5,484 were injured in a damage path covering more than 2,500 miles. Tornadoes form during thunder storms when warm, humid air collides with colder air to form a swirling vortex.
Driest place on Earth
The Atacama desert in northern Chile is the most arid tract of land known. On average the buff-coloured sands of this region receive less than 0.004in of rain a year. Some parts of the desert have not seen rainfall in 400 years; scientists see it as a good training ground for testing instruments to search for the presence of water on other planets.
The Atacama desert owes its conditions to the fact that it is sandwiched between the high mountains of the Andes on the east and the exceptionally cold currents of the Pacific Ocean in the west. Bodies buried there by prehistoric people are almost perfectly preserved as natural mummies.
The world's worst modern meteor strike
Early in the morning of 30 June 1908 a large and mysterious explosion occurred in the sky over eastern Siberia. Visitors to the site of the explosion at Tunguska in northern Russia saw catastrophic damage, with thousands of acres of forest felled.
Local reindeer herdsmen said they were blown off their feet during the impact. The fireball lit up the night sky for hundreds of miles around - some say that it could even be seen from London.
Scientists now believe the event was caused by a large meteorite breaking up as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. The lump of space rock exploded at an altitude of about 4 miles (6.4km), sending a huge pulse of explosive energy to the ground that flattened everything in its path.
T
he most destructive earthquakes
On 22 May 1960 an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Chile. It is estimated to have accounted for about a quarter of the seismic energy released by all earthquakes in the past century. The US Geological Survey said that the earthquake killed 2,000 people, injured 3,000 and made another 2 million homeless. Tsunamis travelled across the Pacific, causing millions of pounds worth of damage in Hawaii, Japan, the west coast of the US and the Philippines.
However, the most destructive earthquake in modern times was in Tangshan, north-east of the Chinese capital of Beijing, in 1976. Officially the death toll was 242,419; unofficial estimates said 750,000.
The world's biggest volcanos
The most destructive volcanic eruption in modern times was that of Tambora on the Sumbawa island of Indonesia. It began on 5 April 1815 with a moderate explosion. Five days later "three columns of fire" rose into the sky and an estimated 50 cubic kilometres of molten magma were expelled. An estimated 92,000 died from the explosion or resulting starvation.
The debris thrown into the atmosphere caused global climate change. Crops failed as far away as America and many tens of thousands of people died from famine in the immediate vicinity of the eruption.
On 15 September 2004 the eye of a giant storm passed over a set of scientific gauges on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico. The instruments measured the size of the waves created by Hurricane Ivan as it headed towards the American coast.
A study published today in the journal Science reveals that the hurricane created waves measuring at least 90 feet (30m) from crest to trough - the tallest and most extreme open-ocean waves ever recorded by modern instruments.
By monitoring differences in water pressure on the seabed, the scientists were able to estimate the size of the column of water overhead.
The findings demonstrate that scientists have in the past underestimated the size of the waves that can be generated by hurricanes, said William Teague from the Naval Research Laboratory in Stennis Space Centre, Mississippi.
The waves recorded were the size of a 10-storey building but were probably not the largest that the hurricane had generated, Dr Teague said.
He estimated that even bigger waves up to 132 feet tall were being created in other parts of the huge tropical cyclone.
Hurricane Ivan had already ripped through the island of Grenada when the seabed readings were taken, and went on to cause death and destruction on Jamaica, the Cayman island and finally the United States where it petered out.
The wave-measuring instruments on the seabed are shaped liked barnacles and are designed to help engineers build structures such as oil platforms that have to withstand extreme conditions.
The worst hurricane
Hurricane Mitch, which killed about 11,000 people in 1998, is considered to be the most destructive hurricane of modern times. Mitch struck Central America in October and November, destroying about 100,000 homes and leaving about 2.5 million people dependent on relief aid. Wind speeds reached 180mph for a 24-hour period, making it the strongest hurricane in the Caribbean in more than a decade.
Hurricanes normally last for between nine and 10 days and move westwards at a speed of about 12mph, gradually curving away from the equator as they move.
They are one of the most dramatic and destructive forces in nature. According to Bill McGuire, author of Surviving Armageddon and a natural hazards expert at University College London, the past 12 months have been the worst on record for hurricanes.
