2. Man sets world speed record on motorcycle at Loring BDN18, 2011, at 12:42 p.m. LIMESTONE, Maine — Bill Warner of Wimauma, Fla., driving a turbocharged Suzuki motorcycle, became the fastest man on two wheels Sunday morning at the Loring Timing Association’s Land Speed Race at the former Loring Air Force Base.Warner’s world speed record of 311.945 miles per hour topped his record 273.356 set last year.“Today here at Loring we came to do some racing,” said Warner. “We were lucky enough to get a clean pass early this morning. The wind was down. We became the first motorcycle to go over 300 miles per hour.”What was it like at 300 miles per hour?“In this situation it was very calm,” Warner replied. “I progressed my speeds up from 180 all the way up to that speed over the past few years, so it was not a traumatic thing to do.

3. Taronga Zoo eagle Nomani hits toddler in head during freeflight bird show The Daily TelegraphJuly 18, 2011 9:32AM Nonami the wedge-tail eagle in the live bird show at Taronga Zoo, Mosman. Picture: James ElsbySource: The Daily Telegraph AN eagle has been banned from Taronga Zoo's bird show after it attacked a toddler. The 18-month-year-old boy suffered a gash to his head when Nomani the wedge-tailed eagle flew off course during a freeflight bird show on Saturday afternoon.The boy was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital and released with "superficial injuries" later that day.A zoo spokeswoman said it was the first time in three years of performances the eagle had pounced on someone.Nomani will not be destroyed, but will never again be flown in public.

4. Army finds Mexico's biggest marijuana plantationAssociated Press – 6 days ago TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican soldiers have found the largest marijuana plantation ever detected in Mexico, a huge field covering almost 300 acres (120 hectares), the Defense Department said Thursday.The plantation is four times larger than the previous record discovery by authorities at a ranch in northern Chihuahua state in 1984.The pot plants sheltered under black screen-cloth in a huge square on the floor of the Baja California desert, more than 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego.Army Gen. Alfonso Duarte said the screening, which is often used by regular farmers to protect crops from too much sun or heat, made it difficult to detect from the air what was growing underneath.It was only when soldiers on the ground reached the isolated area Tuesday that they found thousands of pot plants as high as 2.5 yards (meters) tall. The average height of the plants was about 1.5 yards (meters). Duarte said they were not yet ready for harvest."We estimate that in this area, approximately 60 people were working. When they saw the military personnel, they fled," Duarte told reporters. A few were later reportedly detained at a nearby roadblock, but Duarte said no arrests were made at the scene.He said traffickers could have harvested about 120 tons of marijuana from the plantation, worth about 1.8 billion pesos (about $160 million).

5. July 20, 2011, 7:01 PM ETDouble Eagle, Single Loss for Family With Found Coins Thanks to a federal jury in Philadelphia, the federal government on Wednesday inched ever so slightly closer to solving its debt crisis.The reason: a jury found that ten famous $20 gold pieces that would be worth millions on the open market are actually the property of the U.S. Treasury and not the property of the heirs of Israel Switt, a Philadelphia jeweler. Click here for the story from the Philadelphia Inquirer; click here for an earlier story from the WSJ’s Peter Loftus on the case.According to the Inquirer, after about five hours of deliberation after a seven day trial, the jury said the government proved that when the rare “Double-Eagle” coins ended up in Switt’s hands, they did not get there legitimately. That is, there was no legal way any of the coins could have been removed from the Mint.“Israel Switt and some of his friends stole 1933 double eagles from the Philadelphia Mint,” Romero said during closing arguments Tuesday.Barry Berke, the attorney for Switt’s daughter, Joan Langboard and her two sons, Roy and David, declined to comment after the verdict.Joan Langbord, 81, said on Tuesday that she had “no idea” how her father had obtained the 1933 double-eagle coins. A 1933 double eagle was sold in 2004 for $7.5 million, a record price for any coin.The family contended they were legally entitled to the coins because there was no way to know exactly how the got out of the mint, and ended up in the Switt family’s safety deposit box.

