Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 42
February 17, 2023
Hazy Skies In Impressionist Artwork Illustrated… Air Pollution?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The hazy landscapes favored by impressionist artists in the mid-18th to 20th centuries were not just dreamy depictions of nature—they were a reflection of the environmental condition of the era, according to a new study published by the National Academy of Sciences.
Pollution PaintersResearchers analyzed 100 pieces of artwork by French painter Claude Monet and English artist Joseph Mallord William (J.M.W.) Turner, who created their masterpieces during the Industrial Revolution when coal factories operated in multiple European cities and emitted air pollutants.
Polluted landscapes are evident in famous paintings such as Monet’s 1903 “The Houses of Parliament, Sunset,” and Turner’s 1844 “Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway.”
Turner’s “Rain, Steam and Speed — The Great Western Railway” – 1844. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Study author Anna Lea Albright told Live Science: “It is often said that Turner was born in the age of sail and died in the age of steam and coal — his lifetime spans a time of unprecedented environmental change.” She noted that in London during the first Industrial Revolution, air pollution was known as the “Big Smoke.” Later, Monet painted what he saw during the second Industrial Revolution in London and Paris. Comparable air pollution is present today in cities such as Beijing, New Delhi and Mexico City.
The researchers analyzed how air pollution interacts with light, specifically looking at local sulfur dioxide emission levels in London and Paris from the 18th to 20th centuries. They determined that air pollution can reduce contrast and increase an image’s “whiteness.”
Haze CrazeMonet’s and Turner’s vision was not a factor in their depictions of hazy landscapes—their eyesight was just fine. Albright pointed out that over time, the haziness in the artist’s contours became more pronounced and “the palette appeared whiter and the style transformed from more figurative to more impressionistic.”
Environmental changes, which effected the light around them, led to a change in their style of painting. The addition of toxic microscopic particles in the air absorbs and scatters light, which makes long-distance objects appear hazier. Albright noted, “By scattering background light of all wavelengths into the line of vision, the presence of air pollution gives images a whiter tint.”
Monet’s “Houses of Parliament” – 1900. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Turner’s and Monet’s impressionistic paintings “capture a certain reality,” according to Peter Huybers, study co-author and Harvard University professor of Earth and planetary sciences. He noted how the artists realistically portrayed how sunlight filters through pollution and clouds and that Impressionism depicted polluted realism.
The researchers concluded in their study that “our view is that impressionistic paintings recording natural phenomena—as opposed to being imagined, amalgamated, or abstracted—does not diminish their significance; rather, it highlights the connection between environment and art.”
In addition, study authors discerned that atmospheric changes can “both literally and figuratively change how we see the world.”
By Noelle Talmon, 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: Hazy Skies In Impressionist Artwork Illustrated… Air Pollution?
February 16, 2023
The Secret to Ancient Sloths’ Aquatic Lives Found
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Between 25 and 4 million years ago, aquatic sloths nearly the size of elephants lived in what is now known as Chile and Peru. These sloths were skilled swimmers who sustained themselves on vegetation on the seafloor of the ocean, according to a report from researchers at Sorbonne University in Paris.
Believe It or Not!, the ancient mammals had extra dense bones that allowed them to sink more easily and graze on the bottom of the sea similar to manatees!
Sinking SlothsThe study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that these giant aquatic sloths gradually made the transition from earth to sea. Study co-author Eli Amson told Live Science, “It was really important for us to show that of course the compactness that was found is really over the top and clearly shows the aquatic adaption, because such high levels of compaction are only found in aquatic animals.”
Thalassocnus is an extinct aquatic sloth from the Miocene of South America. They grazed on sea grass & seaweed, anchoring themselves to the seafloor with powerful claws,
(Credit Roman Yevseyev) pic.twitter.com/j7Bp1X3WLo
— Extinct Animals 🦣🦤 (@Extinct_AnimaIs) November 3, 2021
The density of the sloths’ shin bones and ribs increased 20 percent over a period of around 3 million years. This is moderately fast when it comes to geologic time, according to the researchers, who examined fossil remains of the sloth’s transition from land to aquatic creatures. The reason as to why the sloths started foraging for food in the water is likely because it was hard to find in Peru, which had desert-like conditions.
The Bone-afide SecretModern-day sloths are the size of monkeys and reside in trees. However, they still have somewhat dense bones in comparison to other mammals. As a result, scientists think this bone density may serve a purpose on land and thus helped their ancestors transition to an aquatic lifestyle. It’s unclear how the dense bones were/are a benefit on land.
Aquatic sloths have been extinct for approximately 4 million years. They survived until the Isthmus of Panama closed and the Caribbean Sea no longer led into the Pacific Ocean. South American waters became colder, which destroyed the sea grass that the sloths consumed. This, and the possibility that the sloths couldn’t stand the cold water, likely led to their demise.
Credit: FunkMonk Via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Research on the five species of sloths is ongoing in order to learn more about their evolution.
Magnificent MammalsThere is an interesting fact about sloths that makes even more sense given these research results: They are great swimmers and can hold their breath for about 40 minutes underwater, according to Travel & Leisure. Their hind legs are weak, but once they hit the water, their long arms help them swim around quite easily.
