Thursday, June 30, 2011

Top Worlds Tallest Things

01 World's Tallest Model
Top Worlds Tallest Things
Eve, a US model measuring 6 ft 9 in (about 205cm) is the cover of Australian men's magazine Zoo Weekly. This beauty appears on the cover of the magazine's recent issue alongside a 162cm-tall Australian model. "No other magazine has put a woman who's nearly 7ft tall on the cover," editor Paul Merrill said. "We had ... her bikini specially made, but it was worth it.
02 World's Tallest Horse
Top Worlds Tallest Things
Poe the Clydesdale, is an impressive 6 ft 8 in tall horse, and his owner, Shereen Thomspon, is seeking to have him admitted into the Guinness Book of World Records. Poe weighs over 3,000 pounds and stands at 80.8 inches high. The current record holder is shorter by a mere .8 inches. The giant horse eats 10 pounds of grain and drinks 75 gallons of water per day. “He is extremely popular, but his size always means people keep a cautious distance from him — although they shouldn't, as he is a real puppy,” Thompson said.
03 World's Tallest Bridge
Top Worlds Tallest Things
The Millau Viaduct (French: le Viaduc de Millau, Occitan: lo Viaducte de Milhau) is an enormous cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. Designed by the structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, it is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft) — slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 37 m (121 ft) shorter than the Empire State Building. The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Montpellier. Construction cost was around €400 million. It was formally dedicated on 14 December 2004, inaugurated the day after and opened to traffic two days later. The bridge won the 2006 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award. The Millau Viaduct is located on the territory of the communes of Millau and Creissels, France, in the département of Aveyron. Before the bridge was constructed, traffic had to descend into the Tarn River valley and pass along the route nationale N9 near the town of Millau, causing heavy congestion at the beginning and end of the July and August vacation season. The bridge now traverses the Tarn valley above its lowest point, linking two limestone plateau, the Causse du Larzac and the Causse Rouge, and is inside the perimeter of the Grands Causses regional natural park. The bridge forms the last link of the A75 autoroute, (la Méridienne) from Clermont-Ferrand to Pézenas (to be extended to Béziers by 2010). The A75, with the A10 and A71, provides a continuous high-speed route south from Paris through Clermont-Ferrand to the Languedoc region and through to Spain, considerably reducing the cost of vehicle traffic travelling along this route. Many tourists heading to southern France and Spain follow this route because it is direct and without tolls for the 340 kilometres (210 mi) between Clermont-Ferrand and Pézenas, except for the bridge itself. The Eiffage group, which constructed the viaduct, also operates it, under a government contract which allows the company to collect tolls for up to 75 years. The toll bridge costs €5.60 for light automobiles (€7.40 during the peak months of July and August).
04 World's Tallest High Heels
Top Worlds Tallest Things
Apparently, the world's highest heels are 16 inches tall with an 11 inch platform – that's a 5 inch difference. Can you imagine wearing something like that? Your demure, average height 5ft 4in lady will end up looking like one of those Amazonian warriors, or worse, circus clown who's 6ft tall and struggling not to fall over.
05 World's Tallest Building
Top Worlds Tallest Things
At 2,684 ft (818 m), the Burj Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, will be the tallest man-made building ever built. Its construction began on 21st September 2004, and the tower is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy on 4th January 2010. The total budget for theBurj Dubai project is about US$4.1 billion. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the CEO of Emaar Properties, said that the price of office space at Burj Dubai had reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m2) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Dubai, were selling for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m2).
06 World's Tallest Snowman
Top Worlds Tallest Things
The world's tallest snowman is no man. The "snowwoman" towering over this village in Maine features eyelashes created from discarded skis and bright red lips made from painted car tires. She wears a giant red hat and a 100-foot-long scarf, and her blond tresses were made from rope. It was a 122-foot-tall mountain of snow. This ski town of about 2,400 residents already held the record for tallest snowman. Since then, they have been waiting for someone else to break the record. When no one rose to the challenge, the folks decided they'd have to break the record themselves.

"Olympia," named after Maine's senior senator, Olympia Snowe, stands nearly 10 feet taller than "Angus, King of the Mountain," who was dedicated by the town in 1999.

