The visionary and ambitious vs the displaced and exploited.
A new collection of photos shows the winners and losers of the Olympics boom in China. Will the Games be a blessing or a disaster for Beijing? The answer may not be known for months or even years. (Pics)

Surprisingly, few English-speaking people used this machine
It’s easy to make fun of foreign people who don’t understand English very well. But probably the worst offenders are us peoples. Yeah you, sitting on that green shag couch. We couldn’t sorta say anything greatly correctly if’n we tried. (Pics)
 

 Would you trust this man to blow up your church?
Catholic nuns and priests in Italy are following their flocks to the beach this summer, establishing an inflatable church and a beach-convent in the sands to lure sunbathers.
The 30-metre long blow-up church - staffed by priests ready to take confession - will debut on Saturday on […]

 
The facade of China Central Television Headquarters is now complete, just in time to look pretty tomorrow, when the world turns its eyes on Beijing’s Olympic Games.
 

 Amazing concept for “remembering” with the other senses
When we think of cameras, we think of recording bouncing photons off mirrors. So how would a visually impaired person use this? This camera records sounds and displays imagery via 3D embossing allowing the person to relive the moment by two other senses, hearing and touch.

 Usually one to impress people with his bravery, Winston the Flying Cat, often
gave his owners a scare on the whitewater rafting trips, but always came back chuckling.
The fine art of writing great captions for strange photos is really an exercise in finding great images and then saying something else. “Hey, who left the iron plugged […]

 
A shadow swept across Russia on Friday, delighting skywatchers who flocked to Siberia from around the world to see a rare total eclipse of the sun.

Four giant panda cubs have been born within just 14 hours in China, giving a rare boost to the population of the endangered species, state media said Sunday. (Pics)

 
Tata electric cars will have a range of approx 130 miles
Tata Motors, which plans to deliver its first electric car by the end of this fiscal, has turned to its tried and tested Indica platform for the vehicle. According to industry sources, the company is currently working on five prototypes of electric vehicles on the […]

 
News in Science reports:

Scientists have photographed a giant gas bubble emanating from a whale, suggesting that flatulence is just as common for ocean mammals as it is for humans and many other terrestrial animals.

Even with a glass boat and crystal clear water, it was always the women who managed to get stuck!
Climb aboard, we are about to take you for a ride. A ride into the ridiculous side of life. Some say “don’t go there”. We tend to say, “Wow! That’s gonna leave a mark!” (Pics)
 

The edge of the universe
NASA has made its huge collection of historic photographs, film and video available to the public for the first time.  A partnership with the non-profit Internet Archive has 21 major NASA imagery collections merged into a single searchable online resource.

 
 Northern Lights
UCLA space scientists and colleagues have identified the mechanism that triggers substorms in space; wreaks havoc on satellites, power grids and communications systems; and leads to the explosive release of energy that causes the spectacular brightening of the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights.

 
Hundreds of feet beneath Earth’s surface, a few seasoned cave explorers venture where no human has set foot. Their headlamps illuminate mud-covered walls, gypsum crystals and mineral deposits. The real attraction, though, is under their shoes.

Located at the Wyoming stockyards, the idea was perfect. But, the execution left a bit to be desired.
Grab your pets and your next of kin. This is going to be a bumpy ride through photo-land. This weeks Top 10 Photos are may drive you over the cliff.
 

 
How do you know whether or not McDonalds is still serving breakfast? Well, usually you just check your watch. If it’s earlier than 10:30 am, they are. If it’s later, they aren’t. Pretty simple. But what if you don’t have a watch? Don’t worry - one Chicago McDonald’s has you covered.

 
 GigiPan Robot
ROBOTS already cut the grass and vacuum rugs. Now they are helping with a more artistic job: creating vast photographic panoramas with ordinary cameras.

 
There’s something fascinating about unusually-designed staircases, and we’ve shown you a few. We’ve even displayed one that goes nowhere at all.
 

 
Is it possible for a toaster to be this much fun?
A kitchen gadget from Inseq Design creative talent. Made of aluminum and plastics, Zuse is a toaster equipped with optical sensor which activates digital toasting once it senses the presence of bread. Inspired by the early matrix printers and designed to work as a traditional […]

This shower makes my shower jealous
It is the enormous scale of the Ecco Charade rain shower head from Fornara Maulini that makes it so totally captivating. This rain shower is so generously sized, it is truly akin to having your own personal cloud for a super drenching downpour at the touch of a button! (Pics)

 
Oil boys in their prime
Every summer for the last 650 years, Turkish men have gathered to see who was the strongest, fastest and slickest of them all. It’s called Kirkpinar, and it’s the biggest oil wrestling competition in the world. (Pics)

Even though he was a heavy, heavy smoker, he became the poster child or the latest anti-smoking campaign
Straight from the inside of your mattress, in another dimension of reality, comes our top 10 photos. There is no real good way of describing this set other than to offer you a Bandaid or two if you […]

Li Wei, a short and stocky man, clambered up a metal ladder ten feet, sticking his head deep into a hole in the wall. Two somber assistants using wire pulleys clipped mountaineering carabiners […]

 A skinny wife will yield more speed, but less beer
Every year, the small Finnish town of Sonkajärvi hosts the Wife Carrying World Championships. All men have to do is sprint around an obstacle course while carrying their wives. And the women? They have to hold on tight — which isn’t as easy as it sounds. […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MBBr-a2KnM

 What’s wrong with this picture?
With this crazy stunt, The ImprovEverywhere troup fills a New York City subway car with 15 pairs of twins to create a human mirror.