Welcome to the first Wired Smart List. We set out to discover the people who are going to make an impact on our future --by asking today's top achievers who, emerging in their field, they'd most like to have a leisurely lunch or dinner with. So we approached some of the world's brightest minds -- from Melinda Gates to Ai Weiwei -- to nominate one fresh, exciting thinker who is influencing them, someone whose ideas or experience they feel are transformative.

Some suggested names you may be aware of, others might be new. Either way, they're all people you really need to know about. And wired will be inviting all nominators and nominees to a giant dinner party...

Richard Branson -- entrepreneurselects
Lesego Malatsi -- designerLesego Malatsi has a business called Mzansi Designers Emporium, based in Johannesburg. The company was mentored at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship in South Africa and it finds fantastic local fashion designers who are beginning to take their business overseas. It's doing great -- it recently showcased its fashions at London Fashion Week. Organiser Fashion's Finest described the collection as "hotter than hot".

Niklas Zennström -- founder, Atomico; cofounder, Kazaa and Skypeselects 
Markus Alexej Persson aka Notch -- creator, MinecraftNotch saw a chance to create computer games in a different way, and executed it brilliantly. He does what all great technology entrepreneurs do: think globally, seeing the true potential for an online business, while understanding his customers. He's modest but confident in his area of expertise, and is always engaging. Besides, he is a fellow Swede who is creating an international success story.

Aaron Koblin -- creative director, the Data Arts Team at Google Creative Labselects
Sid Meier -- game designerAs the creator of Civilization, Sid Meier has deconstructed the forces behind historical events and used computer simulation to recreate iterations of those rules and systems in an immersive and engaging gaming experience. Without Sid I'm not sure I would have begun to respect how fascinating our history and our cultures really are; or how much I could really enjoy a good video game.

Geoffrey West -- theoretical physicict
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David KrakauerDavid Krakauer is a true polymath, full of ideas and creativity. He comes out of evolutionary biology at Oxford and was at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, for several years before becoming a colleague of mine at Santa Fe Institute. He has written papers with fellow biologists Martin Nowak and Mark Pagel and was recently recruited to run the new Winsconsin Institute for Discovery -- it's broad and trans-disciplinary in outlook, though centred on the biosciences.

Alain de Botton -- philosopherselect
John Armstrong -- philosopherThe writer and philosopher John Armstrong [author of In Search of Civilisation: Remaking a Tarnished Idea] is a very bold thinker, arguing that capitalism has gone wrong not because there aren't enough regulations on businesses but because there isn't enough education of consumers. In his eyes, the task is not to ban McDonald's, but to educate our desires so that we might "freely" consider alternatives. This is thinking at once boldly left- and right-wing.

Jane McGonigal -- game designer
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Vincent Horn and Rohan Gunatillake -- The Buddhist GeeksI'm a geek. I'm also a practising Buddhist. That's why, of everyone on the planet, I'd most like to lunch with the founder of Buddhist Geeks, Vincent Horn, and the cofounder of the Buddhist Geeks conference, Rohan Gunatillake. What's a Buddhist geek? It's someone with an interest in technology and Buddhist wisdom who wants to figure out how to use technology to reinvent a thousands-year-old spiritual practice to be more accessible, more relevant and easier to integrate into our lives. They're asking big questions, such as "How can social media support meditation practice?" "How can design thinking change the way ancient wisdom is taught and passed on?" "Can videogames lead to enlightenment?" I'm particularly passionate about that last question!

John Brockman -- president the Edge Foundation
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Jennifer Jacquet -- postdoctoral researcher
She is intellectually fearless, deeply serious about science, personally effervescent and always curious. Her interests are environmental sustainability (particularly fish), the evolution and function of guilt, honour and shame, and the role of IT in shaping environmental action -- all of which fall under a broad interest in the tragedy of the commons. Penguin publishes her Is Shame Necessary? soon.

Esther Dyson -- investor and entrepreneur
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Nathan Eagle -- CEO, txteagle
Nathan Eagle is not just smart; he applies his intelligence to the real world, with both vision (mobile phones as capital equipment enabling millions of people around the world to become productive), and a business model (get them to collect data and market research for large companies). His company, Jana (in which I've invested), employs thousands and, ultimately, he employs millions of people in emerging markets as market researchers.

