Top 5 Fastest Birds

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Top 12 Fastest Birds on Earth

1. Peregrine Falcon (321 to 563 km/hr)
2. Spine-tailed swift (170 km/hr)
3. White-throated Needletail (170 km/hr)
4. Frigate bird (153 km/hr)
5. Spur-winged goose (142 km/hr)
6. Red-breasted merganser (129 km/hr)
7. White-rumped swift (124km/hr)
8. Canvasback Duck (120 km/hr)
9. Eider Duck (113 km/hr)
10. Teal (109 km/hr)
11. Mallard (105 km/hr)
12. Pintail ( 105 km/hr)

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Top 5 Best Brain Foods

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Top 10 Best Brain-booster Foods

1. Avocado: Rich in vitamin E- an important antioxidant.
2. Blueberries: Rich antioxidant. Builds healthy connections between brain cells.
3. Broccoli: Contains antioxidants like vitamin C and brain-protecting plant compounds known as carotenoids.
4. Curry: Contains spices that reduce inflammation. Its ingredient curcumin is effective at clearing away proteins called amyloid plaques that can cause serious brain problems.
5. Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa has a good amount of of brain-boosting elements. It is also a good antioxidant. Dark chocolate boosts your serotonin to keep you happy. Contains just about OK level of caffeine to keep you alert.
6. Green and black tea: Rich source of catechines (antioxidants). Keep a check on frequency of drinking tea to not more than two to three cups a day since it contains caffeine.
7. Oily fish: Salmon, sardines and mackerel are rich in omega 3 fatty acids- essential for increasing brain function. Improves cognitive strength and alertness.
8. Seeds: Pumpkin seeds contain lots of zinc and magnesium which are brain-boosters.
9. Water: Every cell in the body needs water to remain healthy. Drinking enough water helps in boosting the brain power.
10. Wholegrain food: Increases cognitive function. Folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 found in whole grains help in improving the memory.

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Top Five Most Polluted Towns/Cities of the World

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Following is the Blacksmith Institute's list of the world's most polluted towns/cities:

1. Sumgayit, Azerbaijan

It is located near the Caspian Sea, about 31 kilometres away from the national capital, Baku. Population: 308,700 approximately. Type of Pollutants: Organic chemicals, oil, heavy metals. including mercury

2. Linfen, China

A prefecture level city. It is situated on the banks of river Fen in southern Shanxi province of China. Population: 4,316,612 approximately.Type of Pollutants: Flyash, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, PM-2.5, PM-10, sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, arsenic, lead.

3. Tianying, China

This town is in the northwest of Anhui Province in China. Population: 26,095 approximately. Type of Pollutants: Lead and other heavy metals.

4. Sukinda, India

It is a town in Jajpur district of Orissa. Type of Pollutants: Hexavalent chromium and other metals.

5. La Oroya, Peru

It is situated on the River Mantaro in central Peru, about 176 km east-north-east of the national capital, Lima. Population: 33,000 approximately. Type of Pollutants: Lead, copper, zinc, and sulfur dioxide.

6. Dzerzinsk, Russia

The city is situated along the Oka river, about 400 kilometres east of Moscow. Population: 240,800 approximately. Type of Pollutants: Chemicals and toxic byproducts, including Sarin, VX gas, etc. Also lead, phenols.

7. Norilsk, Russia

It is the northernmost city in Siberia. Population: 175,300 approximately. Type of Pollutants: Air pollution particulates, sulfur dioxide, heavy metals, phenols, hydrogen sulfide.

8. Chernobyl, Ukraine

The city was the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster that took place on April 26, 1986 when testing in the Chernobyl power plant triggered a fiery meltdown of the reactor's core. Thirty people were killed in the accident, 135,000 were evacuated and one hundred times more radiation was released than by the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Type of pollutants: Radioactive dust including uranium, plutonium, cesium-137, strontium, and other metals

9. Kabwe, Zambia

It is the capital of the Zambian Central Province. Population: 210,000 approximately. Type of Pollutants: Lead, cadmium.

Top 5 Greenest Countries of the World

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Top 10 Greenest Countries of the World

A team of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University produced the EPI rankings for the year 2010. The rankings were released at the World Economic Forum Annual in Davos.

