CHINESE DELICACY: EGGS COOKED IN URINE - A LITTLE GROSS

With the arrival of spring in China Dongyang town surrounds a strange but familiar smell – the smell of urine. It’s very popular local delicacy – boiled eggs.What is the connection between the smell of urine and eggs? The answer is a bit shocking: the eggs are cooked in the urine, it must be the urine of virgin boys. This tradition dates back hundreds of years, and the local delicacy is simple and uncomplicated: Tongzi Dan, which means “Egg Boy”

What’s interesting is not just a boiled egg in the urine. After the water has boiled, they are extracted from hot water and a little break the shell, so the urine gets inside and all well absorbed and fragrance permeated What’s even more interesting, people love this dish Dongyang, if it can be called such. They can eat 10 eggs a day, although some still find it disgusting. There is a reasonable question as to where and how to collect urine for cooking eggs?It happens that all the local schools, have in the corridors buckets,for collecting urin. During the day, it all merges into a large container, and it is used to prepare the delicacy.Locals believe that these eggs have special medicinal value. The urine has crystals that help to reduce body temperature and stop the bleeding. But Huang Dzhen, chief physician at the local hospital immediately dispelled this myth, saying that nothing good is in the urine because the fact that the body rejected it. But what is the usual word against the doctor’s -old folk traditions .

Top 10 Most Gross & Disgusting Food

It may come as no surprise to learn that, due to limited resources, many citizens of poorer countries are forced to eat whatever they can get their hands on. However, when it comes to gross foods, not all are born from utter necessity. You’d be amazed to learn what disgusting things many people eat by choice. And, while some foods can be identified as gross with a simple glance, others aren’t as easily spotted until you learn about their ingredients.

10. Casu Marzu



Sometimes referred to as ‘maggot cheese’, casu marzu is a Sardinian cheese made from goat’s milk. But what makes this food so disgusting is the way it’s prepared. Early in the fermenting process, the larvae of cheese flies are introduced. Over a period of weeks, the larvae hatch and begin feeding. As the cheese’s fats are broken down, a special flavor is produced which many consider to be delicious. When the time comes for human consumption, many people meticulously remove the maggots. However, some leave them in, believing that they add an extra flavorful punch.
9. Balut



If someone placed balut on your plate, you might think they were serving you a hardboiled egg. That is, until you cracked it open and a fully intact duck embryo spilled out. Balut, considered a delicacy in many Asian countries, is produced when fertilized duck eggs are placed in warm sunlight. After about eight days, the eggs are held up to the light and checked to ensure that the budding embryo is ready. Then, the eggs are cooked and served with a dash of salt and a few squirts of lemon juice.
8. Potted Meat



Potted meat is not some strange foreign delicacy. In fact, this inexpensive meat product produced by Hormel is available at most any North American grocery store. However, when it comes to grossness, this well-known product rivals anything you’ll find in a third world country. A check of the ingredients listed on the label is proof enough: mechanically separated chicken, beef tripe, partially defatted cooked beef fatty tissue, beef hearts, water, partially defatted cooked pork fatty tissue, salt, and less than 2 percent: mustard, natural flavorings, dried garlic, dextrose, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite. Yummy!

7. Fermented Salmon Heads



Referred to as ‘stink heads’ by people who won’t eat them, fermented salmon heads are a traditional Alaskan delight. After the heads are lopped off, they’re buried in the ground for at least a few weeks. As you’d expect, during this time the heads begin to rot. Before they have a chance to disintegrate completely, they’re dug up, mashed into a sort of pudding and served cold in bowls.
6. Jellied Moose Nose



This gross food is also enjoyed in the northernmost of the United States. Preparation is relatively simple: first, the moose‘s nose is removed. Then it’s boiled for a bit until the hairs become loose and can easily be plucked free. After a few spices are added, the meat is boiled even longer until it disintegrates into a gelatinous mass. Finally, it’s sliced and served chilled.
5. Bat Paste



This delightful dish is considered weird even in the few Asian countries where it’s eaten. First, a live bat is forced into a vat of boiling milk. Then, once it has reached optimum malleability, the bat is sliced into fine bits, mixed with various herbs and spices and mashed into a pulpy paste.
4. Hasma