Five have struck Florida alone and the forecast for this year is that there will be about four times as many hurricanes as the annual average.
Heaviest rainfall
About 1.8 inches (4.6cm) of rain fell in a minute at Basse Terre in Guadeloupe on 26 November 1970 and 53 inches fell over a 12-hour period at Belouve on La Reunion island in the Indian Ocean.
The highest average annual rainfall - some 450 inches - is at Mt Waialeale in Hawaii. The highest recorded annual rainfall was 1,042 inches (nearly 87 feet) at Cherrapunji, India. It also recorded the highest rainfall in a calender month - 366 inches, or 30ft 6in.
Bombay last month recorded the highest rainfall in a single day in India - 37.1 inches.
Coldest place on Earth
The lowest recorded temperature outside a science laboratory was at the Russian research station at Vostok in Antarctica on 21 July 1983. It was minus 89.2C (minus 128.6F), cold enough to freeze your breath.
The temperature there is regularly between minus 30C and minus 60C, a result of the exceptionally high speed of the winds at this part of the frozen continent and the lack of solar radiation during the winter, when the days pass in complete darkness.
And while minus 89.2C is the official record, Vostok station reported, unofficially, that Vostok reached the temperature of minus 91C during the winter of 1997.
Hottest place on Earth
There are many contenders for this record. A weather station in El Azizia in Libya recorded 57.8C (136F) - hot enough to fry an egg - in 1922.
This record meets technical requirement in being made using a thermometer 5 feet above the ground in an enclosed, shaded area.
Other locations have, however, almost certainly been hotter, but no formal record is available.
The Dallol Depression in Ethiopia, which is more than 100 meters below sea level, features yellow sulphur fields among the white salt beds. Temperatures can reach as high as 63C.
Another contender is Death Valley in California, which is also below sea level, where temperatures have been recorded as reaching 49C.
Wave of tornados
In April 1974, southern and mid-western US suffered its worst tornado episode. Over a 24-hour period, 148 swept through the region. Thirteen states from Alabama to Virginia were affected. After 16 hours, 330 people were dead and 5,484 were injured in a damage path covering more than 2,500 miles. Tornadoes form during thunder storms when warm, humid air collides with colder air to form a swirling vortex.
Driest place on Earth
The Atacama desert in northern Chile is the most arid tract of land known. On average the buff-coloured sands of this region receive less than 0.004in of rain a year. Some parts of the desert have not seen rainfall in 400 years; scientists see it as a good training ground for testing instruments to search for the presence of water on other planets.
The Atacama desert owes its conditions to the fact that it is sandwiched between the high mountains of the Andes on the east and the exceptionally cold currents of the Pacific Ocean in the west. Bodies buried there by prehistoric people are almost perfectly preserved as natural mummies.
The world's worst modern meteor strike
Early in the morning of 30 June 1908 a large and mysterious explosion occurred in the sky over eastern Siberia. Visitors to the site of the explosion at Tunguska in northern Russia saw catastrophic damage, with thousands of acres of forest felled.
Local reindeer herdsmen said they were blown off their feet during the impact. The fireball lit up the night sky for hundreds of miles around - some say that it could even be seen from London.
Scientists now believe the event was caused by a large meteorite breaking up as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. The lump of space rock exploded at an altitude of about 4 miles (6.4km), sending a huge pulse of explosive energy to the ground that flattened everything in its path.
T
he most destructive earthquakes
On 22 May 1960 an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Chile. It is estimated to have accounted for about a quarter of the seismic energy released by all earthquakes in the past century. The US Geological Survey said that the earthquake killed 2,000 people, injured 3,000 and made another 2 million homeless. Tsunamis travelled across the Pacific, causing millions of pounds worth of damage in Hawaii, Japan, the west coast of the US and the Philippines.
However, the most destructive earthquake in modern times was in Tangshan, north-east of the Chinese capital of Beijing, in 1976. Officially the death toll was 242,419; unofficial estimates said 750,000.
The world's biggest volcanos
The most destructive volcanic eruption in modern times was that of Tambora on the Sumbawa island of Indonesia. It began on 5 April 1815 with a moderate explosion. Five days later "three columns of fire" rose into the sky and an estimated 50 cubic kilometres of molten magma were expelled. An estimated 92,000 died from the explosion or resulting starvation.
