Top 10 Strange Fruits Around The World

Weird things exit both in nature and fiction all the time, such as the existence of weird toys, complicated strange accidents that shouldn’t have happened etc. When you get the chance to visit any tropical or exotic location around the world, you should also explore what the territory holds to its body, there are many places in the world that are home to some unusual fruits, as shall now be discussed. Prepare to be amazed.




10. Passion Fruit

This fruit is native to South America; it is also grown in green houses to boost its flavor. It is usually found bright red in color but variations can exist, such as in India you might also get to see them half green and half red and quite bulky in size. It is used in juices to add the extra flavor. There are two types to know about, one is the poisonous sibling and the other as passionate as its name. How natural is that!



9. Star fruit aka Carambola

This fruit lives in Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka, it loves to imitate a star, it feels extremely cuddly when squeezed and it’s very juicy when put under stress. Yes guys, this is a really remarkable edible thing. It has been used in making wafers, biscuit creams, and certain pizza sauces and has lots of other uses. It’s similar in taste to a juicy pear only a lot sweeter.



8. Mangosteen

Mangosteen sounds like a villain from outer space; the only difference is that it lives on our planet Earth. It can be found in Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. The look of this fruit resembles an ostrich’s egg laying site. The seeds are shiny white with a peachy pulpy enclosing that is extra creamy and full of rumored antioxidants which many scientists believe can help reduce various deadly diseases. A must have if you are diabetic.



7. Durian aka The King of fruits

Why would anybody even attempt to eat something if it smells as a sweaty old sock? Yes this Durian fruit which grows in abundance in Malaysia and Brunei has a very bad reputation; it’s even banned in hotels and certain shops. It tastes simply bad, but considering its figure, the hard shell around the fruit, it’s worth giving it a try. That’s why the lozenges are for!



6. Dragon Fruit

This fruit has many uses once taken off the branch, it is the sweet pitaya commonly known as the dragon fruit and it’s grown in Mexico. This weighs anywhere between 120 to 500 grams. As you can see in the photo, it’s very fiery looking and surprisingly sweet. The flower can be eaten raw or used in making tea. You can find one around the country on a special kind of cactus plant. It’s definitely worth the look.



5. African cucumber aka Kiwano

This is no ordinary cucumber, it the usual cucumber’s African cousin. Just look at the insides and you will know. The spikes around the outer thick skin gives it an angry look, probably it’s an attraction for the spiky species that live on and in the desert sand. This fruit is rich in water and tastes just like the ordinary cucumber except it’s more salty. It is frequently used in decorating food because of its spiky banana like look.



4. Ackee

This is Jamaica’s national fruit. The seeds of this fruit were bought from West Africa into Jamaica on a rumored slave ship and from then on this has become the delicacy around the Caribbean. To eat this fruit, one has to remove the black tops and cut open the fleshy yellow arils, because the reddish region in between is very toxic. Ackee you are very tricky!



3. Buddha’s Hand

Oh yeah I was scared too when I looked at it first, but didn’t feel a thing when I swallowed it, it just tastes like a lemon. It is called as such because of its shape, it resembles a tightened octopus. It is found in China and India. It is used to flavor fish and eaten raw with spices when mixed with salad. It is also used by the Chinese as a perfume around the house and in cupboards to keep out the smell.



2. Tamarillo

This is known as the popular sibling of the regular tomato we use every day, its paler and burnt in color, with distinctively shaped seeds in the middle when you slice it in half. This fruit grows in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia and tastes similar to the Passion fruit. It is used in making juices and in certain areas of Bolivia it is used in cooking, especially to prepare the sauce. In the industry it is used as a strong preservative because the fruit contains a high amount of pectin.



1. Custard Apple

Some people refer to this as the bull’s heart, but I don’t think it deserves that, it’s more like a rugged brother of the common apple, a somewhat mutated sibling. It grows in Taiwan, India and Africa and in other tropical forests around the world. It tastes sweet and lovely, similar to the flavor of custard, hence the name.





