Ripley's Believe It or Not!

A car that runs on coffee!

Marcie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:28:33 +0000

I think I picked this story because the name of this car is the Car-puccino: a car that runs on coffee. No really! Created by a group of British scientists for the Big Bang Science Fair in Manchester England, this car will do three miles per kilo of ground coffee – the equivalent of about 56 espressos per mile.

SOURCE

Gangsta Babies: Yes, they are real

Marcie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:52:04 +0000

This is Big Deuce, part of the Gangsta Babies line by Mezco Toys, these are now sold out, but you can probably find one on Ebay. I still don’t believe it. We only had Cabbage Patch dolls I was a kid.

Granny DJ Rocks Paris Clubs

Marcie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:18:03 +0000

This is DJ Ruth Flowers, a highly sought after DJ…who also happens to be a 69 year old Grandmother. She spins in the most prestigious nightclubs in Paris.

You can check out her skills on her MySpace.

Largest Gum Wrapper Chain Hits NYC

Marcie — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:20:09 +0000

Gary Duschl has created the largest Gum Wrapper Chain and you can see it at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square beginning Wednesday March 10th, 2010.

Here’s something to chew on: Gary Duschl has a gum wrapper chain that stretches for 12 miles.

There are 1,500,000 gum wrappers in the chain and all are Wrigley’s brand.
That’s 42 times the height of the Empire State Building.
It’s as long as 210 football fields.
It’s twice as long as the height of Mount Everest.
It would take 5 hours to walk the length of the chain.
It would take 12 minutes to drive its length in a car at 60 mph.
If full, all the wrappers would contain 5 tons of gum.
He has spent more than 24,000 hours and 45 years on this feat.

Oh, did we mention it’s a chain of gum wrappers?

Ripley’s will hold a media event on Wednesday, March 10 at 10:30 a.m. to mark a major milestone in Duschl’s gum wrapper feat. Jim Pattison Jr., President of Ripley Entertainment, will sign the three-millionth link in the chain and the full gum wrapper chain will be on display. Duschl will also hold chain-making demonstrations for the public from 1-5 p.m.

Everyone is welcome to visit the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square Odditorium from Wednesday, March 10 through Sunday, March 14 and sign a gum wrapper that will be sent to Duschl who will use it as part of his chain. Anyone who bring in 5 gum wrappers of any sort will get a $5 discount off the price of admission ($4 off for children) from Wednesday, March 10 through Sunday, March 14.

Duschl doesn’t chew much gum; he’s really in it for the wrappers.

“It’s something that I can do in the comfort of my home. I find it therapeutic to sit down and weave a chain the same way someone would sit down and knit something,” Duschl said. He knows exactly where he wants to go with his chain – another 14 miles, straight ahead. That would make it the length of a marathon at 26.2 miles, give or take a few hundred wrappers. That’s probably another 15 years away, when he’ll be in his mid-70s.

For more on Gary Duschl, go to www.gumwrapper.com

Quake in Chile may have Shortened Days on Earth!

Marcie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:27:30 +0000

The powerful quake in Chile might have tipped Earth’s Axis and shortened our days here on Earth, 1.26 mircoseconds a day. Let Bill Nye the Science Guy explain:

More info on TIME.com.

SOURCE

Kid Directs Planes at JFK Airport

Marcie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:51:07 +0000

Sometimes it isn’t cool to bring your kids to work. An Air Traffic controller let his young son make radio transmissions to commercial planes awaiting take off at JFK a few weeks ago. (Video)

Rare Black Penguin Spotted in Antartica

Marcie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:40:51 +0000

You might not see anything out of the ordinary with this photo, but this Penguin is not wearing a traditional tux! Andrew Evans captured this photo of a an all-black penguin while traveling in Antarctica.

National Geographic contacted Ornithologist Dr. Allan Baker for comment and he called the penguin “a one in a zillion kind of mutation.” Read more of Dr. Baker’s comments here.

SOURCE

Snowboarding Dogs

Marcie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:26:30 +0000

We have seen dogs on skateboards, so now it is time for dogs on snowboards! They love it and are pretty good too! Check out Tillman and Rose hit the slopes (video):

When Dogs Snowboard from Mountain High Resort on Vimeo.

Frogmen versus Google

Luke — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:00:33 +0000

For some time now, Google has been sending out cars equipped with 360-degree panoramic cameras for their street view project. They’ve been doing this in cities all across the world. Since they started it up in 2007, their cameras have caught all kinds of unusual things, from car-crashes to crime scenes to protests.

One of the newest incidents occurred in the city of Bergen, Norway. Waiting to ambush the Street View car were a pair of Norwegians in diving gear, complete with masks, snorkels and fins!

They chased the car for half a block, brandishing their fish spears and flopping along in their fins.

Kitty Gun

Luke — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:00:02 +0000

CornerShot is an Israeli-designed gun mounting system. It’s built for military special forces and police SWAT units. Basically, it lets a person peer around a corner without exposing themselves to harm. It is fitted with a camera on the front and a video display to the rear, so the soldier/cop can see what they are aiming at.

That’s all well and good, of course. It’s an interesting trick, with a few specific applications. What happens, when somebody gets the bright idea not only to look around a corner, but to have the weapon disguised while they do it?

Enter the Kitty Shot!