China’s Liu Yang joins the ranks of record-breaking female astronauts

Liu Yang, a 33-year-old air force pilot, has become China's first female astronaut.
Liu made the record books as part of a crew of three on board the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft which launched on Saturday.
The Chinese spaceship has since docked with an orbiting module where the trio will live and work for several days as part of arrangements for crewing a permanent space station.
A native of Henan province, the mother of one joined the People's Liberation Army Air Force in 1997 and experienced as a pilot before becoming the deputy head of a flight unit, holding the PLAAF rank of major.
Liu underwent two years of astronaut training and was one of two female candidates who had been chosen to prepare for the mission.
She now joins a notable list of record-breaking female space explorers.
The first woman to orbit the Earth was Junior Lt Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (b. 6 Mar 1937, USSR), who was launched in Vostok 6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on 16 Jun 1963. Vostok 6 landed at 8:20a.m. on 19 June, after a flight of 2days 22hr 50min and 48 orbits (1,971,000km 1,225,000miles). As well as holding the record for being the first female in space, having not been in the military, Valentina is also measured to be the first civilian in space.
American teacher school teacher Barbara Morgan made history in 2007 when she became the oldest female astronaut at the age of 55 after joining the crew of space shuttle mission STS-118 to the International Space Station (ISS), flown by the orbiter Endeavour.
The record for best ever spaceflight by a woman is currently held by American astronaut and United States Navy officer Sunita Williams, who spent 195 days in space during the Expedition 15 mission on the International Space Station in 2007.
Anousheh Ansari from Iran became the first female space tourist on 18 September 2006 when the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule blasted off for a 10-day visit to the International Space Station.
Businesswoman Ansari has had a lifelong fascination with space and is thought to have paid $20 million (£10.5 million) for the experience.
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Royal Mail Group workers set charity record

The workforce of Royal Mail Group today became Guinness World Record title holders after the UK postal service was awarded the record for the most registered charities supported by a Payroll Giving Scheme.
One in four Royal Mail Group staff have supported a total of 975 registered charities and good causes by donating money direct from their pay. Around £45 million has been given by workers since starting the scheme 23 years ago. Over £2 million has been raised in the last year alone.
Help the Hospices, Barnardo's, County Air Ambulance Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support and Royal Mail Group's own charity, the Rowland Hill Benevolent Fund, have all established cash sums from generous people.
Marek Toombs, Royal Mail Collection Planner for the South East, has donated money to the cancer charity Macmillan for the last seven years through the payroll giving scheme. It is a cause close to his heart.
"My mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when I was 11, and she passed away two years later," Marek explains.
Keen to see how his donations help, Marek visited a local Macmillan cancer centre at Gillingham's Medway Maritime Hospital.  The unit was funded jointly by Macmillan and Medway NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, and opened in 2009.  It offers chemotherapy facilities and a ground-breaking Cancer Information Service launched just over a year ago, which Macmillan is currently funding.
Marek said:" I was really impressed with the facilities. The services Macmillan offers there would certainly have helped my family when we were going through this.
"I'd like to think my donations have helped in a small way. However it is not necessary that people are touched personally in order to help.  Charities function and rely on people donating money to them and the payroll giving scheme is an excellent way to help these worthwhile causes."
Royal Mail Group received the Guinness World Records administrator credential at a special ceremony in London.
Chief Executive Officer, Moya Greene, who accepted the award on behalf of the company's payroll givers, said: "It's a tremendous honour for our people to receive this award from Guinness World Records.
"Our postmen and women play a vital and trusted role in every society across the UK. I am delighted that our postmen and women have been recognised as the world's best for donating to charity direct from their pay."
Gaz Deaves, Guinness World Records Adjudicator, said :"This Guinness World Record recognises the 975 registered charities supported and reflects the huge generosity of all those working at the Royal Mail, congratulations to all on this special world record."
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Youngest Euro Player: Jetro Willems

