The weekly weird

Published January 20, 2024

A tower taller than Burj Khalifa?

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Fourteen years ago, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa became the world’s tallest building, reaching a height of 828 metres. However, there are now talks of a new building that might surpass it.

According toGuinness World Records, a building currently under construction in Saudi Arabia is expected to be even taller than the Burj Khalifa once it’s complete. Jeddah Tower, also called Kingdom Tower, is reportedly going to be over 1,000m (1 km; 3,281 ft) tall. The Jeddah Economic Company building will be a mixture of luxury housing, office space, serviced apartments and luxury condominiums.

Ice and snow theme park breaks world record

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The Harbin Ice-Snow World attraction in China earned a Guinness World Record for the largest temporary ice and snow theme park.

The park hasbeen an annual attractionin Harbin, Heilongjiang, since 1999, and this year’s version was verified by Guinness World Records as coveringan area of 8,790,697.3 square feet, making it the largest theme park of its type in the world.

The park features more than 2,000 ice and snow sculptures and took a team of more than 10,000 builders more than a month to complete.

A Guinness World Records adjudicator presented officials with a certificate at the China Ice and Snow Tourism Development Forum 2024 in Harbin.

Astronomical calendar found inside ancient tomb in China

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Archaeologists in China have unearthed what they believe is an ancient “celestial calendar.” The 23 rectangular wooden pieces were found inside a 2,200-year-old tomb in China’s Wulong District. They are etched with Chinese characters connected to an astronomical calendar known as Tiangan Dizhi. It was established during the Shang dynasty, which ruled from 1600BCE to about 1050BCE. This is the first time written slips linked to the ancient calendar have been found in a tomb.

“The wooden slips with calendric notations are significant as the first and only known example of that kind of inscription on that kind of object,” Ed Krupp, Director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, told Live Science.

The tomb also contained numerous high-quality objects, including copper and bronze pots, indicating that its owner was a person of high status.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 20th, 2024

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