What is the craziest experience you ever had while traveling?
This incident occured back when I was travelling from Bengaluru to Hyderabad.August 11th 2017It had started raining already,luckily I had booked kaveri travels which had pickup point at Electronic city which meant I could just walk from my pg.Anway this was a sleeper and had cost around 2500rs courtesy the long weekend ahead.But the comfort made it worthwhile.So all was well until 2am.We had crossed the Karnataka border and the bus had stopped.Of course many of us realized that it wasn't just some stop when 1 hour later the bus wasnt moving . Thinking it to be some puncture ,most of us got down..Imagine our shock to see the police arguing with the conductor.Turns out the bus registration was of Pondicherry and this wasnt allowed to cross the border and the police wouldn't allow the vehicle to go any further.The police further added that they would arrange for buses from nearby depot,but that was it.There were many families on that bus who argued in vain.The police declared this bus would be seized and were adamant.Shockingly the driver went missing when we were having this discussion.So instead of travelling in thisI ended up travelling in thisOn top of that ,we had to pay around 350rs for the bus ticket to Hyderabad since it was a government bus and was nowhere related to this private bus incident.And i was 50rs short of the amount,which was another embarassment.I had to paytm a passenger 50rs in exchange for cash.And instead of reaching Hyderabad at 6am reached at 1pm and reached home around 3pm. Few days later they refunded 2000rs.Leave alone the fact they didnt refund the entire money,but what about the inconvenience and experience the passengers had to face?Images:Captured from my camera of the actual buses.Note: Turns out this has happened many times and has been reported few times in the newspapers too.Private sleeper bus operators cry foul
What is the heaviest non-toxic liquid at room temperature?
This is a list of densest liquids at room temperature, Liquid Temperature Density (g/l)Carbon tetrachloride 25 1584.0 Perchlor ethylene 20 1620.0 Citric acid (aq.) 25 1660.0 Sulf. Acid 95%conc. 20 1839.0 Bromine 25 3120.0 Iodine (aq.) 25 4927.0 Mercury 13590.0 Mercury is not safe at all. Iodine, an antiseptic, could be touched but with caution. Elemental iodine is toxic if taken orally. The lethal dose for an adult human is 30 mg/kg, Bromine is also non-toxic in small amount. Bromine is corrosive to human tissue in a liquid state and its vapors irritate eyes and throat. Bromine vapors are very toxic with inhalation.Sulphuric Acid 95% conc, is again a big No.Citric Acid is a natural ingredient in food like lemon. Too much exposure to citric acid can cause mild skin irritation, and it may be a good idea not to use skin products containing it if you have sensitive skin. One of the best benefits of citric acid in all its applications is that it is natural and poses little to no risk to the environment. Very few people are allergic to citric acid, but some people may have stomach sensitivity to it, and might better avoid foods containing it.Perchlor-ethylene or Tetrachloroethylene is a carcinogen.Carbontetrachloride or CTC is one of the most potent hepatotoxins (toxic to the liver), and is widely used in scientific research to evaluate hepatoprotective agents. If you see the density chart, we have reached 1.584 kg/m^3. Sugar brine in Water 68 brix (1 brix == 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution) has a density of 1.338 kg/m^3. Sugar brine is not toxic to humans. If you cannot use any of the aforementioned liquids, use sugar brine . Can be safely even used by a kid.EDIT1: As pointed out by Kristina Kučanda, there's another liquid which didn't feature in my list. The list was taken from Internet. There are perflurocarbons (PFCs) which are used for medical purpose as breathing liquids (in case of lung damage, oxygen is mixed with PFC and fed to lung to prevent alveolar collapse). One of the PFC is Perfluorodecalin, which has a density of 1,971 kg/m^3, almost twice that of water.
What's the grossest thing you did as a kid?
