Historian Walt Unsworth once said, "Had Mount Everest been climbed at the first attempt, the achievement would have been hailed as notable and then quickly forgotten. It was, ironically, repeated failures which gave the mountain real stature."
A climber uses a ladder to cross a crevasse at Everest's Khumbu Icefall, not far above base camp. Shifting ice exposes new crevasses with little warning, making the Khumbu Icefall the most dangerous section of a southern Everest ascent.
1. The Cone Snail: can kill you in less than 4 minutes
Say, for instance, you happen to be happily walking through the low surf merrily picking up and discarding shells, looking for just the right one to decorate your desk back at the office.
Ants don't sleep.
Owls have eyeballs that are tubular in shape, because of this, they cannot move their eyes.
A bird requires more food in proportion to its size than a baby or a cat.
The mouse is the most common mammal in the US.
A newborn kangaroo is about 1 inch in length.
A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
Fog obscures the summit of Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu, a 13,455-foot (4,101-meter) peak in northwestern East Malaysia. Formerly known as St. Peter's Mount, Kinabalu is the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago.
A delicate necklace of snow melts from the summit of Tanzania's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. Global warming is changing the face of mountains worldwide, eliminating snowcapped peaks and giving birth to surging melt-fed rivers.
If girls were valued and given the same care as boys there would be at least another 100 million women in the world.
In South Asia, Africa and Middle East, girls get much less education than boys.
Working girls have fewer opportunities, work harder and earn less than boys - and are rarely noticed by researchers.
Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? Thehistory of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
Every 14 February, across the world, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this unexplained saint and why do we rejoice this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is wearing a veil in mystery.
But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become connected with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church be familiar with at least three dissimilar saints named Valentine or Valentines, all of whom were martyred.
February 6, 2008, A newly discovered mural is one of many in 12 of Afghanistan's famed Bamian caves that show evidence of an oil-based binder. The binder was used to dry paint and help it adhere to rocky surfaces.
The muralsand the remains of two giant, destroyed Buddhasinclude the world's oldest known oil-based paint, predating European uses of the substance by at least a hundred years, scientists announced late last month.
* Did you know you share your birthday with at least 9 other million people in the world?
* The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
* When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.
* The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
1. Sunita Williams:
As a woman and an NRI, she made everyone proud with her new record for the longest uninterrupted space flight by a woman in June. "Planet Earth looks beautiful from space. There are no borders on the Earth," she said, recounting her space experience of 195-days aboard the space shuttle Discovery. The Shuttle's re-entry held everyone on edge but its smooth landing made history. Reminding Indians about the late Kalpana Chawla, Sunita visited India in september and made news wherever she went.
2. Bobby Jindal: