Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Wedding of two snakes - Nearly 1,000 people in Cambodia attended

        Chamreun, a 16-foot, 200 lb python tied the knot with her groom, Krong Pich, a smaller male python. The marriage was held in Village One in the Kandal province near Phnom Penh, drawing a crowd of nearly 1,000 humans. The wedding ceremony was intended to bring about good luck for the village.

       The ceremony lasted for 2 hours, complete with Buddhist monks blessing the newlywed snakes, live music, and the wedding guests showering them with flowers.

Monday, March 26, 2012

There's a town in Italy that doesn't get sunlight for 84 days a year.

            A town in Italy that doesn't get sunlight for 84 days a year. They've solved this problem with a giant mirror   
        The little town of Viganella is located amidst the Italian side of the Alps. During the winter time, the shift in the sun's pattern makes it so that it never clears the 1600 feet tall mountain that's close to the town. This means that for 84 days, they do not get any sunlight. The townspeople end up suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, a type of mild depression. 
            To solve this, the government installed a massive mirror on the side of the mountain. It measure 26x16 feet and is computer controlled to follow the trajectory of the Sun. The result is that starting in 2006, the town was able to celebrate the first winter sun in 600 years!

Friday, March 23, 2012

A tiny animal that it could stay alive in space

      There’s a tiny animal that can survive in such extreme environments that it could stay alive in space.
     They’re called tardigrades, but are more commonly known as moss piglets or waterbears. They are small water-dwelling animals with eight legs and their name means “slow walker.” However, what is amazing about these creatures is that they can live in environments that would kill almost any other animal. Some can survive temperatures close to absolute zero and as high as 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
       They can endure over 1,000 times more radiation than other animals and go over a decade without water. These creatures are so amazing that recent studies have found that even when sent into the vacuum of space they returned alive!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

An earthquake can shorten the length of a day.

        On February 27, 2010, an earthquake in Chile that registered an 8.8 on the Richter scale may very have shortened the length of a day on Earth. Researchers computed the change to be as much as making a day 1.26 microseconds shorter. In addition, the quake also shifted the Earth on its axis. The Earth's axis moved 2.7 milliarcseconds (which is actually a unit of angular measurement, not time). That's the equivalent of about 8 centimeters or three inches.[Omg facts]

Friday, March 16, 2012

Parrot parents name their children!

          
                  Parrots perhaps more than any other animal are knows for their amazing communication skills in which they can mimic human speech. However, scientists have discovered that their communication skills are even more impressive than previously thought.
         Parrots actually name their children a signature call, which they use to communicate with them later! Where do parrot “names” come from? It’s actually very similar to human names. Parrots give their offspring the distinctive sound to address them before the children can even chirp themselves!  [OMG Facts]

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The longest place name in Europe is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!

     Ever heard of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch? It’s located in Wales, and is comprised of over 3,000 inhabitants, 76% of whom speak fluent Welsh.
      It’s more commonly known as Llanfair PG because of the ridiculous length of its name, and translates from Welsh to, “St. Mary's Church in a hollow of white hazel near the swirling whirlpool of the church of St. Tysilio with a red cave.” The name of this town holds the European record for the longest place name at fifty-eight characters! .. [OMF Facts]

Printer ink is more expensive than blood!

         While a printer is relatively cheap compared to what you might expect, printer companies make a majority of their money on the ink! Over the life of just one printer, you’ll most likely pay over 500% of the price of the printer on just refilling ink cartridges.
      A traditional ink cartridge of 42ml costs around $30, for just plain black ink, while the Red Cross charges $200 for 500ml of human blood. This means that while blood comes out to 40 cents per ml, ink costs 71 cents. [OMG Facts]