Other facts you may not know:
Sloths relieve themselves only once a week and do so in the same spot every time.Sloths move so slowly that fungi grow on their fur.Sloths can rotate their heads nearly 270 degrees in the same direction.Sloth “nails” are actually four-inch-long finger bones covered in keratin that help them hold onto trees.Sloths typically live alone and have a lifespan of 20-30 years in the wild.In addition, Thomas Jefferson loved studying fossils, and his research in 1804 led to the discovery of an extinct sloth species, according to the Smithsonian. He is credited as the discoverer of the Megalonyx genus.
Can’t Get Enough Sloths?This spring, visitors to Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina will be able to come face-to-face with the adorable creatures at the brand-new Ripley’s Sloth Valley habitat!
Think you’re already an expert on all things sloth? Visit the Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach website to test your knowledge and be entered to win four early-access tickets to Sloth Valley!
By Noelle Talmon, 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!
February 15, 2023
The Tragic Collapse of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
On May 9, 1980, 35 people traveling southbound across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge died after plunging into Tampa Bay, unaware that the structure had partially collapsed after being struck by a ship only moments before. One man survived the incident after a 1,400-foot piece of concrete roadway fell 150 feet into the water along with eight vehicles, including a bus.
Leading Up to the Tragic EventThe weather that morning was treacherous—it was pouring rain, wind gusts hit speeds of 90 mph, and there was zero visibility. At 7:30 a.m., it was also rush hour.
Joe Blasewitz, a state transportation inspector, crossed the bridge shortly before the accident and later told AP: “It was phenomenal, unbelievable. The storm had been so ominous. It had blown through, and everything was overcast. I thought, ‘God is looking over me because I got across the bridge.’”
The ship that struck the bridge, the Summit Venture, was helmed by harbor pilot John Lerro. The blinding conditions incapacitated the ship’s 609-foot radar when it was seven-tenths of a mile from the bridge. There was also an approaching ship leaving the bay, and Lerro was concerned that the two ships may collide if he turned the Summit Venture out of the shipping channel. So, Lerro attempted to guide the vessel through the channel beneath the bridge. He failed. The ship hit a pier and compromised a bridge support, which collapsed and took out six cars, a pickup truck, and a bus with 26 people on board.
Lerro immediately contacted the Coast Guard after striking the bridge. According to the radio transcription (via the Tampa Bay Times) Lerro exclaimed: “Get emergency . . . all the emergency equipment out to the Skyway bridge. Vessel has just hit the Skyway bridge. The Skyway bridge is down! Get all emergency equipment out to the Skyway bridge. The Skyway bridge is down. This is Mayday. Emergency situation. (Nearly screaming) Stop the traffic on that Skyway bridge!”
WATCH: 38 years ago today, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapsed into Tampa Bay as it was hit by a cargo ship, sending a Greyhound bus and other vehicles plummeting 150 feet into the water.
More than 30 people were killed.
This was the @NBCNightlyNews report from that night. pic.twitter.com/vDc3TFY2HH
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 9, 2018
The driver of the pickup truck, Wesley MacIntire, was the sole survivor of those who hit the water after crew members from the ship rescued him. Witness Anthony Gattus was traveling with three coworkers in a car when he saw the Greyhound bus disappear in front of him. He recalled: “The bus went by us and then, there was nothing, just darkness. We slid to a stop on the metal part of the bridge and got out.”
Gattus’ vehicle stopped just over one foot from the edge of the southbound lane as it hung over the bay. Gattus crawled on his hands and knees and hung on to the grate on the ground as he climbed to safety. He said, “We started going up the ramp of the bridge and I’m hollering to the others: ’The cars ain’t going to see us or hear us. We’re going to get run down.’”
Lywood Armstrong was one of the lucky ones—she got off the bus one stop before it crossed the bridge. However, she lost her friend, John “Chip” Callaway Jr., 19. “When I saw them pulling up the bodies and the bus later and saw the number on the side of the bus I knew that was the one I got off,” she told 10 Tampa Bay.
The AftermathThe northbound section of the twin span bridge remained intact and proceeded to carry travelers across the bay until a new bridge was completed in 1987. The new bridge, the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway bridge, named after the former governor and U.S. senator Bob Graham, is taller, so ships can more easily pass under. The bridge also features several dozen bumpers known as dolphin structures that protect it from impact.
However, for over a decade, the wreckage of the southbound span, complete with a huge hole in the midst of it, stood standing until it was demolished. The ends of the bridge were eventually converted into fishing piers.
It’s been 40 years since Tampa Bay experienced one of its worst tragedies – the collapse of the old Sunshine Skyway bridge.
Here are the historic photos captured on that day: https://t.co/ZlK2qkKCxI pic.twitter.com/JkXYQlDBw1
— Tampa Bay Times (@TB_Times) May 9, 2020
A man named Jim Crispin, one of Gattus’ colleagues who was in the vehicle with him, never traveled over the bridge again. His widow, Mary, said: “He couldn’t do it. There was too much realism—a busload of people drowned. ″
As for the ship pilot Lerro, the Coast Guard concluded in its investigation that his decision to sail in zero visibility was a contributing cause of the crash. It also determined that the oncoming tanker was anchored and therefore not a threat. In addition, the Coast Guard determined that the blinding storm was not predicted, and a passing pilot did not warn Lerro about the weather conditions. Lerro lost his license but earned it again before quitting the ship piloting business and launching a new career at a crisis hot line.
