“These engines were designed primarily for very large container ships. Ship owners like a single engine/single propeller design and the new generation of larger container ships needed a bigger engine to propel them. The cylinder bore is just under 38 and the stroke is just over 98. Each cylinder displaces 111,143 cubic inches (1,820 liters) and produces 7,780 horsepower. Total displacement comes out to 1,556,002 cubic inches (25,480 liters) for the fourteen cylinder version.” w/ photos

“An Arizona man has beaten the odds to win $1 million cash prizes in the lottery not once but six times. The man bought his tickets for the April 25 multistate lottery game at a QuickTrip store in Glendale, hand-picking the same numbers six times. News of the win spread round the city in the days after the draw after it was announced that only one of the tickets had been claimed, prompting players to double check their numbers. Now the rumours have been confirmed, it was indeed one lucky winner who owned all six of them. The man bought six tickets with five identical numbers at the gas station and a different Powerball for each.” w/ photos

“A father-of-two is lucky to be alive after he was shot through the neck with an arrow as he went for a walk in a park in Russia. Konstantine Myakush, 38, was on a family outing with his two daughters near a sports centre in Moscow when he was struck by the stray 20-inch-long arrow. The arrow, believed to have been misfired by a member of an archery club, would have killed Mr Myakush if it had hit him just one inch to either the right or left by piercing a major artery. Incredibly, Mr Myakush remained conscious and even called his wife immediately after he was hit to tell her what happened.” w/ photos + videos

“Beekeeper She Ping is assisted by his apprentice to cover his body with bees in order to break a world record in Chongqing Municipality. She Ping, 32, broke the world record by covering his body with 33.1 kilograms of bees (about 331,000 bees), overtaking the last world record of 26.8 kilograms of bees which was attempted by a Jiangxi province beekeeper Ruan Liangming in 2008, local media reported.” w/ photos

“Pakistani doctors have their work cut out, as they battle the odds to save a newborn baby with a rare genetic condition that left him with six legs. The week old boy is believed to be one half of parasitic twins; the other twin was born prematurely and incompletely developed, which resulted in the second child having the extra legs. According to ColumnPK, the director of the National Institute of Child Health in Karachi, Jamal Raza, said that doctors at the institute are fighting to save the newborn, which remains in an intensive care unit ward. Doctors are planning to operate on the boy and were considering asking for help from foreign experts with more experience in the rare disease, which afflicts just one in one million babies.” w/ photos + video

“WOW, Hope I never see that in real life. That is not good at all. I can see a few getting in but how do you let it get like that.” — AllMelDorman

“A juvenile mammoth, nicknamed ‘Yuka,’ was found entombed in Siberian ice near the shores of the Arctic Ocean and shows signs of being cut open by ancient people. The remarkably well preserved frozen carcass was discovered in Siberia as part of a BBC/Discovery Channel-funded expedition and is believed to be at least 10,000 years old, if not older. If further study confirms the preliminary findings, it would be the first mammoth carcass revealing signs of human interaction in the region. The carcass is in such good shape that much of its flesh is still intact, retaining its pink color. The blonde-red hue of Yuka’s woolly coat also remains.” w/ photos

“Sir David Attenborough presents this epic wildlife documentary, exploring the world of cold blooded animals. Watch this phenomenal video to see a fully grown python kill and eat a deer. Brilliant high quality images from BBC natural history masterpiece, Life in Cold Blood.” — BBC

“A Chinese motorist had a lucky escape when his mini bus plunged down a sheer drop off a mountainside road – and was ‘caught’ by a passing lorry. Yu Lin, from Nanyang, Henan Province, was on his way to collect his five-year-old daughter from a friend’s house when his bus skidded on a mud patch and careered over the drop. “I could feel myself falling and it all seemed to be happening in slow motion like a movie. I thought to myself, ‘That’s it, you’re going to die’,” explained Wu. 32. ‘Then all of a sudden there was a bump and I stopped in mid air as if I’d been caught by a giant hand.” w/ photo

“A Swiss watchmaker unveiled today what is believed to be the world’s most expensive timepiece. Hublot’s new watch, which has a price tag of $5million, dazzles with a staggering 140 carats of diamonds, all set in white gold. The precious stones cover the entire face, as well as the band, giving an appearance more akin to fine jewellery than practical accessory. Six of the 1,292 diamonds weigh more than three carats each.” w/ photos

