Largest Telecom Operators in World

Largest Telecom Operators in World

AT&T - the former SBC merged with AT&T creating the new AT&T (USA)
China Mobile - formerly China state-owned, now still state-controlled, one of two mobile phone monopolies in the entire China.
Vodafone - Britain's largest telecom operator.
Verizon Communications - US-based telecom company formed after a series of mergers.
Telefonica - Multinational company with stakes in Dpain, Latin America and Europe. Owns the O2 brand.
Deutsche Telekom - German telecom company, also owns t-mobile.
America Movil - Mexican operator controlled by the world's richest man - Carlos Slim.
NTT DoCoMo - One of Japan's telecom operators.
France Telecom - One of France's telecom companies.
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone - Japan's second largest telecom operator.

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Robotic Animals

Robotic Animals

It Just Keeps Going and Going and Going ...

Built to look like a real fish, this robotic replica swims effortlessly in its London Aquarium tank thanks to sensor-based controls used to navigate through water to avoid obstacles. The hope of its designers is that the robo-fish could be used to explore seabeds or detect oil leaks in pipelines.
Robo-Rat

An experimental rat robot, designed to survive in an unknown or threatening environment, on display at the European Research Innovation Exhibition in Paris.

Robo-Spidey

Unlike in most sci-fi horror flicks, Tokyo's denizens actually want to see two giant robotic spiders plod through their city streets. The spiders, which weigh in at 37 tons and top out at 40-feet tall, may or may not take over the world.
Robo-Bunny

A seemingly glum bunny robot named "Patata" on display at the annual Tokyo Toy Show can make human-like faces and react to human voices.
Robo-Elephant

A huge robotic elephant that also doubles as an outdoor theater entertains the crowds in central London.
Robo-Puppies

A puppy plays with remote-controlled toy robot dogs at a hotel in Seoul, Korea.
Robo-Parrot

In Japan, 12-inch tall robots called "Dream-Parrots" show off their ability to recognize and imitate human voices at the Tokyo Toy Show.
Robo-Jelly

For just $145, a solar-powered robotic jellyfish could be yours.
Robo-Dino

A friendly looking dino-robot named "Pleo" has 14 actuators and 38 sensors on its body, allowing it to grow as the owner takes care of it.
Robo-Pug

A robot pet resembling a pug shows off its ability to respond via a Bluetooth wireless device at a show in Tokyo.
Robo-Pet

A robot dog in Tokyo, which runs on hydrogen batteries, shakes hands during the International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Expo.

Mysterious Geological Wonders

10 Mysterious Geological Wonders

The Wave (between Arizona and Utah - USA)

A red-rock stunner on the border of Arizona and Utah, The Wave is made of 190-million- year-old sand dunes that have turned to rock. This little-known formation is accessible only on foot via a three-mile hike and highly regulated.

Antelope Canyon (Arizona - USA)

The most visited and photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest, the Antelope Canyon is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona. It includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon --or “The Crack”-- and Lower Antelope Canyon --or “The Corkscrew.”
The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tse' bighanilini, which means "the place where water runs through rocks." Lower Antelope Canyon is Hasdestwazi, or "spiral rock arches." Both are located within the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation.
Great Blue Hole (Belize)

Part of the Lighthouse Reef System, The Great Blue Hole lies approximately 60 miles off the mainland out of Belize City. A large, almost perfectly circular hole approximately one quarter of a mile (0.4 km) across, it’s one of the most astounding dive sites to be found anywhere on earth. Inside this hole, the water is 480 feet (145 m) deep and it is the depth of water which gives the deep blue color that causes such structures throughout the world to be known as "blue holes."
Crystal Cave of the Giants (Mexico)

Found deep inside a mine in southern Chihuahua Mexico, these crystals were formed in a natural cave totally enclosed in bedrock. A geode full of spectacular crystals as tall as pine trees, and in some cases greater in circumference, they are a translucent gold and silver in color and come in many incredible forms and shapes. The Crystal Cave of the Giants was discovered within the same limestone body that hosts the silver-zinc- lead ore bodies exploited by the mine and it was probably dissolved by the same hydrothermal fluids that deposited the metals with the gypsum being crystallized during the waning stages of mineralization.
Eye of the Sahara (Mauritania)

This spectacular landform in Mauritania in the southwestern part of the Sahara desert is so huge with a diameter of 30 miles that it is visible from space. Called Richat Structure --or the Eye of the Sahara-- the The formation was originally thought to be caused by a meteorite impact but now geologists believe it is a product of uplift and erosion. The cause of its circular shape is still a mystery.
Blue Lake Cave (Brazil)

Mato Grosso do Sul region in Brazil (and especially the quiet town of Bonito) boasts many marvelous underground lakes: Gruta do Lago Azul, Gruta do Mimoso, Aquário Natural. The world famous "Gruta do Lago Azul” (Blue Lake Cave) is a natural monument whose interior is formed by stalactites, stalagmites and a huge and wonderful blue lake. The beauty of the lake is something impressive. The Blue Lake Cave has a big variety of geologicalformation but impresses mainly for the deep blue colored water of its inside lake.

