Tazkirah : Puasa

Rasulullah SAW telah bersabda:

Maksudnya:

“Setiap amalan anak Adam akan diberi ganjaran dari sepuluh hinggalah tujuh ratus kali ganda.”

Firman Allah S.W.T:

“Kecuali puasa, kerana sesungguhnya puasa itu untukKu. Maka Akulah yang akan melimpah-ruahkan ganjarannya, dia rela meninggalkan keinginan syahwatnya dan makan minumnya semata-mata keranaKu. Bagi orang yang berpuasa itu dua kegembiraan:

Kegembiraan di kala berbuka dan berhari raya serta kegembiraan di kala bertemu dengan Tuhannya. Bau mulut orang berpuasa itu adalah lebih harum di sisi ALLAH daripada keharuman bau kasturi.”

(Hadith riwayat Al-Bukhari dan Muslim)

Tentunya sekali pahala yang melimpah ruah ini tidaklah diperolehi hanya dengan menahan diri dengan berlapar dan dahaga sahaja, sebagaimana yang telah dinyatakan oleh Rasulullah SAW:

Maksudnya:

“Sesiapa yang tidak meninggalkan perkataan dusta tetapi masih sahaja berbohong, maka ALLAH sama sekali tidak berhajat kepada puasanya, walaupun ia sama-sama berlapar dan dahaga.”

(Hadith riwayat Bukhari)

Rasulullah SAW telah bersabda:

Maksudnya:

“Puasa itu adalah perisai. Sekiranya seseorang itu berpuasa, maka janganlah ia bercakap lucah, berbuat kefasikan dan kejahilan. Jika seseorang mencacinya, maka hendaklah ia menjawab: Aku sedang berpuasa.”

(Hadith riwayat Bukhari dan Muslim)

Oleh itu semasa kita berpuasa, hendaklah kita berpuasa juga pendengaran, penglihatan dan tutur kata. Janganlah sia-siakan pahala puasa kita.

Kitchen gadget measures liquids, weighs solids in same container

If you like to cook, and are just beginning the process of acquiring basic kitchen supplies, you're probably planning on getting a measuring cup and a kitchen scale. Should you need to maximize space, however, you can now get both devices in one unit. It's the Maxim 2 in 1 Jug and Scales, and it lets you measure both volume and weight.

To measure volume, you just pour the liquid into the cup, and take note of where the surface is on the side markings - just like with a regular clear measuring cup. It can hold up to one liter, or four cups.

To measure weight, you once again empty your ingredients into the cup, only this time in the form of solids. The built-in scale will display their weight on an LCD screen on the handle. It can handle up to 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs), and as with the volume markings on the cup, displays both metric and imperial measurements. It can also convert five commonly-used substances from weight to volume, should you need to know how many milliliters 500 grams of flour is.

Unfortunately the Maxim isn't entirely waterproof, so it can't be fully immersed or placed in a dishwasher for cleaning. Because the cup is plastic, it also can't withstand liquids hotter than 70C (158F).

The 2 in 1 Jug and Scales is available from Firebox for GBP 21.49 (about US$34), which includes the one CR2032 battery it requires.

The 231 mph Brabus Mercedes 800E - world's fastest and most powerful four-seat cabriolet

The BRABUS 800 V12 is fitted with a high-performance limited-slip differential with a locking rate of 40 percent, and despite the relatively heavy weight of the Mercedes E Class, can accelerate from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.7 seconds.

That's supercar class sprint acceleration, but the Brabus 800 keeps accelerating at this outrageous rate, passing 200 km/h (124 mph) in under ten seconds (actually 9.9 seconds) and 300-km/h (186-mph) in 23.9 seconds. Depending on the final-drive ratio, the BRABUS 800 E V12 Cabriolet tops out at 370 km/h (231 mph).

The engine used in the vehicle is the most powerful engine built by Brabus - a stroked and bored V12 three-valve Mercedes S 600 unit, which expands capacity from the standard 5.5 liters, to the Brabus engine's 6.3 liters. There are many aspects to the re-engineering of the motor - different camshafts, flowed heads, a new intake manifold, new exhaust manifolds with integrated very large turbos, four water-to-air intercoolers, a beefed up five-speed automatic transmission, an entirely new high-flow, stainless-steel exhaust system, and newly programmed mapping for the electronic engine management system.

