Blue Alligator

The large gator looks a stunning shade of blue as the bright morning sky reflects off her wet back.

She appeared to change from her usual dark brown to black, grey and blue over the space of just a few minutes as the sun rose over the lake at 7am.

But unlike a chameleon, the change of colour was not a conscious decision. It was purely down to the sky reflecting off her shiny scales.

Biology professor Louis Guillette, 55, took the picture on a lake next to his home in Gainesville, Florida, United States.

He said: "It was a cold and clear spring morning. I went out to watch the sun come up on the small lake, which was covered in mist.

"As the mist cleared there was a 2.3 metre American alligator about five metres in the water in front of me. It was watching and waiting for the sun to come up as well.

"We sat quietly and let the sun come up together.

"As it did, the water changed colour from the reflected leaves on the trees around the lake.

"The wet alligator also changed colours as she reflected the colour of the sky - in this case the bright blue of the early morning sun." He added: "This animal is a resident female. We share the same lake and that morning we shared the sunrise.

"I took a number of photos as she changed colours from her usual dark brown to black, blue, grey and then brown.

"I'm not sure why cartoons normally portray alligators as green because they never are - unless they are covered in weeds.

"The lake water changed colours as well and all this took place over about five or six minutes.

"I love this photo because the water on her back makes the scales look almost like molten metal."

Source:- Metro

Turtle Boy

A youngster dubbed turtle boy by cruel bullies is starting a new life after a miracle two hour operation to remove a giant shell of hard skin from his back.

Maimaiti Hali, eight - from Heping, northern China - was born with a hard, mutated growth covering most of his back.

Dad Maimaiti Musai said: "We were told surgery wasn't possible when he was very young so we waited. But the growth got bigger and harder and became like a turtle shell.

"People bullied him and we were determined to end it. He is such a good and brave boy and he never complained. We are so glad that he is now on the mend."

Medics at Urumqi Military General Hospital say they have cut away the growth and replaced it with skin grafts from Hali's scalp and legs.

Chief surgeon Ye Xiangpo explained: "The skin we removed was as thick as a bull's hide. We used scalp hair on the graft because it grows back very quickly. We expect him to make a full recovery."

Hali added: "It was a bit painful, but I won’t worry about other kids laughing at me any more. I am looking forward to going out in the sun without my shirt on and to going swimming with my friends."






Source:- Daily Telegraph

Armless & Legless Man Swims 22 Miles

A Frenchman who lost all his arms and legs in a freak accident is preparing to swim cross the English Channel.

Philippe Croizon will instantly earn himself a place in the record books if his 22 miles crossing from Folkestone, Kent, to Cap-Gris-Nez, near Calais, is successful.

He has flippers connected to his specially designed swimsuit and an extra long snorkel that runs straight up between his eyes.

Amazingly though, he was was barely able to swim two lengths of his local pool two years ago.

The 42-year-old Frenchman, who is nicknamed ‘Iron Man’, lost his four limbs in 1994 when a TV aerial he was trying to mend touched an overhead power line.

He was immediately hit with 20,000 volts of electricity and had to have both arms and both legs amputated.

Since then Philippe, from Chatellerault, in the Vienne department of central France, has done everything he can to try and lead a normal life.

He was inspired to attempt the swim after watching a documentary about crossing the Channel from his hospital bed.

‘This is a dream and I’m determined to fulfil it,’ he said, showing off his specially-designed flippers.

‘At first my parents thought the idea was mad, but I was determined to carry on. The more I practice in the sea, the more I feel confident.’

Philippe has been swimming for up to 30 hours a week for the past two years, and building up his body strength in his local gym.

The father of two is supervised at all times by Valerie Carbonnel, a physical education teacher.

Valerie said: ‘When I met him for the first time in September 2008 he was unable to complete two lengths of a pool. He had no stamina, and his flippers did not propel him forwards at all.’

Coastguards from the Charente-Maritime region have been accompanying Philippe’s training sessions in the bay at La Rochelle to help him get used to swimming against the tide, and in freezing cold water.

He hopes to complete the 22 mile swim in around 24 hours, and will be accompanied by a medical team throughout.