Juan Enriquez -- life scientist
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Ed Boyden -- optogeneticist
Ed Boyden's research at MIT founded the field of optogenetics. Now we can observe how a brain reacts as it hears, feels, sees, smells, remembers, loves. But perhaps more interesting, scary and weird is that he's developed ways to promote or suppress memories and feelings by using fibre-optic light. Eventually, people may even be able to upload or download their memories.

Joi Ito -- director, MIT Media Lab
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Cesar Hidalgo -- network scientist
Hidalgo is a young academic bringing economics, networks and data science together to help understand the various complexities of economic growth.

Matt Ridley -- writer
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Reuben Abraham -- economist
He's probably the smartest, coolest and funniest economist I know, with an unrivalled and unsentimental understanding of the economic development of Asia and indeed the world. He teaches in India but plutocrats such as Bill Gates seek his advice on how to catalyse growth in emerging markets. He champions development through trade and tech for Asia and Africa, which he says has a bright future because it's following the path of trade-driven growth in living standards.

Dan Ariely -- behaviourial economist
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Michael Norton -- social scientist
Mike Norton is one of the most creative social scientists I know. By asking unusual questions about the relationship between wealth and happiness he comes up with very interesting findings, observations and conclusions. There's a significant amount of literature on the theory that, as people become richer, they don't necessarily become happier. Norton asked instead whether people know how to use money to buy happiness. He asked: if you give money to people, what do they do with it? The answer was that they spend it on themselves. He then posited: what if we ask people to spend money on other people? His research revealed that those people are actually happier as a consequence. This worked with individuals, and also with groups -- when people spent money on people they worked with, the team became more productive. He and I have been working together to try to figure out what level of wealth inequality people in developed countries are willing to tolerate. What we found is that people want to live in societies that are much more equal and much fairer than currently. So why are we willing to tolerate the current level of inequality? We don't have the answer for this yet.

Ai Weiwei -- artist
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Chen Guangcheng -- human-rights activist
Chen Guangcheng is an activist from Shandong who lost his sight as a child; but he is a bright light that shines in the darkness. Without any professional training, he taught himself law to help himself and other disabled people and disadvantaged groups in rural areas. Outside China, he is best known for filing a lawsuit on behalf of women who suffered under China's forced-abortion and sterilisation campaign. He has also fought for more equitable taxation of villagers and disabled people. He's suffered a series of house arrests, detentions and trials and is currently confined to his home, along with his wife and daughter. Constantly under surveillance by agents and hired villagers, he's prevented from communicating with the outside world. But in February 2011 he smuggled out of the village a homemade video that described his situation. After this, he and his wife were reportedly beaten and their computer, video camera, audio recorder and TV aerial, as well as legal documents relating to his case, were confiscated. The windows of the family house were covered with metal sheets. His bravery, persistence and thirst for justice are great inspirations. I would like to take this opportunity to express my respect for him and to send him my best. It would be an honour for me to meet him one day.

Daniel Kahneman -- psychologist and Nobel Laureate
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Sendhil Mullainathan -- professor of economics, Harvard UniversitySendhil Mullainathan is a rising star in behavioural economics. His work on the psychological traps of poverty may introduce a new paradigm for joining psychology, economics and policy.

Rohan Silva -- senior policy adviser to David Cameron
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Carlo Ratti -- director, SENSEable City Laboratory, MIT
Carlo Ratti is at the forefront of thinking about the way in which technology can be used to rewire cities, making them more energy efficient, reducing traffic congestion and stimulating new entrepreneurial activity. With half of the world's population now living in urban areas, Ratti's work could have an impact on the lives of billions of people in the years ahead.

Carlo Ratti -- director, SENSEable City Laboratory, MIT
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Salman Khan -- founder, Khan Academy
Higher education urgently needs to be reinvented while the world is trying to cope with an unprecedented demand from youth in emerging countries. It's vital that all of us -- researchers, teachers, academics -- look at how new technology can help with this. Mr Khan is one of the people doing exactly this, through his online Khan Academy (khanacademy.org).

Esra'a Al Shafei -- internet activist, founder and director of MideastYouth.com
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Yana Buhrer Tavanier -- human-rights activist
My choice is a Bulgarian activist and investigative journalist working to expose the inhumane treatment of children and adults with disabilities and mental illness in the Balkans. She's also a prominent member of the Bulgarian LGBT-rights movement but her influence expands beyond Bulgaria. We met at TED. She is dedicated and committed to making change, which she will achieve.

