World's biggest family

He is head of the world's biggest family and says he is 'blessed' to have his 39 wives. Ziona Chana also has 94 children, 14-daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren. They live in a 100-room, four storey house set amidst the hills of Baktwang village in the Indian state of Mizoram, where the wives sleep in giant communal dormitories.

Read More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358654/The-worlds-biggest-family-Ziona-Chan-39-wives-94-children-33-grandchildren.html

Why don't polar bears eat penguins?

Despite the fact that the polar bear does eat a lot, there is no possibility that the polar bear could have a penguin as a tasty treat. Although both the polar bear and the penguin are polar mammals, the polar bear inhabits the Arctic and the penguin inhabits the Antarctic living nearly 12,000 kilometres apart! The only place they could meet is at the zoo.

Source: http://www.tommcmahon.net/2003/06/why_dont_polar_.html

Why we are not allowed to eat before surgery?

The drugs used for anesthesia are so powerful that they slow or stop your respiratory drive. When you are under general anesthesia a breathing tube is inserted through your mouth and into your airway, (trachea), to help you breathe. The trachea and the esophagus open at nearly the same place in the back of the throat. Under normal conditions a small flap of tissue covers the trachea when we swallow preventing the inhalation of food into the lungs. When you are under general anesthesia this defense mechanism is compromised and contents from the stomach can come up through the esophagus and be inhaled into the lungs. You're also at increased risk of vomiting. These two things can lead to a very dangerous condition called aspiration pneumonia.

The best way to prevent this is to make certain that there is nothing in your stomach that could be inhaled into the lungs. Even small amounts of liquids are dangerous. Smoking, chewing gum, sucking on a mint, or brushing your teeth can cause your stomach to create digestion fluids which can also be inhaled into the lungs. Therefore, it is very important that you follow your doctor or nurses instructions about not eating prior to surgery.

Source: http://ent.about.com/od/livingwithentdisorders/f/eatbeforesurgery.htm

Is coffee creamer bad for you?

The nutrition label on the powdered coffee creamer in your office or kitchen might list ten calories and just a half a gram of saturated fat. Those sound like healthy low levels. But use a more realistic tablespoon-size serving instead of the miserly teaspoon listed on the nutrition facts label, and you’re looking at 45 calories and three grams of heart-harmful saturated fat. Have three or four servings per day and you’ve unknowingly consumed half a day’s saturated fat.

But the liquid version of these coffee creamers is worse. Instead of using coconut and palm kernel oils, used in the powdered version, the liquid versions use partially hydrogenated soybean or cottonseed oil. Three cups of coffee with that, delivers 1.86 grams of saturated fat, not to mention the 2.76 grams of trans fat, which is more than an entire day’s worth of the kind of fat that raises your bad cholesterol and lowers your good cholesterol.

Read more: http://www.suite101.com/content/is-your-coffee-creamer-silently-killing-you-a232355

The origin of PlayStation controller's button

If you’ve owned any of the PlayStation consoles (the original PlayStation or PSX, the PS2, the PS3 and the PSP) then you’ve seen the button scheme that they’ve been using on their controllers. Instead of having A-B-C X-Y-Z like what Nintendo did with their controllers, Sony stuck with a colorful and much more recognizable scheme.

PlayStation designer Teiyu Goto explains why. Just who is Teiyu Goto? Well he’s none other than the father of the PlayStation, the man behind the designs for the original PlayStation, the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation 3!

So why shapes and colors? In an interview with Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, it’s all about keeping things simple.

“That was…pretty tough,” he says. “Other game companies at the time assigned alphabet letters or colors to the buttons. We wanted something simple to remember, which is why we went with icons or symbols, and I came up with the triangle-circle-X-square combination immediately afterward. I gave each symbol a meaning and a color.”

“The triangle refers to viewpoint; I had it represent one’s head or direction and made it green. Square refers to a piece of paper; I had it represent menus or documents and made it pink. The circle and X represent ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision-making and I made them red and blue respectively. People thought those colors were mixed up, and I had to reinforce to management that that’s what I wanted.”

Source: http://www.atmaxplorer.com/2010/08/decoding-the-playstation-controllers-buttons/

Can lightning strike the same place twice?

"Lightning never strikes twice." This often quoted phrase has been around for hundreds of years, although it has been proven false on several occasions.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lightning does just the opposite of the myth and often strikes the same place repeatedly. This is because certain structures attract lightning better than others. On their page devoted to lightning myths, they point out that the Empire State Building is hit about 25 times per year.

Several people have also been struck multiple times by lightning. The Guinness Book of World Records lists a Virginia Park Ranger named Roy Sullivan as the man who has received the most lightning strikes, having survived 7 strikes over the course of 35 years.

