It’s no secret that most Hollywood movies don’t quite represent reality. From polished actors to happy endings only, we’ve learned to take it with a grain of salt.
This time, we’re dealing with another big screen misdemeanor. It turns out, the American film industry does little to care about accurately portraying other countries. The meme below suggests that all it takes to portray Mexico, Japan, Africa, and India is some editing and a custom filter. Hence, the Mexican street is drenched in sepia, Japan is shouting neon, and Eastern Europe looks grey and shabby. Too many stereotypes and too little imagination have got us wondering how come it’s still okay.
On Saturday afternoon SpaceX and NASA successfully launched a crew of American astronauts aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. There has not been a mission from the Kennedy Space Center to put people into space for almost ten years, since the end of the Space Shuttle program. The launch was also historic for SpaceX as it became the first private company to carry humans into orbit. The Dragon capsule will dock Sunday morning with the International Space Station. The astronauts will stay in space for at least six weeks but possibly up to four months.
Yunyang Longgang Scenic Spot in Chongqing, China, has become home to what is being referred to as the world’s scariest swing, which can catapult thrill-seekers over the edge of a nearly 700m-tall cliff, at speeds of up to 130km per hour.
The newly-unveiled super swing consists of a 100-meter-tall arch tower from which the swing’s metal cables are attached, and a 108-meter-tall launch tower which allows the swing to achieve mind-numbing speeds. With a swing diameter of up to 91.5 meters, the Yunyang Longgang Cliff Swing is said to offer a more thrilling experience than the famous Nevis Swing in Queenstown, New Zealand, or the Glenwood Canyon Cliff Swing in the United States. The new super-swing is currently undergoing additional safety inspections and is expected to open at the end of next month.
Photo: iChongqing
“To ensure the security of tourists, we used the structural steel of the world’s highest safety performance and applied advanced technologies such as seamless welding. It’s also anti-thunder and anti-electric and can withstand a magnitude 10 earthquakes and level 14 typhoons,” Li Pengfei, General Manager of Yunyang Tourism Development Co., Ltd, told iChongging, last year.
The arc of the swing reaches 90 degrees, 70 meters from the cliff under neat the seat. Up to three people can use the swing at a time; they will be strapped into the chair with safety harnesses, before being lifted into the air by a rope attached to the launch tower, from which they will be flung at blistering speed.
To experience the Yunyang Longgang Cliff Swing first-hand, you will have to travel to Chongqing and wait until June 30th, when the ride is expected to officially open.
I’d shit my pants just before my heart would blow out if I tried riding this thing.
Reminiscent of the beginnings of an apocalyptic science fiction film, a troop of monkeys in India attacked a lab worker and made off with blood samples from COVID-19 patients. The very strange incident reportedly occurred at a medical college in the city of Meerut on Thursday when a lab technician was walking outside the facility and encountered the troublesome creatures. Presumably suspecting that he was carrying something that they could eat, the monkeys descended upon the unfortunate individual and snatched three samples containing the virus.
The fantastic nature of the caper captured the imagination of people online, many of whom likened it to the eerily similar opening scene of the zombie film 28 Days Later. However, not everyone found the monkey’s antics amusing as residents of the area were understandably concerned about the prospect of the creatures spreading the virus in their community. In response to those fears, an official with the college assured the public that, to date, no evidence has emerged to indicate that monkeys can get the coronavirus.
Fortunately this became something of a moot point when the samples were recovered shortly after the animals had stolen them. It would appear that the monkeys, who had scrambled up trees to examine the pilfered material, eventually tossed the blood samples to the ground once they realized that the packets could not be eaten. Nonetheless, authorities have pledged to investigate the incident and take steps to prevent any similar incidents in the future.
The blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is a marine bird native to subtropical and tropical regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is one of six species of the genus Sula – known as boobies. It is easily recognizable by its distinctive bright blue feet, which is a sexually selected trait. Males display their feet in an elaborate mating ritual by lifting them up and down while strutting before the female. The female is slightly larger than the male and can measure up to 90 cm (35 in) long with a wingspan of up to 1.5 m (5 ft).
The natural breeding habitats of the blue-footed booby are the tropical and subtropical islands of the Pacific Ocean. It can be found from the Gulf of California down along the western coasts of Central and South America down to Peru. Approximately one half of all breeding pairs nest on the Galápagos Islands. Its diet mainly consists of fish, which it obtains by diving and sometimes swimming underwater in search of its prey. It sometimes hunts alone, but usually hunts in groups.
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