Fabiola Gianotti -- particle scientist, Cern
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Nima Arkani-Hamed -- theoretical physicist
Now at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, he is one of the most outstanding theorists in fundamental physics today, in spite of his young age. For instance, he has proposed pioneering ideas to reconcile gravity with the other forces. Not only a brilliant thinker, he's also lively, full of ideas and energy, and has a good sense of humour. A very enriching person to be around.

Julia Hartz -- president, Eventbrite
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Leila Janah -- winner, World Technology Award for social entrepreneurship 2010
Leila inspires me as an entrepreneur because she's truly bold in the risks she takes to help alleviate poverty, empower women and take advantage of technology to achieve her mission. Through her social business, SamaSource, she champions microwork: small, computer-based tasks that generate life-changing income for women all over the world -- empowering them with marketable skills. What is genius about her approach is the way in which she leverages the newest, most effective technology, such as Facebook, iOS and CrowdFlower, to extend her reach to anyone around the world. The winning ingredient of her business model is the ease with which her customers connect with the microwork network through lightweight applications. I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with her and I find her to be incredibly humble, focused and relentless in her pursuit to change the world.

Jimmy Wales -- founder, Wikipedia
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Andrey Andreev -- founder, Badoo
I'm intrigued by Badoo's growth to over 120 million users in an under-the-radar way. Its founder, Andrey Andreev, has been called secretive and mysterious, but when I met him (once, at Founders Forum in the UK) he seemed neither; just your typical smart, serious, interesting tech geek on a mission to create something that people like. I've tested Badoo which, as a dating site, isn't something I'm in the market for myself, but I'm impressed with how it works, and fascinated by the game-like business model.

Danny Hillis -- inventor and entrepreneur
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Jehane Noujaim -- documentary director
In a world of increasing polarisation, documentary film-maker Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com, Control Room and Pangea Day) seeks the understanding that comes from empathy with multiple perspectives. One of the great battles in the world right now is between the self-righteous monoculturalist (Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore) and the open-minded multiculturalist. People tend to listen to those who reinforce their view: I see Noujaim as a game changer because she makes films that encourage you to see other viewpoints. In the battle for the mindset of our future civilisation, I'm rooting for Noujaim.

Catherine Mohr -- roboticist and doctor
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Marilyn Waring -- human-rights activist
Marilyn Waring is an extremely clear thinker about the disastrous consequences of using measures such as GDP as a surrogate for "progress" or "wellbeing" in a country. She has also analysed how economics as it is currently practised as a "science" is radically defective and that it drives decisions in globalisation that have unintended but terrible consequences for the world. We must realise that we can't tackle the problems in health care, environmental issues, food security, democracy and women's rights in isolation; they must be seen as a set of interrelated issues, and anyone who wants to make a difference in the human condition must look at all of these factors. Waring has taken these issues head on, with the courage to call for new measures for what we call progress so that we stop rewarding moving away from what should be our global goals.

Yossi Vardi -- entrepreneur
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Shai Reshef -- educator
Shai has revolutionised the way higher education can be provided to millions of young, capable people in emerging economies. He is using internet tools to provide free online higher education over the net. After having had a successful for-profit career in supplementary education, he is dedicating his life and resources to this new social initiative. He will change the outcome of many youngsters.

Stephen Emmott -- head of Computational Science, Microsoft Research Cambridge
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Drew Purves -- Computational Ecology and Environmental Science Group (CEES), Microsoft Research Cambridge
Drew is an absolutely amazing once-in-a-generation young scientist whose work is set to completely shake up science, intergovernmental policy and technology in what is arguably the most important societal challenge we face: climate and ecology. An immensely inspiring, original thinker and a gifted and technologically/computationally savvy scientist, his ideas are unquestionably going to be influential both in science, policy and technology. In my opinion, Drew should be on wired's front cover, let alone on wired's radar, because he will be one of the key influencers in the science and the technology of climate and ecological science.

JR -- artist and photographer
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Marco Berrebi -- photographer
Berrebi is a visionary because he always clearly separates the financial interest and the artistic vision of any project. An idea for him should be like an equation: either it works, or it doesn't; but there should be no compromise. The beauty of his work is getting to this equation; it's a long road but maybe, for him, this is the art.

