MFS - Strange But True - People 14

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - People 14. 18 + Topic

Lolo Ferrari, born Eve Valois (February 9, 1963 – March 5, 2000) was the stage name of a French dancer, actress, and singer billed as "the woman with the largest breasts in the world" though their size was artificially achieved.

The Guinness Book of Records says each of her breasts weighed 2.8 kilograms (6.2 lb) and contained three litres of saline.She appeared in the French Guinness Book of World Records in 1996 and again in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999.Read more about her on MFS,with 2 videoclips.

MFS - Strange But True - Places 16

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Places 16.

The Great Mosque of Córdoba.

The (Great) Mezquita (of Córdoba or Cordova), now known as Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (English: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption) is a Roman Catholic Cathedral originally built as a Mosque on the place (and partly with materials) of what previously had been a Christian Visigothic Church in the Andalusian city of Córdoba, Spain. It is regarded as perhaps the most accomplished monument of the Umayyad dynasty of Córdoba. After the Spanish Reconquista, it was turned into a church, with a Gothic cathedral inserted into the center of the large Moorish building. Today the entire building is used to house the Cathedral of the diocese of Córdoba in Spain.Read more about it on MFS,with 2 videoclips one of them being a 45 minutes footage about the true origin of the church.

MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 14

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 14 .
The Sumatran Rhinoceros.
The Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is a member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It is the only extant species of the genus Dicerorhinus. It is the smallest rhinoceros, standing about 120–145 centimetres (3.9–4.8 ft) high at the shoulder, with a body length of 250 centimetres (98 in) and weight of 500–800 kilograms (1100–1760 lb). Like the African species, it has two horns; the larger is the nasal horn, typically 15–25 centimetres (6–10 in), while the other horn is typically a stub. A coat of reddish-brown hair covers most of the Sumatran Rhino's body.Read more about this animal on MFS,with 3 videoclips.

MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 19

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 19 .

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault a.k.a. Doomsday vault.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norwegian: Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The facility was established to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds from locations worldwide in an underground cavern. The seed vault holds duplicate samples, or "spare" copies, of seeds held in genebanks worldwide. The seed vault will provide insurance against the loss of seeds in genebanks, as well as a refuge for seeds in the case of large scale regional or global crises. The island of Spitsbergen is about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) from the North Pole. The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (also known as NordGen and previously named the Nordic Gene Bank, a cooperative effort of the Nordic countries under the Nordic Council of Ministers).
Read more about it on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But True People 14

............................A special for "Boobsquake"

Updated on MFS - Strange But True People 14.

Sheyla Hershey a.k.a. The woman with the Largest Implants. 18 + topic.
Sheyla Almeida Hershey (born December 19, 1979) is a Brazilian-born adult model and entertainer living in Houston, Texas. She is known for her extremely large breast implants. In May 2008, after 8 operations, she had a recorded breast size of 34FFF.The Brazilianversion of Guinness World Records awarded Sheyla Hershey with the record of the largest breast implants. Read and see more about her on MFS,with 2 videoclips.

MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 14

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 14.

The Nomura's jellyfish.
Nomura's Jellyfish (エチゼンクラゲ, echizen kurage?, Nemopilema nomurai) (for some time in the genus Stomolophus) was named in tribute to Mr. Kan'ichi Nomura (18??-19??), Director General of the Fukui Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, who in early December 1921 sent a specimen in a 72-litre wooden tank to Kishinouye, who found that it was unknown and spent some time at the station to study living specimens. It is a very large jellyfish, in the same size class as the lion's mane jellyfish, the largest cnidarian in the world. The diameter of one fully-grown is slightly greater than the height of an average fully grown man.

Growing up to 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) in diameter and weighing up to 300 kilograms (ca. 660 pounds), Nomura's Jellyfish reside primarily in the waters between China and Japan, primarily centralized in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.Read more about them on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 19

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 19.
The Turk a.k.a. the Mechanical Turk .
The Turk, the Mechanical Turk or Automaton Chess Player was a fake chess-playing machine constructed in the late 18th century. From 1770 until its destruction by fire in 1854, it was exhibited by various owners as an automaton, though it was explained in the early 1820s as an elaborate hoax. Constructed and unveiled in 1770 by Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734–1804) to impress the Empress Maria Theresa, the mechanism appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess against a human opponent, as well as perform the knight's tour, a puzzle that requires the player to move a knight to occupy every square of a chessboard exactly once.

The Turk was in fact a mechanical illusion that allowed a human chess master hiding inside to operate the machine. With a skilled operator, the Turk won most of the games played during its demonstrations around Europe and the Americas for nearly 84 years, playing and defeating many challengers including statesmen such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. Although many had suspected the hidden human operator, the hoax was initially revealed only in the 1820s by the Londoner Robert Willis.Read more about it on MFS,with 3 videoclips.

MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 13

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 13 .Gharial a.k.a. Indian Gavial

The gharial (Hindi : घऱियाल, Marathi : सुसर Susar) (Gavialis gangeticus), sometimes called the
Indian gavial or gavial, is one of two surviving members of the family Gavialidae, a long-established group of crocodile-like reptiles with long, narrow jaws. It is one of the three crocodilians found in India, the other being the Mugger crocodile and the Saltwater crocodile.
It is a critically endangered species. The gharial is one of the longest of all living crocodilians.

Ancestry


The fossil history of the Gavialoidea is quite well known, with the earliest examples diverging from the other crocodilians in the late Cretaceous. The most distinctive feature of the group is the very long, narrow snout, which is an adaptation to a diet of small fish. Although gharials have sacrificed the great mechanical strength of the robust skull and jaw that most crocodiles and alligators have, and in consequence cannot prey on large creatures, the reduced weight and water resistance of their lighter skull and very narrow jaw gives gharials the ability to catch rapidly moving fish, using a side-to-side snapping motion.Read more about this animal on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But True - Places 16

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Places 16 .

Fujian Tulou a.k.a. Earth castles.
Fujian Tulou (simplified Chinese: 福建土楼; pinyin: Fújiàn Tǔlóu) is "the most extraordinary type of Chinese rural dwellings" of the Hakka and others in the mountainous areas in southwestern Fujian, China. They are mostly built between the 12th to the 20th centuries.

A tulou is usually a large, enclosed and fortified earth building, rectangular or circular in configuration, with very thick load-bearing rammed earth walls between three and five stories high and housing up to 80 families. Smaller interior buildings are often enclosed by these huge peripheral walls which can contain halls, storehouses, wells and living areas, the whole structure resembling a small fortified city.
The fortified outer structures are formed by compacting earth, mixed with stone, bamboo, wood and other readily-available materials, to form walls up to six feet (≈2m) thick. Branches, strips of wood and bamboo chips are often laid in the wall as additional reinforcement. The end result is a well lit, well-ventilated, windproof and earthquake-proof building that is warm in winter and cool in summer.Tulous usually have only one main gate, guarded by 4-5 inch thick wooden doors reinforced with an outer shell of iron plate. The top level of these earth buildings has gun holes for defensive purposes.Read more about them on MFS,with 3 videoclips.

MFS - Strange But True - Places 15

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Places 15.
The Roza Bal .


Roza Bal is the name of a shrine located in the Khanyar district of Srinagar, in Kashmir, India, venerated by some Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. Some people identify the sage buried there with one Yuz Asaf, that is Jesus of Nazareth, whom they allege to have arrived in Kashmir after surviving his crucifixion.

The tomb itself consists of a low rectangular building on a raised platform, surrounded by railings at the front. It has three arches at the front, where entry can be had, and four arches at the side. Inside is a rock carving that is said to show feet bearing crucifixion wounds. The body is buried according to the Jewish tradition of directions and not according to rules of Islam.Read more about it on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But true - People 5

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - People 5 .

Wu Kang contender for The Smallest Man in the World 2010

He looks like a toddler taking part in a doctor's check-up.

But this little "boy" wearing a nine-month-old baby's clothes is actually a 22-year-old man about to take a huge step on the world stage.

Official medical records at Tong Ji Hospital in Wuhan, eastern China show that Wu Kang officially measures up at just 68cm tall, or just short of 2ft 3ins.

Wu Kang has applied to Guinness World Records to be formally recognised as the new holder of the world's shortest man title.

The title is currently held by fellow Chinese citizen He Pingping who is 74.61cm tall, more than two inches taller than Kang,but he died on the13th of March 2010 .
Read more about him on MFS.

MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 13

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 13.

The Goliath Frog.

The goliath frog, Conraua goliath is the largest extant anuran on Earth. It can grow up to 13 inches (33 cm) in length from snout to vent, and weighs up to 8 lb (3 kg). This animal has a relatively small habitat range, mainly in Cameroun and Equatorial Guinea. Its numbers are dwindling due to habitat destruction, its collection for consumption as food and its collection for the pet trade.
Read more about this giant on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 17

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 17 .

