It may not be the tallest tree in the world, but it’s is definitely the largest by volume.

General Sherman is a 2300-2700 year old sequoia tree located in the Giant Forest of the Sequoia National Park, near Visalia, California. In 2002 the volume of its trunk measured about 1487 cubic meters and it was identified as the largest in the world after a close fight with the nearby General Grant tree, after which wood volume was accepted as the determining factor. It’s not short either, it reaches 275 feet in height.

It was named after general William Tecumesh Sherman, the American Civil War leader, by naturalist James Wolverton in 1879.

Another interesting thing about the Sherman tree is that because of it’s extremely large volume it is also the largest known single organism by volume.

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A place where tourists can pet tigers just like they do their cats, here’s something you don’t see every day.

The Tiger Temple, or Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua is Theravada Buddhist forest temple, in Thailand. It has been a sanctuary for many endangered animals for quite some time now, including several tigers. It was founded in 1994 as a forest monastery, where animals could find sanctuary and in 1999 they received their first tiger cub, which died soon after. But they kept receiving tiger cubs from the villagers who probably encountered them wondering through the forest after their mothers were killed by poachers.

The Tiger Temple has raised money over the years and can now accommodate 12 mature tigers and 4 cubs. they live in cages and once a day they are taken to a nearby quarry, where they can roam freely. Tourists may watch from 10 meters distance and sometimes they are allowed to pet these magnificent creatures. Only one serious attack took place in the history of the temple.

The priests at the Tiger Temple are now gathering funds to build a larger facility and create an almost natural environment for the animals, so they can one day be let out into the wild where they belong.

In case you’re wondering, yes this is the place featured on Animal Planet.

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I guess the “till death do you part” has no place here, does it…

I wish I could say I’m surprised to see such a display, but it’s not the first time I see something like this. A while ago I posted about the gothic wedding, which was pretty close to this. i suppose I can understand these people’s desire to do something different, break the rules and have their weddings truly be special, but can’t they have come up with some other theme? Maybe it’s just me but zombies, blood and horrific scars really don’t say nice wedding…

Before you start throwing rocks at little-old me, I’m not judging them, just stating an opinion!

Yeah these photos may date back to 2005, but a giant wall of sand moving at 60mph never gets old!

These amazing photos were taken by a civilian contractor who was supporting US troops in Iraq. he might be an amateur photographer but he did a pretty good job with these pictures, I must say. I wonder what was going on in the minds of the people in that camp, seeing something like that coming towards you at an incredible speed messes up your thinking completely.

I’ve never seen a sandstorm like this, maybe just in movies like The Mummy, but that doesn’t count, it was computer generated. Mother nature sure has some powerful weapons at her disposal…

Yet another place I’d like to visit at least once in my lifetime.

Sadly I might not get the opportunity, and not because I may not be able to reach it, but just because it may not be there for long. This extraordinary place is in danger, the underground river that supplies the water for Huacachina Oasis is now being plundered by the people of the neighboring city of Ika. It’s not specifically their fault, global warming is affecting water supplies everywhere, so it’s humanity’s fault, shame on us!

It’s a shame that a place that over the centuries has sheltered countless travelers, preventing them from finding their end in the sun-scorched desert dunes that surrounds it. Quite an unfitting end for such a unique location, that is just beginning to attract tourists from all over the world.

So if you have the chance, go to Peru and visit Huacachina Oasis, who knows if you’ll ever get the chance again…

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She may be little but I’m sure she has a great spirit!

This it Jyoti Amge, a 15 year old girl from India, that’s about the size of your typical 3 year old. Jyoti suffers from a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia which prevents her body from fully developing; doctors say she’s going to look like a little girl even when she’s 30.

The little girl learned to accept her condition and even said she enjoys her celebrity status. She is no different than your average 15 year old, she loves listening to music, watching DVDs and hopes she’ll one day become a popular Bollywood actress. She has recently recorded a music album with her favorite singer, Mika Singh.

Not bad for someone who’s 58cm tall and weighs a mere 5 kilograms…not bad at all.

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Welcome to Stavropol children’s military camp, where Russian kids lose…no not their virginity you pervert, their childhood!

