THE IDITAROD

THE IDITAROD IS AN ANNUAL DOG SLED RECE THAT TAKES PLACE ON THE IDITIROD TRAIL BETWEEN ANCHORAGE,ALSKA AND NOME,ALASKA.THE IDITAROD ISNT JUST ANY RACE;IT'S A RACE THAT PAIRS HUMANS,OR MUSHERS,WITH THEIR SLED DOGS AS THEY MAKE THEIR WAY ACROSS WELL OVER 1100 MILES (1769KILOMETERS) OF SOME OF THE ROUGHEST , COLDEST WILDERNESS IN NORTH AMERICA.THE IDITAROD HAS BEEN CALLED "THE LAST GREAT RACE ON EARTH" AND IT GOT ITS START IN 1973 WITH A TOTAL WINNING PURSE OF $25,000 US DOLLARS(USD)

What happened December 17, 1903?

The 1903 Flyer after its last flightImage credit: Library of Congress




The First FlightImage credit: Library of Congress



The original 1903 Flyer had a very short flying career—five attempts at flight, four of them successful. Following the triumphant flights of December 17, 1903, the Flyer was completely destroyed by a gust of wind. Though the Wright brothers usually destroyed or abandoned their aircraft, they kept the wrecked Flyer, crating it up and carrying it back to Ohio.The Flyer was uncrated thirteen years later, and rebuilt. The broken and missing pieces were replaced and only partially documented. The machine which had existed in 1903 was never again complete. Since the Wrights made no drawings of the Flyer, its exact design has remained a mystery. The Flyer has had a long second career as a curiosity and museum piece. At the center of a fued between the Orville Wright and the Smithsonian Institution, it spent a quarter century exiled in England. It came back to the United Stated in 1948, and has been on display ever since. This October, it will form the centerpiece of an exhibit The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.


For a history of the Flyer and its long career as a symbol of the Wright brothers, visit In Depth: The 1903 Flyer, part I.

tHe ChUnNeL

The Channel Tunnel (French: Le tunnel sous la Manche), also known by the portmanteau Chunnel, is a 50.5 km (31.4 mi) undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in England with Coquelles near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point it is 75 m (250 ft) deep. It has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world, although Japan's Seikan Tunnel is longer overall at 53.85 km (33.5 mi) and reaches a depth of 240 m (790 ft).
The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel ro-ro vehicle transport and international rail freight trains. In 1996 the American Society of Civil Engineers identified the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

Endeavour Lands in California !!!

Image above: Space shuttle Endeavour and the STS-126 crew land at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. after completing a mission to the International Space Station.

With commander Chris Ferguson and pilot Eric Boe at the controls, space shuttle Endeavour descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The STS-126 crew members concluded their successful mission to the International Space Station when the shuttle touched down at 4:25 p.m. EST. Endeavour arrived at the station Nov. 16, delivering equipment that will help allow the station to double its crew size to six. In addition, the STS-126 astronauts delivered Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus, who replaced Greg Chamitoff, now a mission specialist who returned to Earth aboard Endeavour. STS-126 is the 124th shuttle mission and 27th shuttle flight to visit the space station.Due to the late landing time of space shuttle Endeavour, the previously reported STS-126 post-landing news conference at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., has been canceled.

Mall In Dubai

The Dubai Mall - A place like no other. A new day, a new dawn. From the wind swept sands, a new legend rises. A mall of epic proportions that is named The Dubai Mall.

. The Dubai Mall is the region's premier shopping, lifestyle and entertainment destination. With more than 1,200 stores and a host of world-class attractions, The Dubai Mall is revolutionizing the modern shopping experience.
With an impressive array of leisure pursuits, this is the ultimate, cutting-edge shopping experience. A range of adventure sports vies for attention alongside the romance of ice-skating. The Dubai Mall is a place where outdoor brunch can be followed by the delights of the big screen and where a 21st century gold souk is set off against a world class aquarium. When was the last time your sortie to the designer stores took place under the watchful eye of a giant sea turtle? Step inside The Dubai Mall and experience a place like no other.

From the timeless tranquility of the desert to the lively bustle of the souk, Dubai offers a kaleidoscope of attractions for visitors. In a single day, the tourist can experience everything from rugged mountains and awe-inspiring sand dunes to sandy beaches and lush green parks, from dusty villages to luxurious residential districts and from ancient houses with wind towers to ultra-modern shopping malls. Now a new activity has been added to create one of the most captivating contrast: Skiing in Dubai! YES SKIING; skiing on real snow.

Ski Dubai in Dubai Emirates Mall started in December 2005 is the worlds third largest indoor ski slope, measuring 400 meters and using 6000 tons of snow. Dubai skiing resort is the first Dubai indoor ski slope to open.A second indoors ski slope is the Dubai Sunny Mountain Ski Dome in Dubailand which is due to open in 2009. It will provide a great attraction, featuring a revolving ski slope, an artificial mountain range, an ice bridge, a cable lift, a snow maze, an ice slide, polar bears cold water-aquaria and special sound and light effects.

PODCASTING!!!!

GOOD POD CASTING TIPS

KEEP IT SHORT FROM 1-2 MINUTES

1)3 RULES TELL THE AUDIENCE UPFRONT WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY ;]

2) SAY IT:(

3) TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU SAID! ;)

The last attempt at a bridge designed to span the Strait of Gibraltar was a design by U.S. engineer T.Y.Lin in 1986 which would require three support pylons one mile high and footings that plunge to the sea bottom one half mile down underwater and then sink an additional quarter of a mile destroying the existing ecology of the sea bottom surrounding it significantly disturbing the marine environment of the area. Lin’s design was based on previous traditional bridge concepts and was similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco enlarged to five times its original size. Currently, the longest existing bridge is the Seto Ohashi Kojima bridge 13.22 kilometers long and built in 1988 for $8.3 billion dollars. It does not float