2 Year Ardi Rizal Smokes 40 Cigarettes

Taking a deep drag on his cigarette while resting on the steering wheel of his truck, he looks like a parody of a middle-aged lorry driver.

But the image covers up a much more disturbing truth: At just the tender age of two, Ardi Rizal's health has been so ruined by his 40-a-day habit that he now struggles to move by himself.

The four-stone Indonesia toddler is certainly far too unfit to run around with other children - and his condition is set to rapidly deteriorate.

But, despite local officials' offer to buy the Rizal family a new car if the boy quits, his parents feel unable to stop him because he throws massive tantrums if they don't indulge him.

His mother, Diana, 26, wept: 'He's totally addicted. If he doesn't get cigarettes, he gets angry and screams and batters his head against the wall. He tells me he feels dizzy and sick.'

Ardi will smoke only one brand and his habit costs his parents £3.78 a day in Musi Banyuasin, in Indonesia's South Sumatra province.

But in spite of this, his fishmonger father Mohammed, 30, said: 'He looks pretty healthy to me. I don't see the problem.'

Ardi's youth is the extreme of a disturbing trend. Data from the Central Statistics Agency showed 25 per cent of Indonesian children aged three to 15 have tried cigarettes, with 3.2 per cent of those active smokers.

The percentage of five to nine year olds lighting up increased from 0.4 per cent in 2001 to 2.8 per cent in 2004, the agency reported.


A video of a four-year-old Indonesian boy blowing smoke rings appeared briefly on YouTube in March, prompting outrage before it was removed from the site.

Child advocates are speaking out about the health damage to children from second-hand smoke, and the growing pressure on them to smoke in a country where one-third of the population uses tobacco and single cigarettes can be bought for a few cents.

Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia's child protection commission, blames the increase on aggressive advertising and parents who are smokers.

'A law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country,' he said.

A health law passed in 2009 formally recognizes that smoking is addictive, and an anti-smoking coalition is pushing for tighter restrictions on smoking in public places, advertising bans and bigger health warnings on cigarette packages.


But a bill on tobacco control has been stalled because of opposition from the tobacco industry.

The bill would ban cigarette advertising and sponsorship, prohibit smoking in public, and add graphic images to packaging.

Benny Wahyudi, a senior official at the Industry Ministry, said the government had initiated a plan to try to limit the number of smokers, including dropping production to 240 billion cigarettes this year, from 245 billion in 2009.

'The government is aware of the impact of smoking on health and has taken efforts, including lowering cigarette production, increasing its tax and limiting smoking areas,' he said.

Mr Mulyadi said a ban on advertising is key to putting the brakes on child and teen smoking.

'If cigarette advertising is not banned, there will be more kids whose lives are threatened because of smoking,' he said.

Ubiquitous advertising hit a bump last month when a cigarette company was forced to withdraw its sponsorship of pop star Kelly Clarkson's concert following protests from fans and anti-tobacco groups.


However, imposing a non-smoking message will be difficult in Indonesia, the world's third-largest tobacco consumer.

Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, a member of the National Commission of Tobacco Control, said Indonesia must also address the social conditions that lead to smoking, such as family influence and peer pressure.

'The promotion of health has to be integrated down to the smallest units in our society, from public health centres and local health care centres to the family,' he was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

Health Minister Endang Sedyaningsih conceded turning young people off smoking will be difficult in a country where it is perceived as positive because cigarette companies sponsor everything from scholarships to sporting events.

'This is the challenge we face in protecting youth from the dangers of smoking,' she said in a statement on the ministry's website.

Source :- The Sun

world's youngest fashion designer

Cecilia Cassini Her idol is Coco Chanel. She has a taste for vintage fabrics. She has her sights set on the runways of Paris. And she's 10.

While other children were reading "Cinderella" and watching "Dora the Explorer," Cecilia Cassini was polishing her reading skills by flipping through Lucky and Vogue, and preparing a third-grade book report on "The Devil Wears Prada." And now, what started with a birthday gift of a sewing machine has blossomed into a fledgling fashion business with the help of manager Pilar DeMann, the woman who plotted the Kardashians' path from C-level obscurity to branding juggernaut.