Netherlands youngster Jetro Willems, who is 18 years and 71 days old, was elected at left back at the Euro 2012 Group B opener against Denmark - setting the new world record for the Youngest Euro Player.
  The previous world record was set by Belgium's Enzo Scifo, who was 18 years and 115 days when he faced Yugoslavia at the 1984 edition.
  The Guinness world record for the most vuvuzelas blown simultaneously was achieved by 12,511 viewers at the Vodacom Challenge soccer match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
  Guinness World Records also predictable the world record for the Largest collection of fotballs, set by Roberto. A. Fuglini (Argentina), who has 861 different soccer balls.
  It was only the third international manifestation for the teenager, who joined PSV from Sparta Rotterdam last August and did not play a single game in qualifying. He made his international debut against Bulgaria just a fortnight ago as a replacement for the injured Erik Pieters. 
  Willems, age 18 years and 71 days, was selected by coach Bert van Marwijk for the position left largely unclaimed since Giovanni van Bronckhorst retired after the World Cup final in 2010.
  Willems lined up alongside Feyenoord's Ron Vlaar, selected to deputise for Joris Mathijsen at centre-back after the experienced Malaga defender was ruled out with a hamstring injury sustained in the 2-1 friendly loss to Bulgaria.
  Bert van Marwijk, the Netherlands coach, praised Willems afterwards when he said: "I wasn't surprised that he started very well. It was a good feeling because everything was new for him and he did well."
  Willems, incidentally, is 20 years younger than Kostas Chalkias, the Greece goalkeeper and oldest player in Poland and Ukraine at 38.
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Most Expensive Comic Book Cover

An unique artwork for the cover of "Tintin en Amérique" ("Tintin in America") by Belgian artist Hergé sold for €1,338,500 at the Artcurial auction house in Paris - setting the new world record for the Most Expensive Comic Book Cover.
  Hergé's photograph, made in India ink and colour gouache, was formed for the first edition of the comic Petit Vingtième.
  The Guinness world record for the most contributors to a comic book is 81, achieved by Aula365, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  Guinness World Records also documented the world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as comic book characters; it involved 1,530 participants and was achieved at the opening ceremony of the International Animation CCJOY LAND in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China.
  Part of a larger sale of more than 700 pieces of Tintin memorabilia, the Tintin in America cover depicts the globe-trotting boy journalist dressed as a cowboy and seated next to his dog Snowy, with several frowning and armed Native Americans creeping up behind him.
  As reported in Libération there are only five gouche covers in colour dedicated to Tintin, two of which are in private hands, while the three others are in the collection of the Moulinsart Foundation. The illustration sold on 2 June come from a private collection. 
  With more than 700 lots the sale was "the largest sale fanatical to Hergé ever to take place anywhere in the world", according to a spokesperson for Artcurial in an article published in Libération.
  Tintin au pays des Soviets, for example, sold for €51,800, while Tintin au Congo achieved €65,500.
  An album recitation the story of Tintin on the moon also set a record. The album had been signed by both the author and three astronauts: Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins.
  These three signed the album with the phrase "We walked on the moon". The work, dated to 1968, sold for €42,500, far surpassng its estimate of between €8,000 to €10,000.
  Last year, film director Steven Spielberg released a 3D film, "Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn" and is already planning a sequel.

