Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 98
March 12, 2022
March 11, 2022
Palm-Sized Floating Spiders Prepare To Parachute Around East Coast
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Have you ever seen a spider as big as your palm? If you’re living on the East Coast, you may check it off your bucket list soon enough.
According to researchers at the University of Georgia, millions of invasive Joro spiders are expected to parachute themselves up and down the Eastern United States this spring, falling from the skies right into your backyard.
Named for Jorōgumo, a shape-shifting creature of Japanese folklore that transforms into a beautiful woman to lure unsuspecting men, the Joro spider is quite the looker, with bright yellow, blue, and red markings that stand out on their 3-inch long black bodies.
Eighteenth-century illustration of a Jorōgumo by Toriyama Sekien
All Aboard!These stunning spiders made their way to the Southeastern U.S. in 2014 via shipping containers, much like many other invasive species. They soon fanned out across Georgia, using webs up to 10-feet deep to float through the wind, Charlotte’s Web–style, traveling up to 100 miles at a time!
Though the spiders have been getting their peaches down in Georgia since their arrival, a September swarm has left researchers anticipating an explosion in population this year that will have millions of creepy colonizers propelling themselves across porches and powerlines as far north as Delaware.
The Joro spiders’ journey to the States is nothing new. Despite the current shipping crisis and cargo ships that catch fire en route to their destinations, shipping containers have a sordid history of bringing more than imported goods to international shores. Along with murder hornets, Asian longhorn beetles, and European green crabs, long-haul carriers have helped diseases travel the world, including the bubonic plague.
Don’t Blame the RatsOriginating in China, the bubonic plague—or Black Death—took out the entire army of Kipchak khan Janibeg, who had the bright idea to infect his enemies by shipping the infected corpses to the Genoese trading port of Kaffa, Crimea. The act of warfare got a bit out of hand, spreading like wildfire across Mediterranean ports before traveling inland until it killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe—about 60% of the population—in only four short years.
History may point fingers at rats for spreading the disease so rapidly, but in 2018, researchers used models of the disease to clear the rodents of their crimes, revealing humans as the true vessels of darkness.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Joro SpiderNow that you’re good and scared, we’ll let you in on some good news: not only will the Joro spider not bring more disease or famine to the U.S., but it could also actually be beneficial!
With fangs too small to puncture human skin and venom that poses no risk, Joro spiders are considered completely harmless to humans, cats, and dogs (unless they’re allergic).
Unlike most invasive species, which often wreak havoc on local ecosystems, these beauties prey on destructive populations of brown marmorated stink bugs, which are known to damage crops and are hard to get rid of since they have no natural predators. Southerners rejoice if you see a Joro in your backyard this spring: they’re also excellent for mosquito control!
Stink bugs — one of the Joro spider’s favorite snacks.
If spiders give you the creeps, you’re in for a rough go of things. According to the study’s lead author, Andy Davis, there’s not much we can do about the spiders but learn to live with them.
“If they’re literally in your way, I can see taking a web down and moving them to the side, but they’re just going to be back next year.”
It sounds like these new neighbors are here for the long haul!
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: Palm-Sized Floating Spiders Prepare To Parachute Around East Coast
March 10, 2022
The Kentucky Meat Shower Of 1876
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Strange rain has long fascinated humanity, and people have written a lot about it over the years. For example, in June 2009, residents of Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture woke up to tadpoles, frogs, and fish falling from the heavens. No one knows how the amphibians and marine animals ended up in the sky, but the theory that a waterspout sucked them into the atmosphere before they fell back to the ground sounds reasonable enough.
Of course, water creatures aren’t the only organisms that fall unexpectedly to the ground. On February 7, 2022, security camera footage caught the shocking moment a swarm of thousands of yellow-headed blackbirds slammed into the pavement over Chihuahua, Mexico, killing dozens of birds. Other strange objects falling from the sky have included jelly and spiders, according to the Farmers’ Almanac.
FLOCK DROP MYSTERY: A security camera in Chihuahua, Mexico, captured the moment hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds suddenly fell from the sky — many nosediving to their death. https://t.co/45WA04Lo8g pic.twitter.com/w1vlUqCNgK
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 16, 2022
But nothing beats the meat shower that hit Kentucky on a sunny day in March 1876.