Cecilia, a spunky fifth-grader from Encino, Calif., is selling her collection of one-of-a-kind girls' dresses at Lifesize at Fred Segal Santa Monica, where she will have a trunk show Saturday.

Her look is homespun but sassy, with simple dresses constructed from a skirt in one fabric and a bodice — strapless or tank-style — in another. The pieces are quirky cute with sequin, fabric rosette or bow details.

Billed as "the youngest fashion designer in the country," she has already been a guest at New York Fashion Week (trailed by a German TV crew), launched a slick e-commerce site and garnered corporate sponsors and interest from several TV producers.

DeMann thinks she is an ideal role model for young girls. Cecilia is a wholesome kid who doesn't want to watch TV and play video games all day. "She just wants to sew dresses and inspire other kids."

The modeling world has long put a premium on youth, with L.A.'s Gerren Taylor strutting the catwalk for the first time in 2003 at the tender age of 12. But now, the fashion industry is courting pint-size tastemakers too.

Last year, 13-year-old blogger and muse Tavi Gevinson was hired to promote the Rodarte for Target collection, while 17-year-old blogger Jane Aldridge was tapped to design shoes for Urban Outfitters. Russian designer Kira Plastinina was just 15 when her fashion empire expanded to the U.S. (and 16 when her company filed for bankruptcy protection), and Brazilian designer Pedro Lourenco just 19 when he showed his collection of high-end leather dresses on the Paris runway last October. Up next, 13-year-old Lourdes Leon and mom Madonna are designing the Material Girl line debuting at Macy's for the back-to-school season.

"The bar is so much higher today in terms of shock value," says Kit Yarrow, chairman of the department of psychology at Golden Gate University, and co-author of "Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail." "An 18-year-old starting a company is not that interesting anymore. Now you have to be 8 or 10 to be newsworthy and captivating."

As for the psychology behind the trend, "kids today have more influence and stature in the family and they are more empowered," Yarrow says. "When a kid gets an idea, you might imagine on an episode of 'Leave It to Beaver' that the mom would say, 'That's nice, now go out and play.' But now, a kid gets an idea, and the parents take it seriously, and ask themselves if they should help develop it."

On a recent afternoon at the Lifesize boutique, Cecilia checks herself out as she walks past a mirror. She's perfectly styled in one of her strapless dresses with a matching bow in her hair.

She sifts through a rack of her creations like an expert, pulling out a dress sewn from gold vintage Giorgio Armani fabric. "I got this at the fabric store that sponsors me, International Silks & Woolen," she says, as the 1980s bubble gum pop song "Mickey" plays in background.

Cecilia finishes her homework during school hours so she can sew in the evening. Each dress ($62 to $150) takes about 15 minutes to make on her Singer Confidence. (Singer is another sponsor.)

"At New York Fashion Week, what really inspired me was all the taxi cabs, so I made this," she says, referring to a gold-and-black diamond print dress with a stretchy gold jersey bodice.

Her parents are as baffled as anyone about where the young designer gets her fashion sense. "When she was a baby, before she could walk, before she could talk, she was pointing to the outfits she wanted," says mom Michelle Cassini, a yoga instructor who doesn't own a single piece of Chanel. "As soon as she could use scissors, she was turning clothes into something new."

At age 5, she cut up her older sister's Betsey Johnson dress when no one was looking, cinched it with ponytail holders, folded up the hem and taped it, customizing the design to her taste. "I have always loved fashion since I was little," Cecilia says. "I was painting my nails when I was like 2."

For her 6th birthday, she asked for a sewing machine, and she took a few lessons. "But the teacher wasn't so nice and told me something didn't match when I thought it did." The budding designer wanted total creative control.

At 7, she wrote her first letter at school to Coco Chanel. By age 8, she had designed a logo based on the Eiffel Tower. But her big break came last year at Tough Cookies, a children's shop in Sherman Oaks, Calif., when Michelle mentioned to the owner that her daughter made dresses. That led to a trunk show where Cecilia sold 50 pieces.

Then the fashionista-in-training met DeMann through a friend. "She fell in love with me and became my manager, and things started happening," says Cecilia, who wants to have her own fashion show, stores all over the world and "to inspire little girls to follow their dreams." (DeMann is hoping for a collection at a mass retailer, and a line of branded sewing machines, fabrics and patterns.)