According to National Geographic, the odds of being struck by lightning in an average person's lifetime is about 1 in 3,000.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/news-you-can-use-in-national/lightning-never-strikes-the-same-place-twice

Whose voice is that behind every movie trailers?

You may not know his name, and you probably don’t recognize his face, but you’ve undoubtedly heard the voice of Don LaFontaine. Borned in August 26, 1940, LaFontaine was an American voiceover artist famous for recording more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers.

LaFontaine started his showbiz career as a recording engineer. He became a trailer narrator when, in 1964, he filled in for a voice actor who was unavailable to finish the trailer for a Western called Gunfighters of Casa Grande. The filmmakers loved his melodramatic approach, and by 1970 LaFontaine was the most imitated trailer narrator in Hollywood. Because voice actors are largely behind the scenes of a movie or other production we don't often think of them, but Don was one of the most famous voice actors to have ever lived, and during his career he earned the nicknames “The Voice of God,” and “Thunder Throat.” That’s why LaFontaine is the highest paid trailer narrator in Hollywood.

Sadly LaFontaine died on September 1, 2008 following complications from a blood clot in his lungs. Don's final voice over was for the trailer of the movie Call + Response, a documentary for which Don donated his talent about the global slave trade. Don will likely always be remembered for his work in thousands of movie trailers and other voice over work.

Source: http://swindlemagazine.com/issueicons/don-lafontaine/

Where did the bull and bear market get their names?

First of all, let's remember that bears are sluggish and bulls spirited and burly. The terms are used to describe general actions and attitudes, or sentiment, either of an individual (bear and bull) or the market. A bear market refers to a decline in prices, usually for a period of a few months, in a single security or asset, group of securities or the securities market as a whole. A bull market is when prices are rising.

The actual origins of these expressions are unclear. Here are two of the most frequent explanations given:

The terms "bear" and "bull" are thought to derive from the way in which each animal attacks its opponents. That is, a bull will thrust its horns up into the air, while a bear will swipe down. These actions were then related metaphorically to the movement of a market: if the trend was up, it was considered a bull market; if the trend was down, it was a bear market.

Historically, the middlemen in the sale of bearskins would sell skins they had yet to receive. As such, they would speculate on the future purchase price of these skins from the trappers, hoping they would drop. The trappers would profit from a spread - the difference between the cost price and the selling price. These middlemen became known as "bears", short for bearskin jobbers, and the term stuck for describing a downturn in the market. Conversely, because bears and bulls were widely considered to be opposites due to the once-popular blood sport of bull-and-bear fights, the term bull stands as the opposite of bears.

Source: http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/129.asp

World's largest Maze

Italian publisher Franco Maria Ricci, the man who published some of the world’s most fantastical works and luxurious volumes has created its biggest maze. His labyrinth of bamboo hedges at Fontanellato near Parma reportedly covers some seven hectares (17.5 acres), which would make it more than five times larger than the Pineapple Garden Maze on Hawaii, the largest permanent hedge maze in the Guinness Book of Records.

The maze is scheduled to open to the public in 2012. Bring a cell phone with you if you go, just in case you get lost.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/world-largest-maze-italy

Why do men have Morning Erection?

Morning erections, colloquially referred to as "morning wood" and scientifically defined as nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) are a healthy and normal physiological response that most men experience. Normally it happens when they are asleep. Men begin having them in early childhood and they continue throughout adult life. They appear during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the stage of sleep where dreaming occurs.

However, these involuntary erections have nothing to do with dreams or sexual excitement. They occur when neurological stimulators cause blood to flow into the penis. This ensures that oxygen is properly delivered to the penis and helps keep penile tissue healthy.

Men don't normally notice these erections, but may occasionally encounter them upon waking. On average a healthy male will have between three and five erections in a full night sleep, with each erection lasting between 25 -35 minutes. Men who are unable to have an erection because of a psychological problem still have erections during the night.

Many men say that "morning" or nocturnal erections are noticeably harder than those during the day. This is normal, and a natural result of nocturnal erections.

Source: http://www.mybrotha.com/mens-sexual-health1.asp

For more: http://sexuality.about.com/od/malesexualanatomy/a/morning_erectio.htm

How to wrestle a 20-feet Anaconda?

Ross Allen was a famous herpetologist who started Reptile Institute in Silver Springs, Florida in 1929 displaying native snakes, alligators, and an "Indian Village" with Seminoles he recruited from the Everglades. After watching Ross handle the snakes and Indians wrestle gators, tourists could purchase their own souvenir live reptiles to take back home with them.

One of his incredible stunt was wrestling a 20-feet Anaconda underwater together with his son, Tom.

Source: http://www.lostparks.com/rossal.html

How did Lamborghini get started?

Ferruccio Lamborghini, a major Italian tractor manufacturer, loved luxury cars. He owned quite a few brands such as Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Mercedes Benz, but his most beloved cars were Ferraris. He purchased several of them over his lifetime despite a slight dissatisfaction with them. He thought they were just track cars repurposed for the road and found them inelegant.

