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Top 10 Most Expensive Houses in the World

What makes a home varies wildly around the world. From a small apartment in the heart of Dubai, to a hut in the steppes of Mongolia, to two-story prefab on a quarter-acre lot in Phoenix, houses come in many shapes and sizes. On occasion, they also come in monster size.
In 2012, the average cost of an American home was $178,600, and that includes everything from spanking-new "McMansions" to run-down ranches [source: National Association of Realtors]. There are those in the world, however, who pour entire fortunes into their homes. While even homes on the market for a few million dollars are out of grasp for most of us, there are some people who've exceeded even that expense, spending what amounts to the gross domestic product of some countries on their homes.
While every person's home is his or her castle, sometimes we still can't help but gawk at someone else's really large, really expensive house. It's in this spirit that we get to the bottom of just who has the most expensive home in the world? We settle the issue here, taking a glimpse at the top ten.

The One57 tower features views like this one overlooking Central Park, New York.

Nicknamed the "billionaire building," the ultra-luxury One57 tower, located at 157 West 57th St. in New York City recorded the most expensive purchase price the state's history in 2012: more than $90 million. The buyer of the 10,923-square-foot (1,012-square-meter) penthouse, which occupies both the 89th and 90th floors of the Midtown highrise, remains shrouded in secrecy [source: Barrionuevo]. The New York Post leaked that it was Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabar al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, but One57 spokespeople denied the rumor [source: Brennan]. Whoever bought the penthouse is getting quite a bargain, since it was originally listed at $115 million.
Even though the One57 tower is still under construction, more than half of its 92 apartments are spoken for [source: Barrionuevo]. The building will also be the home of the new Park Hyatt flagship hotel, and residents will benefit from the luxury hotel's renowned service. The penthouse features 23-foot (7-meter) ceilings and glass curtain walls offering a panoramic view of Central Park below. Its sales price of roughly $8,000 per square foot was actually cheaper than the $13,000 per square foot Manhattan apartment bought by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, but that penthouse went for a paltry $88 million total [source: Brennan].
The next most expensive home belongs to a famously outspoken New Yorker with luxury properties around the world.

The kitchen at Donald Trump's Maison l'Amitie house in Palm Beach, Fla. There's a gargantuan fountain in the driveway out front and 475 feet of oceanfront out back.

The entrance to the famed Hearst Mansion in Beverly Hills, shortly after it was put on the market in 2007.

Suzanne Saperstein, mistress of the 45,000-square-foot mansion Fleur de Lys

Bran Castle was the principal home of Queen Marie whose grandson Dominic Habsburg had the castle returned in 2006 by the Romanian government after the fall of Communism. In 2007 he put it up for sale. So far, no takers.

London's exclusive Kensington district, where the Franchuk villa is located.

An artist's rendering of the One Hyde Park development. Each of the four towers features a penthouse selling for more than $200 million apiece.

A general view of 2-8a Rutland Gate, the most expensive house to go on the market in London.

The $1 billion home of Mukesh Ambani towers over Mumbai and is filled with balconies and indoor gardens.

most expensive shoes in the world!!!!

Splurge those big dollar notes on rubies and diamonds, not for pretty hands, but this time for stilettos. The dazzling footwear is accompanied by a celeb twist. They have been sported at the Oscars and the likes. So if you are prepared to make your shoe rack sparkle with jewels, we have a ready list for you so that you can read it, spend it and get it!
With the diamonds, sapphires and rubies, Stuart Weitzman’s Rita Hayworth Heels are one of the best pairs in the list of most expensive shoes. The dazzling footwear was originally crafted for the beautiful feet of Kathleen “Bird” York, who was an Oscar nominee for best song back in 2006. Rita Hayworth deserves all sort of applause to design such an elegant pair that costs $3 million. 2) Harry Winston Ruby Slippers
How about slippers that took two months just to set precious stones in them? The design was made by Ronald Winston in 1989 but was completed after two months after the craftsman Javiar Barerra set the stones in the slippers. The overwhelming pair of shoe has 50 carats diamonds and 4,600 gleaming rubies that were designed to mark The Wizard of Oz’s fiftieth anniversary. The elegant and sophisticated pair is priced at $3 million. 3) Stuart Weitzman and Le Vian evening shoes A stunning silver leather pair of slippers set with 200 carats of precious stones and 185 carats of museum-quality tanzanite gemstones was made in conjunction between Stuart Weitzman and the 500-year-old tradition of the Le Vian name. The slippers also have beautiful ankle bracelets that include 16-carat gems hanging from each and 28 carat diamonds on the front strap of the slippers, in precise it is a moving jewelry box priced at $2 million that any woman would like to spend on. 4) Stewart Weitzman’s Cinderella Slippers
Shoes inspired by the timeless fairy tale “The Cinderella” are often featured on the red carpet by many Hollywood celebrities. The outrageously pricy footwear is made of expensive material such as precious stones, cork and gold and made a debut at the 2004 Oscars worn by country music star Alison Krauss. With ankle and toe straps are studded with 565 carat diamonds in platinum settings, these fascinating heels are made of Italian leather, and the best feature of the footwear is the amaretto diamond on the right slipper which is worth one million dollars alone. The total price of the heels is $2 million. 5) Stuart Weitzman Ruby Slippers .Ravishing rubies measuring 120 carats in weight set in red satin stilettos and framed with pure platinum, this breathtaking ruby slippers are one of its kinds and is surely for the true footwear lover. Although the market is mushroomed with some very expensive and elegent footwear, Weitzman’s ruby slippers that are priced at $1.6 million are something that should not be missed because of their unique design and antique look. 6) Platinum Guild Stuart Weitzman heels

