We live in a tech-induced world where Siri answers most of our questions and Google Maps tells us where to go. Everything is at the touch of our fingertips, making all we do seem effortless.

If you like moping around for most of the day because you can buy everything online and have it delivered to your door, this may sound like a dream come true.

However, how many times have you gone out with a friend and never failed to check your phone at least five times? Guilty as charged. But, let us pick your brain for a minute. Have you ever considered what technology actually does to us as humans?

No matter how much technology has helped us shape our lives, the poignant reality we live in can be disturbing.

Below are through 20 pictures that depict modern day reality and present life’s everyday rather unhealthy habits, stereotypes, and the quite disturbing role technology plays in our daily lives.

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Source: thinkinghumanity

One of the greatest mysteries on Earth lies on an isolated part of Antarctica. The Wilkes Land gravity anomaly is the place on Antarctica where, according to scientists, a massive object is hidden beneath the ice. Scientists believe that the object could change the way we understand the history of the world.
A view of Antarctica, the frozen landmass at the south pole of planet Earth.During one of the flights of the NASA satellites near Antarctica, the satellites noticed a very strange gravitational anomaly-a gravitational spike was detected where gravity was found to reach 300 miles up into space and pulled down on these satellites much harder than any other areas around the continent. 

The so called  “Wilkes Land gravity anomaly” was first uncovered in 2006.

The area known as Wilkes Land is circled in red and it stretches for a distance of 151 miles across and has a maximum depth of about 848 metres.

This strange anomaly raised a question among scientists. The mystery of what can be hidden underneath the ice that can cause such great gravitational anomaly is yet to be discovered.

The icy wastelands of Antarctica are infamously barren and inhospitable thus making research very difficult

According to some researchers, it is the remains of a truly massive asteroid. This asteroid is believed to have been twice the size of the Chicxulub space rock that wiped out the dinosaurs.

If this explanation is true, we could assume that this is killer asteroid is the reason of the Permian–Triassic extinction event. This event wiped out 96 percent of Earth’s sea creatures and up to 70 percent of the vertebrate organisms that live on land.

Ralph von Frese, a geophysicist at the Ohio State University, was part of the team who made a startling discovery of the origin of the Wilkes Land. Using various radar equipment s, the team discovered a 320 km wide plug of dense metal material more than 1.6 kilometers beneath Wilkes Land.

“If I saw this same mascon signal on the moon, I’d expect to see a crater around it. When we looked at the ice-probing airborne radar, there it was.

There are at least 20 impact craters this size or larger on the moon, so it is not surprising to find one here. The active geology of the Earth likely scrubbed its surface clean of many more,” says professor Raplh.

Image 4-Arepresentation of satellite data that shows the bizarre anomaly beneath Wilkes Land

Despite the fact that scientist may have discovered the origin of this strange gravitational anomaly, people have come up with their wildest conspiracy theories, claiming that it could be a massive UFO base or a portal to a mysterious underworld.

The discussion of the UFO mysteries behind the Wilkes Land was started on the internet after the UFO hunting crew Secure Team 10 posted a YouTube video about the anomaly.

“To this day, scientists have no idea or way to discover exactly what is buried deep under this thick ice shelf. This continent has been shrouded in a mystery of its own for years now,” the video narrator said.

The UFO hunters Secure Team 10 also added: “There is some evidence of this coming to light in recent years, which images purporting to show various entrances built into the side of mountains, with a saucer shape and at a very high altitude.

This begs the question: how would you enter these entrances without something that could fly and was the same shape as hole itself?”

Source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GC002149/full

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It may sound like a horror movie, but“The Door to Hell” it’s actually a natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan.  However, this giant hole of fire in the heart of the Karakum Desert is not a natural phenomenon.

“The Door to Hell” is a crater made by geologists more than 40 years ago, and the flames within have been burning ever since.

In 1971 a group of Soviet petroleum geologists set out to explore the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. They were actually looking for oil fields.

Instead, they found gas and based on their incorrect measurements and data, the Soviet engineers started drilling operations so that they could successfully assess the gas reserves of the area.

They drilled over a big cavernous pocket of natural gas and it collapsed soon after the operation began. The ground created an enormous sink hole with diameter of 69 m and 30 m deep.

Geologists had to choices back then: to let the dangerous methane vent into the atmosphere, putting the local population and environment at risk, or to set it on fire and prevent the spread of deadly methane gas.

