Scientist Create World’s First Artificial Leaf

Scientists have created the world’s first practical artificial leaf that can convert sunlight and water into energy, which they claim could pave the way for a cheaper source of power in developing countries like India.

A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology says that the artificial leaf from silicon, electronics and a variety of catalysts which spur chemical reactions within the device, can use sunlight to break water into hydrogen and oxygen which can then be used to generate electricity in a separate fuel cell.

“A practical artificial leaf has been one of the Holy Grails of science for decades. We consider we have done it. And placed in a gallon of water and left in sun, these artificial leaves could provide a home in the developing world with essential electricity for a day,” Daniel Nocera, who led the team, said.

He added: “Our goal is to make each home its own power station. One can imagine villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.”

For their research, the scientists recognized a set of low-priced, common catalysts with nickel and cobalt that get the job done with far less expense. And, in the laboratory their playing-card-sized leaves have worked constantly for 45 straight hours without a drop in output.

Though in laboratory, an artificial leaf prototype could operate constantly for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity, the scientists say that they will next try to improve both efficiency and lifespan of their photosynthetic material.

The conclusions were presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Forrest And Rose Become The World's Oldest Newlyweds

A 100-year-old man and a 93-year-old woman in the US are said to have turn out to be the world's oldest couple to tie the knot following a 28-year courtship.

Forrest Lunsway and Rose Pollard of California wed at the Dana Point Community Centre at a combined age of 193 - making them the world's oldest couple to marry on record.

The loved-up couple, who are both enthusiastic dancers, met on the dance floor of a community centre in 1983. They became dance partners and now 30 years after meeting they have tied the knot at last - on Forrest's 100th birthday.

Rose said she at first told him she'd never marry him but she finally succumbed when he had popped the question last year.

She said: "I told him up front I had no purpose of getting married. But then one day he asked me 'how come we never got married?' and I said 'because you never asked me'.

"So he got down on one knee and said 'Well I'm asking you now, just set the date'. I told him 'I'll marry you on your 100th birthday'. And I did."

Forrest added: "She never thought I'd ask her and I never thought she'd say yes, but here we are. We've got many happy years left as I propose to stick around until I'm at least 110. You've got to use it or lose it."

The wedding took place in front of the friends and family of the couple who have both been married previously.

They have now beaten the earlier record for oldest newlyweds held by Harry Corton and Edna Holford from Barnsley, England, who wed with a combined age of 183.

World Tallest Building Climbed By Real Spiderman

Alain Robert, the French urban climber dubbed Spiderman for his feats, has scaled the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

It took him six hours to climb the 828-m (2,717-ft) tower in the United Arab Emirates city, with the tapered spire above the top floors.

A large crowd viewed from the ground as he moved up the facade, picked out by spotlights after darkness fell. Unlike his many previous climbs, he used a rope and harness to comply with safety regulations.

The 48-year-old human spider has previously climbed more than 70 skyscrapers. These include Chicago’s Willies Tower, Empire State Building, and the famous Petronas Towers in Malaysia. He also climbed Taipei 101, which was the tallest building in the world before Burj in 2004.

After the Burj, Robert plans to scale some more towers in France, Singapore in Turkey.

World's Most Venomous Snake Escapes From Zoo

The highly strung citizens of New York have yet another reason to feel on edge: one of the world's most poisonous creatures has escaped from its protected enclosure at The Bronx Zoo.

The Egyptian cobra, which according to breathless TV news reports can execute a human in just 15 minutes (or a fully-grown bull elephant in a mere three hours) is thought to have escaped from its perspex cage.

Zoo officials say the adolescent male, measuring approximately 20 inches long, is unlikely to have ventured far from its home turf. And they have closed the zoo's reptile house "until further notice" while keepers try to find it.

The zoo said New Yorkers had nothing to be anxious about in the wake of the snake-out.

"Based on our knowledge of the natural history and actions of snakes, we know they seek closed-in spaces and are not comfortable in open areas. We are sure that the snake, about 20 inches long, is contained in a non-public, isolation area within the building," the zoo said in a statement.

Mr. Elastic Claims For Guinness World Record

Moses Lanham plans on stepping into the record books in a rather extraordinary fashion. 'Known as backwards feet man' and 'Mr. elastic', the Michigan based 49-year-old can turn his feet 120 degrees behind him, a feat he hopes will yield him a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

He also plans on setting a record for the fastest man to walk 20 meters with his feet turned backwards.