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Most expensive pizza

Steveston Pizza Company, owned by Nader Hatami (Chef Gordon Ramsey) is the seller of a $450 pizza, made with of lobster thermidor, Alaskan black cod and a side of Russian osetra caviar. called C6 - which sets the new world record for the Most expensive pizza (without Gold).
  Hatami also has another, not-so-expensive pie, he sells for for $120. Called the C5, this one is made with roasted garlic, Icelandic scampi, smoked steelhead and lobster ratatouille. He's sold seven of those.
  The Guinness world record for the most expensive pizza, commercially available, is a £1,400 (then $2,500) per 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) pizza. Depending upon the amount of truffles accessible each season, the pizza is regularly sold at £100 (then $178) each to customers of Gordon Ramsey's Maze café, London, UK.
  Guinness World Records also acknowledged the world record for the largest group of pizza-related items; it belongs to Brian Dwyer (USA) with 561 unusual items from all over the world.
   Stevenson Pizza Co., a pizzeria chain in British Columbia is making a pizza with thermidor of lobster, black Alaskan cod and a side of Russian Osetra caviar, reports the Calgary Herald.
  Called C6, you have to order it a day ahead, though. Not unexpectedly, Nader Hatami, the owner of Stevenson Pizza Co. reportedly only sold one pie to "a very rich person."
  "The idea was to make a culinary statement. I don´t know if you´ve tried our pizza but each one is pretty unique," Hatami explains. The Steveston Pizza Company also offers run-off-the-mill pizza starting at $14. 
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World's Most expensive iPhone 4S

Constructed by luxury goods maker Stuart Hughes, the iPhone 4S Elite Gold is handmade from rose with about 500 individual flawless diamonds which total more than 100 carats (ct); the price is $9.4-million - setting the new world record for the Most expensive iPhone 4S, according to World Records Academy

  The Guinness world record for the most downloaded free iPhone App was set by Bubble Ball, which has been downloaded by more than two million iPhone users as of January 2011. Bubble Ball, a simple physics-based game, was written by Robert Nay (USA).

  Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the most popular iPhone game series: Tap Tap Revenge (Tapulous, 2008), which has been downloaded over 15 million times as of September 2010.
  
  The 500 delicate diamonds that cover the iPhone make up over 100 carats. Adding to the majesty of the diamonds is the 24 carat gold that makes up the base of the phone. Of course, the Apple logo stands out with 53 diamonds of its own set in the same 24 carat pure gold.

  The phones centre button is decorated with a 2.6 carat solitaire which is bordered by a number of smaller diamonds that encircle it. The handset is 64gb.

  All the diamonds are set in gold. Stuart Hughes has taken the redesigning of the iPhone a notch higher by supplying an additional 7.4 carat single cut pink diamond as a replacement in case the solitaire is lost!


  The chest (see photo) is made from solid Platinum with polished pieces of original Dinosaur bone from the T-Rex along with rare stones such as Opal ,Pietersite, Charoite , Rutile Quartz ,Star Sunstone.

  Stuart Hughes has completely designed and styled two handsets of the 64GB iphone 4S with diamonds and gold. One is rumoured to be owned by a businesswoman in Australia and the other is up for grabs.

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World's Fastest Toy Car

Radio Controlled racing car expert Traxxas has introduced a new model that has top speed of 100 mph and hits 100mph in under 5 seconds - which sets the world record for the Fastest Toy Car, according to World Records Academy

  The Guinness world record for the smallest radio prohibited car is a 25 mm long model (1/90 perfect scale) of a Mercedes Benz Smart car developed by Michihiro Hino, Tokyo, Japan.

  Guinness World Records also documented the world record for the longest line of toy cars; it consisted of 3001 toy cars and measured 239.1 m (784 ft 5 in) in length and was created by children and volunteers in Reutte, Austria.
  
  World's Fastest Ready-To-Race Supercar
 - 0-60 in 2.3 seconds
 - 0-100 in 4.92 seconds.
 - Top speed over 100mph!

  "The XO-1 is not a toy and is intended for use by experts only," says Traxxas, who warns that the XO-1 carries a risk of fire, injury or death!

  Further suggestions include operating the car only on a closed course, like a real racetrack or drag strip, where the XO-1 should be able to go 0-60 in just 2.3 seconds, on the way to its 100-mile-per-hour-plus top speed.

  The World's Fastest Toy Car has all-wheel-drive and an self-governing suspension. Its bodywork was designed by computer to create aerodynamic downforce making it stable at high speeds. It even has a vent molded into its flat underbody tray to direct cooling air to the car's electric motor.

