Earth landing for 'space cheese'

A block of cheese launched into the upper atmosphere on Tuesday has been found undamaged in Buckinghamshire.

The "interstellar cheddar" landed in Cressex - some 74 miles away - and was taken to High Wycombe police station on Wednesday night, the launch team said.

The wedge was still in one piece but the flight-recording camera had failed.

The helium pod's GPS system broke down soon after its launch to mark the Moon landing anniversary so the West Country Cheesemakers team lost track of it.

It was found in a garden and handed in to the police, the group said.

It had been attached to a weather balloon which was launched from Wiltshire 18.6 miles (30km) into the atmosphere.


“ I may try a bit to see if it has matured at high altitude ”
Dom Lane
The helium balloon carrying the payload had burst, indicating it had reached a considerable height in the upper atmosphere.

Dom Lane, of Shepton Mallet's West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers group told BBC News: "I am driving back from High Wycombe with the cheese now.

"I may try a bit to see if it has matured at high altitude and then it will probably go into a glass case at our production offices."

He said the police were very helpful and highly amused at the whole operation.

Mr Lane said he had given the police a selection of farmhouse Cheddars to pass on to the anonymous woman who found the errant cheese.

"The whole exercise was a nice way to wave the flag for authentic Cheddar," he said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/8175347.stm

Published: 2009/07/29 16:54:52 GMT

© BBC MMIX

Mercy Ships on CNN

God Bless America

While the Playing For Change Band was in Los Angeles, Grandpa Elliott received a special invitation to perform at Dodger Stadium. To open the game, Grandpa played a soulful rendition of The Star Spangled Banner on his harmonica. And then during the seventh inning stretch, accompanied by Louis Mhlanga on the electric guitar, Grandpa gave this inspired performance of God Bless America.

As a blind man, Grandpa is not always able to see the joy his music brings to people. This night however, as his last notes were still ringing in the stadium, the sound of tens of thousands of people's vigorous applause brought a jolly grin to this beautiful man's face. Watch the video!
Playing For Change | Peace Through Music

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Instruments of Mercy!

Interesting Facts

The Seven Wonders
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World compiled by ancient Greek historians are: The Great Pyramid of Giza, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, The Colossus of Rhodes and The Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Earth's Record Holders
Highest mountain on Earth, Mt. Everest grows about 4 millimeters a year since two tectonic plates which collided millions of years ago to form the Himalayas, continue to press against each other. Earths highest waterfall is at Angel Falls in Venezuela which drops 3,212 feet (979 meters). Hottest place on earth is Azizia in Libya 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) and coldest was in Vostok, Antarctica -129 Fahrenheit (-89 Celsius). Pacific is the biggest ocean (32.6% of the Earth's surface). Interesting fact is that Amazon recently became longest river by a bit more than 100 meters. According to Guido Gelli (director of science at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) "Today, we can consider the Amazon the longest river in the world". Amazon is 4,225 miles (6,800 kilometers) long and the Nile is 4,160 miles long (6,695 kilometers).

What's Weird In Wales?
Wales (country that is part of the United Kingdom), there is a village called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters), which in English means "Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio near the red cave." The locals call it Llanfairpwll.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com is the longest single word .com domain name in the world.

2012 is expected to be year of great positive change. It is not the end of the world! Back in 1899 something was identified called Schumann Cavity Resonance. It is the heart beat or frequency of the Earth. Since its discovery till 1986 this heart beat frequency was constant 7.8 Hertz per second. From 1986 it started to raise dramatically and in 1998 it was reported to be 10 hertz per second. On other hand magnetics of the earth are dropping dramatically and it is expected they will reach zero point in 2012. Maya calendar and other calendars end in 2012, but it is not the end of the world just beginning of the new one since every 26000 years Earth goes through grand cycle of evolution.

source: http://www.interestingfacts.org/

Bride's bouquet brings down plane

The traditional throwing of a bride's bouquet for luck ended in disaster at an Italian wedding when the flowers caused a plane to crash.

