7 World's Most Expensive Foods

7 World's Most Expensive Foods - We all dread the moment when the bill comes and we've all had that moment of 'how much??' when we read it and find it not to our liking. However if you think that your last seafood meal was expensive (tip included...) then it might be somewhat comforting to know that there probably foods out there that are a whole lot more expensive. Here we'll look at some of the world's most expensive foods that might appear on the world's most expensive food bills...

1. Matsutake Mushrooms

Matsutake mushrooms cost in the realms of $1,000 per pound and this puts them at one of the world's most expensive foods. This is partly due to their rarity as the mushrooms are killed by an insect that kills the trees necessary for these mushrooms to grow. There is still currently no method of farming the Matsutake mushroom, so any entrepreneur looking for a good venture might want to look into it. The mushroom was once synonymous with Autumn in Japan.

2. Wagyu Steak

Wagyu steak is from Wagyu cattle raised in Japan. The most elite of all is Kobe beef which is raised on a diet of only beer and hand massaged in order to ensure tenderness and marbling. They are incredibly expensive (around $2,800 per steak) and unfortunately also incredibly fattening. But you only live once eh?

3. Almas Caviar

Almas Caviar We all associate caviar with expense and extravagance, but when that caviar comes from Iran this is even more the case. Very rare and so extremely expensive, Almas Caviar is sold by the kilo and comes in a solid 24 karat gold tin. It also comes from Belua that is over 100 years old. If you really want to pull out all the stops for your dinner party, then Almas Caviar is an absolute must. It will set you back around $25,000 per tin.

4. Chocopologie

Chocopologie For chocolate lovers who want to take their devotion to the extreme, the most expensive chocolate in the world is the $2,600 per-pound Chocopologie. It can only be ordered and is always handmade and purported to be the tastiest chocolate in the world. The name sounds eerily like 'apology' and this would certainly be a guaranteed way for any man to win some brownie points (unless the argument was about money...).

5. The $1,000 Frittata

The $1,000 Frittata The Le Parker Meridien hotel is a hotel in New York that now offers a $1,000 omelet. The egg itself is not what creates the expense however, but rather the mixture of lobster and caviar that goes into its creation (is that Alma caviar?).

6. Fleurburger

The Fleurburger could only have come from Vegas. With a price tag of $5,000 it has to be the most OTT burger in existence and can be purchased from the Mandalay Bay's 'Fleur de Lys'. This price tag is partly the result of the beef being Kobe beef and also containing foie de gras, a truffle source and served on a brioche bun. For your $5,000 thuogh you also get a bottle of Chateau Petrus served in a glass of Ichendorf Brunello stemware. It's not a burger... it's an experience (and one that would make Elvis proud). Bargain!

7. Poop Coffee

Poop Coffee Amazingly it is possible to pay $1,000 per kilogram for a beverage known as 'poop coffee'. And it's not just a clever name – this coffee is actually 'processed' in the digestive tract of various Luwak animals (distant relatives of the Mongoose) from the Sumatra jungles. Presumably it tastes better than the name suggests...

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40 Shocking Facts About Water

40 Shocking Facts About Water - This is the 40 shocking fact about water, check it out:

1. Over 1.5 billion people do not have access to clean, safe water.
2. Almost 4 million people die each year from water related diseases.
3. 43% of water related deaths are due to diarrhea.

4. 98% of water related deaths occur in the developing world.

5. Unsafe water is the biggest killer of children under five; around 90% of all diarrheal deaths are in this age group.

6. In Sub-Saharan Africa women spend on average 16 hours a week collecting water.
7. A typical individual in the United States uses 500 litres of water each day.

8. The recommended daily water requirement for sanitation, bathing, cooking and consumption is approximately 50 litres per person per day.
9. Over 1 billion people use less than 6 litres of water per day.
10. A typical individual in Gambia uses just 4.5 litres of water a day.

11. Lack of access to clean water and sanitation has claimed more lives through disease than any war through guns.
12. The average toilet uses 8 litres of clean water in a single flush.

13. At any one time, more than half the world’s poor are ill due to inadequate sanitation, water or hygiene.

14. It takes over 11,000 litres of water to produce a pound of coffee.
15. Half the world’s schools do not have access to clean water, nor adequate sanitation.

16. It takes about 300 litres of water to make the paper for just one Sunday newspaper.

17. Agriculture is responsible for about 70% of the world’s water usage. Industry uses a further 22%.

18. 443 million school days are lost each year due to water related illness.
19. On average, women in Africa and Asia have to walk 3.7 miles to collect water.
20. The average dishwasher uses over 100 litres per cycle.

21. It takes up to 5000 litres of water to produce 1kg of rice.
22. 80% of all illness in the developing world comes from water born diseases.
23. Drilling a fresh water well can cost anything from a few hundred dollars to over $40,000.