   The pistol-grip remote control can be linked to an iPhone equipped with the Traxxas Link app, which offers real-time telemetry including speed, rpm, temperature and battery voltage. It's required to unlock the XO-1's top speed.

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world's highest artifical Christmas

The small city of Kaunas, Lithuania has been treated to a gorgeous green Xmas tree made from 40,000 recycled plastic bottles for Christmas this year - setting the world record for the Largest Christmas tree made of plastic bottles, according to World Records Academy

  The Guinness world record for the largest floating Christmas tree measures 85 m (278 ft 10 in) in height and was erected as an annual tradition in Rodrigo De Freitas Lagoon in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

  Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the world's highest artificial Christmas tree measured 52 m (170.6 ft) and was covered in green PVC artificial foliage. The 'Peace Tree' was designed by Grupo Sonae Distribuição Brasil and displayed in Moinhos de Vento Park, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

  The previous world record for the largest Christmas tree made of plastic bottles was set in Israel last year by a Christmas tree made of 5,000 plastic bottles.

  The Christmas tree was produced of 40,000 plastic bottles of fizzy drink Sprite, writes LETA/ELTA.

  The city commissioned artist Jolanta Šmidtienė to create a glowing installation to be placed in front of the city hall. Made almost entirely from plastic bottles and zip ties, the ight-up tree is both festive and eco-friendly!

  The author of idea, Jolanta Smidtiene, said that she wanted to show how it is important to be different each year, show to everyone that each of us can make something beautiful from useless things.

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Most expensive model car: Lamborghini Aventador

A 1/8th scale model of a Lamborghini Aventador built with gold, platinum, carbon fiber and diamonds by Robert Guelpen, a German car model specialist, is set to be auctioned in New York later this month; it was valued at ($4.7) million - setting the new world record for the Most expensive model car, according to World Records Academy

  The Guinness world record for the most valuable model car is a Bugatti Veyron Diamond Edition that retails at £2 million ($2.9 million), weighs approx 7 kg (15 lb) and is made in 24k gold and platinum with a diamond front from 7.2 carats (1.44 g; 0.05079 oz)and took 2 months to finish.

  Guinness World Records also documented the world record for the smallest powered car, set by Nippondenso of Kariya, Japan, which created a motorized model of Toyota's first passenger car, the 1936 AA sedan, which is 4.785 mm. (0.188 in.) long, 1.730 mm. (0.068 in.) wide and 1.736 mm. (0.068 in.) high.
  
   In case you're wondering, the model's probable selling price of $4.7 million is more than 10 times the price of a brand new Aventador.

  The price of materials alone for the world's most costly model car is well over 3 million dollars. A portion of earnings from the auction will be donated to charity.

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World's Smallest Steam Engine

Using a laser beam and a single element floating in water, researchers at the University of Stuttgart and the Stuttgart-based Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems built a steam engine measuring just three thousandths of a millimetre - which sets the new world record for the Smallest steam engine, according to World Records Academy

  The Guinness world record for the smallest jet engine measures just 600nm across and weighs 1 femtogram (10^-15 kg). It was produced by Leibniz Institute Solid State Physics Dresden and demonstrated in Dresden, Germany.

  Guinness World Records also documented the world record for the most poerful jet engine, set by a General Electric GE90-115B turbofan engine, which achieved steady state thrust of 568,927 N (127,900 lb) during final certification testing at Peebles, Ohio, USA.
  
   Researcher Clemens Bechinger said: 'We've developed the world's smallest steam engine, or to be more precise the smallest Stirling engine.'

  In the heat engine invented almost 200 years ago by Robert Stirling, a gas-filled cylinder is periodically heated and cooled so that the gas expands and contracts.

  This makes a piston execute a motion with which it can drive a wheel, for example.