Despite the intimidating task ahead, Mr. Lanham can however stay quietly confident - both records have never been attempted before. Mr. Lanham said: 'I know I can put my toes together in back, but for the record, I'll do a full 120 degrees.'

Despite the visually agonizing appearance, Mr. Lanham says his flexible feet cause him no pain; in fact he fairly enjoys the back-to-front feeling. 'A lot of times when I'm sitting down I'll put my feet in a twisted position because it's more comfortable for me,' he said.

Mr. Lanham discovered his strange quirk at 14 after a high school gym class accident. Sadly, Mr. Lanham's 17-year-old son Trey has only moderately inherited his father's funny feet.

Doctors who have examined Mr. Lanham say he was born with additional tissue and cartilage in his joints, making his hips, knees and ankles especially elastic.

There are no records of anyone else in the family, apart from Trey, having the order.

His strange talent has also gained him national notoriety after he appeared on 'Candid Camera', 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!', 'America's Funniest Home Videos', 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' and the Discovery Channel's 'Medical Incredible'.

H1N1Outbreak In Venezuela

An outbreak of the H1N1 virus, known normally as the swine flu, has hit the Venezuelan Andean state of Merida, the country's health minister said, the state-run AVN news agency reported.

More than 100 cases of H1N1 have been recorded in Venezuela. In Merida alone there are 56 cases which have tested positive for the virus, and special safety measures have been put in place in that state.

Classes in Merida have been canceled for five days, and a ban has been placed on events at night clubs and other closed-in venues, the agency reported.

The most latest global pandemic was the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, in which the estimates of deaths ranged as high as 12,500 in the United States alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New Species Found In Thai Coal Mine

A handful of fossilized jawbones found in a Thai coal mine belong to a new species of prehistoric tarsier, scientists say.

Tarsiers are primates that share a similar ancestor with monkeys and humans. The big-eyed, nocturnal animals are today found typically in Southeast Asia.

The new species named Tarsius sirindhornae lived about 13 million years ago. Based on the fossil jaws, the entire animal would have weighed up to 6 ounces (180 grams), making it the largest known tarsier, said study leader Yaowalak Chaimanee, a geologist with Thailand's Department of Mineral Resources.

Chaimanee and her team newly found 18 jawbone fossils from the new species in an old coal mine in Lampang Province. Each jaw holds one to four small teeth.

Tarsiers were and still are pretty rare, she said, "so you can visualize to have 18 jaws is marvelous."

Wiens From US Receives First Full Face Transplantation

Doctors at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston announced Monday they effectively performed the first full face transplant in U.S. on a 25-year-old Texan.

It took 30 specialists 15 hours to complete last week’s transplant of a dead donor’s lips, nose, facial skin, the muscles and nerves on Dallas Wiens of Forth Worth, according to plastic surgeon Bohdan Pomahac, director of the BWH’s burn unit and leader of the transplant team. The surgeons, however, were not able to reinstate Wien’s eyesight.

The face of Wiens was burned in 2008 when it brushed against a high voltage power line while he was on a cherry picker cleaning a church. Except for a small part of his chin, he lost all his facial features after the burned tissues from his forehead down to the neck were detached. His left eye and teeth were also removed.

Speaking in a press conference, Pomahac said Wiens is recovering and it will take some time before he could return home. The surgeon added that Wiens will neither appear like his original self and the donor, who remained anonymous.

Wiens is waiting to kissing his three-year-old daughter, his main reason for the operation. Prior to the operation, Wiens said he could not feel anything when he kisses his daughter.

Pomahac added that Wiens’ forehead, right cheek and lips will have 90 percent feeling

The BWH also performed a partial face transplant in 2005 and will execute two more as part of a program funded by the Department of Defense aimed at helping soldiers disfigured in combat.

Britain’s Biggest Baby Girl Weighs 12lbs 8oz

A woman has given birth to the biggest ever baby girl, coming in at a huge 12lbs 8oz. She is twice the size of the average newborn.

The youngster, who has three older brothers, was born after an astonishingly short labour of just six hours.

Mum and dad Gemma and Ian Woods were over the moon to lastly have a long-awaited daughter in their family but weren't quite expecting such a large baby.

