Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 472
July 9, 2016
July 8, 2016
Santa Cruz del Islote is the Most Densely Populated Island
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Santa Cruz del Islote, off the coast of Colombia, is thought to be the world’s most densely populated island, with 1,247 people living in a space the size of a baseball field.
The island is part of the Archipelago of San Bernardo
Its so small, the residents have to use neighboring islands for a cemetery
Children go to school on the neighboring mainland
Residents work on the mainland instead of the island
And all recreational activity has to take place off the island too
Santa Cruz del Islote has a total surface area of 0.012 square km
MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.
Source: Santa Cruz del Islote is the Most Densely Populated Island
Somewhere Over the Rainbow Almost Not in Wizard of Oz
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was twice cut from The Wizard of Oz because the directors thought it was too long and slow.
The entire song isn’t even three minutes long
The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song
It became the signature song of Judy Garland’s career
It’s one of the most popular songs on the 20th century and has been covered hundreds of times
MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.
Source: Somewhere Over the Rainbow Almost Not in Wizard of Oz
Unboxing Dragons…of the Matchstick Variety
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In This Episode
Last week’s episode gave you a taste of matchstick art with Len Hughes’ Statue of Liberty, but, with 100,000 matchsticks, Lady Liberty has got nothing on artist Patrick Acton’s latest creation. Nearly triple that and add over nine gallons of glue and some animatronics, and you’ve got yourself Ripley’s latest acquisition!
Today: A Two-Headed Matchstick Dragon
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Ripley’s has been working with matchstick artist Patrick Acton for years, acquiring one new piece, made completely out of matchsticks, a year since 2012. Today’s episode takes a closer look at his newest piece, a two-headed dragon, but let’s take a look at some of his other strikingly unbelievable works!
Steampunk Train
Over 1,000,000 matchsticks
35 gallons of glue
3,000 hours
Over 750 pounds
22 feet long, 13 feet wide and 9 feet high—the largest matchstick model in the world!
International Space Station
243,000 matchsticks
One year to create
If you were to put all the matchsticks end to end it would be 7 miles long. That’s one-and-a-quarter Mount Everests, more than two 5K runs, or even 29 ½ Empire State Buildings.
Minis Tirith
420,000 matchsticks
24,000 wooden blocks to create the mountain, which supports the structure
Three years to construct
Hogwarts
Over 600,000 matchsticks
Three years to create
A Crocodile Can Hold Its Breath for Eight Hours
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In cold water, the longest recorded time a crocodile has held its breath is eight hours.
On average, they hold their breath for up to 15 minutes at a time
However, if they aren’t stressed, they can got for two hours
In cold water, the total increases to eight hours because a cold crocodile uses less energy and oxygen than a warm one
MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.
The Sandbox Tree and Other Exploding Plants
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The Sandbox Tree, Hura Crepitans, has a trunk covered in thorns and its fruit explodes when ripe.
The trees can grow to 60 meters (200 feet)
They’re native to tropical regions of North and South America
The fruit is a large capsule, and when it’s ripe it explodes and launches seeds at 70 meters per second (160 mph)
By M S via Flickr
Mini BION Extras
The sandbox tree isn’t the only plant that disperses seeds in this way
It’s called explosive dehiscence
MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.
July 7, 2016
Los Angeles Zoo Gets a Makeover with Fake Animal Facts
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
If you went on an outing, what might you do to make your trip as enjoyable as possible? Most people wouldn’t think to tape posters all over the place. But luckily, comedian Jeff Wysaski isn’t most people. He’s much funnier.
Wysaski’s social media channels are full of these kinds of hilarious facts and real-world observations. He went on what should have been a normal trip to the Los Angeles zoo and decided to bring his personal flare and humor to the park.
Sadly, the zoo wasn’t as amused as they could have been. Hours after the posters showed up and attention was drawn to them on social media, they were removed. But luckily, once something’s been posted on the internet, it lasts forever.
You can see more of his work on his Obvious Plant Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter feed. In the meantime, sit back and prepare to laugh at some great Fake Animal Facts.
Source: Los Angeles Zoo Gets a Makeover with Fake Animal Facts
There is a Sport Called FootGolf
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
There’s a sport called FootGolf which is a mix between soccer and golf.
The sport is overseen by the Federation for International FootGolf
The games take place on a golf course
The goal is to kick a soccer ball into a “cup”
The player who achieves the goal in the fewest number of kicks wins
The first tournament was played in 2008, but there are reports of the sport being played as early as 2006
MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.
Source: There is a Sport Called FootGolf
Chameleon Spit is Stickier than Honey
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Curious about how Chameleons managed to capture prey, scientist performed a study and found that chameleon saliva is thicker than honey.
To study chameleon spit, researchers put a cricket behind glass and got a chameleon to strike at it
They then collected the saliva left behind on the glass
A chameleon’s tongue can be twice as long as its body
Its spit is as thick and sticky as honey
When hunting, the chameleon’s tongue retracts with an acceleration of 40 Gs
The combination of sticky saliva and suction cup tongue allows the chameleon to hold on to its food while its tongue moves so fast
MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.
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