Did You Know Articles

According to Pakistani authorities and the UN, at least 3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have now been registered as a result from recent fighting and on-going military operations against the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat, Buner, and Lower Dir districts.

Refugee families are often made up of only women and children, the older men staying behind to care for their homes and crops. UN humanitarian chief John Holmes issued a desperate appeal for hundreds of millions of dollars to help those who have fled the war, warning that the U.N. can only sustain its current aid efforts for one month.

Photographers in the area have captured many powerful images of those affected, some of the most striking focused on children, from which I've collected 38 here for you.

World´s 15 Most Highest-Paid Sportsmen

No. 15 Alex Rodriguez (Tie for Postion #11)
$32 million
A-Rod earns little off the field these days but makes the cut thanks to his historic 10-year, $275 million contract he signed with the Yankees after the 2007 season. The deal paid A-Rod $27 million last year and is worth $32 million this season. He also got $1 million in January as part of the $10 million signing bonus in the deal.

No. 14 Lewis Hamilton (Tie for Postion #11)
$32 million

Butterflies taste with their feet.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world's nuclear weapons combined.

On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.

On average people fear spiders more than they do death.

In what other language do people drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?

Why does night fall but never break and day break but never fall?

Why is it that when we transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when we transport something by ship, it's called cargo?

Why are people who ride motorcycles called bikers and people who ride bikes called cyclists?

In what other language do they call the third hand on the clock the second hand?

Why is it called a TV set when you get only one?

SILVER FOILS ARE NOT VEGETARIAN

The silver foils are not very expensive. They are sold by weight. Ordinarily, you can buy a packet of 160 foils for a price between Rs.100 to 200. That is, approximately one rupee per foil. Not only the sweets, now a days it is also applied on fruits. Some Ayurvedic medicines also are wrapped in silver foils.

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston , and walked timidly without an appointment in to the Harvard University President's outer office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge .

'We'd like to see the president,' the man said softly. 'He'll be busy all day,' the secretary snapped. 'We'll wait,' the lady replied.

In late April, an outbreak of a new strain of H1N1 Influenza, commonly called "swine flu", was detected in Mexico City. The initial spread of the virus appeared to be rapid - that, coupled with several deaths of young, otherwise healthy flu victims raised global awareness and initial alarm. As of today, Mexico has confirmed over 800 infections and 42 deaths resulting from H1N1 - 22 countries worldwide now have reported 1,516 cases of influenza A (H1N1). Recent reports have been more restrained, however, with no apparent evience of a pandemic, milder-than-expected flu symptoms, and a rate of infection only slightly higher than a normal seasonal flu. Collected
here are photographs of people in Mexico and around the world dealing with H1N1 or or preparing for possible encounters.

Top 10 Widespread PANICS In The World

SWINE FLU
It, it's all right to take a deep breath and calm down a bit about swine flu. Despite the hyperventilating media reports of recent weeks odds are pretty good you're not going to be felled by the nasty but generally non-fatal H1N1 virus. This may come as a shock to, say, Egypt, which ordered all of its pigs slaughtered in a misguided attempt to stop the spread of the flu (which, reports indicate, is not transmitted from pig to person).

Infections are falling in Mexico, the country hardest-hit by the flu bug, and the World Health Organization said the virus has not yet created a sustained outbreak in Europe. Though new cases are popping up around the globe each day, it appears that a widespread global pandemic isn't forthcoming. Just like SARS and the avian flu before it, H1N1 probably will cause more damage through anxiety than actual infection

Do not turn on A/C immediately as soon as you enter the car!

Please open the windows after you enter your car and do not turn ON the air-conditioning immediately. According to a research done, the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener emits Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen- take note of the heated plastic smell in your car). In addition to causing cancer, it poisons your bones, causes anemia, and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer may also cause miscarriage.

The Man Who Can't Get Fat

Mr Perry, 59, can eat whatever he likes - including unlimited pies, burgers and desserts - and never get fat. He cannot put on weight because of a condition called lipodystrophy that makes his body rapidly burn fat.

He used to be a chubby child, but at age 12 the fat dropped off "almost over night". He initially tried to eat more to gain weight, but it had no effect. Mr Perry, of Ilford in Essex , endured a decade of tests before the illness was diagnosed. It finally emerged that his body produces six times the normal level of insulin. Doctors have admitted that the condition would be a "slimmer's dream".

If you eat less food, your stomach will shrink

Dieters are often advised to decrease their intake of food in order to shrink the size of their stomach. However, while smaller portions will obviously help with weight-loss, the size of your stomach has nothing to do with the process. On average, the organ will maintain a constant volume throughout life, regardless of the amount of food that passes through it.

Banknotes are made out of paper

Here are 15 of the worlds largest objects, from swimming pools to motorcycles to football tables!

Worlds Largest Objects

World's Largest Book

The award for largest published book goes to an author and scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michael Hawley. The 133-pound book is five by seven feet, 112 pages, needs a gallon of ink for printing, and costs $2,000 to produce. Its title? “Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Kingdom.”

World’s Largest Motorcycle

Officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, Gregory Dunham, from California's Stockton, built the world's largest motorcycle. Greg spent three years in his workshop crafting this 11 feet tall, 20 feet long monster bike which is powered by a 8.2 litre (V8 engine and has tyres that are 1.88 m tall. The 6,500-pound motorcycle with a pricetag of $300,000 is totally rideable.

World's Largest Bottle of Wine

Secret wealth abroad

Switzerland has been accused of giving shelter to black money and there has been a lot of inflow of such wealth from India and other countries of the world.”

This is not L K Advani, on election mode, speaking last Sunday, but the Swiss ambassador to India briefing the media in Delhi last year.

1) New York City has 11 letters

2) Afghanistan has 11 letters.

3) Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin Towers in 1993) has 11 letters..

4) George W Bush has 11 letters.

This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets more interesting:

1) New York is the 11th state.

2) The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number 11.

Top 10 Amazing Plants

After millions of years of evolution and development, an enormous number of different plant variations have been created. Of all the plants that have ever lived most are long since extinct, but still around a third of a million plant species are estimated to be surviving today. Evolution has created some particularly strange and tight examples, and here is STS’ attempt to compile a list of those that we find to be the most interesting.

10. Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes)

Nepenthes is a genus of carniverous plant that encompasses over 120 species, native to Indonesia, the Phillipines, and South-East Asia. This species of plant has three primary components: the lid, the rim, and the pitcher.