Not only was it a comparatively short labour, but brave mum Gemma, 28, had a natural birth and opted only for gas and air pain relief.

'I just couldn't believe it when the midwife told me the weight - I thought I was hearing things,' she told the Sunday Mirror.

'When she was two weeks old we took a photograph of her next to my nephew Thomas, who was born three weeks before.

'He weighted 6lb 13oz - and she completely dwarfed him.'

The heaviest baby ever born was in January 1979 when Anna Bates gave birth in Ohio to a boy that weighed 23lb 12ozs but he died 11 hours shortly.

The heaviest surviving infant was in Aversa, Italy, in September 1955 which weighed 22lb 8oz.

World Famous Polar Bear Knut Found Dead In Berlin Zoo

Knut lived in Berlin's zoo. He was 4 and raised by zookeepers since a cub after his mother rejected him. He was the darling of Berlin, an international superstar, a victory story of beating the odds. The cause of death is unknown.

The Berlin Zoo's bear-curator, Heiner Klos, said that Knut was found floating in the water in his cage.

Knut started life in the Berlin Zoo, the first polar bear born there in thirty years. For indefinite reasons, the cub was deserted by his mother, and was raised by his trainer Thomas Dorflein.

As the only polar bear ever raised by humans, Knut was an direct sensation. Ticket sales at the Zoo doubled in Knut's first year, and his furry face could be found on everything from postcards to stuffed animals to bank debit cards.

Animal rights groups initially opposed the idea of humans raising a polar bear, saying he should have been left for dead.

But Knut's sweet face - and the clear affection between him and his trainer Dorflein - quickly won over skeptics.

Underwater Card Sport Breaks Records

A group of German scuba divers are claiming a new world record after playing the same card game undersea for 36 hours.

The 16 divers who worked in shifts so they could modify oxygen tanks sat on the bottom of a pool in Geiselhoering, playing a traditional Bavarian card game called 'Sheep's head'.

Organiser Eric Schlegelmilch said: "We gave up counting who owed what after an hour. We didn't want anyone going tummy up."

Now the group decided to contact Guinness World Records officials with a video record of their stunt.

World's First Tidal Energy Project Gets Approval

The world's first tidal power project is to be built in the Sound of Islay, after authorization was given by the Scottish Government.

The £40 million plan will be able to produce electricity for more than 5,000 homes - double the number on Islay.

The ten-turbine, 10MW facility, being developed by ScottishPower Renewables, will additionally develop rising tidal energy technology and is seen as a forerunner for much larger projects in the Pentland Firth.

Plans are under way to generate 1,600MW of marine energy in the firth, off Caithness, following the world's first commercial wave and tidal leasing round announced last year.

The approval of the Islay system was announced by finance secretary John Swinney, who determined the application as it is in energy minister Jim Mather's Argyll and Bute constituency.

Mr Swinney said it was the world's only project of its type with consent.

It is anticipated that more than £500,000 will be used up locally during the development phase. A commercial agreement has also been signed with Diageo, one of the biggest distillers on Islay, to use electricity from the project for eight distilleries and maltings.

The project is the first so called tidal array system to be approved by Marine Scotland, the directorate of Scottish Government liable for the management of Scotland's seas.

It will use turbines developed by Hammerfest Strøm, a company part-owned owned by Iberdrola, SPR's parent company.

A prototype device has been generating electricity in Norway for more than six years and the company is at present constructing the first device that will go into waters off Orkney for tests later this year.

Tibetan Mastiff Named World's Most Expensive Dog

An 11-month-old red Tibetan mastiff named "Big Splash" has formally nabbed the record for world's most expensive pet. If dogs didn't already know they were better than us, they perhaps do now.

The pup was sold to a Chinese businessman for a whopping $1.5 million. His native name is Hong Dong, he clocks in at around 180-pounds - and he's still growing.

Big Splash's breeder, Lu Liang, says the price tag is totally warranted and that his dog is a "perfect specimen."

"We have spent a lot of money raising this dog, and we have the salaries of plenty of staff to pay," he explains.

Crazy enough, this breed has been raking in the dough for years. In 2009, a mastiff named Yangzte No. 2 apparently was sold short at $500,000 and last year, a mastiff was priced at approximately $1.47 mil.