By Noelle Talmon, 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!The 350-Pound Penguin That Once Roamed Planet Earth
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Fifty million years ago, during the Eocene Epoch, the Earth was an unrecognizable wilderness of verdant forests and expansive valleys where tapirs, rhinoceroses, and horses roamed. Each new fossil discovery provides a greater understanding of what that world looked like. But one of the most recent finds has the internet buzzing with talk of penguins the size of a linebacker!
Known as Kumimanu fordycei, fossil evidence of this newfound species has emerged from beach boulders in North Otago on South Island, New Zealand. Here’s what we know about the ancient penguin species that rivaled today’s heaviest professional football players and largest basketball stars (think Shaquille O’Neal).
The Giants of the Southern HemisphereHow does Kumimanu fordycei stack up against other penguins from the past and present? If we start with penguin species today, the largest is the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), coming in at approximately 100 pounds. As for ancient species, the next closest penguin was the Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, which lived roughly 37 million years ago in Antarctica. This big beauty tipped the scales at a whopping 256 pounds and measured 6.6 feet tall!
This is our best guess at height for Kumimanu fordycei (we have a good mass regression, but height is tricky without any leg bones so we did not estimate it in the paper). These cutouts will be available for selfies when we open the @thebrucemuseum Penguins exhibit this spring! pic.twitter.com/ajRiYFCHGH
— Daniel Ksepka (@KsepkaLab) February 8, 2023
As for Kumimanu fordycei, researchers are hesitant to give a height for the animal because they don’t have a complete skeleton. But the fossils they recovered allowed them to guesstimate the animal’s weight based on bone density and size. Daniel Field of Cambridge University explains, “Kumimanu fordycei would have been an utterly astonishing sight on the beaches of New Zealand 57 million years ago, and the combination of its sheer size and the incomplete nature of its fossil remains makes it one of the most intriguing birds ever found.”
Ancient Giants EverywhereThe fossil record continues to point to gigantic versions of modern-day animals that once stomped around the globe. Along with Super Bowl player-sized penguins, we’re talking everything from scorpions the size of large dogs to massive woolly mammoths. These finds beg at least two questions: 1) Why was Earth once so conducive to giants? 2) Did these massive animals behave like their modern-day counterparts?
The answer to the first question is relatively straightforward. Scientists hypothesize that the planet’s atmosphere once contained a much greater oxygen content, hence the exaggerated scale of organisms. As for the second question, researchers believe giant penguins knew how to throw their weight around. This would have included targeting and capturing larger prey and better conserving their body temperatures during long swims in cold water. Some scientists theorize these ancient penguins would have also been equipped to dive to extreme depths, providing predatory access to ecosystems their modern counterparts wouldn’t imagine visiting today.
Of course, there’s one thing ancient penguins probably weren’t better at, and that’s predicting the Super Bowl. According to Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach, their MVPs (most valuable penguins) predicted the Kansas City Chiefs as winners of the 2023 Super Bowl days before the teams matched up on the field. So, how did they do this? Through one of the most watchable events out there, the Penguin Bowl. Check out the adorable video here.
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!
February 14, 2023
February 13, 2023
Ripley’s Acquires Forrest Gump’s Box of Chocolates, Among Other New Memorabilia
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Conversation hearts and boxes of chocolates are synonymous with Valentine’s Day, but no ordinary candy for Ripley’s sweethearts will do. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has revealed that they are now the owner of the iconic prop chocolates used by Tom Hanks in the 1994 film Forrest Gump.
The prop, signed by Hanks himself, was purchased at auction for $25,000!
The FilmIn 1994, the world was introduced to a warmhearted Alabama man named Forrest Gump and we instantly fell in love. The film, starring Tom Hanks, grossed a record-breaking $678.2 million worldwide during its theatrical run! Forrest Gump won six Academy Awards and received nominations from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild, among others.
The film, featured a variety of memorable props, including Gump’s Nike running shoes and bright red Bubba Gump Shrimp baseball cap. However, the movie’s most iconic prop was undoubtedly Gump’s box of chocolates.
Maybe the most cherished scene of the film is Forrest explaining his mother’s life philosophy to a stranger on a bus-stop bench over a white chocolate box.
“My mama always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
This quote holds true, even for the prop! Believe It or Not!, the box is not filled with chocolates, but with sand! This was so Hanks could keep it on his lap properly during filming. Marked 23-ounces, the sand-filled prop actually weighs in at over four pounds.
All-New Pop Culture ExhibitsOther recent Ripley’s acquisitions include:
Darth Maul’s legendary double-sided Lightsaber® used in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace™ during the epic “Duel of the Fates.”
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: Ripley’s Acquires Forrest Gump’s Box of Chocolates, Among Other New Memorabilia
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