They chose the second one, hoping that the gas will be burnt in couple of weeks. It’s been more than 40 years now and the crater is still burning.

There are no official records of the tragedy.  The Soviets geologists allegedly concealed the extent of the disaster, leaving no paper trail, not even an incident report.

Why the name? The Door to Hell is actually a name given to the crater by the locals.The name was drawn from the fact that the crater not only hosts a fire that burns continuously but hosts boiling mud as well. The orange flame together with the boiling mud give the image of hell as etched into human subconscious mind by religion.

There’s an alternative theory as well.  Since the crater is the only light and heat source at night, animals are naturally attracted to it. It’s believed that camel spiders, seduced by its warmth, will approach and plummet to their deaths.

The crater is a very popular tourist attraction. The gas crater has a total area of 5,350 m2, which is approximately the size of an American football field. Besides the crater, the surrounding area is popular for wild desert camping.

So, if you wish to do something unusual, add visiting The Door to Hell to your bucket list. Tourists who have visited the crater say that it’s pretty amazing to be so close to hell.

‘I must say, it did strike me how blasé we all became to the obvious risks. The edges were nothing but dry mud, and you could see it crumbling under your feet, yet taking that photo just a tad closer remained almost a magnetic enticement.

Falling in would truly be horrendous, a painful death by asphyxiation, slowly cooked by the flames as the sounds of those panicking above are drowned out by its roar.

You’d be helpless. I asked, and apparently no tourist has fallen victim, but there was an urban myth of one local who wasn’t quite so lucky,’ says Elliott Davies, a tourist who recently visited the crater.

According to explorer and storm chaser George Kourounis,  at first sight the crater seems ‘like something out of a science fiction film. You’ve got this vast, sprawling desert with almost nothing there, and then there’s this gaping, burning pit … The heat coming off of it is scorching.

The shimmer from the distortion of it warping the air around it is just amazing to watch, and when you’re downwind, you get this blast of heat that is so intense that you can’t even look straight into the wind.

You have to shield your face with your hand just standing at the crater’s edge. Here I am thinking, Oh-kaaaay, maybe I’ve bitten off a bit more than I can chew.’

Being still relatively unknown, The Door to Hell even caused some embarrassment for Russia’s Channel One. In 2013 the Russian Channel One was tricked by some YouTube user and aired it in the aftermath of Chelyabinsk meteorite’s fall.

Airliners have a rather stringent list of rules and regulations that passengers are required to adhere to from the moment they board the plane to the moment they step off it.

And while most of these regulations are self-explanatory in terms of the purpose they serve, others are not that straightforward and require some additional exploration.

Such is the “airplane mode regulation”. As you probably already know, airliners require all passengers to switch their personal electronic devices on airplane mode for the duration of the flight.

The most popular opinion is that this is done for safety purposes, as people think that active cell phones might interfere with the plane’s navigation equipment and compromise the safety of everyone on board.

However, this notion has never really been proven to have any significant bearing on the plane’s systems and overall performance.

“It’s never been proven that a mobile phone signal has interfered with the navigation performance of the aircraft,” a pilot has told the Business Insider.

“But just because it’s never happened doesn’t mean it will never happen.”

The real reason why airlines make passengers put their phone on “airplane mode” is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent U.S. government regulatory agency responsible for overseeing all interstate and international communications.

FCC’s regulations state that the use of cell phones on planes is banned in order to “protect against radio interference to cell phone networks on the ground.”

In laymen’s terms, this means that when flying at 40,000 feet in the air, active cell phones would be picking up service from multiple cell towers on the ground, potentially crowding the networks on the ground and disrupting the service.

In order to get around this limitation, some international airlines have cell phone receivers installed on selected planes so passengers can call or text in the air.

Many US airlines also allow passengers to connect to Wi-Fi so they can surf the web and send messages.
However, most airlines, including American Airlines, Virgin America and United Airlines, still restrict passengers from making calls over in-flight Wi-Fi.

“Cell phone and Voice-over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services are not available with in-flight Wi-Fi,” state the airline’s regulations.

“For the safety and comfort of our guests, VoIP and Video Chat are also prohibited,” says Virgin America.
“Voice and video calls are not permitted,” reads United Airlines’ rule book.

