A 29-year-old woman plans to travel 32000-Km from Argentina to Alaska

Her name is Bethany Hughes and she plans to become the first documented woman to travel the length of the Americas - from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Barrow, Alaska. She will use non-motorized means like hiking, cycling or canoeing and might even drive a sled-dog team for part of the way. This is a skill she picked up when she had lived briefly in Alaska. Her 20,000-mile (32,000-kilometre) trek is expected to commence in December and the journey would take an estimated five years to complete.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 5 October 2015.

Hughes has lived in Spain and studied abroad at Oxford and she has six little footprints tattooed up her foot, one for each country Hughes has lived in. Her plan is to follow the mountains through Argentina, Chile and Peru, then continue north through Ecuador and Colombia and, continue on bicycle through Central America and Mexico, before heading through the US to Canada.
She knows winters in the Andes are brutal, summers in the tropics insufferable but she has the resolve.
She has spent several years planning for the trip and has saved much of the estimated $12,000 she will need annually by working multiple jobs. She also has managed to rope in some sponsors like Hyperlite Mountain Gear. But, majority of her support is from grassroots fundraising.
Google Earth has allowed her to plot her path with reasonable accuracy. DeLorme's GPS system will keep not only keep her on track but help a team of volunteers back in the US to monitor her progress.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting links -

The global broom campaign (satire)

Moody searching for a place where no leader has gone (Satire)

Moody, Jet Lee and missing pulses (Satire)


Fossils and eggshells of baby dinosaurs found in Gobi Desert

Parama Island flyover adds to traffic jams in Kolkata – made one-way

Future of street foods in Delhi bleak - Delhi bans cooking on roads


Arnold Schwarzenegger could play in Rajinikanth-starrer 'Enthiran 2'

Emma Roberts and her horror-comedy series "Scream Queens"

India is one of 81 countries vying for Best Foreign Film in the 88th Academy Awards


Despite US airstrikes, ISIS still makes £300-million a year from oil

Syrian gang caught trying to smuggle 20-tonnes of cannabis worth £150million into Europe

US airdrops 50-tons of ammunition for M-16s and AK-47 to Syrian fighters

DHC-3 Otter turboprop plane on sightseeing mission crashes in Alaska – 9 killed

Eight cruise ship passengers and a pilot were killed when a sightseeing plane DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter turboprop crashed in southeastern Alaska. The reasons for the crash is not known but, it was found against the cliff's granite rock face, 800 feet above Ella Lake.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 25 June 2015.

The deaths have been confirmed by the Alaska office of the National Transportation Safety Board. It has added that rainy and windy weather was hindering recovery of the bodies off the cliff about 20 miles northeast of Ketchikan. It is in a steep, mountainous terrain.
The sightseeing was of the Misty Fjords National Monument and the ship was on a seven-day cruise that had come from Seattle. The attractions of the tour of the 2-million-acre Misty Fjord National Monument in its float planes were the towering granite cliffs, 1,000-foot waterfalls, lush and remote valleys and serene crystalline lakes that make up the incredible landscape.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Popcorns in movie halls can contain too much salt and sugar for comfort

Glastonbury Festival might move out from Worthy Farm to a new location

China wants to revive silk route with high speed rail link between Kolkata and Kunming

Iranian women have tickets but cannot watch volleyball match in Tehran

Global warming – snow on the Himalayas is melting too fast due to rise in temperatures


61-year-old woman kicked and stamped her husband to death over a pack of cigarettes

Nine killed by a white man in a hate crime in South Carolina church

Bear bile farm in Vietnam finally closed down, only one bear survived out of 27


Today TV dictates our lifestyle

News on TV channels go from dull to attractive

City of Fairbanks in Alaska baffled by toothed eels falling from the sky

The city of Fairbanks in Alaska is baffled by foot-long toothed eels dropping from the sky – the residents are, unsettled because these fish (as known as the toothed Arctic lamprey fish) are difficult to catch and not sold commercially in the area.
However, these have been found in a shopping center car park and also on the lawns of people in the city of Fairbanks as revealed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 10 June 2015.

This unusual phenomenon has resulted in tongue-in-cheek claims of "vampire fish" and "fish monsters" raining down. It is strange for that is seldom seen in the water in the vicinity. Of course, there have been cases of small animals such as worms, fish, or frogs falling from the sky.
That can happen when waterspouts or tornadoes cross over a lake or river when it can pick up debris, including light aquatic animals, and carry them for miles before they rain down – but, there have been no report of any tornadoes or waterspouts in the Fairbanks area.
Of course, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has offered an explanation – namely, the fish might have been dropped from the air by seagulls who feed on lampreys and small fish. Only, they do not always eat their prey on the spot but fly away with the prey in their beaks, and these can accidentally drop from their beaks.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


Kolkata Police to send cake with birthday greetings to 12000 senior citizens of Pronam

Maggi 2-minute noodle – Madhuri Dixit, Amitabh Bachhan and Preity Zinta had endorsed the product

Bogus tour operator charged out-of-towners $200 each way for a trip that is free

WHO says cigarette smuggling into India has increased fourfold

Marvels of technology – robotic cheetah created by MIT, it can jump over obstacles

The power of tulsi leaves – it keeps at bay the pacemaker

US admits - there is no way to monitor online encrypted messages of ISIS

US Police have killed two persons daily in first 5-months of the year

Activists on kayaks protest against drilling for oil in Alaska

Hundreds of activists on kayaks are protesting in Seattle on the arrival of Polar Pioneer, an Arctic oil drilling rig, which is a part of oil giant Shell's controversial plans to begin exploration in Alaska this summer.
This drilling has the approval of President Barack Obama and this has angered environmentalists who believe that drilling in the remote and environmentally sensitive waters is risky and out of step with attempts to move away from the use of fossil fuels.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 17 May 2015.

Some of the protesters greeted the vessel when it arrived in Seattle, while hundreds have joined the flotilla of kayaks in Elliott Bay. Police and the coastguard are trying to keep the protesters at a safe distance from the rig for safety.
In the opinion of protesters, the future can be a great place for us all without petroleum products and exploration in Alaska is not necessary. Moreover, the frigid temperatures, high winds, shallow seas are all deterrents and, when it is said that oil will create jobs that can just as well come from wind and solar power.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


More than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped last year by Boko Haram have vanished

Journey to freedom – 5800 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean

Indonesian smugglers stuff yellow-crested cockatoos into plastic bottles to get past customs

Engineering graduate of Hyderabad goes astray, dies because of links with ISIS

Dozens of corpses found in bamboo cages in Thai human trafficking camp

Quick tour of Delhi by ITDC bus

The Arctic is gradually losing its ice cover leading to global warming

#globalwarming A group of 63 scientists from 13 countries have created a report card of the Arctic and the findings should be a cause of worry because it reveals several single-year dramatic changes, unlike other years. The broad conclusion is that the Arctic and its future are looking dimmer every year.
As per the report, during spring and summer of 2014, Earth's icy northern region lost more of its signature whiteness that reflects the sun's heat. Dark land and bodies of water surfaced – these absorb more energy, keeping yet more heat on already warming planet. The result is rise in global warming.
The report also states that spring snow cover in Eurasia reached a record low in April. Moreover, the Arctic summer sea ice continued a long-term, steady decline. And, worse, Greenland set a record in August for the least amount of sunlight reflected in that month.
The report is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies.
It seems that while the U.S. East Coast shivered during January's cold snap from a polar vortex that slipped south, parts of Alaska were 18 degrees warmer than normal. These ae not good signs for the health of our Earth.