On our final episode of Geo Junior for this series, we'll be taking you
to the sunny shores of Australia to see a world record in the
making. Travel to the
United States of America where there are some crazy bike riders taking
to the mountain slopes.
And see a water balloon fight that has the whole town involved.
So get those armchairs in a comfortable position because here we go
to Australia first, where Sri Lankan born Shiresh
Joam has walked his way into the record books for the 17th
time recently. He completed the
133 kilometer nonstop walk around Martin
Place in Sydney's central business district with a full bottle of
milk balanced on his head, as you do.
This fantastic yet somewhat bizarre performance took
approximately 29 hours, and the main aim was to raise
awareness for the universal fund for suffering Children, a charity
dedicated to help very poor children all over the world.
Spectators looked on in amazement as Joakam passed their eyes with the milk
bottle on his head. He has great balance. I don't think I could
get that far without dropping it. One lady was heard
saying, I'm just trying to work out what possesses someone
to balance a milk bottle on their head at 12:30 at night.
Another late night spectator said, yeah, pretty unusual sort of thing to see
these days I guess. Haven't seen anyone break a Guinness World Record
attempt before, so, you know, it's something interesting. This
record attempt just adds to his incredibly long list of 17
world records. They include, Three long distance
running records, balancing on 1 ft for over 76
hours, standing motionless for over 21 hours,
traveling up and down escalators for over 225
kilometers, dribbling a basketball for over
156 kilometers in a 24 hour period,
holding a non-stop DJ marathon for 85 hours, and
most recently, a 56.62 kilometer crawl in
a circle. But Joakam isn't planning on finishing here.
He's already planning an attempt at a triple English Channel crossing.
The fastest circumnavigation of the world by helicopter in
less than 17 days, and the longest spacewalk that will take more than
8.5 hours. Provided that no one takes any of his current
titles from him, he needs 3 more world records to achieve his
ultimate aim, to be the world record holder for holding the
most world records, and doesn't he deserve it?
S While we were still under Australia's sunny skies,
we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to watch the beginning of the World Solar
Car Challenge beginning in Darwin. Cars from 11
countries came to take part in the 3010 kilometer race
across the Australian outback, and the location and climate were perfect for
the cars that run on nothing more than the power from the sun's rays.
Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory and is generally a very hot
place to live because it's one of the closest Australian cities to the equator.
The 38 solar powered cars traveled from Darwin to Adelaide,
the capital of South Australia, taking around 5 days to complete the
course. The challenge included old and new
teams. Experienced teams such as Australia's Desert Rose took
part as well as Mad Dog 2 from the United Kingdom, Helios
from France, and America's Solar Motions.
As soon as the flag dropped, the cars were on their way, inspired by the
crowd cheering them on.
There were new entrants and the team from the Netherlands brought with them equipment with
space technology, hoping to give them the upper edge in the competition.
The World Solar Challenge is a competition that was started as a way to get
students to design and research a way to use the sun's power. Each
year, new ideas and technology is introduced, not only making the race
fun and exciting, but also improving the speed and reliability of the
cars. All this research goes into making solar cars ready
to be used on the road as everyday vehicles. I don't know how
all my brothers would fit into that little thing, but that improvement is yet to
come.
The race was first held in 1987 when the average speed
was 67 kilometers per hour. That's the sort of speed most kids
can get on their bicycles. But now the cars are getting around 100
kilometers an hour, making them that one step closer to an alternative to
the family truck stuff. The event has been called the brain
sport because it usually attracts sciencey people. But if you
think about it, there are many aspects of the vehicle that could attract all sorts of
students. There's design, building, mechanics, planning,
even food planning for the meals along the way and navigation to keep the cars
on track. This year's fastest trial performer, number
45 from Pulse University of Michigan in the United States,
got up to speeds of 112.5 kilometers per hour.
Sky A Tega from Japan's Asa University nearly went as fast
as well, getting up to 107.5 kilometers.
Last year's winner was Australia's Aora at 100.9
kilometers per hour. Every year brings a new and improved
model, and who knows, next year they may even get them to fly.
As the sun was getting low into the sky, the drivers were ushered into their camping
spot for the night. At least if it's one sport where you're forced to call it a
night, otherwise you'd just be getting nowhere. Oh,
sounds good to me.
And our final story from Australia is about the unveiling of the first
full-scale replica of a prehistoric super crocodile
that has gone on display at Sydney's Australia Museum.
The 11 m long replica of the succosaurus imperator or
supercroc is the idea of American paleontologist
Paul Sereno and herpetologist, Brady Barr.
