The Ice Hotel of Sweden is an ultimate place to chill. The Hotel is situated in the Swedish Lapland town of Jukkasjarvi. It opens every year in early December and closes at the end of April. Every year in October the artists and local villagers, most from the Sami tribe in the area, begin to build the new ice hotel, which opens in mid-December. Snow canons and front loaders start by forming the snow over the steel sections that are the main structure of the Ice hotel. Sections are moved around and replaced by ice pillars put in place to give support to the snow arches. blocks of ice taken from the frozen Torne River each winter and frozen for use the following year, the Hotel at the moment is in its twentieth re-incarnation and is as impressive as ever. It began meagerly 14 years ago - one room. The 2004 season boasted 50-rooms with 5,000 square metres built of 30,000 tons of snow and 4,000 tons of ice.
Inside the Ice hotel, there is a reception area, hall of pillars, Iceart exhibition, Absolut Icebar, Ice hotel cinema and an Icechurch and of course there is a warmer option. The hotel also has cabin accommodation, a warm bar where the staff take great enjoyment in asking if you’d like ice with your drink with wry smiles all round.All water that is used in taps and bathrooms coming straight from the river Torne. Each person is given an ultra-warm sleeping bag and most people remark how "warm" they felt during the night even though the temperature is usually a steady five degrees below zero.
The Hotel also has a range of activities provided throughout the day while guests eagerly await night-fall in the hopes of catching a glimpse of those all too elusive Northern Lights. A trip by Snow Mobile is one option. After being taught to drive the equivalent of a jet-ski for on land use, the excursion follows tracks through the fir trees and along-side the frozen river before stopping for hot lingen berry juice (a local specialty), bread, cheese and smoked reindeer heart. Other activities include Hunting, Fishing, Snow driving, Horse Riding and Skiing. Most people stay at the Ice hotel for two or three nights, but you will only spend one night in the actual Ice hotel and the additional nights in the Scandinavian bungalows also on the property.
The Ice Hotel of Sweden
12:18 PM | Labels: accommodation, cabin warm bar, Icehotel, Inside the Ice hotel, JukkasjarviTorne, Swedish Lapland, The Ice Hotel of Sweden | No Comment »Human mind reader computers are being developed by Intel
12:09 PM | Labels: brainwaves, computers, determine the word, fMRI, Human mind reader computers, Intel, magnetic resonance scanners, operating computer by thinking, robotic arms, scientists, wireless brain transmitter | No Comment »
Can you imagine, you will be able to operate your pc simply by thinking? It is hard believe but the new technology will be capable of directly interpreting words as they are thought, according to researchers at Intel who are behind the roject. The scientists are creating detailed maps of the activity in the brain for individual words which can then be matched against the brain activity of someone using the computer, allowing the machine to determine the word they are thinking.
A senior researcher at Intel Laboratories, Dean Pomerleau said that currently, the devices required to get sufficient detail of brain activity were bulky, expensive magnetic resonance scanners, like those used in hospitals. Preliminary tests of the system have shown that the computer can work out words by looking at similar brain patterns and looking for key differences that suggest what the word might be. Turning brain waves into real-world tech action still requires some heavy decoding of brain activity. The Intel team has already made use of fMRI brain scans to match brain patterns with similar thoughts across many test subjects.Plenty of other researchers have also tinkered in this area. Toyota recently demoed a wheelchair controlled with brainwaves, and University of Utah researchers have created a wireless brain transmitter that allows monkeys to control robotic arms. So it is clear that humans are not restricted any more to just using keyboards and mice.
Human mind reader computers are being developed by Intel
PREVIEW of True Blood Season 3 Episode 11 "Fresh Blood"
12:02 PM | Labels: Bill-Sookie, bloodshed, Crystal, Fresh Blood, HBO, True Blood, True Blood Season 3 Episode 11, vampire | No Comment »“True Blood” Season 3 Episode 10 was aired and like its previous episodes, this week also “I Smell A Rat” was able to receive wide response and attention from its audience. However, the immense craze and popularity of Bill-Sookie love saga has made the audience search for the online streaming of the next episode “Fresh Blood” which will be aired on HBO next Sunday, August 29. It seems that lot of mystery will be unfolded next week and the subtitle clearly promises more bloodshed in episode 11.
In next episode 11,Bill wants to earn back the trust of Sookie, but once again brings her to the danger. Eric Russell seduces with “cherished dream vampire. Lafayette struggling with new demons. Jason tries to understand what he learned about Crystal. Sam pushes all, but Tara. Jessica and Hoyt to take their romance up a notch.
PREVIEW of True Blood Season 3 Episode 11 "Fresh Blood"
Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2010
10:44 PM | Labels: Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2010, Emmy Awards, gala event, list of Emmy Awards winners, Nokia Theater | No Comment »The gala event of Creative Arts Emmy Award 2010 which was held at Nokia Theater, Los Angeles.The awards show aimed at honoring those who work behind the scenes on television's most revered programming featured a red carpet full of on screen stars including Mad Men bombshell Christina Hendricks, comedian Kathy Griffin and actor Neil Patrick Harris. Mini series “The Pacific”, took home six Emmy Awards. The top network winner was HBO with 17 trophies, followed by ABC with 15 and Fox bagged 9 trophies.
The Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards winners are:
THE TUDORS
Best Costumes for a Series
Best Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series
MAD MEN
Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series
Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series
GLEE
Best Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series
Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Neil Patrick Harris)
FLASHFORWARD
Best Stunt Coordination
LOST
Best Picture Editing for Drama Series
GREY’S ANATOMY
Outstanding Makeup For Single-Camera Series
And the much anticipated event of 62nd Primetime Emmy Award 2010 will take place at Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California. The star studded event will be graced by the veteran celebrities of American television industry. The Primetime Emmy Awards organizers have recently announced the first set of Emmy presenters. The media reports that they represent some of the most popular and most nominated shows of the year.
Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2010
'Zombie Ants' Created by Parasite Existed 50 Million Years Ago
10:53 AM | Labels: fossil, fungus, Germany, Harvard University, leaf, oldest evidence, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, Parasite, the University of Exeter, Zombie Ants, zombies | No Comment »
The oldest evidence of a fungus that turns ants into zombies and makes them stagger to their death has been uncovered by scientists. Evidence of the parasitism was found on a fossilized leaf that grew in the Messel Pit, located in Germany, and was discovered by the University of Exeter's Dr. David P. Hughes, who studies parasites that can take over the minds of their hosts. Hughes, along with Conrad Labandeira from the Smithsonian Institution and Torsten Wappler of the Steinmann Institute in Germany, noticed that the 48-million-year-old fossilized leaf had a scar similar to the leaf scars left by the today’s “zombie ants.”
The fungus, called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, makes ants leave their colonies and head for a leaf that provides the ideal conditions for the parasite to reproduce.
When the "zombie" ant gets there, it bites down hard on the major vein of the leaf in a "death grip," so when the ant dies its body remains, giving the fungus time to grow and release spores to infect other ants.
The death grip bite leaves a very distinct scar on the leaves, the researchers say, and they found clear evidence of it on a 48-million-year-old fossilized leaf specimen from Germany.
"This can happen en masse. You can find whole graveyards with 20 or 30 ants in a square metre. Each time, they are on leaves that are a particular height off the ground and they have bitten into the main vein before dying," said David Hughes at Harvard University. Scientists are not clear how the fungus controls the ants it infects, but know that the parasite releases alkaloid chemicals into the insect as it consumes it from the inside.
'Zombie Ants' Created by Parasite Existed 50 Million Years Ago
Dr. Laura apologizes For offensive language
10:43 AM | Labels: Dr. Laura, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, interracial marriage, n-word, radio show, Sarah Palin, Schlessinger, talk show | No Comment »
Well-known conservative talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger went all Michael Richards on a caller who reached out to her for help regarding her interracial marriage.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger hadn't really made waves or angered too many people in some time. But she made up for it on Tuesday's show, when the African-American caller talked to her about her home life. The caller said that her white husband often had talks with his friends that crossed some racial boundaries.
This triggered the Dr. Laura n-word dissertation, as she talked about how black people use the term all the time. In fact, she said it herself three times, when she talked about how it is said all the time by comics on HBO. But the caller took umbrage with her use of it later on.
The Dr. Laura n-word discussion then took another wild turn, when the caller said she couldn't believe Schlessinger used it. In response, Schlessinger said she didn't "spew out the n***** word" - but when the caller said she hoped listeners heard it, Schlessinger said the word three more times.
"I articulated the N-word all the way out -- more than one time," Schlessinger said in comments from the opening of her radio show that she posted on her site.
The former vice-presidential nominee and ex-Alaska governor Sarah Palin tweeted her support for Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who said she'd quit her radio show after coming under fire for repeatedly using the N-word while on-air with a caller.
Dr. Laura apologizes For offensive language
More than 250 people sickened by Salmonella germ in U.S.A.
10:32 AM | Labels: abdominal cramps, bacteria, diarrhea, eggs, germ, illnesses, recalled eggs, Salmonella, salmonella eggs | No Comment »The nationwide salmonella outbreak, which federal officials said was the largest of its type related to eggs in years, has sickened more than 250 people, according to news reports. A recall first announced last week was expanded from 228 million to 380 million eggs -- the equivalent of nearly 32 million dozen-egg cartons. Eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, were linked to several illnesses in the three states.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said,
"This certainly has the potential to be a very large outbreak, both given the apparent number of reported cases so far and also the fact that many of these eggs may still be in consumer refrigerators,"
Salmonella can cause fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea and usually lasts four to seven days. Thoroughly cooking eggs can kill the bacteria. But health officials are recommending people throw away or return the recalled eggs.
More than 250 people sickened by Salmonella germ in U.S.A.
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