Headless Chicken lives for 18 months

This is a real story of a Headless chicken which lived for 18 months after its head was removed by a  farmer.  Mike the Headless Chicken also known as Miracle Mike was a chicken which lived for 18 months after his head was removed.  

On 10th September, 1945, the farmer LLoyd Olsen of Colorado in USA wanted to cut a chicken for the dinner.  So he went to the yard and chosen a 5 month old chicken named Mike  The axe missed the main Jugular vein leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact.  

Even then Mike was able to balance and walk and the bird did not die.  So Mr., Olsen was surprised and decided to continue to take care of the chicken for ever.  He started feeding the chicken with milk and water via an eye dropper and also small grains of corn.  

Mike was able to jump to highest perches without falling.  His crowing was something like gargling sound made in his throat.  Mike spent his time attempting to search for food with his neck.

In March 1947 at a hotel in Phoenix while traveling back home from tour, Mike started choking in the middle of night.  Mr. Olsen left his feeding and cleaning syringes at home, he could not save Mike.   People say that the chicken could not take enough air properly to be able to breathe; and so choked to death in the hotel.

 In the Post Mortem, it was found that the axe had missed the carotid artery and a clot prevented Mike from bleeding to death.  Even though most of his head was removed, most of his brain stem and one ear were left on his body.  As the basic functions like breathing, heart rate etc. are controlled by the brain stem, Mike was able to remain healthy.

The scientist concluded that Mike had no problem by losing his head aside from loss of sensory input from tongue and eyes.  The farmer missed an ear as well as brain stem.  So Mike could hear also.



Here is a documentary on Mike, the headless Chicken

 

Amazing Facts about Solar Energy

Here are some of the most interesting facts about Solar Energy.  You can read some interesting facts about solar energy and sun related information.

• Solar Energy is very good for environment than the traditional forms of energy
• There are many uses of solar energy like producing electricity and heating water
• Solar energy can be used for heating swimming pools, powering cars and also for calculators.  
• It is possible to cook food with solar energy
• Solar energy is measured in Kilowatt-hours.   
• 1 Kilo watt hour = the amount of energy required to burn a 100 watt light bulb for 10 hours
• According to the US Department of Energy, an average American household used approximately 866-kilowatt hours per month in 1999 costing them $70.68.
• About 30% of the total energy consumption by us is used for heating water 
• A solar system for homes typically contains solar panels on roof top, a charge controller unit, an inverter, wiring and support structure
• It takes about 2 days to install a 1 Kilowatt home solar system and costs around Rs.5,00,000 ( US $10,000) and it can vary greatly
• A 1 KW home solar system contains about 10 solar panels of 100 Watts each  and may need a space of 100 square feet for installation  
• A 1 KW home solar power system generates nearly 1,600 Kilowatt hours per year in a sunny climate ( receiving 5 hours of sun shine per day) and nearly 750 Kilowatt hours in a cloudy climate ( 2.5 hours of sun shine per day) 
• You can prevent nearly 77 Kgs. of coal from burning, 135 Kg of CO2 being released into atmosphere and 105 gallons of water from consumed each month by using a 1 KW home solar system
• Around 40 solar cells are usually combined into a single solar panel and 10 to 12 panels are mounted in an array facing due north for receiving maximum sun shine.
• Solar panels come in various colors
• Solar energy can be collected and stored in batteries, which can provide electricity 24x7 even on cloudy days and at night
• The amount of sun light that falls on earth in one hour is more than what is being used by entire world population in one year.
• In the year 1990, a solar powered air craft flew 4060 Kms. across USA using no fuel.  This was the world record.
• About 2 billion people in the world are without electricity at present.
• The third world countries with abundant quantity of sun light and most population are currently without electricity represent the fastest growing market for solar energy. 

  
        Read more articles about solar energy and solar panels.

Most interesting and unusual facts

Here are the most interesting and unusual facts.

• There are only two words in English language which contain all the vowels in the correct order.  These words are Facetious and Abstemious.
• The word  "Almost" is the longest commonly used word in English with all the letters in alphabetical order.
• Do you know that "Canada" is an Indian word which means ' Big Village'?
• "Forty" is the only number which has its letters in alphabetical order.   
• "One" is the only number with its letters in reverse alphabetical order
• Do you know what is the first song performed in outer space?  It is "Happy Birthday" sung by the Apollo IX astronauts on 8th March, 1969.
• Do you know that the word "one thousand" contains the letter A.  but none of the words from one to nine hundred and ninety nine contains letter A.
• One person in every three people in Israel use mobile phone.
• Do you know that 10% of human dry weight comes from bacteria?
• Do you know that 166,875,000,000 pieces of mail are delivered each year in USA?
• Do you know that 27% of Americans believe that we never landed on the moon
• A 17 year old girl from Miami, Florida started to sneeze on 4th January, 1966 and continued till 8th June, 1966.
• Do you know that the bat is the only mammal that can fly?
• The blue whale's heart beats only 9 times per minute
• A butterfly can look at you through 12,000 eyes
• The cucumber is 96% water
• The lifespan of a dragonfly is 24 hours
• The memory span of a fish is only 3 seconds
• The full moon is 9 times brighter than a half moon
• Do you know that a hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside?
• A jelly fish is 95% water
• The lion's roar can be heard five miles away
• A shark can detect one part of blood in 100 million parts of water
• Do you know that a snail can have about 25,000 teeth?
• A snail can sleep for 3 years
• The snail can travel over a razor blade without cutting itself 
• 10% of total world population is left handed
• Nearly 10,000,000 people have same birthday as you
• The closest star to earth is 25,000,000,000,000 miles away after the sun which is the first closest star to us

Interesting facts about Snow

Do you know that one septillion ( 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) of snow crystals drop from the sky during each winter?  It takes one million little droplets to make one snowflake..  Here are some interesting facts about Snow.

