Sunday, January 20, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Snow blankets Herat
Mechanics help mend cars stranded in the snow. Picture: Qadir Assemy
Mechanics on the streets of Herat have been kept busy in the freeze. Many vehicles, particularly those with diesel engines, simply gave up on the road.
A truck breaks down outside the eye hospital. Picture: Qadir Assemy
Trucks were particularly hard hit by the weather conditions. Qadir Assemy says snow brings out community spirit in Herat and people stop to help each other on the road
Many parts of the city have been eerily quiet in the wake of the snowfall.
Few have dared to venture outside but it's business as usual for a mobile phone top-up card seller camped in the middle of the road.
20 Photos with Unexpected Elements in the Background
Ever seen a picture with somebody in the background that totally ruins that “intimate photo”? Or something going on that completely disrupts the purpose of the picture… Here are 20 photos in which there are unexpected elements or people in the background doing crazy things.
World's First Outdoor Artificial Surfing Machine
Six-foot swells are set to break on the Thames at an attraction aiming to tempt the growing ranks of urban surfers to taste the "quintessential California surf lifestyle" in the unlikely surroundings of a disused dock in east London.
From 2011, the world's first outdoor artificial surfing machine will try to rival the Atlantic breakers of Devon and Cornwall using cleaned river water. The plan is to persuade surfers to take to their boards in Tower Hamlets rather than make the long drive to the West Country, where the surf is sometimes more millpond than Maui.
The £20m Venture Xtreme project at Silvertown Quays has secured outline planning permission, and building work to transform the former grain dock will begin this year. An artificial beach with palm trees, boardwalks and rentable fire-pits and barbecues is planned for post-surf relaxation.
Surfers can expect to pay £30 ($60) for an hour's session that will offer at least 10 waves per rider, each rolling more than 100 metres as the swell spreads from the dock to the wide beach. The wave machine can be set to make the surf break left and right from a central peak, allowing surfers to ride comfortably without fear of collision.
Blind Mechanic Diagnoses Car Problems By Smell
A mechanic in Deerfield Beach can smell trouble in the cars that come into his shop.
After losing his eyesight three years ago, Daniel Moncada relies on his senses of smell and touch to figure out what's wrong with a car's engine.
Moncada lost sight in both eyes from a rare and aggressive deterioration of his retinas. It cost him work in construction and Web design.
Family members help run the mechanic shop he owns now, King Motors of South Florida. His mother runs the sales department, his mother-in-law does upholstery for cars and his wife oversees engine and vehicle inspections.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
How many dead bodies are up on Mount Everest?
Today's useless fact - How many dead bodies are up on Mount Everest?
Mount Everest is both the highest mountain and the highest graveyard in the world. As of 2002, 175 climbers had died on the mountain, and the vast majority of these bodies were left behind. There are reported to be at least 41 bodies on the north side of Everest.
Some people simply run out of gas on the trail and freeze to death in place. Others are consumed by avalanches. And, as veteran mountaineer David Breashears points out, removing dead bodies from this elevation is an enormous task.
Breashears describes how it took a team of 12 people eight hours to move the body of one dead Taiwanese man down a portion of the mountain. The high altitude, low oxygen, fierce winds, and intense cold make the trip extremely challenging even for an unencumbered person, so few climbers attempt to take the bodies of the deceased back with them.
Some bodies are lost forever on Everest. During the tragic May 1996 expeditions when eight people died in a freak storm near the summit, two of the bodies were never found. To further complicate matters, the local Sherpas, the people most adept at climbing the mountain and transporting gear up and back, are wary of dead bodies and don't like to go near them.
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