Lisa Randall -- physicist
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Zohar Komargodski -- scientist
Komargodski has made several important contributions to developments in field theory. With Adam Schwimmer, he proved a result that had been conjectured for years about how a particular quantity changes with energy. He has also made developments in what are known as supersymmetric theories, proving exact results or coming up with new interpretations in what were thought to be well-trodden regimes.

Yves Béhar -- industrial designer
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Issey Miyake -- fashion designer
Issey Miyake is exactly what I look for in a designer: industrious, groundbreaking and an inventor at heart. Transcending his field and inspiring architects and designers is a huge contribution in itself, but he also creates his own world of industrial, structural and visual language that can be worn to amazing effect. His creativity never stops and he continues to search for more.

Reid Hoffman -- founder, LinkedIn
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Joi Ito -- director, MIT Media Lab
He has had amazing influences upon the web -- he and I invested in Flickr -- but he'll make an important transformation of education with Media Lab. He'll work with the faculty on a curriculum to integrate a bias to action as part of preparation for life, similar to "be the entrepreneur of your own life". And he'll work on connecting academic and industry research programmes for strong mutual value -- eg. open-source hardware.

Paul Smith -- designer
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Jonathan Ive -- senior vice-president, industrial design, Apple Inc
I see Jonathan a few times every year, but unfortunately he mostly pops in during one of his London visits and we never really have enough time for a leisurely lunch due to both of our schedules being very hectic. I would choose him because I enjoy the way he thinks about things and the observations that he makes. We all know what amazing things he has achieved at Apple.

Clay Shirky -- internet evangelist
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Amira al Hussaini -- journalist and blogger
Operating as @JustAmira, Al Hussaini coinvented the curated, personal news feed as a journalistic form. The thing that sets her apart from peers such as Sultan Al Qassemi and Andy Carvin is that she became an actor in the events she covered. She exhibited scepticism that the Arab Spring would come to her native Bahrain, but as the Al Khalifas' reactions to the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt became more strident, she questioned their motives and suggested that they should not be afraid of sharing political power with their people. But her calls for openness became too much -- she was added to a list of enemies of the state, went into hiding, and was eventually spirited out of the country to Berlin, where she continues to write about the Arab Spring. I admire her for her intellect, for her sense of what new media forms make possible, for her political commitment, and for her bravery. I communicated with her last spring to wish her well when she was a wanted woman, but we've never met. She's the name I'd add to this fantasy team.

Iain Sinclair -- writer
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Don DeLillo -- writer
"It takes time to lose interest in things," DeLillo wrote. And time, American time, at home and abroad, looking out and looking back, is what he has and what he trades in. Historic time leaves you in difficult places: borders, transits, waiting rooms, deserts, runways, oceans, cities. DeLillo has such an instinct about where to start, where to position himself in the room. I admire the way the work gathered itself over the years, building up to the big wave, and then took time -- time again -- to study patterns left in the sand. Aftershocks and meditations in stripped-down sets. In other words, that mystery of craft… script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-35988661-1']); _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'blogspot.com']); _gaq.push(['_setAllowLinker', true]); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://' : 'http://') + 'stats.g.doubleclick.net/dc.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