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Are you one of those people who hate mornings? Mornings can be rough, but a Harvard psychologist has devised a method for making your mornings better.

Amy Cuddy (American social psychologist) says that the first thing you should do when you wake up is to stretch out! It’s as simple as that! You should stretch your body as wide as possible before you even put one foot on the floor.The theory behind that is called “power posing”. Try to stretch out as much as you can and make yourself as big as possible. This pose mimics that of a confident person and helps you to make your mind and body believe you are more confident.Amy Cuddy is the author of “Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges.” It’s a book on the subtle yet powerful ways our posture can influence our thoughts and emotions.

Cuddy’s TED talk on power-posing, on how standing like Wonder Woman can build confidence, is the second-most-viewed of all-time.

People think that their behavior follows their own emotions.  Cuddy’s research suggests the opposite is also true, meaning that we can become more confident simply by striking a power pose.

Body Language is a very significant aspect of modern communications and relationships. Other people’s body language helps you to see their feelings and meanings to you and your own body language reveals your feelings and meanings to others.

Cuddy explained how that wisdom can carry over to your daily routine at a recent talk at New York’s 92Y. ‘It’s obviously bi-directional, but the people who wake up like this are super happy, like annoyingly happy.’

‘And what are nonverbal expressions of power and dominance? Well, this is what they are. So in the animal kingdom, they are about expanding. So you make yourself big, you stretch out, you take up space, you’re basically opening up.

It’s about opening up. And this is true across the animal kingdom. It’s not just limited to primates. And humans do the same thing. (Laughter) So they do this both when they have power sort of chronically, and also when they’re feeling powerful in the moment. And this one is especially interesting because it really shows us how universal and old these expressions of power are.’

On the other hand, you could be doing your emotions a disservice if you wake up curled like a cat.

‘If you sleep in a fetal ball, we have some preliminary evidence that people who wake up like that wake up much more stressed out,’ Cuddy says.

She says that aproximately 40% of people sleep in the fetal position, and this position could be making them less confident throughout their day. If you multiply those individual mornings across entire weeks, months, years, one annoying morning turns into a lot of unnecessary misery.

Experts have revealed that sleeping naked is the key for getting a good night sleep.  There are numerous benefits of sleeping without your pyjamas, the first being that you help your body to breathe and get fresh air. Taking your pyjamas off can also keep your cortisol in check (the biochemical in our bodies which affects out levels of anxiety and stress).

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We have all heard of Johnny Depp’s lavishing and extravagant lifestyle, but the details reveal a bit more than you may have bargained for. Talk about heavy spending! Depp reportedly spends $2 million a month.

According to The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Mail, Johnny Depp hit his previous business managers with a heavy $25 million lawsuit. 

He claimed that The Mandel Company (TMG) grossly mismanaged his affairs, failing to accurately pay his taxes on his behalf, even made unauthorized loans, and overpaid for many services, which according to him, cost him “tens of millions of dollars”.

This eventually lead to financial trouble. Depp states having become aware of this in March of last year.

The lawsuit itself stated that Depp is living an extravagant $2 million a month lifestyle, which includes a total of $30,000 spending only on wine brought from all over the world,  14 houses and several real estate, and collectible 70 guitars.

Filed this week, the lawsuit claimed that TMG “did everything within its power over the last 17 years to protect Depp from himself and to keep Depp financially solvent” but that TMG “did not have the power or ability to control Depp’s spending or his numerous other vices, or to force Depp to make wiser financial decisions.”

“Depp lived an ultra-extravagant lifestyle that often knowingly cost Depp in excess of $2 million per month to maintain, which he simply could not afford,” writes attorney Michael Kump in the cross-complaint.

“Depp, and Depp alone, is fully responsible for any financial turmoil he finds himself in today.”

Once the details of the lawsuit from TMG, juicy information was discovered on the frivolous things Depp spent money on, some of which may blow your mind. 

Among many other things, Depp allegedly spent $75 million on buying and fixing up luxurious real estate.

This does not only include the 45-acre chateau in the south of France, which has face valued of $13.5 million. It also covers a chain of islands in the Bahamas, several houses in Hollywood and penthouse lofts in downtown Los Angeles.

He even owns a horse farm in Kentucky. As if this weren’t enough, Depp has a full set of employees at each house.

Depp owns a total of 45 luxury cars, which, as you can imagine, cost a fortune.