All the aerodynamic-enhancement components were refined in the wind tunnel, and all are made from carbon fiber. The front apron is designed to both reduce lift on the front axle and guide cooling air to the radiators and front brakes. Air outlets in the sides route the hot air away from the heat exchangers as quickly as possible.

For further improved directional stability at extremely high speeds and to further increase cornering speeds, BRABUS widens the body of the E-Class Cabriolet. Newly designed front sport fenders widen the track and allow the installation of ultra-wide 9.5Jx19 wheels mounted with size 265/30 ZR 19 tires.

Professional engineering work was also invested into every detail of the suspension: special suspension components were custom-designed for the front and rear axle of the BRABUS E V12 Cabriolet. They provide a much wider range of individual suspension settings. These components are joined by a BRABUS coil-over suspension calibrated to the higher engine weight. The suspension was developed together with Bilstein and features ten selectable settings for bound and rebound front and back. The ride height can also be adjusted by up to 35 millimeter.

The BRABUS high-performance. It features 380 x 37 millimeter (15.0 x 1.45 in.), vented and grooved steel brake discs and 12-piston aluminum fixed calipers on the front axle. The rear stops on 360 x 28 millimeter (14.2 x 1.1 in.) discs with 6-piston aluminum fixed calipers.

The cockpit is clad in a perfectly finished combination of lipstick-red and black leather. The ergonomically shaped BRABUS steering wheel and inlays made from genuine carbon fiber on dashboard, center console and side trim add sporty highlights. The speedometer with 400-km/h (250-mph) dial bears witness to the unique performance potential of the open- top four-seater car even while it is standing still.

When the engine is in place, and the hundreds of other modifications to the vehicle have been completed, it has a top speed of 370 km/h (231 mph) and a price tag of EUR 478,000 (US$682,000).

Brabus specialises in building fast cars - very fast cars. Indeed, it already holds the record for building the world's fastest production sedan and the world's fastest production coupe, so in claiming the title of the world's fastest cabriolet, it's not that much of a surprise.

Given that the base vehicles used in Brabus' two prior "world's fastest" efforts are all Mercedes, and each uses the V12 Brabus motor, much of the knowledge required for building this supercar had already been acquired prior to commencement of the project.

The Brabus 800E V12 cabriolet begins life as a brand new Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet. The biggest single change is a heart transplant with the donor heart (a three-valve Mercedes S 600 V12) also getting a significant makeover before being surgically implanted. The end result is a 6.3 liter, Biturbo V12 producing 788 bhp (588 kW) @ 5,500 rpm and a peak torque of 1,420 Nm (1,047 lb-ft) which is limited electronically to 1,100 Nm (811 lb-ft).

The BRABUS 800 V12 is fitted with a high-performance limited-slip differential with a locking rate of 40 percent, and despite the relatively heavy weight of the Mercedes E Class, can accelerate from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.7 seconds.

That's supercar class sprint acceleration, but the Brabus 800 keeps accelerating at this outrageous rate, passing 200 km/h (124 mph) in under ten seconds (actually 9.9 seconds) and 300-km/h (186-mph) in 23.9 seconds. Depending on the final-drive ratio, the BRABUS 800 E V12 Cabriolet tops out at 370 km/h (231 mph).

The engine used in the vehicle is the most powerful engine built by Brabus - a stroked and bored V12 three-valve Mercedes S 600 unit, which expands capacity from the standard 5.5 liters, to the Brabus engine's 6.3 liters. There are many aspects to the re-engineering of the motor - different camshafts, flowed heads, a new intake manifold, new exhaust manifolds with integrated very large turbos, four water-to-air intercoolers, a beefed up five-speed automatic transmission, an entirely new high-flow, stainless-steel exhaust system, and newly programmed mapping for the electronic engine management system.

All the aerodynamic-enhancement components were refined in the wind tunnel, and all are made from carbon fiber. The front apron is designed to both reduce lift on the front axle and guide cooling air to the radiators and front brakes. Air outlets in the sides route the hot air away from the heat exchangers as quickly as possible.

For further improved directional stability at extremely high speeds and to further increase cornering speeds, BRABUS widens the body of the E-Class Cabriolet. Newly designed front sport fenders widen the track and allow the installation of ultra-wide 9.5Jx19 wheels mounted with size 265/30 ZR 19 tires.

