The Internet Umbrella

The Internet umbrella, named Pileus (meaning the head of a mushroom) was created by two young graduate students. Second-year doctoral student Matsumoto Takashi, 27, and first-year master’s student Hashimoto Sho, 22, of Keio University’s Graduate School of Media and Governance were motivated by a desire to make walking on rainy days more enjoyable. Both belong to a research lab led by Professor Okude Naohito that is renowned for its interaction design research based on the concept of ubiquitous computing. [source Science & Technology]

The World's Smallest Humanoid Robot

The i-SOBOT stands just 16.5 centimeters tall, and weighs only around 350 grams. While the robot fits in the palm of your hand, it remains a fully outfitted bipedal machine, with 17 moving joints. Used throughout the body are tiny, custom servomotors developed by Tomy. The robot's onboard gyro-sensor allows it to maintain its balance automatically as it goes smoothly through its programmed motions. i-SOBOT comes with an infrared remote-control unit, but users can also use voice commands to control it.

Tomy's i-SOBOT architecture, the control system developed to operate this new robot, makes use of 19 integrated circuit chips that work in tandem to enable the toy's complex actions. [source Science & Technology]

How Smart are Monkeys?

Like other primates, monkeys are among the smartest animals. Biologists think that monkeys can remember where different fruit trees are. They can even remember when the fruit gets ripe.

Monkeys communicate with one another. They make signs with parts of their bodies. They call out to one another.

Biologists believe that baboons deceive, or fool, one another. This means that one baboon has to think about what another baboon is thinking.

Most monkeys use their intelligence to protect themselves from enemies. For example, capuchins try to scare off enemies. They urinate on enemies from high in the trees. They jump up and down to make dead branches fall on the enemies on the ground.

The Largest Frog

The largest frog is the West African goliath frog. It is 12 inches (30 centimeters) long and weighs more than 7 pounds (more than 3 kilograms).

First President of the United States

George Washington (1732-1799), first president of the United States (1789-1797) and one of the most important leaders in United States history. His role in gaining independence for the American colonies and later in unifying them under the new U.S. federal government cannot be overestimated. Laboring against great difficulties, he created the Continental Army, which fought and won the American Revolution (1775-1783), out of what was little more than an armed mob. After an eight-year struggle, his design for victory brought final defeat to the British at Yorktown, Virginia, and forced Great Britain to grant independence to its overseas possession.

Egyptian Pyramids

Pyramids (Egypt), large structures with four triangular sides that meet in a point at the top, directly over the center of the pyramid’s square base. Ancient peoples in several parts of the world built pyramids, but the Egyptians constructed the biggest and most famous pyramids, with which this article deals. For information on the pyramids of Mesopotamia, see Ziggurat. For information on the pyramids of the Americas, see Pyramids (The Americas).

The ancient Egyptians built more than 90 royal pyramids, from about 2630 bc until about 1530 bc. During that time, the pyramid form evolved from a series of stepped terraces that resembled the layers of a wedding cake to the better-known, sloped pyramidal shape. The first pyramid, the Step Pyramid at Şaqqārah, was constructed during the reign of King Djoser (2630 bc-2611 bc). The largest pyramid is the one built for King Khufu, at the site of modern Giza. Khufu’s pyramid, known as the Great Pyramid, is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World that still survives.

Ferdinand Marcos Short Profile

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralín Marcos (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1949-1959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (1959-1965). During World War II he was the leader of the Ang Maharlika guerilla force in northern Luzon. In 1963 he became Senate President. As Philippine president and strongman, his greatest achievement was in the fields of infrastructure development and international diplomacy. However, his administration was marred by massive government corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression and human rights violations. In 1986 he was removed from power by a massive show of People Power after it was revealed he had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States.

Marcos was born on September 11, 1917 in Sarrat, a small town in Ilocos Norte. Named by his parents, Mariano Marcos and Josefa Edralin, after King Ferdinand of Spain, Marcos was a champion debater, while in the University of the Philippines.

Marcos graduated cum laude with a law degree from the U.P. College of Law in 1939 and was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu international honor society. As a young law student of the University of the Philippines, Marcos was indicted and convicted of the murder of Julio Nalundasan, the man who twice defeated his father for a National Assembly seat. While in detention, he studied for and passed the bar examination with one of the highest scores in history. He appealed his conviction and argued his case before the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Impressed by his legal defense, the court unanimously acquitted him.

King Cobra is the World's Longest Venomous Snake

The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake. It averages 3.7 m (12 ft) in length but is known to grow to 5.5 m (18 ft). It is olive or brown in color, with bronze eyes; some individuals are banded. It is found in the Philippines, Malaysia, southern China, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), India, Thailand, and the Malay Peninsula. It eats primarily other snakes. The other cobra of Asia is known variously as the common, Asian, Indian, or spectacled cobra (due to the eyeglass-shaped pattern on its skin). It seldom reaches a length of more than 1.8 m (6 ft). The hood of the common cobra is, proportionately, much larger than that of the king cobra and is usually yellow to brown, with a black-and-white spectacle pattern on top and two black and white spots on the lower surface. This snake causes many deaths each year in India, where it is regarded with religious awe and is seldom killed. The common cobra is frequently used by snake charmers. It ranges from the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea to China and Malaysia.

Longest Term President in the United States

The need for steady leadership during World War II (1939-1945) made it possible for Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt to break the tradition by winning four successive elections between 1932 and 1944. In a reaction against Franklin Roosevelt’s extended presidency, in 1951 Congress and state legislatures approved the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which limits a president to two elected terms. The amendment also prohibits a person from running for election a second time if he or she has already served more than two years of a term to which someone else had been elected.