Garbage in space

November 1957, Russian scientists managed to lob a 180-pound metal sphere called Sputnik 1 into orbit around the earth. Its purpose was simple and remarkably low-tech: scare the hell out of Americans by broadcasting a signal that could be heard via radio every 90 minutes. There was no military or commercial application for Sputnik, it was a blatant act of Cold War propaganda and it was a smashing success. A year later, NASA managed to put a satellite called Vanguard 1 into orbit and the race for space was on.


Oddly, none of the contestants stopped to consider that, while the subjugation of the last frontier was financed through traditional methods of raping and pillaging, the "final frontier" has no Martians to enslave and no natural resources to consume. Thus, the race became a macho game to see who could "get it up" the highest and keep it up the longest.

Fast forward 42 years. It's a new century and the space race, like the cold war, is officially being won by capitalism – not the noble ideas of Communism or Democracy – just good old fashioned wireless-communication networks and satellite TV. But it seems that even the capitalists are having their problems taming the final frontier.

Case in point: Iridium World Communications Ltd. recently set a new world record for the costliest corporate fiasco of all time (approximately $7 billion) when its ambitious plan to create a worldwide satellite telephone network fell into bankruptcy. The Motorola-owned company will now systematically steer into the atmosphere each of the 66 low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites it spent billions to develop and deploy. Iridium's failure is due, in part, to the success of land-based wireless networks, and the fact that the accompanying phone was only slightly lighter than a bowling ball and cost $3,000.

Ironically, on the other side of the astral playing field, it appears that the Russians have also hopped aboard the Starship Capitalism. After Russia's space agency stranded a cosmonaut on Mir for six months because it couldn't afford to bring him back, Moscow decided that the $250 million it spends annually to maintain Mir is wasted money. Since then, Kremlin officials have been concocting alternative ways to finance and maintenance the world's largest piece of space trash, lest they be forced to follow Motorola's lead and crash it into the planet.

Recent plans for the former pride of the Soviet Union include turning it into a vacation spot for high-paying tourists, and renting it out to film companies who want to shoot their space movies on location. But, in light of its astronomical price tag, no one's buying.

Sputnik 1 fell back to the earth six months after it was launched, but Vanguard 1 still makes its daily pass around the planet. Though, it's now about as useful as a VW Bug made in the same year and even more noteworthy, it's not alone.

Of approximately 2,400 man-made satellites that have been launched since 1957, more than 2,000 of them are now obsolete or abandoned and, according to the US National Space Command, there are 20 pieces of useless debris in orbit for every operational satellite.

It's true. Four decades of intense space colonization have created a massive armada of junk that now spins around our planet like high-tech ice cubes trapped in a cosmic frozen daiquiri.

NSC currently tracks more than 10,000 "identifiable objects" including spent rockets, fuel canisters, and large trashcans intentionally jettisoned by shuttle crews. Estimates for orbital debris are actually around 35-million if you count "unidentifiable objects" such as paint chips, bolts, and foil shards that all move twelve-times faster than a bullet, and are each capable of killing an astronaut who is out for an afternoon space walk. To prevent costly and even lethal collisions, NSC officials must navigate the shuttle through this flying minefield, maintaining a five-mile safety envelope around it at all times.

If the thought that Motorola and Russia plan to systematically rain satellites and space stations on our planet gives you cause for alarm, don't worry. According to NASA, everything’s under control. The units will likely burn up on re-entry and whatever is left will splash down in a colorful billion-dollar fireworks show over the ocean.

NASA was not so full of assurances in 1998, however, when they called the Chilean government in a semi-panic to inform them that one of their orbiters, with a nuclear fuel core no less, was going to fall "somewhere" over their country "sometime" in the next 48 hours. Luckily for the Chileans, NASA's calculations were off and the unit disappeared into the aquatic bowels of the Pacific. NASA's response was something on the order of "sorry, that stuff happens."

Of course, NASA would like nothing better than for Russia to dump its 13-year-old planetary RV into the sea so that it can concentrate on helping develop the "new improved" International Space Station.