The Tsar Bomba.
Tsar Bomba (Russian: Царь-бомба), literally "Tsar-bomb", is the nickname for the AN602 hydrogen bomb — the largest, most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.
Developed by the Soviet Union, the bomb was originally designed to have a yield of about 100 megatons of TNT (420 PJ); however, the bomb yield was reduced to only 50 Megatons — one quarter of the estimated yield of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa — in order to reduce nuclear fallout. Only one bomb of this type was ever built and it was tested on October 30, 1961, in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
The remaining bomb casings are located at the Russian Atomic Weapon Museum, Sarov (Arzamas-16), and the Museum of Nuclear Weapons, All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics, Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk-70). Neither of these casings has the same antenna configuration as the actual device that was tested.
The Tsar Bomba is attributed with many names in literature: Project number – Project 7000; Product code – Product code 202 (Izdeliye 202); Article designations – RDS-220 (РДС-220), RDS-202 (РДС-202), RN202 (PH202), AN602 (AH602); Codename – Vanya; Nicknames – Big Ivan, Tsar Bomba. The term "Tsar Bomba" was coined in an analogy with two other massive Russian objects: the Tsar Kolokol, the world's largest bell, and the Tsar Pushka, the world's largest howitzer. Although the bomb was so named by Western sources, the name is now used in Russia as well.Read more about this destructive weapon on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But True - Places 15

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Places 15 .

The Ajanta Caves (Ajaṇṭā; Devanagari: अजंठा लेणी) in Maharashtra, India are 28 - 30 rock-cut cave monuments created during the first century BCE and 5th century AD, containing paintings and sculptures considered to be masterpieces of both Buddhist religious art and universal pictorial art.

The caves are located just outside the village of Ajinṭhā in Aurangabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra (N. lat. 20 deg. 30' by E. long. 75 deg. 40'). Since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The caves are traditionally numbered starting from the one closest to the village.
Read more about this amazing place on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 18

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 18.

Vasa (or Wasa) was a Swedish warship that was built from 1626 to 1628. The ship foundered and sank after sailing less than a nautical mile (ca 2 km) into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628. Vasa fell into obscurity after most of her valuable bronze cannons were salvaged in the 17th century. She was located again in the late 1950s, in a busy shipping lane just outside the Stockholm harbor. She was salvaged with a largely intact hull on 24 April 1961. She was housed in a temporary museum called Wasavarvet ("The Wasa Shipyard") until 1987, and was then moved to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. The ship is one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions and, as of 2007, has attracted more than 25 million visitors.

Vasa was built top-heavy and had insufficient ballast. Despite an obvious lack of stability in port, she was allowed to set sail and foundered a few minutes later when she first encountered a wind stronger than a breeze. The impulsive move to set sail resulted from a combination of factors. Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, who was abroad on the date of her maiden voyage, was impatient to see Vasa join the Baltic fleet in the Thirty Years' War. At the same time, the king's subordinates lacked the political courage to discuss the ship's structural problems frankly or to have the maiden voyage postponed. An inquiry was organized by the privy council to find someone responsible for the disaster, but no sentences were handed out.

Read more about this ship on MFS,with 5 videoclips.

Picture: The Vasa scale model picture by Peter Isotalo.

MFS - The Other News

Here's a short compilation of this weeks Other News:

Polish President Lech Kaczynski dies in plane crash(Video).The president was flying in a Tupolev 154?

4,000 Inmates Died in Russian Prisons in 2009.2 square meters per person?

Behind France's Islamic veil "To me, the full veil, the covered face, it's a woman in a portable coffin."Andre Gerin.

British charity worker recovers from car crash in Romania,to speak with ROMANIAN accent.A "crash" language course?

Woman dies as tyre explodes in freak accident.Escapes a road bomb but gets killed by a spare tire?

Sandra Bullock prenuptials : You'll get zip if you cheat on me!Whoopi Goldberg:"I did it five or six times... "?

Palestinian women outraged over Turkish TV series.Maybe the producers confused it with the Armenian genocide?

Cannibal trial halted of girl, 16, who was 'eaten with potatoes'.Does Russia carry the death penalty?

Workers strike over ban on drinking at work.Drivers retained an old right to three beers per day?

Woman Mutilates Rapist’s Reproductive Organ."The woman clenched her teeth on his genitals"?

This week on The Other News 28 - 29 and there are so many more "Other News" stories , pics and video's there to discover.

MFS - Strange But True -Things / Other 17

Updated on MFS - Strange But True -Things / Other 17 .

The Hōnen Matsuri a.k.a.Japanese penis festival
The Hōnen festival at Tagata shrine is one of the most famous (or infamous?) festivals in Japan.
Amongst foreigners visiting Aichi Prefecture it is frequently referred to as the "penis shrine", or "Japanese penis festival", primarily due to the ancient Hounen Matsuri (a festival celebrating fertility and renewal), which is held every March 15th.
Tagata Jinja is believed to be about 1500 years old, due to discoveries in 1935 of an ancient sword and extensive pottery fragments. These days the shrine is surrounded by suburbia, but until recently it was surrounded by a forest called "Agata", a name believed to have derived from the name of one of the rulers of the local area during the end of the Yamato period (approx 3rd-5th century AD). These rulers were warriors who settled the area from Nara as the emerging feudal Japanese state defeated and displaced indigenous Ainu tribes and pushed its frontiers to the east. According to the official history of the shrine, the daughter of the feudal lord was called Tamahime, and was bethrothed to Takeinadane. The tradition holds that Takeinadane was killed in a distant battle and that his wife and children (and powerful father in law) developed the area. Tagata Jinja stands on the site of Tamahime's residence, and she is the principal deity (called kami in Japanese) enshrined there.Read more about this festival on MFS,with 2 videoclips.