Apparently, this breed has come to signify wealth and status in China, becoming a hot commodity among the nation's best.

Samuel Wilkinson's Bulb Wins Design Of The Year Award

British designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design company Hulger received the prize for their light Plumen 001 at a ceremony held at the Design Museum.

2011 jury chair Stephen Bayley said: “The Plumen light bulb is a good example of the ordinary thing done extraordinarily well, bringing a small measure of joy to an everyday product.”

Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic added: “A valuable winner that is both beautiful and smart. It does away with the superfluous to attain maximum economy of means. It’s a bulb that doesn’t need a gloom and so goes a long way to make up for the loss of the Edison original.”

The light bulb beat six other finalists, with an open air library in Germany by Karo Architekten, to the overall prize. All shortlisted designs are on demonstration at the Design Museum until August 7.

Plumen bulbs are at present available in the UK and Europe. They will be accessible in the US and the rest of the world soon, according to their website. They sell in the UK for £19.95, or about $32.

Iran And China To Build World’s Tallest Dam

Iran has announced plans to start working on what will be the tallest concrete dam in the world in the forthcoming Iranian calendar year -beginning March 21.

“The construction of the 315-meter-tall Bakhtiari dam, which is the conceit of the nation, will begin next year by a joint Iranian-Chinese company,” IRNA quoted the managing director of the Iran Water and Power Resources Development Company (IWPCO) Mohammad-Reza Rezazadeh as saying.

The double arch Bakhtiari dam will have an ability of 4.8 billion cubic meters which is the largest in the country after the Karkheh dam.

Rezazadeh said a 1,500 megawatt reactor would be constructed at the site of the dam to produce electricity.

He said the project is in cooperation with China's Sino Hydro construction company and added that overall 70 percent of the project's work would be approved out by Iranian contractors.

The project requires upward of USD 2 billion in venture of which 85 percent will be provided by the Chinese partner.

Honeybee Colonies Under Threat From Chemicals

Bee colonies around the world are under threat, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said, charging that this was as an effect of factors such as chemicals used in farming and pollution.

New dangerous fungal pathogens are also being spread through global trade movements, hurting the bee population, according to a new UNEP report entitled ‘Bees under Bombardment’.

“The decline of bee populations has serious consequences for food security,” said UNEP. Biodiversity would come under additional pressure without the pollinators.

Declines in managed bee colonies have accelerated since 1998, particularly in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The United States, Asia and Africa are also affected.

“Bees are early caution indicators of wider impacts on animal and plant life,” said UNEP, calling for farmers to be offered incentives to reinstate pollinator-friendly habitats.

Junrey Balawing To Become World's Smallest Man

Tiny Junrey Balawing is set to make a little speck of history – when he becomes the world’s shortest man.

At 22in, the 17-year-old is not much larger than a baby but he can’t remain for his big day in June when he hits 18 and is probable to be named as a world beater. Junrey, who is five inches shorter than the present record holder, said: “If I were the smallest man, it would be very cool.”

He is the eldest of four children but has to stay at home all day so his mother Concepcion, 35, can look after him. She said: “Junrey can only saunter with help and he can’t stand for too long because he’s in too much pain.

“But he loves it when I tell him he’s the smallest man in the world. He smiles with arrogance.” Concepcion and Junrey’s blacksmith dad, Reynaldo, who live in a remote part of the Philippines, realized something was mistaken when he was two. But medicine’s were unable to help. At 12, he was told to get vitamins they could not pay for.

Nino Hernandez, 24, of Colombia, is at present the world’s smallest man at 27 inches. But he’s about to be undercut by another small miracle.

America’s Oldest Bird Becomes Mom At 60

The oldest known wild bird in North America - a female albatross that's over 60 and has outlasted five tracking bands - is now a proud mother, U.S. officials announced.

"She looks immense," Bruce Peterjohn, head of the North American Bird Banding Program at the U.S. Geological Survey, said in a statement. "And she is now the oldest wild bird documented in the 90-year history" of the program.

The Laysan albatross, nicknamed Wisdom by researchers, was spotted a few weeks ago with her baby chick at breeding grounds on the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Islands.

She was first banded in 1956 and probable has raised at least 30 chicks, Peterjohn said. Albatross lay only one egg a year, and then it takes much of the second year to hatch and raise the chick.

