Giant Man Eating Catfish Caught in China

These images, reported to be gigantic catfish that was caught in a lake in Southern China, have been swirling around the Chinese internet for the last couple months. Those spreading the image claim that the 3-meter long fish may have eaten several swimmers who had disappeared in recent years. It sounds outlandish, but why not examine the pictures before deciding if it’s a fake?





Looks a hell of a lot like a whale shark to me. What do you think?

Source:- Axis

Air guitarist on top of world

A Japanese man has won the Air Guitar World Championship for the second consecutive year. Ochi Yosuke received the highest score from a panel of judges in the final at the Teatria rock club in Oulu, near the Arctic Circle, in northern Finland.

Apart from the glory, he received a custom-made Flying Finn electric guitar worth £1,700.

The surprise of the qualifying round was Oulu native Hilkka 'Gore Kitty' Suvanto, who had twice before scored the lowest points ever, but who achieved a perfect six from many of the judges.

However, it was Ochi who impressed the judges the most in the final showdown, ahead of Guillaume 'Moche Pitt' de Tonquedec, of France, and Austria's Max 'Herr Jaquelin' Heller.

"It's great. We've seen all the nations, united nations, 'rocking on the free world' and that's good, that's great," said de Tonquedec.

Craftsmen Convert AK47 Rifle To Guitar

Colombian instrument makers Jose Paredes assembles an AK47 rifle to be used as an electric guitar in his workshop in Bogota, seen in this photo taken on October 2, 2006.Musical craftsman Luis Alberto Paredes and his family have branched out from their fine classic string instruments to fashion electric guitars from shotguns and AK47s once used by fighters caught up in the country's lingering conflict.
Colombian instrument maker Jose Paredes converts an AK47 rifle to an electric guitar at his workshop in Bogota October 2, 2006.
Colombian instrument maker Luis Alberto Paredes plays an electric guitar converted from an AK47 rifle as he sits among classic instruments designed by him in his workshop in Bogota October 2, 2006.
Source:- People Daily

7 Amazing Holes in The World

looking at photos like these scares and fascinates me in equal doses. the sheer scale of these holes reminds you of just how tiny you are.

1):-mirny diamond mine,siberia

i’m pretty sure most people have seen this one. it’s an absolute beast and holds the title of largest open diamond mine in the world. at 525 metres deep with a top diameter of 1200 metres there’s even a no-fly zone above the hole due to a few helicopters being sucked in.
the red arrow in the photo below is pointing to a huge truck.

2):-kimberley big hole - south africa

apparently the largest ever hand-dug excavation in the world, this 1097 metre deep mine yielded over 3 tonnes of diamonds before being closed in 1914.
the amount of earth removed by workers is estimated to total 22.5 million tonnes.

3):-glory hole - monticello dam

a glory hole is used when a dam is at full capacity and water needs to be drained from the resevoir.
this is the glory hole belonging to monticello dam in california and it’s the largest in the world, its size enabling it to consume 14′400 cubic feet of water every second.

the hole can be seen at the top left of the photo above. if you were to jump in for some reason your slightly damp body would shoot out near the bottom of the dam (below).

4):-bingham canyon mine, utah

this is supposedly the largest man-made excavation on earth. extraction began in 1863 and still continues today, the pit increasing in size constantly. in its current state the hole is 3/4 mile deep and 2.5 miles wide.

5:-great blue hole, belize

situated 60 miles off the mainland of belize is this incredible ‘geographical phenomenon’ known as a blue hole. there are numerous blue holes around the world but none as stunning as this one.

at surface level the near perfectly circular hole is 1/4 mile wide, the depth in the middle reaching 145 metres. obviously the hole is a huge hit with divers.

6):-diavik mine, canada

this incredible mine can be found 300km northeast of yellowknife in canada.

the mine is so huge and the area so remote that it even has its own airport with a runway large enough to accomodate a boeing 737. it also looks equally as cool when the surrounding water is frozen.

7):-sinkhole, guatemala

a sinkhole is caused when water (usually rainwater or sewage) is soaked up by the earth on a large scale, resulting in the ground collapsing.
these photos are of a sinkhole which occured early this year in guatemala. the hole swallowed a dozen homes and killed at least 3 people.
officials blamed the monster of a hole on a ruptured sewage pipe.
a news report about the hole…

Source:-DeputyDog

Big Milk Guzzler Challenge Guinness World Record

Thousands of people took part in a milk-drinking contest in Hohhot on Monday during the First International Milk Industry Festival.