After having the clutch on his latest Ferrari fixed one too many times, Lamborghini brought his complaints straight to Enzo Ferrari himself. Enzo Ferrari, a man known for his arrogance, told Ferrucio that the problem was not with the car but rather with the 'farmer'.

After being insulted, Ferruccio was furious and at that moment decided to show Enzo how he should build sport cars. Ferrucio went back to his factory, had his Ferrari's clutch dismantled and realized that the clutch manufacturer was the same who supplied the clutches for his tractors. In his warehouse he found a spare part which he thought suitable, and when it was installed the problem was solved. That gave him the inspiration to start his own car line to rival Ferrari’s.

Had Enzo Ferrari a little less pride and a little more awareness of his customer base, the popular Lamborghini brand may never have existed. Instead, his arrogance lead an influential and resourceful customer turn from a loyal fan into a rabid rival.

What is the purpose of the brushes at the side of an escalator?

No, they are not there to clean your shoes but instead, they are there for a safety reason. This long continuous brush called "Deflector brush" or "Skirt Brush" is made of stiff bristles that runs up the sides of the escalator just above the step level. It is designed to deflect objects like garments, shoes and other things away from the gap between the steps and the side wall. They also work as an indicator to tell passengers that they are close to the step's edge.

How T-Shirt Begins?

T-shirts started off as underwear. During the First World War, European soldiers wore them underneath their uniforms to keep warm. American troops copied the idea and started calling them 'T-shirts' because of their T shape.

In the 1950s, movie stars like James Dean shocked the world by wearing their T-shirts as proper clothes on telly. It caught on fast and by the 1960s T-shirts had taken over. Sports teams, clubs and rock bands were all using colours and logos on their 'tees' to get noticed.

During the 20th century, the T-shirt went from military-issue wear to an iconic fashion statement, according to the "The T-Shirt Book," a 2002 history of the garment by Charlotte Brunel.

Brunel writes that the shirt went through several mid-century phases, as a symbol of heroism worn by World War II fighters, the rebel uniform of movie icons like Marlon Brando, the socially conscious garb of the 1960s peace movement, and the in-your-face costume of the punk rock scene.

The T-shirt was also a democratizing force in the military because it was worn by all ranks, a philosophy extended to the civilian world when veterans "by the likes of Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy as well as the working man" kept wearing the shirts after completing their service, Brunel said.

"In a word, the T-shirt is to clothing what the blank sheet of paper is to writing -- a surface for imagination and free expression to run wild," Brunel writes.

People are still using T-shirts to make statements. Madonna recently big-upped Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue by wearing their names on her chest.

The latest craze in T-shirts is 'customisation' - decorating them yourself. Trendy fashion designer JJ sparked it off by buying old clothes from charity shops and revamping them for the catwalk. Now, everyone is doing it.

Source: http://www.t-shirtteasers.com/history-of-the-t-shirt.htm

How much is winning a World Cup actually worth?

When the World Cup kicks off in South Africa this summer, FIFA will have set aside some £250 million for prize money. A huge amount you will agree, especially when you consider that the prize money on offer in 2006 was only £140 million.

The 2010 World Cup winners will receive £18million for becoming champions, the losing finalists will take home a miserable £14 million.

Third and fourth, will take home £12 million and £11 million respectively. Losing Quarter-Finalists will be awarded £8.5 million each while teams exiting in the second round will receive £5.5 million each, leaving teams who were knocked out in the first round to leave with their tale between their legs carrying £5 million each.

In addition to that, each of the 32 teams on show will receive £600,000 each for expenses incurred during preparation for the month long tournament. This money will go some way to keeping the competing teams happy, and knowing that club sides from all over the world will be represented, FIFA has also set aside £25 million for them, too.

The way their payments are structured is that from 15 days before the tournament commences until one day after the player exits the cup, clubs will receive £980 for every day a player is there. Meaning that the minimum that any team will receive for one single player is £25,480.

This was in exchange for clubs not suing an international team should a player become injured.

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/worldcup/story/030810-how-much-is-a-world-cup-worth

Why called Siamese Twins?

The origin and the historical roots of the term "Siamese twins" can be attributed to Chang and Eng Bunker, the famous conjoined twins from Siam (now Thailand) who earned their living in the U.S. as a circus attraction in the Barnum and Baily Circus. They were born on May 11, 1811 in Siam (now Thailand) joined at the lower chest by a narrow band of flesh, which connected their livers. The twins were discovered in Siam by British merchant Robert Hunter and exhibited as a curiosity during a world tour. As they traveled the world, they became known as "the Siamese twins."

