5 of the world's most remote islands.

1. Bouvet Island, Southern Atlantic Ocean
When your closest neighbor, Antarctica, is 1,000 miles away, you know you’re about as far from civilization as you can get. Bouvet is the unequivocal world’s most remote island. No one lives there, and for good reason: the island is almost entirely covered by a glacier.

2. Pitcairn Islands, Southern Pacific Ocean
Not only is Pitcairn the most remote inhabited jurisdiction in the world, it’s also the smallest — with a population of a whopping 48 people. Most of the island’s residents trace their lineage to Bounty Mutineers and Tahitians that accompanied them. With resources in such short supply, the residents are very used to bartering and sharing with their fellow Pitcairners. All Pitcairners between 16 and 65 are required to help maintain the tiny island. It’s suffice to say life on Pitcairn is much different than most of us are used to

3. Nauru, South Pacific
Many tiny inhabited islands are territories of larger countries — but not Nauru. This independent nation, population 9,378, is located about 300 miles from its closest neighbor, Kiribati. Unfortunately, mining has devastated the tiny country’s environment and economy. The unemployment rate is somewhere around 90%. But that’s not the only bad circumstances in Nauru. The country is under severe threat from global warming, and has the highest rates of obesity and Type II Diabetes in the world.

4. Saint Helena, Southern Atlantic Ocean
Saint Helena is one of the world’s most isolated inhabited islands — which made it a perfect location for Napoleon’s final exile. People came in 1502, and today the population number is around 4,200. The island can only be reached by ship, but an airport is in the works for 2016.

5. Tristan de Cunha, Southern Atlantic Ocean
With a population numbering around 275, Tristan de Cunha is one of the most isolated inhabited islands on earth. It’s so isolated, in fact, that the island has only had television for 10 years! Tracing their roots to 15 emigres from Europe and the United States, the island’s people share only seven last names. All of the families are farmers, and most workers also work for the local government or the lobster factory. Like St. Helena, Tristan de Cunha can only be reached by ship.

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Sure, we all know the great pyramids in Egypt, the coliseum in Rome, or the Niagara Falls in North America. But there are plenty of other historically, culturally and ecologically important places on the planet that may not have the glory, but are truly impressive on their own. Click through to check out some of the world’s most incredible less known world landmarks.

1. Phoenix Islands Protected Area, Kiribati
The largest and one of the most impressive protected marine areas in the world, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area is located around the remote Southern Pacific island nation of Kiribati. The area is home to large coral reef system, many atolls, underwater volcanoes. Marine life is abundant, and the area is a haven for seabirds. One of the islands in the chain is also, possibly, where Amelia Earhart crashed her plane in 1937.

2. Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Egypt
Located on Egypt’s remote Sinai Peninsula, the Orthodox Christian Saint Catherine’s is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries on the planet . The burning bush seen by Moses is said to be on the property,  as is one of the world’s largest and most important religious libraries.

3. Valdes Peninsula, Argentina
The animal life is teeming on Patagonia’s Valdes Peninsula — you’ll find penguins, sea lions, whales, fur seals guanacos, and elephant seals on land and in its waters. Many of these animals are threatened with extinction, and the peninsula is a critical breeding ground.

4. Arg-é Bam, Iran
Once the largest adobe structure in the world, Arg-é Bam sat on the legendary Silk Road trade route. Sadly, in 2003, the most devastating earthquake in Iranian history almost completely leveled this centuries-old 44 acre citadel. In its aftermath, 80 percent of the once popular tourist destination was either destroyed or demolished. Nations across the globe have pledged money to rebuild the ancient city and the modern city that sprung up around it. Its inclusion on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger, and the funding that goes along with it, however, is in danger of being revoked. The rebuilding efforts have not complied with UNESCO’s standards.
 

5. Leshan Giant Buddha, China
Measuring in at an incredible 233 feet tall, the Leshan Giant Buddha is the world’s tallest premodern statue — and, to this day, is the tallest Buddha in the world.. The monstrosity was carved out of the side of a cliff over the course of nearly a century, finally reaching completion in the year 813.
 