24. Over 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation.

25. 90% of wastewater in developing countries is discharged into rivers or streams without any treatment.
26. About 1.8 million child deaths a year are due to diarrhea.
27. An 18 litre can of water weighs 20 kilos.

28. About half the world’s hospital beds are occupied by someone with a water related illness.

29. A five minute shower in an American household will use more water than a person living in a developing world slum will use in a whole day.

30. A third of the people without access to clean water live on less than a dollar a day. More than two thirds live on less than two dollars a day.

31. Water consumption in a US household is eight times that of an Indian household.

32. In India alone, water born diseases cost the economy 73 million working days per year.

33. In sub-Saharan Africa a child’s chance of dying from diarrhea is over 500 times greater than in Europe.

34. Approximately 2.5 billion people lack access to appropriate sanitation facilities.

35. About 1.2 billion people have absolutely no access to a sanitation facility.
36. In a typical year in Africa 5–10 times the number of people die from diarrhea than from war.
37. Simply washing hands can decrease the chance of diarrhea by around 35%.

38. Global sales of bottled water account for over $60-$80 billion each year.

39. A child dies of water born diseases about every 15 seconds (that’s about 12 children just since you started reading this article). By this time tomorrow, another 2,500 will be dead.
40. As little as one dollar can provide clean water for a child in the developing world for an entire year.

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8 Facts About the Human Body

8 Facts About the Human Body - The human body is one of the most amazing constructions on the planet. Brilliantly efficient, complicated and mysterious, and capable of so much. If it wasn't for the human body you wouldn't be reading this and the rest of the wonders of the universe are only perceptible to us because of the wonders of our own anatomy. Thus it is no surprise that there are so many staggering facts and truths once you begin to look closer. Here we'll examine just a few of the world's most amazing facts about the human body.

1. Each square inch of your skin is covered in 32 million bacteria
It sounds like it's not only one of the world's most amazing facts about the human body, but also one of the most alarming and disgusting. The reality however is that these 32 million bacteria are not only mostly harmless, but also sometimes important for our survival.

2. Humans versus mice
Humans are genetically 95% + identical to mice – which is why we often use them to experiment on. However this is only because such a large proportion of our DNA is black – known as 'junk DNA' – meaning that we're technically very similar to all animals really. One of the world's most amazing facts about the human body in itself.

3. Your chemicals have been on an incredible journey
The Himalayas are mountains constructed of mostly sedimentary rock. This means that they are largely constructed of living tissue – the skeletons and shells of marine animals and coral. The Himalayas then are essentially made up of old dead animals, and fascinatingly the same is also true of humans with the elements that make us up having been recycled from animals, rocks and even dinosaurs.

4. You come from space
The point above is no doubt one of the world's most amazing facts about the human body, but it also leads to another even more fascinating point. You might be wondering where all of those elements came from in the first place – well the answer is space and the carbon compounds we know as amino acids, the protein that makes us up – has actually been found in meteorites suggesting that this was the transport method that first brought life to our planet.
5. And dying stars...
Not impressive enough? Well how about the fact that the only way carbon can be made is through nuclear fusion requiring temperatures that we could never replicate here on Earth. Even the sun isn't hot enough. The only way that the element carbon can be made then is by a dying sun called a red giant. In other words the carbon that makes up our body was forged in the heart of just such a dying sun then travelled to Earth on a meteorite. If that's not one of the world's most amazing facts about the human body then nothing is.

6. A modular brain?
Debates have raged about whether the human brain is 'holistic' or 'modular'. That means whether it all works as a whole, or whether it's in fact several smaller areas functioning independently and communicating. Conditions exist however that suggest the latter to extremes – a simple bump on the head for instance has in the past caused no symptoms other than the complete inability to recall the names of vegetables.

7. The storage capacity of the brain
You might not think of the human brain in terms of computer storage. However some researchers have nevertheless attempted to do just that with results generally ranging from 1-10 terrabytes. This is presuming however that each neuron holds one 'bit' of information (meaning a value of one or zero essentially). Other estimates suggest much higher numbers. Either way it's not bad (it's also important to remember that the brain has a much better and completely different method of 'compressing' and storing information which means that the value is very different in practice).

8. A changeable brain...
Lastly you might think of the brain as a fairly concrete and permanent object, but our last of the world's most amazing facts about the human body suggests something entirely different – which is that the brain is malleable and can change shape depending on how you use it much like a muscle in what is known as 'brain plasticity'. Meanwhile 'neurogenesis' in adults has also been shown to be possible.

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The Wooden Churches - Unique in the World

The Wooden Churches - Unique in the World - The heads of dragon design dark wood stand out against the blue sky. They decorate the edges of the roof of the church Borgund hurts. On several levels just above the roof panel of the shaking ground, which gives the rod its distinctive appearance churches. To protect against the harsh climate, they are completely covered with small tiles, so they resemble a farm animal.
Inside dark penetrates only a few of the "portholes" in the high ceiling above come a little light, like the rays of headlights.

