Oldest Shoes Compilation

Old shoes doesn't sound interesting but here are some fine examples. These shoes range from the incredibly short and tall Venetian Chopines, which had 2 foot soles for courtesans to wade through sewage lined streets, to the opposite-shaped long, skinny, medieval Poulaines, which had toes stuffed with moss. Interestingly the worlds oldest shoes come from the New World, or Oregon to be exact.

One of the favorites are the Roman shoes from the time of Constantine, whose style show just show eastern, or to our eyes, Arabic, the Empire would have felt at that time.

Ancient Greek Pair of Terracotta Boots 900 BC

16th C cows mouth shoe

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Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Anniversary

2011 mark the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. On April 26, 1986, a series of explosions destroyed Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 station and several hundred staff and firefighters tackled a blaze that burned for 10 days and sent a plume of radiation around the world in the worst-ever civil nuclear disaster. 

More than 50 reactor and emergency workers were killed at the time. Assessing the larger impact on human health remains a difficult task, with estimates of related deaths from cancer ranging from 4,000 to over 200,000. The government of Ukraine indicated early this year that it will lift restrictions on tourism around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, formally opening the scene to visitors. It's expected, meanwhile, that a 20,000-ton steel case called the New Safe Confinement (NSC), designed as a permanent containment structure for the whole plant, will be completed in 2013.

Nowadays, Nuclear Power Plant is known as sophisticated and complex energy systems ever designed. However, any complex system, no matter how well it is designed and engineered, cannot be deemed failure-proof. There are trades to be made between safety, economic and technical properties of different reactor designs for particular applications. Since Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, many involved now consider informed consent and morality should be primary considerations.

For me, it is time that we in Malaysia to embrace nuclear energy as a cornerstone of the carbon-free revolution the world needs to address climate change and long-term energy security in a world beyond fossil fuels. Advanced nuclear power that provides the technological key to unlocking awesome potential of these energy metals for the benefit humankind and for the ultimate sustainability of our global society.

Bring in the nuke now...

Repairs are carried out on the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine on October 1st, 1986, following a major explosion in April 1986 which, according to official statistics, affected 3,235,984 Ukrainians and sent radioactive clouds all over Europe. (ZUFAROV/AFP/Getty Images) 

A military helicopter sprays a decontaminating substance over the region surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power station a few days after its No. 4 reactor's blast, the worst nuclear accident of the 20th century. (STF/AFP/Getty Images) 

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Best Food For Antioxidants

Although scientists didn't realize their significance until relatively recently, antioxidants are now thought to be important dietary nutrients. So, what are antioxidants, exactly? They're substances in food which prevent damage to your body's cells and tissues caused by free radicals. It's important to keep free radicals in check, as they may contribute to aging, cancer and chronic diseases such as heart disease and Parkinson's disease.

Certain vitamins, such as A, C, and E have antioxidant properties, as do bioflavonoids – free radical-fighting chemicals naturally present in certain plants. In general, fruits and vegetables are great sources of these substances. There are various methods of calculating the antioxidant value of foods, one of which is the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) assay, used by the USDA. Health officials currently recommend consuming about 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units per day.

1. Spices

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Bland food lovers, beware! When measured by weight, spices are the richest source of antioxidants. The type of spice with the greatest antioxidant capacity is cloves, with an exceptional ORAC value of almost 300,000 units. (Note, however, that ORAC value is calculated per 100 grams – please don't try to eat 100 grams of cloves just for the antioxidants!) Other especially antioxidant-rich spices include oregano, rosemary, turmeric, thyme, cinnamon, sage and vanilla.

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9 Tallest Mountains In Solar System

Mount Everest, at 29,029 feet tall (5.5 miles), is the tallest mountain on earth. But, not known to many, Hawaii's Mauna Kea is actually much more taller than Everest, which is actually 33,465 feet tall, although only 13,796 of which are above sea level. 

If we look beyond our planet earth, there are lots and lots of taller mountains compare to Everest and Mauna Kea. Following are the tallest mountains in various worlds of the Solar System. Heights are given base to peak.

9. Arsia Mons, Mars > 9 km (5,6 mi)

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Arsia Mons is 270 miles (approximately 435 kilometres) in diameter, almost 12 miles high (more than 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) higher than the surrounding plains), and the summit caldera is 72 miles (approximately 110 km) wide. It experiences atmospheric pressure lower than 107 pascals at the summit. Except for Olympus Mons, it is the biggest volcano in volume. Arsia Mons has 30 times the volume of Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the largest volcano on the Earth.

8. Mauna Kea, Earth = 10,2 km (6,3 mi)

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Mauna Kea (Hawaii) has an altitude of 4,205 meters (2,6 mi) - much lower than Mount Everest. However, Mauna Kea is an island and if the distance from the bottom of the nearby ocean floor to the peak of the island is measured, then Mauna Kea is taller than Mount Everest.  Mauna Kea is over 10 km (6,2 mi) tall compared to 8.848 m (5,5 mi) for Mount Everest - making it the Earth's tallest mountain. 

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Baldwin Street - Steepest Street In The World

Baldwin Street in a suburban part of New Zealand's southern city of Dunedin, is considered the world's steepest residential street. It is located in the suburb of North East Valley, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) northeast of Dunedin's city center.

A short straight street a little under 350 metres (1,150 ft) long, Baldwin Street runs east from the valley of the Lindsay Creek up the side of Signal Hill towards Opoho, rising from 30 m (98 ft) above sea level at its junction with North Road to 100 m (330 ft) above sea level at the top, an average slope of slightly more than 1:5. 

Its lower reaches are only moderately steep, and the surface is asphalt, but the upper reaches of this cul-de-sac are far steeper, and surfaced in concrete (200 m (660 ft) long), for ease of maintenance (bitumen, in either chip seal or asphalt, would flow down the slope on a warm day) and for safety in Dunedin's frosty winters. At its maximum, the slope of Baldwin Street is about 1:2.86 (19° or 35%). That is, for every 2.86 metres travelled horizontally, the elevation changes by 1 meter.

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Daylight Saving Time (DST) For Dummies

A brief history and explanation of the annual madness that is daylight saving time. It seems like an awful lot of hassle twice a year for a tiny payoff.

Source from Geek Are Sexy