Mind Soup

The "invention" of language is not known except for references in the Bible. It is not known what language Adam and Eve spoke. The first mention of different languages is the reference to the tower of Babel when different tongues were bestowed. The invention of writing, however, is credited to the Sumerians of Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC. Their descendants, the Sumero-Babylonians, developed the time system that we use today: an hour divided into 60 minutes, which are divided into 60 seconds. Today, there are more than 2 700 different languages spoken in the world, with more than 7 000 dialects, most of which are catalogued by the Ethnologue language dictionary. In Indonesia alone, 365 different languages are spoken. More than 1,000 different languages are spoken in Africa. The most difficult language to learn is Basque, which is spoken in north-western Spain and south-western France. It is not related to any other language in the world. Mandarin is the most spoke...

Ramadan 2009 around the world - Photo Gallery On August 21st, hundreds of millions of Muslims started fasting for a month. They started to abstain from eating or drinking from dawn to dusk. They stand for hours in prayers each night to remember their Lord and express their gratitude to Him, seek His forgiveness and aspire to come closer to Him.On September 20th, the month of Ramadan ended welcoming Eid el Fitr. Vendors selling food for breaking fast wait for their customers during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Jakarta August 31, 2009. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. (Reuters, Enny Nuraheni) A Muslim man rests inside a mosque as he wait for iftar (breaking fast) in Dhaka August 29, 2009. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. (Re...

London, United Kingdom , September 6, 2009-- Paddlers ply the River Thames, which was recently turned into a giant bathtub for the annual Great British Duck Race. Organizers released 205,000 blue rubber ducks—each sponsored by a donor—into the river, breaking the race's previous world record of 175,000 ducks. The first ducks to cross the finish line win their sponsors cash and other prizes. This year the event supported the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Kierdijk, Netherlands , September 7, 2009-- Winds of change blew through the historic mill complex at Kinderdijk this week. For the first time, energy-efficient LED bulbs powered the popular Dutch tourist attraction's annual illumination. Part of a UN World Heritage site, the windmills help pump water in and out of low-lying areas called polders. Centuries before the mills were built around 1740, a cat was spotted balancing atop a baby in a cradle during a flood, hence the name Kinderdijk (...