"If the kid's creative, why not?" says Ira Mayer, publisher of the New York-based Youth Markets Alert newsletter, adding that 8- to 14-year-olds have $43 billion in annual spending power. "Hopefully, she has a sense of what's going to appeal to other people her age."

But first, she has to finish fifth grade.

"Education is still first," says Cecilia's father, Lionel Cassini, a photographer whose background is in the computer business. "At the same time, if she can start on a career path so that she already has something when she's 20, why shouldn't we encourage it?"









Source:- The Seattle Times

Man claims no food or drink for 70 years

Indian military scientists are studying an 82-year-old who claims he has not had any food or drink for 70 years.

Prahlad Jani is being held in isolation in a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gurjarat, where he is being closely monitored by India's defence research organization, who believe he may have a genuine quality which could help save lives.

He has now spent six days without food or water under strict observation and doctors say his body has not yet shown any adverse effects from hunger or dehydration.

Mr Jani, who claims to have left home aged seven and lived as a wandering sadhu or holy man in Rajasthan, is regarded as a 'breatharian' who can live on a 'spiritual life-force' alone. He believes he is sustained by a goddess who pours an 'elixir' through a hole in his palate. His claims have been supported by an Indian doctor who specializes in studies of people who claim supernatural abilities, but he has also been dismissed by others as a "village fraud."

India's Defence Research Development Organisation, whose scientists develop drone aircraft, intercontinental ballistic missiles and new types of bombs. They believe Mr Prahlad could teach them to help soldiers survive longer without food, or disaster victims to hang on until help arrives.

"If his claims are verified, it will be a breakthrough in medical science," said Dr G Ilavazhagan, director of the Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences.

"We will be able to help save human lives during natural disasters, high altitude, sea journeys and other natural and human extremities. We can educate people about the survival techniques in adverse conditions with little food and water or nothing at all."

So far, Mr Prahlad appears to be standing up to scrutiny. He has not eaten or drunk any fluids in six days, and similarly has not passed urine or a stool in that time. He remains fit and healthy and shows no sign of lethargy. Doctors will continue observing him for 15 days in which time they would expect to see some muscle wastage, serious dehydration, weight loss,and fatigue followed by organ failure.

It is common in India for Jains and Hindus to fast, sometimes for up to eight days, without any adverse affects, as part of their religious worship. Most humans cannot survive without food for 50 days. The longest hunger strike recorded is 74 days.

According to Dr Sudhir Shah, who examined him in 2003, he went without food or water for ten days in which urine appeared to be reabsorbed by his body after forming in his bladder. Doubts were expressed about his claim after his weight fell slightly at the end of the trial.





Source:- Telegraph Via Metro

Japanese scientists create Robocop suit

Kazuya Taira demonstrating the new power-assist suit developed by TAT professor Shigeki Toyama at the TAT campus in Tokyo

The metal-and-plastic outfit boasts eight electric motors that amplify the strength of the wearer's arms and legs, as well as sensors that can detect movements and respond to commands through a voice-recognition system.

Professor Shigeki Toyama and his team developed the power-enhancing suit at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Mr Toyama plans to set up a company to start producing the futuristic outfit by the end of the year.

The suits can reduce the user’s physical effort by 62 per cent on average.

Industrial robots have long been common in Japan and heavy industries may decide that the suit would help ease any physical pain experienced by workers.

When bending knees the muscular activity is reduced by half, and the suit can also take most of the strain out of crouching.

Fifteen years in the making, the “robosuit” is due to hit the Japanese market in 2012 when it will initially retail for about one million yen (£8,100), a price tag its makers hope to halve if the device is mass-produced.

There are however currently no plans so far to sell the suits overseas.

Source:- Telegraph

Giant sculpture of naked reclining woman

Womanly creation: An artist's impression of the huge sculpture garden designer and artist Charles Jenks has devised, with a road in the top right giving an idea of its immense size

Work has begun in Northumberland on a massive earth sculpture of a naked, reclining female.

The creator has denied it is offensive to woman, claiming it will be an iconic celebration of women and the human form.

