Extreme babies

World's Smallest Baby: 21 weeks and six days

On October 24th 2006, Amillia Taylor was born at 21 weeks and six days. No baby born at less than 23 weeks gestation had ever survived, but 10 ounce Amillia was able to pull through (and even was trying to breath and cry on her own at birth). Hospitals had initially hoped to release her yesterday, but decided to keep the now healthy baby a few extra days for observation.

Her mother doesn't mind the wait, she's just proud and happy that Amillia is healthy: "Even though she's only four pounds (1.8 kilos) now, she's plump to me."

44 pound Baby

This baby born in Iran six months ago, currently weighs an enormous 20 kilos (44 pounds)! The parents say the baby was born a normal weight close to 8 pounds when he was born, but he keeps eating every hour. The Iranian doctors do not know what this eating disorder is or where it came from.

Cyclop Baby

On 2006, this baby was born with a only one eye in India. Medical staff who helped deliver the child believe that the child's condition was caused by an experimental anti-cancer drug. Another cause written in the report by the hospital was that it could also be the result of a chromosomal disorder. The child was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal disorder, known as cyclopia. She was born with a single eye in the center of her forehead, no nose and her brain fused into a single hemisphere. With such severe deformities, it was a miracle that the girl survived even a few minutes after delivery. The baby died days later.

Frog-like Baby

On 2006, this bizarre-looking baby was born in Charikot, the headquarters of Dolakha district, attracting a huge number of onlookers to witness the astonishing sight.

The neck-less baby with its head almost totally sunk into the upper part of the body and with extraordinarily large eyeballs literally popping out of the eye-sockets, was born to Nir Bahadur Karki and Suntali Karki at the Gaurishnkar Hospital in Charikot. The Karki couple is a permanent resident of Dolakha's Bhirkot VDC.

The bizarre baby, however, died after half an hour of its birth, Suntali, the mother, informed. It was taken to the hospital after its death. The news about such a baby being brought to the hospital spread like wildfire and there were hundreds gathered at the hospital to have a look. The police had to be deployed to control the crowd.

The baby weighed 2kg at birth and was born after the normal nine-month gestation period. Suntali, already a mother of two normal daughters, was not suffering from any illness during the pregnancy. Nir Bahadur, the father, says he does not feel any remorse for the newly-born baby's death. "I am happy that nothing happened to my wife," he said.

NOTE: Our readers, Becca and Andrew, report us that "the baby has a condition called anencephaly, a neural tube defect (like the cyclops baby), with no proper brain formation. The baby would have died a few days later. That's why women are advised to take folate in early pregnancy." --Thank you!

Baby with Three Arms

This 2-month-old baby named Liu Junjie from Anhui Province, China, was born with a third arm on 2006. Doctors successfully removed the extremely rare and well-developed third arm, but the baby required long-term physical therapy to gain function in his remaining hand, which has no palm and flexes in either direction. "We're hoping to exchange information with doctors who've dealt with similar cases anywhere in the world," said Chen, head of the orthopedics department at Shanghai Children's Medical Center. "This is so rare that we have virtually no information to go on."

Born with 17 pounds

A Siberian woman who gave birth on 2007 to her 12th child was stunned to find that little Nadia weighed in at a massive 17.1 lb (7.75kg). "We were all simply in shock," said Nadia's mother, Tatyana Barabanova, 43. "What did the father say? He couldn't say a thing - he just stood there blinking." "I ate everything, we don't have the money for special foods so I just ate potatoes, noodles and tomatoes," she told the reporter, adding that all her previous babies had weighed more than 5 kg.

Bizarre Services

Ashes to Portraits: transforms the ashes from your loved one in a portrait

Using some of your loved one's ashes combined with a very special mixture involving oil paint, the company has a professional artist create a one-of-a-kind portrait that will not only be a beautiful remembrance that will live on for many generations, but it will also help with your feelings of loss. You can also have a portrait of your beloved pet using its cremated ashes.

Crime Scene Cleaners Inc.

The police, the fire department and the crime-scene investigators who arrive at a crime scene perform crucial tasks in the aftermath of a violent death. But they don't, as a general rule, clean up. Mopping up after someone who dies violently is the responsibility of that person's family. Now there is a company, called Crime Scene Cleaner Inc., that can handle the dirty job, literally. It's a cleaning maintenance service specializing in the cleanup of homicide, suicide and accidental deaths. The company offers services of cleaning, disinfecting and removal of all contaminated items to restore the scene to a safe, non-biohazardous state. But it's not what you are thinking, if you committed a crime you should call the police first, Cleaners Inc. won't come and clean up your mess.

Last Meals Delivery Service: delivers a surprise meal chosen by a death row prisoner

Last Meals Delivery Service in Toronto will bring you a last meal (only for Toronto residents). Not your last meal, but the meal someone on Death Row chose as his last. They all cost $20 and must be ordered a couple of days ahead of delivery. You don't get to pick it out, but when it's delivered it comes with a DVD to watch and a paper mask of the convict who selected it.

Lastmessagesclub.co.uk: stores good-bye messages to be sent after the client's death

The problem with dying unexpectedly is that you never get a chance to say goodbye. No longer. A new web site called Lastmessagesclub.co.uk allows users to write and store adios e-mail messages to friends and family. Upon one's demise, the messages are made available to recipients.

The Last Messages Club is an email service that allows personal notes written prior to one's death to be sent to loved ones in the future. Important documents such as wills and insurance details can also be accessed through the service. Members can write up to 100 emails that can be released once they die at times of their election, such as when a relative or loved one marries or has a child.