In China, many people consider hasma dessert the perfect punctuation to a great meal. This disgusting dish is basically the fallopian tubes of frogs. Sold in a dried shrunken form, these amphibious reproductive organs are able to swell up to 10 to 15 times their dehydrated size once they are rehydrated with water. Afterward, a bit of sugar is added to give them that special sweetness most people desire from a dessert.
3. Haggis



A traditional Scottish dish, haggis is really nothing more than a type of sausage. However, this particular sausage is comprised of a sheep’s lungs, liver and heart. Many describe haggis as resembling stuffed intestines more than sausage. However, although they admit it looks unappealing, Haggis-lovers swear that those who are brave enough to taste it will come running back for more.
2. Cockscomb



If you’ve ever seen the floppy red mass resembling an upside down glove on the top of a rooster’s head, then you’ve seen a cockscomb. Once served as a garnish along side many traditional French foods, cockscomb is still used as a common ingredient in many Italian dishes and sauces.
1. Black Pudding



This dish is comprised largely of blood drawn from pigs, cattle or sheep. However, it doesn’t become blood pudding until the blood is allowed to coagulate, a filler of oatmeal, barley or sweet potato is added, and the entire mass is brought to a boil. During the cooking process, a delightful skin is produced atop the goo. While some like to remove the skin before plunging their spoon into the pudding, others enjoy its chewy texture and prefer to eat it last.

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5 Myths About Women's Bodies

Historically research has focused on men. As one example, women are underrepresented in major clinical trials for cancers that affect both sexes. Researchers say several factors could be responsible, from childcare issues to reluctance by researchers to expose women of childbearing age to trial drugs and treatments. In other areas where research into women's medical problems is lacking, the issue is not just about sexism. But in recent years, women have been getting increased attention. Still, much misinformation about the female body circulates in mainstream consciousness.

• MYTH # 1: A woman can't get pregnant during her period – Once inside a woman, sperm can wait for an egg for up to a week. Ovulation can occur soon after, or even during the bleeding phase of a woman's menstrual cycle, giving patient sperm the chance to get lucky.
• MYTH # 2: Menopause causes sex drive to nosedive – While hot flashes and other discomforts may make women temporarily not in the mood, there is not a direct link between menopause and sexual desire.
• MYTH # 3: Antibiotics make birth control pills unreliable – A possible exception is rifampin, the antibiotic prescribed for tuberculosis. Rifampin does lower pregnancy – protecting hormone levels induced by birth control pills but whether the effect is large enough to increase pregnancy risk is unclear.
• MYTH # 4: Women and men need equal sleep – A study led by researchers at the University of Warwick found that women who slept five or less hours a night were twice likely to suffer from hypertension than women who slept for seven or more hours.
• MYTH # 5: A doctor can tell if a woman is virgin – Several studies have reported that even when using 10 – fold magnification, doctors can not accurately sort virgins from the sexually-active. In the rare cases when it is sealed, period blood builds in the uterus and causes severe medical problems.
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10 Surprising Health Benefits of Beer

10 Surprising Health Benefits of Beer

Beer drinkers rejoice: Your favorite brew may be healthier than you think.

For years, wine drinkers have indulged without guilt, reveling in the news that red wine can help protect against heart disease. Recent research shows that beer can also be good for what ails you, from reducing risk for broken bones to helping warding off diabetes and mental decline. It can even increase longevity, a large study suggests.

However, the key to tapping into beer's benefits is moderation, meaning just one 12-ounce beer per day for women and two for men. Heavy drinking ups the threat of liver damage, some cancers, and heart problems. Bingeing on brewskis can also make you fat, since a 12-ounce regular beer has about 150 calories, while light beer has about 100.

Read about common diet myths that are dangerous to your health

Here are 10 surprising and healthy reasons to cheer about your next beer.

1. Stronger Bones

Beer contains high levels of silicon, which is linked to bone health. In a 2009 study at Tufts University and other centers, older men and women who swigged one or two drinks daily had higher bone density, with the greatest benefits found in those who favored beer or wine. However, downing more than two drinks was linked toincreased risk for fractures.