“A lead-footed driver was in such a hurry to make a court date on a meth possession that he racked up $2,000 worth of speeding tickets. Jose Romero-Valenzuela, 34, was pulled over three times by traffic officers along Interstate 84 in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge on Wednesday morning. The Las Vegas man was caught zooming west first at 105 mph, then at 98 mph and finally at 92 mph, all in a 65mph zone… The officers said that after the third ticket, Romero-Valenzuela who was in a rented 2012 Nissan Altima, appeared to have finally have got the message.” w/ photos

“An afternoon whirlwind on Mars lofts a twisting column of dust more than half a mile high in an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. HiRISE captured the image on Feb. 16, 2012, while the orbiter passed over the Amazonis Planitia region of northern Mars. In the area observed, paths of many previous whirlwinds, or dust devils, are visible as streaks on the dusty surface. The active dust devil displays a delicate arc produced by a westerly breeze partway up its height. The dust plume is about 96ft in diameter.” w/ photo

“He’s traveling…” — jabronie25

“A woman shopping on a busy downtown El Paso street became the first victim of bullets flying across the border from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, when she was hit in the calf and wounded, authorities said. The 48-year-old woman, whose name has not been released, was pushing a stroller when she was struck. Gregg Allen, El Paso’s chief of police, said the wound was caused by a ‘full metal jacket hard-nosed bullet’ like those used in assault rifles. Because of that, he said, the projectile caused a clean exit wound. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was treated and released. El Paso Mayor John Cook asked residents to remain calm, saying there is ‘no way to prevent incidents like this from happening” and the odds of getting hit by a stray bullet are minimal.” w/ photo + video

“These amazing pictures, captured by a NASA satellite, show a gigantic tornado moving across the sun. The tornado is larger than it might look – in fact, it is probably bigger than the Earth, and could extend hundreds of thousands of miles out into space. And while its progress over the sun’s surface seems almost stately, it is moving at 300,000 miles per hour. The extraordinary phenomenon – which cannot yet be fully explained by scientists – was filmed by Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory over a 30-hour period earlier this month.” w/ photos + video

“He is the first person to have a record of 1-1-0 in their first fight.” — castiel241

“Choc Thornton was today revealed as Britain’s most accident-prone jockey – after suffering 367 falls in his career. Thornton, 33, is currently laid up with a broken arm following a tumble at Hereford last December – his 42nd injury since he began riding professionally in 1995. Over the years he has broken all 24 ribs, shattered his left collar bone three times and his right collar bone six times… But despite all his injuries, the longest stay in hospital he has endured has been five days with his current arm injury. And he has still managed to have a hugely successful career, with 1,037 winners from 8,023 rides. He has won over 20 top jump races, including 16 Festival winners.” w/ photos

“Swimming with dolphins has been a firm favorite with tourists all over the world for years but now some holiday-goers are taking things a step further – by swimming with jellyfish. Plunging into a sea of jellyfish would strike fear into the heart of the bravest swimmers but there is one lake in the world where tourists can do just that. Jellyfish Lake is the only place in the world where you can safely swim amongst millions of jellyfish because the sometimes deadly creatures have lost their sting… With no risk of being eaten by predators the jellyfish population thrived and there is now estimated to be up to eight million jellyfish living in the lake.” w/ photos

“If his mission is successful, the daredevil will break the records for free-falling from the highest altitude with his plan to jump from the dizzying height of 120,000ft, or 36,000m. What’s more, Felix will also become the first person to smash through the sound barrier without the aid – or protection – of a machine, traveling at approximately 690mph. As well as being the highest ever jump, it will also be the longest – and on his way down the stuntman will collect new scientific data about the human body in certain conditions. Unsurprisingly, this superhuman feat needs a bit of preparation, and Baumgartner and his team have spent the past five years creating and testing the suit needed to withstand the tough conditions.” w/ photos

“Not an inch of sand was wasted in Rio De Janeiro yesterday. Thousands of sun-worshippers flocked to Ipanema Beach to make the most of a heatwave that saw temperatures reach as high as 34C (93F). The average maximum temperature for February is 84F. Packed like sardines along the sweeping seafront – made famous by the 1964 song The Girl From Ipanema Beach – you would be forgiven for feeling slightly claustrophobic. Sun umbrellas covered the sands while hundreds of people swarmed around the sea, fighting for enough space to swim.” w/ photos