Stave Church Borgund directly to the European Route 16, near the Sognefjord, one of the best examples in Norway. It has survived the centuries as well, who served in the restoration of many wooden churches as a model.

The churches of small-scale farmers were built in the late era of the Vikings between 11 and 13 century in southern Norway and Central. Only 28 of about 1000 when wooden churches are still standing today. As pure wooden buildings, which were much more fire and given the test of time especially. Wood at the time of the most common building materials and carpenters Norway's trade.

The ax was the carpenter, the most important tool

The stave churches were assembled in a modular system with no metal screws or nails, in a stone base, a frame is made of large wooden beams. Solid corner posts were skillfully articulating clamp technique with the structure, tongue and groove vertical boards - from start to fill the gaps.

If you look at the roof of the church seems to go in shipbuilding. Andreas rigid diagonal cross beams, struts provide stability smart. The structure is based primarily on the masts to be erected in the middle of the boat in the height (1,4,8,12 or 20 poles). Due to the high soaring ceilings reminiscent of the wooden churches of Norway in the Asian pagodas. The stepped roof comes down low over the Svalgang which stripped of their weapons, but also concluded important business. From here were lepers and others who are in conflict with Christian laws, participate in worship.

Mystical dragon heads and mythological figures

They decorate the churches from the portal to the ridge and probably served as the input high threshold to keep demons from the church. Bonds of Romanesque architecture (vestibules, some capitals) should not be overlooked.
Inside, the staff most churches are very plain and still somewhat murky. In part, the walls adorned rose painting, sometimes the choir was lined with tapestries. Window was used only after the Reformation, when many stave churches were rebuilt and expanded greatly, often joined them then a gallery.
Stave churches are often in formerly pagan sacrifices and Thing seats at banks or remote fjord in nature. Some were bought by private citizens and thus saved from destruction and are now proud of the open-air museums.
The largest stave church, Heddal, RV11 is located near the industrial town of Notodden right next to the busy cross-connection. It dates from the mid-13th Century, a fundamental restoration in the 19th Century changed especially the interior. Last renovation in the mid 50's. Beautiful carvings adorn the portals.
Urnes - Stave Church at the Luster Fjord, a branch of the Sognefjord, has the finest details, she goes back to the year 1060; if obtained from this first church was only today's north entrance, which is famous for its carvings.
To the smaller counts Eidsborg stave churches - Church in Telemark from the beginning of the 13th Century, which is embedded in the very nice nature. The long style shingle roof and even attacked portal carvings to give it a special touch.
Original has been faithfully restored in the Gol Stave Church, which today stands at the museum on Bygdøy (Oslo) and a replica of the Gol place. The Stave Church near Bergen in 1992 from Fantoft burned completely and was painstakingly rebuilt. Very nicely restored and is the Hopperstad - Church at Vik in Sognefjord.
Magnificent long since decayed wooden churches of portals can be viewed at the National Museum in Oslo.

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Shocking Fact: Nearly 30% of All Pregnant Women Smoke

Shocking Fact: Nearly 30% of All Pregnant Women Smoke - Especially in the light of day next no smoking World on 31 May is the Linz-Land Women and Children's Hospital is a particular concern to provide information on "Smoking during pregnancy." The reason for this, not least the fact that is striking is that almost 30% of all women have access to cigarettes during pregnancy, and increasing.

In Austria the proportion of smokers is 29% of the total population (= 2.3 million). This complex every day between 80 and 90% smoke. "Especially alarming is the fact that between 20 and 30% did not give all women during pregnancy to cigarette smoking. Basically, for 40 weeks of pregnancy is not recommended to smoke cigarettes, because the fetus is at risk throughout development. In this context, I would like to emphasize that the recommendation is often asked to limit to a maximum of five cigarettes a day, is not scientifically justified. It is often the best of a commitment to women smokers too strong, that does not succeed in weaning. Even passive smoking during pregnancy should be avoided whenever possible, "said Dr. Irene Koblmüller of women in the country and the Children's Hospital of Linz.
Harmful ingredients and smoke snuff cadmium monoxide, cyanide, nicotine and carbon monoxide can freely reach the fetus through the placenta - the result: A lack of oxygen supply to the uterus, placenta and fetus.
In other words, increasing, for example, the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth, premature birth rate and the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death =).Even after death - especially during the breastfeeding - The handle should be avoided for a cigarette. The reason for this: the babies of mothers who smoke take more breast milk in a large amount of harmful substances, which in turn leads to activism, Saugschwierigkeiten, cramps and vomiting and, consequently, weight gain. "Especially heavy smokers, therefore, recommends weaning," said Koblmüller. In addition to active smoking was also - for the sake of the baby - no need to passive smoking. The after-effects of parental smoking on one side, children often suffer from passive smoking in the media bronchitis, pneumonia or ear infections and asthma.

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