Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is a New Respiratory Virus related to SARS being spread in Saudi Arabia

A new respiratory virus related to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) has killed 39 people in Saudi Arabia. Scientists have named this respiratory virus as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The new virus is related to the respiratory virus SARS that killed more than 800 people across the world in 2003. It belongs to a family of viruses that most often cause the common cold. SARS emerged in China. As per the clinical analysis undertaken by the British and Saudi researchers, the MERS virus bears similarities to SARS virus, but there also exists important differences between the two.

The most expensive material on the planet is antimatter worth $62.5 trillion per gram

In terms of production costs, the most expensive substance in the world is antimatter. The cost of creating this material has been estimated at about $1,771 trillion US Dollars (USD) per ounce ($62.5 trillion USD per gram), although some authorities think it may eventually come down to a mere $141.75 billion USD per ounce ($5 billion USD per gram).

The antioxidants found in bread crust can help combat and prevent cancer

Researchers in Germany have discovered that the crust is a rich source of antioxidants and may provide a much stronger health benefit than the rest of the bread. The findings appeared in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Although previous studies have suggested that bread contains compounds that have a cancer-fighting potential, much focus has been placed on its abundance of dietary fiber, which is believed by some to help prevent colon cancer.

Couple born same day and married for 75 years die a day apart

A Southern California husband and wife who were born on the same day and celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary last year have died just a day apart.

The couple's son Les Brown told the Long Beach Press-Telegram on Thursday that 94-year-old Helen Brown died July 16 and 94-year-old Les Brown died July 17.

When a pregnant woman suffers organ damage, the fetus will send stem cells to repair the damaged organ.

One such study involved mating normal female mice with males genetically engineered to produce a green-fluorescing protein in all their body cells. Half the resulting fetuses also produced this protein, which made it easy to discern any fetal tissue in the mother.

A team if scientists from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, led by Hina Chaudhry, inflicted a heart attack on the pregnant mice before killing them a fortnight later to observe the effect on their hearts.

29,000 rubber ducks lost at sea have revolutionized our knowledge of oceans!

The international shipping business keeps it's cargo issues on the down low. So, it is hard to know how many shipping accidents there actually are. The problem is, that we know it happens, and all too often.

There are stories of boxes of plastic bags for dry cleaning falling off ships and endangering the marine wildlife and other cargo simply sinking to the bottom of the ocean and sitting there to rot and hurt the marine wildlife from the bottom.

There is a parasite that can control an insect's mind!

Also known as nematomorpha, this little guy is a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially morphologically similar to nematode worms, hence the name.They can be discovered in damp areas such as watering troughs, streams, puddles and even swimming pools!

The adult worms are free living, but the larvae are parasitic on beetles, cockroaches, orthopterans, and crustaceans.

Hoverbikes exist and you can buy a prototype if you want to!

A hoverbike is a transport vehicle that can be found in works of fiction such as star wars, star trek, back to the future (all great movies by the way), etc.

It is used for personal transportation in the same way a modern bike is employed. One is expected to steer it like a normal vehicle, the only difference is the flying effect!

Ladonia’s national anthem is the sound of a stone thrown in the water!

Ladonia is a micronation located entirely inside the natural reserve Kullarberg in southern Sweden. Founded in 1996, it boasts over 15,000 citizens from over 50 countries. However, none of them live there.

Like other micronations, this one has a few quirks. Ladonia is ruled by both a Queen(who rules for life) and a President (who rules for three years). All voting is conducted through the Internet.

British subs have a secret letter meant to be opened only if there’s a nuclear attack on British soil!

Britain has four Trident submarines and at least one is deployed at all times in the Atlantic lurking about. The Trident submarines are Britain’s nuclear deterrent plan.

The idea is simple: if something happens to the motherland, the Trident submarine will rain hell down on the country that caused the disruption.

Even though he died in 1994, Kim Il-sung is still President of North Korea!

