Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 160
February 10, 2021
February 9, 2021
The Curious Case Of The Missing Color Blue
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
There are some universal truths in life: water is wet, puppies are adorable, the sky is blue, et cetera. What if we told you that wasn’t always the case? It turns out the color blue is a relatively new concept. Scientifically speaking, it has always existed as part of the visible light spectrum [rainbow], but studies of ancient texts have shown that humans didn’t really “see” blue until modern times!
The Odyssey’s Deep Colorless SeaOne of the first people to realize blue’s lateness to the party was William Gladstone—the same William Gladstone that served as British Prime Minister four times in the late 1800s. Prior to his days in politics, however, he was a scholar obsessed with Homer’s Odyssey, an epic poem written in the 8th century BC that follows the Greek hero Odysseus on his journey home after the fall of Troy.
William Gladstone in the 1830s
During one of Gladstone’s many readings of the story, he noticed something peculiar: the color “blue” is never used. Now, this wasn’t for a lack of colorful writing on Homer’s part—between both The Illiad and The Odyssey, black appears 170 times, white about 100, red just 13 times, and yellow and green less than 10 times each, but blue? Not once! Which is wild to think about when you consider that most of Odysseus’s journey takes place at sea—a notoriously blue place!
At first, Gladstone thought perhaps Homer was colorblind. But when other classic Greek stories had the same anomaly, he hypothesized that maybe all Greeks were colorblind and eventually evolved to see color. This wasn’t the case, either.
A decade after Gladstone’s theorizing, a man named Lazarus Geiger came along. Geiger was a philologist, or someone who studies ancient texts. He found that the Greeks weren’t the only ones without the color blue. Old Icelandic stories, ancient Chinese sagas, and even the original Hebrew bible were all missing blue!
A Curious Case Of The BluesGeiger dug deeper and noted that colors show up in the same order in almost every language. First, you get black and white, then red, next is either yellow or green, and then, bringing up the rear, is blue. Looking back at our color count of Homer’s epic poems, his usage falls perfectly in line with this order.
Athena Revealing Ithaca to Ulysses by Giuseppe Bottani (18th century)
So, what gives? It appears that in the earlier stages of languages, the division between colors was much broader, meaning Homer’s descriptions of a “wine-dark” sea, rams with “dark violet wool,” and “green honey” weren’t just creative liberties. Those words simply encompassed a lot more colors than what we’re used to today.
In fact, this even happens today in modern languages. For example, Russian does not have a single term for the color “blue.” Instead, what English speakers consider different shades of the same color, dark blue and light blue, are two totally separate colors in Russian: siniy and goluboy. For native Russian speakers, the difference between dark and light blue is just a stark a difference as blue and green is for English speakers.
Colors In Other CountriesAuthor of the book Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages, Guy Deutscher, writes that perhaps the reason for the lack of distinction between colors is because blue just isn’t a color that appears frequently in nature, so we didn’t need a word for it. The only ancient language with a distinct word for blue was that of the Egyptians, who used blue dyes.
So, what about the sky?! That great blue thing looming above us all the time! How did people not have a distinct word for it? Well, maybe it’s not as obvious as we think.
Deutscher performed an informal experiment on his daughter, never inquiring about the color of the sky or ask her what color it is. He taught his daughter the colors, but intentionally never mentioned the color of the sky. Once she was confident in her learnings, Deutscher took her outside, pointed at the sky, and asked her, “What color is that?” To which she had no response.
Deutscher’s daughter had no hesitation pointing out other objects that were blue, but it took about four more months before she gave him the answer: white. It would be a whole other month until she called the sky blue for the first time, but even then she went back and forth between blue and white, depending on when she was asked. She eventually settled on blue, but it was about 6 months after she had first started recognizing blue objects in earnest.
In regards to the connection between language and our perception of everything around us, Lazarus Geiger said this: “Here a whole world of antique relics for our investigation lies hidden, not in fragments, but in unbroken, well-connected links. The whole chain of development of each of our ideas up to its most primitive form is lying buried before us in words, and is awaiting its excavation by linguistic science.”
It goes to show just how influential words can be, even when comes down to something as simple as the color of the sky.
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!