  'We successfully decreased the size of the essential parts of a heat engine, such as the working gas and piston, to only a few micrometres and then assembled them to a machine,' adds researcher Valentin Blickle.

  The working gas in the Stuttgart-based experiment thus no longer consisted of countless molecules, but of only one individual plastic bead measuring a mere three micrometres - one micrometre corresponds to one thousandth of a millimetre - which floated in water.

  Since the particle is around 10,000 times larger than an atom, researchers could observe its motion directly in a microscope.   The physicists replaced the piston, which moves periodically up and down in a cylinder, by a focused laser beam whose intensity is varied.

   The optical forces of the laser limit the motion of the plastic particle to a greater and a lesser degree, like the compression and expansion of the gas in the cylinder of a large heat engine.

  For the system to work properly, though, it must be heated during the expansion process from the outside, just like the boiler of a steam engine.
   The researchers replaced the coal fire of an old-fashioned steam engine with a further laser beam that heats the water suddenly, but also lets it cool down as soon as it is switched off.

  The physicists were astounded to discover that the machine converts as much energy per cycle on average and runs with the same efficiency as a normal sized heat engine.

  'Our experiments provide us with an initial insight into the energy balance of a heat engine operating in microscopic dimensions. Although our machine does not provide any useful work as yet, there are no thermodynamic obstacles, in principle, which prohibit this in small dimensions,' says Bechinger.

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Most Expensive iPhone Dock

Bothell, WA, USA -- Standing 4 foot high and 8 foot wide, the Behringer iNuke Boom is proficient of barking out over 10,000 Watts of power; the price tag is $29999 - setting the world record for the Most Expensive iPhone Dock, according to World Records Academy (www.worldrecordsacademy.org).

    The Guinness world record for the most popular iPhone game series is Tap Tap Revenge (Tapulous, 2008), which has been downloaded over 15 million times as of September 2010.

  Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the most downloaded free iPhone APP was set by the free app Bubble Ball which has been downloaded by more than two million iPhone users as of January 2011.

  To have a good time the launch of the Eurosound consumer electronics brand — concert quality sound at an incredible value, BEHRINGER will unveil the iNuke Boom, the loudest iPod® and iPhone® dock you've ever heard at CES 2012.

  The $29,999.99 (manufacturer's suggested retail price) monster speaker system actions a whopping 8 feet wide by 4 feet tall, weighs over 700 pounds and pumps out over 10,000 Watts of power.

  "When I started BEHRINGER 22 years ago my goal was to provide musicians with high quality equipment at an affordable price," said Uli BEHRINGER, founder and CEO of Music Group LLC.

 "With the launch of Eurosound we are challenging ourselves to share the unbelievable sound and quality we have worked to so hard to craft over the last two decades with all music and audio enthusiasts

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Somerset's Arul Suppiah pleasantly surprised at T20 World Record

Somerset spinner Arul Suppiah was only expecting to play a bit-part purpose in the match in opposition to Glamorgan during which he claimed a T20 universe document.

The 27-year-old took six wickets for five runs in 22 balls to aid his facet to a five-wicket victory in Cardiff.

"Coming to Cardiff, history says it truly is exceptionally conducive to spinners. I thought I would bowl but only to fill in the number of overs," he advised BBC Somerset.

"It's a proud moment, I'll cherish that but information are there to get broken."

Suppiah stated the pitch and his fellow spinners helped him achieve the file: "I took as quite a bit advice as I could from [Murali] Kartik and Max [Waller] and it obviously paid off.

"It was turning a great deal, it absolutely was highly sluggish off the pitch at the same time. It was a great option to area very first, as we realized what the wicket was going to do and we also place a plan jointly for our batting."

Somerset director of cricket Brian Rose reported: "Getting six wickets for five runs in three.4 overs is just astonishing.

"It's an amazing work - that [record] could stand for any really long time. It is really hard to view how just about anyone is going to more effective that."