The debris thrown into the atmosphere caused global climate change. Crops failed as far away as America and many tens of thousands of people died from famine in the immediate vicinity of the eruption.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Take care of your parents
A simple man tells how his booking an air ticket for his father, his first flight, brought emotions and made him realize that how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents.
My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make him experience the same.
In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Flight.
The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air.
The excitement was very apparent on his face, waiting for the time of travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself on that day and we all went to the airport, right from using the trolley for his luggage, the baggage check-in and asking for window seat and waiting restlessly for the security check-in to happen.
He was thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching him experience all these things.
As they were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became very emotional and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact that this meant a great deal to him.
When he said thanks, I told him there was no need to thank me.
But later, thinking about the entire incident, I looked back at my life.
As a child how many dreams our parents have made come true. Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for football, dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability, they have satisfied to all our needs. Did we ever think about the sacrifices they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes?
Did we ever say thanks for all that they have done for us?
Same way, today when it comes to our children, we always think that we should put them in a good school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure that we will have to give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc. But we tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our sake to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their dreams are realized and what they failed to see when they were young, it is our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and their life is complete.
Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions, I have actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks me something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how they would have felt at those moments.
Let us realize that old age is a second childhood and just as we take care of our children,the same attention and same care need to be given to our parents and elders.
Rather than my dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say sorry for making him wait so long for this small dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed for my sake and I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all their wishes.
Just because they are old does not mean that they will have to give up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have wishes, too.
Take care of ur parents.
My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make him experience the same.
In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Flight.
The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air.
The excitement was very apparent on his face, waiting for the time of travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself on that day and we all went to the airport, right from using the trolley for his luggage, the baggage check-in and asking for window seat and waiting restlessly for the security check-in to happen.
He was thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching him experience all these things.
As they were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became very emotional and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact that this meant a great deal to him.
When he said thanks, I told him there was no need to thank me.
But later, thinking about the entire incident, I looked back at my life.
As a child how many dreams our parents have made come true. Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for football, dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability, they have satisfied to all our needs. Did we ever think about the sacrifices they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes?
Did we ever say thanks for all that they have done for us?
Same way, today when it comes to our children, we always think that we should put them in a good school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure that we will have to give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc. But we tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our sake to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their dreams are realized and what they failed to see when they were young, it is our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and their life is complete.
Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions, I have actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks me something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how they would have felt at those moments.
Let us realize that old age is a second childhood and just as we take care of our children,the same attention and same care need to be given to our parents and elders.
Rather than my dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say sorry for making him wait so long for this small dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed for my sake and I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all their wishes.
Just because they are old does not mean that they will have to give up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have wishes, too.
Take care of ur parents.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
About 1500 stars are visible at night with the naked eye in a clear, dark sky. There are 88 canstellations altogether; the smallest star measuring about 1700km across, it is a white dwarf called LP 327-16!
In ancient Rome only important people wore purple clothes; this is because the purple dye came from a particular kind of shellfish and was very expensive!
Lava from an erupting volcano may be as hot as 1200 degrees celsius!
Some of the oldest mountains in the world are located in Scotland; they are estimated to be about 400 million years old!
Blue whales weigh up to 7 tonnes at birth!
The longest jail sentence till date was passed in the United States; 10,000 years for a triple murder charge!
Astronauts become a little taller in space; there's less gravity, so their bones are less bonded together!
About 20% of all volcanoes are underwater!
The Amazon 'Jesus Christ Lizard' can run across water!
The industrial complex of Cubatao in Brazil is known as the valley of death; because of its pollution, which has destroyed the trees and rivers nearby!
The loudest noise ever known till date was produced by a volcanic eruption at krakatoa, near Japan in 1883; the sound was heard in Australia, 5000km away!
The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova, from the USSR; in june 1963!
Some animals can grow new parts of their body if damaged; starfish can grow new arms, lizards can grow broken-off tails!
The fastest growing tree is the eucalyptus; it can grow up to 10 meters in a year!
Over 4 million cars in Brazil are now running on gasohol instead of gasoline/petrol. Gasohol is a fuel made from sugarcane!