The 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranked 163 countries on their performance in categories including environmental health, air quality, water resource management, biodiversity and habitat, forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and climate change. Here we are listung the top 5/10:

1. Iceland (EPI Score: 93.5/100)
2. Switzerland (EPI Score: 89.1/100)
3. Costa Rica (EPI Score: 86.4/100)
4. Sweden (EPI Score: 86/100)
5. Norway (EPI Score: 81.1/100)
6. Mauritius (EPI Score: 80.6/100)
7. France (EPI Score: 78.2/100)
8. Austria (EPI Score: 78.1/100)
9. Cuba (EPI Score: 78.1/100)
10. Colombia (EPI Score: 76.8/100)

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Top 5 Antioxidant Fruits

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Top 10 Antioxidant Fruits

Not in any particular order:

1. Prunes
2. Raisins
3. Blueberries
4. Blackberries
5. Strawberries
6. Raspberries
7. Plums
8. Oranges
9. Red grapes
10. Cherries

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Top 5 Worst Man Made Environmental/Ecological Disasters of the World

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Top 10 Worst Man Made Environmental/Ecological Disasters of the World

1. Wars: Numerous wars between the nations and the people of the world which deploy dangerous weapons and war-ware are the single biggest cause of the worst ecological/environmental disasters. Quantification of enormous losses due to wars is extremely difficult.
2. Chernobyl, Russia: Nuclear power plant explosion; April 26, 1986; reactor at the Chernobyl plant, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic had a meltdown and resulting fire sent a plume of radioactive fallout into atmosphere and over an extensive area.
3. Bhopal, India: Union Carbide gas leak, December 2-3, 1984 night; Union Carbide's pesticide plant at Bhopal, India released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other toxins; resulting in the exposure of over 500,000 people.
4. Seveso, Italy: Dioxin crisis; explosion on July 10, 1976 midday; in a TCP (2,4,5-trichlorophenol) reactor in ICMESA chemical company in Meda, Italy; resulting in a toxic cloud with high concentrations of TCDD, a highly toxic form of dioxin being released into the atmosphere.
5. Exxon Valdez oil spill: American oil tanker Exxon Valdez clashed with Bligh Reef on March 24, 1989; causing a major oil leakage in pristine waters of Alaska's Prince William Sound. This 11 million gallon oil spill spread almost 500 miles polluting 1900 km of coastline.
6. Love Canal chemical waste dump, USA: On research of Love Canal it was found that the town was sitting over 21,000 tons of toxic industrial waste that buried underground since 1940s and 50s by a local company. The waste mainly consisted of pesticide residues and chemical weapons research refuse. The chemicals had entered homes, sewers and yards. More than 900 families were moved from the location.
7. Three Mile Island, USA: Nuclear nightmare; March 28, 1979, Three Mile Island nuclear reactor near Harrisburg partially melted down causing a near nuclear disaster. Fortunately, about 18 billion curies of radiation that could have been released was held by the containment structure around the reactor.
8. Death of the Aral Sea, Kazakhstan: It was once among the four largest lakes of the world with an area of 68,000 square kilometres (as big as Ireland). Aral Sea, however, has shrunk by 90% since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet Union irrigation projects.
9. Oil fires, Gulf war: The largest oil spill in history happened during the Gulf War- when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Massive oil spill damaged wild life in Persian Gulf hugely. At closing of the war in 1991, Hussein ordered to set ablaze Kuwaiti oil wells. Some 600 oil wells blew up and burned for seven months.
10. Minimata Disease, Japan: Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan in 1956. Release of methyl mercury in the industrial waste water from Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, from 1932 to 1968 caused this disease. Local people ate the highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and Shiranui Sea. It resulted in mercury poisoning.