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Sailing Stones

Will a regular stone at your feet intrigue you? Will you be curious to read about a stone? I would not, unless the stone has some mysterious properties or origins (read outer space or earth inner crust).

Sailing stones are rocks found in the dry mud lake at Racetrack Player in Death Valley National Park, California, which leaves a trail of their movement. There is nothing special about the stones except for the fact that they are moving and leave a trail on the mud. “How do they sail?” – This is the question which puzzles the scientists for four decades.

In 1915, when this phenomenon was first documented, most thought that to be a prank by some locals or park officials. But, later geologists observed and confirmed that this geological phenomenon has no human or animal interference. An article has been published on 1948 in Geological Society of America Bulletin about the sliding rocks/moving rocks (known by these names also) phenomenon.

How does those stones sail? The theories and rumors started feeding the frenzy. All kinds of theories have sprung up right from the supernatural properties of the stones to mysterious spirits moving them to alien intervention.
Extensive experiments were conducted and major progress has been done in 70s. A set of rocks has been identified and given names like Mary Ann, Nancy and Karen and then studied each year. The rock “Karen” has disappeared around 1994 (maybe due to severe winters in 1992 and 1993). It (Karen) has been rediscovered in 1996 by a geologist around 800 meters from its previously observed location.
The most logical amongst the theories after the studies were conducted is – “Stronger Winds or moving ice sheets sail the rocks”. But, the observation/experiments for around a century have shown that rocks as heavier as 700 pounds have been moved for more than 600 feet. The wind speed calculated to sail those kinds of rocks (700 pounds) should be of far greater in magnitude than is observed at the Racetrack Player lake bed. Please take a look at the following pictures for an idea of size of sailing stones.

Also, the tracks are not always linear. The tracks take a perpendicular turn in some scenarios. Not all rocks have sailed the same distance. Some of them sailed in completely different directions. (See image below)

Lots of theories have been proposed and lots of experiments were conducted to find the cause of SAILing stones. None has given a satisfactory explanation except for a recent one, which is believed now, unanimously, to be the actual cause of the SAILing stones.
Professor Ralph Lorenz, a planetary geologist at NASA, has proposed that the stones were frozen with ice around them during the colder months and the bottom tip/edge of the stone which would be submerged in icy water for a couple of inches would be prone to soft winds. Once the stone is covered with ice in the muddy soil, it does not totally submerged or totally float. The top portion will float while the bottom which is not fully ice-covered will be touching the soil up to a couple of inches. This greatly reduces the friction between the rocks and the mud surface. With reduced friction and light winds, these stones easily sail leaving their marks on the soil/mud beneath them. Once the frozen areas melt down, those marks left by stone tip were visible to the naked eye and thus the stone has sailed.
The theory by Prof. Ralph Lorenz is also just another theory, until someone proves with a video footage proving or disproving it. But, this theory is the most convincing now since Prof. Ralph Lorenz has tested the theory domestically in his kitchen sink with frozen solid and some ice cold water and the theory holds good in domestic testing in his kitchen table.
You can argue about placing a video camera in the Racetrack Player and record everything and find out the truth. In 2009, an inexpensive time lapse digital camera has been installed and pointed at the Racetrack Playa. But, this phenomenon occurs once in three or four years and should last only tens of seconds, which makes it extremely hard to be captured on a digital camera. In 2013, wind-triggered imagery is being used to greatly reduce the amount of captured digital media and the amount of work one should process post recording them.
In the meantime, the Death Valley National Park officials at Racetrack Player have initiated investigations into the disappearance of a large number of stones from its premises. It is believed that park visitors would have stolen them for some occult beliefs or supposedly divine/magical properties of those stones.
It seems people are still curious about the sailing stones. The people are not ready to hear these theories but love the mysterious part of the ‘sailing stones’ even after convincing theory and proof of concept that it is moved by nature anyway.