• Do you know that snow forms when water vapor in the atmosphere freezes into ice crystals?
• Snow is a form of precipitation,  the other forms of precipitation are rain, hail and sleet.
• Snow storms are nothing but heavy snow falls.
• Normally the snow flakes are less than one-half inch across.  But the biggest snow flake ever recorded in the world is a giant snow flake which was found at Fort Keogh, Montana on January, 28, 1887.   It was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick.
•  Do you know that a single snowstorm can drop more than 39 million tons of snow whose energy is equivalent to 120 atomic bombs?  
• The greatest amount of snow fall within 24 hours in US occurred in Silver Lake - Colorado in 1921.  76 inches of snow has fallen within 24 hours. 
• The largest piece of ice to fall on earth was an ice block of 6 meters across that fell in Scotland on 13th August, 1849. 
• Permanent snow and ice cover about 12% of earth land surface. 
• 80% of the world's fresh water is locked up as ice or snow.

Amazing leviating stone of Shivapur

This is something which is unbelievable!   A stone weighing  70 Kg.  which can float in air.   We know it is extremely difficult to lift a stone of 70 Kg weight even with our both hands.   But it can be easily thrown into air with just forefingers of a few people!!!!!!

Can you believe it or not?   Yes it is true

Shivapur is a small village in Maharashtra state in India near Pune city.  This place is famous for its leviating stone.   The actual story behind this leviating stone is like this.  Qumar ali who is famous for his miraculous power on his death bed requested others to keep a circular stone near his tomb.  He said, " If  11 men place their right index fingers under the stone and call my name together, the stone will be lifted higher than their heads".     Otherwise neither a single person or more than 11 people can not lift the stone even 2 feet.

 Qamar Ali was born in a middle class Muslim  family.  When he was six years old,  he became a disciple of a Sufi Pir ( Great Teacher) who spent his time meditating and fasting.   Qamar Ali died in his late teens and on the death bed, he requested other people to place a circular stone on his tomb ( weighing 70 Kg).  According to the legend, Qamar ali said "If 11 people placed their index fingers below the stone and call my name together, I will cause to rise the stone in the air above their heads".  

Even though Qamar Ali was a Muslim,  the 11 people need not be Muslims.  They can be from any religion.  But females cannot lift the stone.  Only males are allowed to lift the stone.   Any one can try to attempt to lift the stone,  but it never gets lifted unless 11 people put their index fingers and utter Qamar Ali's name.

As soon as 11 men placed their index fingers of their right hands below the stone, count upto three and then utter "Qamar Ali Darvesh!",  the stone would float in the air like a living thing.   The stone would fall on the ground several seconds later with a thud sound.

 The participants in this activity are selected randomly.   This is being done frequently in Shivapura for many decades.   Researchers are unable to explain the mystery behind the leviating stone of Shivapura.  If the number of men is more than 11, then it is impossible to lift the stone into air.

Amazing leviating stone of Shivapur

This is something which is unbelievable!   A stone weighing  70 Kg.  which can float in air.   We know it is extremely difficult to lift a stone of 70 Kg weight even with our both hands.   But it can be easily thrown into air with just forefingers of a few people!!!!!!

Can you believe it or not?   Yes it is true

Shivapur is a small village in Maharashtra state in India near Pune city.  This place is famous for its leviating stone.   The actual story behind this leviating stone is like this.  Qumar ali who is famous for his miraculous power on his death bed requested others to keep a circular stone near his tomb.  He said, " If  11 men place their right index fingers under the stone and call my name together, the stone will be lifted higher than their heads".     Otherwise neither a single person or more than 11 people can not lift the stone even 2 feet.

Interesting Optical Illusions

I hope everyone knows what is an illusion.  An illusion is a kind of distortion of the senses, which reveals how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation.   An optical illusion is always characterized by visually perceived images that are deceptive or misleading.  Here are some optical illusions which you may like.  See them and enjoy..

Spinning Dancer Illusion

This is another interesting illusion where you can see the dancer move both clock wise and anti clockwise.  This illusion is erroneously used as brain test to determine whether right or left hemisphere is dominant. 

If you either close the left or right image, and observe the other two images, you can see both of them rotating in same direction.

Otherwise let the rotating lady on right or left guide you.  If you look at the rotating lady on left, you will see all the three pictures are rotating left.  If you look at the rotating lady on right, you will observe that all the three ladies are rotating right.

 

Pacman Illusion  ( Rotating Dots optical illusion)

This is one of the fantastic illusions which is called as Pac Man Illusion.  In the Pac Man Optical Illusion, if you follow the rotating pink dot with your eyes, the dots will remain in only one color, pink.      But if you stare at the black  '+'  sign in the center, the moving dot will appear to be green in color.  

 

Please concentrate on the black '+' sign in the center, and you will see that the moving dot will appear to be green in color.   Keep on staring on the sign and after a short period, all the pink dots will slowly disappear and you will see only one green dot moving in the circle.

 

Same color Illusion

 This illusion is also known as Adelson's checker shadow illusion which shows something difficult to believe.  The square marked  B looks lighter than square marked A.  This is due to the shadow being cast on it.  But actually the color on both squares A and B  is exactly the same shade of grey.  If you cannot believe it, you can cut / print the squares to verify that both are exactly the same shade.  Look at the picture below.

If you can not believe that squares A  and  B are of same shade,  please see the video below which proves it.