Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 191
July 28, 2020
July 27, 2020
July 26, 2020
Watch Ripley’s San Diego Comic-Con@Home Panel: Inside the Vault of Ripley’s Most Exclusive Finds!
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Inside the Vault of Ripley’s Most Exclusive Finds!
Expanding on the legacy of explorer and world traveler, Robert Ripley, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! team continues to acquire the most bizarre, iconic, and truly terrifying artifacts in history. Ripley’s Creative Content Manager, Sabrina Sieck, leads an intriguing discussion between Colton Kruse (Digital Content Producer), Kurtis Moellmann (Exhibit Buyer), and Jordan Orlando (Ripley Publishing Editor). Together, this curious team gives you an inside look at a few of these hidden gems that fandom junkies simply have to see to believe. From a comic book painted with human ashes to screen-used props and the odd origins behind them, there’s no telling what we’ll pull out of the vault!
Source: Watch Ripley’s San Diego Comic-Con@Home Panel: Inside the Vault of Ripley’s Most Exclusive Finds!
July 25, 2020
July 24, 2020
’90s Movie ‘Homeward Bound’ Becomes A Reality
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
This Week
[July 20-July 26, 2020] Our San Diego Comic-Con panel might be the weirdest thing you see/hear this week, but Homeward Bound became a reality, a rare yellow turtle was found, and a Fenn-inspired search for treasure has begun—all round-up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
This Turtle Had Us at Yellow
A mellow turtle rescued by a farmer in India has turned out to be a rare find due to its yellow coloration. The Indian Forest Service was contacted Sunday, July 19th, when the little-lemony turtle was found in Sujanpur village. An unusual sight, conservation experts were immediately called in. They identified is as an adult Indian flapshell turtle, commonly found in parts of South Asia and commonly colored like your average turtle. This ray of sunlight stands out from the rest due to albinism, a congenital disorder characterized by complete or partial absence of pigment. The turtle has since been released back into the wild.
A rare yellow turtle was spotted & rescued in Balasore, Odisha yesterday.
Most probably it was an albino. One such aberration was recorded by locals in Sindh few years back. pic.twitter.com/ZHAN8bVccU
— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) July 20, 2020
Summertime Stilt Skiing
Chris Dens of Brainerd, Minnesota, really leveled up his water skiing game this week. He took the sport to new heights by cruising the lake on 11-foot-tall stilts! Although Dens is a pro—a founding member of the Brainerd Ski Loons Water Ski Show Team—this was no easy feat, as seen in footage of his failed attempts. To get the hang [ten] of it, he started off with three-and-a-half-foot stilts and incrementally worked his way up to 11—six inches taller than the current record holder, Glenn Sperry.
After a few years and many failed attempts, I am excited to say that I set a world record today! It was always a goal…
Posted by Christopher Dens on Sunday, July 12, 2020
Attention, Michigan! The Hunt is On!
Johnny Perri is a business owner from Washington Township, Michigan. He’s been serving the community and trading precious metals, diamonds, and antiques for over two decades. When Covid-19 forced Perri to close his doors, he wasn’t sure how to spend is time—let alone hustle his goods—until news of the Forrest Fenn discovery broke. It was an “A-Ha!” moment and he began traveling all around Michigan’s forests burying his unique treasures, from the entirety of his jewelry store to thousands of dollars of gold, silver, diamonds, and more.
Now, if you slept on the hunt for Fenn’s finds, Perri has opened his hunt, Johnny’s Adventure Quest, to anyone ready for an adventure. For a registration fee of $49, participants will receive clues from Perri, who is tracking his treasures with GPS, and can either keep what they find or return them in exchange for their cash value.
Look what we did last night!
Credit: https://www.facebook.com/stolengnome/
Spreading some Peace & love to the…
Posted by Johnny’s Treasure Quest on Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Homeward Bound IRL
It’s a tale as old as time (for any early ’90s child): An adventurous golden retriever worries that they will never see their home again, embarking on a treacherous wilderness journey to find their way back. Believe It or Not!, the plot of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey just turned from fiction to fact.
Cleo, a four-year-old golden retriever, traveled 60 miles on her own to return to her home… which she and her owners moved out of two years ago! Traveling from Kansas to Missouri over the course of a week, Cleo appeared on the front porch of her former home. When home’s new owner checked on the pup’s microchip, they were surprised to find out Cleo belonged to the home’s former residents. Tracking down Cleo’s owner on Facebook, they were soon reunited, but both parties are at a loss trying to explain Cleo’s long journey—she would have had to cross a river to make it back (just like in the movie!).
PLUS, Rounding Out the Week, is Ripley’s San Diego Comic-Con@Home Panel
Ever wondered what treasures are hidden inside the Ripley’s vault? Now’s your chance to find out! Join us for our ComicCon@Home virtual panel, Inside the Vault, Sunday, July 26th at 6 p.m. EST.
