Author: news

Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth. It has a very strong and horrible odor of decaying flesh, earning it the nickname “corpse flower”. It is endemic to the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. Although there are some plants with larger flowering organs like the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) and talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera), those are technically clusters of many flowers. Rafflesia arnoldii (Indonesian: padma raksasa) is one of the three national flowers in Indonesia, the other two being the white jasmine and moon orchid.

10. Eddie Murphy 
The actor reportedly purchased the luxurious island at a cool $15 million (Private Islands Magazine). Murphy’s new island is 15 acres and is nearby Nassau. Although it is unclear whether Murphy plans to turn the island into a resort, the island is reportedly the perfect place for a profitable business.

A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water supply system for the distribution of potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. In some places, the term standpipe is used interchangeably to refer to a water tower, especially one with tall and narrow proportions.Water towers often operate in conjunction with underground or surface service reservoirs, which store treated water close to where it will be used.Other types of water towers may only store raw (non-potable) water for fire protection or industrial purposes, and may not necessarily be connected to a public water supply.

The Leshan Giant Buddha is a 71-metre (233 ft) tall stone statue, built during the Tang Dynasty. It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan.

The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest stone Buddha in the world  and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world.

In Guatemala culture, afterlife is highly celebrated, and this cultural aspect is readily visible in their cemeteries. Scattered throughout the countryside of Guatemala are cemeteries that feature tombstones painted as colorfully as possible. Friends and family members paint them using the favorite color of the departed as a way of honoring and remembering the dead. Some of these cemeteries, especially those in the departments of Solóla, Chichicastenango and Xela (Quetzaltenango), have became tourist attractions.During the All Saints Day on November 1, also celebrated as the Day of the Dead, the cemetery becomes the focal point for rituals and prayer for those who have passed on.

Bubblegum Alley is a tourist attraction in downtown San Luis Obispo, California, known for its accumulation of used bubble gum on the walls of an alley. It is a 15-foot (4.6 m) high and 70-foot (21 m) long alley lined with chewed gum left by passers-by. It covers a stretch of 20 meters in the 700 block of Higuera Street in downtown San Luis Obispo.According to the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and Downtown BUSINESS Improvement Association, the origin of the gum is “a little sketchy”. Some historians believe that the tradition of the alley STARTED after WWII as a San Luis Obispo High School graduating class event. Others believe it STARTED in the late 1950s, as rivalry between San Luis Obispo High School and California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) students. By the 1970s, Bubblegum Alley was well established.

If you are an adventure-seeking hiker who has no problem with acrophobia and you are sure-footed, then challenging the world’s most dangerous hiking trails might be appealing, even upon learning one trail is referred to as the Hike of Death. They are steep, scary, spine tingling, and treacherous, but very much captivating. Mind you, there may be several others that are more dangerous, but these dangerous hiking trails certainly rank right up there in difficulty.