Smallest Man In The World

It is highly interesting to find out the smallest man in the world. Unlike people with normal height and weight, this individual is definitely much different especially in terms of lifestyle. Most often than not, people of such stature are suffering from certain medical conditions, which make their appearances different from that of others. In addition to these interesting details, it is also good to know certain facts about the world’s smallest man.

According to the annual reference book entitled “Guinness World Records,” theshortest man in the world today is Lin Yu-chih, who currently lives in Taipei, Taiwan. He has a recorded height of 2 feet and 2.58 inches or 67.5 centimeters. He works as a social activist and an author. Hosted by English comedian Mark Dolan, he was featured in the documentary show entitled “The World’s SmallestMan and Me,” which was shown in the British Channel 4 in May 2008.

Based on medical findings, Lin Yu-chih is suffering from a genetic bone disorder referred to as osteogenesis imperfecta. The disease hindered the normal growth of his bodily height and bones. Aside from his name, he is also known as Dominic DeMartini. He was credited for founding the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Association.

Aside from Lin-Yu-chih, other individuals claimed to be the world’s smallest man. One of them is He Pingping of China, who measures 2 feet and 5 inches or 73centimeters. He is considered by the Guinness World Records as the shortestman in the world who can walk. He hails from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which is also home to one of the tallest men in the world today, namely Bao Xishun, who stands 7 feet and 8.91 inches or 2.36 meters tall.

Another claimant to be the smallest man in the world is Khagendra Thapa Magar of Nepal. However, his Guinness World Records application was not included because he was only 14 years old during that time. When he turned 18 years old, he measured 56 centimeters or 22 inches high. His mother’s name is Dhana Maya, while his father’s name is Rup Bahadur. He and his family came from the Baglung District, which is part of the Dhawalagiri Zone in the country of Nepal. Villagers used to call him ‘little Buddha’ for his very short stature.

At birth, he only weighed 600 grams or 21 ounces. Nowadays, he is said to weigh as much as 5.5 kilograms or 12 pounds. Just like Lin-Yu-chih, he also appeared in the documentary entitled “The World’s Smallest Man and Me,” which aired in the British Channel 4 sometime in May 2008.

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Posted in: Interesting Peoples,Men,Smallest People

Geography and Geology of Norway

Norway comprises the western part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe. The rugged coastline, broken by huge fjords and thousands of islands, stretches 25,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) and 83,000 kilometres (52,000 mi) including fjords and islands. Norway shares a 1,619-kilometre (1,006 mi) land border with Sweden, 727 kilometres (452 mi) with Finland and 196 kilometres (122 mi) with Russia at the east. To the north, west and south, Norway is bordered by the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea and Skagerrak.

Norwegian lowland landscape near the Gaulosen branch of Trondheimsfjord.

Reine in Lofoten, Northern Norway.

At 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) (including Svalbard and Jan Mayen), (and 323,802 square kilometres (125,021 sq mi) without) much of the country is dominated by mountainous or high terrain, with a great variety of natural features caused by prehistoric glaciers and varied topography. The most noticeable of these are the fjords: deep grooves cut into the land flooded by the sea following the end of the Ice Age. The longest is Sognefjorden at 204 kilometres (127 mi). Sognefjorden is the world's second deepest fjord, and the world's longest. Hornindalsvatnet is the deepest lake in all Europe. Frozen ground all year can be found in the higher mountain areas and in the interior of Finnmark county. Numerous glaciers are found in Norway.

Norway lies between latitudes 57° and 81° N, and longitudes 4° and 32° E.

The land is mostly made of hard granite and gneiss rock, but slate, sandstone and limestone are also common, and the lowest elevations contain marine deposits. Because of the Gulf Stream and prevailing westerlies, Norway experiences higher temperatures and more precipitation than expected at such northern latitudes, especially along the coast. The mainland experiences four distinct seasons, with colder winters and less precipitation inland. The northernmost part has a mostly maritime Subarctic climate, while Svalbard has an Arctic tundra climate.

Because of the large latitudinal range of the country and the varied topography and climate, Norway has a larger number of different habitats than almost any other European country. There are approximately 60,000 species in Norway and adjacent waters (excluding bacteria and virus). The Norwegian Shelf large marine ecosystem is considered highly productive.