6. Neo Nazi Girl Group Cured of their Hate With MarijuanaErin Gloria Ryan —Last fall, we noticed that twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede, formerly of the White Power girl-pop band Prussian Blue, seemed to be espousing a more liberal and less cross burny ideology. What do we have to thank? Mary Jane. Pot, that is. Green gold. Vancouver tea.According to an interview with The Daily, the girls didn't start their careers on their own accord, nor did they really understand much of what they were singing. Their mother, April Gaede, tried to raise them to espouse her Neo Nazi views, which encompass hating basically everyone in the whole world- immigrants, "mud races," and especially The Jews. Prussian Blue performed to racist dickholes the world over, spending their early teen years appearing on alarmist TV newsmagazine segments, touring, making appearances, heading over to Europe. Serving as show ponies for their mother's hateful ideology didn't bode well for their health, mental or physical.Their time in the limelight subjected them to extraordinary stress, and appears to have contributed to severe health problems for both sisters. Lynx was diagnosed with cancer during her freshman year of high school and doctors removed a large tumor from her shoulder. Then she developed a rare condition called CVS, cyclic vomiting syndrome.Lamb has struggled as well. She suffers from scoliosis and chronic back pain, as well as lack of appetite and intense emotional stress. During several of our conversations, she burst into tears as she agonized about how to balance her love for her mother with her desire to let the world know that the girls have moved on.The girls were prescribed a smorgasbord of medical cures for their various maladies, but the only thing that worked for them was getting on board with the Magical Mystery Tour and trying medical marijuana.The girls say it changed their lives. They now enjoy painting things that pot smokers love painting (astrological themed images, but soon it will undoubtedly be the Grateful Dead dancing bears, or lines that swirl and swirl and swirl) and plan on going to college, where their medical marijuana cards and kindly dispositions will likely win them many friends. After college, they plan on continuing to advocate for marijuana legalization in all 50 states, so we can all just toke together in harmony and hold hands and sing and star at the fabric on the arm of this couch I'm sitting on.

7. New Chinese Trend Involves Dyeing Dogs to Look Like Wild Animals Thanks to a bizarre new practice in China, you can have your very own Hobbes! Well, kinda.A recent development in China involves taking ordinary dogs and dyeing their fur to make them resemble wild animals. For example, chow chows have dyed black and white to resemble pandas, while retrievers have been dyed to resemble tigers.Chinese-domesticated animal relations have come a long way since the days of cooking and eating canines. Now instead of eating dogs, people are entering them in competitions, such as the dog dyeing competition at Pets Show Taipei.Of course, the consumption of dog is still a common practice in some areas of China and the rest of Asia, and still drawing the ire of animal rights groups around the world. No word yet on dyeing dogs to look like wild animals, but it seems about as bad as dressing them in Halloween costumes.

8. Hydrothermal Worm Viewed Under An Electron Microscope The Huffington Post 7/18/11 05:48 PM ET This is not photoshop, no clever graphics, no movie scene... it's a hydrothermal worm.And it's a real creature.It's just really, really small. So small in fact, that this image comes from an electron microscope.Taken using an FEI Quanta SEM, this image is amazingly zoomed in 525 times. The real width of the field in the image is 568μm, or 568/1000 of a millimeter. It's far larger than an atom, but still among the smallest living things.The worm, as scary as it looks, is something most people will never actually get to see (or have to worry about, for that matter). Hydrothermal worms are deep sea creatures, almost as small as bacterium, and are largely found near hydrothermal vents in the ocean.This shot was captured by Philippe Crassous and submitted to FEI's gallery.

9. French fries, fatty foods produce marijuana-like chemicals that trigger binge eating, study findsNYDAILY NEWS Wednesday, July 06, 2011Call it a french fry high.Eating starchy snacks like french fries and potato chips actually trigger the production of natural, marijuana-like chemicals in the body that make it difficult to stop eating the fatty foods, new research shows.In a study published in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at University California Irvine found that eating starchy junk food causes the body to release endocannabinoids, which encourage it to keep eating, the Health Day reported.Scientists found that rats produced endocannabinoids after eating fatty foods, but did not have the same reaction when eating sugars or proteins.The research suggests that it may be possible to prevent overeating by finding a drug that prevents the production of endocannabinoids.Does that mean the case of the munchies has come to a close? Study co-author Daniel Piomelli, a professor of pharmacology at the UC Irvine, said it's possible."Imagine being able to block this mechanism so that when you reach for your pint of ice cream, you have one or two spoonfuls and that would be fine," Piomelli said.