Source

READ MORE»

Top 10 Modern Engineering Marvels

Mega structures are nowadays commonly seen almost everywhere in the world. Because of the advancement of technology and the improvement of machinery, tall sky scrapers and many other infrastructures are already made possible. Ten engineering marvels of engineers are as follows.



10. Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge

The bridge was inaugurated on 30th of June in 2011. The Span of bridge is 260 feet with a basement of 2000 pillars carry the longest bridge with the help of steel cables. Almost 10,000 workers built this bridge and completed this mega project. The length of the Bridge is 540,700 ft. (102 miles). This bridge passes over the water and crosses Yang Cheeng Lake having a length of 6 miles. Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge is the part of Jinghu railroad, which is 819 miles long. The interesting thing is that the two largest bridges suppressed by this Grand Bridge are also of China. So, China is the country having 3 largest bridges in the world. The bridge also consists over 450,000 tons of steel structure, which explains the high number of workers involved.



9. Millau Viaduct Bridge

Bridges are normally considered to be the engineer’s area of expertise rather than the architect’s. But the architecture of infrastructure has a powerful impact on environment. The Millau Viaduct, designed in collaboration with engineers, illustrates how the architect can play an integral role in bridge design. This bridge is located in Southern France; the bridge connects the motorway from Paris to Barcelona crossing the River Tarn, which runs through a wide gap between two plateaus. A reading of the geography suggested two possible approaches: to cross the river, the geological generator of the landscape; or there was the challenge of distance of the 2.5 kilometers from one plateau to the other.

The bridge has the best possible span between cable-stayed columns. It is delicate, transparent, and uses the minimum material, which makes it less costly to construct. Each of its sections spans 350 meters and its columns range in height from 75 meters to 235 meters and is higher than the Eiffel Tower. This is further 90 meters above the road deck. To accommodate the expansion and contraction of the concrete deck, each column splits into two thinner, more flexible columns below the roadway, forming an A-frame above deck level. This structure creates a dramatic figure and crucially it makes the minimum intervention in the landscape.



8. Three Gorges Dam

The Three Gorges dam is the china’s massive hydro-engineering ambition which faces “urgent problems, in spite of the fact, the state council said the dam had pressing geological, human and ecological problems. It was identified in the report that the Gorges Dam had a dreadful impact on downstream river transport and water supplies. Since the start of construction in 1992 about 16m tons of concrete have been poured into the giant barrier across the Yangtze River, creating a reservoir that stretches almost the length of Britain and drives 26 giant turbines which generates electricity.

The world’s biggest hydro-power plant boasts a total generating capacity of 18,200 MW and the ability to help domestic to deal with floods that threaten the Yangtze delta each summer.

But it has proved expensive and controversial due to the re-housing of 1.4 million people and the flooding of more than 1,000 towns and villages. Pollution, buildup and landslides have plagued the reservoir area. Given the £24bn cost and political prestige at stake, the government takes care for many years on the dam’s achievements.



7. The Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider is one of the greatest marvels of modern technology. The fundamental quest of the human spirit enables us to build an incredible über-accelerator to explore the very nature of reality. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a colossal scientific instrument near Geneva, spans between Switzerland and France. It is about 100 meters underground. It was developed to boost the study of smallest known particles by a gigantic tool that accelerates them. It will revolutionize our understanding, from the diminutive knowledge of world within atoms. Two beams of subatomic particles called “Hadrons” either protons or lead ions, travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator, gaining energy with every lap. Physicists use the LHC to recreate the conditions by colliding the two beams head-on at very high energy. Teams of physicists from around the world analyze the particles created in the collisions using special detectors in a number of experiments dedicated to the LHC.

Many studies about particle physics and fundamental laws of nature have served the science for years but the whole story is still not exposed. Large Hadrons Collider discloses further knowledge of particles from experimental data through high energies that reaches these small particles under study, challenging those who seek confirmation of established knowledge.