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Top 5 Oldest (Longest Living) Animals of Earth

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Top 10 Oldest (Longest Living) Animals of the Planet

With each one's oldest recorded age

1. Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis Nutricula): Infinite
2. Antarctic Sponge (Cinachyra Antarctica): 1550 years
3. Ocean Quahog (Arctica Islandica): 405 years
4. Giant Tortoise: over 250 years
5. Koi Carp: 226 years
6. Bowhead Whale: 211 years
7. Red Sea Urchin: over 200 years
8. Lobster: 140 years
9. Human: 122 years
10. Tuatara (Sphenodontia): over 100 years

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Top 5 Endangered Animals

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Top 10 Endangered Animals

Numbers of animals remaining are estimated numbers

1. Black Rhino: less than 60 left in the wild
2. Mountain Gorilla: 720 in the wild
3. South China Tiger: No recent sightings in the wild
4. Sumatran Orangutan: 3700 remaining
5. Giant Panda: 3,000 to 5,000 remaining
6. Blue whale: 3,000 to 5,000 remaining
7. Loggerhead Sea Turtle: 60,000 remaining
8. The Bonobo: 5,000 to 60,000 remaining
9. Polar Bear: 20,000 to 25,000 remaining
10. African Elephant: 10,000 remaining

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Top 5 World Cup (Soccer) Champion Countries till Date

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Top 10 World Cup (Soccer) Champion Countries till Date

Based on the points earned in World Cup (Soccer) Tournaments till Date

1. Brazil
2. Germany
3. Italy
4. Argentina
5. England
6. France
7. Spain
8. Sweden
9. Netherlands
10. Russia

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Top 5 Smallest Countries of the World

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Top 10 Smallest Countries of the World

1. Vatican City: 0.2 square miles. Vatican City is surrounded by Rome, Italy. Approximate population 1000
2. Monaco: 0.7 square miles. Monaco lies along the French Riviera on the French Mediterranean coast near Nice. Approximate population 34,000
3. Nauru: 8.5 square miles. Oval-shaped island, part of Micronesia. Approximate population 15,000
4. Tuvalu: 9 square miles. Northeast of Australia. Tuvalu is composed of 9 coral atolls along a 360 mile chain in Polynesia. Approximate population 12,000
5. San Marino: 24 square miles. Located on Mt. Titano in north central Italy. Approximate population 29,000
6. Liechtenstein: 62 square miles. It is located on the Rhine River between Switzerland and Austria in the Alps. Approximate population 36,000
7. Marshall Islands: 70 square miles. Located in North Pacific. Approximate population 68,000
8. Saint Kitts and Nevis: 104 square miles. Located 190 miles east of Puerto Rico; Caribbean country. Approximate population 44,000
9. Seychelles: 107 square miles. Indian Ocean island group. Approximate population 86,000
10. Maldives: 115 square miles. Indian Ocean islands. Approximate population 313,000

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Top 5 First Human Beings on the Moon

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Top 10 First Humans Beings on the Moon

1. Neil Armstrong
2. Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
3. Charles Conrad Jr
4. Alan Bean
5. Alan Shepard
6. Edgar Mitchell
7. David Scott
8. James Irwin
9. John Young
10. Charles Duke Jr

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Top 5 Phobias

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Top 10 Phobias

1. Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders. Chronic arachnophobia even fear the pictures of spiders.
2. Social Phobia: Fear of social setups. It should not be confused with shyness; it is really the dread of social situations. It may emanate from several reasons like being scrutinized by others or getting evaluated negatively in social situations or feeling humiliated by one’s own actions etc. Social phobia is likely to take its root in the formative years of human development i.e. childhood or teens.
3. Aerophobia: Fear of flying. such people suffer from the fright of travel by a plane, obviously. This kind of phobia is often paired with claustrophobia (refer at serial no 5).
4. Agoraphobia: Fear and so the avoidance of any place or situation where escape or any help might not be available or the escape route or method is complicated. It aggravates when anxiety or panic stricken and it may be self-perpetuating. Chronic agoraphobes believe that the only safe place in the world is home and therefore they prefer to confine themselves within the four walls of their abode.
5. Claustrophobia: The fear of the confined spaces or more specifically, the fear of being trapped in small confined spaces. People who suffer from this phobia prefer to stay away from elevators, small cupboards or space under the stairwell etc. Panic attacks can be experienced if if the escape is not available or it is complicated.
6. Acrophobia: Fear of heights. People who suffer from fear of heights may experience panic attacks. They may not be in a position to climb down and may put themselves in danger if they can not do so. Do not confuse acrophobia with vertigo since vertigo involves only a dizzy or spinning sensation and is not necessarily caused by heights.
7. Emetophobia: Fear of vomit. People with this phobia find the sight or smell of vomit extremely appalling and therefore, they go to extraordinary lengths to avoid the stuff.
8. Carcinophobia: Fear of cancer. We all know that cancer is not a contagious disease. However, a carcinophobe believes that he has contracted cancer because he touched a cancer patient.
9. Brontophobia: Fear of thunderstorms. It is also termed as astraphobia. People who suffer this phobia make sure to hide themselves away from thunder and lightning otherwise they may undergo panic attacks and difficult breathing.
10. Necrophobia: Fear of death, dead things, coffins and corpses. It may get derived from the fear of being buried alive.

