It is truly sad how many lives have been affected by earthquakes recently.  However, as a society, we constantly adapt to devastating situations by modifying ourselves or the world around us.  This is exactly what Wang Wenxi of China did.

Wenxi created and patented the first earthquake-proof bed.  Essentially, the bed has a high-load bearing board and two cupboards on either end.  In the event of an earthquake, the bed essentially becomes a stronghold, protecting the sleeper from debris and falling building pieces.  The cupboards allow one to store food and other essentials so that the user can stay inside for multiple days until rescue.  Pretty ingenious.  Let us just hope that one of the beds will never have to be utilized.   

While scouring the news today, something that is nothing short of remarkable caught my eyes.  Some of us can remember when we were children, the adults in our lives would tease us that if you eat a watermelon seed, a watermelon will grow in your stomach.  Maybe those jokesters were not so far off.

A 75-year old man was taken to the hospital after having increased difficulty breathing, which was originally attributed to his emphysema.  However, after careful examination, doctors were stunned.  As it turns out, the man had a one half inch sprouted pea plant growing in his lung.  Seriously.

Doctors stated that they did not recognize the pea plant sooner because it was almost completely undetectable amidst the man’s already swollen lung tissue.  Luckily, surgeons were able to remove the pea plant, finding that the pea seed indeed had a shoot growing out of it.  When asked, experts said that it is not impossible for people to inhale foreign objects into their airway system.  It is when individuals have lung issues already that prohibit them from coughing the object out of their system that problems may arise.

Even for the avid gardener, I would recommend not trying this at home.   

We seem to know our own Earth less than we know the moon.

It appears that sometimes our society forgets to look at the sea because they are blinded by the stars.   Though we spend countless amounts of time and money researching space, it is interesting how we do not even fully understand our own world; I am talking of course about the deep sea.

The deep sea is one of the most uncharted and most unexplored areas of the Earth, and with good reason; researching this area may even be more dangerous than scouring the craters of the moon.  However, Australian researchers have just publicized their findings of ancient marine life off the Great Barrier Reef that have never before been seen by human eyes.

CNN described the creatures as, “worthy of a science fiction film.”

The life found at more than 1,400 meters below sea level included many unidentifiable fish, “six-gilled” sharks, and unknown crustaceans, in addition to the already discovered relative of the octopus which still maintains a shell.  Weird.

Scientists claim that such findings place an even greater burden on oil companies that drill deep into the ocean floor.  Many fear that we are killing creatures even before we know what they are.

Either way, this recently conducted deep sea exploration is an awe-inspiring, as well as sobering, reminder that we as a people still have much to learn about our own world.  If this topic interests you, I highly recommend watching “Planet Earth: Deep Sea” for videos and thoughts about the world under water.

So what do you think?  Do you think that more government money should be allocated towards research of our own world, or on space exploration?