February 8, 2021
February 7, 2021
February 6, 2021
February 5, 2021
Mutant Spinach Goes Viral
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[February 1–February 7, 2021] Drunk birds, killer linguistics, and a snowy surprise in Central Park—all round-up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Birds Commit Party Fowl After Ingesting Fermented BerriesFort Worth residents have reported sightings of a group of North Texas cedar waxwings acting suspiciously after eating fermented berries! The lightweight birds were accused of drinking and diving as they swarmed the area confusedly, crashing into windows.
According to urban wildlife biologist, Rachel Richter, it’s fairly common for the birds to become intoxicated after overindulging on fermented berries.
Richter believes the rise in reports this year isn’t so much that the birds are partying extra hard, but rather that people stuck at home due to COVID-19 are paying closer attention.
As far as the birds’ health is concerned, the biggest risk is their destructive diving. Cedar waxwings have large livers that are perfectly suited for detoxifying ethanol, preventing any long-term illness.
A four-year-old Welsh girl snagged the ultimate souvenir when she stumbled upon a dinosaur fossil while walking along the beach with her family.
Lily Wilder was rock hunting along Bendricks Bay when she called her father, Richard, over to check out her latest find. He immediately noticed that the rock his daughter so proudly presented was actually a dinosaur footprint!
The family posted a picture of the fossil on Facebook, drawing the attention of National Museum Wales, where it will be displayed next to a plaque featuring Lily.
Curator Cindy Howells of National Museum Wales called the 220-million-year-old fossil “one of the best-preserved examples from anywhere in the U.K.”
A well-preserved dinosaur footprint has been discovered on a beach near Barry in south Wales by a 4-year-old girl and could help scientists establish more about how dinosaurs walked. || Photo via National Museum Wales
Naked Mole-Rats Have Accents, Y’allOnce called “God’s disgusting mistake” by Gina Linetti of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” naked mole-rats are known for their unfortunate appearance, resistance to cancer, and unique social behaviors. This week, researchers added yet another fascinating trait to the list after discovering that each colony has its own distinct dialect used to identify intruders.
During the study, researchers from Germany’s Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and the University of Pretoria in South Africa recorded more than 36,000 variations of chirps, hisses, squeaks, and grunts made by 166 rats across seven different colonies.
Naked mole-rats live in large underground colonies, where they each play a specific role to serve their queen, who rules with a cold-blooded fist. Because the queen rat can only produce so many babies as the sole mating female, they grow their colonies by invading others and use their language to identify intruders.
The aggressive little sand puppies do not take kindly to outsiders, often identifying and murdering interlopers within minutes!
Interestingly, the dialects change as the queens are replaced, creating periods of anarchy as the females fight to the death to determine who will be the next leader.
A snowy owl has been spotted in New York’s Central Park for the first time since 1890.
Typically found in more northern regions, a beautiful snowy owl swooped into the park Wednesday morning, as onlookers captured pictures for social media.
While the species is sometimes seen in Long Island, this is the first time one has taken a trip to the big city since 1890.
The NYC Audubon conservation group urged onlookers to keep their distance and exercise caution to ensure the bird enjoyed its visit undisturbed.
Mutant Spinach Goes Viral
Just incredible to see a Snowy owl in Central Park yesterday! It’s only the second time one has been recorded in the park, the first time being in 1890! Thanks to those that reported the sighting so that so many were able to see this spectacular bird! #birdcp #centralparkbirds pic.twitter.com/ywESRToY8M
— Bradley Kane (@WinoBradNY) January 28, 2021
A 2016 study about mutant spinach broke the internet on Tuesday as users began to fear receiving a “per my last email” message from the healthy green.
Euronews resurfaced the study, titled “Nitroaromatic detection and infrared communication from wild-type plants using plant nanobionics,” which details an alteration of the plant that would make it capable of detecting explosives and sending email alerts.
Researchers from MIT and the University of California, Riverside, worked together to embed teeny tiny sensors into the veggie’s leaves to detect compounds found in explosives. Once the compounds were detected, the leaves gave a fluorescent signal, which alerted an infrared camera connected to a computer to send an email notification.
Future uses of the technology could lead to the early detection of droughts and environmental changes.