Crews using bulldozers and excavators have started work on the spectacular, 440-yard-long artform using 1.5m tonnes of soil and clay dug from an opencast mine near Cramlington.

World-renowned landscape architect Charles Jencks, who was commissioned to design the sculpture, said he hopes it will become an icon for the region and form part of a 'destination art' route for UK tourists.

Nestling among man-made lakes at Blagdon Estate, it will be the centrepiece of a landform park expected to open to the public in 2013.

Responding to suggestions that the Northumberlandia figure is demeaning to women and could be offensive to some, Mr Jencks said he believes people will soon be won over by it.

'I don't believe it is demeaning to women, men or the human species as a whole, in fact it celebrates all of that,' he said. 'It won't be offensive because people will always see it with more than one meaning.

'People have every right to question it, because it is art, but I promise you they will be won over to its existence. I profoundly believe that, given time, people will not find any offence in this, and will grow to love her.

'I think the people of Northumberland will rather like the idea that their county and countryside is given identity like this. I don't think there is an issue here with her sex, or her breasts or anything like that.'

Mr Jencks said the excavation of 1.5m tonnes of soil and clay at the Shotton mine provided a great opportunity to create a massive earth sculpture, framed by the Cheviot hills in the background and the 'big sky' of the area.

'I felt, what could be more appropriate for a huge landscape like this than a human body that can be seen in many different ways.'

Seen from the air as a giant female form lying on the ground with arms outstretched, Northumberlandia is predicted to attract up to 200,000 visitors a year and help stimulate the local economy.

When completed, people will be able to walk along the sculpture's head, breasts and legs on a network of zig-zagging footpaths.

Site operator The Banks Group and the local Blagdon Estate are investing £2.5million in the project.

Company chairman Harry Banks and Blagdon's Matt Ridley helped Mr Jencks start work on the project.

Giles Ingram, executive director at Northumberland Tourism, said: 'Northumberland is carving out quite a reputation now for original artwork in natural settings.

'From the outdoor art at Kielder Water to The Couple sculpture at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, and now Northumberlandia, we have a growing range of world-standard art, with which people can really interact.'

Long-lost brothers discover they're neighbours

After years of trying to find each other, two long-lost Newfoundland brothers have discovered they live just metres apart in Corner Brook.

"He was across the road. I could not believe it. That was crazy. It took me about three hours to get up the nerve to call," said Tommy Larkin, 30.

Larkin and his brother, Stephen Goosney, 29, were adopted as children by separate families. Larkin grew up in a happy family in Cook's Harbour, on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula.

Goosney grew up a few hundred kilometres south, in Woody Point.

Both Larkin and Goosney spent years searching for their biological family but had no luck, until they received help from Newfoundland and Labrador's Post Adoption Services agency.

On March 25, the brothers found out they have been living on the same street in Corner Brook, western Newfoundland, for the past two years.

"[Finding him in] Newfoundland would have been really exceptional … but across the road is something amazing," said Goosney.

Since meeting, the brothers said they have been spending a lot of time together. They say each visit reveals just how much they have in common.

"Both of us don't like celery and different foods. We like and don't like … lots of similarities and there is going to be more and more, the more time we spend with each other," said Larkin.

The brothers plan to put their proximity to good use in the coming months with backyard barbeques all summer long.

Source:- cbc.ca

Jesus appeared in chewing gum

Nelly Noden had been chewing her gum on Good Friday but left it on the mantelpiece while she ate some crisps.

When she returned, she claimed the gum had turned into an image that resembled Christ.

The second I put my eye on it, I could see him", said the mother-of-two.

"I'd just got back from going the shops to buy a few things to eat when, as usual, I put my gum on the mantelpiece to have some crisps", she said.

"I went to pick it up again and Jesus was just there, starring at me.

"We couldnt believe it especially as it was Good Friday", she said.

Daughter Charni, 16, said: "We cant believe how much it looks like Jesus; weve been telling everyone about it."

Mrs Noden, from Plymouth, Devon, said: "My daughters and I were jumping around the room."

The family say they are not religious, but thought it was special that it happened at Easter time, and also on the day before Nelly's birthday.

She said: "It was a real moment."

The Nodens say they have kept the piece of gum as a memento.

Source:- telegraph.co.uk