6. Pan-STARRS

Pan-STARRS is an acronym for Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System. It is an innovative design for a wide-field imaging facility developed at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy. In order to observe entire available sky, the engineers combined relatively small collection of mirrors with a large digital camera consequently produced an economical observing system. The prototype single-mirror telescope PS1 is now operational on Mount Haleakala; scientific research program is being undertaken by the PS1 Science Consortium, a collaboration between ten research organizations in four countries. A key objective of Pan-STARRS is to identify and characterize Earth-approaching objects, both asteroids & comets that might create a danger to our planet. It’s also ideal for research in several other astronomical areas, particularly those which involve an aspect of time inconsistency. Pan-STARRS make it to see the Objects in the Inner Solar System and it is also capable to see the object outer the Solar System and now we can see Galaxy properties better than ever before.



5. Langeled Pipeline

The Langeled Pipeline is the longest underwater pipeline, measuring 746 miles (1,200 km) long from Norway to the U.K. Costing 10 million USD to develop. It was constructed for Norwegian Hydro to carry 70 million cubic yards (45 million m3) of gas to heat homes in the United Kingdom. The Langeled project will provide 20 percent of overall gas supple to United Kingdom. Lead by Ormen Lange, the project was completed in 2006; nine years after Norwegian Hydro first discovered an oil field 2,953 feet (900 m) below the earth’s surface in the sea. A total of 3,000 workers involved in the construction of this pipeline under the sea using special equipment.



4. Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam is situated in Hill area known as Black Canyon between Arizona and Nevada, around thirty miles from Las Vegas, at the bottom of Lake Mead. During the Great recession, as jobs were not available, thousands of men and their families came to Black Canyon to build the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam makes Arizona an inspiring sightseeing. The project of Hoover Dam designed to change Colorado River into a hydroelectric power source for the region’s growing populace and continuous water supply to the rest of Area. Before the dam was built, the Colorado River flowed freely through Black Canyon. Today, the entire area is changed into the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Construction of the dam began in 1931 and completed by 1936, two years later than schedule. Initially it was given a name as Boulder Dam, but it was afterward renamed after President Herbert Hoover, who had been one of the original proponents of the project. American Society of Civil Engineers declares this dam of America’s Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders, and it also stands as a National Historic Landmark.



3. Aircraft Carrier USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH (CVN-77)

USS George H. W. Bush, its Construction began in 2001 at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard and was completed in 2009 at a cost of $6.2 billion. She is home ported at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. USS George H. W. Bush stretches 1,092 feet and displaces over 100,000 tons, making her one of the world’s largest warships (though she is slightly shorter than USS Enterprise) but equipped with latest technology which was not used before. Her top speed exceeds more than 30 knots and it is powered with two nuclear reactors, she can operate for more than 20 years without refueling.



2. Floating Green Echo Cities

Lilypad Project is the most amazing green wonders and certainly the extreme from being built but, it is an amazing concept. The idea is to create several floating independent maritime eco-city islands. Each one would be able to provide accommodation to more than 50,000 residents and would support a great deal of biodiversity. It has collecting pools at its centers which assembles water and filter it for use. Two applications of solar type are used. The first one is a semi-transparent solar window is used, facing the open-air, inner vortex; and the second is a glass with a printed array of solar cells spaced to create partial shading, used as a solar roof material. In addition, when the structure is anchor and as thrusters for force when Gyre is under way underwater nacelle’s function both as tidal producer. The structure manages undersea pressures and reduces stress due to its shape. Rainwater is harvested in the inner vortex and gravity fed to the water purification system at the base of the Gyre. Mechanical systems and emergency freshwater storage is the deepest portion of the structure.



