How One Man Flies Like a Bird - Watch Video

What does it feel like to fly like a bird by using a jet-propelled wing? Only one man on Earth knows, and he shared his story with the crowd at TED Global in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Tuesday.

Yves Rossy’s invention allows him to fly by attaching to his back a four-engine jet suit with wings, which he starts up after jumping out of a helicopter or plane.

Check out the Video of the man Who files like a bird Below:

Unlike similar aircraft, Rossy’s has no steering controls. Rather, he uses his body to steer — arching his back gains altitude and pushing his shoulders forward sends him into a dive. “If you put steering in it’s more like an airplane. … I wanted to keep freedom of movement,” Rossy told the TED Global crowd.

Traveling at speeds of up to 190 miles per hour and a height of 3,000 meters, the aircraft can stay in the air for about 10 minutes, which was enough time for Rossy to cross the English Channel. He also recently flew above the Grand Canyon.

The device isn’t quite ready for mass consumption, however. Rossy, who served as both a commercial and military pilot earlier in his life, has had to use the wing’s escape parachute about 20 times — sometimes after becoming disoriented in the clouds, others after more than one of the engines fails.

Rossy, who does hope that one day his invention or something like it could be used by anyone, summarized the experience by saying, “I don’t have feathers, but I feel like a bird sometimes. It’s an unreal feeling.”

You can check what one of his flights and invention look like in the video below from his Grand Canyon mission:

Source: Mashable

Antarctica Tops the List of Coldest Places on Earth

Antarctica takes position number one among the coldest places on earth. Mostly uninhabited except for penguin and seal colonies found along the coast, Antarctica has practically no match on the temperature department. At the Plateau Station, temperatures can easily plummet to -119.23° Fahrenheit (-84° Celsius) and the annual average temperature barely reaches -32.8°F (-36°C). The record as the coldest place, however, goes to Vostok Station, Antarctica, where the temperature reached -129°F (-89.4°C) on 21 July 1983. Scientists are the only humans to live on Antarctica for months at a time, and even they do it only in summer.

Of all inhabited areas, one of the coldest places in the world is Siberia. Although global warming has taken a toll on Siberian winters over the past decade, it's normal for temperatures to reach -60°F (-51.1°C) in January. Oymyakon, in Eastern Siberia, has an average winter temperature of -49°F (−45°C), and may have reached a low of -96.16°F (-71.2°C), although the official record is -90°F (-67.7°C). The little village is home to 900 permanent residents, who endure winter for nine months out of the year, and considered -30°F (−34.4°C) "balmy." The area is so cold that empty plastic bags taken outside will freeze within minutes and then crack like glass.

Outside of Russia, the prize as one of the coldest places goes to Greenland, where the cities of Northice and Eismitte frequently see temperatures of -50°F (-45.5°C). The Yukon, Canada, falls close behind by only a few degrees. In the US, one of the coldest places is definitively International Falls, Minnesota, where temperatures normally reach -32°F (-35.5°C) in winter. Prospect Creek, Alaska, has broken several records in the American continent, including reaching -79.8°F (-62.1°C) in 2003.

To survive in the coldest places in the world, humans have had to adapt their environment and lifestyle significantly. Everything freezes at such low temperatures, from electronics to gasoline to pen ink; batteries lose power and pipes crack under the pressure exerted by ice and snow. In Ojmjakon, children are not allowed to play outside for more than 20 minutes at a time during a typical winter day. At -60°F (-51.1°C), their lungs can freeze and collapse. Despite all the difficulties, humans have found a way to change the environment and survive. Many of the coldest places in the world now attract tourists that are eager to see, at least for a few days, what real winter is all about.

Check out the Video to know the Coldest Places in World:

Antarctica tops the list of coldest places on earth, with one spot recording a bone-chilling -129F. By comparison, the US record of -80 seems downright warm.

Source: wiseGeek and Yahoo WhoKnew

The most basketballs dunked in a single jump World Record

Wizards center JaVale McGee (notes) is an excitable boy, the kind of guy who seems to have a world of talent and not enough sense to put it all together. That's not to say that McGee is ineffective or won't ever be a major contributor on a good team. It's just that, even when he does something great like put together a triple-double, he does so in a really goofy way that makes you wonder if it was even all that impressive.

Such was JaVale McGee's performance at this year's dunk contest, as well. He had some amazing dunks, including one in which he dunked three balls in one attempt -- one in each hand, plus an alley-oop from teammate John Wall (notes). Unfortunately, it took him a few tries to complete it, which made the whole idea a little less impressive.

However, the dunk will go down in the record books for its greatness. Literally. From Capital Games:

[W]e now have confirmation in the form of an e-mail from the Guinness people.

"The most basketballs dunked in a single jump was three by JaVale McGee (USA) during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, USA, on 19 February 2011. McGee jumped with two basketballs in his possession before dunking each and receiving a third basketball to dunk via alley-oop from teammate John Wall (USA)." [...]

JaVale has since tweeted a pic of his certificate, which we suppose makes it official. At least it looks official, what with the foil stamp and all. [...]

 We reached out to the Guinness people to find out who solicited the record and the response was "JaVale did directly, or his manager did". Maybe JaVale was a little more bitter about losing the contest than we thought. It's like his triple-double all over again.

Congratulations to McGee, who now takes his place next to such luminaries as that dude with the really long fingernails and the world's fattest twins. You are all champions in my book.

I would have given JaVale the world record for most ridiculous alter ego, but I'm pretty sure Guinness would consider that a matter of opinion, not fact. Whatever the case, I imagine this will be the first of many worldwide accomplishments for McGee before his career is over. He's only four ill-advised drives away from breaking the record for most immediate substitutions in a career.

Source: Yahoo Sports