Miscellaneous

Brazilian ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is just one of those who have sought his services.Joao de Deus claims to be both a medium and a psychic surgeon, operating using only his hands and communicates with spirits in his efforts to treat otherwise incurable ailments. Despite doubts about his abilities there can be no denying the number of people he has seen who claim to have been cured thanks to his gifts. "Sincethe age of eight, God has given me this energy," he says.

"I don"t heal. God heals." Over 1000 people flock to see Joao several days a week, many of which having travelled from other countries to get there.But does "John of God" really have the power to heal the sick or could it be that the true power he wields is that to make others believe they have been healed ? Every week using mainly his hands but also armed with scissors, a knife and scalpel, Joao Teixeira deFaria, a self-styled Brazilian medium and "psychic surgeon", treats thousands of sick people who claim to be cured.  

View: Full article |  Source: News24  

The Indian city of Mumbai seeks to have the first apartment buildings with pools in place of balconies.Some call it ingenius, others call it an architectural nightmare - an accident waiting to happen. However you feel about the idea of having a towering apartmentbuilding with multiple swimming pools on each floor there is no denying the idea is a unique one.

Designed by Hong Kong architect James Law in collaboration with Indian real estate company Wadhwa Group, the buildings will be the only two of their kind anywhere in the world. Known as Aquaria Grande, the 37-storey skyscrapers were the result of a collaboration between Hong Kong-based architect James Law and Indian real estate companyWadhwa Group.  

View: Full article |  Source: Daily Mail  

Richard Branson is preparing for a mission to visit the depths of the Atlantic Puerto Rico Trench.Hot on the heels of Titanic director James Cameron who recently visited the Marianas Trench, Branson insists that his journey will prove even more thrilling than Cameron"s. "The Puerto Rico Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall, and it is completely unexplored," he said. "There are numerous Spanish and British galleons which have gone down there, so we would hope tobe able to explore those.

There are lots of different big creatures too."Branson intends to launch his mission in about four months and says that he isn"t jealous of the fact that Cameron beat him to it. "It was obviously a very historic day and actually an important day, a fantastic example of human endeavour and determination," he said. Mr Cameron this week made the first solo dive to the depths of the Marianas Trench, seven miles under the surface of the earth, trumpingSir Richard who has been developing his own deep sea craft for a number of years.  

View: Full article |  Source: Telegraph  

Cameron plunged almost 11km to the deepest place in the ocean, the Pacific Mariana Trench.It took the film director two hours to descend to maximum depth where he spent three hours exploring the ocean floor before returning to the surface. Cameron is only the third person to ever travel this far down, the last expedition was in 1960. "I grew up on a steady diet of science fiction at atime when people were living a science fiction reality," he said.

"People were going to the Moon, and Cousteau was exploring the ocean. And that"s what I grew up with, what I valued from my childhood." Cameron spent the last few years working in secret with his team of engineers to design and build the craft, which weighs 11 tonnes and is more than 7m (23ft) long. He describes it as a "verticaltorpedo" that slices through the water allowing him a speedy descent.  

View: Full article |  Source: BBC News