Hoax - Picture of Sharks Swimming In Flooded Kuwait Scientific Center

Outline
Message that features an image of sharks swimming in a flooded lobby at the bottom of escalators claims that the picture was taken after the collapse of the shark tank at the Scientific Center in Kuwait.


Brief Analysis
The image is the result of digital manipulation and it does not depict the result of a shark tank collapse in Kuwait, or anywhere else. The source picture shows Toronto's Union Station after water from a damaged sewer pipe inundated the building. There are no sharks in the original picture. 


Detailed analysis and references below example.


Example

The collapse of a shark tank at The Scientific Center in Kuwait. Share this because it's probably the only time in your life you will see something like this.

 

Detailed Analysis
This message, which circulates via social media posts and email and has also been posted to many blogs and websites, features an image supposedly depicting sharks swimming in a flooded building lobby at the base of a pair of escalators. The message claims that the picture depicts the result of a shark tank collapse at the Scientific Center in Kuwait and suggests that users share the image because they are unlikely to see such an event again. 

However, things are not what they seem. The picture is the result of a clever digital manipulation in which the sharks have been added to a photograph of a flooded subway station. The original - sharkless - photograph (included below) can be seen on the CBCNews website and was uploaded on June 1st 2012 by "Your News" user Jenny Porter. The photograph shows a part of Toronto, Canada's Union Station after a surge of rainwater and sewerage unexpectedly inundated the building due to sewerage construction work in the city: 

Image credit: Jenny Porter/CBCNews

Thus it seems that some prankster has taken the original picture and added in the sharks from another image source. And, the picture has no connection to the Scientific Center in Kuwait, which does feature a large - and still very much intact - aquarium. Ironically, back in 2010, a shark-filledaquarium at a large mall in Dubai did crack, causing a precautionary evacuation of the building and some leakage. However, the breach was quickly contained and none of the aquarium's residents escaped to swim the mall and none were harmed.

Although it is currently unclear who created the fake shark image, it seems likely that it was intended only as a harmless prank. 

 

References
Union Station Flood - June 1st
Union Station flooding investigated by TTC and city
The Kuwait Scientific Center
Shark-filled aquarium in Dubai shopping centre cracks open

Olympic Tower 2016 - Rio Solar City Tower Design

Outline
Message claims that attached images show an innovative solar powered tower that is to be built in the bay at Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games. 
Brief Analysis
The Solar City Tower is a concept envisaged by Zurich based architecture and design studio RAFAA. The design was created for a competition in 2009. The images show an artist's impression of what the proposed tower might look like if constructed. However, the project is just a proposal and the tower may never actually be built.

Detailed analysis and references below example.

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Last updated: 17th August 2010
First published: 17th August 2010
Article written by Brett M. Christensen
About Brett Christensen and Hoax-Slayer

Example

Subject: Olympic Tower 2016

Olympic Tower 2016... for Rio de Janeiro



This vertical structure will be placed in Cotonduba Island. It will be both a observation Tower, and a welcome sign for the visitors arriving by air and by sea at Rio de Janeiro, where the Olympic Games 2016 will take place.

The project is from Zurique, and utilizes solar energy during the day with its solo power panels, to pump the sea water as seen in the model. The movement of the water will be also utilized to turn the turbines and produce the power to work the system at night time.



In the Solo City Tower is the Cafe anfiteatre, auditórium, shops etc. lifts will take the visitors to the top, where the view will be fantastic, and bungee jumping will have a special platform.

 

Detailed Analysis
According to this message, attached images depict an innovative solar-powered tower that will be built at Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games. The message claims that the structure will be placed on an island at the entrance to Rio as a welcome to visitors and will generate energy via solar panels during the day and via water turbines at night. 

However, at the time of writing, the Solar City Tower is just a proposal and it is unclear if the project will actually go ahead. The design for the tower was created by Zurich based architecture and design studio RAFAA. In response to my enquiry about the project, Rafael Schmidt, the director at RAFAA, replied with the following information:

Dear Brett Christensen,

Please let me first clarify the state of the project. The Solar City Tower was a proposal for a competition in 2009. As it had drawn great media attention in the last months, we decided to contact the President of Rio 2016 again. We don't have any confirmation from the local authorities so far and don't know if this project will ever happen! Therefore the design is in a very early stage and we are facing lots of technical problems. Even though we have done some research in this field, a solid cost estimation or an energy consumption of this building is not possible at the moment.

Best Regards
Rafael Schmidt
Director

RAFFAA has more details about the proposal on its website, including the following description of the project's concept:

The aim of this project is to ask how the classic concept of a landmark can be reconsidered. It is less about an expressive, iconic architectural form; rather, it is a return to content and actual, real challenges for the imminent post-oil-era. This project represents a message of a society facing the future; thus, it is the representation of an inner attitude. Our project, standing in the tradition of “a building/city as a machine”, shall provide energy both to the city of Rio de Janeiro and its citizens while using natural resources. We hope to attain an international Olympic message with a political appeal. After hosting the United Nation’s Earth Summit in 1992, Rio de Janeiro will once again be the starting point for a global green movement and for a sustainable development of urban structures. It will perhaps even become a symbol for the first zero carbon footprint Olympic Games.