Now, a sensible person might look at this situation and be inclined to ask: why pour billions of dollars into developing a space station when: A) the other space station already in orbit is about to be discarded because it has little viable use beyond that of a movie set; and B) the billions of dollars could be better spent developing things like alternative fuel sources that would be commercially viable and improve life for all of the planet's inhabitants?

Somehow, I bet George Lucas is behind this. After all, in another couple of decades he'll probably need a defunct space station to use for Star Wars 9, and he'll likely be one of the few institutions with a sufficient budget to capitalize on it.

So far, it appears that the only useful thing to come from space is just that, space. Or rather, to use the Department of Defense term, strategic space. Which roughly translated means: a good place to put floating surveillance cameras and media transmission devices.

Really, there is little else "out there." Unless you're an X-Files fan, in which case "the truth" is out there, but everyone knows that truth is hard to sell.

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Born with Two Heads

On March 31st 2004 in Aghur, Egypt a young woman, Naglaa Mohammed Yehiya, is rushed to hospital in labour six weeks early. She is expecting to give birth to twins, confirmed in earlier scans. The first twin is born normally and is quite healthy. The second twin is causing problems. After several hours the hospital need to conduct an emergency caesarean section to deliver the second twin.

Hospital staff are amazed at what they see. The baby has two heads!



In a condition known as Craniopagus Parasiticus a second parasitic head has developed attached to the host head. This is an extremely rare condition and only about 10 cases have ever been recorded. Of these, only three have been born alive.

The condition comes about when the egg splits to form identical twins. This would normally occur at 10 weeks. However with Naglaa it didn't occur until 13 weeks resulting in conjoined twins. Damage with the blood supply in the second twin made it draw blood from the join at the skull forming a parasitic connection. Manar's little heart could not pump enough blood to support two bodies, so the second body could not develop. The second skull and brain were able to develop more or less normally.

The parasitic head is very much alive and displays reflexive behaviour.

A Scan shows how the skulls are joined, the brains are fused together and share a single blood supply. Manar is not expected to live.

However, after 10 months Manar has defied her doctor's prognosis. She is alive although she has suffered 5 heart failures, developed convulsions, and had 2 chest infections.

The parasitic head has started to show signs of gangrene, and this is being circulated to Manar's body. It has become clear that the only hope of saving Manar is to separate her from the twin.

Egypt is a Muslim country, so any operation is not only a medical question, but a moral and ethical one too. Professor Dr Mohammed Lotfy has agreed to carry out the operation, but he consults Sheikh Dr Ali Gomaa, The Grand Mufti of the Egyptian Republic for religious and ethical guidance.

This operation has never been carried out successfully before and carries a very high risk. The Grand Mufti gives his blessing to the operation, so surgery is scheduled for February 18 2005.

The World's media descend on Benha Children's Hospital as soon as word gets out. The hospital agree to having a video link installed in the operating theatre.

After 13 hours of painstaking surgery and 8 full blood transfusions, the parasitic head is successfully removed. Manar is alive but extremely critical. She has ten intravenous lines in and is kept sedated in a coma for five days to stop her convulsing.

By the 28th May 2005 Manar is well enough to go home for the first time in her young life. She needs constant care and careful medication to control her temperature and convulsions. Six weeks later Manar takes a turn for the worse and begins having fits. Naglaa takes her back to Cairo to see Professor Lotfy who is concerned with what he sees.

A scan reveals that the valve intended to drain the brain cavity has become blocked reulting in a build up of fluid. A condition known as hydrocephalus. This is quite common after brain surgery, but it can lead to brain damage.

Professor Lotfy has the drain valve replaced immediately but fears that irrevocable damage may already have taken place. It is possible that Manar will never fully recover.

Sadly, on Mar 25th 2006, just before her second birthday, Manar died after suffering a brain infection.