As the First International Milk Industry Festival opened Monday in Hohhot, capital of northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, thousands of people took part in a carnival on site by drinking as much milk in the shortest time as they can just to challenge the Guinness World Record.According to Star Daily reports, one of ten biggest milk guzzlers won the championship of “the fastest milk drinker”, by having 1.5 kg milk within just over 10 seconds.

China has become the largest new milk market in terms of total production, ranking the third in the world after America and India. The two largest milk producers in Hohhot - Mengniu and Yili, combine together and make the city the largest milk output city in the world with its annual milk output of 7 million tons.

Miracle man Walks Again

He survived against all the odds; now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again.

When his body was cut in two by a lorry in 1995, it was little short of a medical miracle that he lived. Peng Shulin, wearing new trainers, works on learning to walk again

took a team of more than 20 doctors to save his life.

Skin was grafted from his head to seal his torso – but the legless Mr Peng was left only 78cm (2ft 6in) tall.

Bedridden for years, doctors in China had little hope that he would ever be able to live anything like a normal life agan.

The bionic legs mimic the way Peng's limbs would have worked

But recently, he began exercising his arms, building up the strength to carry out everyday chores such as washing his face and brushing his teeth.

Doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing found out about Mr Peng's plight late last year and devised a plan to get him up walking again. They came up with an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, creating a sophisticated egg cup-like casing to hold his body with two bionic legs attached to it.

He has been taking his first steps around the centre with the aid of his specially adapted legs and a resized walking frame.

Mr Peng, who has to learn how to walk again, is said to be delighted with the device.

Dog adopts piglet

A dog in China has adopted a piglet, nursing it as if it were her own puppy. Huihu, from Chongqing city, adopted the piglet after her five pups were stillborn.

"She was very depressed for one week, then one night came home with a tiny black piglet following her," says owner, Lao Yi.

Lao Yi says that ever since, Huihu has reared the piglet as if it were her own puppy, nursing her and taking her around.

The two have become celebrities in the neighbourhood, attracting many visitors, according to the Chongqing Business Papers.

Lao Yi says that over the course of one month, the piglet has already put on 2kg in weight, drinking only dog milk.

Argentina Museum Displays Incan Mummy

SALTA, Argentina - Museumgoers gasped Thursday at the well-preserved mummy of an Inca maiden which is on display for the first time, a serene gaze etched on her face hundreds of years ago when she froze to death in the Andes.Hundreds of people packed a museum in Salta, Argentina, to see "la Doncella" — Spanish for "the Maiden" — a 15-year-old girl whose remains were found in 1999 in an icy pit on Llullaillaco volcano, along with a 6-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy.

Scientists believe the so-called Children of Llullaillaco were sacrificed more than 500 years ago in a ceremony marking the annual corn harvest. Dressed in fine clothes and given corn alcohol to put them to sleep, the victims were then left to die at an elevation of 22,080 feet.
"Just this morning we have had more than 700 people come see the exhibit, and we had hundreds yesterday when it opened," said High Mountain Archaeological Museum director Gabriel Miremont.

The mummy is kept in a chamber that pumps chilled air through a low-oxygen atmosphere, simulating the subfreezing conditions where it was found. The other two children are being studied and not on display.
Seated with her legs bent and her arms resting on her stomach, the Maiden's remains are still adorned with a gray shawl and bone and metal ornaments. Scientists say her face was daubed with red pigment and around her mouth they found flecks of coca leaf, which is chewed by highland Indians to blunt the effects of altitude.

The Children of Llullaillaco were found at the highest elevation ever discovered for sacrificial victims of the former Inca empire, which ran along the Andes from present-day northern Argentina to Peru.
Several Indian groups waged a losing campaign to prevent the remains from going on display, arguing that the mummies should be buried or at least kept from public view.

The exhibit is a "great mistake," said Miguel Suarez, a representative of the Calchaquies valley tribes in and around Salta.

The World's Hairiest Baby

All parents like their babies to be the centre of attention – but that won't be a problem for one couple, who think they may have the world's hairiest newborn.

