Thor Heyerdahl

During World War II, Heyerdahl served in the Free Norwegian military group as a parachutist. He served to cultural anthropology after the war, seeking to prove that people of Polynesia had ancestral ties to the ancient Peruvians. This theory went against all prevailing scientific thought at the time, which held that the islands were populated by people from South Asia.To prove his theory, Heyerdahl enlisted five friends to join him on an amazing journey. He built Kon-Tiki, a roughly 40-foot log raft out of balsa wood, similar to those used in ancient times. On April 28, 1947, Heyerdahl and his crew departed Callao, Peru. They spent 101 days at sea, eventually crashing onto the shore of an uninhabited atoll near Tahiti. During their dangerous voyage, Heyerdahl and his crew faced rough seas, sharks and even curious whales while covering approximately 4,300 miles.A skilled storyteller, Heyerdahl wrote about his experiences in the best-selling book Kon-Tiki. The work was a global hit and was translated into 65 languages. A documentary about the voyage also won an Academy Award in 1951. While hugely popular with the public, Heyerdahl found himself under fire from the scientific community for his journey. It was widely felt that Heyerdahl's aquatic adventure did little to substantiate his claims regarding the cultural ancestry of Polynesia.
Later Expeditions
In 1953, Heyerdahl led an archaeological expedition to the Galapagos Islands. There, he found pottery that linked the islands to early Ecuadorian and Peruvian Indian cultures. Two years later, Heyerdahl led one of the first scientific explorations of Easter Island, where he would discover evidence of possible South American ties. This trip became the basis for the 1958 bookThe Secret of Easter Island.
Returning to the sea, Heyerdahl tried to prove that the ancient Egyptians could have sailed to the Americas. He built the boat Ra—named after the Egyptian sun god—out of papyrus reed for his first attempt in 1969. While that effort failed, he managed to make it from Morocco to the Bahamas in Ra IIthe following year.
In the late 1980s, Heyerdahl focused his attention on the Tucume pyramid complex. He again tackled pyramid excavation in the 1990s on the Spanish island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. The step pyramids he uncovered now make up the Chacona Pyramid Ethnological Park there.

Long-nosed Chimaera

Rarely ever seen, the long-nosed chimaera is an oddity among oddities. All chimaeras are poorly understood, but the long-nose, with its whip-like tail and long snout, is especially so. The group branched off from sharks, its closest relative, around 400 million years ago and have remained a distinct, and distinctly odd, lineage ever since and have been basically unchanged since they shared the Earth with dinosaurs. Like sharks and rays, chimaeras have a skeleton made of cartilage. An extremely weird looking fish was snagged recently in the frigid artic waters off northern Canada and after some confused speculation about what it even is, researchers have identified it as the super rare long-nosed chimaera.The spooky, deep sea fish has a long nose, menacing mouth, and a venomous spine atop its gelatinous grey body and was caught near the northernmost province of Nunavut in Davis Straight.Researchers, who at first believed the odd fish was the similarly freakish goblin shark, say the long-nosed chimaera likely makes its home at depths not often visited by humans.‘Potentially, if we fish deeper, maybe between 1,000 and 2,000 metres (3,000 to 6,000 feet), we could find that's there's actually quite a lot of them there,’ University of Windsor researcher Nigel Hussey told CBC. ‘We just don’t know.’ 

‘Only one of these fish has previously been documented from the

Hudson Strait,’ Hussey said. Like all chimaeras, the long-nosed species is a distant relative of sharks and rays.The long-nosed chimaera has a whip-like tail and can grow to around three feet long.The chimaera is one of the world's oldest species of fish.It goes by various names including ratfish, rabbitfish, and ghostsharks.But they aren't sharks. Most species of chimaera live their lives in the dark, deep sea abyss. The enigmatic fish has its closest cousin in the shark, but the chimaera is much less common and for less studied.Most species of chimaera have a mildly venomous spine on their back. The long-nosed chimaera is no exception.Some species of chimaera are even eaten as food in some parts of the world.But the enigmatic fish is largely restricted to deep ocean waters, putting it out of reach to most fishermen and scientists.For these reasons, the strange creatures are poorly studied and understood.

wow mom

For the sake of people

To invite or summon (someone to do something, esp to take part in a contest) it is not only the meaning and definition  of `Challenge` but also gives great inspiration and awareness to one and all. Now we have seen various variety of challenges  for  the good. Definitely some more innovative challenges will ready to come infront of the people.

Ice Bucket Challenge

The original version involved jumping into cold water, then nominating another to do the same. Later, this became the  ice  bucket dump, and charitable donations were the result of refusing to participate. By late July 2014, however, the charity being  named  was the ALS Foundation. Inspired by Pete Frates, a friend who was diagnosed with ALS,a neurode generative disease, Griffin launched the ice bucket challenge to raise awareness and funds for the disease. Griffin tried to do more fundraising for ALS research. Then the challenge spread worldwide on Facebook to the following countries (in order of participation): Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Philippines, Puerto Rico and India.During that time frame, over 28 million people joined the challenge by posting, commenting or liking a challenge post, Facebook said. 

Rice Bucket Challenge

The Rice Bucket Challenge is a way to raise awareness of world hunger, feed those in the most need and have fun at the same time!  The Rice Bucket Challenge involves donating a bucket of rice to a poor person or family. It is inspired by the Ice Bucket Challenge which has raised lots of money for the ALS Foundation. The idea for the Rice Bucket Challenge is attributed to Manju Latha Kalanidhi, journalist based in Hyderabad, India. It started off as a Facebook page on August 23, 2014. The Challenge spread to other South Asian nations, including Nepal and Sri Lanka, Philippines. 

My tree challenge

Following the global success of Ice bucket challenge and Rice bucket challenge Kerala Megastar Mammootty has initiated a eco-conservation programme in the title 'My Tree Challenge'. Within a few weeks from its start, the movement has gained big momentum as thousands of people has enrolled themselves as members, by planting a tree. It was through the 'My tree hash tag' and through Mammootty's facebook page that these thousand people announced themselves as part of the project.