The bride and groom had hired a microlight plane to fly past and throw the bouquet to a line of women guests, Corriere della Sera reported.

However, the flowers were sucked into the plane's engine causing it to catch fire and explode.

The aircraft plunged into a hostel. One passenger on the plane was badly hurt.

But about 50 people who had been in the hostel escaped unscathed, as did the pilot.

Entangled

The incident happened at Montioni park in Suvereto, near Livorno, where the wedding reception was being held, Corriere della Sera said.

A passenger on the microlight, named as Isidoro Pensieri, 44, had the job of throwing the bouquet as pilot Luciano Nannelli flew past.

It is believed the bunch of flowers became entangled as it was thrown, and was sucked into the engine.

Mr Pensieri suffered multiple fractures and a head injury. He was taken to hospital in Grosseto by helicopter and then transferred to another in Pisa, Italian media reported.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8149910.stm

Mercy Ships Alumni report

My pride and joy... one of the many projects I work on...

The Mercy Ships Alumni Report: In our latest webisode, our host, Dr. Andy Rosson, continues to explore the unique world of Mercy Ships. This month, he reports on how donated equipment for the Dental Program on the Africa Mercy helps us double our effort. He introduces us to Elize and Elizè, Beninese twins who got orthopedic surgeries to correct their deformed legs and finally takes us behind the scenes to tell us more about Mercy Teams. See more Alumni news at http://alumni.mercyships.org/

US worker dies in chocolate vat

A man has died after falling into a vat of hot chocolate at a factory in the US state of New Jersey.

Vincent Smith Jr, 29, was emptying pieces of solid chocolate into the melting vat when he slipped from a platform into the 2.5m (8ft) deep unit.

A spokesman for the local prosecutor's office said Mr Smith appeared to have died instantly from a blow to his head by a paddle mixing the chocolate.

His colleagues at the factory tried to shut down the mixer, but were too late.

Mr Smith was a temporary worker at the Cocoa Services Inc plant in the city of Camden.

'Need answers'

Jason Laughlin, from the local county prosecutor's office, said: "There are paddles, called agitators, that are moving inside this vat. He was hit by one of them before someone could hit the shut-off valve."

Investigators said the chocolate had reached 49F (120F). It was being melted in the factory before being shipped out to other companies to make into chocolate bars and other sweets.

Mr Smith had been in the vat for about ten minutes before rescue crews arrived.

Thombe Smith, told journalists: "We just really need to know what happened to my cousin. We just need some answers."

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the US Department of Labour, is investigating the accident.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8141612.stm

Published: 2009/07/09 11:51:48 GMT

© BBC MMIX

Fireworks, Patriotism and the BBC

I just finished watching yet another brilliant BBC mini-series! It was called The State Within. Jason Isaacs, Sharon Gless and Ben Daniels star in a six-part action-packed thriller. Sir Mark Brydon (Jason Isaacs) is the British Ambassador to Washington, who finds himself at the centre of a terrifying conspiracy that could bring down Western Government. As Mark the Ambassador fights to prevent a looming war, Mark the man is faced with a terrible dilemma. In a world of high stakes where manipulation of information means ultimate power – who can Brydon trust? As Mark slowly realises that he's being played by an invisible puppeteer, he cannot even begin to imagine where the conspiracy ends.

BRILLIANT! All of this in one six episode marathon! Due to the 4th of July longweekend I ended with some more freetime than I planned and once i started watching I had to finish it! Nail biting British take on 24 I guess.

So yet another explosive 4th of July but with temperatures touching 100˚F (38˚C) I opted to watch the fireworks on TV. Thank you Macy's for your sponsorship of the New York Fireworks Show. Got a lot of work done by going to work over the holidays. NO one on base. Quite a pleasure!

Bible Giveaway!

Win 1 of 72 Ultra-Premium Bibles

Source: http://bible.logos.com/

You've never seen a Bible Giveaway like this before! Between July and December Bible.Logos.com is giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles. You can enter up to 5 times per month. Go check it out."