2011 February

Archive for February, 2011

1960 Valdivia Earthquake, the Biggest Earthquake Ever Recorded

February 25th, 2011 by admin | 8 Comments | Filed in natural phenomenon, world record

The 1960 Valdivia earthquake, also known as the Great Chilean earthquake, is the biggest earthquake ever recorded in history. It measured 9.5 in the Richter magnitude scale. It struck in the afternoon and the tsunami that it created affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

Valdivia after the biggest earthquake ever recorded. Image via

Although the epicenter was near Cañete, Valdivia was the most affected city. Hence it was called the Valdivia Earthquake. This earthquake was preceded by four foreshocks bigger than magnitude 7.0, including a magnitude 7.9 on May 21 that caused severe damage in the Concepcion area. Many aftershocks occurred, with 5 of magnitude 7.0 or greater through November 1st of that year.

Aftermath of the biggest Earthquake in history. Image via

The local tsunami it created has waves up to 25 metres. It severely detroyed the Chilean coast. The main tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean and devastated Hilo, Hawaii. Waves as high as 10.7 metres were recorded 10,000 kilometres from the epicenter, and as far away as Japan and the Philippines.

The Valdivia earthquake tsunami travel time (in hours). Image via

Though the actual loss of lives was not known, some estimates 1,655 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile. The tsunami caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii, 138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan, 32 dead and missing in the Philippines and $500,000 damage to the west coast of the United States.

Muggsy Bogues, Shortest Player to Play in the NBA

February 23rd, 2011 by admin | 12 Comments | Filed in people, sports

Born Tyrone Curtis Bogues on January 9, 1965 in Baltimore, Maryland, Muggsy Bogues is the shortest player to ever play in the NBA. He was just 5 feet and 3 inches and played as point guard for four teams (Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors), from 1987–2001.

Muggsy Bogues guarding Michael Jordan and Shawn Bradley. Image via

Bogues is best known for his involvement with the Charlotte Hornets, where he established himself as an exceptional passer, a great ball-stealer, and one of the fastest on court. After the NBA, he become the head coach of the Charlotte Sting of the WNBA.

Muggsy Bogues in Charlotte Hornet Jersey. Image via

Bogues first played for Washington Bullets when he was drafted twelfth overall in the 1987 NBA Draft. In his rookie year, he was a teammate of Manute Bol who, at 7 feet 7 inches (231 cm) tall, was the tallest NBA player that time. The odd combination landed them to three magazine covers together.

Manute Bol and Muggsy Bogues in one of their magazine cover shot. Image via

Despite his height, Bogues managed to block 39 shots throughout his NBA span, the most famous of which was when he block a shot from Patrick Ewing. His autobiography, In the Land of Giants, chronicled his struggles of growing up in Baltimore and achieving success in the NBA.

See Bogues in this short video.

Amazing Captures Using High-Speed Photography

February 22nd, 2011 by admin | Comments Off | Filed in art

Check out this amazing pictures using high-speed photography. This technique is the science of taking pictures of very fast phenomena. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers defined it as any set of photographs captured by a camera capable of 128 frames per second or greater.

Arrowed Egg. Image via

Droplets of Coffe. Image via

Droplets of Milk. Image via

Water from Bursting Ballon. Image via

Droplets of Water. Image via

Coffe Blown out of Straw. Image via

Emperor Scorpion, Biggest Scorpion Species in the World

February 21st, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment | Filed in animal

With an average length of 8 inches (20 cm), the Emperor scorpion is the biggest scorpion species in the world. This native to Africa can live from 5–8 years when held in captivity, but is likely shorter in the wild.

Black Emperor scorpion with youngs on it’s back. Image via

Like all scorpions, Emperors carry their young on their back. In the wild, they feed primarily on termites. In captivity they readily feed on crickets, cockroaches, and mealworms. They are also known to eat small mice and lizards.

Emperor Scorpions are near black in color, but when exposed to ultra-violet light they glow a bluish-green. This makes them easy to see in the night using mineral lights – a technique often used by collectors.

Emperor scorpion in the palm. Image via

This scorpion’s size, relatively low toxicity, and life span make it the most popular scorpion as pet. Due to it, they are now threatened with extinction.

Whale Shark, Biggest Fish in the World

February 19th, 2011 by admin | 2 Comments | Filed in animal, world record

Averaging in length to more than 7.6 m (25 feet), whale shark is the biggest fish in the world. They feed on macro-algae, plankton, krill, red crab larvae, and small nektonic life such as small squid or vertebrates. Like sharks, its skeleton is composed entirely of cartilage, and its skin, up to 4 inches thick, is scaleless, tough and leathery. People called it a whale shark because of its enormous size.