The tower is certainly an interesting and innovative proposal. However, quite a few of the many blog posts that discuss this project imply that the Solar Tower will definitely be built. As noted above, this is not the case. To reiterate, the Solar Tower is currently just a proposal and, in fact, the project may never go ahead.

 

References
RAFAA - Solar City Tower
2016 Olympic Games - Rio

Great Wall of China is now LONGER!

Over 2,200 years after it was built, China's Great Wall continues to be a mystery, as new studies reveal that it could be almost 2.4 times longer than originally measured.

Archaeologists and mapping experts have found 43,721 sites related to the Great Wall structure crisscrossing the country, making its overall length to be at 21,196.18 km, according to the latest survey published by China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

"The previous estimation particularly refers to Great Walls built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), but this new measure includes Great Walls built in all dynasties," Yan Jianmin, office director of the China Great Wall Society, an NGO founded by specialists and scholars to protect the Great Wall, told state-run China Daily.

Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), was famous for building the Great Wall, the world's largest human-made structure.

But construction of the wall had begun as early as 7th century BC, the new survey said.

The oldest section of the Great Walls that have been found is the Great Wall of Qi State in Shandong province and the Great Wall of Chu State in Henan province. Both date back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), according to Yan.

"As thousands of years pass, some ground structures disappear, and we do not know where the walls used to be. When some local governments or companies develop the land, like for coal mining or building new roads, they destroy the remaining parts under the ground," Yan said.

"Now we are clear about the location of the Great Wall, so the government can take steps to protect the walls, and local governments are clear about their responsibility to protect the walls," he said.

Wired Custom

Kabul. The world’s most unstable country in the spotlight again as the infamous Afghanistan these days. This time the headlines in Afghanistan, a terrorist event, but the year 2010 the famous “Aisha Mohammdji” case.

Yes, Aisha Mohammdji the same girl who run away from home and paid the penalty of his nose and ears cut off. Western media recently reported that the point at issue and where Aisha is now and how life is.
 This is the story of Aisha.
 • When Aisha was 12 years old when her father married her to repay the loan was made by a Taliban fighter.
• He was staying in the house where it hit a stone and was forced to sleep in animal enclosures.• When all this is opposed by Aisha, her husband and in-laws killed the great auk ears cut off his nose. Aisha when she died that she had thrown over the mountains.• crawl across the mountains, the Aisha somehow reached his grandfather’s house. After some time hiding in August 2010 from the Aisha was sent to Kabul.• 2011 to Aisha took refuge in the United States where the surgery was to be his face. New York-based organization “Women of the Afghans,” said Aisha care of the whole. Aisha complete recovery after December 2011, the “Women of the Afghans and Jami Ajhrali Ajhrali the soil has been sent to live with.Aisha now will remain in the United States. Thankfully a new life today, where Aisha isstanding on the threshold arm is spread out for him.

Read more: http://newsflavor.com/politics/world-politics/afghan-opposition-to-the-marriage-then-cut-the-girls-nose-ears/#ixzz1yEcgG8bz

How to Build a Simple Speaker Circuit

This is a very simple project in which you put together a simple speaker circuit that can work with any standard speaker jack such as on a computer or a CD player so that you can hear sounds from these devices. This project is very basic in design and in the end, it will not look pretty, but you'll learn the basics about speakers and know more about how they're connected to give sound output.

Parts Needed
-Basic Speaker (8-ohm, 16-ohm, doesn't matter)
-3.5mm Plug
-Jumper Wires

During this project, we're going to use a very simple 8-ohm speaker, which can be easily be gotten from most electronic parts distributors such as at digikey or allelectronics.com. However, any other impedance-rated speaker can be used. This is the speaker below:

Next we deal with the 3.5mm plug. The type that you see being used with this project is a mono plug; it only has two contacts. However, a stereo 3.5mm plug can also be used. For this experiment, it doesn't matter. The 3.5mm plug may come in many fashions. It may be a 3.5mm male to male plug, a 3.5mm male to female cable. We are not interested in the other side, only the male side. What we're going to do is take the 3.5mm plug and cut it at any part of the wire. This should expose two wires, a wire which represents the positive side of the male plug and a wire which represents the ground of the male plug.

Now the last part is to connect the speaker to the 3.5mm jack. You can do this by soldering the wires together. If you don't have a soldering iron, you can just use alligator clips to provide an electrical connection. This is the fully connected speaker below:

This is now the completed speaker which can be used with any standard speaker jack whether on a computer, CD player, etc. All you have to do is place the speaker into the speaker jack and you should hear sound output if the device is powered and playing sound back.

