Michel Lepire Wins Hampton Beach Sand Sculpting 2011 Award

The 11th Annual Master Sand Sculpting Competition in Hampton Beach, NH completed its competition on Saturday. The first place winner was Marc Lepire from Charlesbourg, Quebec, Canada with a sculpture titled "Phase Shifter." Lepire wins a cash prize of $3,000 and a trip to the World Solo Championships in Fort Myers Beach, FL.

Karen Fralich from Bulington, Ontario, Canada took second place with the sculpture, "There Was an Old Woman Who Sends Her Kids to Summer Camp." Third place went to Justin Gordon from Groveland, Massachusetts, for his sculpture "And they Ride Among us." Fourth place was the sculpture "Morphobia" made by Guy-Olivier Deveau of Quebec City, Canada. And fifth place went to Carl Jara of Lyndhurst, Ohio with the sculpture "Lamb."

The "People's Choice" Award was given to Michel Lepire from Charlesbourg, Quebec, Canada for the intricately designed sculpture, "Prestine Nature."

The "Sculptor's Choice" reward was given to Marc Lepire for his piece, "Phase Shifter."

The sculptures this year ranged from a gratifying set of hands holding baby's feet to a depiction of the Old Woman in the Shoe to a nod to Boston Bruins' with a sculpture of M.V.P. Tim Thomas.

The sculptors carved over three days, from June 23-25, to full their own private sculpture using 10 tons of sand. Voting took place and awards were given out on Saturday, June 25 and the Awards Presentation took place at 8 p.m. on the Sea Shell Stage. The band the Continentals provided musical entertainment.

The sculptures will stay on display through June 29th, and will be lit for night viewing.

Rocket Ruin’s A Family's Life In Libya's Misrata

Twelve-year-old Faraj Abu Shaiba is burned and in distress but somehow he manages a weak smile from his hospital bed.

Monday evening, a rocket fired by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi slammed into his home in Misrata's Ruwaisat neighborhood.

Faraj's 14-year-old brother, Ibrahim, was killed instantaneously washing his hands at the sink before evening prayers.

"I found this place was on fire," said Ibrahim's uncle, Abdallah, who rushed to the house when he heard the blast. "I threw water on him, and then took him to the ambulance. But he was already dead."

Three rockets hit Misrata Monday evening in quick sequence all packed with metal balls.

"We were sitting at home, the whole family," said Ibrahim's father, Ali. "We didn't know what happened."

The father received burns to his arms and legs. Ibrahim's mother, Fatima, was also wounded in the attack.

"She has got second degree burns to both legs. Both limbs and the face," said Dr. Mohammed Froka. "She has first degree burns on the face. But her situation when she was brought here was a little bit critical."

The day before the attack, the mother gave birth to a son. The family has named him Ibrahim, after the brother who died in the attack.

The older Ibrahim was buried Monday night, just hours after he was killed -- the latest grave in this city's rapidly growing cemeteries.

Floating Japanese Photographer Captures Herself ‘Levitating’

Japanese photographer Natsumi Hayashi has created a new brand of photography, with pictures that seem to challenge gravity. Though it may look like she's floating naturally in the air, it took hard work to pull off these pics.

At a young age, Natsumi Hayashi had a revelation: Keeping both feet on the ground is hyped.

“I got a thought from an English idiom that says ‘to have one’s feet firmly planted on the ground’ applies to a practical type of person,” Hayashi said in an interview. “In Japan, we have the exact same idiom. But I am not a practical person at all. Therefore, I try not to have my feet on the ground in my self-portrait photos to show my true self.”

Her self-portraits are so fanciful and unforgettable that they’re sparking an Internet sensation and garnering attention all over the globe. What makes them so unusual? Well, for starters, in each photograph Hayashi appears to be levitating.

She achieves this state of mid-air wizardry by jumping up and down.

Aelita Becomes The Youngest Professional Painter In The World

A four-year-old Melbourne girl is drawing fans in New York with her first solo art exhibition. Aelita Andre is said to be the youngest proficient painter in the world, and has been compared to the likes of artistic giants Picasso and Jackson Pollock.

Her work is previously commanding top dollar, with a Hong Kong collector last year shelling out $24,000 for one of her pieces. Now her colorful paintings are on show at the Agora Gallery in Manhattan.

Gallery director Angela di Bello says Aelita, who produced her first significant body of work before turning two, is a talented artist.