Whale shark with small fishes hitching a ride. Image via

Whale sharks are filter feeder. Using it’s 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) mouth, they feed by sucking in a mouthful of water then closes its mouth and expels the water through its gills – trapping the tiny planktons in the dermal denticles which line its gill plates and pharynx. This fine sieve-like apparatus can trap anything above 2 to 3 millimetres (0.079 to 0.12 in) in diameter.

Whale shark with it’s massive mouth open. Image via

Despite it’s ferocious look and size, Whale sharks are gentle giants. Apart from unintentional blows with it’s large tail fin, they does not pose significant danger to humans and even sometimes allow swimmers, divers and snorkelers, to hitch a ride.

Adult Whale shark comapared to average human. Image via

The largest Whale shark specimen was caught near Baba Island, in Karachi, Pakistan on November 11, 1947. It was 12.65 metres (41.50 ft) long, weighed more than 21.5 tonnes (47,000 lb), and had a girth of 7 metres (23.0 ft). Though there are stories of even larger ones, there are no scientific evidence that support it.

Kush, the Oldest English Mastiff in Australia, Probably in the World

February 12th, 2011 by admin | Comments Off | Filed in animal

This beach lover dog named Kush in the oldest English Mastiff in Australia, and possible even in the world. She is 15-years-old. If that doesn’t sound old enough for you, then consider this, in human years that is equivalent to 105 years.

Australia’s oldest English Mastiff named Kush. Image via

With her age, Kush has far outlived the life expectancy of her breed which is 10 year.

Her secret according to her owner Phil Newman is a diet free of processed foods. Instead of dog food from the pet store, he feed her raw meat, bones, vegetables and herbs and he would not feed her everyday. Just like dogs in the wild that would gorge on a kill and go for a couple of days without food, says Phil.

And what’s amazing is she had never once been to the vet in her 15 years of life.

Kush with her owner, Phil Newman. Image via

Chaser, the Border Collie Who Knows 1,022 Words

February 11th, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment | Filed in animal

Chaser is not your ordinary house pet. This Border Collie breed knows 1,022 words – the names of all her toys. This seven-year-older is owned by Dr. John Pilley. He adopted Chaser as a puppy, hoping to use her to test some teaching methods the he would devised for dogs.

Chaser and her Master. Image via

Dr John Pilley worked intensively with Chaser for three years to see how large a vocabulary she could command. And true enough she exceed his expectation. Border collies are known to be one of the smartest and most motivated dog breed. They like challenges and stimulation, and this memorization games is fun to her.

With the large vocabulary Chaser knew, this makes her the smartest dog in the world. See Chaser in action in this video.

Asia, the World’s Biggest Continent

February 10th, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment | Filed in places

With an area of 44,579,000 square kilometer or 17,212,000 square miles, Asia is the world’s biggest and most populous continent. It is located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres and covers 8.6% of the Earth’s total surface area.

Asia, the biggest continent in the world. Image via

Asia population is approximately 4 billion people and growing. In fact, it hosts 60% of the world’s current human population and currently the most populous continent. During the 20th century Asia’s population nearly quadrupled. It is composed of 48 countries, two of it, China and India, has more than a billion population.

Baldacchino Supreme, the World’s Most Expensive Bed

February 10th, 2011 by admin | Comments Off | Filed in world record

Not getting enough sleep at night? It is maybe because your bed is not as luxurious as the Baldacchino Supreme bed, the most expensive bed in the world. This one has a price tag of £4 million or $6.4 million.

The £4 million ($6.4 million) Baldacchino Supreme bed. Image via

So what makes it so expensive? It is the amount of gold that was used to make this bed – 107 kg of solid 24 carat gold in all. In todays market, in would be over $5 million worth.

This canopy bed with creme and gold theme is surrounded by Italian silk curtains. It’s structure is carved from chestnut, ash and cherry woods. The headboard is fashioned in capitonnè – the button-punctured fabric pattern harking from Parisian home decor – and can be customized with diamonds upon request.

You have to make haste if you want one however as British designer Stuart Hughes (in collaboration with Hebanon by Fratelli Basile Interiors of Nocera Superiore Italy) only plan to make two of this bed. One is already sold and one is waiting for it’s lucky (and wealthy) owner.

Zorba, the Heaviest Dog Ever

February 9th, 2011 by admin | 9 Comments | Filed in animal, world record

Zorba, an English Mastiff breed is the heaviest dog ever recorded. He was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest dog on November, 1989 when he was 8 years old.

Zorba the Heaviest dog ever at 343 pounds. Image via

He was owned by Chris Eraclides of London, England and has a registered name of Aicama Zorba of La-Susa. In his heaviest, Zorba weighed over 343 lbs (155 kg), stood 37 inches at the shoulder and was 8 feet 3 inches from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail.

Zorba with his master. Image via

Zorba at 7 years old. Image via