Sunny With a Chance of MeatWhen it comes to bizarre local weather phenomena, the Kentucky meat shower ranks near the top to this day. A housewife living on a farm near Olympia Springs spotted the whole thing, and she described it as a significant event. She said that so much flesh fell from the heavens that it could “fill a horse wagon” (via Science Solved It). If you’re wondering what this means, you’re far from alone.
Kurt Gohde of the Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, has long puzzled over the statement while researching the Kentucky Meat Shower episode. He’s come to this conclusion: “In 1876, if you said, ‘Oh it was a horse wagon full of meat,’ that was like saying now, ‘It’s like a Big Gulp from McDonald’s.’ So everybody knew exactly what that meant.” While a valid point, it does little to clarify what the housewife witnessed for us modern folk.
Demystifying the Fleshy PrecipitationGohde’s fascination with explaining the Kentucky Meat Shower led him to explore books about the strange weather-related experience. While exploring old portraits in a school archive, he hit the jackpot: an antique jar containing a sample of meat suspended in a yellowish liquid. Based on the age of the jar and his previous research, he confirmed the flesh came from the 19th-century meat shower in question.
The Kentucky Meat Shower was a phenomena occurring March 3rd 1876 where pieces of meat rained down for several minutes over an area of 100 yards x 50 yards. There are theories to the cause but no definitive explanation. A piece of the meat “rain” is preserved below(
Kurt Gohde) pic.twitter.com/aWB2uKCEEL
— b strange terra (@TerraStrange) February 19, 2020
This development proved exciting because Kentuckians have never sorted out one important detail: what type of meat dropped from the sky that day. Historical documents show a significant debate raged around this aspect of the weather event.
Some suggested it was bear meat, while others thought it might be mutton. The bravest among the Kentuckians gave the meat a taste, but to no avail — mystery meat it remained. Apparently, dropping from the atmosphere wasn’t enough to deter people from noshing on it. Yikes!
A Distasteful Hypothesis EmergesDespite the daring taste test, followed by distribution of samples (like the one Gohde uncovered) to local institutions, no one has ever adequately explained the storm or its causes. Public attention soon turned to other events as people lost interest. But an explanation has finally emerged thanks to Joe Walston of the Wildlife Conservation Society, and it’s a truly distasteful one: regurgitated vulture carrion.
As Walston explains, when vultures get spooked, they have to take off quickly. This proves especially difficult after they’ve just filled up on the decaying flesh of animals. Since meat proves heavy, they vomit to lighten the load. It’s not uncommon for them to do this on the wing, sending rotting flesh raining back down to earth. The samples of meat still available from the event support this theory, although the source of the meat has still yet to be identified.
A vulture regurgitating its meal.
That said, we do know this. The samples came from torn pieces (rather than something run through a meat slicer). And they contain tissue from lungs and cartilage, which removes proper butchering from the picture. The science behind the vulture vomit theory holds water, and it also contains a clear moral: Think twice before devouring flesh falling from the sky — you might get more than you bargained for.
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!Source: The Kentucky Meat Shower Of 1876
March 9, 2022
The Surprising Legacy Of Sign Language In Martha’s Vineyard
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In the late 1600s, Jonathan Lambert, a native of Kent, England, journeyed to Chilmark, a small town on the west end of Martha’s Vineyard. He was Deaf, as were his children, and they were known as the first Deaf residents of the island. This is how the legacy of Martha Vineyard’s Sign Language sparked, but shortly thereafter died down.
Chilmark remained a very secluded part of Martha’s Vineyard. It did not have ports like the other small towns along the island, which meant there weren’t many outside visitors. A lot of hereditary traits were passed down from one individual to the next. With that, the Lambert family’s deafness inevitably spread throughout Chilmark and in return, one in every 25 residents were Deaf. To understand how drastic this number really was, we can compare it to the number of Deaf people in the United States as an entire country: one in every 5,700.
Lambert knew how to converse through a sign language that was rooted deep in the heritage of his English hometown, Kent. He brought this sign language to Chilmark, where everyone picked up on the subtle hand movements. It came very natural to those who occupied the town—even people who were not hard of hearing. The sign language swept Chilmark and became something unique to their small town!
Families passed the language down to younger generations. Sign language became a skill everyone, including hearing folks, on the island was taught. Unfortunately, there aren’t many records that showcase Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language, but there have been a few people who lived during the peak of the town’s Deaf population that have been able to speak to it.