Paul discovered the remains of a real supercroc, which is thought to have lived about
110 million years ago in Nigeria. The
dig uncovered heaps of supercroc remains, including a
vertebrae, limb bones, armor plates, jaws, and a
1.8 m long skull. So Paul thought he would
use the knowledge he had uncovered to create a lifelike model for
museums. One of the largest crocodiles that ever
lived, Supercroc was as long as a city bus and
could weigh up to 10,000 kg. It's thought he ate
dinosaurs for breakfast. Replica
designer Gary Sta used over 2000 kg of
clay, along with polyester resin and fiberglass to recreate
Super croc. He is very experienced in these things because
he designs dinosaurs for museums and universities such as the
Smithsonian Institute in the United States. The super
crop display is now on a worldwide tour, so keep an eye out, it could be coming to
your city soon, but watch out for those teeth.
Next stop, the United States of America.
Where the world's best mountain bike riders did something really wicked when
they took on the canyons in Utah for a dangerous and slightly
insane free ride competition. The overall winner was
a very gay Wade Simons, and for all his crazy effort
took home prize money of $8000 US dollars and an all
expense paid round trip to Australia. Not bad
really considering these guys love what they do and still get paid for
it.
Normal mountain bike riding looks pretty tame compared to this, and unlike other
competitions, the world's best free riders choose their own
lines. Competitors are pushed to the limit, and it's not
only their strength and talent that gets them through, it's also the skill and knowledge
of their equipment, or are they just crazy? Check out some of these
moves.
After the first day of qualifications, 12 riders advanced to the
final round. Greg Smith took second place after he
advanced and gained a well-deserved score of 76.4.
Robbie Burden came 3rd after he chose one of the toughest lower
lines with an 18 ft leaf drop off and landed safely at the
bottom. The riders were a little bruised in the end, but everyone
was ready to give it a go next year. What do you think, is your bike up to
it? From mountain bike extremes
to extreme hugging. Well, there's nothing quite as good
as a big warm hug. It makes you feel secure and
loved. Well, maybe you don't enjoy it as much now as when you were
little. Recently though, hundreds of Americans made a
special trip to see Amachi, a very special lady who spreads her
love by giving free hugs to as many as 20,000 people a
day. She may be the most hugged person on the planet.
She's been known to hug thousands of people at a stretch, and her message
of love, compassion, and selfless service has won the heart of
thousands of people. Hamachi, meaning darling
mother in India, came to the United States recently and thousands of New
Yorkers and other devotees waited for hours for the chance to get a
single hug from her. In 1993 during
a conference in Chicago, she was named one of Hinduism's three
greatest living representatives. In her native India,
many consider her an incarnation of the divine goddess, and
others say she should be made a saint. It may not appeal to you
to hug a stranger, and I completely understand, but look at all these people
who came just for that special hug. And just look how happy
they are, maybe there should be more of it. While we
were still in New York and fresh from our hugs, we went to see the yummiest
exhibition I've ever been to. The annual chocolate show is
packed with chocolates, chocolate sculptures, chocolate making lessons,
and even chocolate fashion. It's a sight to see and to
taste. The 4 day festival attracts chocoholics from all
over the world, and crowds gather to taste the latest in chocolates or
just have a free pig out. And believe it or not, this year's theme
was healthy chocolate. One booth displayed organic lollies,
another had products full of protein, and another had some of the most scrumptious,
sugar-free chocolate to be found. Quick, tell your mum, it's
official, there is chocolate that's good for you.
The sculptures were amazing and delicious to look at. There are even
tiny little cakes with pictures on them that were being sold to aid charity.
This castle was my favorite, just look at the work that has gone into making
it. I
Everyone had the opportunity to sample dozens of chocolate creations,
and it was all agreed that we would definitely come back next year, purely
for research, you understand, don't you? Our final
destination today is Thailand, where an inventor is well
on his way to creating the country's first robotic musical band.
He has made more than 4 instrument playing robots, which he showed off
at a technology fair recently. They were designed and
created by inventor Maceus Mengmin and his engineering students
at the King Mongkuts Institute of Technology in Bangkok.
They were put on show at this year's Thailand Electronics and Industry
Technology Fair. The event has been set up to demonstrate to
other countries that Thailand does not lag behind in the field
of technology. Maceo designed his robots to
play Thai traditional instruments because he says it helps to get
the kids interested in science and technology.
The main instruments featured in his mini band are the reed pipe
and bamboo flute. The robot's electronic
brains are programmed to trigger the small tire pumps which
push wind through the instruments. Each robot has
electronic hands and fingers, which are also programmed to
play particular tunes. Maceo hopes
to form an entire Thai music band made from
robots. He says his students are working on
ways to make the body of each robot more lifelike, so that they can
swing in time with the music. You never
know, they might be the next big thing in music, kind of like the Backstreet Boys
of Thailand. OK, I guess they need a little work yet.