Professional engineering work was also invested into every detail of the suspension: special suspension components were custom-designed for the front and rear axle of the BRABUS E V12 Cabriolet. They provide a much wider range of individual suspension settings. These components are joined by a BRABUS coil-over suspension calibrated to the higher engine weight. The suspension was developed together with Bilstein and features ten selectable settings for bound and rebound front and back. The ride height can also be adjusted by up to 35 millimeter.

The BRABUS high-performance. It features 380 x 37 millimeter (15.0 x 1.45 in.), vented and grooved steel brake discs and 12-piston aluminum fixed calipers on the front axle. The rear stops on 360 x 28 millimeter (14.2 x 1.1 in.) discs with 6-piston aluminum fixed calipers.

The cockpit is clad in a perfectly finished combination of lipstick-red and black leather. The ergonomically shaped BRABUS steering wheel and inlays made from genuine carbon fiber on dashboard, center console and side trim add sporty highlights. The speedometer with 400-km/h (250-mph) dial bears witness to the unique performance potential of the open- top four-seater car even while it is standing still.

When the engine is in place, and the hundreds of other modifications to the vehicle have been completed, it has a top speed of 370 km/h (231 mph) and a price tag of EUR 478,000 (US$682,000).

Hebatnya Allah Ciptakan Tulang Manusia

"Tiap-tiap ruas tulang anak adam itu ada sedekahnya setiap harinya" (HR Bukhari, Muslim)

Seorang doktor ahli bedah yang berfungsi juga sebagai staf pengajar anatomi di Universiti Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta menemukan fenomena wudhu yang sangat berkaitan dengan anatomi tubuh manusia khususnya tulang. Bertahun-tahun mendalami ilmu bedah dan anatomi, akhirnya doktor tersebut menyimpulkan bahwa jumlah bilangan ruas tulang yang kita basuh setiap kali berwudhu sama dengan jumlah keseluruhan tulang manusia dan sama dengan jumlah bilangan hari dalam 1 tahun hijriah.

Kebanyakan manusia tidak pernah memperhatikan jumlah tulangnya sendiri, bahkan seorang doktor sekalipun. Menurut ilmu anatomi, jumlah tulang manusia dewasa adalah 206 ruas (Henry Netter, 1906). Akan tetapi secara embriologis, pusat penulangan semasa kehidupan janin dalam kandungan adalah sekitar 350-an pusat penulangan (Leslie Brainerd Arey, 1934), yang kemudian banyak pusat-pusat penulangan yang menyatu, membentuk satu tulang dewasa. Bilangan pusat penulangan itu ternyata dekat dengan bilangan hari dalam satu tahun.

Dalam kaitannya dengan kaedah harian wudhu, pembasuhan anggota wudhu kebanyakan sebanyak 3 kali, dan ada yang 1 kali (membasuh kepala dan telinga).

Cuba kita perhatikan jumlah penyusunan tulang pada bahagian-bahagian tubuh yang dibasuh pada saat berwudhu;

a.Lengan dan tangan: 30 batang tulang yang terdiri ;

1 buah tulang lengan atas

2 buah tulang lengan bawah

8 buah tulang pergelangan tangan

19 buah tulang telapak dan jari-jari

b.Tungkai dan kaki (31 batang)

2 tungkai bawah

8 buah tulang pergelangan kaki

21 buah tulang telapak dan jari-jari

c.Wajah (12 batang)

1 buah tulang dahi

1 buah tulang baji

1 buah rahang atas

1 buah rahang bawah

1 buah tulang air mata

1 buah tulang pelipis

2 buah tulang hidung

2 buah tulang pipi

d.Rongga mulut dan hidung (41 batang)

32 gigi geligi

1 buah tulang langit-langit

1 buah rahang

7 buah sekat dan karang hidung

e.Kepala dan telinga (12 batang)

2 buah tulang pelipis

2 buah tulang ubun-ubun

1 buah tulang

1 buah tulang baji

1 buah tulang dahi

1 buah tulang belakang kepala

6 buah tulang pendengaran

Bahagian tubuh dari poin a-d dijumlahkan

30+31+12+41= 114.

Angka tersebut dikalikan 3 oleh karena ketika berwudhu, dilakukan pembasuhan sebanyak 3 kali, menjadi

114x3= 342.

Poin e tidak dikalikan 3 karena saat wudhu, kepala dan telinga dibasuh hanya 1 kali. Angka 342 dijumlahkan dengan 12 didapatkan angka 354.

Angka ini sama dengan jumlah seluruh jumlah hari dalam 1 tahun hijriah, sekaligus sama dengan jumlah seluruh tulang manusia.