1. Pearl Bridge


Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is the longest suspension bridge between Maiko in Tarumi Ward and Kobe City with Matsuho in the northern part of Awaji Island with a length of 3,911 meters and a central span of 1,991 meters. It is a part of the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, running from Nishi Ward in Kobe Cityand crossing the Akashi Strait, Awaji Island, and Naruto Strait all the way to Naruto City in Tokushima Prefecture. At nighttime, the lights decorating the cables of the bridge tower shine brightly in the color of the rainbow at every hour and in the color of respective birthstones every half an hour. Because of its captivating appearance that looks like pearls strung together, this bridge is also called the “Pearl Bridge.”






Source

READ MORE»

Top 10 Sexiest Weather Girls

They deliver such an important information, it’s a matter of life and death, you for example are going to work in the morning and you switch on your kitchen TV to get the weather update and there it is, you get ALL the necessary details and decals, a gust of wind can kill you on your way to work, thank the lord that the weather girl saved you from having a disaster. In short they are as important as having a Swiss knife in your pocket just in case. We have done some research and came up with these women who have either saved lives of many businessmen or have changed their schedules altogether



10. Mayte Carranco from Mexico – works for the MTY Television

I am sorry but the picture tells it all. The weather forecast gets better every time Mayte wears a new slim fit jeans or comes on screen with a knot bra faintly visible under the battling tight shirt. Some Mexicans are gracefully energetic and they prefer to widen their perspective by working as a model, for the TV, for variety of magazines and for some shows as the sexy presenter. All it requires is good looks and a sexy voice.



9. Sugey Abrego from Mexico – works for Matutino Express

Bear with me guys, it’s one of those moments when you think of pornography and you don’t just get enough of it. Sugey Abrego is a bombshell in a biscuit, ready to be plucked and taken for a ride. She has a very tempting voice and is famous for wearing all sorts of brands or should I say revealing clothes on the weather channel. Even if you mute the channel you still get all the fun out of it. Thankfully enough my afternoon is red hot and safe.



8. Jackie Guerrido from Puerto Rico – works for Despierta America and Primer Impacto


So now we shift a continent, this one is from United States of America, just in case you don’t know what it means. Jackie sounds like a doll, that’s right she is cute doll and she is one hell of a looker. She has modeled for commercials, magazines and numerous bikini beach photo-shoots. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she is a weather anchor and a journalist and ….….she is married to Don Omar, the rapper



7. Angie Gonzalez from Mexico

“I wish you a happy Christmas, and here’s the weather forecast” This is a sentence delivered by a bombshell that’s capable of sending you back to bed with a kick. But she is just as appealing on TV as in real life. She models for Mexican magazines and also does football commercials. From the moment the forecast pops up, the entire canteen area is wiped clean, it has become a show not for weather information but for strip club sort of fun at home or anyone with a suitable TV.



6. Elita Loresca from USA – worked for KGETV

Although Miss Elita ranks on the 6th, she isn’t a looker; she isn’t what you can call a slow bullet. She is a wannabe mother of two. This is what I would call Kim Kardashian if she ever decided to put on extra fat, all would still look natural. Elita worked for KGET-TV which is the NBC affiliate in Bakersfield, USA. These days she shows off what still remain her prime assets and her incredible tapering body and reviews are getting favorable day by day. People flock the weather channel more than the Los Angeles News Network on Channel 4. She plays basketball regularly to keep up in shape for the weather.



5. Alejandra Stephany Lopez form Mexico

People were like “Weather, What weather!?” and “She is the one who will bring peace to all of Mexico”. Now I know why all that is true. Put her in any TV show and that show sure will get uncontrollable hits. For a reason she has kept her secrets and responsibilities behind the closed curtain, you won’t find much on her on the internet. All we know is that she likes brands, hot coffee, hot weather, the Mexican beaches and an oily cream bath while on vacation. Too bad she does the local weather only.