10. Belinda Winkler is pictured after stuffing tobacco in her nose during the German tobacco sniffing championship in the little Bavarian village of Kucha near Nuremberg June 25, 2011. About 220 men and women tried to get as much tobacco, at a maximum of five grams, as they could in their nose in one minute

11. Woman, 22, grows full-sized nipple on the sole of her FOOT 19th July 2011Lily Allen proudly showed hers off on television, Mark Wahlberg's famous for his and just last week, ZacEfron was forced to deny he has two.But a 22-year-old woman has trumped them all - by growing a full-sized extra nipple on the sole of her foot.Although one in 50 women and one in 100 men have extra nipples, according to the California-based Dermatology Journal it's the first time one has ever been discovered so far down somebody's body.The woman told doctors she had had the unusual growth - which is almost two inches wide - all her life, and it had never caused her any pain.Between one and five per cent of the population have the condition, known as supernumerary breast tissue.

12. Huntsville police arrest 9 women in undercover prostitution stingMonday, July 18, 2011, 1:27 PMHUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- After receiving numerous complaints from citizens, Huntsville police conducted an undercover prostitution sting over the weekend resulting in nine women being arrested, police said. The sting happened on Friday, but police released the information Monday citing an ongoing investigation between police and concerned neighbors, said Huntsville police spokesman Harry Hobbs. Arrested on soliciting prostitution charges were Glenda Brummer, 56, Kimyatta Gaines, 30, Brandi Logan, 26, Gloria Lopez, 33, Sammie Rice, 46 and Rhonda Williams, 41, all of Huntsville. Darlene Muchmore, 52, of Huntsville, was arrested on soliciting prostitution and third-degree theft charges. Chastity Skipworth, 36, of Lacey's Spring, was arrested on soliciting prostitution and possession of drug paraphernalia charges. Urshela Strickland, 27, of Huntsville, was arrested on soliciting prostitution and first-degree marijuana charges.

13. July 19, 2011The Inquisitr Gay Men Penis Size Study Funded By Taxpayer Dollars Regardless of what some economic experts may say, we are not out of the clear when it comes to the “great recession” and therefore we shouldn’t be spending money on ridiculous studies, such as the National Institutes of Health survey which attempted to tie the size of gay men’s penises with their preferences to be a “top” or “bottom.”The study, funded in part with taxpayer money was meant to “tie the size of a gay man’s penis” with their choice in being a “bottom” or a “top” and found that men with bigger penis sizes tend to be the “top” in the relationship, while men with smaller penises often gravitate towards the “bottom” role in the relationship. Researchers also claim that gay men with smaller penises tend to be more psychologically troubled then men with larger penises.The National Development and Research Institute received money from the NIH to conduct the study which began in 2006. Money from the program has been provided since 1985 and is often used for “behavioral science research on drug abuse, AIDS, and crime,” which the group claimed their study fit into.According to the President of the Traditional Values Coalition: ”We’ve got nameless, faceless bureaucrats who thought this was a good use of taxpayer money,” while adding, ”[They] seem to think the American taxpayers are a limitless ATM machine.”At the start of this post I said we shouldn’t be spending money on ridiculous studies because of bad economic times, I should have said that even in great economic times this type of overspending on mundane studies with tax dollars is ridiculous.

