Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[December 14–December 20, 2020] Singing porta-potties, a nixed nativity, and plucky predators—all round up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Indiana portable toilet company, Service Sanitation, brought holiday cheer to the masses this week with a video of 32 lit-up porta-potties “singing” the Christmas classic, “Hallelujah.”
The company posted the video on their Facebook this week declaring the “Jingle Johns” the world record winners for the “most animated faces on a single holiday light display.” It may not be an official record, but the company may be the first-ever to attempt this specific accomplishment.
What we do know is that it’s been a while since “12 Days of Christmas” was revamped, and we’d like to lodge an official request to add “32 toilets singing” to the list of things we’d like from our true love.
The Vatican has launched its annual Nativity scene, and the internet is not impressed.
It turns out the decision to feature an astronaut and a statue resembling Darth Vader in a depiction of Jesus’ birth was not the beacon of hope much of the Catholic community was looking for this time around.
The Vatican has a long history of crafting the nativity around a different theme each year, showcasing art donated by Italian artists. The themes typically revolve around a current event or virtue, with past scenes depicting a broken boat representing the struggle of refugees and themed around charity, mercy, and the meaning of Christmas.
This year’s controversial scene is from a collection of ceramics created by students and teachers in Castelli, Italy, between 1965 and 1975. It was chosen to celebrate the Abruzzo region’s history, known for ceramics, with the astronaut representing the moon landings of that era.
With that being said, the public is having a hard time relating to the futuristic theme. The installation has garnished criticism from social media users worldwide, ranging from outright disgust to comical observations.
Vatican nativity scene gets earthly thumbs down: A futuristic ceramic crèche – which includes an astronaut and a character reminiscent of Darth Vader from Star Wars – has received so many terrible reviews https://t.co/0521Kegpq9 pic.twitter.com/KqUIAJvpBX
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 15, 2020
No matter which side you’re on, there’s no denying the display is a bit weird, which is perfectly on-brand for 2020.
A Byron Bay woman was sent into every pet owner’s nightmare when a sea of foam attempted to swallow her dog whole on the Australian beach.
Video taken by the local 7 News team shows the dog’s owner making her way through brown bubbles up to her chest, desperately calling for her beloved pup, Hazel.
Hazel emerged from the murky abyss shortly after and was immediately snatched up by her mom and safely removed from the dramatic scene.
Rescue of dog from sea foam in Australia pic.twitter.com/s0UjgIpJZQ
— The National (@TheNationalNews) December 16, 2020
The foam appeared after a massive storm pummeled Australia’s eastern coastline, causing waves that turned the water’s contents into thick, foamy bubbles, causing the area’s beaches to all but disappear.
An online report posted on “Cretaceous Research” this week describes the discovery of a 110 million-year-old fossil found in the Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil, marking the first established existence of a feathered dinosaur in the Southern Hemisphere.
After its initial discovery by local quarrymen in the early 1990s, the study co-authors, geoscientist Eberhard Frey and paleontologist David Martill, requested to export the fossil to the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe in Germany, where they have studied it since.
The Ubirajara jubatus—which loosely translates to “maned lord of the spear”—is about the size of a chicken with a fuzzy mane and streamer-like shoulder feathers, which were likely used to attract mates and keep rivals away. According to Martill, “when birds have these sorts of feathers, they do all sorts of posh dances and displays, so this dinosaur looks like it was a little showoff.”
Its name means “lord of the spear,” even if this illustration looks a bit more “lord of the dance.” https://t.co/5yRfYUXx9Y
— Science News (@ScienceNews) December 15, 2020
Though it has been long assumed that many dinosaurs from the Southern Hemisphere’s supercontinent of Gondwana bore feathers, this fossil is the first to show concrete evidence of their existence.
Max Langer—a Brazilian paleontologist not connected to this research—expressed dismay that the fossil has been researched outside of the country, as it is “part of the Brazilian paleontological heritage.” He also noted that the fossilization in the Crato Formation area as “pristine” and said it was “only a matter of time until a feathered dinosaur” was discovered there.
British researchers are preparing to study the aftermath of the world’s largest iceberg colliding with an island of Antarctic wildlife in a matter of days!
The A68 iceberg is rapidly approaching the island of South Georgia, which is home to penguins, seals, and endangered blue whales. A direct hit by the iceberg, which covers about 2,000 square miles and is 95 miles long and 30 miles wide at one point, could cause mass animal starvation for the island’s inhabitants by blocking their feeding routes.
Further ecological damage can only be studied at sea, prompting the British Antarctic Survey to ship two 5-foot submersible robots to investigate. The robots will spend four months collecting data on the collision after-effects, including changes in the environment such as a trillion-tons of freshwater entering an ecosystem reliant on saltwater.
Having broken off from the Larsen C ice shelf in 2017, the iceberg has spent the past three years slowly making its way north until a current expedited its path this year, sending it to the Southern Atlantic Ocean.
A68-A Iceberg in February 2020 || Photo by European Space Agency
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: World’s Largest Iceberg Set to Collide with Antarctic Wildlife Sanctuary