The name Kim Il-Sung might not ring a bell for you. Kim Il-sung was leader of North Korea from 1948 (its establishment) until his death in 1994. He was Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972, and President afterwords. Though since 1994 he’s been regarded as “Eternal President,” the leadership duties (primarily of the military) were taken over by first his son, Kim Jong-il, and more recently his grandson, Kim Jong-un.

World’s largest single food item is whole camel stuffed with sheep stuffed with chicken stuffed with fish

Yes, you read that right, and that’s not all. The whole lot also tends to have rice and other fixings mixed in at each stuffing stage.World's-largest-menu-item

As you might expect, cooking this particular menu item is no easy culinary act. So, given that it’s hard to get an invitation to such events as dinner parties with a Sheik, where it is occasionally served,

Escaping without Escape Velocity

Is it possible for an aircraft to move beyond the gravitational pull of earth without even acquiring escape velocity? Most of you will probably think No! But I think Yes! To understand how is it possible, let us first have a look on the definition of escape velocity,

Escape velocity is defined as the velocity with which a body is thrown so that it escapes away from the pull of earth’s gravity and never fall back.

Stress has positive effects on us.. Really?

Well, the answer is yes!

All you have wondered since now is, if stress has benefits. It’s hard to believe but stress does have benefits. You would have seen throughout the social media and Internet some popping up articles explaining about the harmful effects of stress. But in fact stress is considered to be the second best medicine after laughter to cure deadly diseases. And yeah it’s true!

There is cavity in the hand called the Anatomical Snuff Box

Anatomical terms have a tendency to be long, difficult to pronounce and easy to forget. Posterior, anterior, radial, metacarpal, abductor pollicis longus, dorsal cutaneous. However, some terms are reasonable. The hand, for example, has an "anatomical snuff box."

“Superfetation” - A woman can get pregnant while already being pregnant

The superfetation phenomenon in animals has been mused from as far back as the days of Aristotle by the great philosopher himself in the fourth century B.C. The occurrence came to Aristotle’s mind after he made an observation about hares giving birth to litter that is made up of healthy and imperfect offspring.

Highest human IQ ever Recorded: William James Sidis

Born in America in 1898, William James Sidis was a wunderkind extraordinaire, gifted with an astounding IQ estimated between 250 and 300. This polyglot went to a grammar school when he was only 6 years old and graduated just within 7 months.

As if that wasn’t impressive enough, at the age of 9, he was already a Harvard student, but since he was too young, he was advised to take a couple of years off just to give his personality some time to catch up and be on a par with his intellect.

Doma People: the Tribe with Two Toes

The Doma, also Vadoma or Wadoma (singular Mudoma), are a tribe living in the north of Zimbabwe, especially in the Urungwe and Sipolilo districts on the Zambezi river valley. They have few contacts with the Bantu majority. They speak a dialect of the dominant Shona language of Zimbabwe.

A substantial minority of this tribe has a condition known as ectrodactyly in which the middle three toes are absent and the two outer ones are turned in, resulting in the tribe being known as the "two toed" or "ostrich footed" tribe. This is an autosomal dominant condition resulting from a single mutation on chromosome number seven.

A man won the Nobel for saying electrons act as particles. His son won it for saying electrons act as waves!

The Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to 193 individuals. At least two of those winners were related - father and son to be exact. This in itself is impressive (talk about good genes), but both JJ Thompson and his son, won the prize for their work with electrons.

John Joseph Thomson was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1906 for his discoveries about electricity conduction, especially within gas.

A spacecraft that sends us pictures of what space is really like outside our solar system!

The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722 kg space probe launched by NASA on September of 1977, to study the other Solar System and interstellar medium.

It has been operating for over 35 years; the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to Earth. It is currently traveling in a previously unknown region of space. It is still unclear whether this region is part of interstellar or an area within the Solar System.

Hepatitis B Vaccine Discontinued After Three Newborn Babies Die

Families of three babies who died shortly after receiving their routine hepatitis B vaccine are mourning the loss of their children. The babies, vaccinated in Vietnam under the country’s National Expanded Program on Immunization, died on July 20 in the central province of Quang Tri, according to the report.