Expanding on the legacy of explorer and world traveler, Robert Ripley, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! team continues to acquire the most bizarre, iconic, and truly terrifying artifacts in history. Ripley’s Creative Content Manager, Sabrina Sieck, leads an intriguing discussion between Colton Kruse (Digital Content Producer), Kurtis Moellmann (Exhibit Buyer), and Jordan Orlando (Ripley Publishing Editor). Together, this curious team gives you an inside look at a few of these hidden gems that fandom junkies simply have to see to believe. From a comic book painted with human ashes to screen-used props and the odd origins behind them, there’s no telling what will be pulled out of the vault!
We’ll be live on Facebook & Twitch following the panel at 7 p.m. to answer all of your curious questions!
July 23, 2020
Are Venus Flytraps Indiscriminate Killers?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The 1986 movie Little Shop of Horrors features a geeky florist shop worker who discovers his Venus flytrap, Audrey II, can talk. Before the end of the movie, the plant’s made a play for world domination devouring anybody it can get its jaws on along the way. The portrayal of a man-eating Venus flytrap is about as incredible as it gets. Yet, the core of the plot relies on the commonly held belief that this carnivorous plant is entirely opportunistic…
Devouring any creepy crawly unfortunate enough to cross its path.
Of course, there’s one major problem with this. How do Venus flytraps get pollinated if they devour all the insects that draw near them? Keep reading as we debunk the myth of the Venus flytrap’s insatiable hunger. Along the way, we’ll explore how the flytrap’s structure makes it a nectar-rich haven for some and a death trap for others.
“Feed Me, Seymour!”
Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) have fascinated humans for hundreds of years. How many other plants boast a movie with a cult following? Despite centuries of study, we still have much to learn about their molecular underpinnings, though. We know they’re native to a tiny ecosystem covering a 100-mile radius near Wilmington, North Carolina. We also know that as a vulnerable species, conservation efforts must be rooted in a thorough understanding of the plant’s anatomy and reproductive system.
Scientific discoveries in the past few years are shedding new light on these fascinating and complex plants. Computer simulations and biomechanical analyses of their snapping mechanisms have provided data about their lightning reflexes. It takes a mere 100 milliseconds for the leaves of the trap to snap shut after an insect stimulates a trigger hair!
Researchers have also learned that these flesh-eating florae grow snap traps of different sizes. Why? To capture insects of varying scale. After all, there’s a significant size gap between a housefly or large ant and a mosquito. Yet, both offer essential nutrients. The solution? Trap-size-based sensitivity.
According to Rainer Hedrich of the University of Würzberg, “This trap-size-based sensitivity of the trigger hairs is crucial for the economic efficiency of the traps.” In essence, big insects trigger big traps. The nutrients from larger prey offset the energy lost when large snap traps close and reopen. As for little traps? They spring at a lighter touch, like that of a mosquito. Smaller meals mean fewer nutrients. But that’s okay because small traps don’t require nearly as much energy to close and open. Without this trap-size-based sensitivity, flytraps would expend too much energy on prey of insufficient size, essentially starving.
Venus Flytraps and the Bugs that Pollinate Them
But what about the insects that pollinate flytraps? Researchers at North Carolina State University spent months slogging through the woods, checking flytrap flowers as well as the putrid content of snap trap pouches. Their results provide a surprising glimpse into flytrap biology and reproduction.
Of the 100 types of insects found on Venus flytrap flowers, only a handful carried significant amounts of the plant’s pollen. The three most significant pollinators were:
The green sweat bee (Augochlorella gratiosa)
The notch-tipped flower longhorn beetle (Typocerus sinuatus)
The checkered beetle (Trichodes apivorus)
Next, researchers explored how many of these flytrap pollinators fell prey to the plants. They studied the contents of more than 200 flytraps; the results were astonishing. Despite the regularity with which the three primary pollinators visited flytrap flowers, they never ended up in the traps. How did the bees and beetles in question avoid the gory fate of non-pollinators?
The Deceptive Architecture of Venus Flytraps
While more research is needed to unlock the secrets of the Venus flytrap, scientists have a few theories. Elsa Youngsteadt, lead author and research associate at North Carolina State University, theorizes the plant’s architecture may hold a critical key. The placement of the flowers on flytraps is vital. They sit elevated on stems high above the snap traps of the plant. Since the plant’s primary pollinators fly, they remain free and clear of trouble.
As for prey? Youngsteadt notes, “Only 20 percent of the prey could fly. The pollinator species may simply be staying above the danger zone as they go from flower to flower, making them less likely to be eaten.”
Researchers speculate other biological factors may also be at work. For starters, the plant’s snap traps are a different color than its flowers. Do these color variations lure different insect species to specific areas of the plant? Only more time and research will tell. Some scientists even speculate the traps may release different chemical agents than the flowers, resulting in a dangerous siren call for the plant’s favorite prey.
Scientists plan on investigating more Venus flytrap sites to see if the data collected about these three primary pollinators holds up in other locations. They also wish to explore additional questions about flytrap biology, such as how much pollen is necessary for reproduction, what type of nectar the plant produces, and the role fire events play in reproductive success. According to Rebecca Irwin, study co-author from NC State, “There is still a lot to learn about these plants and their pollinators.”
Fortunately, none of them have started talking!
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!
July 21, 2020
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