How Do Bees Manage To Land Safely?

Ever wondered how bees always manage to land on a picnic table, underneath a flower petal, or on a wall of a hive, without crashing or tumbling? Well, scientists have, for the first time, figured out how these insects touch down on all sorts of surfaces, from right side up to upside-down.

To find out, Mandyam Srinivasan, an electrical engineer from the Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland and the Australian Research Council’s Vision Centre, and colleagues first built a bee-landing platform that could be inclined at any angle from horizontal to inverted (like a ceiling), then they trainedbees to land on it and began filming…

Having collected movies of the bees landing on surfaces ranging from 0deg. to 180deg., and every 10deg. inclination between, the researchers began the painstaking task of manually analysing thebees landing strategies, and saw that the bees” approach could be broken down into 3 phases.

World Flight Record Set For Paper Plane

It’s a world flight record even though it only lasted 26.1 seconds. Not your usual record, because it’s origami, and it was achieved by the president of the Japan Origami Plane Association. Takuo Toda just missed matching his personal best of 27.9 seconds, but that one was with a plane that had been made with tape.

Belief in God on the Decline

This is the season for traditions: chestnuts roasting on an open fire, carolers on the doorstep, and the endless argument about the secularization of Christmas. This isn’t the usual complaining about the toy and greeting card companies commercializing the holidays, but a much broader trend involving the secularization of religion around the country.

We are still a nation whose coins say “In God We Trust,” where most witnesses in U.S. courts swear “so help me God,” and where our school kids pledge allegiance to “one nation, under God, indivisible.”
But God, as we have traditionally known Him, is evolving for more and more worshippers. Belief in the God revered by most mainstream religions — a highly specific, paternalistic deity with an agreed-upon history and behaviors — is on the decline.

Vespa’s Four-Seater Stretch Scooter

According to Vespa, here’s a list of uses for the stretched scooter: it’s a sensible family car on two wheels and kids will look forward to going to school on it. You can be the designated driver and still park outside the front door of the party. When you make new buddies, you can take them home with you – and you save money on fuel.

New Year’s Eve Blue Moon Eclipse

On December 31st, we will see the second full moon of the month, or the 13th full moon of the year. These rare occasions are called a blue moon, as in “once in a blue moon”. But that’s not the only thing special about New Year’s Eve this year.

Feeling Cold? Try Chili Peppers To Boost Your Circulation

If the freezing temperatures are leaving you with painfully sore fingers and toes, some circulation-boosting herbs might be just what you need. Medically proven to enhance blood flow, they will help to keep warm blood pumping to where you need it that much longer.

‘Good blood flow is vital, not just for warmth, but to bring oxygen, glucose, vitamins and minerals to the tissues,’ explains Dr Sarah Brewer, GP and author of Essential Guide To Vitamins, Minerals And Herbal Supplements.

The Glowing ARTIKCAR

Bicycle Design is always trawling up remarkable cycle oddities. This one, the work of UK artist Ben Wilson, is modeled off the kids toys Ben remembers from youth. Though more art than daily mule, ARTIKCAR is steered by leaning the body. It was conceived for a parade masterminded by Walk the Plank, a UK “creative force of artists, theatre makers, pyrotechnicians and event engineers.”

The Carbon Pawprint of Man’s Best Friend

Man’s best friend could be one of the environment’s worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.

Why Students Fail In Exams??????????

 

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The Yummy Side of Flying Spaghetti Monster

If you don’t celebrate Christmas because you belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, there’s no reason you can’t still enjoy delicious goodies this holiday season. Here’s instructions on how to make your own edible spaghetti monster, complete with edible googly eyes…

New Warbler Bird Class Discovered In Vietnam

Scientists have revealed a new nature of warbler in the forests of Vietnam and Laos. The small green and yellow bird was foremost sighted in 1994, but at the time was considerate to be a dissimilar species existing 1000km from its standard home.

