Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 323
August 24, 2018
IBM Patented A Flying Robot To Sell You Coffee
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[August 19-25th] Canadians are baffled by STEVE, the Russians have a case of mistaken identity, and IBM patents a coffee-delivering drone.
Laziness Is A Survival Skill?
According to a study published by the Royal Society by researchers at the University of Kansas, laziness may help some species survive. Their study mostly focused on mollusks, and found that their sluggish behavior helped them lower their metabolic rate and save energy. This would have been important during periods of food scarcity.
What Is STEVE?
STEVE has been a mystery in Canada for a long time, leaving scientists deeply puzzled. STEVE isn’t a person, however, but is a strange light phenomenon in the skies of Canada, also known as the Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. Observers believed they were close guessing that STEVE was some kind of aurora—like the northern lights—but the University of Calgary has now confirmed that STEVE is active even when particles hitting the ionosphere are not. STEVE continues to remain a mystery.
Russians Got The Wrong Man
The beautiful Russian metropolis of St. Petersburg owes much of its architectural wonder to the work of Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomon. City residents hoped to honor the artist with a statue, but apparently, there was a mix-up. It was discovered this week that the statue is actually a depiction of Scottish chemist Thomas Thomson. The artists seemed to have gotten confused when googling for reference images.
Thomas Thomson
Pregnant Woman Bikes To The Hospital
When you’re the minister for women and work on health and transportation issues, you’re expected to take it pretty seriously. The 42-weeks pregnant Julie Anne Genter, however, took it to the next level. Needing to reach a hospital to begin her labor induction, the civil servant decided to ride her bicycle. Her newborn son was born weighing 9.47 pounds, but she says the ride wasn’t too hard because it was mostly downhill.
A post shared by Julie Anne Genter (@julieannegenter) on Aug 18, 2018 at 3:42pm PDT
IBM Patents Flying Coffee Bot
Computing giant IBM now has a patent for a coffee-delivering drone. The flying vehicle doesn’t just precariously deliver hot liquids precariously over people’s heads, but is also equipped with sensors to tell who really needs it. The patent includes details about the robot’s ability to measure facial expressions, posture, and mood to tell if someone is truly in need of a boost of caffeine.
Is It Safe To Fly Through An Asteroid Belt?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, C-3PO tells Han Solo, “Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to one,” indicating that traveling through one of the galaxy’s asteroid clusters is potentially life-threatening. Many people have hung onto the belief that the asteroid belt is littered with these huge rocky objects just waiting to strike any spacecraft that passes by.
While it’s true that the universe contains millions of asteroids, some of which can be hundreds of miles wide, it’s unlikely that a ship would collide with any of them in the main asteroid belt. The chances of hitting one is actually less than 1 billion.
The asteroid belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, contains rocky objects that range in size from a speck of dust to 590 miles across. It is unclear how many asteroids populate the belt, but it may consist of “billions — maybe even trillions — of asteroids,” according to Space.com. Fortunately, the asteroids are widely spread apart, allowing space agencies to safely explore the area.
In 1972, scientists launched the space probe Pioneer 10 into the asteroid belt. Images from flyby missions revealed that the rocky objects had miles of space between them, which would allow a spacecraft to harmlessly navigate that section of the solar system, which spans a whopping 140 million miles. Subsequent spaceships have also successfully entered and exited the region without colliding with an asteroid.
In 2006, NASA’s spacecraft New Horizons traveled through the asteroid belt on its way to Pluto. New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern explained: “Fortunately, the asteroid belt is so huge that, despite its large population of small bodies, the chance of running into one is almost vanishingly small – far less than one in a billion. That means if you want to come close enough to an asteroid to make detailed studies of it, you have to aim for one.”
New Horizons space probe.
Astronomers have calculated the distance between asteroids and estimate it is about 600,000 miles. To put that in perspective, the distance between the earth and the moon is 238,855 miles.
Most asteroids are made of stone, metal and other elements. In the asteroid belt, more than 16 of them are 150-miles across. Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea are 250 miles in diameter or larger. The biggest one is the dwarf planet Ceres, which is 590 miles in diameter (about one-fourth the size of the moon). The remaining asteroids are significantly smaller. If all the asteroids in the solar system were bundled together, astronomers think they would create an object smaller than the moon.