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You may not remember it, but there was a time when sport had a purpose greater than entertainment and advertising. Early fencing, wrestling, archery, and pentathlon competitions trained troops in the practical arts of war. Later, sport refocused to improve physical fitness and impress women. But the following list shows places where modern sport has devolved into novel death wishes. 10 Street Luging Climb a big hill on an open-for-business highway, lie supine on an elongated skateboard and roll down. Gather speed and try not to die. That’s going to be difficult because you have no brakes, you’re an inch from a road surface itching to see what bone marrow looks like, and you present a visual profile to passing vehicles that’s only slightly larger than a puddle. Which is what you’ll be if you have anything close to a lapse in concentration or luck. 9 Heli-Skiing There’s a reason some things are so inaccessible—it’s God’s way of saying, “Don’t be stupid”. Still, people pay top dollar to be helicoptered (at $500 a pop) to untouched snowcaps, where they leap onto virgin slopes and ski far from crowds but very close to avalanches. Even the helicopter ride can be dangerous, and many have died en route to untouched powder (Frank Wells, former president of The Walt Disney Co. died in a helicopter crash during a heli-skiing trip in 1994). 8 Big-Wave Surfing Let’s not get crazy here: nobody’s saying surfing isn’t fun and or that it isn’t a great excuse to get chicks in bikinis. But any sport with rules for when a shark enters the field of play is not for those with functioning frontal lobes. Big Wave Surfing cranks the dial to 11 by towing surfers into monster 50 ft waves strong enough to crush villages. So if the brute force of the wave doesn’t kill you or bury you so far underwater that you drown, you could still bash your head on submerged rocks or fail to avoid your own board (fickle thing!) hurtling past you like a Randy Johnson fastball. And where would that leave you at Frankie and Annette’s luau? 7 Bull Riding Rodeo started as the gymnastics of ranching: a series of highly specific competitions taken from key aspects of cattle ranching in the Old West. But there never was and never will be any damn reason to ride a bull: its only practical application is to make you appreciate your own job—even if you’re unemployed. Straddling 1800 pounds of leaping pissed-off beef (an effect achieved by constricting bovine genitals with rope, or TASERING) routinely results in the rider being thrown 10 feet into the air, with a landing cushioned by a mere inch of dirt and feces. And if you don’t break your jaw, ribs, or collarbone on re-entry, you still have that bull to worry about (he’s still bitter). 6 Bull Running The Running of the Bulls (“encierro”) is a “sport” that involves running in front of bulls that have been let loose on a course of a town’s streets. There are actually several encierros, but the most famous is in Pamplona, Spain, and it was mentioned in Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” and “Death in the Afternoon”. The purpose is to entice or herd the bulls from off-site corrals to the bullring. Any fool over eighteen with more bravado than brains (which would have included me at eighteen) can participate. Every year between 200 and 300 people are injured, mostly with contusions due to falls. Since 1910, 14 people have been killed in Pamplona’s Running of The Bulls. 5 Cheerleading Forget the wimps wearing pads and helmets- the real danger is on the sidelines, where estrogen and adrenaline combine in one of the newest recognized sports. It has been estimated that there are over 20,000 reported cheerleading injuries a year, making cheerleading the most injury-prone sport in the world for women. Many common injuries include broken legs and spinal injuries. Think about it—it’s like diving on land, with easily distracted co-eds serving as the water. I’m all for cute girls in skimpy outfits (especially those USC sweaters), but this sport has a lot of catching up to do, safety-wise. 4 Motorcycle Racing Motorcycling is the most dangerous motorsport in the world. Just one example is The Isle of Man TT event, which has a rich 100-year history. But during that time, there have been over 220 deaths. The drivers in the race are required to maintain their balance while driving through all types of obstacles such as rocks and trees, and even bugs on their windscreens. This is all done while traveling at an extremely high rate of speed. And don’t get me started about all that X-Games crap. Remember, Travis Pastrana, it’s all fun and games until someone gets … 3 High Altitude Climbing Let’s see: a sport that keeps fatality stats and has NO chance of women in bikinis. Nope, I’ll just buy the $945 North Face jacket and read “Into Thin Air”, thank you. Today, about one death occurs for every six successful summits on Everest, and each victim had to pass corpses on the way up. Real mountaineers face every threat you can imagine, up to and including drowning. Gravity must queue up for its chance to kill you, as hypoxia, hypothermia, frostbite and pneumonia all have prior reservations. Even a regular injury can be fatal, as rescue helicopters simply can’t get to you and your buddies may be too gassed to help. But if you do summit (you’ll probably have to wait in line), keep those glasses on or you’ll burn up your corneas from excess UV radiation. Kinda defeats the purpose, huh? To date, 179 out of 1,300 different Everest climbers have died, but mortality rates have started to decline since 1990. 2 BASE Jumping You know, we used to call this behavior “attempted suicide”. BASE jumpers willingly hurl themselves from Buildings, Antenna, Spans, or Earth with nothing but a hand-deployed parachute to prevent “deceleration trauma.” In this game, there’s no need to keep score: the winner is the one who DOESN’T DIE. Lucky losers get slammed back into the object they just jumped off of or break everything they have made of, say, bone. Between 5 and 15 people die each year, according to Harry Parker of The International PRO BASE Circuit. This is sport is illegal almost everywhere, and with good reason. R.I.P. Slim. 1 Cave Diving The idea for this sport came as somebody was disposing of a body. Take all the regular hazards of diving (itself a dangerous activity), and add exploring uncharted territory, freezing temperatures, low-visibility conditions, and cramped quarters. And don’t forget that ticking clock on your air supply—you can’t just go “up” to breathe (risking “the bends”). On top of that, it’s still a wilderness experience, and some of the caves actually have wild animals living in them. According to a recovery team based in San Marcos, there have been more than 500 deaths from this sport since the 1960s. The risks are so high that experience affords little protection– many of these victims have been diving instructors and technical divers. As a result, the National Speleological Society defines a “successful” cave dive as “one you return from.” Perhaps they should follow that logic and define an “intelligent” cave dive as “one you don’t take”.