Dengan demikian membasuh anggota tubuh disaat berwudhu seakan-akan sudah membasuh seluruh tubuh.

Apakah ini suatu kebetulan??

sumber: http://halaqah.net/v10/index.php?page=342

Belanda Haramkan Sembelihan Ikut Cara Islam

Ahli-ahli Parlimen Belanda sudah bersiap sedia untuk meluluskan rang undang-undang bagi mengharamkan penyembelihan haiwan cara Islam dan Yahudi.

Bagaimanapun dalam kompromi saat-saat akhir , anggota dewan bersetuju membuat pindaan bagi mengecualikan pertubuhan-pertubuhan agama daripada pengharaman itu, jika mereka dapat membuktikan kaedah penyembelihan mereka tanpa menggunakan kejutan elektrik, tidak menyebabkan kesakitan tambahan.

Ahli-ahli Parlimen berhaluan tengah daripada beberapa parti mencapai kompromi itu sejurus sebelum perbahasan terakhir mengenai rang undang-undang tersebut, kerana khuatir sokongan mereka terhadap pengharaman itu boleh menyebabkan mereka kehilangan sokongan daripada pengundi Islam dan Yahudi.

Seperti di kebanyakan negara Barat, undang-undang Belanda menetapkan penyembelih haiwan mesti menggunakan kejutan elektrik, bagi memastikannya tidak sedar, sebelum binatang itu boleh disembelih, untuk mengurangkan kesakitan dan rasa takut.

Namun pengecualian diberikan selama ini untuk haiwan yang disembelih cara Islam dan Yahudi yang menghendaki haiwan itu berada dalam keadaan sedar.

Pemimpin Parti bagi Haiwan, Marianne Thieme yang mengemukakan rang undang-undang itu yakin pengharaman itu akan diluluskan.

Beliau tidak fikir penyembelih Yahudi dan Islam akan dapat membuktikan kaedah penyembelihan mereka menyebabkan kurang kesakitan berbanding jika haiwan dikenakan kejutan elektrik terlebih dahulu.

“Menjadi andaian semata-mata bahawa penyembelihan tanpa kejutan elektrik boleh dibuktikan lebih mesra haiwan berbanding penyembelihan dengan kejutan elektrik, tetapi pindaan ini memberi peluang kepada pertubuhan-pertubuhan agama untuk mencari dan mengemukakan bukti itu,” kata Thieme.

Bagaimanapun kompromi itu tidak meredakan kemarahan kumpulan-kumpulan Islam dan Yahudi yang menyifatkan pengharaman yang diusulkan sebagai serangan ke atas kebebasan beragama.

“Ini cara gila untuk menggubal undang-undang, bahawa kami perlu membuktikan apa yang sudah lama kami yakini,” kata Ronnie Eisenmann daripada Komuniti Yahudi Amsterdam.

Wakil-wakil pertubuhan Islam pula berkata, jika penyembelihan cara Islam diharamkan oleh kerajaan Belanda, penduduk Islam akan terpaksa membeli daging halal dari negara jiran seperti Belgium dan Jerman.

sumber: utusan malaysia

KEHEBATAN ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

Model Keretapi Terkecil Dunia ( berfungsi!!! )

Rumah Anjing yang Mewah Melampau

Bila haiwan najis "mughallazah" dimuliakan...

Sedangkan manusia sesama manusia dibiarkan kelaparan...

...

Sources Claim Hezbollah Prepared To Open Front With Israel To Relieve Pressure On Syrian President

Sources close to Lebanese Shite group Hezbollan have said that the organisation may open a front agaisnt Israel to deflect pressure from Syrian president Bashar al Assad if his position becomes significantly threatened. The Syrian leader has been rocked by pro democracy protests in recent weeks and months that have claimed the lives of 1,500 protesters according to some sources.

The source, which claimed that the US lost an alley in ousted Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarrak and were now seeking to even the balance of power by toppling Assad, said "the region now is at war, a war between what is good and what is backed by Washington... Syria is the good".

Syria is one of Hezbollah's major allies and provides significant funding and arms to the group in their wars with Israel, the latest of which was in 2006. Hezbollah is also dependent on Syria to allow the transfer of arms from its other major regional ally, Iran, into Lebanon.

