Thada Falls

Japanese Biker Drives 1.24 Miles Without Severed Right Leg

August 14, 2007

A Japanese man driving a motorcycle severed his right leg after colliding with a concrete highway divider but did not notice the injury until after driving for a few minutes and two kilometers (1.24 miles) away from accident site, the local media in Japan reported on Wednesday. The accident happened at Nishi Ward in the city of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan.

According to Japan Today, police said Kazuo Nagata, 54, was driving along the Hamana bypass of National Highway Route 1 at about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday (9:30 p.m., Monday, GMT) when he failed to negotiate a left turn and hit the central divider that severed his right leg about 10 centimeters (3.94 inches) below the knee. Nagata continued driving unaware of the injury and only noticed his missing right leg when he and his friends stopped at an interchange about 1.24 miles from the scene of the accident.

Nagata was traveling on motorbike to Gifu Prefecture with 10 friends. A companion retrieved the severed leg and the others called for an ambulance. Police said Nagata was out of danger.
Police theorized that Nagata failed to notice his missing leg because he struggled to retain his balance after the collision or was focused on the pain he felt after the accident.

An accident waiting to happen, Ian Chappell on Sreesanth

Sreesanth needs to be disciplined
An accident waiting to happen
Ian Chappell

October 14, 2007

'Suspend Sreesanth for a meaningful period' © Getty Images

Back when I was playing, whenever a fiery red sports car would go whizzing past our team's more sedate mode of transport, the former Australian wrist-spinner Johnny Martin would say, "There goes an accident waiting to happen". Currently Indian fast bowler Sreesanth appears to be driving a bright red V12 with mag wheels, twin carburettors and the latest E gearshift. He's already had a couple of minor scrapes but hasn't backed off the throttle, and if he continues down this bumpy road he's headed for a major catastrophe.

The BCCI should do him a favour and take away his keys; in other words, suspend him for a meaningful period. Then he'll have time to think about his erratic behaviour and will hopefully realise he's wasting his undoubted talent by expending energy on things that won't help his team win.

And if the BCCI does shift into disciplinary gear, they should also severely reprimand the person or persons who dreamed up the flawed tactic of India taking the Australians on at their own game. The first-class game in Australia is highly competitive and players regularly indulge in one-upmanship and the better ones thrive in this atmosphere. If the Australians wanted to do a Brer rabbit on India, they would have said: "Please don't intimidate us verbally."
If the BCCI needs any prompting on why they should discipline Sreesanth before he has a major crash, they only have to look at Pakistan's mishandling of Shoaib Ahktar in his early days. The PCB has finally done what it should have a long time ago: brought the malcontent into line with a suspension and serious fine. If this had happened when Shoaib's erratic behaviour first started to undermine the Pakistan side then he may well have become what he should have been - a match-winning fast bowler - instead of what he has been, a serious disruption to team harmony.
Firm disciplinary measures are not about curtailing character, they're applied to remind the more strong-willed players that they are part of a team and that the idea of the game is to win matches. Former great fast bowlers Fred Trueman of England and Dennis Lillee of Australia were both strong-willed players and great characters. However, their antics never harmed the team's goal of winning.

On the subject of Pakistan and discipline, Darrell Hair's court case against the ICC threw up an interesting sidelight. After Hair dropped the case, the PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf said, "We do not believe that Hair should be umpiring on the Elite Panel." He made this statement even though both India and Sri Lanka took the more conciliatory line, saying they would abide by the ICC's decision once Hair completed his six-month rehabilitation period.

If the BCCI needs any prompting on why they should discipline Sreesanth before he has a major crash, they only have to look at Pakistan's mishandling of Shoaib Ahktar in his early days
So I wonder what approach the PCB will take concerning current Elite umpire Rudi Koertzen? Hair rather unwisely reported a phone conversation he had with Koertzen during the 2007 World Cup. When the South African umpire was told about Pakistan's early exit from the tournament he apparently responded, "That's great news, those cheats can now go home."
Now that the comment is in the public domain, it severely undermines Koertzen's most important credential - his impartiality. The PCB would have legitimate cause to ask the ICC not to appoint Koertzen for any Pakistan matches, or get them to at least force the South African to make a grovelling apology or deny he ever made the comment.