14. Attention Walmart Shoppers: There's A Pantsless Guy Pleasuring Himself In The Women's BathroomJuly 18, 2011An Indiana man was arrested yesterday after he was caught masturbating in a stall inside the women’s room of a Walmart in Indianapolis.The suspect, Brandon Jelks, was first spotted by female shoppers who heard moans “and sounds of someone” masturbating emanating from the stall. One witness went into the adjoining stall to look under the divider, and reported seeing “a pair of blue patterned boxers around the ankles of what appeared to be a man’s shoes.“An off-duty cop working security at the store was then summoned. When the cop confronted a startled Jelks, 20, as he exited the stall (“with his pants unzipped”), he claimed to have accidentally gone into the wrong bathroom. Jelks was handcuffed and brought to the loss prevention office where a search turned up two boxes of condoms that had been shoplifted from the store, according to an Indianapolis Police Department report.Jelks explained that he had used two of the condoms while pleasuring himself in the women’s bathroom. While being detained, he also reportedly told a Walmart official that he “had a sex problem” and went into the bathroom “to look at the women” while masturbating. While he was doing this, Jelks noted, he was looking at pornography on his cell phone.The multitasking pervert--who explained that he “needed” to spy on the bathroom occupants to “arouse” himself--was charged with indecent exposure and criminal trespass. Jelks was booked into the Marion County jail, where he remains in custody.

20. Jul 7, 2011The TrimaranAdastraSuperyacht by John ShuttleworthThe Adastra is the result of more than five years of design and planning. The stunning 42.5 meter (139.4 ft) trimaran is currently being built in China for Hong Kong Clients, Anto and Elaine Marden. Designed and engineered by the world-renowned John Shuttleworth Yacht Designs.

22. “Adastra” is the result of more than 5 years of design and discussion with the owners, to build a yacht that meets the needs of a very experienced ocean voyaging couple and their family, and to provide the level of comfort and style that would be expected in a yacht of this class and size. No effort has been spared in the challenge to produce a beautiful yacht that will have low fuel consumption and yet provide excellent sea keeping qualities and luxurious accommodation. “Adastra” takes the power trimaran concept further than has ever been attempted before, previous vessels like “Earthrace” and “Cable and Wireless” were stripped out record breaking machines. The challenge of turning this concept into a viable luxury yacht has led us to further research and to develop new thinking on stability and comfort at sea for this type of craft. Extensive tank testing and radio controlled model tests in waves have been carried out to analyze stability and performance. Outrigger height has been optimized for ease of motion at sea, and a new outrigger shape has been developed to increase stability in waves. John Shuttleworth Yacht Designs has undertaken a state of the art structural analysis of all the major components in the yacht in order to achieve the light weight required for very low fuel consumption. All this has resulted in the exceptional vessel that is nearing completion in China.

29. The Superstructure is carbon fibre with Nomex honeycomb core, the hull is Glass/Kevlar foam sandwich and the interior is light weight oak cabinetry using honeycomb panels. To help reduce weight, virtually every aspect of the boat is custom built. This includes carbon fibre hatches, portlights, ladders and even hinges, which are all built specifically for the vessel.A SiMON_ integrated ships monitoring system monitors fuel, security, pump sensors, electrical, lights, etc. The vessel has a fully automated fuel management system which includes an Alfa Laval system for cleaning the fuel.

32. ADASTRA – TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS LOA – 42.5 mBeam – 16 mHull Draft – 1.12 m (1.6m to tip of rudder)Main engine – 1x Caterpillar C18 -1150 hp @ 2300 rpmOutrigger engines – 2x Yanmar 110hp @ 3200 rpmGenerators – 2 x 36 kw custom in the outriggers linked to 110 Hp Yanmar engines, and 1x 26 kw Northern lights in Main engine roomOwner and Guests – 9Crew – 5-6Tenders – 4.9m stored on the aft deck and a 3.1m stored in the garageFreshwater Capacity – 2x 800 gph fresh water makers – 2700 litres waterDisplacement light – Fully equipped and full stores and crew, no fuel and no water – 49 tonnesDisplacement cruising max – (normal operational load) 15000 litres fuel – 64.8 tonnesDisplacement ocean passage max – (only for occasional long ocean passages) 32000 litres fuel – 77 tonnesSpeed max – 22.5 knotsRange at 17 knots – 4000 milesFuel consumption at 13 knots – 90 litres per hour.Fuel consumption at 17 knots – 120 litres per hourExterior Styling – John Shuttleworth Yacht Designs Ltd.Naval Architecture – John Shuttleworth Yacht Designs Ltd.Structural Design – John Shuttleworth Yacht Designs Ltd. & Applied Structural Analysis Ltd.Interior Design – Jepsen Designs, Hong KongBuilder – McConaghy Boats, Zhuhai, China