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The Medieval period has to be one of the cruelest junctures in human history, judging by the creativity of their torture and their torture devices. The best part about these torture devices is that the usually were performed for a public viewing. I can’t even imagine seeing a dude getting his skin pealed on the corner, while people are just calmly walking by picking up their groceries. On the other hand though, if I was bored on a Friday night, I can’t see how drinking a 12 pack and watching a guy getting pulled limb from limb could not be entertaining. Anyway, here are the top 10 worst torture tactics of medieval time

The ten Worst Medieval Torture Are Explained

 10. The Brazen Bull The condemned were shut in the bull and a fire was set under it, heating the metal until it became yellow hot and causing the person inside to roast to death, yummmmmmmm.

9. The Spanish Tickler It’s a very simple instrument that was used to tear a victim’s skin apart. Due to its shape, neither bones nor muscles were spared. The victim was naked and tied making him or her completely defenseless. Then the torturers began the (sometimes public) act of mutilating the victim. They often began with the limbs and slowly moved into the chest, back, neck and finally the face.

8. The Spanish Chair There are many variants of the chair. They all have one thing in common: spikes cover the back, arm-rests, seat, leg-rests and foot-rests. The number of spikes in one of these chairs ranges from 500 to 1,500. To avoid movement, the victim’s wrists were tied to the chair or, in one version, two bars pushed the arms against arm-rests for the spikes to penetrate the flesh even further. In some versions, there were holes under the chair’s bottom where the torturer placed coal to cause severe burns while the victim still remained conscious, those damn Spanish had some good torture devices.

7. The Head Crusher The head crusher was widely used during most of the Middle Ages, especially the Inquisition. With the chin placed over the bottom bar and the head under the upper cap, the torturer slowly turned the screw pressing the bar against the cap. This resulted in the head being slowly compressed. First the teeth are shattered into the jaw; then the victim slowly died with agonizing pain, but not before his eyes were squeezed from his sockets

. 6. The Pear Of Anguish A pear-shaped instrument was inserted into one of the victim’s orifices: the vagina for women, the anus for homosexuals and the mouth for liars and blasphemers.The instrument consisted of four leaves that slowly separated from each other as the torturer turned the screw at the top. It was the torturer’s decision to simply tear the skin or expand the “pear” to its maximum and mutilate the victim.


5. The Rack The rack is a contraption designed to dislocate every single joint in its victim’s body. Tied across the device’s board by the ankles and wrists, the victim’s body is then pulled in opposite directions by turning rollers at either end of the board. Great way of relieving a bad back, if you ask me. Of course, the subsequent pain caused by the multiple dislocations is another story.



 4. The Crocodile Tube The victim was fixed inside a tube just big enough for the victim’s entrance. The tube, having crocodile teeth-like spikes, was slowly compressed leaving the victim totally immobilized. The torturer could only see his face and feet. With the help of carbon and fire underneath the tube, the torturer gradually heated the tube until he extracted a confession or killed the victim.

3. The Judas Cradle The Judas Cradle, a terrible medieval torture where the victim would be placed on top of a pyramid-like seat. The victim’s feet were tied to each other in a way that moving one leg would force the other to move as well – increasing pain. The triangular-shaped end of the judas cradle was inserted in the victim’s anus or vagina. This torture could last, depending on some factors discussed below, anywhere from a few hours to complete days.

2. The Spanish Donkey Just when you thought those damn Spaniards were finished inventing torture devices they come up with soemthing even more ridiculous. A device which consisted of a main board cut with a wedge at the top fastened to two cross-beams. The naked victim was placed astride the main board as if riding a donkey, and various numbers of weights were attached to his or her feet. The agony could be ‘fine-tuned’ by using lighter or heavier weights.

1. Flaying In one version of the Flaying Torture, the victim’s arms were tied to a pole above his head while his feet were tied below. His body was now completely exposed and the torturer, with the help of a small knife, peeled off the victim’s skin slowly. In most cases, the torturer peeled off his facial skin first, slowly working his way down to the victim’s feet. Most victims died before the torturer even reached their waist.