"What's interesting about her work is that I also I find that it is conceptual expressionism, but that she's also surrealist in the way she includes objects in her works and how she includes those objects," she told.

It seems inspiration runs in the family, with Aelita's parents - Nikka Kalashnikova and Michael Andre - both artists in their own right. And her father cannot wait to see what his daughter does next.

"So here she is totally and absolutely innocent, just with an innocent eye almost coming to a canvas," he told.

"I'm looking at it from an opposite and thinking, 'let's see what she does'. I'm just so interested to see what somebody in that position produces."Andre's solo exhibition, aptly named The Prodigy Of Colour, runs until June 25.

Miss USA 2011 Contestants Meet In Las Vegas

Despite the apparent glamour, the beauties that have come to Nevada from all around the United States to compete for the title of Miss USA 2011 face a wonderful few days.

Based at the Planet Hollywood hotel, the girls are tied into a heavy program of 16-18 hours of interviews with judges each day.

Then there are back-to-back photo shoots at diverse Sin City hotels, not to mention the filming of segments to form part of the NBC live broadcast on June 19th.

They're an eclectic group, too - last year's winner Rima Fakih was the first Muslim to ever win the competition, and she's back this year to motivate the new crop.

Las Vegas's own queen, Miss Nevada, Sarah Chapman, 27, is even a director at a local pre-school, and as the oldest contestant, feels she brings a different slant to events.

This year's theme is described as a 'high fashion concept salute to America.'

The 23rd Miss Asia USA pageant will attract contestants from 58 Asian countries. The finale will be held on August 19-20, at Redondo Performing Arts Center, California.

Puyehue Volcano Erupts In Chile With Sparks And Lightning

The Chilean volcano which erupted on Monday has sent a towering trail of ash across South America, forcing thousands from their homes, grounding airline flights in southern Argentina and coating ski resorts with a gritty layer of dust instead of snow.

Booming explosions echoed across the Andes as toxic gases belched up from a three-mile-long fissure in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex - a point between two craters just west of the Chilean-Argentine border that began erupting Saturday.

Winds blew a six-mile high cloud of dust all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and even into southern Buenos Aires province, hundreds of miles to the northeast. Authorities in Chile went house to house, trying to convince stragglers near the volcano to evacuate because of an increasing danger of toxic gas and flash floods.

Winds fanned the ash toward neighboring Argentina, darkening the sky in the ski resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche, in the centre of the country, and its airport has also been closed.

The explosion in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles south of the capital, Santiago, also provoked authorities to close a busy border crossing into Argentina.

It was not instantly clear which of the chain's four volcanoes had erupted because of ash cover and weather conditions. The chain last saw a major eruption in 1960.

Local media said the smell of sulphur hung in the air and there was steady seismic activity. As a precaution, the government said it was evacuating 3,500 people from the surrounding area.

Chile's chain of about 2,000 volcanoes is the world's second largest after Indonesia. Some 50 to 60 are on record as having erupted, and 500 are probably active.

World's Biggest Bird In Threat Of Extinction

The Saharan race ostrich, largest representative of its species, has been extirpated across 95 per cent of its range. Within Niger, the bird is wiped out in the wild.

There are still roughly 100 pure-bred Saharan race ostriches in small privately-held imprisoned flocks scattered across the country. A land-locked country in Western Africa, the Republic of Niger is remarkably poor, but with some modest support those caring for ostriches can considerably improve the chances of these birds breeding fruitfully and rearing young.

Given how productive ostrich can be, there is every reason to believe that with the right material and technical support, Niger can breed desert ostrich and return them to the wild in relatively short order.

The Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) is now focusing on improving the diet and promoting natural incubation until such time as Niger has the ability to manage artificial incubation and chick-rearing operations. SCF, in partnership with the AZA Ratite TAG, has developed its Adopt-an-Ostrich Programme to maintain the acquisition, care and feeding of pure-bred Saharan ostrich in Niger; to help maintain the ostrich facilities; and to improve capacity for ostrich management.

‘With your help, we can get Saharan ostrich back on the road to recovery in Niger,' said an SCF spokesman. ‘This is a great opportunity for all of us to make a connection between our interest in the Sahara and the conservation of the largest bird on the planet.'

Tibetan Mastiff Named World's Most Expensive Dog

An 11-month-old red Tibetan mastiff named "Big Splash" has formally nabbed the record for world's most expensive pet. If dogs didn't already know they were better than us, they perhaps do now.