"Since adult albatross mate for life, with both parents raising the young, it makes one speculate if Wisdom has had the same partner all these years or not," the USGS said in its statement.

The service also anticipated that Wisdom has probably flown about 50,000 miles a year as an adult - or at least 2 to 3 million miles since she was first banded. Albatross scheme from the Pacific Islands to feeding grounds off western North America.

"To put it another way, that’s 4 to 6 trips from the Earth to the Moon and back again with plenty of miles to standby," the service stated.

Life isn't peaceful for albatross, however. Of 21 species, 19 are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Threats include: lead paint poisoning; accidentally being hooked on fishing lines; egg-eating rats and feral cats; and plastic trash in the seas.

"The birds swallow large amounts of marine debris," the USGS said, "by some estimates 5 tons of plastic are mistakenly fed to albatross chicks each year by their parents. Although the plastic may not kill the chicks directly, it reduces their food intake, which leads to dehydration and most likely lessens their chance of endurance."

Albatross might not be the oldest birds around - parrots in custody can live several decades longer - but, given those obstacles in the wild, the fact that Wisdom is still an active mom is quite special.

"To know that she can still effectively raise young at age 60-plus," said Peterjohn, "that is beyond words."

Natalia From Moscow Crowned Miss Russia 2011

Natalia Gantimurova from Moscow is now authoritatively the most beautiful woman in Russia. On March 5 in the concert hall Barvikha Luxury Village in Moscow she was named Miss Russia 2011. The lucky beauty will symbolize Russia in Miss Universe 2011 in Brazil. Meanwhile the first runner-up will represent Russia in Miss World 2011. Natalia is 19 year old and stands 1.81m.Natalia Gantimurova was crowned by outgoing queen Irina Antonenko and by the reigning Miss Universe Jimena Navarrete.

Reportedly, the crown adorning the new Miss Russia’s head is count as the most luxurious in the world. This white gold crown is decorated with 2,358 diamonds and 14 rare pearls, and expected to be worth more than $1 million!

Supreme Court To Deliver Its Verdict On Aruna’s Life

As the Supreme Court is set to deliver its decision on whether Aruna Shanbaug should be allowed to live or die, the nurses who have been concerned in her care for over three decades speak out for the first time on camera.

They say as long as Aruna has people to care for her, she should be permitted to live. "I don't want her to be killed like this," said Sister Kushe.

Now 80 years old, Sister Pramila Kushe was at KEM hospital when Aruna was sexually battered by a sweeper 37 years ago and was the among the first to see her that dreadful morning.

"Aruna was in a sitting position with a chain around her collar. As soon as she saw matron Bellimal, tears started running down her face. She tried to say something but words would not come. She tried for a few minutes but only her mouth moved. And then gradually she lost consciousness," recalls Sister Kushe, now a retired Matron.

It's KEM hospital's nurses that have affectionately cared for Aruna for over three decades. They take pride in the fact that she in no way had any bed sores. In fact in the past when one dean moved her to a different hospital, the nurses struck work to bring her back.

Matron Durga Mehta was among those who cared for Aruna for 20 years. She says despite her vegetative state, Aruna can still converse and respond in her own way.

"I talk to her, Aruna how are you? She makes noise..aaahhhhhaa like that," Durga says.

"When food touches her lips she opens her mouth. She would masticate, and not just gulp. She even listens to music sometimes but could not find the direction of the song," said Sister Pramila Kushe.

Almost every nurse at KEM has been put on Aruna's caretaking responsibility one time or the other in her career. So they all feel personally concerned as they wait for the verdict. Under strict instructions not to converse to the media all they can do now is hope for the best, silently.

Dolphin Babies Dearth Puzzles Scientists

This winter an distressingly high number of young bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico (map) have been washing up dead on U.S. shores, government scientists report.

The reason for the die-off is a mystery, and experts are urging caution in drawing any connections to last year's BP oil spill.

Since January 1, 80 dead dolphins have been found along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, according to the latest NOAA figures.

Forty-two of the dead were calves. Most of the juvenile dolphins are washing up in Mississippi and Alabama, because dolphins usually give birth and raise calves along the shallow shores of those states.

The normal gestation period for the dolphins is one year, and mothers typically give birth in March and April, so scientists think the affected calves are either being aborted, stillborn, or born prematurely.