7 Strange Robots the Pentagon is Developing

With a budget in excess of $600 billion, the pentagon is hard at work researching technology that is sometimes bizarre and out of this world. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA is busy bringing in robotic creations to the pentagon that are craziest at the least. Here is a list of some of the strange robots the pentagon has in mind.

No 7. BigDog

BigDog is a dynamically stable quadruped robot created by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It was made in 2005 and can haul, climb, and carry its way over rough terrain. Capable of traversing difficult terrains, running at 4 miles per hour, carrying 340 pounds, and climbing a 35 degree incline, BigDog is intended to one day be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for conventional vehicles.

This strange-looking robot is powered by a two-stroke, one-cylinder and 15-HP go-kart engine operating at over 9,000 RPM.

No 6. Nano Hummingbird Drone

Developed by AeroVironmen, the Nano hummingbird drone is built to look like a bird for potential use in spy missions. It is capable of flying at speeds of up to 11 miles per hour, hovering and flying sideways, backward and forward, as well as going clockwise and counterclockwise, by remote control for about eight minutes of sustained flight.

Evidently, the technology needs a lot of polishing before being put to some actual use.

No 5. LittleDog

A quadruped robot designed for research on learning locomotion, the LittleDog’s four legs are each powered by three electric motors and are strong enough for climbing and “dynamic locomotion gaits.”

No 4. RiSE Climbing Robot

RiSE is a robot capable of climbing vertical terrain such as walls, trees and fences. It has “feet with micro-claws” to climb on textured surfaces. It weighs at 4.4 punds and is able to travel at 0.68 miles per hour.

It has six legs, an on-board computer that manages the coordination of these legs and a variety of sensors.

No 3. PetMan

This is a bipedal device constructed for testing chemical protection suits. The technology is basically derived from BigDog with advanced features such as sweating; simulating both human movement mechanics and human physiology to a much realistic extent.

PetMan is capable of walking on a treadmill i.e. walking, doing squats and pumping out push-ups. It also has a phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.

And as Boston Dynamics President Marc Raibert said:

“Places like the Fukushima reactors could be accessed by Petman-like robots (or AlphaDogs), without requiring any human exposure to hazardous materials. Perhaps firefighting inside of buildings or facilities designed for human access, like on board ships designed for human crews.”

Two faced cat

In August, Venus the two-faced cat became a feline hit: The three-year-old tortoiseshell debuted her own Facebook page, was featured in a YouTube video, and appeared on the Today Show. One look at this cat and you can understand why: One half is solid black with a green eye, and the other half has typical orange tabby stripes and a blue eye. The coloration may be a genetic mashup that one scientist called “absolute luck.

This is an oarfish !!

This is an oarfish - one of a group of long bony fish found in tropical and temperate waters throughout the world. One species (Regalecus glesne) is capable of reaching 17m (56ft) in length.
Lengths of up to 36ft are common, and oarfish are thought to be responsible for many sea serpent legends. They are rarely seen alive and little is known about their behaviour.

Read more about them here: http://bbc.in/VAhG19

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Razy Gogonea - Britain's Got Talent-Over 10 million have watched the performance of this talented guy

Britain's Got Talent: 28-year-old dancer Razy, originally from Romania, is trying out for Britain's Got Talent with quite a unique act, taking queues from the film The Matrix. With breakdancers being notorious on this show - from Tobias Mead and Aiden Davis to winner George Sampson - has Razy got something special that makes him different?

This Romanian guy comes to the Britain Got Talent show and amazes everybody, especially the judges. Watch and enjoy; if you have seen Matrix you’ll enjoy it even more.

An extraordinary balancing act

A robot that washes your hair and massages your head

The Japanese are now know for their passion to mechanise every thing. This time they have decided to make a robot that can be put in a hair salon and offer its automatic services to the customers. This robot which has been built by Panasonic is having a trial run in a hair salon.