Heads turn whenever two-month old Katie-Lee is pushed down the street by her parents, Steph Pleasance and Danny Webster, because of her shocking hair.

Some onlookers even think the diminutive Cilla Black look-alike is sporting a toupé.Miss Pleasance said: 'Even the midwife asked if it was a wig. When they see a baby, most people say “Isn't she cute”. When people see Katie-Lee, they say “Look at her hair”.'

Mr Webster added: 'Her hair is of unique colouration. We are forever being stopped in the street and asked if her hair is real.'

Katie-Lee's grandfather, John Webster, said: 'It shocked me the first time I saw her.

'I just looked at her and said, “Blimey, look at that hair”.'

Katie-Lee's parents, from Ashton under Lyne, Greater Manchester, are at a loss to know why their daughter has such an amazing mop of hair, which shows no signs of growing more slowly.

Mr Webster has already got far less hair than his eight-week old baby and Miss Pleasance said she was born without a hair on her head.

World's Smallest School

An elementary school in China has just one teacher and one pupil.

Li Yongchun, 61, has been teaching at the school in Dasu village, Longjing region for over 25 years.
He explained: "At first, the school had more than 400 students, but in the '90s, more and more families migrated from the mountain village to make a living outside, and there were just over 10 students left.

"In 2000, the city education bureau decided to shut down the school after the graduation of the last student. New kids can register and board at another school in nearby Sanhe town, which is a two-hour drive away."

But the family of a third grader named Han Hongyang can't afford the boarding fee, so she became the last remaining student.

"We have been like this for more than half a year. She is my only student, and I'm her only teacher," says teacher Li.

Teacher Li teaches his student six subjects - Chinese, Mathematics, Korean, History, Geography and PE.

"During class breaks, we play badminton, ping pong and football, which is a bit hard for a 61-year-old," says Li.

In another half a year, teacher Li is to retire, and the city education bureau says then it will send another teacher to take care of the only student till her graduation, reports City Evening Post.

Man Swims Around Manhattan Three Times, Wins Record

Skip Storch isn't crazy, although you might think he is considering the feat he accomplished Thursday. Storch, a 50 year-old marathon swimmer, swam around Manhattan three times, finishing the journey in a record 32 hours, 52 minutes, 30 seconds. Why would anyone want to jump into the waters around Manhattan? For Storch, he record-breaking swim was to bring awareness to sarcoidosis. The N.I.H. describes sarcoidosis as "an inflammation that produces tiny lumps of cells in various organs in your body," with the lumps that develop affecting organ function, typically the lungs and lymph nodes.

Storch, who developed sarcoidosis after 9/11, like many New Yorkers, was swimming to raise money for Mount Sinai Hospital's sarcoidosis program. Swimming 85.5 miles over a day and a half isn't all fun and games. Storch swam unassisted (he couldn't be touched by anyone else) and has since checked into a hospital where he's being treated for muscle tears, abrasions, and hypothermia. We suppose it could have been worse?

By taking advantage of favorable currents, Storch beat the old record by 37 minutes, 30 seconds. He also set a record time for two trips around Manhattan, completing that in 20 hours, 56 minutes and 17 seconds.
Source:- Gothamist

Chinese, Japanese Sing The Same Song

More than 1,000 Chinese and Japanese performers give a chorus on friendship before the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, central China's Henan province, on September 4, to celebrate the 35 anniversary of the normalization of the diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

Mother Gives Birth to Naturally Conceived Triplets Twice

Victoria Lasiter beat odds of 64 million to one
A mother of triplets has beaten odds of 64 million to one by giving birth to her SECOND naturally conceived set of triplets.

Victoria Lasita, 39, gave birth last Wednesday to Casey, Carson, and Caden, three years after her first set of triplets with husband Tim.

Planning on having “one more” baby, the couple were initially shell-shocked to discover their family would grown by three. "I guess we should have been more specific and said one more child, not one more set," Victoria told The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Tim, 48, a shipping coordinator, said finding out they were expecting triplets four years ago had been a big enough surprise.

He said: "The second time she went to the doctor, she called me and said, 'We have two.' The next time she went to the doctor, she called me and said, 'We have three.'

"I said, 'Don't go to that doctor anymore.' "

But she returned to the doctor last March to be told she would be expecting three more.