By Noelle Talmon, contributor for Ripleys.com
Is It Safe To Fly Though An Asteroid Belt?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, C-3PO tells Han Solo, “Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to one,” indicating that traveling through one of the galaxy’s asteroid clusters is potentially life-threatening. Many people have hung onto the belief that the asteroid belt is littered with these huge rocky objects just waiting to strike any spacecraft that passes by.
While it’s true that the universe contains millions of asteroids, some of which can be hundreds of miles wide, it’s unlikely that a ship would collide with any of them in the main asteroid belt. The chances of hitting one is actually less than 1 billion.
The asteroid belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, contains rocky objects that range in size from a speck of dust to 590 miles across. It is unclear how many asteroids populate the belt, but it may consist of “billions — maybe even trillions — of asteroids,” according to Space.com. Fortunately, the asteroids are widely spread apart, allowing space agencies to safely explore the area.
In 1972, scientists launched the space probe Pioneer 10 into the asteroid belt. Images from flyby missions revealed that the rocky objects had miles of space between them, which would allow a spacecraft to harmlessly navigate that section of the solar system, which spans a whopping 140 million miles. Subsequent spaceships have also successfully entered and exited the region without colliding with an asteroid.
In 2006, NASA’s spacecraft New Horizons traveled through the asteroid belt on its way to Pluto. New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern explained: “Fortunately, the asteroid belt is so huge that, despite its large population of small bodies, the chance of running into one is almost vanishingly small – far less than one in a billion. That means if you want to come close enough to an asteroid to make detailed studies of it, you have to aim for one.”
New Horizons space probe.
Astronomers have calculated the distance between asteroids and estimate it is about 600,000 miles. To put that in perspective, the distance between the earth and the moon is 238,855 miles.
Most asteroids are made of stone, metal and other elements. In the asteroid belt, more than 16 of them are 150-miles across. Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea are 250 miles in diameter or larger. The biggest one is the dwarf planet Ceres, which is 590 miles in diameter (about one-fourth the size of the moon). The remaining asteroids are significantly smaller. If all the asteroids in the solar system were bundled together, astronomers think they would create an object smaller than the moon.
By Noelle Talmon, contributor for Ripleys.com
August 23, 2018
Believe It or Not! It’s Been A Century of Strange for Ripley’s
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has enjoyed a long, proud publishing history, beginning all the way back with Robert Ripley’s best-selling first book in 1929.
The 188-page book received rave reviews. Walter Winchell, well-known newspaper and radio gossip commentator, devoted a full column to it in the Evening Graphic. Over the next 20 years, Ripley’s book would sell more than 2.2 million copies, going into its 40th printing.
Now, in the company’s 100th year, Ripley’s publishing legacy continues with Ripley’s Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange!
From conga-dancing dogs and bicycling ballerinas, to hair-raising feats of strength and death-defying motorcycle stunts, Ripley’s newest book is sure to delight readers of all ages. With over 1,200 weird-but-true stories from around the world and 256 pages of wild and wonderful photography, A Century of Strange is not-to-be-missed.
Get Sucked In!
A bicycle ballet.
Lea Schäepe of Potsdam, Germany, can ride a bike while standing on the handlebars and many other unconventional ways, thanks to her years of practice in artistic cycling.
A grilled cheese volcano spewing tomato soup lava!
Food junkies JP Lambiase and Julia Goolia of Orlando, Florida, are the architects behind Hellthy Junk Food, a YouTube channel featuring all sorts of unbelievably outrageous junk food creations—like this grilled cheese volcano inspired by Robert Ripley’s attempt to purchase his own volcano in 1943!
Out of this world dance moves.
Los Angeles, California, dancer Solto Esengulov moves and morphs his body in ways that seem to go against ordinary human anatomy. Perhaps the most alarming to watch is his signature move of grabbing his windpipe and shifting it from one side of his throat to the other.
Bat blood, yum!
While working on a biodiversity survey in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, entomologist and photographer Piotr Naskrecki discovered a disturbing face-hugging bat fly
that feeds on, you guessed it, bats. True parasites, these bad bugs feed exclusively
on blood!
Creative creations straight from Côte d’Ivoire!
