Former Chinese Farmer Builds Homemade Flying Saucer

A former Chinese farmer with little formal schooling who later worked as an automobile mechanic has designed and built at least one ultralight that briefly flew (before crashing) -- he has now moved on to a flying saucer. Shu Mansheng's project is a structure powered by eight motorcycle engines mounted vertically. They drive individual fixed-pitch wooden propellers. The engines are arranged in an inner and outer group of four engines each. An open cockpit located in the center is mounted above spokes that both support the engines and extend to an outer circular ring. Supporters will be hoping for a more positive outcome than the innovator's last attempt.

Shu Mansheng built his first aircraft in October 2010. It was saved by an inadequate powerplant that failed to lift it off the ground. A second effort was aborted when the innovator determined it would be too heavy to fly. This April Shu built another aircraft in a span of about 15 days. He managed to fly that one over approximately 30 meters at an altitude less than seven meters above the ground before he crashed. Shu Mansheng has been able to focus on his aviation exploits after some advances in his career led him to a financial windfall. He retired from his day job and now works full-time on his aviation adventures. His latest scheme has consumed the equivalent of nearly $10,000. His dream is to create a school "where kids can learn things not taught in regular school," he told WorldTourist.com.

Mansheng (in red) tests the engines of his flying device ahead of his first test flight. The round steel flying device, which cost more than 20,000 yuan, was the fifth model made by Shu, a junior middle school graduate. It measures up to 5.5 meters in diameter, and is powered by eight motorcycle engines. (Jason Lee / Reuters)

Caplin Rous, World's Most Famous Capybara

Caplin Rous, arguably the most famous real-life giant rodent, has died. He was three-and-a-half years old.



Caplin Rous is a capybara. Related to the guinea pig, the capybara is the largest species of rodent. They're extremely rare as pets, only 30 or so are sold in the U.S. each year. Though they're native to South America, Caplin was born in Texas and lives in the town of Buda with Melanie Typaldos, who never expected this animal to take over her life quite the way he has.



Adult capybaras may grow to 130 centimetres (4.3 ft) in length, and weigh up to 65 kg (140 lb). The top recorded weight is 105.4 kg (232 lbs). And this one named Caplin Rous (pronounced rose) is quite famous in the Internet. "Normally when people see him they have no idea what he is...but they just think he's really cute," says Typaldos.



Caplin weighed just three pounds when Typaldos first got him at the age of 11 days old. Two and a half years later he now tips the scales at more than 100 pounds!Caplin enjoys taking long walks with his family Capybaras are semi-aquatic animals and Caplin enjoys swimming in his backyard pool more than anything. Instead of purring like a house cat, Caplin makes tiny squeaks when he is happy.

Tokyo Drift in the Living Room

The rich, it’s said, are different than you and I. What seems seems illogical or destructive to us just seems like good fun to those with large bank accounts. Keith Moon, the original drummer for The Who, had a penchant for destroying hotel rooms simply because he could. The owner of this Cobra replica, on the other hand, has a penchant for destroying hardwood floors.



There’s no backstory to accompany the video, so we don’t know what prompted the driver to serve up fresh donuts in his living room. Laying rubber in such tight confines takes some skill, so we’ll give the driver props for only destroying the floors and not the drywall. Enjoy the video below, and we strongly discourage you from trying this at home.

US Debt Crisis - 2012 is only for America

A must watch video for all specially for those who are considering going to US in future!!

Real-life Robocop Policeman

Policeman Dan Pascoe attempted to use his squad car to prevent a BMW thief from escaping onto the highway outside of London. The BMW hit the squad car as Pascoe was getting out, hurtling him into the air. Pascoe immediately jumps up, chases down the BMW on foot and eventually catches the thief. Pascoe suffered no injuries.

Lithuainian Mayor Fights Illegal Parking With A Tank

The Mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania got sick of seeing rich people illegally parking their cars wherever they want on the streets of his city so he decided to take action. And that action he decided to take was to get a tank and start using it to crush illegally parked cars on the street as you’ll see in this video.

Waterfall Flowing Upwards

Winds battering southern Australia over the last 24 hours have been so strong that spray from waterfalls south of Sydney has billowed up into the air.

Nearly a month's worth of rain has fallen on the city in 24 hours, and wind speeds have reached 120km/h (75mph).

The extreme weather has meant a rough ride on the city's ferries, and a high surf warning has been issued with waves expected to reach 5m (16ft).


Source: bbc