The pup was sold to a Chinese businessman for a whopping $1.5 million. His native name is Hong Dong, he clocks in at around 180-pounds - and he's still growing.

Big Splash's breeder, Lu Liang, says the price tag is totally warranted and that his dog is a "perfect specimen."

"We have spent a lot of money raising this dog, and we have the salaries of plenty of staff to pay," he explains.

Crazy enough, this breed has been raking in the dough for years. In 2009, a mastiff named Yangzte No. 2 apparently was sold short at $500,000 and last year, a mastiff was priced at approximately $1.47 mil.

Apparently, this breed has come to signify wealth and status in China, becoming a hot commodity among the nation's best.

Samuel Wilkinson's Bulb Wins Design Of The Year Award

British designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design company Hulger received the prize for their light Plumen 001 at a ceremony held at the Design Museum.

2011 jury chair Stephen Bayley said: “The Plumen light bulb is a good example of the ordinary thing done extraordinarily well, bringing a small measure of joy to an everyday product.”

Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic added: “A valuable winner that is both beautiful and smart. It does away with the superfluous to attain maximum economy of means. It’s a bulb that doesn’t need a gloom and so goes a long way to make up for the loss of the Edison original.”

The light bulb beat six other finalists, with an open air library in Germany by Karo Architekten, to the overall prize. All shortlisted designs are on demonstration at the Design Museum until August 7.

Plumen bulbs are at present available in the UK and Europe. They will be accessible in the US and the rest of the world soon, according to their website. They sell in the UK for £19.95, or about $32.

Iran And China To Build World’s Tallest Dam

Iran has announced plans to start working on what will be the tallest concrete dam in the world in the forthcoming Iranian calendar year -beginning March 21.

“The construction of the 315-meter-tall Bakhtiari dam, which is the conceit of the nation, will begin next year by a joint Iranian-Chinese company,” IRNA quoted the managing director of the Iran Water and Power Resources Development Company (IWPCO) Mohammad-Reza Rezazadeh as saying.

The double arch Bakhtiari dam will have an ability of 4.8 billion cubic meters which is the largest in the country after the Karkheh dam.

Rezazadeh said a 1,500 megawatt reactor would be constructed at the site of the dam to produce electricity.

He said the project is in cooperation with China's Sino Hydro construction company and added that overall 70 percent of the project's work would be approved out by Iranian contractors.

The project requires upward of USD 2 billion in venture of which 85 percent will be provided by the Chinese partner.

Honeybee Colonies Under Threat From Chemicals

Bee colonies around the world are under threat, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said, charging that this was as an effect of factors such as chemicals used in farming and pollution.

New dangerous fungal pathogens are also being spread through global trade movements, hurting the bee population, according to a new UNEP report entitled ‘Bees under Bombardment’.

“The decline of bee populations has serious consequences for food security,” said UNEP. Biodiversity would come under additional pressure without the pollinators.

Declines in managed bee colonies have accelerated since 1998, particularly in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The United States, Asia and Africa are also affected.

“Bees are early caution indicators of wider impacts on animal and plant life,” said UNEP, calling for farmers to be offered incentives to reinstate pollinator-friendly habitats.

Junrey Balawing To Become World's Smallest Man

Tiny Junrey Balawing is set to make a little speck of history – when he becomes the world’s shortest man.

At 22in, the 17-year-old is not much larger than a baby but he can’t remain for his big day in June when he hits 18 and is probable to be named as a world beater. Junrey, who is five inches shorter than the present record holder, said: “If I were the smallest man, it would be very cool.”

He is the eldest of four children but has to stay at home all day so his mother Concepcion, 35, can look after him. She said: “Junrey can only saunter with help and he can’t stand for too long because he’s in too much pain.

“But he loves it when I tell him he’s the smallest man in the world. He smiles with arrogance.” Concepcion and Junrey’s blacksmith dad, Reynaldo, who live in a remote part of the Philippines, realized something was mistaken when he was two. But medicine’s were unable to help. At 12, he was told to get vitamins they could not pay for.

Nino Hernandez, 24, of Colombia, is at present the world’s smallest man at 27 inches. But he’s about to be undercut by another small miracle.

America’s Oldest Bird Becomes Mom At 60

The oldest known wild bird in North America - a female albatross that's over 60 and has outlasted five tracking bands - is now a proud mother, U.S. officials announced.

"She looks immense," Bruce Peterjohn, head of the North American Bird Banding Program at the U.S. Geological Survey, said in a statement. "And she is now the oldest wild bird documented in the 90-year history" of the program.

