A living thing that lives more than 400 years.

ocean quahog(image source: wikimedia commons)

These are called ocean quahog found in North Atlantic Ocean live more than four hundred years. It is also called by the names such as black clam, mahogany quahog etc. The size of these species is around 50mm. The longest reported age is 507 years and is collected in 2006. Previously it was a 374 year old was collected in 1868.

Longest living species. Longest life span

A robot will teach coding to kids

 A robot has been developed to teach kids of all ages the coding. 

The robot named Root looks just like a smoke detector but is actually a sophisticated robot. A magnetic surface, wheels, and an impressive arsenal of sensors allow it to navigate a classroom whiteboard. But Root isn't actually programed to do anything. Its tasks and functionality lies on a child's imagination. 

The robot is capable of driving and drawing as well as playing music, but Root needs instructions to operate, a line of code. Zivthan Dubrovsky of Harvard's Wyss Institute recalls testing out Root with kids for the first time.

Using a tablet connected wirelessly to the robot, level one introduces kids to the principles of programing using an interface of simple commands and pictures. As they become more adept, they jump to levels 2 and 3, at which point writing computer code becomes second nature, according to Dubrovsky.

The team hopes to partner up with education companies to develop curriculums based around Root with the hopes of enticing schools to add the robot to classrooms.

"By adding a robot into the classroom you are actually adding a third agent into the classroom and you enable a new interesting way of teaching where the students can become the teachers, teaching the robot to do things," Dubrovsky said. While at the same time learning a new skill, one that is increasingly important in a digital world where knowing how to code could become just as important as knowing to read and write.

(Source: Reuters)

Underdogs become top dogs as they train to fly a plane, revealing their unique qualities

Twelve abandoned dogs from across the UK will attempt to become the first dogs to fly a plane in a new television series. The dozen canines were chosen by experts from the 120,000 in UK rescue shelters each year and were taken to a Sussex mansion for exercises designed to prepare them for their challenge. During a 10-week training period, scientists looked at their communication, empathy, memory and reasoning skills and the six-episode series follows their journey as they blossom under the care of trainers, behaviour specialists and vets. Among those putting the canines through their paces are Mat Ward, a clinical animal behaviourist who acts as an expert witness in dog-related court cases, and Cath Phillips, a police dog trainer. A chosen few will then be sent to flight school to be trained in flying a single-engine aircraft. At the end of the series each dog will be given a loving new home. Presenter Jamie Theakston said the series would show how unique and talented each dog is. "People give up on them too easily and this series will show us why we shouldn’t. They are just as deserving and just as intelligent," he said. Theakston added that he had been surprised by each dog's ability to show empathy, despite the difficult circumstances they had grown up in. "Even if a dog has been deprived of human contact or has been badly treated, it is just as able and motivated to initiate a new relationship with a human very quickly." Stanley Coren, professor of canine psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, was not convinced the dogs would be able to manage the challenge. "Given that we would not expect a human three-year-old to be able to fly a plane, I would not expect that a dog could do so either," he told The Independent.

A spanish man skipped six years work and unnoticed.

A Spanish man was fined after his employer discovered that he had been absent from work for six years without notifying anyone. Joaquin Garcia, a 69-year-old is an engineer at a municipal water company in Cadiz. He was fined more than $30,300 after his employer discovered that he hadn't reported for work for six years while attempting to present him an award for 20 years of service. The maximum fine represents only sightly less than one year of his annual salary of almost $41,600. His employers at the water company believed he was being supervised by local authorities while deputy mayor Jorge Blas Fernandez thought the opposite to be true. "We thought he had been supervised by the water company but that was not the case," he told Spanish news outlet El Mundo. According to the BBClocal newspapers have given Garcia the nickname "el funcionario fantasma" or "the phantom official." Garcia said a combination of office bullying related to his family's politics and a lack of work for him to do at the water company ultimately caused his extended absence. He did not report these condition for fear of losing his job. He did occasionally report to work for brief periods of time but spent his days at the office studying philosophy. Garcia wrote to the mayor and requested to not pay the fine and is seeking a review of the court's ruling.

Interesting facts about Valentine’s day

1. Based on retail statistics, about 3 percent of pet owners will give Valentine’s Day gifts to their own pets. 2. About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year making them the second largest seasonal card sending time of the year. 3. During the Medieval Times girls would eat unusual foods on Valentine’s Day. It was believed that it made them have dreams about their future husband. 4.The oldest known Valentine’s Day card is being displayed at the British Museum in London. It’s dates back to the 1400’s. 5. In Finland Valentine’s Day is called Ystävänpäivä, which in english means “Friend’s day”. It's more about remembering your buddies than your loved ones. 6. In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They would wear this name pinned onto their sleeves for one week to let everyone to see. This was the origin of the expression "to wear your heart on your sleeve." 7. More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for the Valentine's Day. 8. 73 percent of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are only men, while only 27 percent are women. 9. Women purchase the most valentines day gifts approximately 85 percent of the gifts are bought by women

Amazing and Weird jobs in The World

These are some of the world’s most weird jobs in the world that you will be surprised to know.