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Top 5 Most Popular Dogs

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Top 10 Most Popular Dogs

1. Labrador Retriever
2. German Shepherd Dog
3. Yorkshire Terrier
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Boxer
7. Bulldog
8. Dachshund
9. Poodle
10. Shih Tzu

Top 5 Antioxidant Foods

Top 10 Antioxidant Foods

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1. Berries (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries)
2. Broccoli
3. Tomatoes
4. Red grapes (red wine)
5. Garlic
6. Spinach
7. Tea (green tea)
8. Carrots
9. Soy
10. Whole grains
11. Prunes

Top 5 Deadliest Animals

Top Ten Deadliest Animals

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Ranking of the deadliest animals is based on estimated number of human beings killed by them or because of them every year:

1. Mosquito
2. Asian Cobra
3. Australian Box Jellyfish
4. Great White Shark
5. African Lion
6. Australian Saltwater Crocodile
7. Elephant
8. Polar Bear
9. Cape Buffalo
10. Poison Dart Frog

Top 5 Biggest Sports Stadiums in the World

Top 10 Biggest Sports Stadiums in the World

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Rank, Name of the Stadium, City/Place, Country, Capacity in Terms of Number of People

1. Rungnado May Day Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea- 150,000
2. Salt Lake Stadium (Yuva Bharati Krirangan), Salt Lake City (a district of Kolkata), India- 120,000
3. Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico- 114,465
4. Michigan Stadium, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA- 107,501
5. Beaver Stadium, Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania USA- 107,282
6. Jornalista Mario Filho (Estadio do Maracana), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil- 103,045
7. Ohio Stadium (The House Harley Built, The Horseshoe, The Shoe), Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio USA- 102,329
8. Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee USA- 102,037
9. National Stadium Bukit Jalil, 20km south of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia- 100,200
10. Melbourne Cricket Ground, Yarra Park at Melbourne, Australia- 100,000

Top 5 Fastest Mammals

Top 10 Fastest Mammals

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1. Cheetah (71mph/ 114kmh)
2. Pronghorn Antelope (57mph/ 95kmh)
3. Blue Wildebeest (50mph/ 80kmh)
4. Lion (50mph/ 80kmh)
5. Springbok (50mph/ 80kmh)
6. Brown Hare (48mph/ 77kmh)
7. Red Fox (48mph/ 77kmh)
8. Grant's Gazelle (47mph/ 76kmh)
9. Thomson's Gazelle (47mph/ 76kmh)
10. Horse (45mph/ 72kmh)

Top 5 Movies Based on Computer Games

Top 10 Movies Based on Computer Games

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1. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
2. AVP: Alien Vs Predator
3. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
4. Resident Evil: Extinction
5. Resident Evil: Apocalypse
6. Mortal Kombat
7. Resident Evil
8. Hitman
9. Street Fighter
10. Silent Hill

Each one of these films grossed more than $100 million worldwide.

Top 5 Countries of the World with Largest Armies

Top 10 Countries of the World with Largest Armies

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Rank, Name on the Country, Number of Army Personnel

1. China 1,600,000
2. India 1,100,000
3. North Korea 950,000
4. South Korea 560,000
5. Pakistan 550,000
6. USA 477,800
7. Vietnam 412,000
8. Turkey 402,000
9. Iraq 321,000
10. Russia 321,000
    

Top 5 Countries with the Most Global 500 Companies

Top 10 Countries with the Most Global 500 Companies

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2009 list

Rank, Country, Number of Global 500 Companies in the Country

1. USA, 140
2. Japan, 68
3. France, 40
4. Germany, 39
5. China, 37
6. UK, 26
7. Switzerland, 15
8. Canada, 14
8. South Korea, 14
10. Netherlands, 12
10. Spain, 12