MFS - Strange But True - Creatures/Animals 13

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Creatures/Animals 13 .

The Gee's Golden Langur.

Gee's Golden Langur (Trachypithecus geei), or simply the Golden Langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of western Assam, India and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan. It is one of the most endangered primate species of India.Long considered sacred by many Himalayan peoples, the Golden Langur was first brought to the attention of science by the naturalist E. P. Gee in the 1950s.
The Golden Langur is known for its rich golden to bright creamish hair, a black face and a very long tail measuring up to 50 centimetres (20 in) in length. For the most part, the langur is confined to high trees where its long tail serves as a balancer when it leaps across branches. During the rainy season it obtains water from dew and rain drenched leaves. Its diet is herbivorous, consisting of ripe and unripe fruits, mature and young leaves, seeds, buds and flowers.Read more about this beautiful animal on MFS.

MFS - Strange But True - Places 15

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Places 15.

Skellig Michael a.k.a. St Michael's rock.

Skellig Michael (from Sceilig Mhichíl in the Irish language, meaning Michael's rock), also known as Great Skellig, is a steep rocky island in the Atlantic Ocean about 9 miles (15 kilometres) from the coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It is the larger of the two Skellig Islands. After probably being founded in the 7th century, for 600 years the island was a centre of monastic life for Irish Christian monks. The Celtic monastery, which is situated almost at the summit of the 230-metre-high rock became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. It is one of Europe's better known but least accessible monasteries.
Since the extreme remoteness of Skellig Michael has until recently discouraged visitors, the site is exceptionally well preserved. The very spartan conditions inside the monastery illustrate the ascetic lifestyle practiced by early Irish Christians. The monks lived in stone 'beehive' huts (clochans), perched above nearly vertical cliff walls.
Read more about this place on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 17

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Things / Other 17 .

The Al-Jazari Elephant clock.
The elephant clock was a medieval Muslim invention by al-Jazari (1136–1206), consisting of a weight powered water clock in the form of an elephant. The various elements of the clock are in the housing on top of the elephant. They were designed to move and make a sound each half hour.
A modern full-size working reproduction can be found as a centrepiece in the Ibn Battuta Mall, a shopping mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Another working reproduction can be seen outside the Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts, in Le Locle, Switzerland.

In addition to its mechanical innovations, the clock itself is seen as an early example of multiculturalism represented in technology. The elephant represents the Indian and African cultures, the dragon represents Chinese culture, the phoenix represents ancient Egyptian culture, the water work represents ancient Greek culture, and the turban represents Islamic culture.Read more about it on MFS,with 1 videoclip.

MFS - Strange But True - People 5

Updated on MFS - Strange But True 5 .
Aditya 'Romeo' Dev a.k.a.The smallest bodybuilder in the World
Aditya 'Romeo' Dev is a body builder with dwarfism made famous by being reported in the UK press in February 2008. Romeo can shoulder press custom made 1.5kg dumbbells, a notable feat given his 9kg (20 lbs.) body weight and 84cm (2' 9") stature. Although it has not been published in a Guinness World Records book, in 2006 they recognized him to be the "world's smallest bodybuilder".
Unlike many dwarfs, Romeo is well proportioned, having a head of 38cm (15 inches) and a chest of 51cm (20 inches). He maintains his figure by putting in long hours with his trainer Ranjeet Pal. Romeo enjoys great fame in his home country and makes many appearances on local television to show off his dancing abilities. In addition to bodybuilding, Romeo's dream is to travel extensively as an entertainer and dancer. One day he hopes to perform in London with his idol Jazzy B. Read more about him on MFS,with 1videoclip.

MFS - The Many faces Of Spaces

Have a Happy Easter

MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 13

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / Animals 13 .

The Bowmouth guitarfish a.k.a. The Shark Ray
The bowmouth guitarfish, mud skate, or shark ray, Rhina ancylostoma (sometimes misgendered ancylostomus), is a species of ray related to guitarfishes and skates, and the sole member of the family Rhinidae. It is found widely in the tropical coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific region, at depths of up to 90 m (300 ft). Highly distinctive in appearance, the bowmouth guitarfish has a wide, thick body with a blunt snout and large, shark-like dorsal and tail fins. The line of its mouth is strongly undulating, and there are multiple thorny ridges over its head and back. It has dorsal color pattern of many white spots over a bluish gray to brown background, with a pair of prominent markings over the pectoral fins. This large species can grow to 2.7 m (8.9 ft) long and 135 kg (300 lb).Read more about it on MFS,with 1 videoclip.