Cars are not his only obession. Apparently, he spent $18 million on a 150-foot luxury yacht, which he was later believed to have sold to J. K. Rowling.

According to TMG, the only way he flew was by a private plane, and not any private plane, but the Gulfstream GV, which cost him a total of $200,000 every month.

Not to mention the 70 collectible guitars Depp owns.

Oh, and did we forget to mention his marvelous taste for fine wine? Depp has an enormus appetite for wines and has them shipped from all over the world for his liking.

This allegedly costs him $30,000 a month for wine. Out of all the frivolous things he spends on, wine has to be one of the most outrageous choices.

Moving from vehicles and wine to outlandish jewelry items Depp owns. This is just part of his collection.

Known for his eerie taste, TMG claimed that the actor has spent ‘many millions on rare and expensive Hollywood collectables’ from Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando.

He was also believed to have spend ‘millions’ to purchase and keep an expensive art collection, made up of more than 200 collectable pieces from famous artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol.

He also spent $300,000 a month for 40 employees, including his own security team for him and his family. This was provided for him every hour of every day.

Other interesting information provided by TMG was that Over the years he has spent around $10 million to support his ‘friends, family, and certain employees,’ stated TMG.

This does not leave out living expenses for his sisters and late mother. Not only that, but he also purchased a multi-million dollar home in Hollywood for his mother, along with a $35,000 a month residence for her when she was not well.

When speaking of the most atypical expense, is the $3 million he spent to fulfil friend Hunter Thompson’s dream of having his ashes “blast from a specially-made cannon” over Aspen, Colorado after his death in 2005.

Moreover, finally yet importantly, if all of this was not enough, he still owns a total sum of $55,000 on his Visa Credit Card.

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It is not every day you hear about a boy genius who has been accepted into two universities at the tender age of 12. Tanishq Abraham of Sacramento , who already holds three degrees, was acknowledged and received acceptances to the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of California, Davis. Abraham plans on majoring in bio-engineering.

His parents spotted his unique intelligence at the early age of four, when he joined the IQ society of Mensa. Mensa is the oldest and leading high IQ society in the world, which is open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ intelligence test.

Being accepted into Mensa at age four is an accomplishment in itself. Not only did Mensa acknowledge him, but he has also received a recognition letter from the one and only Barack Obama.

By the time he was seven, Abraham had already been attending community college in Sacramento. When he turned 10, he graduated from high school and had already earned three degrees.

Not only a boy genius, but Abraham was also believed to be the youngest graduate at American River College, which is a community college in Sacramento.In an interview with NBC News, his father stated, “We tested him and discovered that he was pretty smart. we were surprised when we started giving him advanced stuff and he was picking it up really fast.”

“I think if he puts his mind to it, he can achieve whatever he wants. We’re supportive of whatever he wants to do,” added Abraham, a software engineer.

Abraham also told NBC that Tanishq hopes to become a doctor, a medical researcher, and even the president of the United States.

According to The California Aggie, he began taking courses at numerous colleges, which include Stanford University, UC Berkeley and American River College in Sacramento.

At Stanford, he took math courses extended by their Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) and completed five grades in the short span of six months. As for UC Berkley, he finished an online chemistry course and graduated with straight A’s.

Apart from his academic achievements, Abraham has spoken at public events, making him the youngest person to attend NASA Ames, a major NASA research center based in the Silicon Valley, and speak and bestow a poster at NASA’s conference in July of 2012.

Not only that, but he has also been invited to speak at a TEDx council that was organized in Sacramento in the year of 2013.

However, despite all of his current accomplishments, his mother told The California Aggie:

 “In terms of social and emotional issues, he is a very social (and) mature child, he is like any other child,” said Abraham’s mother. “For his educational needs, it has been a bit difficult having to choose between something like two great schools. The most challenging we have had to work with is the educational system. But we face the challenges you know, for Tanishq and his want to learn.”

Tanishq says child geniuses are often seen as odd. “When you think of a genius, you think of a mad scientist kind of thing,” he said.

But he stated that he is just a normal kid who enjoys learning and microscopes, while also playing video games. “I just think learning is fun,” Tanishq said.

Abraham aspires to be a doctor by age 18 and the president of the United States. For a boy his age, it seems the only logical course to take. If we believe in ourselves, in our intelligence and work hard to achieve success, anything is possible.

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