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Self Driving Car

Google Car
Toyota Prius modified to operate as a Google driverless car. The Google Driverless Car is a project by Google that involves developing technology for driverless cars. The project is currently being led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View. Thrun's team at Stanford created the robotic vehicle Stanley which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and its US$2 million prize from the United States Department of Defense.


The team developing the system consisted of 15 engineers working for Google, including Chris Urmson, Mike Montemerlo, and Anthony Levandowski who had worked on the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges.[2] The U.S. state of Nevada passed a law in June 2011 permitting the operation of driverless cars in Nevada. Google had been lobbying for driverless car laws. The Nevada law went into effect on March 1, 2012, and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles issued the first license for a self-driven car in May 2012. The license was issued to a Toyota Prius modified with Google's experimental driver-less technology. In August 2012, the team announced that they have completed over 300,000 autonomous-driving miles accident-free, typically have about a dozen cars on the road at any given time, and are starting to test them with single drivers instead of in pairs. Three U.S. states have passed laws permitting driverless cars, as of September 2012: Nevada, Florida and California.

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Where life become Burden

Of course, nobody wants to go to prison, but there are some prisons that you really, really don’t want to be imprisoned as an inmate. Being in jail is only part of the problem, staying alive is the bigger issue. Here are the top 10 most dangerous prisons in the world.
 The article is taken from this website

10. San Quentin Prison

San Quentin, California – In the 1930′s, San Quentin was rife with corruption by management, until a new director, Clinton Truman Duffy, appalled at the inhumane conditions at the prison, decided to implement reforms in the 1940′s. Prior to his appointment, prisoners made counterfeit currency in the prison shops, had their heads shaved and were forced to wear numbered uniforms, while eating out of pails and enduring solitary confinement in poured-concrete cells that had little air and no light. Even a petty offense to prison regulations would land an inmate in solitary, and race riots would put inmate lives at risk on a regular basis. San Quentin is still a harsh environment, filled with California’s most violent offenders, and the high ratio of guards to general population, just barely keeps the prison system from spiraling out of control.

9. Bang Kwang Prison

Bang Kwang Prison

Thailand – Known as the “Bangkok Hilton”, Bang Kwang is understaffed, overcrowded, and filled with inmates who struggle with insanity as they spend the first months of their sentences chained in leg irons. The Thai culture doesn’t believe in coddling prisoners, and, in the words of Director of Prison Khun Nattee, “Thai prisons are tough…you don’t want to be in Bang Kwang.” Poor medical care is standard at this prison, with sick inmates shackled to their beds as they wait for medicines they probably will never get. If you find yourself on Death Row at Bangkwang, you will have leg irons welded on until your execution, and you will be given only two hours notice before dying by lethal injection.

8. Rikers Island Prison

Rikers Island Prison

Rikers Island, New York – Stabbings, beatings and brutal treatment from prison guards characterize this American prison. Filled primarily with offenders who are visible minorities, jailed on drug offenses, the prison is a hotbed of violence and aggression. In 2007, prisoner Charles Afflic was beaten senseless with a billy club by a prison official, who hit him repeatedly from behind: his injuries were so severe they necessitated brain surgery. 6 inmates committed suicide, hanging themselves with bedsheets in their cells, during the first six months of 2003 alone. Rikers has a reputation for its cruel treatment of mentally ill prisoners, who often turn to suicide in lieu of treatment and understanding.

7. ADX Florence Supermax Facility

Rikers Island Prison

Colorado – This prison was built in response to the violent attacks on guards and prison staff at other US prisons – it was meant to be the ultimate deterrent, a place where inmates were completely isolated from prison staff, and left to live in slow psychological torture as they spent 23 hours a day in barren cells. Inmates at ADX are the worst of the worst, often repeat offenders who have killed or injured other inmates, or even prison guards, during their time in other institutions. Describes by inmates as a nightmare vision of punishment, “meant to inflict misery and pain”, this “clean version of hell” is also a violent place, despite all the steps taken to segregate and isolate the general population. In its 13 years of operation, two prisoners have been killed at ADX Florence. Another prisoner, named Lawrence Klaker, was shot and injured as he entered the Supermax prison for the first time: he later killed himself within prison walls.

