cargo aircraft

A cargo aircraft also known as freight aircraft is specially designed for carrying goods, rather than passengers. They are usually devoid of passenger amenities, and generally feature one or more large doors for the loading and unloading of cargo. Aircraft designed for cargo flight usually have a number of features that distinguish them from conventional passenger aircraft: a "fat" looking fuselage, a high-wing to allow the cargo area to sit near the ground, a large number of wheels to allow it to land at unprepared locations, and a high-mounted tail to allow cargo to be driven directly into and off the aircraft.

The biggest and heaviest cargo carrier is the Antonov An-225 Mriya introduced into service in 1988. The Antonov An-225 was designed to airlift the Energia rocket's boosters and the Buran space shuttle for the Soviet space program. The An-225 can carry ultra-heavy and oversize freight, up to 250,000 kg internally or 200,000 kg on the upper fuselage.

The An-225 has become the workhorse of the Antonov Airlines fleet, transporting objects once thought impossible to move by air, such as locomotives and 150-ton generators. It has become an asset to international relief organizations for its ability to quickly transport huge quantities of emergency supplies during disaster relief operations.

Antonov An-225 with Buran atop at the Paris Air Show in June 1989.

Special Treatments

Special Treatments !

When a pain killer or dose of peneciline doesn't work there is always the route of alternative medicine. In the Western world this might involve some acupuncture, but in other parts of the world crazy cures are rife. From bee stings to having a turtle bite you in the face. Nothing is crazy enough if it works. The fun stops, however, when parts of endangered species such as rhinos and tigers, get used because it is believed they can cure anything from baldness to erection problems to aids.

 

11. Consumers enjoy mud therapy at a nursing home in Anshan, east China's Liaoning province August 21, 2006. The mineral mud is believed to be able to alleviate pain from rheumatoid arthritis, sequela of traumatisms and peripheral nervous system diseases. Picture taken August 21, 2006. REUTERS/China Daily

Top 10 Fascinating Samurai

The samurai were the great warriors of Feudal Japan who were respected and feared for their gracefulness in peace and brutality in war. Dignified by the strict code of honor that bound them, the samurai were more than ready to give their own life than suffer a harsh existence of dishonor. In the few hundred years that they existed as Japan’s most dominating warriors, they filled the pages of history with their heroic tales, and for a select few who cast a shadow upon all of Japan, they generated a legend larger than any one man could ever hope to attain. People still marvel centuries after the height of their reign at the innovations in warfare and politics that were born from the minds and hearts of a class of warriors like none other.

10

Tomoe Gozen

As the only female on this list, Tomoe is one of the very few women who took the battlefield alongside her male counterparts though her exploits and history still are uncertain.

In The Tale of Heike, Tomoe is described as a woman of exquisite beauty with fair skin and long black hair and as an excellent archer and swords woman who was “ready to confront a demon or a god.”

Serving under Minamoto Yoshinaka, Tomoe was one of his finest soldiers, and her skills in battle dwarfed many of those held by even the strongest men in her unit. She is believed to have fought and survived through the Genpei War, the first major war between samurai clans and a place of origin for many popular attributes that would become associated with the samurai warrior over the years. It was here at the battle of Awazu where Tomoe even took the head of a rival samurai, an incredible honor for any samurai who defeated an opposing warrior in combat.

After the battle, Tomoe was said to have retired from being a warrior, instead taking up an occupation as a nun, though it is also said that she became the wife of a samurai named Wada Yoshimori who she supposedly pledged her devotion after being defeated by him in battle.

Amazing Artwork that Uses Nude Models as a Canvas

Talented artist Craig Tracy spends hours painstakingly painting the woman’s curves to complete the masterpiece – and create these stunning optical illusions.
Craig, 44, from New Orleans, has painted hundreds of amazing images on human canvases – painting a variety of animals and beautiful landscapes.

Can you spot the naked woman in this landscape? But on closer inspection, sharp eyed viewers will see the green and yellow rolling hills beneath the rocky mountains have in fact been painted on to a naked woman’s body, creating a stunning living artwork. (Daily Mail/Caters News)

Divine Comedy- “EverAfter” By Claudia Rogge

Liberally inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, these photographic works entitled “EverAfter” seem to create the environments of Renaissance and Mannerist art. However, looking more closely the details are disturbing and make the spectator think of the tableaux vivants shown in some of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s films. Hell, Purgatory and Paradise become a motive for Claudia Rogge to explore the fine line which divides good from evil, with cynical allusion to vices and passions, from lust and greed to love and violence. The recreated scenes, which formally follow the religious roots of visual art, raise contemporary issues both in form and content, in first place the role of faith in western society which is becoming more and more secular. The promiscuous images contain a multitude of figures, beautiful and naked. A crowd lifts their arms to the heavens to praise, plead or curse, according to which circle of hell they have been assigned.

Purgatory III, 2011

The Town of Murals

The town of Sheffield is tucked away in the foothills of the majestic Mount Roland some 23 km inland from Devonport on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. The Sheffield area is well known for its high quality butterfat production, lambs, pigs, potatoes, timber and a number of vegetable crops.

Up until the 1980s, Sheffield was a typical Tasmanian town growing in population which went up dramatically when construction of several hydroelectric plants began nearby. However, once the construction on the giant Mersey-Forth hydro electric development was complete, the workers moved on bringing an abrupt decline on the town’s population and economy. The catalyst that would bring Sheffield both fame and fortune began as a desperate bid by a small, but dedicated band of local residents determined to save their town.

Inspired by the story of Chemainus, a small Canadian town that had through mural art, rescued itself from ruin, the Kentish Association for Tourism (KAT) worked valiantly on the vision to combine the arts and tourism to revive and reinvent the town of Sheffield. The first mural in Sheffield was unveiled in December 1986. Since then over sixty murals depicting the area's rich history and beautiful natural scenery have been painted on walls scattered throughout the town and buildings along the roadside. The murals attract an estimated 220,000 people to the town annually.

Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka, Russia

The Valley of Geysers, located in the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia is the only geyser field in Eurasia and the second largest concentration of geysers in the world. Approximately 200 geysers exist in the area along with many hot-water springs and perpetual spouters. The valley is one of the few places in the world where geysers occur naturally, along with Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. and sites in Iceland, Chile, and New Zealand. In Kamchatka more than 20 large jets and 200 smaller thermal springs punch through Earth's crust in a 2.7-square-mile (7-square-kilometer) area.

Over thirty geysers have been named; among these was the Giant geyser (Velikan), capable of producing a jet of water reaching up to 40 meters. At least 20 such geysers erupt on a stretch of the Geysernaya River Basin in the Valley of Geysers, along with dozens of smaller gushing vents and hundreds of hot springs. The largest of these geysers erupts with 60 tons of water once or twice a year.