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Man Holds the Record for the Most Guinness World Records

The 54-year-old Ashrita Furman from Jamaica, Queens, was officially registered as the first person in the world to hold 100 Guinness Book of Records simultaneously. The record was registered after he joint a group of people at City Hall Park, who recited one poem in 111 languages. The group read the poem "Precious", written by the late Indian spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy.



Furman was the one to read the eighth line of the poem in Zulu. "It was fun learning about many of these languages - quite a few I never even heard of," he said.

Over one hundred participants gathered in the park from different countries to recite the poem in languages that ranged from Dzongkha to Picard. The attempt was successful, breaking the previous record, when people read the "Values on Community Harmony" in 79 languages.

Currently Furman holds the position of a health-food store manager. He registered his first Guinness Book record back in 1979 and since then the man managed to earn about 230 Guinness records. In his first record Furman did 27,000 jumping jacks in 5 hours. One of his latest records involved eating the most M&Ms in 1 minute using chopsticks. The record was 38, reports New York Daily News.

Furman broke records on every continent over the last three decades. But he wasn't always like that. "As a kid I was always fascinated by the Guinness Book of World Records. But I was very unathletic and I never thought I could," he said.

A strong belief in his abilities came to him after Furman discovered meditation when he was a teenager. He believes that everyone has an inner strength but people rarely use it. "I just love the challenge of trying to be the best in the world in something," says Furman.

Some of his most amazing records include:
- Most deep knee bends in one minute, 55,
- Most cloves of garlic eaten in one minute, 22;
- Most baseballs held in baseball glove for 10 seconds, 22;
- Most T-shirts torn in half in one minute, 14;
- Most eggs crushed with head in one minute, 80;
- Fastest time for eating and peeling 3 kiwifruits, 24.05 seconds.

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The Baby in the Concrete Block

England, 2002

While clearing out an old garage, a grizzly find was to spark a major police investigation. The remains of a baby were found encased in a concrete block.

A pathologist who examined the baby's remains determined that she had been about 5 months old when she died. Lara, the name the police gave to her, had been ill-treated and showed signs of beating and head injuries. She had also been neglected, a gum abscess had grown so large that it had eaten into her jaw. This would have caused the child intense pain.

DNA Samples were taken from local residents in the surrounding villages, but obtaining a DNA profile from Lara was to prove more difficult.

Dr. Stuart Black from the University of Reading carried out isotope analysis on the remains, to try and establish a time of death and a locality were Lara had been born. This concluded that Lara was almost certainly from Cumbria and had probably died between 1990 and 1992.

Police set about tracing every baby born in the area between 1989 and 1993. This accounted for 3,200 children but no Lara.

Mitochondrial DNA, inherited only from the mother, is present in greater quantities in the cells and so is better able to resist degradation. When they tested for this, they were able to raise Lara's full DNA profile.

This identified Anne Chadwick as a very close genetic match to Lara. So close, she could be her mother or her sister. Anne and Philip Chadwick now lived in Worcestershire with their three children.

While the DNA identified Anne as the possible mother, it also ruled out Philip as the father.

The police arrested Anne and Philip, and a search of their house uncovered a collection of press cuttings about the Barepot baby.

After lengthy questioning and studying videos that Anne and Philip had from the years around 1990, the couple were released without charge.

The forensic scientists were forced to re-assess the dates they had from the isotope analysis and now acknowledged that baby Lara could have died anywhere between the mid 1960s and the 1980s.

Now the police attention moved to Anne's mother. Sheila Parker was known to have had a 15 year affair with local builder Joseph Thwaites who had fathered Anne and her sister Yvonne. Sheila and Joseph had passed away some years earlier and, unfortunately for the investigation, Sheila had been cremated.

However, a stroke of luck revealed that a local hospital had retained some histology slides from Sheila who had died of cancer. Although the slides were 20 years old they reveal sufficient DNA to show that Sheila could, indeed, have been Lara's mother. Sheila was known to have concealed earlier pregnancies, so why not Lara?