Twenty-one-year-old fashion designer Laetitia Ky, from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Africa, took social media by storm after posting her new photo series where she sculpts her hair into all kinds of shapes and gestures!
QUIZ: Which A Century of Strange Personality Are You?
Which friendly (or freaky!) face from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange are you? Take this quiz to find out!
Don’t miss out on being an ODDthority on everything strange, get your copy on Amazon today!
Source: Believe It or Not! It’s Been A Century of Strange for Ripley’s
George Washington Carver Didn’t Invent Peanut Butter
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Or Not
In today’s world many misconceptions have been perpetuated—becoming modern day “facts”—when, in reality, myths and hearsay have taken over. Sorry to burst your bubble, but in this weekly column, Ripley’s puts those delusions to the test, turning your world upside down, because you can’t always…Believe It!
Today: Did George Washington Carver invent peanut butter?
George Washington Carver (1860s-1943) was a brilliant and benevolent man who invented over 300 different uses for peanuts, but he did not invent peanut butter. Unfortunately, this is the achievement with which most people associate him.
What Is True About George Washington Carver?
Carver was incredibly intelligent, and his inventions made a large impact on our world today. He not only came up with many uses for peanuts (including as shampoo, glue, and laxatives), but he also created with multiple uses for soybeans, sweet potatoes, pecans, and additional crops.
However, Carver did not court fame and fortune, and he even turned down a job working for Thomas Edison, one that would have paid him six figures. He also didn’t patent his inventions for the most part, saying, “One reason I never patent my products is that if I did, it would take so much time I would get nothing else done. But mainly, I don’t want any discoveries to benefit specific favored persons. I think they should be available to all peoples.”
Sadly, many still think of Carver as “The Man Who Invented Peanut Butter,” even though it is one of the only uses for peanuts that he didn’t create, and most are completely unaware of his generosity and other good qualities.
So, Who Did?
Four different individuals are credited with helping to invent the peanut butter we know and love today. Marcellus Gilmore Edson was a Canadian who, in 1884, patented something called peanut paste, which sounds way less delicious, but which was basically the foundation for peanut butter.
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patented a process that allowed him to make another kind of peanuty blend in 1895, which he hoped to market to people who didn’t have teeth as a healthy type of protein snack.
Missourian Dr. Ambrose Straub patented a machine in 1903 that could make peanut butter, and finally, in 1922, a chemist named Joseph Rosefield created a way to make smooth peanut butter from which the oil wouldn’t separate, which is much like the spread we have today.
However, if you really want to go back to the beginning, there is evidence that the Aztecs took roasted peanuts and mashed them to create a blend. While it probably tasted a lot different than the PB in our PB&Js, it could be considered the original peanut butter.
By Julia Tilford, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: George Washington Carver Didn’t Invent Peanut Butter
August 22, 2018
The Living Statue: Hananuma Masakichi
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The statue of Hananuma Masakichi is so life-like and so realistically detailed that you could easily believe you’re looking at a living person. Carved by the illustrious Japanese artist, Masakichi, the statue is a detailed self-portrait.
A practitioner of Japanese doll-making—known as iki-ninguo—Masakichi was already a famed creator of life-sized mannequins. After learning that he was suffering from tuberculosis at the age of 53, Masakichi endeavored to create a monument of himself for his wife. He carved 2,000 individual pieces of wood and glued them together flawlessly to create a reproduction with seems that were so faint, that observers couldn’t even find them with the aid of a magnifying glass. There are no screws or nails present, Masakichi instead used dovetail joints and wooden pegs to hold the sculpture together.
Masakichi used mirrors to mimic his own body. The size, proportions, and even textures match his own. He used the hair off his body on the statue, carefully drilling tiny holes on the wood and placing each follicle one at a time. Veins, tendons, muscles, and bones seem to lie just below the wood’s surface, but the statue itself is hollow. Terminally ill, Masakichi decided to use his own teeth, toenails, and fingernails to adorn his doppelganger. By the time he completed his work in the city of Yokohama, Japan, in 1885, word of his accomplishment had begun to spread. When he unveiled the sculpture, it’s said that he stood motionless beside it and that no one could tell which was the living Masakichi.