The Laysan albatross, nicknamed Wisdom by researchers, was spotted a few weeks ago with her baby chick at breeding grounds on the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Islands.

She was first banded in 1956 and probable has raised at least 30 chicks, Peterjohn said. Albatross lay only one egg a year, and then it takes much of the second year to hatch and raise the chick.

"Since adult albatross mate for life, with both parents raising the young, it makes one speculate if Wisdom has had the same partner all these years or not," the USGS said in its statement.

The service also anticipated that Wisdom has probably flown about 50,000 miles a year as an adult - or at least 2 to 3 million miles since she was first banded. Albatross scheme from the Pacific Islands to feeding grounds off western North America.

"To put it another way, that’s 4 to 6 trips from the Earth to the Moon and back again with plenty of miles to standby," the service stated.

Life isn't peaceful for albatross, however. Of 21 species, 19 are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Threats include: lead paint poisoning; accidentally being hooked on fishing lines; egg-eating rats and feral cats; and plastic trash in the seas.

"The birds swallow large amounts of marine debris," the USGS said, "by some estimates 5 tons of plastic are mistakenly fed to albatross chicks each year by their parents. Although the plastic may not kill the chicks directly, it reduces their food intake, which leads to dehydration and most likely lessens their chance of endurance."

Albatross might not be the oldest birds around - parrots in custody can live several decades longer - but, given those obstacles in the wild, the fact that Wisdom is still an active mom is quite special.

"To know that she can still effectively raise young at age 60-plus," said Peterjohn, "that is beyond words."

Natalia From Moscow Crowned Miss Russia 2011

Natalia Gantimurova from Moscow is now authoritatively the most beautiful woman in Russia. On March 5 in the concert hall Barvikha Luxury Village in Moscow she was named Miss Russia 2011. The lucky beauty will symbolize Russia in Miss Universe 2011 in Brazil. Meanwhile the first runner-up will represent Russia in Miss World 2011. Natalia is 19 year old and stands 1.81m.Natalia Gantimurova was crowned by outgoing queen Irina Antonenko and by the reigning Miss Universe Jimena Navarrete.

Reportedly, the crown adorning the new Miss Russia’s head is count as the most luxurious in the world. This white gold crown is decorated with 2,358 diamonds and 14 rare pearls, and expected to be worth more than $1 million!

Supreme Court To Deliver Its Verdict On Aruna’s Life

As the Supreme Court is set to deliver its decision on whether Aruna Shanbaug should be allowed to live or die, the nurses who have been concerned in her care for over three decades speak out for the first time on camera.

They say as long as Aruna has people to care for her, she should be permitted to live. "I don't want her to be killed like this," said Sister Kushe.

Now 80 years old, Sister Pramila Kushe was at KEM hospital when Aruna was sexually battered by a sweeper 37 years ago and was the among the first to see her that dreadful morning.

"Aruna was in a sitting position with a chain around her collar. As soon as she saw matron Bellimal, tears started running down her face. She tried to say something but words would not come. She tried for a few minutes but only her mouth moved. And then gradually she lost consciousness," recalls Sister Kushe, now a retired Matron.

It's KEM hospital's nurses that have affectionately cared for Aruna for over three decades. They take pride in the fact that she in no way had any bed sores. In fact in the past when one dean moved her to a different hospital, the nurses struck work to bring her back.

Matron Durga Mehta was among those who cared for Aruna for 20 years. She says despite her vegetative state, Aruna can still converse and respond in her own way.

"I talk to her, Aruna how are you? She makes noise..aaahhhhhaa like that," Durga says.

"When food touches her lips she opens her mouth. She would masticate, and not just gulp. She even listens to music sometimes but could not find the direction of the song," said Sister Pramila Kushe.

Almost every nurse at KEM has been put on Aruna's caretaking responsibility one time or the other in her career. So they all feel personally concerned as they wait for the verdict. Under strict instructions not to converse to the media all they can do now is hope for the best, silently.

Dolphin Babies Dearth Puzzles Scientists

This winter an distressingly high number of young bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico (map) have been washing up dead on U.S. shores, government scientists report.

The reason for the die-off is a mystery, and experts are urging caution in drawing any connections to last year's BP oil spill.

Since January 1, 80 dead dolphins have been found along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, according to the latest NOAA figures.

Forty-two of the dead were calves. Most of the juvenile dolphins are washing up in Mississippi and Alabama, because dolphins usually give birth and raise calves along the shallow shores of those states.

