A battle brewing as the Chaiten Volcano erupts in an amazing electrical storm
Few sights in nature can compare to the sheer magnificence of a volcano erupting in full flow.
But while scenes of molten lava are relatively commonplace, this otherworldly picture of Chaiten Volcano in southern Chile shows a truly spectacular, and devastating, volcanic phenomenon.

“There are four major transformations that are shaping political, economic and world events”
This is a paper presented several weeks ago by Herb Meyer at a Davos, Switzerland meeting which was attended by most of the CEOs from all the major international corporations — a very good summary of today’s key trends and a perspective […]

This is what happens when you spend too much time online promoting your social network
Datamonitor forecasts that the number of social network users in Europe will more than double to 107.4 million in 2012, up from 41.7 million in 2007.

Colorful Fields of Flowers
The cultivation of flower bulb began more than 400 years ago and today Holland produces more than nine billion bulbs every year, of which two thirds are exported overseas.

 
The China hacker community grows with official sanction
China’s cyber warfare army is marching on, and India is suffering silently. Over the past one and a half years, officials said, China has mounted almost daily attacks on Indian computer networks, both government and private, showing its intent and capability.
The sustained assault almost coincides […]

 Introducing the world’s longest sea bridge
China on Thursday will inaugurate one of the world’s longest bridges, which will provide an important new route into Shanghai, state press said.

The phone cart is a great improvement over the smoke signal cart…
Have you ever seen a bicycle vendor selling ice cream, popsicles, corn on the cob, hotdogs, etc? If you haven’t, the vendors are usually riding a three-wheeled bike with a cargo box in the front filled with their products. Inspired by these bikes and […]

 
Google diving into 3D mapping of oceans
The tool - for now called Google Ocean, the sources say, though that name could change - is expected to be similar to other 3D online mapping applications. People will be able to see the underwater topography, called bathymetry; search for particular spots or attractions; and navigate through the […]

 Pakistani women buy subsidized flour in Lahore. The price of staple foods
and fuel has risen drastically in the country in the last few months.
Around the world, rising food prices have made basic staples like rice and corn unaffordable for many people, pushing the poor to the barricades because they can no longer get enough to […]

When you go out to get a sundae, make sure it’s the MOST EXPENSIVE IN THE WORLD!!!

While the ice cream may be smooth and delicious, it was actually the absurdly expensive sundaes that caught our attention.

Here’s a neat poster to help you visualize all of the top-level domains in the world…

The striking “Falling Towers” building in Beijing nears completion
With the Olympics only a few months away, the Chinese are determined to carve visual images into the minds of the rest of the world with their bold architecture, modern cities, and progressive lifestyle. The “Falling Towers” building is one building that has captured the imagination of […]

China. Ahh. Proud hosts of the most divisive Olympic Games in 30 years, are now asking for some help cleaning up their toxic air quality.
Lacking the time, and usually the money, to put into research for new, green technologies from other developed nations, the ministry of technology has asked to “establish a mechanism of technological […]

 
A witch doctor’s office
Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men’s penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.
Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in local religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and […]

NASA’s new nano-satellites - The Mini AERCam prototype is just 7.5 inches in diameter and weighs only 10 pounds
NASA announced today that it will team with m2mi to develop very small satellites, called nano-sats which weigh between 11 to 110lb, for the development of telecommunications and networking services in space.
NASA says […]

NCAR’s Roelof Bruintjes (left) with Abdulla Al Mangoosh, director of UAE’s Department of Water Resources Studies.
Roelof Bruintjes […]

eSolar has raised $130 million in funding for the deployment of its solar thermal power plants. The scaleable, pre-fabricated power plants are designed to cut construction costs and deliver renewable energy solutions tailored to the needs of particular communities.
Large scale solar utility projects can face significant construction costs in addition to requiring large parcels of […]

A single village in China is responsible for cranking out 60% of the world’s paintings. The overwhelming majority of the paintings are slavish reproductions of famous paintings. The artists doing the work are very talented, however, and an organization called Regional asked some of the artists to paint themselves. The results are incredible.

Liquid Life In A Bottle
The human body is surprisingly intolerant when you let hydration levels drop too far and you’d be surprised how quickly a disaster can rob you of what you take for granted. Flooding is a common phenomena, as are hurricanes, earthquakes, bushfires, war and throw in a few rarer pestolences and natural disasters […]

 
Philanthropy just got easier and a lot more accessible to the public thanks to the social networking power of the Internet and a ground-breaking partnership between a young British entrepreneur, a global health think tank and an African medical research institute.

AT&T claims that the Internet’s bandwidth will be saturated by video-on-demand and such by 2010.
U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T has claimed that, without investment, the Internet’s current network architecture will reach the limits of its capacity by 2010.

 
Declining dollar reduces Chinese product competitiveness
Textile firms, once an export engine of China, are fighting for their survival this year with rising costs and dismal overseas market hit by the subprime crisis.

Global warming started here
Check out how cluttered Al Gore’s Office is. Nice monitor set-up. Funny video after the jump.

Alisher Usmanov is a well known Russian billionaire businessman who didn’t make the top 10 list
One billion dollars is no longer enough to gain entry to Russia’s rich list.
Ten billionaires failed to make Forbes magazine’s annual list of the 100 richest Russians that is dominated by those who built their fortunes on the country’s […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei2JM8xLb3c

Launching of Sealand in 1967
The Principality of Sealand was founded in 1967 upon an abandoned wartime gun tower 7 miles off the coast of out into the North Atlantic. Ray Essex (Prince Ray) has run radio and tv stations; issued passports, coinage and postage stamps from his principality while holding his ground amidst storms, coup […]