The world’s first blue roses have been unveiled in Japan following nearly two decades of scientific research.
Developed by Suntory Flowers, the roses are genetically modified and implanted with a gene that simulates the synthesis of blue pigment in pansies.
The first blue rose was created in 2004, but further research was required to make them safe to grow in nature.
The Suntory rose made its public debut at the 5th International Flower Expo Tokyo (IFEX) over the weekend; and are expected to go on sale commercially next autumn.
Blue roses have been available in florists in recent years but are created by various dying techniques to stain the petals of naturally white roses. The Suntory roses are believed to be the first genetically-modified blue rose creations [more on Telegraph]
Steve Winter from US won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 award with a picture of an elusive snow leopard on a night time prowl. The image was captured during a 13-month quest to snap the perfect photo of the endangered species in its hostile habitat high in the mountains of India’s Hemis National Park [more on BBC]
The winning photo by Steve Winter (via BBC)
The competition, now in its 44th year, is run by BBC Wildlife magazine and London’s Natural History Museum. An exhibition of the best images from the 2008 competition opens to visitors of the Natural History Museum, London, on October 31.
Manuel Uribe Garza, formerly the world’s fattest man, has got married to her girlfriend who helped him lose more than 250kg over the past two years. The couple held their wedding ceremony in Monterrey, northern Mexico, on Sunday (Oct 26)…
Manuel tipped the scales at 560kg in 2006 and was named the world’s heaviest man by Guinness World Records. The 43-year-old has lost more than 250kg since then by following the Zone diet; he aims to further lower his weight to 120kg.
Coffee gets hotter in America. Drive-through coffee stands with bikini clad baristas are making waves in some American cities for the past year or two…
The concept is going to get some backslash for sure. Belfare, Washington, is the first township barring these sexpresso’s stands from business… I guess it’s just a matter of time before other places following their suit.
It’s probably not a problem if one or two coffee stands are getting sexier, but it’s obviously inappropriate when it’s becoming a trend. Imagine having a sexpresso stand at every corner of the streets… that would be like heaven kinda disturbing.
I have to be honest though… if I’m in US, I won’t mind at all to visit one of these coffee stands; and I could become a regular customer if their coffee doesn’t sux. Sex sells… and it almost never failed.
The floating village is one of the tourist attractions and cultural heritages in Halong Bay, Vietnam. People have been living in these floating houses for hundred of years with fishing as the main income activity.
The tourism boom in recent years should bring a bit of extra income for the villagers, but to be frank… what they get is only a very small chunk of the Halong travel business. Well, I guess a little is better than nothing.
Most of the junks and cruises would pass by at least one of the floating villages and would probably make a short stop at a fish farm where travellers can buy some extra seafood to supplement their meals on the junks, or perhaps just taking a peek into the basic living of the villagers.
Photos below were taken during my Vietnam trip in July 2008…
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A total of 918 saxophone players performed simultaneously at the Taichung City Plaza in the city of Taichung, Taiwan, on October 18 in a bid to break the world record for the largest saxophone ensemble.
The attempt was held in conjunction with the 6th annual Taichung Jazz Festival. The oldest saxophonists involved was 72 of age, while the youngest just three; Taichung deputy mayor Hsiao Jia Qi also took part in the event.
918 saxophonists in their new world record attempt (Image from
Udn)
The current world record for the largest saxophone ensemble was set by Toronto in 2004 with 900 players.
WWF-France, in celebration of its 35th anniversary, is running a campaign to raise awareness for natural environment preservation by parading 1,600 paper made panda models across the country.
The parade started in July 2008 at Paris City Hall; followed by a few other locations across France; the most recent exhibition was at Paris’ Trocadero Esplanade on October 15… while the next stop would be at Grenoble on October 25.
The panda (giant panda to be precise) is the symbol of the World Wildlife Fund; it’s estimated that there’s 1,600 pandas in the wild according to a 2004 statistic.
The panda parade at Paris’ Trocadero Esplanade (Image from
WWF-France)
The Chinese folks in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, were trying to emulate the famous Spanish La Tomatina festival by creating a tomato festival of their own.
The festival was organised by Dongguan Tourism Bureau. An estimated 10,000 crowd took part in the food fight at Dongguan’s South China Mall on Sunday (Oct 19), with 15 tonnes of softened fresh tomatoes being used for the ‘war’.
The tomato battle has drawn quite some criticism online though; lots of Chinese netizens are critical about the food wastage, while some are questioning the logic to mimic a western festival when their own culture is not being fully promoted.
Chinese La Tomatina in Dongguan (Image from
Xinhuanet)