“An enormous multi-storey marijuana farm, that used enough electricity to power an entire city block, has been discovered on a busy New York street. Cops entering a nondescript building in the Bronx were astonished to discover all five floors packed with nearly 800 pot plants many of which were over seven-foot tall. Three people were arrested and and officers seized plants weighing over 1,500 pounds plus another 75 pounds of the drug already packaged and ready for sale. The mind-bending crop was estimated to have a street value of around $5,000 to $8,000 a pound.” w/ photos

“7-year-old Giuliano Stroe, know as the world’s strongest kid, does push ups while balancing on glass bottles. He already holds a few Guinness World Records!”

“A skinny model with a very tight corset shows her thin wasp waist.”

“An astonishing photograph taken from outer-space illustrates how an iceberg the size of New York is close to breaking off from Antarctica. A 19-mile crack in Pine Island Glacier’s ice is clearly visible, leading some scientists to speculate that the world’s biggest berg could soon be on the move. The picture, taken by NASA’s Terra spacecraft in November 2011 but only released today, shows how the crack is quickly growing. Just a month before it was only 18 miles long.” w/ photos

“Students cling to a collapsed bridge as they cross a river to get to school in the Indonesian village of Sanghiang, Tanjung.” — telegraphtv

“Deffy and Sarinya had been together for 10 years, before they finally decided to settle down. They had postponed the wedding several times, due to busy schedules and the fact that Deffy wanted to complete his education before he got married. However, after Sarinya’s untimely death, he couldn’t let her go without fulfilling her deepest desire. So, he decided to marry her anyway. On the 4th of January, in Buddhist ceremony, Deffy married the corpse of his girlfriend. The event took place in Surin, a city in northern Thailand. During the ceremony, he expressed his devotion and deep love for Sarinya. Several friends and relatives attended the wedding, and it was even aired on national television in Thailand. The story, along with pictures from the wedding have now become an internet sensation, sparking several debates.” w/ photos + video

“More than 1,100 dogs destined for a slaughterhouse were rescued this week by an animal-loving blogger in Chongqing, China. The 1,137 dogs that had been cramped into cages stacked on top of each other onto the back of a flatbed truck were intercepted with the help of a blogger, who goes by the surname Peng, as they were on their way to be made into food.” w/ photos

“Karam Chand was born in a small rural village in the Punjab in northern India in 1905. His family worked in farming and, in keeping with the custom of the time, he married at a young age. His bride Kartari was born in the same district in 1912. According to their passports, that currently makes Mr Chand 106 and his wife 99 years old. They wed in a typical Sikh ceremony in December 1925 and have just celebrated their 86th year together as a married couple, which they think may qualify them as the UK’s longest married husband and wife.” w/ photos

“A stray cat that survived two trips to a Utah animal shelter’s gas chamber now has a new home. Officials at West Valley City’s animal shelter in Utah say the cat named Andrea hadn’t been adopted for 30 days when shelter officials tried to put her to death in October. She survived, so they gassed her again. Shelter officials detected no vital signs and presumed she was dead after the second try, so they put her in a plastic bag in a cooler. But when they checked the bag, they saw she had vomited on herself and had hypothermia but was alive. The shelter then decided to stop trying to kill her.” w/ photo

“It’s certainly been a case of Randy by name, randy by nature, for this young ram. The horny little fellow managed to father at least 33 lambs after jumping a 5ft fence to go on his own personal ram raid. Randy – an 11-month-old texel ram – was only loose for 24 hours. But in that short space of time, the woolly lothario managed to breed with almost a third of a nearby flock. So far, 13 of his offspring have been born at West Lodge Rural Centre in Desborough, Northamptonshire. Twenty more ewes – a mix of Southdowns, Suffolks and Soays crosses – are expecting babies any day. Ryan Thompson, manager of the farm, called the whole situation ‘comical’. He said: ‘We got a vet out to do a animal equivalent of an ultra-sound on a few that we thought were pregnant but he came back and told us that at least 30 were due.” w/ photos