Professional Bird Shit Removal: removes the shit from your car or house
Car just washed? Birds overhead? It may be time for Professional Bird Shit Removal! The bird population has exploded in recent years. With the advent of the Internet and World Wide Web, birds of all types have grown more savvy, their proficiency growing at an exponential rate. Do you want to take a chance in this new day and age? These skilled technicians are highly trained in the art of Professional Bird Shit Removal and will thoroughly dig out your home, vehicle, or loved one from the offending pile. Whether the culprit is one bird, or an entire flock of feral pigeons, Professional Bird Shit Removal has you completely covered from head to toe.

Line Standing Service: stands in line for you

Do you live in Washington DC and are tired of waiting long hours in line? Well, Linestanding.com provides persons to stand in line anywhere in the greater Washington DC area, and specializes in United States Congressional hearings and their respective committees. You can order online and get a stander to wait at a designation of your choosing until they are able to rendezvous with you, the attendee. The company creates a sign with a name of your choosing so that you can easily identify the stander in line. How cool is that?

Xtreme Taxidermy: freezes dry your pet to have a lasting memorial

When cremation or burial does not feel like the right decision for you and your pet, freeze dry preservation may be the right choice. Pets are a very special part of our family. Freeze dry preservation affords pet owners the opportunity to make a lasting memorial. This process keeps your pet intact. Your pet will retain its original size and shape in which it is posed indefinitely. We recommend a sleeping or a lying down position. Your pet will look very natural and even close up it will be difficult to tell any difference at all except for the lack of movement. With a little care, your pet can be held, carried, or even gently petted.

EggAlert: sends fertility SMS reminders

Now your cell phone can tell you the best day to have sex if you're trying to get pregnant. EggAlert is a text messaging service that will notify you when the optimum fertility day is approaching, so that you don't miss out on the perfect time for conception. The new service from PDA Health Ware, Inc., calculates a woman's next ovulation time, and sends a text message to her cell phone on her day of ovulation, fertility period, and when to expect her next menstrual period.

Ring4Freedom: gets you rid of unwanted people with a fake call

Ring4Freedom is a web-based service that rings your cell phone or landline phone anytime you want, allowing you to escape the throngs of unwanted conversationalists. Ever had someone walk up to your cubicle and start chattering away, wishing you could find a polite way to get rid of them? Ring4Freedom perhaps is your answer.

It's a piece of software that sits in your Windows system tray. Clicking on the icon (or pressing CTRL-D) will send a signal over the Internet to Ring4Freedom's server, which then places a call to your phone. This way, you can tell your unwanted guest that you're expecting an important call, and send them away. The cost? $4.95 per month.

Pink Taxi: for women only

The new fleet of 35 cabs in Mexico's colonial city of Puebla is driven exclusively by women and don't stop for men. The cabs cater especially to those tired of leering male drivers. "Some of the women who have been on board tell us how male taxi drivers cross the line and try to flirt with them and make inappropriate propositions," said taxi driver Aida Santos, who drives one of the compact, four-door taxis with a tracking device and an alarm button that notifies emergency services. In the Pink Taxi they feel more relaxed and they won't have that feeling of insecurity. The new taxis open up to Mexican women what has been an overwhelmingly male profession.

Spectacular Lightning Strikes

This shot shows a lightning bolt striking an airplane taking off at Osaka's airport, then hitting the ground. Lightning is not dangerous for airliners, as the electricity flows around their aluminum skin.



Lightning strike on Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas.





















































The famous photo of a comet between fireworks and lightning. On January 26, 2007, people from Perth, Australia gathered on a local beach to watch a sky light up with delights near and far. Nearby, fireworks exploded as part of Australia Day celebrations. On the far right, lightning from a thunderstorm flashed in the distance. Near the image center, though, seen through clouds, was the most unusual sight of all: Comet McNaught. The image is actually a three photograph panorama digitally processed to reduce red reflections from the exploding firework.

Drunkest House

When property manager Ryan Froerer got a call from a realtor to check on a townhouse, he knew something was up. "It was the sickest thing I've ever seen. Just unimaginable that someone could live in that." He couldn't even open the front door. It was blocked from inside. As he finally entered the house, he found about 70,000 empty beer cans.

Inside, he took just a few snapshots to document the scene. Beer cans by the tens of thousands. Mountains of cans burying the furniture. Froerer e-mailed his photos to a couple of friends, who sent them to friends, and so the news spread through the internet.

The water and heat were shut off, apparently on purpose by the tenant, who evidently drank Coors Light beer exclusively for the eight years he lived there. "It's just unbelievable that a human being could live like that", said Froerer.

To all outward appearances, the person who lived in the townhouse was the perfect tenant. He always paid on time and he never complained. He kept a low profile in the neighborhood. The cans were finally recycled for 800 dollars, an estimated 70,000 cans: 24 beers a day for 8 years.

Worlds most beautiful libraries

For some people it's castles with their noble history and crumbling towers, for others it's abandoned factories or lost cities. But for those who enjoy reading, a huge beautiful library is a place of endless pleasure. Meet 20 of the biggest and most beautiful libraries around the globe.

Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland



Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil



Trinity College LIbrary, AKA, The Long Room, Dublin, Ireland



Melk Monastery Library, Melk, Austria





Jay Walker's Private Library



Rijkmuseum Library, Amsterdam



Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Canada



Strahov Monastery - Theological Library, Prague, Czech Republic



Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, Germany



Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal



Wiblingen Monastary Library, Ulm, Germany



Stiftsbibliothek Klosterneuburg, Klosterneuburg, Austria



Central Library, Seattle



Library of the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, Austria



George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland, USA



National Library, Belarus



Riksdagen Library, Swedish Parliament Library, Stockholm, Sweden



Sansovino Library, Rome, Italy



Old British Reading Room, British Museum, London, England



Library of Congress, Washington, DC, US