6. Alcatraz Island Prison

Alcatraz Island Prison

San Francisco, CA – This prison, known as “The Rock”, or “Devil’s Island” was built to house the criminals of the 1920′s, who broke laws during the times of Prohibition leading into the Great Depression. Another study in stark, soul-destroying discomfort and isolation, Alcatraz was known for its unique design, which made escape almost unthinkable. Inmates had no contact with the world outside the prison gates, and suffered harsh discipline from prison officials, as well as an inhumane policy of “silence” that forced prisoners to forgo speech for long periods of time. As can be expected, this was no boon to mental health, and many inmates went insane as they were forced to endure the stringent conditions of the prison without any conversation or other release of their emotions. The prison was shut down in 1963, but its grim legacy lives on, in film and legend.

5. La Sante Prison

Alcatraz Island Prison

Paris, France – According to whistle-blower and former prison official Veronique Vasseur, this prison was a hellhole, where prisoners were forced to live out their sentences in concrete cells full of rats and lice. Inmates were prone to lose their sanity as they dealt with the harsh daily realities of life at La Sante – which translates, ironically, to “health” in the English language. The well being of inmates was very low on the list of priorities for the French administrators of this torture chamber on a grand scale: weaker inmates were routinely enslaved by stronger ones, and rapes were a daily event at the prison. Suicide was rampant at la Sante, with a staggering 122 self-inflicted deaths of prisoners in 2002, and 73 more by mid 2003. The tendency to suicide could be linked to the terrible living conditions that plunged inmates into clinical depression: overcrowding, understaffing, and prison violence led these people to swallow drain cleaner in order to end their suffering once and for all.

4. Diyarbak?r Prison

Turkey – This prison has been cited for its human right violations, which are thought to cross the line into true atrocity. From 1981 to 1984, 34 prisoners lost their lives due to the excessive instances of torture, both mental and physical, practiced at Diyarbakir. This prison is notorious for the sexual abuse of its inmates, and its unlivable conditions. Prisoners have attempted hunger strikes, set themselves on fire in protest of prison conditions, and committed suicide in order to escape the horrors of this Turkish facility. Diyarbakir is known to incarcerate mere children for sentences of life imprisonment, and its “crimes against humanity” make it one of the word’s most sadistic and forbidding penal institutions.

3. La Sabaneta Prison

Alcatraz Island Prison

Venezuela – Venezuela is known for its brutal prisons, where violence is a daily occurrence, and inmates are at the mercy of disease outbreaks, underpaid staff, little medical services, and insufficient food and care. La Sabaneta is the worst of the worst, a place where cholera outbreaks have wiped out 700 inmates, amidst “appalling violence” and riots that triggered a horrific massacre of 100 inmates back in 1994. Death is rampant at La Sabaneta, and the hair-trigger tempers of inmates and staff are thought to be linked to idleness and boredom, as no activities are permitted to release tension: left to their own devices, prisoners fight amongst themselves, fashion shivs and other deadly weapons, and kill one another in this truly archaic penal facility.

2. Tadmor Prison

Alcatraz Island Prison

Syria – The death count may not rank Tadmor Prison as number one on this list, but no other prison sent such shivers down my spine as I did my research. The violence at Tadmor is so gruesome and utterly merciless, I felt sick reading about it. Described as a “kingdom of death and madness” by a former detainee, Tadmor features bloodthirsty guards who butcher inmates with axes, and political prisoners (read: non violent protestors) who are starved to concentration camp emaciation by prison administrators. In 1980, after an assassination attempt on the President (in Damascus), inmates were made to pay the ultimate price as commandos landed at Tadmor in helicopters, and butchered as many as 500 prisoners in their cells: this “warning: sent a clear message to Syrians about staying in line. When guards are not busy tying up inmates and dragging them to death, they can be found chopping up body parts in one of the prison’s several courtyards.

1. Carandiru Prison

Alcatraz Island Prison

Brazil – The body count was sky-high at this notorious Brazilian prison, where riots in 1992 triggered a massacre of the general population by local police: inmates, who had already given in and surrendered to police, were shot as they cowered in terror in their tiny cells. Deaths at this facility are thought to be as many as 1300 over its 46 year history: the reign of terror by prison officials was stopped in 2002 when the prison was closed, amidst campaigns from Amnesty International, and reports of gross human rights violations that could not be quieted by Brazilian officials.  The violence wasn’t the only thing threatening the unfortunate residents of this dark place: an AIDS epidemic at the facility spread rapidly, with as many as one in five of the inmates suffering from the disease.

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