New 7 wonders to be unveiled

[Marilyn. 340]

GENEVA, Switzerland - The Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome and Peru's Machu Picchu are leading contenders to be among the new seven wonders of the world, as a massive poll draws to a close with votes already cast by more than 90 million people, organizers say.

As the 8 p.m. EDT Friday voting deadline approaches, the rankings can still change. Also in the top 10 are the Acropolis in Greece, Chichen Itza pyramid in Mexico, Eiffel Tower in Paris, Easter Island, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Taj Mahal in India and Jordan's ancient city of Petra.

The winners will be announced on Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal.

The Great Pyramids of Giza are the only surviving structures from the traditional list of seven wonders of the ancient world. That list was derived from lists of marvels compiled by ancient Greek observers, the best known being Antipater of Sidon, a writer in the 2nd century B.C.

The pyramids have been assured of keeping their status in addition to the new seven wonders after indignant Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete for a spot.

The final round of the competition narrowed the field to 20 candidates, and people from every country in the world voted by Internet or phone, said the group organizing the ballot.

"It's so exciting," said Tia B. Viering, spokeswoman for the "New 7 Wonders of the World" campaign. "There are not many things that could bring the world together like global culture ... this is really something that every single person in the world can be interested in."

"This is all about bringing people together, to appreciate each other ... to celebrate diversity," Viering said.

The Colosseum, the Great Wall, Machu Picchu, Taj Mahal and Petra have been among the leaders since January, while the Acropolis and Christ the Redeemer statue made their way up from the middle of the field to the top level, according to latest tallies.

The Statue of Liberty and Sydney Opera House have been sitting in the bottom 10 since the start. Also faring poorly are Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex, Russia's Kremlin building and St. Basil's Cathedral, Britain's Stonehenge and the city of Timbuktu in Mali.

The ancient city of Petra in southwestern Jordan â۠famous for its water tunnels and stone structures carved in the rock â۠jumped from the middle of the pack to the top seven in January. That was largely thanks to campaigning by the Jordanian royal family and thousands of Jordanians voting by text message over their mobile phones, Viering said.

A surge in voting from the United States, Canada and Europe in recent weeks helped those regions catch up with Latin America and Asia to make the ballot truly global, Viering said.

The campaign was begun in 1999 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, with almost 200 nominations from around the world. The list of candidates was narrowed down to 21 by the start of 2006, then Giza was taken out of the running when it was given an automatic spot. Since organizers started a tour to each site last September, the competition has been heating up.

There is no foolproof way to prevent people from voting more than once for their favorite wonder, but most of the votes are cast by Internet in a system that registers each participant's e-mail address to discourage people from voting twice, Viering said.

"We have a lot of kids (voting) and that trend is continuing ... but we have votes really from every part of the population," she added.

The original list of wonders were concentrated in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Six of them no longer exist: the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos lighthouse off Alexandria.

After the Egyptian protest, the organizers of the campaign set the pyramids above the competition.

"We absolutely had no problem with this," Viering said. As of Saturday, there will be eight world wonders including the Pyramids of Giza, she said.

Choosing world wonders has been a fascination over the centuries. The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, keeps updating its list of World Heritage Sites, which now totals 851 places. The agency, however, is not involved in the New 7 Wonders project.

Weber's Switzerland-based foundation aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments. It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070705/ap_on_...w_seven_wonders

you can vote HERE I think the site must be pretty busy because it doesn't always want to load up...

Edited July 6, 2007 by MarilynP

[Nessa 23]

I hope Cristo Redentor makes it.

[jundp 191]

Oh thanks for posting this! My students all voted on these one day after we did a quick talk about them (no I don't teach history or geography...but still).

I hope Neuschwanstein makes it :-) And Cristo Redentor as well.

[Marilyn. 340]

I think the Statues of Easter Island should be in the Top 7 too...

Edited July 6, 2007 by MarilynP

[Niels Bohr 72]

What about Angkor Watt in Cambodia?

[Nessa 23]

I'm trying to vote but it keeps cannot find server me

[one...two...tree 2,762]

How about the Seven Wonders of the Internet?

1. Google

2. Youtube

3. MySpace

4. Blogosphere

5. Porn

6. Email

7. Ebay

(VJ would make it in the top 20)

....

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

* The Great Pyramid of Giza

* The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

* The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

* The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

* The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

* The Colossus of Rhodes

* The Pharos of Alexandria

The Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind

* Stonehenge

* The Colosseum

* The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa

* The Great Wall of China

* The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing

* The Hagia Sophia

* The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Seven Natural Wonders of the World

* Mount Everest

* The Great Barrier Reef

* The Grand Canyon

* Victoria Falls

* The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro

* Paricutin Volcano

* The Northern Lights

The Seven Underwater Wonders of the World

* Palau

* The Belize Barrier Reef

* The Galapagos Islands

* The Northern Red Sea

* Lake Baikal

* The Great Barrier Reef

* The Deep Sea Vents

The Seven Wonders of the Modern World

* The Empire State Building

* The Itaipú Dam

* The CN Tower

* The Panama Canal

* The Channel Tunnel

* The North Sea Protection Works

* The Golden Gate Bridge

The Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World

* Angel Falls

* The Bay of Fundy

* Iguaçú Falls

* Krakatoa Island

* Mount Fuji

* Mount Kilimanjaro

* Niagara Falls

The Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World

* The Clock Tower (Big Ben)