Although speakers do not need power in order to work, they do need amplification. This is why it must be plugged into a speaker jack, which is equipped internally to provide amplification to the speaker so that it can play out sound with enough volume for a user to hear.

So great, you now know how to build a simple speaker circuit.

Railways, SAIL intend to set up coach factory at Singur, says Mamata

Even as the legal battle for the erstwhile Nano site at Singur is still on, West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has said that Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Indian Railways is looking to set up a metro coach factory at the location.

“I had a discussion with the Railways Minister, Dinesh Trivedi, regarding the setting up of a metro rail coach factory at Singur. Railways has already showed keenness on this, at the same time, SAIL, too, has given a letter. Singur land is with us. But since a court case is on, there are some legal bindings. We will be happy if Railways, SAIL and the state government can form a joint venture. We are committed to returning 400 acres to the unwilling farmers,” Banerjee said, as part of her briefing on an industrial revolution set to engulf West Bengal.

SAIL chairman, C S Verma, however, refrained from commenting on a proposed project at Singur.

“SAIL and Railways have a longstanding business relationship. To strengthen it further, work has commenced in new areas, several of them in West Bengal, such as a wagon manufacturing unit at Kulti, wagon components manufacturing factory at Jellingham, Nandigram for manufacture of cast steel bogies and coupler, etc. SAIL has also requested Railways for allocation of rail coach factory project at Kanchrapara. Besides, SAIL is in talks with Railways for setting a metro coach manufacturing facility in any suitable site in West Bengal,” Verma said in a statement.

Even if the venture materializes at Singur, it will not happen in the near term, and Banerjee realizes it as well. Banerjee won the first round of the court battle against Tata Motors, as the Calcutta High Court upheld the validity of the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act that revoked the agreement between Tata Motors and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation for the Singur land. But the judgement has been stayed till November 2, giving the company time to file an appeal.

Moreover, vendors and unwilling farmers at Singur are also likely to file an appeal for an extension of stay.

Top 10 Fastest Growing Economies in 2012

2012 is the Year of the Dragon and yes, it’s the year of sustainability. With the mammoth most prediction of the world ending this year, people are hoping to see some positives too. Broadly, a few of the nations worldwide are expected to go through a downfall whereas are few are looking forward to a prosperous economy. Here are top 10 fastest growing economies in 2012

10.Iraq:

With a GDP forecast in 2012 of $128.094 billion and an overall GDP growth of 10.568% Iraq is predicted to be in the list of the fastest booming economies,

 

9.Mozambique:

As he announced the national budget, Aiuba cuereneia, the minister of planning and development, said ‘ We expect a significant increase of 27.5% to come from the mining sector, while the manufacturing industry will grow by  3.6%’. Coal exports are predicted to rise by 22% to approximately $2.3 billion, as the budget forecasts. The GDP forecast in 2012 is $12.9 billion. And the overall GDP growth would be 7.5 per cent.

8.Angola:

Situated in the not-so-economically well off Africa, Angola is also anticipated to be an emergent economy in the year proceeding. The GDP is forecast of $1.32 billion and GDP growth of 10.49%. Angola is dependent upon oil for over 90% for its export income and so the increasing output volume is set to hype up the economy by 12.8% this year.

7.Ethiopia:

Although it has been amongst the poorest countries in Africa, it is expected to grow economically in the following year. Having a GDP forecast of $32.3 billion and the GDP growth of 8.02% it is there in the list.

6.Qatar:

It has experienced a rapid economic growth over the last few years due to higher oil prices. Oil and gas have made Qatar one of the highest per capita income countries. Its natural gas reserves are around 26 trillion cubic meters which makes up about 14% of the total worlds natural gas and the third largest in the world.

5.Timor Leste:

Timor Leste has a GDP forecast  in 2012 of  $0.807 billion and the GDP growth to be 8.63 %. This makes it to be the fastest growing economies in 2012 as well.

4.Haiti:

$9.21 billion being the GDP forecast in the year 2012 and a GDP growth of 8.8%, Haiti is anticipated to be one of the fastest growing economies of the world for the upcoming year.

3.India:

‘India has an advantage of size. The scope of growth and excess capacity present in terms of resources would drive growth in the future’ said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at care. The GDP of India is forecasted to increase a 7.82% from 2011, at $1.858 trillion. India too is looking ahead to an upbeat year in 2012.

2. Sri Lanka:

According to Gareth Leather, Asia economist at capital economist, it is expected that Sri Lankan economy would grow to an 8% in 2012, making it the fastest growing economy in emerging Asia after China.

1.China:

Regarding the growth forecasts, china’s GDP is predicted to reach to $7.209 trillion and a growth rate of 9.52%. China’s economy will carry on to grow robustly and would remain thefastest growing economy.