Sunday, February 28, 2016

Louise Hollis



Louise Hollis in Compton, California, USA is famous for her spectacular fingernails and toenails. At the length of approximately six inches, Louise’s toenails are considered to be the longest toenails ever.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Bubble Boy

David Phillip Vetter (September 21, 1971 – February 22, 1984) was a boy from Shenandoah, Texas, United States who suffered from a rare genetic disease now known as severe combined immune deficiency syndrome (SCID). Forced to live in a sterile environment, he became popular with the media as the boy in the plastic bubble. He spent most of his life at Texas Children’s Hospital, but in 1981, David was discharged to his parents’ full-time care. He died of cancer in 1984 after an unmatched bone marrow transplant from his sister.

David’s parents, David Joseph Vetter Jr. and Carol Ann Vetter, had one daughter, Katherine; their first son, named David Joseph Vetter III, died seven months after birth. Doctors said that the baby boy had been born with a defective thymus, a gland which is important in the functioning of the immune system, due to a genetic condition, SCID. Each further son the couple might conceive would have a 50% chance of inheriting the same condition.

Three doctors from Baylor College of Medicine — John Montgomery, Mary Ann South and Raphael Wilson — told the Vetters that if they had another child with SCID, the child could be placed in a sterile isolator until a bone marrow transplant could be performed, using the older sister, Katherine, as a donor. The couple were anxious to have another child to carry on the family name. So, believing that after a short treatment their child could live a normal life, they decided to go through another pregnancy. However, after the birth of David, it was discovered that Katherine was not a match, thus removing the possibility of the transplant. There was no private or public discussion of what would happen if no cure was found, or how long the prospective child would remain in the bubble.

The Rev. Raymond Lawrence, the chaplain of the hospital at that time and now Director of Pastoral Care of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, said of the situation: “The great scandal of the Bubble Boy was that he was conceived for the bubble. The team that did this didn’t think through this very well. They didn’t consider what would happen if they didn’t find an immediate cure. They operated on the assumption that you could live to be 80 years old in a bubble, and that would be unfortunate but okay”. Lawrence says that the original three doctors encouraged David’s parents to conceive David just so that they could have a test subject for their studies, a charge which is denied by the three involved doctors.





















Thursday, February 25, 2016

Mud Festival Fun
















The Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea is more fun than the Tomatina festival

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

From A to N cup


A cup — Airport
 B cup — Barely there
 C cup — Can do
 D cup—Damn good
 E cup—Ecstasy
 F cup—Fake
 G cup—God
 H cup—Horrible
 I cup—I can’t believe it
 J cup—Joke
 K cup—Kidding
 L cup—Large
 M cup—Monster
N cup—Nothing like that

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Wolf Spiders



Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae. They are robust and agile hunters with good eyesight. They live mostly solitary lives and hunt alone. Some are opportunistic hunters pouncing upon prey as they find it or even chasing it over short distances. Some will wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow.The eye arrangement of the wolf spider is one of its most interesting features; they have four small eyes in the bottom row, followed by two large eyes in the middle row, and two medium eyes in the top row. They received the name wolf spider due to an early belief that the spiders would actually hunt their prey in a group. Some other names for the wolf spider are the ground spider and the hunting spider. Wolf spiders do not actually make webs; instead they hunt for its meal. They are most commonly found throughout Australia. They make homes by digging holes or living under rocks. The wolf spider will often cover the burrow with leaves or grass.Most wolf spiders live for several years. In many species, female wolf spiders lay dozens of eggs at one time and wrap them in a large ball of web. The female will then carry the egg sac with them until the spiderlings hatch. The gestation period is 9 to 27 days depending on the surrounding temperature and species of wolf spider. Upon hatching the, spiderlings will live on the mother’s back for a few weeks until they are large enough to hunt on their own. Wolf spiders are active hunters that patrol the ground for insects, other spiders, and similar creatures. They do not use webs to capture prey. They live by the thousands in leaf litter and grassy areas. Some wolf spiders build small burrows and defend a territory, others are free-roaming