Taking the ICC to court was a fruitless exercise for Hair but he did succeed in severely embarrassing his employers on a number of occasions. From the president of the West Indies Board not realising umpire Billy Doctrove was from the Caribbean, to the ICC's appointment of an inappropriate three-man panel to look into Hair's future, the administrators' incompetence was laid bare for a worldwide audience.

Hair's choice of action at The Oval in August 2006 may have been questionable but it's hard to fault his appointment of QC Robert Griffiths to defend his honour. The wily Griffiths led the ICC board members into a street filled with potholes and they drove headlong into the trap.
Sreesanth may be travelling down a dangerous path but he's not the only member of the cricket fraternity speeding in a fiery red sports car.

© Cricinfo

An Apologetic Burglar

A BURGLAR broke into a house in Queenstown, New Zealand, twice in a day - the second time to return his loot and leave a heartfelt letter of apology

The intruder smashed a window to get into Graeme and Shirley Glass' house and took a laptop computer, camera and wallet containing a credit card, the Otago Daily Times reported today.
He came back later to return them as well as a basketball and two pairs of gloves he bought with the card and write a note in Glass's diary apologising for "violating the safety and security of your home".

"I have never written truer words when I say that I wish that I had never done this to you and your family," he wrote.

"From the bottom of my heart I am sorry."
The burglar promised to leave some cash in the Glass's mailbox to pay for the broken window "when I have enough money".
Police have a description of the offender from the shops where he used the credit card, forging Glass's signature.

Indian Guinness Records

NEW DELHI - How do you stand out in a land with a billion people?

Radhakant Bajpai did it by growing his ear hair more than five inches long.

Vadivelu Karunakaren did it by skipping 10 miles in 58 minutes.

Arvind Morarbhai Pandya did it by running 940 miles backward in 26 days and seven hours.

India is a land obsessed with superlatives, especially the kind that get you into the Guinness World Records book. Here, a Guinness record is the stuff of national headlines.

"Orissa man claims a record for cracking open 72 coconuts by elbow!" the Hindustan Times, a leading newspaper, trumpeted last month. "Uttar Pradesh boy can write on mustard seeds!" said a headline in July. The paper has run over 50 stories this year about bids for Guinness records, and it is by no means ahead of its competition.And this just in from the Times of India, another highly respected daily: "Man looks to set world record pulling vehicles with mustache."Why the fascination? India, after all, is awash in genuine superlatives — world's largest democracy, world's largest youth population.

Why bother with fastest to drink a bottle of ketchup?Guinness Rishi — yes, his name is Guinness; more on that later — submitted the ketchup record after downing a bottle in 39 seconds. The Guinness company has yet to accept his bid.Rishi said he breaks records — his business card lists 19 feats — to distinguish himself in one of the world's biggest crowds."People consider me an extraordinary person, not an ordinary person," he said.India, holding 219 Guinness World Records, is only 10th on the list. The U.S. has the most, followed by Britain, Australia and Germany. But for sheer obsessive enthusiasm, and ingenuity in dreaming up new superlatives, India seems unbeatable.The explanations are various.In the new India, more people than ever are earning prestigious degrees and staggering salaries.

But for millions who don't have access to such routes for success, aiming for world records, no matter how ridiculous, provides a much-needed outlet in a society as rigid and hierarchical as India's, say Rishi and other world-beaters.After all, India's widespread poverty and its caste system, though not the all-determining forces they once were, still make social boundaries hard to crack. Harder, perhaps, than breaking a world record."Persons who have no money wish to do something in their lives, so the poor people try to break records by their strength or their will," said Rishi, a 66-year-old partner in an auto parts factory.His crowded bookshelves are filled exclusively with record books from years past. He also hires himself out as a consultant to would-be record breakers.No one captures Guinness mania better. Rishi changed his first name from Har Parkash to Guinness after earning a record for being part of a team that kept a motor scooter in motion for 1,001 hours. He says he's broken more than a dozen records, but the Guinness company has not yet accepted any others.