6. Zamość, Poland
For well over 500 years, the historic city center of Zamość has kept its original layout, and much of the original buildings. The city was designed with the Italian renaissance principles of an “ideal” town. Conceived as a trading center, the founder of Zamość brought in shopkeepers of several nationalities, and set up a a tradition of cultural and religious diversity and tolerance.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-unknown-world-landmarks.html#ixzz2TapNlPnS

a natural cleaner that make windows sparkle.

When it comes to cleaning her home, Erin, a contributing editor for Gardenista, likes to take as natural an approach as possible. While she’s been making her own vinegar-based window cleaner for years, she recently discovered the secret ingredient—a pantry staple and an unexpected powerhouse for shine.
Above: A tablespoon of cornstarch is the secret ingredient. Add it to a mixture of equal parts water and vinegar to produce the shiny, streak-free result that is everyone’s goal when it comes to cleaning windows.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Materials:

• 1 16-oz. bottle, such as the Ultimate Glass Spray Bottle ($8.43 from Olive Cart).
• 1 liquid measuring cup (at least 8 ounces).
• Small sieve; a 6-inch Stainless Steel Mesh Sieve is $19.95 from Sur La Table.
• Small whisk; a Profi Plus Mini Ball Whisk is $20 from Williams-Sonoma.
• 1/2 lemon, juiced.
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
• 1/2 cup white vinegar.
• 1/2 cup water.
• Crumpled newspaper.

To make her glass cleaner, Erin began by juicing half a lemon into a liquid measuring cup. She used a sieve to keep the lemon seeds and pulp out of the cleaner.

Next, she added half a cup of white vinegar and a tablespoon of cornstarch. Use a small whisk to combine the cornstarch into the vinegar. After she thoroughly mixed the cornstarch, vinegar, and lemon juice, Erin added it to an empty vinegar bottle and poured in another 1/2 cup of tap water. She then took the nozzle from an old Biokleen bottle shehad been saving under the kitchen sink.

Next, I added half a cup of white vinegar and a tablespoon of cornstarch. I used a small whisk to combine the cornstarch into the vinegar. The result is a milky substance with a beguiling ability to get windows to sparkle.

After I thoroughly mixed my cornstarch, vinegar, and lemon juice, I added it to my empty vinegar bottle and poured in another 1/2 cup of tap water. Reusing an old plastic container is another laudable solution, but I like the look of a glass vinegar bottle even better (label removed, of course). The threaded glass top on a Heinz vinegar bottle (in both 16-ounce and 32-ounce sizes) is a standard 1-inch diameter and will fit most plastic nozzles that come with store-bought cleaners. I took my nozzle from an old Biokleen bottle I had been saving under the kitchen sink.

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are u ready for talking tissues?

Do you really want your tissue box to bless you after you sneeze? Apparently, some people like the idea. We’ve accepted talking smart phones, but how ready are we for a house full of smart objects? That’s what researchers from Penn State wanted to find out.
The research team set up a talking box of tissues to see how people would react. The tissue box said, “Bless you,” when a laboratory worker sneezed. It also said, “Here, take a tissue,” and “Take care.” Two other groups heard messages from a human-looking and human-acting talking tabletop robot or a human laboratory worker.
The 63 participants were told they were taking part in a cognitive games study and were asked to fill out a questionnaire about the lab environment and smart objects. Researchers watched participants’ reactions on videotape and observed strong responses. Subjects were just as receptive to the tissue box as to the robot.
“This study shows that speech is a social cue,” said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory. “It may be enough to make the objects more social and not necessarily more human-like in appearance.”
Future research should study long-term exposure to smart objects to see if feelings change over time, say researchers, but this study indicates that people will accept more smart objects into their lives.
“Smart objects will become more and more a part of our daily lives,” said Sundar. “We believe the next phase is that objects will start talking and interacting with humans, and our goal is to figure out the best ways for objects to communicate with humans.”
In the not-too-distant future, your refrigerator may tell you when you’re almost out of lettuce or when your condiments are ready to expire, according to researchers. I’m not sure I’m ready for all that chatter. What do you think?
Photo credit: Hemera/Thinkstock

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