Climate of Norway

The southern and western parts of Norway experience more precipitation and have milder winters than the southeastern part. The lowlands around Oslo have the warmest and sunniest summers but also cold weather and snow in wintertime (especially inland).

Because of Norway's high latitude, there are large seasonal variations in daylight. From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in areas north of the Arctic Circle (hence Norway's description as the "Land of the Midnight Sun"), and the rest of the country experiences up to 20 hours of daylight per day. Conversely, from late November to late January, the sun never rises above the horizon in the north, and daylight hours are very short in the rest of the country.

Biodiversity of Norway

The total number of species include 16,000 species of insects (probably 4,000 more species yet to be described), 20,000 species of algae, 1,800 species of lichen, 1,050 species of mosses, 2,800 species of vascular plants, up to 7,000 species of fungi, 450 species of birds (250 species nesting in Norway), 90 species of mammals, 45 fresh-water species of fish, 150 salt-water species of fish, 1,000 species of fresh-water invertebrates and 3,500 species of salt-water inver About 40,000 of these species have been described by science. The red list of 2006 encompasses 3,886 species.

Seventeen species are listed mainly because they are endangered on a global scale, such as the European Beaver, even if the population in Norway is not seen as endangered. There are 430 species of fungi on the red list, many of these are closely associated with the small remaining areas of old-growth forests.^[47] There are also 90 species of birds on the list and 25 species of mammals. 1,988 current species are listed as endangered or vulnerable as of 2006; of these are 939 listed as vulnerable (VU), 734 species are listed as endangered (EN), and 285 species are listed as critically endangered (CR) in Norway, among these are the gray wolf, the arctic fox (healthy population on Svalbard) and the pool frog.

The largest predator in Norwegian waters is the sperm whale, and the largest fish is the basking shark. The largest predator on land is the polar bear, while the brown bear is the largest predator on the Norwegian mainland, where the common moose (also known as the "European Elk") is the largest animal.

Environment of Norway

Throughout Norway, one will find stunning and dramatic scenery and landscape. The west coast of southern Norway and the coast of northern Norway present some of the most visually impressive coastal sceneries in the world. National Geographic has listed the Norwegian fjords as the world's top tourist attraction. The 2008 Environmental Performance Index put Norway in second place, after Switzerland, based on the environmental performance of the country's policies

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Posted in: Geography

World's Heaviest Man Photos, Girlfriend and Death

Heaviest man Photo

World's Heaviest Man  Photo

World's Heaviest Man  Photo

World's Heaviest Man  Photo

World's Heaviest Man  Photo

World’s heaviest man Manuel Uribe WeddingSorry ladies, Mr. Big is finally out of the market.
The world's most obese man is getting hitched.
Manuel "Meme" Uribe says he will wed longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis on Oct. 26 in Monterrey, Mexico.
The two will be married in a civil ceremony at a location still to be decided.
Uribe is unable to walk, and leaving his house means being towed through the streets on his specially made bed.
This year the Guinness Book of World Records declared Uribe, who tipped the scales at 1,230 pounds in 2006, the world's heaviest man.
The 43-year-old has shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) since with the help of Solis.
The two met four years ago.
Uribe said Wednesday he will have a bite of wedding cake for photos, but won't eat any more because his diet prohibits it.
World’s heaviest man Manuel Uribe DeathThe world’s heaviest man Manuel Uribe Dies due to heart attack. He got Married few months ago and had him carried by a crane just to attend his wedding. He weighs about 570 kg and is not able to leave his bedroom since 2001. Uribe lost some weight with the help of his doctors and nutritionist by doing the Zone diet but his weight is the main cause of his

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Posted in: Men

Naked mole rat's genome 'blueprint' revealed

African Naked mole rat baby Photo

The industrious but unlovely naked mole rat is the latest creature to have its genome sequenced by scientists.

A genetic blueprint for this bizarre-looking rodent could help researchers understand why it is so long-lived.

Naked mole rats are also of interest to scientists because they appear to have some resistance to cancer.

A team from the University of Liverpool, UK, led the project and have made the "first draft" of the genome available online for other researchers.

Dr Joao Pedro Magalhaes, the Liverpool-based biologist who led the study, explained that he became interested in naked mole rats when he discovered how long they lived.