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: Mutant Spinach Goes Viral
February 4, 2021
Always The Backup, Never The Starter: Tom Brady’s Rise To Football Stardom
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Since the dawn of the millennium, Tom Brady has been the defining image of American football, shattering records left and right and bringing home a record-breaking six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots. Throughout his career, Brady has garnered cult-like worship from admirers, absolute disdain from rivals, and, now, a glimmer of hope from fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There may not be a gray area when it comes to how you feel about Tom Brady, but if there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s that the man is a winner.
As Brady prepares to “Fire the Cannons” in his 10th Super Bowl, we’re sharing some truly unbelievable facts about the NFL’s biggest star.
Tom Brady is the first-ever NFL quarterback to have been granted roster-control.It’s been less than a year since Brady traded in his patriotic digs for the pirate life, having ended his 20th season with the Patriots as a free agent. As he shipped off to warmer waters, he only had one request: he calls the shots. Brady is the first-ever NFL quarterback to have been granted roster-control.
The move paid off for the Bucs, who are sailing their way into their second-ever Super Bowl, 18 years after their first and last. Brady didn’t just get the team to the big game, though—he steered them directly into history as they become the first NFL team ever to play the Super Bowl game at their home stadium.
Brady started his football career as the third-string quarterback of a losing team.Things weren’t always sunshine and Super Bowl rings for Brady, whose early career seems more like the plot of “Friday Night Lights.”
Brady started his high school career as the third-sting quarterback of a losing freshman team, spending more time practicing defense than leading the pack, running linebacker drills for a chance to play. During his sophomore year, he finally got a chance to play QB and proved—not for the last time—that all he needed was a chance, leading the game-winning drive in his first game. By the time he graduated, Brady was named one of the “Bay Area’s hottest young players,” with an 11-9 record.
Throwback! Before starring in the NFL, Tom Brady grew up in San Mateo and played high school football at Serra. https://t.co/OckC3baRBk pic.twitter.com/aAlXpyBNIR
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) February 1, 2017
His slow crawl to success continued at the University of Michigan, where he returned to the sidelines as the seventh-string quarterback. After two years of riding the bench, while watching future NFL quarterback Brian Griese thrive, Brady got his chance in the spotlight during his junior year. While he had a successful final two years at Michigan, he made sure he had a backup plan in case the NFL didn’t pan out, boosting his résumé with a summer job at Merrill Lynch.
Of his time on the sidelines, Brady has said, “I struggled in college. I struggled at the early part of my career, like I was never the first guy chosen. So I think that part is just in me, it’s deep, and it’s there. It’s not going anywhere.”
Before attending Michigan, Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos Major League Baseball team.Like many other professional athletes, including Patrick Mahomes, Brady played more than one sport in high school: football and baseball. Exceptional at both, he was drafted to the Montreal Expos during the 1995 Major League Baseball draft, ultimately deciding to continue pursuing his football dreams at Michigan instead.
Tom Brady was a sixth-round draft pick, after 198 other players.During the 2000 NFL draft, 23-year-old Brady watched as six rounds passed and 198 other players were picked until he was finally called up by the New England Patriots. A year into his tenure on the team, Brady finally met owner Robert Kraft, who called him out on being the sixth-round pick. Brady responded by prophesizing, “I’m the best decision this organization has ever made. You’ll never regret picking me.”
History repeated itself in his early Patriot days, with Brady riding the benches as the fourth-string quarterback. Behind starter Drew Bledsoe and backups, John Friesz and Michael Bishop, Brady worked his way to that backup-QB title. In 2001, Bledsoe suffered an injury and was out for the remainder of the season. He granted Brady his time to shine, kickstarting his career and earning his very first Super Bowl victory the following February.
The debut of the TB Times showed the world that Tom had a weird side.As a soldier of “the Patriot Way,” Brady rarely showcased his personality, sticking to the professional role of a team leader. But fans and followers alike saw a different side of Brady in 2016 when he debuted the TB Times on his Instagram and Facebook pages. What started as a meme of a camel wearing a Patriots helmet on “hump day” quickly turned into “front-page news,” featuring cartoons, jokes, and puns about the teams the Patriots had defeated the day before.