To claim the record for oldest adoptee, he adopted his 61-year-old brother-in-law. (He's going to beat that one again now that he's "working with a 90-year-old.") He built the world's tallest sugar cube tower at 64 inches.Rishi is so passionate about Guinness that he wrote in his will — the longest will in the world, of course — that he wants his record books used as the kindling at his cremation. (His wife, Bimla, claims to have the record for shortest will in the world: "All to son.")Rishi says his two sons have successful careers abroad, and they don't think much of the Guinness obsession. But their accomplishments make Rishi more determined to prove that he counts, too."My children feel that they are more important in the field of business and moneymaking so I have to show the family and the community that I am a professional person," he said.Some see broader explanations for India's peculiar relationship with Guinness.Santosh Desai, a columnist with the Times of India, another newspaper that covers Guinness bids like political campaigns, says it's an example of India's hunger for Western approval, a defining trait in a country racing to achieve superpower status."We are desperate to be acknowledged by the world as being worthy," Desai said. "We hunt for any signs that the external world recognizes us, and then we celebrate them."Even if it's, well, Bajpai's world-beating ear hair.The Indian Express, a well-respected newspaper, called Bajpai "a proud man who has brought hairy recognition ... not only to his locality and city but to the whole nation."But this theory — that it's all about self-esteem _doesn't explain why neighboring Pakistan doesn't share India's Guinness passion. The two were one country during British colonial times, and have a lot in common, culturally, ethnically and linguistically.In their zeal for posterity, some in India have taken the Guinness obsession to dangerous extremes.In June, a doctor couple in southern India boasted that their 15-year-old son had tried to become the world's youngest surgeon by delivering a baby by Caesarean section — a procedure they proudly filmed.All three are now awaiting trial on charges of endangering human life.Last year, a 4-year-old boy attempted to run 43 miles to earn a spot in a local record book. Doctors stopped the child after 40 miles and found him to be undernourished and anemic.His coach has been arrested and charged with torturing the child.Amarilis Espinoza, a Guinness World Records spokeswoman, said the company doesn't accept entries that encourage dangerous behavior.

People across the world inquire about feats Guinness does not condone, but India's can-do attitude makes it stand out, she said. Rather than just ask about unsafe records, in India "they just go ahead and do it," she said.For world-beaters who fail to reach the peaks of Guinness, there is the local Limca Record Book, published by Coca-Cola, a junior-varsity league for India's unlikely feats. ("Fastest Solving of Rubik's Cube Blindfolded.")Another rung down is the Web site 4to40.com where people pay $50 to have their record posted. ("37 Men on a Bike.")Rishi is considering publishing his own book of records, one that will be more inclusive than the Guinness book.But some in India say that as living standards soar, Guinness mania will peter out."What has replaced it are more legitimate and more conventional areas of competing," said Desai. "I think India will outgrow its desire to grow its nails faster than the rest of the world."

Miracle man Walks Again

He survived against all the odds; now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again.
When his body was cut in two by a lorry in 1995, it was little short of a medical miracle that he lived. Peng Shulin, wearing new trainers, works on learning to walk againtook a team of more than 20 doctors to save his life.Skin was grafted from his head to seal his torso – but the legless Mr Peng was left only 78cm (2ft 6in) tall.Bedridden for years, doctors in China had little hope that he would ever be able to live anything like a normal life agan.

The bionic legs mimic the way Peng's limbs would have workedBut recently, he began exercising his arms, building up the strength to carry out everyday chores such as washing his face and brushing his teeth.Doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing found out about Mr Peng's plight late last year and devised a plan to get him up walking again. They came up with an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, creating a sophisticated egg cup-like casing to hold his body with two bionic legs attached to it.He has been taking his first steps around the centre with the aid of his specially adapted legs and a resized walking frame.Mr Peng, who has to learn how to walk again, is said to be delighted with the device.

50 Unbelievable Moments

50 Unbelievable Moments

View more presentations from Peety G

Original Link: http://www.slideshare.net/Peety/50-unbelievable-moments/

Amazing Facts About Your Body

50,000 of the cells in your body will die and be replaced with new cells, all while you have been reading this sentence!

In one hour, your heart works hard enough to produce the equivalent energy to raise almost 1 ton of weight 1 yard off the ground.