I have 2 things; I was an unsupervised free wheeling lively Yeti like kid.#1. When I was 7 years old I was playing “cowboys” with my friend Larry.Part of the playing was pretending we were using chewing tobacco.We pooled our money together, ran to 7/11 and lied to the clerk that we needed chewing tobacco for our father. (Uhhh… Larry was a toe head blonde with perpetually peeling desert sun blistered red skin and I was a caramel skinned corkscrew curled Yeti looking brunette … Heello … genetics 101.) Anyway, the clerk sold us a tin of Copenhagen Chewing Tobacco.Larry and I sat down, divided the tin of tobacco equally and I ate and swallowed my portion. It burnt like fire!I immediately became incredibly sick.The situation quickly became Vomitcon, laying on the cold linoleum in the bathroom, my head and the world spinning at a steady rpm, praying to God to make my nightmare end.#2. We lived outside of Palm Springs when I was 7 years old. The summers in the desert are hotter than the hinges of Hell!This was the 1970s so kids ran wild in the neighborhood streets unsupervised and lived by the tough law of the land kid code; Stick Together and Suck it up Buttercup! No one narced on each other and everything was shared wether you wanted to share or not… shaming was constant for those who whined and any infractions to the Kid Code were delt with swiftly. You took your lumps and unless there was a bone sticking out of your flesh or profuse flowing of blood you kept on rolling.Anyway back to the story; The city was repaving the road in front of our home.On Friday a large yellow Tonkaesk dump truck showed up and left a gigantic pyramid of asphalt right there in the street and left. Sweet Jesus!!The stuff was really incredible. In the incinerating desert sun it was squishy and soft and warm and a bit sticky. You could cup a handful and make a snowball, only it’s not snow at all … it’s asphalt and tar pitch! Heated directly under the desert sun of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.Well us kids Lord of the Flied it all weekend on our Asphalt Pyramid. King of the top was a brief triumph and soon got trampled and dragged down the hill by the masses.We pushed and shoved and fought our way to the top of this gooey squishy warm asphalt delight. Shoving each other face down and making tar balls and throwing them at each other and rolling in this wonderland for 2 days. It was GLORIOUS!!!
What are the most beautiful libraries in the world?
Manchester, England - Library City!Some beautiful libraries are located in Manchester, my home city, so I'll start with these and then move on to a couple in Paris, France. Apart from the Richelieu Library site of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and Sainte-Geneviève, I've visited all the below.John Ryland's library, Manchester, England - Completed in 1899John Ryland's library, Manchester - Old entrance. John Ryland's library, Manchester - Reading RoomsJohn Ryland's library - StaircaseChetham's library - Manchester, England - Housed in early 15th Century buildingsChetham's library - Manchester, England - where Marx and Engels used to frequent.Chetham's library - Manchester - Marx and Engels' study desk and alcove.Chetham's library - Reading Rooms - Manchester, EnglandManchester central library - bird's eye view of the circular building and adjacent town hall extension Manchester central library - Newly refurbished reading hallBibliothèque nationale de France - Mitterrand LibraryI've yet to experience anything as audacious as the Bibliothèque nationale de France's François-Mitterrand library, however. This was a new addition to the library and one of Mitterrand's 'Grand Projects' and completed in 1995.Birds eye view, showing the central forest courtyard and the 4 towers.This is the street level and the reading rooms are down below.......encircling the central forest courtyard.An upper level reading room, looking out over the courtyard.Inside one of the reading roomsBibliothèque nationale de France - Richelieu LibraryThe much earlier central Paris, rue de Richelieu site has an old world charm. You won't, however, be able to visit it as it is undergoing renovation. Bibliothèque nationale de France - Richelieu Library reading roomsBibliothèque Sainte-GenevièveHenri Labrouste's glass and ironwork masterpiece in Paris is even more breathtaking.Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève - reading roomsNotesJohn Rylands LibraryWelcome to Chetham's LibraryCentral Library | Manchester City CouncilWelcome to the BnF