Known causes of dolphin die-offs include oddly cold waters, ocean biotoxins, and diseases. NOAA's Mase said scientists are investigating all of these factors and are not ruling out a likely connection to the BP oil spill. "It's something that we are including in our investigation," Mase said.

IMMS scientists are at present performing necropsies on the dead dolphins to try to conclude causes of death. The process—including analyzing tissue samples for signs of diseases, viral infections, and toxins—could take some weeks or months, Solangi said.

Chinese Man Becomes The World's Most Typical Person

Lots of people call themselves the 'average person on the street', but this guy actually is. The most typical human face on earth has been discovered as a 28-year-old Han Chinese man, after researchers found there are nine million of them in the world.

The ‘Face of Seven Billion’ image was created as a composite of 190,000 Chinese photos, but experts consider the average person will come from India by 2030.

The picture was created by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, which had collected the photos over a ten-year period from technology research programmes.

It was developed for National Geographic’s ‘Population 7 Billion’ series on the human race, which also showed that males just about outnumber females in the world.

The series also exposed how the world’s most typical person is right-handed, makes less than $12,000 per year and has a mobile phone but no bank account.

Researchers compared life expectancies and heights – with the distinctive Dutch man measuring 5ft 11in but the average Peruvian male standing at under 5ft 5in.

Japan’s typical female lives to nearly 86-years-old, but the average female in Afghanistan dies aged 45.

The typical American uses 100 gallons of water at home per day - compared to 2.5 gallons in parts of Ethiopia, where some use eight hours per day collecting it.

A first language of Mandarin is spoken by 13 per cent, compared to five per cent English - and 19 per cent of people are Chinese, compared to four per cent American.

One-third of the world is Christians, with 21 per cent Muslim and 13 per cent Hindu, and more than half of people (51 per cent) live in urban environments.

In the working work, 40 per cent are engaged in the services sector, 38 per cent in agriculture and 22 per cent in industry – and more than four in five of us are literate.

World’s Rarest Mammal Spotted And Pictured In Indonesia

A Javan rhinoceros triggers a camera trap in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park in late 2010. The picture was released this week by WWF-Indonesia and Indonesia's National Park Authority.

A motion-activated video camera also recorded "dramatic" footage of four of the rhinos, deemed gravely endangered by the International Union for Conservation for Nature. At fewer than 40 individuals, the Javan rhino may be the rarest mammal on the world, according to WWF.

Though the videos and pictures are "great news," the animals still face serious threats, WWF-US chief scientist Eric Dinerstein noted in a statement.

For instance, an explosion of the nearby Anak Krakatau volcano could easily wipe out all life on the peninsula that the rhinos call home.

"There are no Javan rhinos in confinement," he said. "If we lose the population in the wild, we've lost them all."

Tokyo's Sky Tree Claims To Be World's Tallest Tower

Tokyo's Sky Tree has become the world's tallest self-supporting broadcast structure, according to a statement by the project's owners, having reached 601 m.

The tower, structure of which is being managed by Tobu Tower Sky Tree Co., has now passed the 600 m-high Canton Tower in China's south-western city of Guangzhou.

When completed later this year, the tower will be 634 m-high and will restore another tower, the 332 m-high Tokyo Tower.

Construction of the remaining 30 m-plus is regarded as the most significant phase of the project as it involves installation of a digital antenna.

Japan's six top broadcasters are building the tower, which is anticipated to bolster television and radio transmissions across the capital and beyond.

The tower will also consist of house retail outlets, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando and sculptor Kiichi Sumikawa, the Sky Tree is constructed on a triangular base and its "body" turns into a cylinder as it reaches upward.

World's Richest Man To Unveil A New Museum

The world's richest man is unveiling a new museum in Mexico City that he says will let him share his huge art collection with the public.

Carlos Slim's new Soumaya Museum will exhibit a rotating selection of his 66,000 artworks. The collection includes pieces by Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and European masters like Auguste Rodin, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.

Slim presented a preview Tuesday of the high structure, which is dramatically angled and covered with 16,000 aluminum hexagons.

It opens to the public March 29, and entrance will be free.

The museum is named after Slim's late wife, Soumaya. It replaces a smaller museum of the similar name in southern Mexico City.