The last known Deaf person to use Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language passed away in 1952, and there are only a few hearing people still alive that still hold knowledge of this powerful, yet silent, language used throughout the island.
Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language ultimately opened doors for new innovations in American Sign Language. During the year of 1817, the American School for the Deaf was established in Hartford, Connecticut. Here, the professionals and students would be able to develop a new sign language that would be used nationwide.
Some people knew Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language or a similar way to sign that they used solely in their community, while others had made up signs within their household and some knew French Sign Language. The combination of those different signs would eventually make up the official American Sign Language. However, even today there are variations on signs between communities, just like how different areas of the nation have different speaking accents.
By Sam McCormack, 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: The Surprising Legacy Of Sign Language In Martha’s Vineyard
March 8, 2022
Monster Waves Caught Off The Coast Of Portugal
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
On October 29, 2020, NASA’s Landsat 8 satellite snapped a remarkable series of images of gigantic waves breaking along Praia do Norte (North Beach) in Nazaré. NASA released some of these images in February 2022, noting the thick band of white foam left in the wake of the epic swells off Portugal’s coast. Scientists have determined the waves reached upwards of seven stories high, or more than 100 feet, and stretched for approximately 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) from the beach.
Although Praia do Norte has long attracted big wave surfers, drawn by the promise of catching a monster swell, the end of October 2020 proved beyond anyone’s wildest expectations thanks to Hurricane Epsilon. During the winter, the area boasts waves measuring 50 feet (15 meters) tall, and most surfers are lucky to catch 80-foot (24 meters) behemoths on an extra wild day.
But what makes this event even more remarkable is the fact an 18-year-old surfer named António Laureano paddled into the tumultuous surf that day, riding one of those record-breaking giants.
The Ride of a LifetimeA once sleepy fishing hamlet turned surfer magnet, Nazaré has garnered a reputation in the 20th and 21st centuries for attracting the planet’s most dauntless big wave surfers. No wonder the quaint destination figures prominently in the HBO documentary 100 Foot Wave, which details Garrett McNamara’s attempts to ride the largest waves worldwide.
António Laureano grew up watching McNamara and dreamed of catching monster water like his role model someday. But it’s safe to say he went well beyond his goal. During his record-breaking ride, it’s estimated that he sliced through a 101.4-foot-high (30.9 meters) wave, the biggest ever surfed. And Laureano was just an 18-something high schooler at the time.
Of course, confirming wave height can prove to be a challenge. But if he receives official recognition, Laureano will hold one of the most coveted and demanding records in the world. After all, conditions must be perfect in places like Praia do Norte to offer such incredible opportunities, and surfers must be highly skilled and at the top of their game.
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In Search of the Perfect WaveLaureano’s odds are helped by the fact he lives locally. But even he was surprised by what he witnessed and experienced that day. Accompanied by his father, Ramon Laureano, neither one had ever recalled seeing such savage surf as that October day. According to Surfer Today, the men headed out on their surfboards to take full advantage of the opportunity presented to them by nature. During the day’s last wave session, Ramon asked António if he wanted to give it one more try, and his son agreed.
He recalls, “As soon as I started to go down the wave, I gained a lot of speed, as I had never gained. It was the greatest luck ever.” Fortunately, they documented the experience on video and have since submitted it for an independent scientific evaluation. Researchers at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Human Kinetics studied the wave with great care, eventually calculating that Laureano rode an epic tower of water measuring more than 100 feet tall. That’s 20 feet taller than the current big wave record holder, Rodrigo Koxa.
Look No Further Than NazaréThere’s no better spot than Nazaré for daredevils like Laureano. That’s because everything about the marine geography of the area breeds epic swells. Off the coast, you’ll find the 143-mile-long (230 km) Nazaré Canyon, measuring 3.1 miles (5 km) deep. When waves move through the area, the deepest parts inside the canyon maintain the same speed as they did on the open ocean.
But the top of the wave slows down. This causes the wave to bend or change direction, and when you get two waves crashing together from opposite directions, it translates into some gargantuan walls of water.
In a study released in June 2020 in Science Advances, researchers revealed that wave intensity at Nazaré has increased by between 5 and 15 percent in recent years. The reason? Stronger currents and winds. If this trend continues, Laureano may have a chance to beat his own record, and NASA could get even more stunning pictures of nature at its most raw.
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!
March 7, 2022
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