4. Gaal Nomeni from Hungary

She works for the Hungarian Weather channel. Well this is much obvious but we still don’t know how she manages her hectic work schedule. She attends yoga classes, does a mile jog in the morning, and prefers vegetables over meat. She does modeling as well and then she somehow manages to work for the TV. Clever multi-tasking and a busy week, for guys and all other dudes working for the weather channel, here comes the truth, SHE IS STILL SINGLE!



3. Gabriela Grechi from Italy

Oh yeah, Italy is where I was born, I wasn’t born there but I kind of feel so close to the country and especially women. Born on November 15, 1976 in Milan, she speaks fluent English. She is a well-known media personality where she has performed in advertisements, in athletic programs and as a presenter for other shows. She has never modeled; which suggests that she knows her grounds and limits. Thanks to YouTube, she now is watched in glory all over the globe.



2. Jill Nicolini from USA works for WNYW – Fox 5

Jill Nicolini is a FOX and has been designated for three Emmy Awards and has received numerous honors from the NJ State PBA, Italian American Police Society, East Hanover Italian American Society, John Theissen Children’s Foundation, The National Council of Columbia Associations of Civil Service, Suffolk Community College Broadcasters Association and Autism Speaks.

Enough already!

We are not here to see what she achieved; we want to give you what she came to the world with. I mean not all American women are so competitive, organized and that HOT. Besides this, she storms the channel and interviews, like a blizzard. She is so much in demand on the weather channel that it’s been a long time the channel hasn’t found a replacement. Her goodies still have 5 more years in them. That’s something to live with.



1. Maria Quiban from Hawaii works for NBC Hawaii News 8

Don’t be fooled her real name is Maria T. Aviso, and she is known to us as Maria Quiban, but that doesn’t matter as long as we stare into the clouds and white snow. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Hawaii. She does various television shows and also acts in films as a news reporter, prominent films include Bruce Almighty and Criminal minds. Nowadays she couches young mothers about how can they live a happy life. She has two kids of her own, a sexy mother and to be honest it’s not all the makeup she gets, that so good looking, in fact she IS a beautiful mother.




Source

READ MORE»

Two Wonders of Bohol Island

1. Chocolate Hills
The Chocolate Hills are an unusual geological formation in Bohol,Philippines. According to the latest accurate survey done, there are 1,776 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres (20 sq mi). They are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season, hence the name.




Chocolate Hills, Philippines

During the dry season, the grass-covered hills dry up and turn chocolate brown. This transforms the area into seemingly endless rows of "chocolate kisses".


Hills during the dry season

Grass species found to thrive on the hills are Imperata cylindrical and Saccharum spontaneum and several Compositae and ferns. Trees grow on the base of the hills and are lush and verdant rings around the almost bare cone-shaped hills resulting in its awesome natural beauty.


Road through the chocolate hills

The Chocolate Hills is a rolling terrain of haycock hills – mounds of general shape which are conical and almost symmetrical. Estimated to be at least 1,268 individual mounds to about 1,776, these cone-shaped or dome-shaped hills are actually made of grass-covered limestone.



The domes vary in sizes from 30 to 50 metres (98 to 160 ft) high with the largest being 120 metres (390 ft) in height. Bohol's "main attraction," these unique mound-shaped hills are scattered by the hundreds throughout the towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan in Bohol.


Aerial photo of hills

The most acceptable geological theory of the hills is that the hills were the result of thousands of years of weathering of marine limestone. Others say that the hills were formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits or that they erupted from the sea in a massive geologic shift, and the action of rain water and erosion for the past thousand years put in the finishing touches.




2. Bohol's Tarsier
The Philippine tarsier, (Tarsius syrichta) is very peculiar small animal. In fact it is one of the smallest known primates, no larger than a adult men's hand. Mostly active at night, it lives on a diet of insects. Folk traditions sometimes has it that tarsiers eat charcoal, but actually they retrieve the insects from (sometimes burned) wood. It can be found in the islands of Samar, Leyte, Bohol, and Mindanao in the Philippines.