In turn Syria has used Hezbollah as a means of retaining influence in Lebanon after it was forced to withdraw from the region after the assination of Lebanese pro independence President Rafiq Hariri in 2005. Both Syria and Hezbollah have been implicated by the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon as having roles in the assassination.

Questioned as to whether the groups support for Assad was inconsistent with its support for other "Arab Spring" pro democracy movements in Egypt and Bahrain the source claimed there was no contradiction. "When the regime is against Israel and is committed to reforms then Hezbollah decision is to be by the side of the people and the leadership through urging them for dialogue and partnership," the source claimed.

Hezbollah receive wide support from many in the region due to their role in expelling Israel from Southern Lebanon in 2000 and repelling an Israeli attack in 2006.

Lebanon has recently announced a new government dominated by Hezbollah sypathisers following the withdrawel of the group from Lebanons previous government in Febuary.

OIC: “Water Situation in Gaza Deteriorating”

The OIC said that it is essential to establish plants to desalinate seawater in order to compensate for the sharp need of fresh water in Gaza, and called for halting the drilling of new water wells as they undermine and drain the underground water reservoir.

The OIC added in its report that some international and local organizations played in May an important role in the process of reconstructing Gaza and its infrastructure although the Israeli siege in hindering significant reconstruction and development projects.

It said that the ongoing Israeli violations, the illegal siege and attacks, are leading to civilian casualties while attacks against Palestinian fishermen are still ongoing as the army is opening fire at them and confiscating their boats.

The OIC added that the increasing number of solidarity ships who made it into Gaza, and the ongoing preparations to send for aid ships, reflects the increasing international awareness, and the international support for ending the illegal siege.

It further highlighted the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza as a result of the ongoing electricity crisis in the coastal region.

The Gaza Strip is still lacking hundreds of medications and spare parts for medical equipment.

Approximately 178 types of medications and 123 types of medical supplies have run out, and an additional 69 types of medications and 70 types of medical supplies are expected to run out within the next three months, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported last week.

Over 300 patients have died, since Israeli imposed the siege on Gaza in 2007, due to a lack of essential medical equipment. The patients were denied permits to leave the Gaza Strip to seek medical attention elsewhere.

'Freedom Flotilla 2' prepares to sail to Gaza in next few days

At a recent press conference by an Israeli naval commander, the commander said he did not believe that the flotilla would contain weapons, and acknowledged that the passengers on the boats are known peace activists committed to non-violence. But the Israeli government continues to warn that it will attack the flotilla with military force, and has pre-emptively blamed the volunteer participants in the flotilla for any Israeli attack on the boats.

US delegation participant Robert Naiman responded, “If you concede that we are peace activists who are not carrying weapons, what exactly is the urgency to confront us with force? Why not just let us proceed to Gaza unmolested? Does it pass a 'straight face test', as Speaker Boehner might say, to claim that it will set a horrible international legal precedent binding the Israeli government if you were to let us pass unmolested to Gaza, having conceded that we are peace activists who are not carrying weapons?”

Last year, a similar Freedom Flotilla was attacked by Israeli forces and nine peace activists were killed by Israeli commandoes.

In a statement by the US State Department on Wednesday, the US government mentioned last year's attack and warned US citizens against participating in the flotilla, stating, “U.S. citizens are advised against traveling to Gaza by any means, including via sea. Previous attempts to enter Gaza by sea have been stopped by Israeli naval vessels and resulted in the injury, death, arrest, and deportation of U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens participating in any effort to reach Gaza by sea should understand that they may face arrest, prosecution, and deportation by the Government of Israel.”

An investigation by the Turkish government of last year's Israeli attack released its results two weeks ago, showing that the nine men killed were hit by a total of 30 bullets fired at close range, with five of the men killed by shots to the head. The 19-year old American citizen who was killed, Fulkan Dorgan, was killed by five bullets fired at a distance of 45 cm to his face, the back of his head, his leg and his back.

The US government has never investigated the Israeli attack on last year's flotilla, and has repeatedly voiced support for Israel's actions. Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated that the US is Israel's “best friend”, in his visit to the US two weeks ago. Last week, US President Barack Obama told a room full of campaign contributors from the US Jewish community, all of whom donated around $25,000 to participate in the event, that the US would remain a steadfast and uncompromising supporter of Israel.