33. $4.5 billion gold-plated super-yacht the History Supreme brings bling to the high seas From: news.com.auJuly 21, 2011 10:18AM

34. A gold-plated super-yacht that is claimed to be worth a staggering £3 billion ($4.5 billion) has taken the title of the most expensive in the world.UK designer Stuart Hughes claims that the 30-metre long History Supreme yacht is adorned with 100,000 kilograms of gold and platinum that covers more than half its surface and even comes with a statue made from the bone of a T-Rex dinosaur.The base of the yacht as well as the deck, dining areas, rails and anchor are wrapped in solid gold and the sleeping areas are covered in platinum.There is also a wall feature in the master bedroom that is made from meteoric stone and an aquarium made from 68kg of 24 carat gold.Also on board is a luxury liquor bottle featuring an 18.5ct diamond, one of the world’s rarest.

35. Designed by jeweller Stuart Hughes, the “mammoth” project took over three years to complete.The vessel even outshines Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s $450 million yacht Eclipse, which has its own missile defence system and a submarine.It is claimed the History Supreme was completed in Malaysia two weeks ago for an anonymous businessman.Mr Hughes has also produced laptops, beds, cars and a suit covered in precious metals. The base of the yacht as well as the deck, dining areas, rails and anchor are wrapped in solid gold.

46. HS2000The HS 2000 is of Croatian origin and is produced by HS ProduktD.o.o.The Company’s most successful product HS2000 is a polymer framed semi automatic pistol. It is the standard issue of the Croatian army and is popular amongst the US law enforcement agencies.

47. QSZ-92The QSZ-92 is recoil operated locked breech pistol and uses a rotating barrel locking system. Its country of origin is The Peoples Republic of China. It uses a 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge and is manufactured by Norinco at the Changfeng Machine Shop. It has an effective range of 50m and has a muzzle velocity of 1148 ft per second.

48. FN-FNP45The FN Herstal FNP pistol is of joint Belgium and US manufacture. It is manufactured in Columbia by FNH USA. It has been in production since February 2006 and fires amongst others a 9 x 19mm Parabellum cartridge. It comes with a 14-16 round magazine.

49. Walther P99The Walther P99 is a semi automatic pistol of German origin. It is manufactured by Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen… It is used by the German police, Polish police and the Finnish army. .It fires a 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge. And has short recoil operated, locked breech action. It has a muzzle velocity of 1339ft per second.

50. HK Mark 23The Heckler and Koch Mk23 are of German and United States origin and consist of match grade semi automatic pistol, a laser aiming module and suppressor. It is the standard pistol meant for the US Special Forces. It has a short recoil DAA action and has an effective range of 50 Ms. It has been in production since 1991 and comes with a 12 round detachable box magazine.

51. Herstal FN 57The Fn 57 is a Belgian made semi automatic pistol manufactured by FN Herstal… The FN 57 is a delayed blowback single action pistol firing a 5.7×2.8mm cartridge. It comes supplied with a 20 round magazine and has an effective range of 50 ms .It is currently supplied with fully adjustable sights or fixed sights.

52. Glock-17Glock is a series of semi automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock GmbH of Deutsh-Wagram, Austria. It has been in service since 1982. It has an extensive plastic structural content. It has a short recoil locked breech; tiliting barrel action fires amongst others a 9x 19mm Parabellum cartridge is used by the Austrian military and US Law Enforcement agencies.

53. Beretta 92FThe Beretta 92 is of Italian origin. It fires a 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge. It has been in production since 1975 and is in service in the Italian, French and US military.

54. Heckler and Koch USPThe Heckler & Koch USP is of German origin and is known as a Universal Self Loading pistol it is a semi automatic pistol with a mechanically locked breech and uses the short recoil mode of operation. It fires a 9X19mm Parabellum cartridge. And has been in operation since 1992.

55. SIG P250The SIG P250 pistol is of mixed American and German origin. It is made by JP Sauer and Son and Sig Sauer Exeter. It is a semi automatic pistol. .whose action is based on recoil operation and comes with a 17 round magazine. It has iron sights with a 147 mm base.