Upon termination of their contract with their discoverer, they settled in the United States, where they married two sisters and had nearly two dozen children. They were successful businessman and farmers in Wilkes County, North Carolina, where they lived until 1874. They were 63 years old when they died.

Why fish fear their own reflections?

As they swim gently around their tank or bowl, fish tend to enjoy a stress-free existence. But they face one great potential peril, scientists have found. Apparently, if they catch sight of their reflection gawping back at them, they try to fight it.

They are then terrified when their lookalike fights back in exactly the same way. Scientists say the discovery shows how similar their brains are to ours. Biologist Dr Julie Desjardins, who led the study, said: 'I think this indicates there is more going on cognitively than people have long assumed in fish.' Male African cichlids, a territorial species, were either shown their reflection or another fish behind a pane of glass. In both cases the fish tried to fight.

All showed high levels of testosterone and other aggression-inducing hormones in their blood. The fishes' brains were also examined but only those that had fought with their reflection showed high activity in the amygdala, the brain region tied to fear and fear conditioning in all vertebrates - including humans.

Dr Desjardins, of Stanford University, California, said the fear was due to the unfamiliarity of the encounter, adding: 'The fish was not seeing the expected response from its opponent. 'The fact we saw evidence of a really high level of activity in the amygdala is pretty exciting and surprising.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1280218/Are-looking-Why-fish-scared-reflection.html

World's most expensive hair dresser

Everyone likes to spend big bucks on their hair, but we are talking really big bucks here. I mean like the world's most expensive hairdresser's charges. Stuart Phillips' packages are for those with a fat, let's just say morbidly obese wallet. He offers three VIP packages which are more than just a haircut. The Gold Package starts for $16,300 and features limo ride from the airport to the salon, champagne lunch upon arrival at the salon, hair consultation, head and scalp massage, cut and blow dry from Stuart Phillips himself, instruction to maintain your styling and suggestions for different ways to wear it, a selection of L’Oreal products to take home and limo ride back to the airport after your appointment.

The next in line is the £20,000 ($32,000) Diamond Package which is a two day/night adventure that includes chauffeur driven limo from your home to the airport, first class flight to the UK, limo will pick you up at the airport and take you to one of Britain’s finest hotels, champagne lunch, Stuart Phillips will escort you to the salon, extensive hair consultation, head and scalp massage, haircut, instructions to maintain style and suggestions for different ways of wearing it, selection of L’Oreal products, limo ride back to the hotel, day two to spend as you wish, limo ride back to the airport on the final day, limo ride from airport to your home and a portion of the proceeds go to two different charities.

The third Platinum Package is so expensive that you have contact Stuart Phillips Salon to get a quote. By the way, this package has anything you want including Stuart Phillips coming to you.

Source: http://www.luxurylaunches.com/other_stuff/stuart_phillips_is_the_most_expensive_hair_dresser_in_the_world.php

Boy saved from certain death by his ears

A boy in China was saved from the certain death of an eight-storey fall when his head got stuck in the bars of a window after he fell through. Ming Ming, aged six, was only prevented from plunging straight through the grate to his death by his ears. Instead, he was left dangling high above the street, to the terror of passers-by below. His screams, audible at street level, alerted them to his life-threatening predicament.


Emergency services raced to save him, worried the weight of his body might pull him through the bars or cause him to suffocate. They used a hydraulic pressure expander to force the bars apart and pulled Ming Ming back into his family's flat. A large crowd gathered on the street below as they carried out the rescue.

He is believed to have wandered to the window while looking for his grandfather, who had left him sleeping to run an errand. Fire service spokesman Wang Shen said its was a miraculous escape. He said: 'He could have fallen to the ground - or have been suffocated - at any minute.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1273158/Boys-ears-save-certain-death-storey-fall.html

Does Counting Sheep Really Help You Fall Asleep?

As far as we can tell, the idea of counting sheep to get to sleep might go back to ancient shepherds, who had to literally count their sheep every night before turning in, to make sure they were all there. Given the timing and the monotony of the task, someone eventually gave it a shot as a sleep aid and it caught on.

But does it work? Not according to researchers at Oxford University. Allison G. Harvey and Suzanna Payne, from the university’s Department of Experimental Psychology, conducted a study where volunteer insomniacs were monitored as they tried different distraction techniques for falling asleep over several nights.1

Harvey and Payne found that subjects took longer than usual to fall asleep on the nights they were instructed to count sheep, or were not told to do anything. When the insomniacs were told to distract themselves with a relaxing scene like a quiet beach, a walk in the woods, a massage, etc., though, they fell asleep 20 minutes sooner, on average, than they did when sheep counting or doing nothing. Harvey and Payne concluded that counting sheep is just too boring to do for very long, but a more engrossing distraction, like the detailed images of relaxing beaches, occupies enough “cognitive space” to keep people from engaging with too many other thoughts or worries.

Source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/