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Eshima Ohashi Bridge

The roller coaster-like Eshima Ohashi bridge, located in the Chugoku region of Honshu, Japan, has a gradient of 6.1 percent on one side and 5.1 percent on another. It spans one mile across Lake Nakaumi linking cities of Matsue and Sakaiminato. (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

TOP 10 Criminals List of India

 Google sorry for Narendra Modi images in 'Top 10 criminals' list

 

Internet giant Google has apologized after Indian PM Narendra Modi's photos started appearing in the image search results for "Top 10 criminals".

"We apologies for any confusion or misunderstanding this has caused," a Google statement said.

Mr Modi figures prominently in the search alongside images of terrorists, murderers and dictators.

Other world leaders on the list include former US president George Bush and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.

Other prominent Indians who come up in the search include Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, lawyer Ram Jethmalani, fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt who is serving a jail term in connection with deadly blasts in Mumbai in 1993.

"These results trouble us and are not reflective of the opinions of Google," the company said in its statement released on Wednesday night.

"Sometimes, the way images are described on the internet can yield surprising results to specific queries... We're continually working to improve our algorithms to prevent unexpected results like this," the statement added.

The internet firm said the result was due to a British daily which had published an image of Mr Modi with erroneous metadata.

The Google apology came after many Indian politicians and commentators expressed concern on social media platforms

Article source by BBC.com

Meet The Dutch Owl Who Loves To Land On People’s Heads

An owl that likes to land on people’s heads has rocketed a small Dutch town to fame. Menno Shaefer, a 48-year-old from Zaandam, Netherlands, managed to document this friendly 6lb (2.7kg) European Eagle Owl as it tried to roost on the heads of onlookers in Noordeinde town. There, it sat for up to a minute before looking for another resting spot.

“Whilst photographing the owl, it did try to land one my head once,” said Shaefer to NL Times. “However, as soon as I lifted my camera to get a shot, the owl flew onto my neighbor standing by my side.” Residents think that the owl might have escaped from an aviary in Oosterwolde, and are excited by the publicity. “I have seen photographers and birders from around the country, from The Hague to Spijkenisse, they come from everywhere to see the eagle owl. Our village is finally on the map!” , said one happy resident.

As to why the owl behaves this way, Schaefer said, “It was a very funny thing to watch, however I’m just as confused as anyone as to why it does this.”

 

Rare World War II Photos

Hell in the Pacific: Rare World War II photographs show American soldiers' fight for survival in brutal Battle of Saipan

By Lydia Warren

It is the little-known battle that claimed the lives of thousands of Americans during World War II.

But now black-and-white photographs, captured by Life magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith, show the everyday horrors for the U.S. soldiers fighting against Japanese forces on the Mariana Island of Saipan between June 15 and July 9, 1944.

Faces etched with the pain of their experiences, war-weary men are captured transporting their wounded comrades or forcing Japanese civilians from their hiding places.

Long journey: U.S. soldiers drive the wounded from the front lines during the fight to take Saipan, Northern Marianas Islands, June 1944. In the first jeep, one soldier drives while a second holds up IV bags attached to two injured men strapped to the vehicle's hood

The photographs were taken during a battle that claimed the lives of 22,000 Japanese civilians - many by suicide - and nearly all 30,000 Japanese troops on the island. Of the 71,000 American troops who landed on Saipan, 3,426 perished, while more than 13,000 were wounded.

The battle was a turning point for the American battle against Japan's forces. The Japanese situation became so desperate that commanders pleaded with civilians to 'pick up their spears' and join the fight.

The destruction of the Pacific island is captured in the Life photographs, with bleak landscapes bearing the detritus of bombings and gunfire.

Many of the men in the photographs are faceless - their backs turned to the camera or faces obscured - highlighting the stark loneliness and anonymity of fighting on the front lines.

 

Helping hand: A U.S soldier offers his hand to a woman leaving a cave where she had hidden with her child during the battle between Japanese and American forces

 

Fight for survival: In a July 1944 photograph, an American Marine lifts a nearly dead infant from a cave where native islanders had been hiding during the battle for Saipan

 

Desperation: Saipan civilians commit suicide rather than surrendering to American troops. Around 1,000 civilians perished this way

Medics tenderly patch together their wounded comrades as they lay in debris-scattered fields. In one photograph, soldiers show similar touching tenderness towards a wounded dog.

Another casualty of the war in the Pacific lies on a cot in a cathedral on Leyte, in the Philippines, waiting for treatment for the bullet wound in his stomach.

Smith also documents the struggles of the Japanese. A U.S. Marine cradles a near-dead infant he found face down under a rock while moving along Japanese soldiers hiding in caves on Saipan.

In another picture, Japanese civilians are shown jumping to their deaths from cliffs. Around 1,000 civilians killed themselves in this manner, jumping from 'Suicide Cliff' or 'Banzai Cliff' after propaganda led them to fear occupation under Americans.