It is probable that Sheila gave Lara up for adoption and the adoptive parents were in some way responsible for her death and concrete entombment. But with so little evidence all the police can say with certainty, is that they have found the family that little Lara was born into.

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Real Cobra Snake whiskey

This special whiskey is infused with a farm real farm raised baby Cobra snake, ginseng roots and herbal seed pods. The whiskey is steeped for several months, which then imparts a unique flavour into the whiskey, it is quite an acquired taste. The story is that this is used in SE Asia as a very strong Aphrodisiac; and it also has many medical uses, such as the treatment of back and muscle pain. Every bottle is unique in its own way so therefore the item purchased may differ slightly in looks but not size.

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46 Year Pregnancy

In 1955 in a small village just outside Casablanca, 26 year old Zahra Aboutalib is pregnant with her first child. She was looking forward to giving birth, but after 48 hours of painful labour, she was rushed to the local hospital. Doctors informed her that she would need a caesarean section. On the ward Zahra saw a woman in terrible pain die in child-birth. She fled the hospital fearing she would meet the same fate if she remained.

In the days that followed, Zahra continued to suffer excruciating labour pains but the baby remained resolutely in her womb. After a few more days the pains ceased and the baby stopped moving.



In Moroccan culture, it is believed that a baby can sleep inside the mother to protect her honour. Zahra believed this myth and put the pregnancy out of her mind. She adopted three children and in due course they made her a grandmother.

Many years later when Zahra was 75 years old, the pains suddenly returned. Her son being concerned for his mother's well-being wanted her to see a specialist. For this they had to travel to Rabat where they saw Professor Taibi Ouazzani. He suspected the protruding belly was being caused by an ovarian tumour and arranged for her to have an ultra-sound scan. This revealed a large mass that he could not identify.

He referred Zahra to a specialist radiographer for a second opinion. He could see it was a calcified structure of some sort, but it took a detailed MRI scan to reveal that it was the baby Zahra had conceived 46 years earlier.



Zahra had an ectopic pregnancy where the egg had implanted in the fallopian tube. The foetus that developed, burst out of the fallopian tube and continued to develop in the abdominal cavity. It survived by attaching it's placenta to vital organs around her stomach.

Professor Ouazzania was faced with a difficult decision when deciding if it would be safe to try and remove the foetus. The foetus weighed 7lb and measured 42cm in length.

When they operated they discovered that the foetus had calcified and was a hard, solid lump. It was, essentially, a stone-baby. More concerning was the fact that it had fused with her abdominal wall and vital organs.

After nearly 4 hours the surgeons manage to remove the calcified foetus from Zahra and the operation is hailed a success.

In an ectopic pregnancy, if the dead foetus is too large to be re-absorbed by the mother's body it becomes a foreign body to the mother's immune system. To protect itself from possible infection the mother's body will encase the foetus in a calciferous substance as the tissues die and dehydrate.

As the calciferous wall builds up, the foetus is gradually mummified becoming a lithopedion or stone baby.

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Man with tree in lung

A five-centimeter fir tree has been found in the lung of a man who complained he had a strong pain in his chest and was coughing blood.

The 28-year-old patient, Artyom Sidorkin, came to a hospital in the city of Izhevsk in Central Russia last week, Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reports.

Doctors x-rayed his chest and found a tumor in one of the lungs. Suspecting cancer, they made a decision to perform biopsy, but when they cut the tissue, they were amazed to see green needles in the cut.

“I blinked three times, and thought I was seeing things. Then I called the assistant to have a look,” says Vladimir Kamashev, doctor at the Udmurtian Cancer Center.

The five-centimeter branch was removed from the patient’s body.

“They told me my coughing blood was not caused by any disease,” Sidorkin says.

“It was the needles poking the capillaries. It really hurt a lot. But I never felt like I had an alien object inside of me.”

It is obvious that a five-centimeter branch is too large to be inhaled or swallowed, doctors say. They suggest that the patient might have inhaled a small bud, which then started to grow inside his body.

Meanwhile, the piece of lung with the little fir tree has been preserved for further study.

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