Have you ever heard of or seen acupuncture performed? It's one of
those things that looks a whole lot worse than what it feels. An
acupuncturist uses very small needles and inserts them into certain parts
of the body to help with illnesses. It's a very old form of
alternative medicine that's still practiced all around the world.
Well, we know it works on humans, but what about animals? Vets in
Thailand are turning to acupuncture to relieve their patients' pain.
It's not the first time the ancient Chinese therapy has been used on
animals, but it seems more pet owners are now willing to let their cats and
dogs undergo the treatment.
Coco is 13 years old and he's one unhappy puppy.
He suffers from a condition which causes calcium to deposit along his
spine, leaving him in extreme pain and unable to walk
or lie properly. A Bangkok vet has
been using acupuncture on pets for several years and says for animals
like cocoa, it's the best treatment. She says there's
probably initial pain for the animal when the needles are being put in, but once
they're in place, they actually stimulate the brain to release pain relieving
chemicals into the body. The clinic has
treated about 77 cats and dogs with the therapy and
say most show signs of improvement, with 20% having fully
recovered from their ailments. Many universities in
America and Australia now teach acupuncture as part of the course for students
training to be vets. It's mainly cats and
dogs that the clinic treats with acupuncture, but it can be used in all sorts of
animals to ease pain and heal injury.
Poor old Coco isn't sure what's going on, but because his back
gets so sore, he thinks this lying down part of the therapy is a good
start. The acupuncture needles have been inserted into pressure
points along his back, and they're left there for around 20 minutes.
Outside in the waiting room, the other patients were looking a little nervous,
but with a little tender care and a session of acupuncture, these furry
friends will be out digging bones and chasing cats in no time.
If you didn't know it already, South Korea was selected as the host
country for the 2002 World Cup. There are
pennants, posters, pins and t-shirts, all part of the products you can
buy to remember the cup. The Korean World Cup
organizing Committee staged a fashion show dedicated to
the World Cup and an exhibition showing the huge number of
soccer-related products available. Among them was a soccer ball which
is attracting a lot of attention. The
ceramic soccer ball is the brainchild of Chow Kyung Soo.
He is a well-known artist in South Korea. He came up with the
idea of making a ceramic soccer ball, which now sells for anything from
$165 to
$2900 US dollars.
But it wasn't easy to make, and Chuu had to do a lot of changes to get
the perfect finished result. It was tough to make
it totally round. It normally turned out to be oval. However,
with two years of trying, I found out how to do it, he said.
Chew said it was almost impossible to make a ceramic ball without having a
hole or ventilation gap to prevent the clay from exploding in
the kiln. It ends up that the ball does have a hole in the
bottom, and although it's fiddly work, it's proving worthwhile.
Chu says he has had interest in his product from people all around the
world. He is expecting to export 300,000
sets to Japan alone. Korea is well known for
its ceramic products, and while the interest in the World Cup
finals continues to grow, people are out looking for that special
thing that will remind them of the big event.
Busan, the city of sports, was selected as the host of the World
Cup, and a multi-purpose stadium was built. It has
56,000 seats placed on 4 stories. Now that's
one big stadium. Imagine how deafening the noise of the
crowd could be.
Chew handpicks the best of his ceramic to turn into the soccer,
making sure they do not have any flaws.
He has one quick method of getting rid of the ones that don't make the
grade. this.
Tickets were selling as fast as memorabilia, with special packages
aimed at the corporate market, costing up to
$23,700 US dollars per
person.
Demand for the 3.2 million tickets on sale for the World Cup
provided organizers with a good view of how popular the event
is. Yeah.
Chew has certainly caught onto a good thing, and I think we're going to see a lot of
these soccer around. They're kind of nice really,
just don't let your little sister kick it. And
finally
it was a wet graduation day for the high school students in Taiwan
recently. Hundreds of high school students in the capital of
Taipei marked their graduation ceremony in the most
unusual way.
Wearing black shirts and goggles, the students made use of more than
250,000 water balloons prepared by the
school for the traditional water balloon fight. The wet
ceremony held every year involves students throwing water balloons
at each other. Taipei Mayor Ma
Jing Yu, who joined this year's celebration, was not
spared as excited students hurled water balloons at him.
Imagine getting the chance to throw water balloons at your teachers and
getting away with it. Everyone was having a fantastic
time. Luckily, Taiwan was nice and hot, and the
students knew they'd dry off pretty quickly.
After a long hard year of studying, the students were ready to let their hair down
and get a good soaking. Taiwan is an amazing island
off the south coast of China. It's only 160
kilometers wide and has a population of 21,000 people.
By the looks of it, most of them are here, getting wet.
The mare was a good sport and gave as much as he got. Overall I
think it was a great time for everyone.
Yeah.
Well, that's the end of this series of Geo Junior. We hope you've enjoyed watching it