Giants Causeway (Ireland)

An area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the Giants Causeway is a result of an ancient volcanic eruption. Located on the north-east coast of Northern Ireland, most of its columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 meters (36 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 meters thick in places. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.
Hell Gate (Uzbekistan)

Called by locals The Door to Hell, this place in Uzbekistan is situated near the small town of Darvaz. When geologists were drilling for gas, 35 years ago, they suddenly found an underground cavern that was so big, all the drilling site with all the equipment and camps got deep deep under the ground. None dared to go down there because the cavern was filled with gas, so they ignited it so that no poisonous gas could come out of the hole, and since then, it has been burning. Nobody knows how many tons of excellent gas has been burned for all those years but it just seems to be infinite.
Wave Rock (Australia)

The Wave Rock is a natural rock formation located in western Australia. It derives its name from the fact that it is shaped like a tall breaking ocean wave. The total outcrop covers several hectares; the "wave" part of the rock is about 15 meters high and approximately 110 meters long. One aspect of Wave Rock rarely shown on photographs is the retaining wall about halfway up the rock. This follows the contours and allows rainwater to be collected in a dam. It was constructed in 1951 by the Public Works Department, and such walls are common on many similar rocks in the wheatbelt.
Chocolate Hills (Philippines)

Composed of around 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills of about the same size spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres (20 sq mi), this highly unusual geologicalformation , called Chocolate Hills, is located in Bohol, Philippines. There are a number of hypotheses regarding the formation of the hills. These include simple limestone weathering, sub-oceanic volcanism, the uplift of the seafloor and a more recent theory which maintains that as an ancient active volcano self-destructed, it spewed huge blocks of stone which were then covered with limestone and later thrust forth from the ocean bed.

Japanese macaques bathe in hot springs

Japanese macaques bathe in hot springs

Jigokudani Monkey Park (地獄谷野猿公苑 Jigokudani Yaen Kōen) is in Yamanouchi, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan at 36°43′58″N 138°27′46″E / 36.732799°N 138.4627°E / 36.732799; 138.4627Coordinates: 36°43′58″N 138°27′46″E / 36.732799°N 138.4627°E / 36.732799; 138.4627. It is part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park, and is located in the valley of the Yokoyu-River, in the northern part of the prefecture. The name Jigokudani, meaning "Hell's Valley", is due to the steam and boiling water that bubbles out of small crevices in the frozen ground, surrounded by steep cliffs and formidably cold and hostile forests.

The heavy snowfalls (snow covers the ground for 4 months a year), an elevation of 850 meters, and being only accessible via a narrow two kilometer footpath through the forest, keep it uncrowded despite being relatively well-known.

The valley base at Jigokudani in June.

It is famous for its large population of wild Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata), more commonly referred to as Snow Monkeys, that go to the valley during the winter, foraging elsewhere in the national park during the warmer months. Starting in 1963, the monkeys descend from the steep cliffs and forest to sit in the warm waters of the onsen (hotsprings) , and return to the security of the forests in the evenings.

Jigokudani is not as far north as monkeys live. The Shimokita Peninsula is at the northern part of the Honshū island and the northwest area of this peninsula, latitude +41°31' longitude +140°56', approximately 500 km or 310 miles north from Jigokudani is the northern limit of Japanese Macaque habitat. No primate, with the exception of humans, is known to live in a colder climate.^[1][2]

In sub-zero temperatures, Japanese macaques soak in the warmth of a volcanic hotspring at Jigokudani (Hell's Valley) in Nagano Province, Japan

The Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), also referred to as Snow Monkeys, live freely in the Jigokudani park

The area is covered by snow in the winter months, and temperatures can drop as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius

Jigokudani is the only known place in the world where monkeys bathe in natural hot springs

The monkeys come down from the mountains where they spend the night and bathe during the day

The troops of monkeys have strict hierarchies, with babies inheriting their mother's status

Only the higher status monkeys get to bathe in the hot springs

The Japanese macaque is the most northern-living non-human primate in the world

Dozing off while bathing

Pictures: EPA

Wider view of the hot springs.

Big Plane

Big Plane

1987 was the year when the first 350 tons ground effect “ship” from the series of Soviet battle missile carriers was produced. It was called Lun after the Russian name for a bird of prey - hen harrier. Another name for this vehicle was Project 903. It carried 6 Moskit cruise missiles (SS-N-22 Sunburn in NATO classification) . Hitting four of them causes inevitable sinking of a vessel of any know type and size. The second Lun-class battle aircraft was supposed to be produced in several years but due to the end of cold war and partial disarmament the project was changed to a rescue aircraft and it was never finished.

This type of vehicle called in Russian ekranoplan uses so called ground effect - extra lift of large wings when in proximity to the surface. For this reason they have been designed to travel at a maximum of three meters above the sea but at the same time could provide take off, stable “flight” and safe “landing” in conditions of up to 5-meter waves. These crafts were originally developed by the Soviet Union as high-speed military transports, and were based mostly on the shores of the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. In 2005 crafts of this type have been classified by the International Marine Organization so they probably should be considered flying ships rather than swimming planes. It is also interesting to note that this aircraft is one of the largest ever built, with a length of 73,8 meters (comparing with 73 of Airbus A380).

Lun doesn‘t have a landing gear, only a huge hydroski so there’s no way for it to get on land and for this reason a special floating dry dock was designed for it.

This hybrid vehicle is driven by 8 turbojet engines.

Functionally the body of this strange ship was divided into 4 parts: fore, middle, after-part and keel together with stabilizer. Fore part possesses pilot house and a pillar holding 8 main engines, as well as a room with secondary ones. Middle and after parts were fully equipped with test facilities but still have also a caboose and a toilet. The whole keel is filled with power installation for electricity supply during mooring and a complex of radio navigation and communication equipment. A room for a gunner is placed in a cross-line of keel and stabilizer at a height of 12 meters over the waterline.

The ecranoplan’s crew consisted of 7 officers and 4 warrant officers. It could be absolutely autonomous for 5 days.

Don’t miss the 2nd and 3rd pages of photos. There are plenty of them.