 

Brothers in arms: On the Marianas Islands, an American soldier comforts a wounded comrade during the fight. More than 3,000 U.S. troops perished in the battle

 

Wounded: An American soldier, a casualty of the war in the Pacific, lies on a cot in a cathedral on Leyte, the Philippines, waiting for treatment for a bullet wound in his stomach. U.S. medics show tenderness towards a dog harmed in the crossfire

 

Care: A U.S medic applies a field dressing to the neck of an injured soldier in Tanapag, Saipan in June 1944. In the distance behind them, a soldier is visible in a foxhole

 

Got his back: While under fire, U.S. Marines advance on occupying Japanese forces in Tanapag, Saipan in June 1944

 

Debris: In another fight against Japanese forces, Smith captures aircraft wreckage on a beach. The photographs, taken following Marines' fierce battle against Japanese for Iwo Jima, capture one man sleeping under the debris, while American forces scour the beach

 

Hoisted to safety: In a photograph taken in a separate battle against Japanese troops in Guam, Smith captures the moment a wounded American Marine is loaded onto an 'alligator' tracked amphibious vehicle for evacuation

 

Aerial view: A Grumman TBF-1 Avenger flies over fields bombed by U.S. soldiers on the Japanese-occupied island on June 30, 1944

 

War-weary: Marine PFC T. E. Underwood, is captured on Saipan during the fight to wrest the island from Japanese troops

 

Alone: A Marine, pictured in July 1944, looks at the bodies of Japanese soldiers killed during the battle for control of Saipan. Nearly 30,000 Japanese troops died

 

Battle fields: American aircraft in flight during battle against Japanese for Iwo Jima,and during the struggle for Leyte Island.

Incredible Caves Where You Can Swim and Dive

Brazil's Chapada Diamantina National Park is known for its waterfalls and caverns with colorful pools. One of these pools is Poco Azul (or the Blue Well), a flooded cave where visitors can swim in crystal-clear waters or glide around the remains of old submerged trees, still in excellent condition, according to Atlas Obscura. (Flickr/Otavio Nogueira) 

 Diver and photographer Liz Rogers observes a fellow diver as she explores the Cathedral and the Chasm, part of Piccaninnie Ponds cave system in the Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park in South Australia and one of the country's top diving locations. The water is so clear here that there is a spot where it is possible to look up from 98 feet down and see clouds in the blue sky above. (Liz Rogers/Barcroft Media/Getty Images) 

Located near the island of Vis in Croatia, the 'Green Cave' is one of two popular 'colorful' cave destinations in the area (the Blue Cave is also worth a visit). The Green Cave, accessible by boat, is known for for the visible green beam of light that penetrates through the opening on its roof and breaks on the sea surface, making it a unique place for swimming and snorkeling. (Flickr/www.yacht-rent.com) 

With clear waters and an impressive diversity of sea life, Saipan is known for its incredible scuba diving sites. Most famous of these dive spots is The Grotto, a collapsed underwater cave. Divers sometimes encounter turtles, white tip sharks and clown triggerfish on this dive. (Flickr/Tetsuji Sakakibara)   

One of the most popular attractions in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico is the stunning 'hidden beach' in the Marieta Islands. The site was formed by a collapse of the volcanic rock that makes up the island. Over time, a cave was created by the sea; and visitors have to swim through the tunnel in the cave to access the beach. (Mark D Callanan/Getty Images) 

The most popular attraction in the island of Kastellorizo, Greece, the Blue Cave is known for its dazzling turquoise color, created by light of the sun, which is refracted through the sea, and reflected in the interior. There cave is accessible by small boats, which take visitors to the site for a swim in the clear waters. (Flickr/Tatsushi Okamoto)

The Mummy Exhibition In Philadelphia..

The Franklin Institute located in Philadelphia invites visitors to attend an exhibition called The Mummies of the World. This is the mummy of a child from Peru who died 6500 years ago at the age of 8-10 months due to a heart disease. It is one of the oldest mummies in the world and is over 3000 years elder than the mummy of Tutu Pharaoh.

Every exhibit here is unique. You can see the remains of a dog buried in the swamps of Germany 500 years ago or bones of a child who lived in Peru 6420 years ago. The Peruvian mummy lived in the 13 century AD.

The exhibits were prepared in collaboration with experts from 15 leading European institutions and taken to many large cities of the USA. The mummy of an ancient Egyptian.

The 10-year-old girl is looking at the the mummy of an adult person found in the caves of Chile.

The woman with children were found in the South America.

The mummy of Michael Orlovits born in Hungary in 1765. The mummies of his family members were found during the reconstruction of a Dominican church. Cold and dry air of that place as well as the pine oil allowed the mummies to be preserved till our days.

The investigations held showed that Veronica Orlovits and her husband suffered from severe tuberculosis. Besides, some other traumas and injuries were found on their bodies.

Another member of the family, Johannes Orlovits.

Computer tomography and other scientific methods help in mummy studying. Using them, we can find out how people lived and died. The method is non-invasive and gives three-dimensional image of a mummy enabling to preserve it for future generations.

Scanning results of the Orlovits mummy obtained in a Californian medical center.

Scan session of the Orlovits mummy.

The mummy of the pre-Columbian era found on the territory of a desert in Chile.

A howler monkey mummy from the South Africa.

The Egyptian lived 400 years B.C.E.

As the day of the exhibition approaches, the employees of the Californian scientific center are sealing the glass cube containing a sarcophagus and Egyptian mummy.