1.    Professional line-standers: You don’t have enough patience to stand in queue? These professionals are there to stand in a line for you. These are busy especially during big sales and product launches. Rates may vary from one to other.

2.    Oshiya: These people work in japan railway stations. As the Trains in Japan are fully crowded the japan railways came with solution called oshiya (People onto train pushers) , these people push the people into the trains to get the doors closed in time.

3.    Professional mourners: The professional mourners are there to attend funerals and grieve for the deceased. This is an ancient practice and is found in China, Africa and the Middle East. There is also a company called Rent A Mourner in England which offers mourners.  The cost is around $70 for two hours.

4.    Car Plate Blockers: In Iran some local authorities place restrictions on number of cars allowed on road by allowing the cars whose numbers ends with even or odd on a given day. So drivers hire some people to walk or stand behind their cars to cover the number plate.

5.    Dog surfing instructors: There are people who teach your dog how to surf. They can be found at some ocean resorts. Some even offer classes strictly for dogs.

6.    Professional Ear Cleaners: There are a few professional ear cleaners found in streets of India. They clean the wax and dust in the ears of the people.

7.    Cuidacarros: This is a profession in Brazil, these people watch your car while you left. Some of them accept whatever given on your return, while others have a strict prices ranging from 1 to 10 dollars.

8.    Face feelers: These are trained to use their hands and judge the effectiveness of products like lotions, facial cleansers, and razors. Face feelers work part-time, but they can earn up to $25 per hour. They are also called as 'sensory scientists,'

9.    Ash portrait artists: They get creative with the remains of once loved ones. Following cremation, some people hire these artists to create a token of remembrance, like a necklace or glass sculpture.

10. Dog food tasters: They test the quality of the pet foods and are hired by pet food companies to test the quality of their products. They also evaluate the nutritional value.

11.Snake milkers: They extract venom from most dangerous snakes in the world like rattlesnakes and cobras. The venom which is extracted is often used to create anti venom and it can costs up to $1,000 per gram.

Amazing Facts about Mobile Phones

• Nokia 1100 which was launched in 2003 was the bestselling phone handset in history with more than 250 million pieces sold. Once again Nokia is trying to come back into the market with the same model name but with a smartphone.

• The first commercially available mobile phone, Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was sold at $4000 in United States in March 1984.

• In 2012 apple sold more than 340,000 iPhones per day than means it sold around 4 iPhones per second.

• Do you know how much bacteria contained on your mobile phone? It carries 18 times more bacteria than toilet handles. Because you will wash your toilet but you can’t wash your phone.

• In Japan 90% of mobile phones used are waterproof because they use the phones even in shower.

• Do you wonder who made the first phone call? The first mobile call was made by Martin Cooper in 1973. He was a former Motorola inventor

• In Britain around 855,000 mobile phones are dropped and flushed in toilet every year. This is about 1.5% of the UK’s population.

• About 70% of world’s mobile phones are manufactured in china.

• Around 80% of the world’s population of the world has mobile phone. That is around 6 billion people own mobile phones out of 7 billion world population. But only 3.5 billion use a tooth brush. Also this number is lower than who use toilets, only 4.5 billion have a toilet.

Interesting science facts that you wonder

These are the most interesting fact of science that blow off your mind

1.      Light would take 13 seconds to travel around the Earth.

2.      If you drill a tunnel straight through the earth and jumped in, it would take you exactly 42 minutes and 12 seconds to get to the other side.

3.      A single bolt of lightning contains energy enough to cook 100,000 pieces of toast.

4.      An average person walks the equivalent of three times around the world in his lifetime.

5.      More germs are transferred while shaking hands than kissing.

6.      The human brain takes in 11 million bits of information every second but is aware of only 40.

7.      An average person accidentally eats about 430 bugs each year of their life.

8.      There are more living organisms on the skin of a human than there are humans on the surface of the earth.

9.      Human saliva contains a painkiller called opiorphin that is six times more powerful than morphine.

10.  Girls have more taste buds than boys.

11.  Koalas sleep an average of 22hours a day, two hours more than the sloth.

12.  A dog’s sense of smell is 1000 times more sensitive than a human.

13.  There is a waterfall in Minnesota called Devil’s Kettle where the water flows into a large hole made of rock. Several studies have been done and scientists still don’t know where the water ends up.

14.  In 1952, a European scientist released a bacterium into the wild which almost eradicated the continent’s rabbit population. There was a 90% reduction in france and 95% in the united kingdom.

15.  In 2009, scientists used cloning to bring back an extinct species. It lived for about 7 minutes before dying due to a lung defect.

16.  There is a cave of natural gas in Turkmenistan known as the “Door to Hell”. In 1971, Scientists lit the cave on fire on expecting it to burn for a few days. It’s still burning.