After Masakichi finished his magnum opus, he died nearly a decade later. Despite all his skill, he succumbed to sickness penniless. At some point, the statue left Yokohama and made its way to California. Making appearances at a few different bars, this is where a young Robert Ripley first heard of the lifelike statue. Believe it or not, the statue was an attraction at the San Francisco Art Saloon, appearing on coins that were redeemable for a free drink.
Ripley fell in love with the statue at the bar, but wasn’t able to purchase it until he reached Believe It or Not! fame. By that time, however, the statue had disappeared. Ripley spent 20 years hoping to find the statue again, eventually running into it in a curio shop. He bought the masterpiece for a mere ten dollars in 1934.
The statue of Masakichi immediately became Ripley’s favorite exhibit, and he sent it to be displayed immediately at the Chicago World Fair. After the fair ended, Masakichi spent much of his time on BION Island, where Ripley was known to engage in all sorts of hijinks with it. Notably, he liked to hide it behind closed doors and windows to scare his guests.
The Masakichi statue remains a standout exhibit in the Ripley’s collection to this day, though it was damaged for a time during the 1994 Northbridge earthquake. Masakichi has since been restored and is now on display at the Ripley’s Odditorium in Amsterdam.
Though the life-like statue of Hananuma Masakichi is still in our vast collection, we’re always seeking new, unbelievable art. In honor of our book, Odd Is Art, the Deviant Art’s Unusual Art Contest put out the call to artists all across the internet to show us there stuff. Finalists have a chance for their work to be featured in a Ripley’s museum, along with a trip to our headquarters in Orlando, Florida, to spend a day with the Ripley’s art team. Be sure to check out their entries for even more inspiring and odd art!
Travis Pastrana Joins 100 Years Of Crazy Feats And Unbelievable Daredevils
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has been pushing human limits to the extreme for the last century, when a young Robert Ripley pulled together a few notable feats of endurance, sketching each for his newspaper cartoon.
One man had stayed underwater for six minutes, another skipped rope 11,810 times, while another ran 623 miles in 142 hours. He submitted the panel to his editors with the title “Champs and Chumps” but also offered “Believe It or Not” as an alternative.
Since then, extreme athletes have upped the ante and, throughout history, have taken many forms—from barnstormers and human cannonballs to BASE jumpers and escape artists. One thing remains the same: these risk-takers put their lives on the line for the thrill. Like daredevils Evel Knievel and Travis Pastrana, they make the unbelievable truly believable—worthy of being considered a Believe It or Not!
The Great Blondin
Becoming the first person to cross the Niagara gorge on a tightrope in 1859, the Great Blondin is one of the earliest daredevils to record his stunts with photography, and later video. The daredevil Blondin couldn’t stop there, however, he made the crossing increasingly dangerous, balancing on his hands, carrying a person on his back, and even cooking lunch while balancing himself and a stove on the tightropes he walked.
Annie Taylor
Daredevils remained obsessed with the sheer spectacle of the Niagara Falls. Annie Taylor, however, wasn’t afraid of a little water. She climbed into a barrel and shipped off to take a plunge over the falls, becoming the first woman to make the attempt, and the first person ever to survive the trip in a barrel
Houdini
Harry Houdini’s affinity for magic tricks is legendary, but his propensity for card tricks was wholly outmatched by his daredevil spirit. There was no stunt too dangerous for Houdini, he escaped from straitjackets and handcuffs while jumping off bridges, suspended upside down, and even while underwater.
Evel Knievel
You can’t talk of the world’s most prolific stuntmen without mentioning Evel Knievel. In Chicago, he attempted to jump over a 90-foot-long tank filled with 13 sharks. At his Washington motorcycle dealership, he soared over a twenty-foot-long box of rattlesnakes. In 1973, he managed to fly over 50 cars without a scratch. Famous for his red, white, and blue outfit, Knievel is practically synonymous with daredevil.
Travis Pastrana
Taking on the mantle of motocross daredevil, Travis Pastrana has entered the ranks of world-renown daredevils. Despite suffering from more injuries than he can remember, Pastrana has continued to pursue bigger and better stunts, even finishing a few that Knievel himself failed to accomplish. Touring with the Nitro Circus, Pastrana and his team make the unbelievable happen on a regular basis.
Source: Travis Pastrana Joins 100 Years Of Crazy Feats And Unbelievable Daredevils
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