As time went on, the toons got weirder. A crocodile, aptly named Croc, started making his way into the illustrations with zero context. Years later, the cartoon’s brainchild would be revealed as Brady’s 20-something social media manager, Jeff Fine, who, along with illustrator Dean Krupka, worked closely with Brady to keep the content cohesive and humorous.
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Brady was particularly involved in making sure he was not the spotlight of the cartoons, once scrapping an illustration suggesting he was ’90s cartoon hero Captain Planet, with his teammates drawn as the Planeteers gathering to summon him. Krupka quickly worked up a new drawing where they were instead depicted with a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame theme, as they had defeated the Cleveland Browns that week.
Sadly, the TB Times came to an end after a final celebration of the Patriots’ 2018 AFC Championship victory, only reappearing once more after the 2019 Super Bowl.
Tom Terrific tried to trademark his nickname.Tommy. TB12. Touchdown Tom. Comeback Kid. Mr. Super Bowl. California Cool.
Brady’s earned his fair share of nicknames over the years, but his 2019 trademark attempt of Tom Terrific proved that even the G.O.A.T. can’t always get what he wants.
After receiving his application, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office replied with a hard no on the request, as the name was “pointed uniquely and unmistakably” to another famous Tom, Tom Seaver of the 1969 “Miracle Mets.”
Having received backlash from Seaver’s fans, Brady was quick to excuse his faux pas by explaining that he actually didn’t like the nickname and was merely attempting to prevent it from being used about him.
All four Brady siblings received different athletic scholarships.The only son of Galynn and Tom Brady Sr., Brady and his three sisters, Maureen, Nancy, and Julie, were extremely close and incredibly competitive.
“My fault,” said Brady Sr., “I started it. Everything we did, and I mean everything, like running home from church, throwing a rock the farthest… Everything was a competition.”
Their competitive nature worked out, with all four Brady siblings receiving athletic scholarships for their achievements. His sister Maureen was even inducted into the San Mateo County Hall of Fame, four years before Tom, for her 111-10 career as a high school softball pitcher.
Four kids playing sports at the same time may seem like a lot to keep up with, but, Believe It or Not!, their parents never missed a game. According to Brady Sr., they once attended 315 of their children’s games in a single year!
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A post shared by Tom Brady (@tombrady)
Again with the prophecies, Brady, tired of being in his sisters’ shadows, once told his mom, “One day, I’m going to be a household name.”
Signing with the Bucs made Brady the second-highest paid player in NFL history.With all that success comes plenty of bills in the bank, but one record Brady has yet to break is that of the highest-paid player in history. Having a true understanding of “team,” Brady spent most of his two decades with the Patriots, turning down larger salaries to free up money for incoming quality teammates.
Until he signed with the Bucs, Brady was ranked fourth in the category. But, by signing the 2-year $50 million contract, he surpassed both of the Manning brothers, and now sits in second place at $261.8 million, just behind Drew Brees’ cool $294 million. (Though, Kansas City Chiefs QB, Patrick Mahomes, is certainly coming up quickly behind them all.)
This hefty amount also doesn’t account for his income from endorsement deals with companies like Intel, Under Armour, and UGG. Actually, it’s a low salary compared to his wife Gisele Bundchen’s $1 billion career earnings as a model.
Brady proves time and time again that age is nothing but a number.When Brady hits the field this Sunday, he’ll be competing head-to-head with Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, a player 18 years and 45 days his junior.
Though the average age of NFL players is 26-years-old, Brady shows no signs of slowing down at 43. In fact, he plans to continue playing for years to come—until he’s 48, perhaps. If he throws in another three months and 18 days to that plan, he’ll replace George Blanda as the oldest NFL player in history.
Brady already set another age-related record during his first game with the Bucs when he became the oldest NFL player to score a touchdown at the ripe old age of 43 years, one month and 10 days.
Whether you love him or hate him, Tom Brady’s career has been one for the books. Will young buck Mahomes be too quick for old man Brady, or will Brady’s trademark tenacity win him that seventh Super Bowl ring? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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: Always The Backup, Never The Starter: Tom Brady’s Rise To Football Stardom
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