The world's largest recorded gathering of people till date was at a Hindu religious festival in India in 1989; it was attended by about 15 million people!
Sharks, in their 400 million years on earth have shown an extraordinary ability to resist cancer and other diseases. This has raised hopes among medical researchers that the ocean's most feared predator might turn out to be the cancer patient's best friend; investigators continue to study the immune system of sharks to see if it can provide the answer to stop the spread of cancer in humans!
Yuri Gagarin survived the first manned space flight but was killed in a plane crash seven years later!
The first animal in space was the soviet dog, Laika, in November, 1957; it died on the flight!
The largest tree in the world is a giant sequoia growing in california; it is 84 meters tall and measures 29 meters round the trunk!
Abraham Lincoln went to school for less than a year; he taught himself how to read and write!
The world's largest palace till date has 1788 rooms; it was built for the Sultan of Brunei!
There is no land at all at the North pole; only large mass of water with ice covering it!
A mayfly only lives for a day; but a tortoise can live up to 100 years!
Levi Strauss (Levi's) made the first pair of jeans in 1850; they were intended as work trousers for American miners looking for gold!
With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S market. --Business week, 1958--!
The oldest living tree is a California bristle cone pine named 'Methuselah'; it is about 4600 yrs old!
Lake Bosumtwi in Ghana was formed in a hollow made by a meteorite!
The Antartic notothenia fish has a protein in its blood that acts like antifreeze and stops the fish from freezing in icy sea!
The cries of South American howler monkeys can be heard 16km away!
In ancient Rome only important people wore purple clothes; this is because the purple dye came from a particular kind of shellfish and was very expensive!
Lava from an erupting volcano may be as hot as 1200 degrees celsius!
Some of the oldest mountains in the world are located in Scotland; they are estimated to be about 400 million years old!
Blue whales weigh up to 7 tonnes at birth!
The longest jail sentence till date was passed in the United States; 10,000 years for a triple murder charge!
Astronauts become a little taller in space; there's less gravity, so their bones are less bonded together!
About 20% of all volcanoes are underwater!
The Amazon 'Jesus Christ Lizard' can run across water!
The industrial complex of Cubatao in Brazil is known as the valley of death; because of its pollution, which has destroyed the trees and rivers nearby!
The loudest noise ever known till date was produced by a volcanic eruption at krakatoa, near Japan in 1883; the sound was heard in Australia, 5000km away!
The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova, from the USSR; in june 1963!
Some animals can grow new parts of their body if damaged; starfish can grow new arms, lizards can grow broken-off tails!
The fastest growing tree is the eucalyptus; it can grow up to 10 meters in a year!
Over 4 million cars in Brazil are now running on gasohol instead of gasoline/petrol. Gasohol is a fuel made from sugarcane!
The world's largest recorded gathering of people till date was at a Hindu religious festival in India in 1989; it was attended by about 15 million people!
Sharks, in their 400 million years on earth have shown an extraordinary ability to resist cancer and other diseases. This has raised hopes among medical researchers that the ocean's most feared predator might turn out to be the cancer patient's best friend; investigators continue to study the immune system of sharks to see if it can provide the answer to stop the spread of cancer in humans!
Yuri Gagarin survived the first manned space flight but was killed in a plane crash seven years later!
The first animal in space was the soviet dog, Laika, in November, 1957; it died on the flight!
The largest tree in the world is a giant sequoia growing in california; it is 84 meters tall and measures 29 meters round the trunk!
Abraham Lincoln went to school for less than a year; he taught himself how to read and write!
The world's largest palace till date has 1788 rooms; it was built for the Sultan of Brunei!
There is no land at all at the North pole; only large mass of water with ice covering it!
A mayfly only lives for a day; but a tortoise can live up to 100 years!
Levi Strauss (Levi's) made the first pair of jeans in 1850; they were intended as work trousers for American miners looking for gold!
With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S market. --Business week, 1958--!
The oldest living tree is a California bristle cone pine named 'Methuselah'; it is about 4600 yrs old!
Lake Bosumtwi in Ghana was formed in a hollow made by a meteorite!
The Antartic notothenia fish has a protein in its blood that acts like antifreeze and stops the fish from freezing in icy sea!
The cries of South American howler monkeys can be heard 16km away!
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