For the best bone-building benefits, reach for pale ale, since a 2010 study of 100 types of beer from around the word identified these brews as richest in silicon, while light lagers and non-alcoholic beers contained the least.

2. A Stronger Heart

A 2011 analysis of 16 earlier studies involving more than 200,000 people, conducted by researchers at Italy's Fondazion di Ricerca e Cura, found a 31 percent reduced risk of heart disease in those who quaffed about a pint of beer daily, while risk surged in those who guzzled higher amounts of alcohol, whether beer, wine, or spirits.

More than 100 studies also show that moderate drinking trims risk of heart attacks and dying from cardiovascular disease by 25 to 40 percent, Harvard reports. A beer or two a day can help raise levels of HDL, the good cholesterol that helps keep arteries from getting clogged.

How alcohol affects your sex life

3. Healthier Kidneys

A study in Finland singled out beer among other alcoholic drinks, finding that each bottle of beer men drank daily lowered their risk of developing kidney stones by 40 percent. One theory is that beer's high water content helped keep kidneys working, since dehydration increases kidney stone risk.

It's also possible that the hops in beer help curb leeching of calcium from bones; that lost calcium also could end up in the kidneys as stones.

4. Boosting Brain Health

A beer a day may help keep Alzheimer's disease and other dementia at bay, researchers say.

A 2005 study tracking the health of 11,000 older women showed that moderate drinkers (those who consumed about one drink a day) lowered their risk of mental decline by as much as 20 percent, compared to non-drinkers. In addition, older women who downed a drink a day scored as about 18 months younger, on average, on tests of mental skills than the non-drinkers.

Learn which foods can help your body heal

5. Reduced Cancer Risk

A Portuguese study found that marinating steak in beer eliminates almost 70 percent of the carcinogens, called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) produced when the meat is pan-fried. Researchers theorize that beer's sugars help block HCAs from forming.

Scientists also have found that beer and wine contain about the same levels of antioxidants, but the antioxidants are different because the flavonoids found in hops and grapes are different.

6. Boosting Vitamin Levels

A Dutch study, performed at the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, found that beer-drinking participants had 30 percent higher levels of vitamin B6 levels in their blood than their non-drinking counterparts, and twice as much as wine drinkers. Beer also contains vitamin B12 and folic acid.

7. Guarding Against Stroke

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that moderate amounts of alcohol, including beer, help prevent blood clots that block blood flow to the heart, neck and brain the clots that cause ischemic stroke, the most common type.

Alcohol's Pros and Cons: An Update

8. Reduced Risk for Diabetes

Drink up: A 2011 Harvard study of about 38,000 middle-aged men found that when those who only drank occasionally raised their alcohol intake to one to two beers or other drinks daily, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes dropped by 25 percent. The researchers found no benefit to quaffing more than two drinks. The researchers found that alcohol increases insulin sensitivity, thus helping protect against diabetes.

9. Lower Blood Pressure

Wine is fine for your heart, but beer may be even better: A Harvard study of 70,000 women ages 25 to 40 found that moderate beer drinkers were less likely to develop high blood pressure a major risk factor for heart attack than women who sipped wine or spirits.

10. Longer Life

In a 2005 review of 50 studies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that moderate drinkers live longer. The USDA also estimates that moderate drinking prevents about 26,000 deaths a year, due to lower rates of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

These benefits appear to apply in other countries as well, with an earlier study reporting that, if European beer drinkers stopped imbibing, there would be a decrease in life expectancy of two years and much unhappiness.

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Weird & Wonderful Ways In The World

Weird & Wonderful Ways In The World

The Shortest Street in the World, Ebenezer Place, Scotland

Place, in Wick, Caithness, Scotland, is credited by the Guinness Book of Records as being the world's  shortest street at 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in). In 2006 it surpassed the previous record (5.2 m, 17 ft) set by Elgin Street, Bacup, Lancashire. The street has only one address: the front door of  No. 1 Bistro, which is part of Mackays Hotel.