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Guinness World Record for iPad typing broken

Just months ahead of when Apple is set to create tweaks into the software package keyboard that ships with its iPad, the Guinness Universe Document for typing on it's been damaged.

Fox News reports which the 15-year-old son of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili stands out as the proud new operator of the Guinness Globe File for typing the complete English alphabet (A-Z) around the iPad's software keyboard. His time? five.26 seconds, which beats out previous record-holder Charlie Joseph McDonnell's 6.31 seconds set in late June of previous yr.

Fox states Saakashvili "spent months getting ready" for those couple of seconds.

In comparison with typing the alphabet on a normal computer system keyboard, Saakashvili's document isn't going to pretty maintain up. Current record holder Sudhakar Raju did that in three.52 seconds in the record-breaking attempt back again in February of this year.

Astonishingly, there's no way for you to assess the brand new report for the very same try on an iPhone, where by the keys are closer to one particular a different. The nearest equivalent is how very long it get to peck in the Guinness Globe File instance phrase: "The razor-toothed piranhas on the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus will be the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In fact they seldom attack a human," which was accomplished in 25.94 seconds on the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone working Google's Android OS and Swype's program keyboard. That report has not but been re-attempted on an iPhone, though unofficially, Gumball Tech writer Brian Sweet wrote did it in just under 22 seconds (video right here).

Worthy of pointing out is the fact that Apple is set to rework the iPad's keyboard with iOS five once the product software package is introduced afterwards this year. The company is incorporating a feature which will allow people split the keyboard in 50 percent when held in landscape mode, supplying end users an a lot easier tactic to accessibility keys with just their thumbs and while nevertheless keeping the machine:

This sort of an update is unlikely to invalidate the report (considering it really is an optional function), nevertheless could give you gains to future document breakers.

Update at 7:58 p.m. PT: The aforementioned Brian Sweet experimented with to determine if he could (unofficially) defeat the brand new document and did the alphabet in about 3.2 seconds, beating out the 5.26 2nd iPad document, and also the three.52 seconds Raju recorded on the typical keyboard. Sweet said it took him "about 25 minutes" to acquire it down, and "that it's considerably much simpler when standing up."

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Gujarat set six Guinness Book of World Records 2011

Gujarat makes it to the Guinness Book of World Records with as many as six entries during the state’s yearlong golden jubilee celebrations ended May 1, 2011, the state government spokespersons Jay Narayan Vyas and Saurabh Patel said here today.

The two proud ministers described the feat as recognition of the state’s unique identity in multifarious activities held with people’s participation under the leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Minister for Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Fakirbhai Vaghela.

The cultural programme held at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 1, 2011 with 4,500 artistes at a single venue was entered as the world’s biggest dance and music programme. Oscar winner A. R. Rehman lent the musical score to the event theme ’Aage Kadam’.

The assembly of over 20,000 chess players at Gujarat University Ground in Ahmedabad under the aegis of Sports Authority of Gujarat for simultaneously participating in the ‘golden chess mahotsav’ on December 24, 2010 also entered the Guinness Book of World Record.

Marathon classical vocalist Ms Dhari ‘Panchamda’ got the Guinness certificate for setting a world record of singing continuously during Tana Riri Music Festival at Vadnagar in north Gujarat for 101 hours and 23 minutes from November 11 to 15, 2010 Ms Dhari ‘Panchamda’ got another Guinness certificate for creating a world record of presenting 214 ragas (tunes) and 271 ‘bandish’ (musical compositions) at a time during Akhand Swargan Mahayajna at the Tana Riri Music Festival.

Ms Dhari ‘Panchamda’ got yet another Guinness certificate for creating a world record of playing non-stop a self-composed composition of 29 ragas on the santoor from April 26 to 27, 2011.

The Ahmedabad-based Tabla Training Centre run by Munjal Mehta won the Guinness Book of World Records certificate for a unique feat of 315 percussionists simultaneously playing tabla on April 29, 2011.