It took more than a month, dozens of volunteers and tons of snow to create Olympia. Jim Sysko, a civil engineer, oversaw design and construction. To get an idea of scale, Olympia is about 30 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty (without the base). Her arms consist of 27-foot-tall evergreens.
07 World's Tallest LEGO Tower
Top Worlds Tallest Things
The new record for the world's tallest LEGO tower returns to USA. The 94.3ft-high pirate ship mast was made with 465,000 bricks, breaking a previous record of 93.43ft set in Denmark in 2006.
08 World's Tallest Fountain
Top Worlds Tallest Things
As you would expect, the world's tallest fountain is in Dubai, next to the world's tallest building. Set on the 30-acre Burj Dubai Lake, the fountain shoots water jets as high as 500 ft (150 metres), equivalent to that of a 50-storey building. The fountain is 900 ft (275 metres) long and has five circles of varying sizes and two central arcs. It has been designed by California-based WET, the creators of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas and costed $217 million. The water show uses 6,600 lights, 50 colored projectors, and hundreds of servos, all computer controlled and synchronized with music.
09 World's Tallest Dog
Top Worlds Tallest Things
A dog named Titan lived up to his name when he earned the title world's tallest dog. The 4-year-old white Great Dane from San Diego is blind, deaf, epileptic and undergoes acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments every three weeks, said owner Diana Taylor. The massive canine is often mistaken by young children for a horse or cow. Titan's official height, as measured by a veterinarian, is a hair over 3 1/2 feet tall from floor to shoulder. You could add 8 inches if official measurements included the head, Guinness spokesman Stuart Claxton said. Titan weighs 190 pounds and doesn't stand on his hind legs because it isn't good for him. If he did, Taylor figures he would stand 80 or 82 inches tall. Titan takes the title held by Gibson, a 7-year-old harlequin Great Dane from Grass Valley, who died earlier this year after battling bone cancer. He was actually slightly shorter than the new title holder.
10 World's Tallest Thermometer
Top Worlds Tallest Things
At 134 feet, the "World's Tallest Thermometer" is easily visible from Interstate 15 in Baker, California. An appropriate landmark for the town that calls itself "The Gateway to Death Valley," the thermometer regularly records temperatures well in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. In fact, its height recalls the highest temperature ever recorded in the United States: 134 degrees in Death Valley in 1913. Erected by a Baker businessman in 1991, the thermometer is right next to the Bun Boy restaurant and the visitors center for the Mojave National Preserve.
11 World's Tallest Tree
Top Worlds Tallest Things
A redwood tree discovered in a remote California forest has turned out to be the world's tallest tree, edging out one nearby that had been the titleholder. Prof. Steve Sillett of Humboldt State University said the record-setting tree, named Hyperion, was 379.1 feet tall, bettering the previous record holder, the 370.5-foot-tall Stratosphere Giant. Researchers exploring remote and rugged terrain this summer in the Redwood National and State Parks along California's northernmost coast also discovered two other redwoods taller than the Stratosphere Giant, suggesting there had been many more massive ancient redwoods in the area, Professor Sillett said.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Guruvayoor Elephant Training School, India

PUNNATHURKOTTA

Guruvayoor Elephant Training School, India
Punathurkotta is very unique in being the largest elephant park in the world with over 60 elephants. All of them are donated by the devotees of Guruvayurappan.
The elephant race and the feast for elephants are a few of the unique features. There are elephants of all ages including very small elephant to old ones.

Punnathurkotta is a fort and former palace located in Kottapadi, about two kilometres from the Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple, Thrissur district of Kerala state in South India.
The nearest railway station is at Guruvayoor and the nearest airport is in Kochi (80 km).
Guruvayoor Elephant Training School, India

Guruvayoor Elephant Training School, India

Guruvayoor Elephant Training School, India

Guruvayoor Elephant Training School, India

Guruvayoor Elephant Training School, India

Guruvayoor Elephant Training School, India

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Selection Of Cute Birds

Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries

1. The mighty Incan Empire of South America

Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
The mighty Incan Empire of South America flourished between 1200 and 1535 AD. They developed drainage systems and canals to expand their crops, and built stone cities atop steep mountains — such as Machu Picchu (above) — without ever inventing the wheel. Despite their vast achievements, the Incan Empire with its 40,000 manned army was no match for 180 Spanish conquistadors armed with advanced weapons and smallpox.
2. Ancient Pyramids in Giza, Egypt

Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
Khafre (l.) and Khufu (r.) are two of the three ancient Pyramids in Giza, Egypt. Khufu is the biggest, consisting of more than 2 million stones with some weighing 9 tons. The Pyramids, built as elaborate tombs for divine kings, date back to 2,550 BC. Modern Egyptologists believe that the Pyramids are made from stones dragged from quarries and, despite ancient Greek testimony, were built predominantly by skilled craftsmen rather than slave labor.
3. The Mayan Temple

Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
According to the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar, made famous by the ancient Mayan people, December 2012 marks the ending of the current baktun cycle. This little bit of information has many archeologists spooked. Some believe the Mayans were warning of a coming apocalypse, while others insist it’s simply a mathematical misconception.
4. The Legend of El Dorado

Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
The Legend of El Dorado originates from the Muisca, who lived in the modern country of Colombia from 1000 to 1538 AD. In a ritual ceremony for their goddess, the tribal chief would cover himself in gold dust and jump into a lake as an offering. This spawned the legend of a lost golden city, which led Spanish conquistadors on a wild goose chase to nowhere.
5. Easter Island

Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is remotely located 2,000 miles off the coast of Tahiti. The original settlers of the island were Polynesians who migrated to the far-off land between 400 and 600 BC. They built many shrines and statues, called moai, from stones quarried throughout the island including a volcano site. Researchers still question exactly how the large stones were moved.
6. The Bermuda Triangle

Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
The Bermuda Triangle — located in the Atlantic between Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico — is a thief, stealing planes and boats right out of existence. The area got its name after Sgt. Howell Thompson (l.), along with 27 Navy airmen, vanished from the devilish spot during a routine flight in 1945. Rumors persist on a supernatural explanation, but many specialists blame hurricanes, a heavy Gulf Stream and human error.
7. The Nazca Lines

Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
The Nazca Lines cover more than 190 square miles in the southern deserts of Peru. The mysterious shapes etched into the land rival football fields and predate the Incan Empire. The ‘Las Manos’ figure (above) is 2,000 years old. Little is know about why the Nazca people constructed such vast pieces of sand art, some believe they are extraterrestrial in nature, while others claim they may have carried and pointed to sources of water.
8. Aliens
Area 51, located on Groom Lake in southern Nevada (c.), was founded in 1955 by the U.S. Air Force to develop and test new aircrafts – such as the U-2 Spy Plane, A-12 Blackbird and F-117 Stealth Fighter. The secretive nature of the military base, combined with its classified aircraft research, helped conspiracy theorists imagine an installation filled with time-travel experimentation, UFO coverups and alien autopsies.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries

9. Sphinx of Giza, Egypt
Another Egyptian wonder, the Sphinx of Giza has the body of a lion and the head of a Pharaoh, believed by most to be that of king Khafre. It was carved from soft limestone, and has been slowly falling apart over the years. A popular theory of the missing nose claims Napoleon’s soldiers shot it off with a cannon in 1798, but early sketches discovered of the Sphinx without a nose predate Napoleon’s rampage.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
10. The Loch Ness Monster
According to Scottish folklore, a mystical creature called a water horse lures small children to a watery grave by tricking them to ride on its sticky back. The Loch Ness Monster became an English wonder in 1933, after witness accounts made newspaper headlines. No hard evidence of the creature has ever been recorded with several pictures, including the one above, being proven as hoaxes.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
11. The Fountain of Youth
Don Juan Ponce de Leon completed Spain’s claim on America in 1509, and soon after was made governor of Puerto Rico. Six years later, following Indian rumors, he traveled north to the island of Bimini in search of the Fountain of Youth. Bimini turned out to be the peninsula of Florida, and the fountain remained hidden until July 2006, when famed magician David Copperfield claimed the waters on his $50 million Exumas Island (c.) had healing properties.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
12. Chupacabra
Phylis Canion holds the head of what she is calling a Chupacabra at her home in Cuero, Tex. The strange-looking animal, first reported in Puerto Rico in 1995, apparently has a taste for chicken and goat blood. Although many pictures like the above might prove its existence, biologists assure none such creature exists.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
13. The Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a wooden casket, gold plated, made for carrying the tablets of the Ten Commandments. The casket was carried throughout the desert and remained in the Israelite Temple until its destruction by the hand of the Babylonian Empire. Its whereabouts are still unknown, but Hollywood made its own version for ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
14. The Stonehenge
The Stonehenge landscape of Salisbury Plain, England, has become a tourist hotspot. But before foreigners with windbreakers and cameras showed up, the area may have been a burial ground and ceremonial den dating back 5,000 years.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
15. The Iron Pillar of Delhi
The Iron Pillar of Delhi is a 1,600-year-old, 22 feet high pillar located in the Qutb complex in India. The pillar, made from 98% wrought iron, has been astounding scientists by its ability to resist corrosion after all these years.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
16. Stone Spheres in Costa Rica
Discovered in the early 1940s in Costa Rica during excavations by the United Fruit Company, these perfectly formed stone spheres date from 600 AD to the 16th century. Their makers and purpose still unconfirmed, many believe them to be some religious effigy made to worship the sun.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
17. Mothman
A humanoid with insect wings and crimson eyes, known as the Mothman, terrorized Point Pleasant, W.Va., during the late 1960s. No solid evidence exists of the creature, except for a handful of witness reports documented in paranormal-journalist John A Keel’s ‘Mothman Prophecies’.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
18. Jersey Devil
According to legend, 250 years ago a Jersey woman by the name of Mrs. Leeds cried out in despair during her 13th pregnancy, ‘Let it be the Devil!’ After childbirth, the baby was revealed to be a kangaroo-like creature with wings, and flew away to cause all sorts of Jersey Devil mischief. Today the Jersey Devil can be seen getting fans riled up during local hockey games.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
19. The Tunguska Explosion of Russia
The Tunguska Explosion in Russia occurred around 7:14 a.m. on June 30, 1908. To this date, the exact cause of the explosion – which leveled 80 million trees over 830 square miles – remains a heated debate. Most believe it to be caused by a meteoroid fragment, others insist either a black hole or UFO origin.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
20. The Lost City of Atlantis
The Lost City of Atlantis was introduced to the West 2,400 years ago by Plato, who claimed it to be the island home of an advanced society. Legend says it was sunk by an earthquake, with later interpretations as an underwater kingdom protected by mermaids. Its whereabouts still a mystery, recent underwater evidence suggests it was once apart of a larger landmass in Cyprus off the Mediterranean (c.), but the only true Atlantis exists in the Bahamas as a grand casino and resort hotel.
Worlds Top 20 Unsolved Mysteries