The street originated in 1883, when Ebenezer Place was constructed; the owner of the building, a hotel at the time, was instructed to paint a name on the shortest side of the hotel. It was officially declared a street in 1887.

The Narrowest Street in the World, Spreuerhofstraße, Germany

   

Spreuerhofstraße is the world's narrowest street, found in the city of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ranges from 31 centimetres (12.2 in) at its narrowest to 50 centimetres (19.7 in) at its widest.

The lane was built in 1727 during the reconstruction efforts after the area was completely destroyed in the massive city-wide fire of 1726 and is officially listed in the Land-Registry Office as City Street Number 77. 

The Most Complicated Interchange in US

Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange, Los Angeles, USA

The Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange is situated in Los Angeles, CA and is one of the most complicated interchanges in the country. It permits entry and exit in all directions between the I-105 and the I-110. It’s a stack interchange with layers of bridges making a complicated network of roads allowing smooth flow of traffic though both the interstate highways. This interchange was opened in 1993. It is a 4 level interchange with a restricted access lane that can be used by high-occupancy vehicles.

 The Most Crooked Street in US, Lombard St – San Francisco, USA

The street is famous for a small section near the top of Russian Hill, between Hyde and Leavenworth streets. Here the hill is so steep (27°) that it would be too dangerous for most vehicles, so between 1922 and 1923 this part of Lombard Street was transformed into a switchback with eight sharp turns. Cars can only drive downhill, east-bound towards Leavenworth Street.

The crooked section of the street, which is about 1/4 mile (400 m) long, is reserved for one-way traffic traveling east (downhill) and is paved with red bricks. The speed limit in this section is 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h).

The Steepest Street in the World, Baldwin Street – New Zealand

Baldwin Street in a suburban part of New Zealand's southern city of Dunedin, is considered the world's steepest residential street. It is located in the suburb of North East Valley, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) northeast of Dunedin's city centre.

A short straight street a little under 350 metres (1,150 ft) long, Baldwin Street runs east from the valley of the Lindsay Creek up the side of Signal Hill towards Opoho, rising from 30 m (98 ft) above sea level at its junction with North Road to 100 m (330 ft) above sea level at the top, an average slope of slightly more than 1:5. Its lower reaches are only moderately steep, and the surface is asphalt, but the upper reaches of this cul-de-sac are far steeper, and surfaced in concrete (200 m (660 ft) long), for ease of maintenance and for safety in Dunedin's frosty winters. At its maximum, the slope of Baldwin Street is about 1:2.86 (19° or 35%) – that is, for every 2.86 metres travelled horizontally, the elevation rises by 1 metre.

The Widest Street in the World, 9 De Julio Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina, features the widest avenue in the world. At over 300 feet wide, 9 de Julio Avenue occupies a gap of an entire block in the city grid, hence its incredible width. Crossing the avenue at street level often requires a few minutes, as all intersections have traffic lights. Under normal walking speed, it takes pedestrians normally two to three green lights to cross its twelve lanes of traffic.

The Longest Street in the World, Yonge Street, Ontario, Canada

The Longest Street in the World is Yonge Street (pronounced “young”), referred to as “Main Street Ontario”, connects the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto in Canada to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Actually, it starts on the Toronto lakeshore and winds its way northwesterly along Highway 11 to Rainy River, Ontario, at the Minnesota border. Yonge Street is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at 1,896 km (1,178 mi), and the construction of this street is designated an Event of National Historic Significance. 

The Largest Roundabout in the World, Putrajaya – Malaysia

    World's Largest Roundabout (Putrajaya - Malaysia) Putrajaya is in the south of Kuala Lumpur. It is a new political center, the loop length of it is 3.4 km. The roundabout is situated around a beautiful hill and green parks.

The Most Confusing Roundabout in the World, Magic Roundabout – Swindon, UK 

The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England was constructed in 1972 and consists of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle. In 2009 it was voted the fourth scariest junction in Britain, in a poll by Britannia Rescue. To be fair, once understood this intersection is amazingly functional and actually designed to reduce overall congestion. However, it is certainly an urban wonder and highly perplexing to the uninitiated.

Tumbling Towers of the World

Tumbling Towers of the World