The Vietnamese Health Department has since opted to discontinue the use of two vaccine lots in the entire country to protect other babies from a similar, tragic fate.

The light we see from the North Star was emitted in 1583!

Stars are quite extraordinary. They are made up of a sphere of plasma that is held together by it's own gravity. For at least a portion of it's life, a star shines due to thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in it's core; releasing energy that covers the star's interior and then radiates into outer space.

From Earth stars look like fixed points in the sky due to their distance. The closes star is of course the Sun, which is extremely crucial to the cycles of life on Earth. Not just for plants and animals, either. Studies show that people living in countries that don't receive much sunlight, like Finland, England, or Alaska, have higher suicide rates than all other countries.

10 Disgusting facts about Fast food

1. McDonalds Milkshakes use 50 chemicals including ethyl acetate, phenethyl alcohol and a solvent to "imitate" the flavor of a real strawberry.

2. The FDA allows an average of 30 insect fragments, including rodent hair, per 100 grams of peanut butter.

3. Shellac is not only used to improve the shine of wood, it's also used to improve the shine of jelly beans.

Ditch the Toxic Sunscreen; Use Coconut Oil Instead

Summer time is beach time, or at least poolside time. But if you want some protection form the sun’s UV rays, don’t always reach for toxic sunscreens. Instead, pack some extra virgin coconut oil along with your beach towel and umbrella.

That’s right, the same extra virgin coconut oil found in your kitchen pantry will do the trick to protect your skin – minus the toxicity from health-compromising ingredients. Coconut oil has been used as an effective sunscreen for thousands of years by indigenous, pacific islanders. Why slather toxic chemicals on your body when you can use non toxic coconut oil instead?

Hackers leaked the Database of Free calling app - "VIBER" and claimed that company is spying & Tracking Users

One of the most free calling app "Viber" have got hacked defaced one of there sub-domain http://support.viber.com/. This hack was done by the popular hacker's group known as "Syrian Electronic Army". Once again SEA is on the news of the security, and have breached the security of the Viber website.

Hackers claimed that they are not able to hack the all the database of the Viber, but have breached and took the backup of the partial database.

20 unknown facts about Facebook Founder Mark Zucerkberg

1] Facebook’s main color is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is color blind. The color that he can see the best is blue.

2] His has dog name Beast, and he has his own Facebook page .

3] He is known as ‘Zuck’ by his friends while his mother calls him Princely.

BANANA - Interesting FACTS

This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.
Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

A US college that does not charge tuition or fees!

College tuition these days just seems to be climbing and climbing. Some private institutions charge upwards of $50,000 per year. However, there is a college that charges just $980 for tuition.

Berea College was founded in 1855. It has about 1,660 students and 140 acres of campus in Berea, KY. It was the first interracial and coeducational college in the south. And most importantly, it charges barely any tuition.

Osama Bin Laden was a 'CIA' agent in the 1980s

Osama bin Laden is a CIA agent. Ridiculous? After all, didn’t bin Laden orchestrate the 9/11 attacks that killed over 3,000 Americans? Look at the facts and judge accordingly.

Bin Laden’s first contact with the CIA and probable recruitment occurred in the early 1980s in Afghanistan, where the CIA was financing and supplying the war against the Soviet Union. Fast forward to the U.S. foreign policy goals in the Middle East and the Islam world.

Antarctica's Dry Valleys are home to the oldest ice on Earth

The first signs of the massive thaw disturbing the Arctic's frozen ground have now appeared in one of these valleys, melting a glacier buried since the last Ice Age.

The Dry Valleys are different from the rest of Antarctica. Their ice, some of which is millions of years old, is buried under scoured boulders and dust as fine as flour. The arid landscape looks like Mars and, until now, hadn't changed much since the continent froze about 15 million years ago.

Both actors who played the 'Marlboro Man' died of lung cancer

The 'Marlboro Man' was a character created by Marlboro to promote their cigarettes. Commonly featured from 1954 to 1999 he was depicted as a rugged cowboy. The character was created to promote the introduction of filtered cigarettes, yet sustained a large fan base. However, it turns out that two of the actors who portrayed 'Marlboro Man' died of lung cancer.

Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses

Life-size, terracotta warriors, horses and weapons were discovered by a group of farmers digging a well in the Shaanxi Province of China in March 1974.

The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.

'Mother of the Internet'

A lot of different people have been called the "father of the Internet," including Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, who invented the Internet protocol suite known as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). Never heard of those guys? Many people, unless they're really into the history of the Web, probably haven't. There are lots of people whose work went into creating what we know as the Internet (yes, including Al Gore). But if you've heard of any of the so-called "fathers," have you also wondered if there's a "mother of the Internet"? Well, it depends on who you ask.

Why Do Cucumber Coils Change Direction?

The cucumber tendril has long fascinated observant gardeners. This specialized plant stem grows straight at first—until it reaches the nearest trellis or fence post. Then it changes shape, wrapping around the object, twisting into tiny coils, and gaining a support structure for its efforts to grow toward the sun.

These grasping tendrils have also intrigued scientists for centuries; Charles Darwin explored the topic in On the Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants, published in 1865.

At KFC In China The Ice Cubes Are "Dirtier Than Toilet Water"

KFC’s parent company Yum Brands Inc. YUM +0.91%, faces a new challenge in its efforts to reshape the brand’s image in its largest market after China’s powerful state broadcaster alleged that the fast food chain’s ice is dirtier than toilet water.

In a program that aired Saturday night, China Central Television said reporters had recently taken ice samples from three fast-food chains and compared them with toilet water. The samples from a branch of KFC in the city’s southern Chongwenmen district were found to have levels of bacteria 12 times higher than the toilet water, and 19 times higher than China’s standards for drinking water.

Russian X-ray girl thrills Japanese scientists with her remarkable gift

British and Japanese scientists acknowledged that the girl possesses an astounding ability to see through people.

A 17-year-old Russian girl, Natasha Demkina, from the city of Saransk, Russia has become known for her astounding X-ray ability to see people through and diagnose diseases. Scientists became interested in the Russian girl's phenomenon: Natasha Demkina was invited to come to London and New York for scientific experiments. British researchers unanimously acknowledged Natasha's remarkable gift, whereas American scientists hesitated to come to such a conclusion.

The U.S Civil war began and ended at this guy's house!

Wilmer McLean was a wholesale grocer from Virginia. It is said that the American Civil War started in his front yard and ended in his front parlor!

Wilmer McLean stood on the front porch of his two-story brick house awaiting the arrival of General Robert E Lee. In the early afternoon on that day, General Lee, accompanied by Colonel Charles Marshall, arrived on horseback.

During WWI, a Hungarian soldier named Paul Kern was shot in the frontal lobe, making him unable to fall asleep

During WWI, a Hungarian soldier named Paul Kern was shot in the frontal lobe, making him unable to fall asleep. He lived for years afterwards, and no one knows how.

 There was once a Hungarian man who was shot through the frontal lobe of his brain in the First World War. His name was Paul Kern and the amazing thing about him is that after he sustained his injury he never slept again. Never. Ever. And he didn't just live for one more year - Paul Kern went on to live for another forty years in good health.

There used to be an animal that looked like a cross between a horse and a gorilla!

Chalicotheres lived during the Early Eocene and Early Pleistocene subepochs. They were herbivores with short back legs and long forelimbs. Most of their weight was placed on their thicker back legs while they used the knuckles on their front legs to help walk around like a gorilla does. Some chalicotheres got so big that they were the size of a horse.

The Ocean Tornado

In this amazing capture, we see a waterspout near Tampa Bay, Florida. According to NASA, the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida is arguably the most active area in the world for waterspouts.

A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex that occurs over a body of water, connected to a cumuliform cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water.

Strange and Unusual Words

1) Biblioclasm - The practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media

2) Cacodemonomania - The pathological belief that one is inhabited by an evil spirit

3) Fanfaronade - Swaggering; empty boasting; blustering manner or behavior; ostentatious display

Tend to forget basic stuff easily? You might be suffering the Google effect!