Their three babies and three toddlers now join their grown children from previous marriages. Victoria has two sons, Bret, 22, and Jordan, 19, and Tim has son TJ, who is 23-years-old.

The six young children mean the Lasitas can now expect very little sleep in between preparing 168 bottles of milk every week and changing more than 300 nappies.

"We just say we'll make do," Tim said. "We always have."
The news that both sets of triplets were conceived naturally - without fertility treatments that are known to increase the risk of a multiple pregnancy - stunned local fertility doctors.

"Do you know what the odds of that are?" said Dr Glen Hofmann, medical director of the Bethesda Center for Reproductive Health and Fertility.

The odds of conceiving triplets naturally are one in 8,000 – so the chances of it happening twice are one in 64 million.

Dr. Sherif Awadalla, medical director of the Institute for Reproductive Health in Cincinnati, said it was possible Mrs Lasita's hormonal makeup could make her more likely to have multiple births. Women who conceive over the age of 35 are also more likely to have twins or triplets.

The couple's first set of triplets was born at 28 weeks. All weighed less than 3 pounds at birth but are now completely healthy and celebrating their fourth birthdays in December.

Double triplets are not completely unheard of. In May 2006 another American woman, Sharon Fontana, gave birth to her second set of triplets, also without fertility treatments.

Hong Kong's Youngest Ever University Student

HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong's youngest ever university student said he was already bored with his "very easy" classes as he started his mathematics course on Tuesday.The nine-year-old maths genius gained two grade As and a B in his A-levels in England -- normally taken by 18-year-olds.

March Boedihardjo told reporters gathered at Hong Kong Baptist University he was excited about starting school, but the classes were not stimulating."I've learned it a year or two years ago," Boedihardjo said as reporters peppered him with questions and cameras flashed around him.

The boy appeared impatient with the endless questions from reporters and kept asking his father when they could leave.

Boedihardjo did not have a good impression of his classmates either.



"They made no response (in classes). They just listened in the class and didn't interact with each other," he said.

The boy said that his old school friends "wanted to play", unlike the university students.

The university accepted Boedihardjo last month and has designed a special five-year course for him that will lead to a masters degree.

Need a Record Broken? India Will Oblige

NEW DELHI - How do you stand out in a land with a billion people?Radhakant Bajpai did it by growing his ear hair more than five inches long.

Vadivelu Karunakaren did it by skipping 10 miles in 58 minutes.

Arvind Morarbhai Pandya did it by running 940 miles backward in 26 days and seven hours.

India is a land obsessed with superlatives, especially the kind that get you into the Guinness World Records book. Here, a Guinness record is the stuff of national headlines.

"Orissa man claims a record for cracking open 72 coconuts by elbow!" the Hindustan Times, a leading newspaper, trumpeted last month. "Uttar Pradesh boy can write on mustard seeds!" said a headline in July. The paper has run over 50 stories this year about bids for Guinness records, and it is by no means ahead of its competition.

And this just in from the Times of India, another highly respected daily: "Man looks to set world record pulling vehicles with mustache."

Why the fascination? India, after all, is awash in genuine superlatives — world's largest democracy, world's largest youth population. Why bother with fastest to drink a bottle of ketchup?

Guinness Rishi — yes, his name is Guinness; more on that later — submitted the ketchup record after downing a bottle in 39 seconds. The Guinness company has yet to accept his bid.

Rishi said he breaks records — his business card lists 19 feats — to distinguish himself in one of the world's biggest crowds.

"People consider me an extraordinary person, not an ordinary person," he said.

India, holding 219 Guinness World Records, is only 10th on the list. The U.S. has the most, followed by Britain, Australia and Germany. But for sheer obsessive enthusiasm, and ingenuity in dreaming up new superlatives, India seems unbeatable.

The explanations are various.

In the new India, more people than ever are earning prestigious degrees and staggering salaries. But for millions who don't have access to such routes for success, aiming for world records, no matter how ridiculous, provides a much-needed outlet in a society as rigid and hierarchical as India's, say Rishi and other world-beaters.

After all, India's widespread poverty and its caste system, though not the all-determining forces they once were, still make social boundaries hard to crack. Harder, perhaps, than breaking a world record.