In his statement, Flotilla participant Robert Naiman contradicted Israeli claims that their blockade on the Gaza Strip has been eased recently, saying, “Exports from Gaza remain largely blocked; restrictions on Gazans' travel to the West Bank and East Jerusalem for work, study, and medical care remain; imports of construction materials remain largely blocked; restrictions on Gaza's farming and fishing remain. Unemployment in Gaza is among the highest in the world, the UN reports.”

SAJAK HARI BAPA

TAJUK : Ana kenal seorang bapa .........
PENULIS : Tak tahu

ana kenal seorang bapa
masih muda
anak-anaknya belum mencapai usia remaja

tapi dia ada SP yang jelas untuk anak-anak dan keluarganya
dia seorang bapa penyayang
sering bermain dengan anak-anaknya
juga seorang suami romantik
memanggil isteri2nya dengan panggilan sayang
memanjakan mereka

berbelanja makan di tempat mewah
bercuti di hotel dalam negara
katanya harta disimpan untuk apa
kepada keluargalah afdal bersedekah

namun
ada rahsia yang baru-baru ini dikongsi mereka
tika datang hujung minggu
si bapa dan anak-anak serta isteri2nya
membawa baldi, sabun dan berus

ke mana mereka?
rupa-rupanya mereka ke surau-surau di sekitar KL
membersihkan tandas-tandas yang tidak terjaga
membaiki pam-pam yang rosak
agar jamaah selesa
dan Islam tidak dipandang pengotor

mereka lakukan secara sukarela
cepat-cepat beredar sebelum masuk waktu zuhur
supaya tiada siapa yang tahu angkara siapa
dan supaya ikhlas terus terjaga

di minggu lain pula
membahagiakan anak-anak yatim
membawa mereka tertawa
melihat karenah binatang di zoo
dan melupakan sebentar duka mereka
kerana masih ada insan yang peduli.....

kata beliau
mendidik anak tidak cukup dengan hanya
menghantarnya ke sekolah agama semata
dan merasakan sudah selesai usahanya
namun harus dengan tarbiah
dan inilah caranya mengait hidayah
puasa, qiamullail, sedekah, menolong orang susah
adalah sebahagian dari tarbiah
dan harus dimula dari sosok seorang ayah

pasti anak-anaknya hebat nanti kan?
kerana ayahnya benar-benar seorang Hero.......

Kamal Khalil
Skudai Johor

*******************************

TECHNOLOGY : WASP Injector Knife

No matter how far personal weaponry advances, the last line of defence has remained the same. If a threat gets really up close and personal, divers, soldiers, campers and hunters all have to rely on their trusty knife when all else has failed. The trouble is, if your shark, elephant or enemy combatant is close enough for you to stab them, they're well within range to lay some serious hurt on you if your knife aim isn't true - and there's plenty of angry animals out there capable of disposing of you even with a blade hanging out of them. That's why WASP have created the Injector Knife, which forces a massive charge of freezing compressed air into the stab wound. WASP claims the shock and tissue freezing can stop the largest of land predators in its tracks, and it's even more effective on underwater predators.

The WASP knife is fairly simple in principle; the removable handle contains a bulb of compressed gas, and there's a thumb button which releases that gas almost instantly through a thin tube that exits near the point of the blade. The gas is expelled at around 850psi of pressure, and expands to around the size of a basketball inside whatever the knife has been poked into. The handle unscrews to fit new gas bulbs, and it's easy to carry more than one handle if there's the chance that the knife's lethal charge could be needed more than once in relatively quick succession.

The initial gas release is extremely cold, and can snap-freeze all tissue and organs in the area surrounding the blast, which has a devastating and instant effect on the hapless victim. The effect is compounded if used on an underwater predator - not only is there the instant shock and freezing effect, but the large injection of air causes the recipient to float upwards, and as it rises and the atmospheric pressure decreases, the ball of air continues to expand with catastrophic consequences.

The WASP Injector Knife is also virtually silent when discharged inside an enemy's flesh - not that the enemy can be expected to remain silent through such internal trauma - but it effectively maintains the knife's potential as a stealth killing option while massively multiplying its lethality.

The WASP Injector Knife system is available through the WASP website for US$380. It's still a last resort for when all else has failed and a big, nasty threat is virtually upon you - and you'll still need to be smuggling coconuts in your shorts to have the nerve to stab and hit that button at the right moment - but if I was standing there with a knife in my hand and an angry brown bear advancing on me, I'd want that knife to be one of these.