The normal gestation period for the dolphins is one year, and mothers typically give birth in March and April, so scientists think the affected calves are either being aborted, stillborn, or born prematurely.

Known causes of dolphin die-offs include oddly cold waters, ocean biotoxins, and diseases. NOAA's Mase said scientists are investigating all of these factors and are not ruling out a likely connection to the BP oil spill. "It's something that we are including in our investigation," Mase said.

IMMS scientists are at present performing necropsies on the dead dolphins to try to conclude causes of death. The process—including analyzing tissue samples for signs of diseases, viral infections, and toxins—could take some weeks or months, Solangi said.

Chinese Man Becomes The World's Most Typical Person

Lots of people call themselves the 'average person on the street', but this guy actually is. The most typical human face on earth has been discovered as a 28-year-old Han Chinese man, after researchers found there are nine million of them in the world.

The ‘Face of Seven Billion’ image was created as a composite of 190,000 Chinese photos, but experts consider the average person will come from India by 2030.

The picture was created by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, which had collected the photos over a ten-year period from technology research programmes.

It was developed for National Geographic’s ‘Population 7 Billion’ series on the human race, which also showed that males just about outnumber females in the world.

The series also exposed how the world’s most typical person is right-handed, makes less than $12,000 per year and has a mobile phone but no bank account.

Researchers compared life expectancies and heights – with the distinctive Dutch man measuring 5ft 11in but the average Peruvian male standing at under 5ft 5in.

Japan’s typical female lives to nearly 86-years-old, but the average female in Afghanistan dies aged 45.

The typical American uses 100 gallons of water at home per day - compared to 2.5 gallons in parts of Ethiopia, where some use eight hours per day collecting it.

A first language of Mandarin is spoken by 13 per cent, compared to five per cent English - and 19 per cent of people are Chinese, compared to four per cent American.

One-third of the world is Christians, with 21 per cent Muslim and 13 per cent Hindu, and more than half of people (51 per cent) live in urban environments.

In the working work, 40 per cent are engaged in the services sector, 38 per cent in agriculture and 22 per cent in industry – and more than four in five of us are literate.

World’s Rarest Mammal Spotted And Pictured In Indonesia

A Javan rhinoceros triggers a camera trap in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park in late 2010. The picture was released this week by WWF-Indonesia and Indonesia's National Park Authority.

A motion-activated video camera also recorded "dramatic" footage of four of the rhinos, deemed gravely endangered by the International Union for Conservation for Nature. At fewer than 40 individuals, the Javan rhino may be the rarest mammal on the world, according to WWF.

Though the videos and pictures are "great news," the animals still face serious threats, WWF-US chief scientist Eric Dinerstein noted in a statement.

For instance, an explosion of the nearby Anak Krakatau volcano could easily wipe out all life on the peninsula that the rhinos call home.

"There are no Javan rhinos in confinement," he said. "If we lose the population in the wild, we've lost them all."

Tokyo's Sky Tree Claims To Be World's Tallest Tower

Tokyo's Sky Tree has become the world's tallest self-supporting broadcast structure, according to a statement by the project's owners, having reached 601 m.

The tower, structure of which is being managed by Tobu Tower Sky Tree Co., has now passed the 600 m-high Canton Tower in China's south-western city of Guangzhou.

When completed later this year, the tower will be 634 m-high and will restore another tower, the 332 m-high Tokyo Tower.

Construction of the remaining 30 m-plus is regarded as the most significant phase of the project as it involves installation of a digital antenna.

Japan's six top broadcasters are building the tower, which is anticipated to bolster television and radio transmissions across the capital and beyond.

The tower will also consist of house retail outlets, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando and sculptor Kiichi Sumikawa, the Sky Tree is constructed on a triangular base and its "body" turns into a cylinder as it reaches upward.

World's Richest Man To Unveil A New Museum

The world's richest man is unveiling a new museum in Mexico City that he says will let him share his huge art collection with the public.

Carlos Slim's new Soumaya Museum will exhibit a rotating selection of his 66,000 artworks. The collection includes pieces by Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and European masters like Auguste Rodin, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.

Slim presented a preview Tuesday of the high structure, which is dramatically angled and covered with 16,000 aluminum hexagons.

It opens to the public March 29, and entrance will be free.

The museum is named after Slim's late wife, Soumaya. It replaces a smaller museum of the similar name in southern Mexico City.