* Eiffel Tower

* The Gateway Arch

* The Aswan High Dam

* Hoover Dam

* Mount Rushmore National Memorial

* The Petronas Towers

The Seven Forgotten Wonders of the Medeival Mind

* Abu Simbel Temple

* Angkor Wat

* Taj Mahal

* Mont Saint-Michel

* The Moai Statues

* The Parthenon

* The Shwedagon Pagoda

The Forgotten Wonders

* The Aztec Temple

* The Banaue Rice Terraces

* The Borobudur Temple

* The Inca City

* The Statue of Liberty

* The Mayan Temples

* The Temple of the Inscriptions

* The Throne Hall of Persepolis

* Petra

* The Suez Canal

* The Sydney Opera House

* The Red Fort in India

http://wonderclub.com/AllWorldWonders.html

[Ban Hammer 13,656]

i always thought any list of wonders should include dolly parton's chest

[Nessa 23]

[Aymerlu 3]

Something really needs to be done about the shape of the pyramids. When I went there it was sooooo trashy and nasty and many of the places had a lot of graffitti on it. Made me sad.

[mawilson 2,133]

According to Civilization "Call To Power", the modern Wonders are:

• The Agency
  Age: Modern
  Cost: 7,200
  Prerequisite: Global defense
  Primary Function: Defense
  Effect: Gives one spy unit in every city.
  Obsolescence: Alien archeology
  Keeping an eye on your enemy (and keeping the enemy's eye off of you) could be the key to winning a modern age war. Though the similar GlobeSat wonder is far more valuable (permitting you to see the entire game world, including units), The Agency, through providing valuable spy units, can let you get quick glances at your enemy's infrastructure. The Agency can be useful in both military and economic conquest and is particularly effective in preventing your cities from being infiltrated by televangelists.
  
• Contraception
  Age: Modern
  Cost: 7,200
  Prerequisite: Pharmaceuticals
  Primary Function: Happiness
  Effect: Increases happiness by 5 throughout civilization
  Obsolescence: Alien Archeology
  Happiness is a constant battle throughout Civilization: Call to Power. Much of your resources will be spent on keeping your citizens content. If you are fighting a losing battle, the Contraception wonder could be just what the doctor ordered. If you've been keeping up with the happiness curve, though, you might want to consider bypassing Contraception and instead going for Edison's Lab, which features a heap of scientific benefits. Usually, your decision between the two depends on your early-game decisions. Have you been spending more money or happiness or scientific research?
  
• Genome Project
  Age: Modern
  Cost: 7,200
  Prerequisite: Genetics
  Primary Function: Production/health
  Effect: +10 percent production; +10 percent health for all units
  Obsolescence: Alien archeology
  With a bonus to unit health, the Genome Project greatly assists those players who have amassed a large army. Plus, with the 10 percent bonus to production, this extremely tempting wonder makes constructing more units even easier. If you plan on launching a mid-game offensive, it's best to have plenty of units already in place before completing the Genome Project. Because the wonder boosts the health of all existing units (as well as the units to be built), you'll be primed and ready to do battle immediately upon completion. Conversely, the defensive-minded, economic players will benefit almost as much; obviously, the production bonus helps in expansion, and the +10 percent health will keep those defensive units effective.
  
• GlobeSat
  Age: Modern
  Cost: 7,200
  Prerequisite: GlobeNet
  Primary Function: Intelligence
  Effect: Radar coverage of the world
  Obsolescence: Cloaking
  Gaining an insight to what your enemies (and even your allies) are up to could be a significant advantage as your civilization moves into the late ages. This wonder is even more important to those players who are concerned about being attacked (or concerned about who to attack). As you can see all the units as well as cities, you'll have plenty of time to mount an adequate defense against any form of attack, conventional or otherwise. GlobeSat is particularly useful in a multiplayer game against crafty human players; because predicting what human opponents plan to do is difficult, GlobeSat can quickly give you a leg up on the competition.
  
• Hollywood
  Age: Modern
  Cost: 7,200
  Prerequisite: Mass media
  Primary Function: Gold
  Effect: Receive two gold per citizen in foreign cities with television
  Obsolescence: Alien archeology
  Because your foreign rivals must have working television sets in their cities, don't bother with the Hollywood wonder if you are well ahead of them in technology. If you are ahead, just keep staying ahead and don't bother with Hollywood. But, if you are aware that foreign civilizations have placed television sets in their cities, constructing this wonder could mean an effortless revenue stream that lasts for quite awhile (Hollywood doesn't become obsolete until alien archeology is discovered). Extra gold is always helpful, whether it be for expanding your empire, rush-buying new wonders or improvements or sustaining your military.
  
• Internet
  Age: Modern
  Cost: 7,200
  Prerequisite: Computer
  Primary Function: Science
  Effect: Allows ten free advances per age known by another civilization.
  Obsolescence: Alien archeology
  Unlike Edison's Lab, the Internet only rewards you advances that other civilizations have already discovered. If you believe several civilization's are playing a much different game than you (for instance, moving through the economic tree, while you are moving more in the construction or military tree), you should definitely consider spending your resources on the Internet. If you've been concentrating resources along one path, the Internet can help you round off your civilization by giving you rewarding advances in other areas that you haven't even started developing.
  

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

The Agency can be useful in both military and economic conquest and is particularly effective in preventing your cities from being infiltrated by televangelists.

Too late for San Antonio.....

What's really creepy is that I used to have a co-worker who looked just like him....