TECHNOLOGY : Scarpar's high speed, all-terrain powerboard

Two years ago, we had a look at the Scarpar - a twin-tracked, high speed all terrain powerboard that seemed like a promising power toy. Well, we've just spoken to Scarpar CEO Andrew Fern, who has confirmed that this unique vehicle is going into production later this year, and he's taking deposits as of now. Basically everything on the board has been changed since the last prototype we saw - it now runs an independent electric motor in each of the two articulating tracks, and the hand-held throttle and brake unit is now wireless. And as Fern describes after the jump, getting it to a production-ready point has been a herculean effort; his design team more or less had to create their own realm of engineering theory to deal with such an unprecedented set of vehicle dynamics. The following interview is a fascinating look into the development cycle of a new product. Most importantly though, the Scarpar still looks like extreme fun, and a remarkable way to launch yourself into the foliage.

It seemed like such a simple idea when we first looked at it - a tank-style track at each end of a skateboard, combining the fun steering and carving of a skateboard with all-terrain drive capability and the ability to reach high speeds. The Scarpar is a hard device not to like at first glance.

But CEO Andrew Fern found that consumer enthusiasm doesn't necessarily translate itself into capital in this day and age: "When you've got a device to take to market, venture capital and angel capital are noticeably absent. Everybody's looking for the next Twitter or Facebook or whatever, but if you've got a physical device, it's a pretty tough slog."

So, armed with a small team and a "bootstrap" budget, Fern has taken longer than expected to push the project toward a commercial reality. Based in Queensland, Australia, he engaged aerospace/automotive specialists EDAG as his engineering partners and set them to work on turning the Scarpar prototype into a safe and well thought through product.

But the engineering process proved far from straightforward: "It has been a lot more complex and difficult than even EDAG estimated it could be," says Fern, "I mean, how hard can it be? It's just a board with tracks and a motor, and the tracks articulate. But when you get down to it, OK, what are the losses in the system, and how much torque do you actually need to turn those tracks - and by the way, where are those tracks going to come from? Because they don't exist. So every part has to be made.

"The tracks themselves are a really good example of the engineering challenges. The tracks are basically a one meter continuous loop, the equivalent of a timing belt. But a timing belt is not designed to be bashed from the outside ... We needed the precision of a timing belt, but we needed the ability to take a hit from the outside of something like a snowmobile track ... Now, a snowmobile has no constraints in terms of weight, they have a huge amount of power, so they don't have to build things light. Whereas we're trying to build a track that weighs a couple of kilos, that can run at 50 km/h, and be bashed from the outside, and is still precision enough to make the losses very low so we can actually power the thing... The engineering challenges with making something like this lightweight are really significant."

China building world’s biggest radio telescope

Since its completion in 1963, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, with a diameter of 305 m (1,000 ft) and a collecting area of 73,000 square meters (790,000 sq ft), has been the largest single-aperture radio telescope ever constructed. But Arecibo is set to lose its title with construction now underway in Guizhou Province in southern China of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). Upon its expected completion in 2016, FAST will be able to see more than three times further into space and survey the skies ten times faster than Arecibo.

FAST was first proposed by China for the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which has since opted to combine the signals of thousands of smaller antennae spread over a distance of more than 3,000 km (1,864 miles), combining for a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometer (0.38 square miles). The SKA will be built in the southern hemisphere with South Africa and Australia currently vying for the right to host the project.

Despite this, an international review and advisory conference on the science and technology of FAST held in Beijing in 2006 concluded FAST was feasible. In the following year funding for FAST was given the green light and the approved budget now sits at CNY700 million (approx. US$107.9 million). Construction in the Dawodang depression in south Guizhou commenced in March.

Unlike Arecibo, which has a fixed spherical curvature focusing radio waves into a line above the dish where they are focused to a single point by more mirrors, FAST's cable-net supporting structure will be able to deform the surface in real time through active control. As PopSci explains, this will allow a subset dish's 4,400 triangular aluminum panels to form a parabolic mirror anywhere within the larger bowl that is nearly the size of the entire Arecibo dish.

Using FAST's unparalleled sensitivity and high surveying speed, the project is expected to enable the surveying of neutral hydrogen in the Milky Way and other galaxies, the detection of new pulsars (both galactic and extragalactic), the search for the first shining stars, and of perhaps most interest to many people, the search for extraterrestrial life. It is expected to be able to detect transmissions from over 1,000 light years away.

With a construction period of 5.5 years, FAST is due to be completed in 2016.