Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 106
January 21, 2022
Tennessee Drivers Bewildered By 18-Foot Skillet Traveling I-59
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Road trip enthusiasts have a new stop to add to their bucket lists after America’s latest roadside oddity was spotted casting a spell on drivers along a Tennessee interstate last Friday en route to its permanent home.
Cooking Up Something BigSouth Pittsburg, Tennessee’s Lodge Cast Iron Store has been cooking up something special in celebration of their 125th anniversary — an 18-foot, 14,360-pound cast-iron skillet set to debut at the Lodge Cast Iron Museum when it opens this summer.
If you were driving down I59 yesterday, you might have seen something special headed north! The World’s Largest Cast Iron Skillet made its way to our campus to find its home in the Lodge Cast Iron Museum that is currently under construction. Learn more: https://t.co/ccaO9ysccD pic.twitter.com/eYO1VQH06g
— Lodge Cast Iron (@LodgeCastIron) January 13, 2022
The museum hopes to open while the cast iron is hot and has no intention of being a flash in the pan, having curated an experience for tourists to learn about the rich history of cast iron and commemorate the community that cookware maker Lodge Manufacturing has called home since 1896.
Visitors can look forward to a variety of exhibits, including “How It’s Made,” “Lodge History & Legacy,” and “Cast Iron Culture,” in which Lodge partners with the Southern Foodways Alliance to give hungry guests a taste of Southern cast-iron cooking.
While there will be plenty of “rare cast-iron collections” to behold, the World’s Largest Cast Iron Skillet will be the museum’s main dish. Fans can even get their very own (much smaller) cast-iron cookware over at the Lodge Cast Iron Factory Store!
Don’t load up the car quite yet, though! While the oversized skillet has officially touched down in its new town, Lodge will be keeping it under wraps until the museum officially opens at the end of summer, which means more time for you to plan your itinerary!
Map Out Your Unbelievable Roadtrip To TennesseeNo quirky road trip would be complete without a pitstop in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, home to seven Ripley’s Attractions! While you’re there, be sure to check out Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium to come face to bumper with a car covered in crystals, breathe fire with a scrap-metal dragon, and have a squint at the Last Supper made of lint! Or swim over to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies to take in some of the world’s most curious creatures!
Can’t wait for the end of summer to satisfy your record-breaking itch? Head over to our Facebook to watch our pride, joy, and latest world-record-breaking achievement, Hoss the Human Hairball’s hair-oic journey from road tripping around the world collecting human hair for his mega-coif to his magnificent New Year’s Eve Hairball drop!
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: Tennessee Drivers Bewildered By 18-Foot Skillet Traveling I-59
January 20, 2022
January 19, 2022
January 18, 2022
Scientists Train Goldfish To Drive… On Land
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The only time most people see fish driving automobiles is while watching an episode of Spongebob Squarepants. But if you thought cars were something reserved solely for your favorite cartoon characters from Bikini Bottom, think again. Researchers at Ben-Gurion University in Israel have designed an inverted submarine that functions as a fish-operated vehicle (FOV), and you’ve got to see it to believe it.
Although the fish required some training to operate the vehicle, the results have proven a smashing (or, rather, sloshing) success. Here’s what you need to know about this bizarre invention.
A Fish on Four WheelsThe video became an instant internet sensation. It shows a motorized, water-filled vehicle moving from one end of a room to another. Along the way, the LIDAR-wielding, computerized mechanism weaves and turns, avoiding obstacles and impediments. But we’re not talking about a self-driving car here. Instead, it’s powered and navigated by the most unlikely of drivers: a goldfish swimming in the water-filled part of the gadget.
While good for a laugh at a party, you may be wondering why scientists would go to so much trouble engineering a means for fish to drive? The answer has to do with navigation. You see, scientists have long known that fish, like other animals, must learn to navigate their underwater world in search of shelter and food. But Shachar Givon, a doctoral student at Ben-Gurion University, and her colleagues wanted to determine whether their brain networks could handle the rigors of terrestrial navigation, as reported in Behavioural Brain Research. The findings? Wheeling around on dry land seems to appeal to the gilled little guys.
Training Goldfish DriversSurprisingly, training the submerged drivers represented one of the easiest parts of the experiment, according to Givon: “I simply put it in a situation where it learns what is going on around it.” All told, they enrolled six fish in the training program. Givon notes that the fish initially navigated in erratic ways, swimming from one side of their mobile aquariums to the other without rhyme or reason. But then she started to notice adaptations. As the fish grew accustomed to their new homes and vantage points, their movements transformed into calm, deliberate actions.
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Once the fish gained the ability to power their vehicles around, the team wanted to determine how effectively they could interact with their terrestrial environment. So, they started offering treats for the completion of specific criteria. Within a handful of days, the fish darted around the room toward their award-earning targets. Next, Givon placed obstacles in the room, forcing the fish to adjust to a changing environment. They did so with ease.
What’s the takeaway from all of this? The fish learned how to navigate environments utterly foreign to them. Givon hopes to continue the research by permitting the animals to head outdoors to try their hand (or fin) at various landscapes around campus. In other words, don’t underestimate a fish out of water.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
January 17, 2022
January 16, 2022
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