Along with the title and the crown, Antonenko received a cash prize of $100,000.

The title of first vice-miss went to Irina Sharipova, representing Russia’s Volga Republic of Tatarstan. Olga Kononenko of another Urals city, Chelyabinsk, was named second vice-miss.

Miss World 2008 Kseniya Sukhinova, Miss Russia 2009 Sofya Rudneva and Miss World 2009 Stefania Fernandez attended the pageant as honored guests.

Experts in the Baltic country rushed to the site after reports that a metorite-like object had crashed late last night in the Mazsalaca region near the Estonian border.

This is not a real crater. It is artificial,  Uldis Nulle, a scientist at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Center, said after inspecting the site today.

Earlier Uldis had said his first impression late last night was that the crater had been caused by a meteorite. He said there was smoke coming out of the hole when he arrived.

But on seeing the hole in daylight today, he and several other scientists changed they mind.

They said it was too tidy to have been caused by a meteorite.

It’s artificial, dug by shovel, said Girts Stinkulis, a geologist at the University of Latvia.

Dainis Ozols, a nature conservationist, said he believes someone dug the hole and tried to make it look like a meteorite crater by burning some pyrotechnic compound at the bottom. He added he would analyse some samples taken from the site.

Sigita Pildava, a spokeswoman for the State Police, said it wasn’t immediately clear whether police would open an investigation into the hoax.

Inga Vetere of the Fire and Rescue Service said they received a call about the alleged meteorite on Sunday evening from an eyewitness. She said a military unit was dispatched to the site and found that radiation levels were normal.

Experts outside Latvia said it would be unusual for such a large meteorite to hit the Earth. The planet is constantly bombarded with objects from outer space, but most burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface.

In 2007, a meteorite crashed near Lake Titicaca in Peru, causing a crater about 40 feet (12 meters) wide and 15 feet (five meters) deep.

Asta Pellinen-Wannberg, a meteorite expert at the Swedish Institute of Space Research, said she didn’t know the details of the Latvian incident, but that a rock would have to be at least three feet (one meter) in diameter to create a hole that size.

Henning Haack, a lecturer at Copenhagen University’s Geological Museum, said when it comes to alleged meteorite crashes, there always is a pretty large margin of error.

If billboards can be used to give out free samples of scarves, caps and gloves, why not a little sympvertising in the form of a branded dinghy? Which is just what Indian mobile provider Aircel recently did in Mumbai in the days leading up to this year’s monsoons.

Aircel’s billboard, erected by outdoor agency Primesite near Mumbai’s Milan Subway, bore a large, inflated dinghy along with the line, “In case of emergency, cut rope.” And on July 15, such an emergency did indeed arise when monsoon floods made the Milan Subway virtually impassable. The rope was cut on Aircel’s billboard, the boat was released, and stranded pedestrians were ferried to safety. The result? Near constant local media attention for Aircel, even including the headline, “Aircel did what [government agency] BMC did not.” Reportedly, Aircel now plans to implement something similar in Delhi and Kolkata as well, according to afaqs.

Beyond generating free publicity, of course—glowing as it was—Aircel’s effort is also a prime example of the corporate generosity that’s increasingly being expected by today’s consumers—referred to by our sister site as Generation G. Whether it’s helping wildfire victims find a bed for the night or generating support so financially strapped families can keep their homes, there are countless ways companies can show that they care. Help consumers, and you help yourself!

In order to win the award, teams have to prove out their technology in Scottish waters. The winning team is required to supply sea power for a two year period.

Ocean power is a big deal for Scotland, which has been called the “Saudi Arabia of marine energy”. The country holds a quarter of Europe’s wave power potential.

But while Scotland will certainly reap the majority of the benefits from the contest, other countries with lesser ocean power potential will still be able to make use of the technology— once marine power is economically viable, it will become much more attractive to nations around the world.