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POPSEclipse-Watchers Worldwide Gear Up For Friday's Event Before there was a scientific explanation for eclipses, myth and mystery was pervasive. Many cultures thought a demon or dragon was devouring the sun. In ancient China, "any unusual phenomenon involving celestial bodies was noted for potential omens, either good or bad, that might befall the current Emperor," according to Sten Odenwald of the department of physics at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. The ancient Chinese banged pots and drums to shoo the frightful sun-eating character away. In India, people would immerse themselves in water to help the sun fight the dragon. Even nowadays many myths persist. In Egypt, as one example, children are often kept indoors with windows covered or shades drawn during an eclipse. Risk of eye injury Eclipses can indeed be dangerous
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POPSWeird Hotels The author of Weirdomatic.com may think they are weird but I LOVE THEM! OK, all but the Coffins in Japan. I read too many cyberpunk novels in the 80s! The Mayan Pyramid is only in the planning stages but it is due to open in 2010... My favorite without a doubt is the Beckham Canyon Cavern Hotel...
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POPSThroat-Singing Media links don't seem to work from the clip. Go to source for some extraordinary sounds.
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POPSThat Wacky Millennium! Part I (1001-1206) This was too easy to decide on after seeing his Wacky 20th Century timeline. I wish I could have put some of his forward into the clip but I will put it here instead: "At the end of the First Millennium, Rome had long since fallen. The Dark Ages were drawing to a close and the Medieval Period was beginning (although the term "dark ages" wasn't actually coined until the Renaissance, as part of an effort to make the past look bad). The stirrup had changed the face of warfare. Somebody had just invented that, that thing, what do you call it, that harness that goes around a horse's neck and puts the load on the animal's shoulders? That thing. And it changed the course of history, too, believe you me! Also, the modern notion of "progress" pretty much didn't exist; the view of the future was that every day was bleaker than the next, so hurry up and end, world, we're rootin' for that Second Coming." That should set the right tone...
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POPSChina to squeeze oil from coal The plant will be the biggest outside of South Africa, which adopted CTL technology due to international embargoes on fuel during the apartheid years. The plant will start operating later this year and is expected to convert 3.5 million tonnes of coal per year into 1 million tonnes of oil products such as diesel for cars. That's the equivalent of about 20,000 barrels a day,
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POPSTwo The World's ...est Men Together Bao Xishun (born 1951) is a herdsman from Inner Mongolia, China. Bao was formerly recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest living man. Measured at 2.361 metres (7 ft 8.95 in) tall at the Chifeng City Hospital, Bao Xishun has no growth disorder like gigantism. Bao suffers from rheumatism, although this has been attributed to his childhood habit of sleeping outdoors, rather than a height-linked disorder. He Pingping (b. 1988) is a Chinese man who is under consideration to be recognized as the world's shortest man. He is currently applying to the Guinness World Records. The 19-year old measures 73 cm (2 ft 4 in) high, and is the third child to a family in northern China's Region. He has 2 sisters, both of which developed at normal rates and are now married. At birth he was as small as a palm. When it became apparent the child was growing very slowly, doctors diagnosed it as the bone deformity Osteogenesis Imperfecta.
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POPSECO Giant China can't hide lies with a map!
Goodness the east and west are at it again America is mad that it cant embarrass china cuz we owe them 3 trillion dollars/ compound interest.....U.K. cant say ssssssss cuz China part of U.N. council, G8 etc. plus to close to home and were at it again with communism .....well if in 1940's Chaing Kai Shek wasn't corrupt nationalist/democratic whatever maybe China wouldn't be "evil / the enemy" aaaaaaaa when will we learn China wishes not to change but if china needs food they'll come our(U.S. of A) way thanks bush sooo much 4 messing up my generation that was kind very kind! nooo China's not evil for taking nepal, Taiwan and ruling over "mongolia" no no no their nice and they need living space ......errr what ever that means but we won't mind the organ farms, illegel child prostitution, dirty money, crooked gov, mesed up human rights approach, or scary jails aaaaaa China loves to be the epitome of George Orwells 1984 , but if china doesnt get 100 gold medals someones gonna pay!
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POPSTax Dollars Supporting Countries That Undermine American Ideals And Interests Use the form to e-mail President Bush, demanding that American aid dollars be for countries committed to upholding our democratic and free-market ideals. In addition, the US Trade and Development Agency has recently authorized nearly $400,000 of for a study on a proposed rail line between a coal mine in Southern Mongolia and the railroad. In other words, taxpayer-funded foreign aid to Mongolia is being used to undermine American ideals and interests, and embolden anti-freedom elites not only in Mongolia, but in Moscow as well. Why is Mongolia flouting Western interests and ideals despite our nation’s generosity, you ask? Simply put, the Russians and a few elite Mongolians would benefit if Western firms were forced to stop doing business in Mongolia and the region. This is an outrage that must not go unchecked
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POPSYak Cheese Is a Miracle The yak is a long-haired type of cattle, bred from Himalaya (Nepal) to Tibet, Mongolia and surrounding regions. This is an animal perfectly adapted to high altitudes and cold. The yak is an excellent labor and burden animal. That's why, in lower altitudes, people prefer a hybrid yak-cattle called zopkio, more docile and better standing with those conditions. Yak meat is slightly tough. In Chinese traditional medicine, sliced and pickled ox or yak penis, which has bland and rubbery texture, is considered a general energizer. In Tibetan monasteries, lamps on the shrines function on yak fat. The spun yak wool is extremely warm. The braided wool is used for getting solid ropes. In Tibet and high Himalaya, the local common clothing, called chuba, is made by men who braid it from yak wool. The yak wool is also used for making mantles and blankets.
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POPSWelcome to the New Ice Age Kenneth Tapping of our own National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon. The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850. Crops failed through killer frosts and drought. Famine, plague and war were widespread. Harbours froze, so did rivers, and trade ceased. It's way too early to claim the same is about to happen again, but then it's way too early for the hysteria of the global warmers, too.
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