Bohol's tarsier


A mother and child Tarsier

If no action is taken, the tarsier might not survive. Although it is a protected species, and the practice of catching them and then selling them as stuffed tarsiers to tourists has stopped, the species is still threatened by the destruction of his natural forest habitat. Many years of both legal and illegal logging and slash-and-burn agriculture have greatly reduced these forests, and reduced the tarsier population to a dangerously small size. If no action is taken now, the Philippine tarsier can soon be added to the list of extinct species.



"The world's smallest monkey" is an often heard slogan. However, it is not a monkey. In truth, its classification is somewhat problematic. Some scientists consider tarsiers to be a taxonomic suborder among the primates. While, because they are closely related to lemurs, lorises and bushbabies, others classify them with the prosimians to which these animals belong.




Sleepiness

As of toe-to-head, the tarsiers determine merely around 8 – 16 cm. That is merely about the dimension of a telephone. In spite of its mass, tarsiers can perform astonishing things similar to providing their heads a spin of almost 180 degree, as well as jump to a stature of 16 ft! Locals mention Tarsiers as Maomag. Moreover the various other appealing features of Tarsiers take account of a tail that is similar to a rat and moreover has an extent longer when compared with its body. It as well has ears, which bear a resemblance to the ears of the bat as well as the way by which a tarsier can travel in competition of one another.


Afternoon rest

Tarsiers live in the Tarsier Sanctuary. The Tarsier Sanctuary is an extensive 134 hectares of the forested terra firma. In addition the Tarsier Sanctuary is placed in the midst of the townships of Sicatuna as well as Corella located in Bohol.Tarsier Sanctuary frequented by tourists.




Source

READ MORE»

30 Photos of Natural Hazards

From violent volcanoes to horrifying hurricanes, Mother Nature’s fury is a sight to behold. With so much human conflict and suffering, we often underestimate the awesome and destructive power of nature. While the science behind these events is utterly fascinating, the consequences can be dire and we must respect the power of the planet we live in. Here are 30 chilling reminders of nature’s fury:





Supercell Thunderstorm in Montana



2. Chaiten Volcano – Chana, Chile (May 2008)




3. Forest Fire – Dolginino, Russia (Aug. 2010)




4. Undersea Volcano – Coast of Tonga (March 2009)




5. Kliuchevskoi Volcano – (Russia Sept. 1994)




6. Double Cyclone – Iceland (Nov. 2006)




7. Flooding (from Typhoon ‘Ketsana’) – Manila, Phillippines (Sept. 2009)




8. Tornado – Oklahoma, United States (May 2010)




9. Hurricane Felix – Honduras (Sept. 2007)



10. Lightning Strike – New York City (2010)




11. Mt. Saint Helens Volcano – Washington, United States (May 1980)





12. Flooding – Cedar Rapids, Iowa (June 2008)




13. Mount Merapi Volcano – Indonesia (Nov 2010)




14. Chaiten Volcano – Chana, Chile (May 2008)




15. Dust Storm – China (April 2001)




16. Mt. Saint Helens Volcano – Washington, United States (Aug. 1980)




17. Lightning Storm – Roswell, New Mexico (July 2010)




18. Brush Fires – Sylmar, California (Sept. 2009)




19. Eyjafjallajokull Volcano – Iceland (April 2010)




20. Flooding (Tropical Storm Agatha) – Guatemala (May 2010)





21. Undersea Volcano – Tonga (March 2009)




22. Wildfires – California (Sept. 2009)




23. Dust Storm – Australia (Sept. 2009)




24. Flooding – Iowa, United States (June 2008)




25. Mt. Etna Volcano – Sicily, Italy (Oct. 2002)




26. Eyjafjallajokull Volcano – Iceland (April 2010)




27. Brushfires – Victoria, Australia (Feb 2009)





28. Tornado – Iowa, United States (June 2008)




29. Chaiten Volcano – Chana, Chile (May 2008)




30. Storm Clouds – South Dakota, United States (2009)




Source
READ MORE»