The Google effect is the tendency to forget information that can be easily found using internet search engines such as Google, instead of remembering it!

The access to data anytime, anywhere, through search engines like Google, is taking an effect on human memory. With so much information available, there is less need to remember everything, especially with tools like Google allowing us find what we need quickly.

Thai police arrest man with suitcase full of gold plated babies set to be used in black magic ritual

A British citizen has been arrested in Bangkok after six foetuses were found stuffed into travel bags. Hok Kuen Chow, 28, a Briton born in Hong Kong of Taiwanese parents, was held in the city’s Yaowarat area after police received a tip-off.

He is suspected of trying to smuggle the foetuses – from two to seven months – back to Taiwan to sell to wealthy customers online. Chow has reportedly admitted buying the bodies, which had been roasted dry and painted in gold leaf, for 200,000 baht (£4,040).

Back in Taiwan he could have sold them for six times that amount to rich clients who believe the foetuses will bring them good fortune. ‘The bodies are between the ages of two and seven months,’ said Wiwat Kumchumnan, of the police’s children and women protection unit.

The biggest building in the world that’s made entirely from wood (even down to the nuts and bolts!)

It has withstood the Earth's elements for more than 150 years and yet this spectacular church remains the tallest wooden structure in the world.

The magnificent building is made entirely of wood, from the frame to the rivets and the stunning exterior, and shows just how resilient this construction material is.

Standing at 123 feet tall (37.5m), it is believed to still be the world's tallest entirely wooden building - a record it has kept its entire existence.

A Fridge Without Using Electricity!

This is incredible idea is an extension of the pottery water cooling vessels used though the millennia.

This is Mohammed Bah Abba's Pot-in-pot invention. In northern Nigeria, where Mohammed is from, over 90% of the villages have no electricity. His invention, which he won a Rolex Award for (and $100,000), is a refrigerator than runs without electricity.

Here's how it works. You take a smaller pot and put it inside a larger pot. Fill the space in between them with wet sand, and cover the top with a wet cloth. When the water evaporates, it pulls the heat out with it, making the inside cold. It's a natural, cheap, easy-to-make refrigerator.

The drug that treats alcoholism by making you sick if you consume one single drop of alcohol!

Have you been drinking a lot lately? Don’t know how to stop it? Want to stop it?The end to all of your problems is here! Disulfiram!

Disulfiram is a drug that is used to treat alcoholism. This drug will make you very physically ill if you consume even a drop of alcohol by producing an acute sensitivity to alcohol! This drugs works by inhibiting acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, which is the enzyme that gets rid of the alcohol inside your body,

American newspaper finally reveals one of the secret ingredients in Coca cola formula after 125 years.

COCA-Cola is dismissive of a US radio show's claim it has discovered the secret recipe for the popular soft drink. 
 
Coca-Cola South Pacific's public relations manager Susie Crumpton declined to comment on whether This American Life's recipe, which it claimed it had found in a 32-year-old newspaper, were genuine.
But she said the main ingredients used in the popular soft drink are no secret.

The Benefits of Aloe Vera

• Halts the growth of cancer tumors.
• Lowers high cholesterol.
• Repairs "sludge blood" and reverses "sticky blood".
• Boosts the oxygenation of your blood.
• Eases inflammation and soothes arthritis pain.

Dropped your handset in the bath?? Is it drenched in unexpected downpour??

1. Firstly, retrieve your handset from the drink straight away. It will decrease the risk of damage.

2. Resist the urge to check if it still works or press any buttons, since putting pressure on the keys could shift liquid further into the device.

3. In all cases, the best thing to do is immediately pull out the battery, thus minimizing power to the device that may cause it to short circuit. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT..!!

The curve of the samurai sword is natural

A Katana is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword used by the samurai class. It is characterized by it's unique appearance--a curved, slender, one-sided blade and long grip for two-hand use. It is renowned for it's sharpness and strength.

The swords are traditionally forged from a Japanese steel called Tamahagane. The sword smith layers steels with different carbon concentrations on top of one another. This helps remove impurities. After this, the sword only has a slight curve, if any.