"Bigger animals tend to live longer, but the naked mole rat is an exception to that rule," he told BBC Nature.

"It can live over 30 years, which is very impressive for an animal that's smaller than a rat. Rats live for just four years."

Dr Magalhaes worked with researchers from Queen Mary, University of London, which is home to the UK's only naked mole rat colony.

The animals are native to the deserts of East Africa, where they dig their tunnels using their impressive teeth.

Unlike true rats, mole rats form a distinct group of rodents that are adapted to live underground.

Unique physical traits allow naked mole rats to survive in these harsh, underground environments for so many years. And the genetic secrets of those traits are contained in the mole rats' DNA.

Previous research has shown that the small wrinkled rodents have very little or no pain sensation in their skin and a low metabolic rate that allows them to live with limited oxygen.

The animals are also resistant to many diseases, particularly cancer.

Naked Mole Rat Picture

"I think that's the most interesting thing about them from a biomedical perspective," said Dr Magalhaes.

"To date, there have been no reported deaths of cancer, and there are [teams] around the world that have kept and studied naked mole rats for decades."

The gene sequencing technology the team employed used chemical scissors to snip out chunks of the long strands of DNA code that make up the animal's genome. This technique allows these shorter sections of code to be read and jigsawed back together into the complete genome.

Dr Chris Faulkes, who studies naked mole rats at Queen Mary, University of London, was keen to help with this project. The genome, he explained, was a valuable research tool.

"We're interested in how the animals evolved their amazing social behaviour," he told BBC Nature.

"They live in groups of up to 300 animals and each group has a [reproductively active] queen who can 'switch off' the reproduction in other animals."

These findings will allow Dr Faulkes and his team to find any features of the rats' brains that might drive these unusual social bonds and behaviour.

Dr Magalhaes says that the team now has a "blueprint" for the naked mole rat that will allow "much more sophisticated studies of the animals".

"You can start to look, for example, at the DNA repair systems in naked mole rats, and find out if they are different from mice, which have a much shorter lifespan," he said.

"It's a first step to uncovering the mysteries of this creature's remarkable longevity and its resistance to diseases."

The mole rats spend their entire lives underground

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Posted in: Animals

Severe drought in Horn of Africa

Some parts of the Horn of Africa have been hit by the worst drought in 60 years, the UN says.

More than 10 million people are thought to be affected across the region.

The UN now classifies large areas of Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya as a crisis or an emergency.

Charity Save the Children says drought and war in Somalia has led to unprecedented numbers fleeing across the border into Kenya, with about 1,300 people arriving every day.

Three camps at Dadaab, just inside Kenya, are home to well over 350,000 people, but they were built to hold just 90,000 and are severely overcrowded.

A prolonged failure of rains, which began in late 2010, is now taking its toll.

The UN's Office for the Co-Ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) warns that the situation is continuing to deteriorate, and the number of people in need will continue to increase.

The numbers now affected are huge, Ohca says: 3.2m in Ethiopia, 3.2m in Kenya, 2.6m in Somalia and more than 100,000 in Djibouti.

Every month during 2011, about 15,000 Somalis have fled their country, arriving in Kenya and Ethiopia, according to Ocha.

While conflict has been a fact of life for them for years, it is the drought that has brought them to breaking point. Many have walked for days, are exhausted, in poor health, desperate for food and water.

Hassain, Ali and Sareye are among the 390,000 Somalis to seek refuge in Kenya

Nearly one third of all children in the Juba region of Somalia are acutely malnourished, while in parts of Ethiopia the figure is even higher, the UN research says. Parts of Uganda are also suffering from the drought.

The UN refugee agency is dealing with the exodus.

A new refugee camp primarily for Somalis was opened at Kobe in Ethiopia last Friday, near an existing camp at Melkadida.

More than 3,500 refugees and their belongings were moved there over the weekend.

The UNHCR says this is the sixth camp for Somalis in Ethiopia, which is currently housing some 130,000 displaced people.

Food prices have risen substantially across the region, pushing many moderately poor households over the edge.

The price of grain in affected areas in Kenya is 30-80% above average.

The spokeswoman for Ocha, Elizabeth Byrs, said appeals for Somalia and Kenya, each about $525m (£328m), are barely 50% funded, while a $30m appeal for Djibouti has raised just 30% of the needed funds.

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Posted in: World News