As the title suggests, this is not your typical summer camp, where people play games, have fun and learn cool stuff, this is the army baby, the Russian army. About 40 children, between 12 and 17 years old go through a rough training here and learn the basics martial arts and weaponry. Just like the Ansan civilian camp in South Korea, Stavropol run by former Russian servicemen and I bet they’re pretty tough.

I may seem soft but I wouldn’t send my kid there no matter what he did, I really think places like these rob kids of their childhood much too soon…

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I didn’t know what else to call these babies and I thought the kinda looked like command stations.

I’d be willing to bet the farm that the people who built these bad boys only did it so they can prove they could and to show them off. I mean I can’t imagine what you could use one of these for, they don’t look built for surveillance, that would have made more sense. Some of these seem designed for gaming, but why not use one big plasma screen rather than all these monitors? I’m not that good with computers so the real answer may be alluding me.

Whatever purpose they may serve, they look smokin’ and that’s what matters!

Who says soap can only be used for cleansing?

As you can see it makes for great material when you have an artistic sense. Some of you may not be impressed by all these pieces, but I for one never looked at soap as anything but something to help me get squeaky clean, so I’m genuinely impressed to see art in something so common.

I wonder how much one of these babies costs and if anyone really uses them when they bathe? I doubt it.

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No one wants to have their car stolen but still, this is a little over the top.

I wonder if any of these guys ever heard of car alarms. But then again who knows what neighborhood they live in, maybe a car alarm is useless. Stil, although I admire them for having a rich imagination, you need it to come up with this kind of solutions, but I they’re a little on the paranoid side.

Can’t afford to go to the dentist? Go for a walk and you may get your teeth fixed too!

I for one wouldn’t go to a guy that gets me in a headlock, while he pulls my teeth out with rusty pliers, on the corner of a dusty street, no matter how cheap it is, but hey, that’s just me. I’ve heard these guys are quite capable and can perform just about any operation that a normal dentist can…but still, I just couldn’t do it. Sure you have a wide variety of teeth to choose from, teeth that are stored in a briefcase, but I guess I’m very picky!

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Argungu is am important Nigerian cultural event, to which thousands of fishermen take part.

Argungu takes place in the North-Western Nigerian state of Kebbi, where an army of fishermen gather with one goal in mind, to catch the largest fish. So at the sound of a gun they all plunge into the muddy waters of the Matan Fada stream, in teams of two, one armed with two calabash (used for flotation and fish storage) and the other with two giant fish nets.

The Matan Fada may not be very impressive but it’s full of fish, because people come here to fish only once a year. After the one our time limit is over, the team who caught the largest fish is escorted by the sultans’s guards to present their prize to him. The winners receive a brand new bus as a prize as well as one million Naira (around $7500).

Nigeria hopes the Argungu fishing festival will soon become an important tourist attraction.

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As weird as this may sound, I mean literally reach in and touch the inside of the cow!

In case you didn’t know animals can live perfectly well with a permanent hole in their stomachs. Scientists call these surgically made holes, fistulas, which are covered by a canulla, a sort of cover from the outside world. They are used to test the digestibility of various cattle food, the cows are fed and as the food passes through her stomachs, scientist can just reach in and see how it is processed. As brutal as it might look, this doesn’t hurt the animals at all, it actually prolongs their life, in case of stomach disease, they can receive helping medicine directly in there.

The one thing I don’t approve of is people sticking their hand in animals just out of curiosity, like the kid in our photo. Sure it’s not something you’d call ordinary, but turning a medical procedure into a circus isn’t very ethical.

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This is apparently how they used to test new inventions in the Soviet Union during the 50s and 60s (at least that’s when these photos are taken). In this experiment they got that little pig drunk by forcing it to drink wine (Kagor, maybe you heard of it) and launching it into the air using some kind of giant mortar cannon. Some of you might find it funny, but I just think it’s cruel.

I guess animal cruelty and animal testing are old issues that aren’t going away anytime soon…

They may be young and short but kids often turn out to be a lot braver than most gown-ups. I mean how many of you would be willing to ride a Komodo dragon, or take a bath with a full grown python? I know I wouldn’t, so my hat is off to these little daredevils!