"Persons who have no money wish to do something in their lives, so the poor people try to break records by their strength or their will," said Rishi, a 66-year-old partner in an auto parts factory.

His crowded bookshelves are filled exclusively with record books from years past. He also hires himself out as a consultant to would-be record breakers.

No one captures Guinness mania better. Rishi changed his first name from Har Parkash to Guinness after earning a record for being part of a team that kept a motor scooter in motion for 1,001 hours. He says he's broken more than a dozen records, but the Guinness company has not yet accepted any others.

To claim the record for oldest adoptee, he adopted his 61-year-old brother-in-law. (He's going to beat that one again now that he's "working with a 90-year-old.") He built the world's tallest sugar cube tower at 64 inches.

Rishi is so passionate about Guinness that he wrote in his will — the longest will in the world, of course — that he wants his record books used as the kindling at his cremation. (His wife, Bimla, claims to have the record for shortest will in the world: "All to son.")

Rishi says his two sons have successful careers abroad, and they don't think much of the Guinness obsession. But their accomplishments make Rishi more determined to prove that he counts, too.

"My children feel that they are more important in the field of business and moneymaking so I have to show the family and the community that I am a professional person," he said.

Some see broader explanations for India's peculiar relationship with Guinness.

Santosh Desai, a columnist with the Times of India, another newspaper that covers Guinness bids like political campaigns, says it's an example of India's hunger for Western approval, a defining trait in a country racing to achieve superpower status.

"We are desperate to be acknowledged by the world as being worthy," Desai said. "We hunt for any signs that the external world recognizes us, and then we celebrate them."

Even if it's, well, Bajpai's world-beating ear hair.

The Indian Express, a well-respected newspaper, called Bajpai "a proud man who has brought hairy recognition ... not only to his locality and city but to the whole nation."

But this theory — that it's all about self-esteem _doesn't explain why neighboring Pakistan doesn't share India's Guinness passion. The two were one country during British colonial times, and have a lot in common, culturally, ethnically and linguistically.

In their zeal for posterity, some in India have taken the Guinness obsession to dangerous extremes.

In June, a doctor couple in southern India boasted that their 15-year-old son had tried to become the world's youngest surgeon by delivering a baby by Caesarean section — a procedure they proudly filmed.

All three are now awaiting trial on charges of endangering human life.

Last year, a 4-year-old boy attempted to run 43 miles to earn a spot in a local record book. Doctors stopped the child after 40 miles and found him to be undernourished and anemic.

His coach has been arrested and charged with torturing the child.

Amarilis Espinoza, a Guinness World Records spokeswoman, said the company doesn't accept entries that encourage dangerous behavior. People across the world inquire about feats Guinness does not condone, but India's can-do attitude makes it stand out, she said. Rather than just ask about unsafe records, in India "they just go ahead and do it," she said.

For world-beaters who fail to reach the peaks of Guinness, there is the local Limca Record Book, published by Coca-Cola, a junior-varsity league for India's unlikely feats. ("Fastest Solving of Rubik's Cube Blindfolded.")

Another rung down is the Web site 4to40.com where people pay $50 to have their record posted. ("37 Men on a Bike.")

Rishi is considering publishing his own book of records, one that will be more inclusive than the Guinness book.

But some in India say that as living standards soar, Guinness mania will peter out.

"What has replaced it are more legitimate and more conventional areas of competing," said Desai. "I think India will outgrow its desire to grow its nails faster than the rest of the world."

Qian is queen of the pool

She may have been forced to use a basketball as a prosthetic but that has not stopped her ambition to compete on the sporting world's biggest stage.

Qian Hongyan, whose plight touched millions of people around the globe, has joined a swimming club and begun training to fulfil her dream of competing in the 2012 Paralympics in London. The ten-year-old suffered horrific injuries in a car crash when she was three and doctors had to amputate her legs to ensure her survival.

Unable to afford modern prosthetics, her family in Zhuangxia, China, used half a basketball to help her get about.

Hongyan's body slides into the ball and she holds two wooden props in her hands to assist movement.
But she has not let disability stand in her way and has joined the South Of The Clouds swimming club.

Although Hongyan now has a pair of hi-tech prosthetic limbs, she still uses the basketball from time to time as it helps her get in and out of the pool.