World's largest swimming pool?

The world's largest swimming pool is in San Alfonso del Mar in Algarrobo, Chile. This man made wonder is eight hectares in size and contains an incredible 250,000 cubic meters of water and its deepest end reaches 115ft. It has been acknowledged by Guinness World Records for world's largest swimming pool.

The San Alfonso del Mar resort is situated on Chile’s southern coast, 100 km west of Santiago. This artificial lagoon, cost an estimated $US1.5 billion ($1.74 billion) to build.

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What is the Peking Opera?

The Peking Opera, which originated in the late 18th century, is a synthesis of music, dance, art and acrobatics. It is the most influential of all operas in China, and can be divided into 'civil' pieces characterized by singing, and 'martial' ones featuring acrobatics and stunts. Some operas are a combination of both. The operatic dialogues and monologues are recited in the Beijing dialect.

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What is Jeu de Paume?

Jeu de Paume is also called ‘real tennis’ or ‘court tennis’. It is the precursor of modern tennis and was a rage in Renaissance Europe. Jeu de Paume traces its history to the 11th century when French monks played the sport using their bare hands to volley cloth bags of hair or cork. Translated, it means ‘Game of palm’. It was played on an indoor court with angled walls and netted windows and involved smacking the ball. It was regarded by the upper classes as a provincial pastime initially.

In time, young nobles educated in monasteries brought the game to palaces and urban areas. By the early 1500s, the game embraced battoir (racquets) and introduced a cord (later a net) to separate players into two halves of the court, to take shape as modern tennis. Though men dominated the sport, the most celebrated player of the 15th century was Margot of Hainault, who defeated some of the best men in the game in 1427 in Paris.

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What is a 'Vocal Joystick'?

The 'Vocal Joystick' has been developed by researchers at the University of Washington. It is a computer software which allows the disabled, who can use their voice but not their hands or arms, to control a cursor using sounds. This joy stick detects sounds 100 times a second and converts it into movement on screen.

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Dirty bomb

A dirty bomb is a simple explosive device used not so much to produce extensive damage but to contaminate a designated spot with radioactive material. It's primary role is to spread fear.

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Which was the first living organism on Earth?

Scientific experiments in the 1950s showed how lightning flashes might create amino acids, the basic chemicals of life, from the waters and gases of early Earth.
But no one knows how these chemicals joined up to become 'self replicating' i.e. able to make copies of themselves. This is the key to life which remains a mystery.
However, the first life forms were probably a tiny bacteria called archebacteria, which thrive in very hot, chemically rich places.

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What is Defty?

Almost every institutional investor and offshore fund enterprise with equity exposure in India would like to have an instrument for measuring returns on equity investment in terms of dollars. To facilitate this, a new index the S&P CNX Defty, a dollar-denominated S&P CNX Nifty, has been developed. S&P CNX Defty is S&P CNX Nifty, measured in dollars. It provides an effective tool for hedging Indian equity exposure. It also provides fund managers an instrument for measuring returns on their equity investment in dollars.

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What is bruxism?

Bruxism is the involuntary gnashing of teeth. Some people with bruxism — originating from the Greek word ‘brychein’ — clench their teeth during the day when they are tense. This is different from tooth grinding or clenching that occurs at night, which is called sleep bruxism. Mild bruxism may not require treatment, but in severe cases, can lead to jaw disorders, headaches, damaged teeth and other problems.

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What is Loop Quantum Cosmo-logy?

It is the theory on which the concept of the recycled universe is based. Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC) has been teasing physicists since 2003 with the idea that our universe could conceivably have emerged from the collapse of a previous universe. It theorises that our universe expands and then contracts over and over again, rebirthing for infinity. According to scientists, LQC is based on quantum Riemannian geometry, or loop quantum gravity, which is an attempt at a non-perturbative and background-independent quantization of general relativity.

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What is Andorra most famous for?

Andorra is a small nation of 453 sq. kms located on the French-Spanish border. It is an autonomous co-principality under the joint sovereignty of the Bishop of Urgel in Spain and the French Chief of State (President). The country is most famous for tourism and tobacco. Both French and Spanish currencies are valid in Andorra, while its own dinar coins are meant only for collectors.

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