CIS Solar Tower - The solar panel covered skyscraper

Green technology has always fascinated and inspired me. The solar tower of Seville, air-powered cars and now an entire skyscraper covered with solar panels. The office building of Co-operative Insurance (CIS), an insurance company, in Manchester has been transformed into Europe's largest vertical array of solar panels, designed to convert daylight into electricity.


The sides of this CIS owned skyscraper was original covered with small mosaic tiles, but after only six months, they began to fall of. They needed a solution and eventually came up with a brilliant and unique idea. After spending £5.5 million, three faces of the building was clad with a total of 7,244 solar panels generating 390kW of energy. The building also has 24 wind turbines on the roof, which provide 10% of the total power used by the building.




Close-up of the solar panels




The building when still under construction

Incidentally, this building is the tallest in Manchester and the 400 feet high solar panels is the largest in Europe. Also, this is the worlds' first and only such project.
Source: MetaFfficient, SkyscraperNews

Read more »

The view from a 350 meter TV tower

The spectacular view atop an abandoned TV tower in the city of Kostroma, Russia, which is supposedly 350 meters tall according to the photographer.












 

Read more »

World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet

he world’s tallest filing cabinet is not located in some office, but in a field of weeds on the southwest edge of Burlington, in the state of Vermont in USA. It’s actually a stack of 38 filing cabinets welded together, one atop another. Most of the drawers are empty, but some of them contains auto parts made from shredding an MG Midget sports car, steamrolling the fragments, then cataloguing and storing each fragment with a label like an auto parts shop. Just plain crazy.

If you ever go visiting Burlington, and want to catch a sight of the cabinet, it's off of Shelburne st (route 7) on Flynn Ave between Pine Street and Foster Street. The filing cabinet is right next to the road on the right side.

 


 

Read more »

The Tallest Teen Girl in the World

A 14 year old Brazilian teen is looked up to by just about everyone around her. Standing at an amazing 6ft 9 in, she is the tallest girl there.

Elisany Silva (Elizane Cruz Silva, Silva da Cruz Elizane) is a Brazilian girl who was born September 27, 1995 and has a height of 206 cm (6′9”) tall. She now ranks among the world’s highest youth.

Being so tall isn’t easy, but it helped her to find a job. She will debut on the catwalk ending the designer’s show in Belem, dressed as a bride.

Read more »

Elisany Silva, May be the Tallest teenage Girl in the world

Elisany Silva, May be the Tallest teenage Girl in the world

A 14 year old Brazilian teen is looked up to by just about everyone around her. Standing at an amazing 6ft 9 in, she is the tallest girl there.

Elisany Silva (Elizane Cruz Silva, Silva da Cruz Elizane) is a Brazilian girl who was born September 27, 1995 and has a height of 206 cm (6'9”) tall. She now ranks among the world’s highest youth.

Being so tall isn’t easy, but it helped her to find a job. She will debut on the catwalk ending the designer’s show in Belem, dressed as a bride.

 

Read more »

World's Tallest and Largest Garden Gnome in Kerhonksen, NY set World Record

The world's tallest garden gnome in Kerhonksen, N.Y. has lost its title to a 15-foot (4.57m) figure from Iowa State University and an even taller 17ft 8in (5.38m) fiberglass model from Poland, the Times Herald-Record reported Friday.

Chomsky, the 13.5-foot (4.12m) icon that stands astride Homegrown Mini Golf and Kelder’s Farm about 110 miles (176 km) from New York city has held the Guinness World Book of Records title for four years -- until now.

The loss of the title has hit his supporters hard, including Chomsky's creator Maria Reidelbach, who has also questioned the fact that the Polish gnome is carved from fiberglass.

 

Guinness rules, she said, require that a subject be composed of the same material as its inspiration -- a giant candle has to be made of wax, for example.

“Garden gnomes are made of concrete. So is Chomsky. Even the Iowa gnome is,” she said. “Fiberglass just doesn’t seem right.”

But she did concede the Polish gnome was “cute.”

Others local artists and fans are proposing ways that Chomsky can retain his title, including digitally altering images of him to give the gnome platform shoes and retrofitted the figure with the world’s largest bobble-head.

Read more »

World’s Tallest Horse 2010 World Record set by Jack Belgium

That’s
when he’ll be officially presented, to thousands of horse lovers, as
the Guinness World Record holder for world’s tallest living horse.

The
9-year-old Belgian gelding from Smokey Hollow Farm near Poynette stands
20 hands, 2.75 inches — that’s one quarter inch short of 6 foot 11
inches — from the bottom of his unshod hooves to his withers, or top of
the shoulder blades. He’s taller than the previous record holder, a
Clydesdale from Texas named Remington, who’s 20 hands tall.

Jerry
Gilbert, co-owner of Smokey Hollow Farm, said a certificate from
Guinness World Records in England arrived at the farm, by express
delivery, in late March.

But
Jake’s coronation as a world record holder will officially take place
Friday, at the Midwest Horse Fair, scheduled for Friday through Sunday
at the Alliant Energy Center.

Jake
also will appear — along with his sidekick from Smokey Hollow Farm, a
miniature stallion named Nemo — at the Kids Korral throughout the show.

Gilbert
said people are welcome to take Jake’s picture, but probably won’t be
allowed to stand next to him for a height comparison, because Jake, like
many horses, may not be accustomed to strangers.

According
to Gilbert, the Midwest Horse Fair was chosen as the place where Jake
would make his debut as a record-holder because the show long has been a
favorite of the people at Smokey Hollow Farm.

The
event, which attracted more than 52,000 people last year, features more
than 500 exhibitors, numerous horses and educational seminars.

Daily
admission costs are $10 in advance or $12 at the gate;weekend passes
are available for $27 in advance or $36 at the gate. Children 7 and
younger are admitted to the show free, though children will need tickets
for the nightly shows.

Meanwhile, Gilbert is awaiting Big Jake’s official appearance in the Guinness Book of World Records.

“He’s
not guaranteed to be in the book,” he said. “The 2010 edition may have
already gone to press, but maybe he’ll be in the 2011 edition.”



World’s Tallest Horse 2010 Guinness World Record Video Live

Read more »

Meet America's new Tallest Man (16 pics)

Igor Vovkovinskiy named tallest man in America

Taking trips when you are 7 foot 8.33 inches tall can be a challenge but Igor Vovkovinskiy left his Minnesota home for the New York City set of the Dr. Oz Show to be named the tallest man in the United States by the Guinness World Records this week.

Vovkovinskiy took the record set by Virginia deputy sheriff George Bell by just a third of an inch. Vovkovinskiy came to the US from the Ukraine as a 7-year-old with his mother Svetlana twenty years ago.

The young man with a size 24 10-E shoe faces daily challenges living in a world where the average man is just 5 foot 10 inches tall. Just sitting at a desk at the Minnesota School of Business can be a task for the paralegal studies student.

Upon accepting the Guinness World Record, Igor said in a press release obtained by Digital Journal, "It feels good to finally have proof that I am the Tallest Man in America. Everyone is always asking me if I'm certain that I'm the tallest and I was never able to prove it. Now that I have this certificate to hang on my wall, I could finally show it!"

Standing 7 feet and 8 1/3 inches, Minnesota resident Igor Vovkovinskiy was named the tallest man in the United States by Guinness World Records officials.



"Igor had been on our radar for a while, so we were eager to measure him and see if he was, in fact, the Tallest Living Man in America," said Guinness World Records adjudicator Danny Girton Jr. "Following stringent Guinness World Record guidelines on measurement, we're pleased to confirm that Igor is now a part of record-breaking history." (source)

Read more »