When Chaos is around you find Peace with ALLAH

New Species of Cockroach Hits Big Apple According to Rockefeller Study

New Yorkers are used to fighting each other for space, but there may be a new contender in town according to a Rockefeller study that appears to have uncovered a new species ofcockroach.

iThreeSixty – iPod Beanie

Hats with built in earphones are nothing new, but this new beanie from iThreeSixty takes things a step further by including a clear window that holds the iPod itself.

World’s Biggest Photo

It took 172 minutes on a rooftop to shoot 1655 overlapping 21.6 megapixel images and 94 hours to stitch them together. The result is not only a gorgeous 26 gigapixel view of Dresden, Germany, but also the world’s biggest photo.

Sticking Out Your Tongue Ruled Illegal

Italy’s highest court of appeal affirmed the illegality of insulting someone by sticking your tongue out at them.

The case brought before the Cassation Court involved a farmer whose tongue gesture was captured by a cellphone camera held by the neighbour with whom he was arguing. The farmer, Carlo O., had been convicted by a justice of the peace of insulting the neighbour.

Why Texting While Driving Is More Dangerous

A journal, timely study, journal named “Human Factors” suggests that texting while driving is riskier than talking on a cell phone or with another passenger sitting beside. Researchers at the University of Utah found that texters in a driving simulator had more crashes, because human factors responded more slowly to brake lights on cars in front of them, and....

See What Wikipedia Shows About Our President

 

Mom Calls 911 Because Son Wouldn’t Quit Playing Video Games

The Mystery of Non-Egyptian Pyramids in China

Pyramids in China???

Human Baby Takes More Time To Walk Then Other Mammals- WHY???

A human baby needs a full year before it starts walking; while a newborn other mammal gets up on its legs almost directly after birth. Scientist unspecified that human motor growth is exceptional because our brain is unusually complex and because it is predominantly demanding to walk on two legs. A Lund University research group in Sweden has shown that human babies in fact start walking at the same stage in brain growth as most other walking mammals, from small Rodents to Elephants.

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Guinness Book: Best Records of the Decade

Our pick goes to this hella holy fella.

Guinness World Records are searching for the people’s choice of the decade. Having shortlisted a top 100 from every record set in several categories during the past 10 years they now want the public to vote online for the best.

The Toilet Restaurant Of Beijing

An innovative restaurant in Beijing doesn’t offer romantic candlelight dinners but do provide humor and excitement along with relaxation through its special kinds of Toilet seats theme.
All the 50 seats in the crowded restaurant are made from toilet bowls. Dishes are served in mini toilet bowls and drinks in plastic urinals. Clients wash their hands and mouths using toilet rolls hung above their tables and dessert is chocolate ice cream in the shape of a turd. A small glass cabinet on the wall displays a wide range of feces-related toys that customers can buy as a souvenir to remind themselves

Female Fruit Flies Can Be ‘Too Attractive’ to Males, Scientists Show

Females can be too attractive to the opposite sex — too attractive for their own good — say biologists at UC Santa Barbara. They found that, among fruit flies, too much male attention directed toward attractive females leads to smaller families and, ultimately, to a reduced rate of population-wide adaptive evolution.

Spider Pizza

The Real Science & History Of VAMPIRES

Vampires are everywhere now a days. Last weekend, the new vampire film “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” bust box office records, taking in over $70 million and may end up being one of the leading openings in record. The film is based on the best-selling “Twilight” series, which of course joins a long list of other vampire-themed best-sellers dating back decades.

The public’s desire for vampires seems as nonstop as vampires’ hunger for blood.

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The Magazine of the Future

How Did Flowering Plants Evolve to Dominate Earth?

To Charles Darwin it was an ‘abominable mystery’ and it is a question which has continued to vex evolutionists to this day: when did flowering plants evolve and how did they come to dominate plant life on earth? A new study in Ecology Letters reveals the evolutionary trigger which led to early flowering plants gaining a major competitive advantage over rival species, leading to their...

Reader's Digest - December 2009 / January 2010