Chinese schools install metal bars on desks to prevent short-sightedness in students
London: Schools across China have installed metal bars on classroom desks to prevent short-sightedness in pupils, it has been revealed. The bars, which resemble supports on a roller-coaster, are designed to force students to sit the correct distance from their work and avoid squinting, the Daily Star reported. Children can rest their chins when reading or can push the bars forward to support books on their desks.
The scheme is currently limited to 19 primary schools in the city of Wuhan in eastern China, and is being funded by the City Teen Anti-Myopia Office. (ANI)
Manila’s Makati City and Pasig crowned as world’s selfie capitals
Washington: Manila’s Makati City, the financial district, and suburban Pasig, have topped as world’s selfie capitals, based on data gathered from Instagram.
According to Time Magazine, each of Makati City and Pasig has 258 selfie-takers per 100,000 people. Cebu, central Philippines, ranked 9th with 95 selfie-takers per 100,000 people. Time’s data included Manhattan, second, which has 202 selfie-takers per 100,000 people; Miami, 3rd, with 155 selfie-takers per 100,000 people; Anaheim and Sta. Ana, California, 4th, 147 self-takers per 100,000 people; Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 5th, 141 selfie-takers; Tel Aviv, 6th, 139 self-takers; Manchester, 7th, 114 self-takers; Milan, 8th, 108 selfie-takers; and George Town, Malaysia, 10th, 95 selfie-takers. (ANI)
London to test ‘smart’ pedestrian crossings
London: London is set to become the first city in the world to test ‘smart’ crosswalks equipped with sensors and cameras to make crossing roads easier and safer for pedestrians.
The introduction of Pedestrian Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique, or ‘pedestrian SCOOT’, is the first of its kind in the world and uses hi-tech video camera technology to automatically detect how many pedestrians are waiting at crossings.
It enables the adjustment of traffic signal timings automatically to extend the green pedestrian invitation to cross phase when large numbers of people are waiting, allowing more people to cross the road.
“I am delighted that London is the first city in the world to be trialling this cutting-edge equipment, which will benefit pedestrians across the city,” said Mayor of London, Boris Johnson in a statement.
The first trials of pedestrian SCOOT are set to take place on crossings outside Balham and Tooting Bec Underground stations this summer.
London will be the first city to use this kind of technology in its pedestrian crossings, though SCOOT is already used in traffic lights, to help control traffic congestion, in London and other cities around the world, including Toronto, Beijing and Santiago, according to Mashable. (ANI)
Man takes up 99-character-long name post losing bet
Washington: A man from New Zealand Man had officially changed his name into 99-caracter-long name, after he lost a bet.
The man, whose current name is “Full Metal Havok More Sexy N Intelligent Than Spock And All The Superheroes Combined With Frostnova”, hadn”t realized that his application was approved in 2010 until his passport recently expired, the Huffington Post reported. It has been revealed that Frostnova can change his name back only after paying a fee and filling out the correct form. (ANI)
Man who spent nearly 3 decades on US death row is freed
LOUISIANA: A man who spent nearly 26 years on death row in Louisiana walked free of prison hours after a judge approved the state’s motion to vacate the man’s murder conviction in a the 1983 killing of a jeweller. Glenn Ford, 64, had been on death row since August 1988 in connection with the death of 56-year-old Isadore Rozeman, a Shreveport jeweler and watchmaker for whom Ford had done occasional yard work. Ford had always denied killing Rozeman.
Ford walked out the maximum security prison at Angola on Tuesday afternoon, said Pam Laborde, a spokeswoman for Louisiana’s Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
Asked as he walked away from the prison gates about his release, Ford told WAFB-TV, “It feels good; my mind is going in all kind of directions. It feels good.”
Ford told the broadcast outlet he does harbor some resentment at being wrongly jailed: “Yeah, cause, I’ve been locked up almost 30 years for something I didn’t do.”
“I can’t go back and do anything I should have been doing when I was 35, 38, 40 stuff like that,” he added.
State District Judge Ramona Emanuel on Monday took the step of voiding Ford’s conviction and sentence based on new information that corroborated his claim that he was not present or involved in Rozeman’s death, Ford’s attorneys said. Ford was tried and convicted of first-degree murder in 1984 and sentenced to death. (AP)
Vodka saves poisoned dog’s life
Washington: It is rare that a Vodka hangover can save someone’s life but in a rare incidence, a Maltese terrier named Charlie was saved when the vets pumped Vodka straight into the doggie’s stomach after he licked the antifreeze off the floor of his owner’s garage.
Owner Jacinta Rosewarne observed that his dog was diagnosed with Ethylene Glycol poisoning and was acting strange and therefore, rushed him to the nearby Animal Accident and Emergency hospital in Melbourne, Australia, ABC News reported.
The vets pumped vodka straight into the doggie’s stomach in multiple doses to the point where Charlie was shaking.
Rosewarne told The Herald Sun that Charlie was stumbling around and he tried to pat him but the dog pushed him away like a normal drunk person. The drunken spell lasted about 48 hours. (ANI)
Australia hatches its first IVF shark
Melbourne: A 16-cm shark pup has become the first ever shark in Australia to be born via artificial insemination, raising hope that technology can help breed endangered species.
The brown banded bamboo shark is also the first in the world to be created using a live semen sample transported from one facility to another.
The shark pup was born in Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium on March 3 to a 1.5 metre female, believed to be around 10 years-old.
The insemination process started last year in September, when researchers collected a semen sample from a male brown banded bamboo shark at Underwater World Sea Life Mooloolaba and transported it to Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium via air freight.
The female shark was inseminated the same day. Led by Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium Research Consultant Dr Jon Daly, together with The Aquarium Vet Dr Rob Jones, the artificial insemination is part of an ambitious nine year project into understanding the reproductive behaviours of sharks endemic to Australia and implementing captive breeding programmes.
“A labour of love for the past nine years, we’re extremely proud and excited to see our hard work paying off with the birth of this Brown Banded Bamboo shark pup,” said Daly. (PTI)
Chinese woman sails 20,000 km across Pacific in 300 days
Beijing: A woman from Changsha, Hunan province sailed more than 20,000 km across Pacific in 300 days with her husband to realize their dream to travel the world.
According to Chinese newspaper, Changsha Evening, Wan Jinyu, 51, of Changsha started her journey with her husband, Rolf Nylander, a Swede on Nov 8, 2012 from western Mexico to mark their wedding anniversary.
The couple traveled across the Pacific and visited 38 islands in seven countries and regions. Jinyu and Nylander ended their complicated but exhilarating trip in Philippines on Feb 7. (ANI)