Scientists have counted over 500 different liver functions.

In 1 square inch of skin there lies 4 yards of nerve fibers, 1300 nerve cells, 100 sweat glands, 3 million cells, and 3 yards of blood vessels.

The structural plan of a whale's, a dog's, a bird's and a man's 'arm' are exactly the same.

The world`s first test-tube twins were born in June 1981.

There are 45 miles of nerves in the skin of a human being.

In a year, a person`s heart beats 40,000,000 times.

Most people blink about 25 times a minute.

Each square inch of human skin consists of twenty feet of blood vessels.

Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself.

Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.

You use an average of 43 muscles for a frown.

You use an average of 17 muscles for a smile.

Every two thousand frowns creates one wrinkle.

The average human blinks his eyes 6,205,000 times each year.

The average human produces a quart of saliva a day or 10,000 gallons in a lifetime.

Every person has a unique tongue print.

The average human's heart will beat 3000 million times in their lifetime.

The average human will pump 48 million gallons of blood in their lifetime.

You burn 26 calories in a one minute kiss.

The average human body contains enough: Sulphur to kill all fleas on an average dog, Carbon to make 900 pencils, Potassium to fire a toy cannon, Fat to make 7 bars of soap, Phosphorus to make 2,200 match heads, and enough Water to fill a ten gallon tank

Among the first known "dentists" of the world were the Etruscans. In 700 BC they carved false teeth from the teeth of various mammals and produced partial bridgework good enough to eat with.

Ophthalmic surgery was one of the most advanced areas of medicine in the ancient world. Detailed descriptions of delicate cataract surgery with sophisticated needle syringes is contained in the medical writings of Celsus (A.D. 14-37)

A sneeze zooms out of your mouth at over 100 m.p.h.

If you were freeze-dried, 10% of your body weight would be from the microorganisms on your body.

Your ears and nose continue to grow throughout your entire life.

When you eat meat and drink milk in the same meal, your body does not absorb any of the milk's calcium. It is best to have 2 hours between the milk and meat intake.

The tooth is the only part of the human body that can't repair itself.

Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.

One human brain generates more electrical impulses in a single day than all of the world’s telephones put together.

Land of Midnight sun - Norway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Midnight sun in Lappland, Finland.

The Arctic Cathedral with surroundings in Tromsø illuminated by the midnight sun.

Midnight Sun Norkapp, Norway

The midnight sun is a phenomenon occurring in latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle and south and nearby to the north of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous 24 hours, mostly north of the Arctic circle and south of the Antarctic Circle. The number of days per year with potential midnight sun increases the further poleward one goes.Since there are no permanent human settlements south of the Antarctic Circle, the countries and territories whose population experiences it are limited to the ones crossed by the Arctic Circle, i.e. Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and extremities of Iceland. A quarter of Finland's territory lies north of the Arctic Circle and at the country's northernmost point the sun does not set for 73 days during summer. In Svalbard, Norway, the northernmost inhabited region of Europe, there is no sunset from approximately April 19th to August 23rd.

The extreme sites are the poles where the sun can be continuously visible for a half year.The opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in winter when the sun stays below the horizon throughout the day.Since the Earth's axis is tilted with respect to the ecliptic by approximately 23 degrees 27 minutes, the sun does not set at high latitudes in (local) summer. The duration of the midnight sun increases from one day during the summer solstice at the polar circle to approximately six months at the poles. At extreme latitudes, it is usually referred to as polar day. The length of the time when the sun is above the horizon varies from 20 hours at the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle to 186 days at the poles.At the poles themselves, the sun only rises once and sets once, each year.

During the six months when the sun is above the horizon at the poles, the sun spends the days constantly moving around the horizon, reaching its highest circuit of the sky at the summer solstice.Due to refraction, the midnight sun may be experienced at latitudes slightly below the polar circle, though not exceeding one degree (depending on local conditions). For example, it is possible to experience the midnight sun in Iceland, even though most of it (Grímsey being a notable exception) is slightly south of the Arctic Circle. Even the northern extremities of the British Isles (and those places on similar latitudes) experience a permanent "dusk" or glare in the northern skies at these times.