Discoveries
A shark sighting in Westport, Mass., forces closure of beach as sightings in the region are on the rise with great white sharks recently being spotted off Cape Cod as well. Here, an Israeli resident catches a wave aboard an inflatable shark, in the Mediterranean sea in Ashkelon, Israel, on July 31. (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)
Shark sighting in Westport, Mass., bonus for Shark Week enthusiasts
Most shark afficionados are having their predatory-fish needs met this week by the Discovery Channel's Shark Week. But Josh Gonsalves of Westport, Mass., has gotten some firsthand interaction.
The teen fisherman and his father were two miles off of Horseneck Beach in search of bluefish, when Josh saw the telltale fin.
Cue the Jaws theme.
Boston Globe correspondent Jeff Fish reported that Gonsalves at first thought the shark was a sunfish, but then realized it was neither a sunfish, nor one of the 20 weirdest fish in the ocean, but a member of the superorder Selachimorpha.
“I was pretty scared,” Gonsalves told the Globe. “Just thinking that there’s something bigger in the water than you—what if I fell in? I knew I had to get out of there and I did.”
Gonsalves estimated that the shark was 10-12 feet long, but couldn't see the entire body. Westport Harbormaster Richard Earle believes the bluefish attracted the shark to the area, and closed Horseneck Beach for two hours.
Recently, great white shark sightings off Massachusetts have prompted the closure of five miles of South Beach off Chatham.
Those of you who are bummed you haven't had your own in-the-flesh shark moment, there's still the rest of Shark Week to get your fill!
Tonight's Shark Week premiere is "Shark Bite Beach," where the Discovery Channel recounts shark attacks on the coast of California and Mexico in 2008, as the search for reasons of why sharks mistake humans for prey continues.
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A shark leaps out of the water off the coast of South Africa in March at Seal Island in False Bay. Shark Week on the Discovery Channel starts on Aug. 1. (Geoff Spiby/Newscom)
Shark Week attacks August 1 with Ultimate Air Jaws
As the Discovery Channel says, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"
That's right, it's Shark Week! Cue "Jaws" theme song here.
If you've been feeling a void after the Deadliest Catch season finale and emotionally drained after the Phil Harris tribute, don't fear, Shark Week is here! And at Discovery Channel's website you can send a "Happy Shark Week" card to your loved ones to remind them.
Chompie, the inflatable shark, is gracing Discovery's headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., and the 23rd annual Shark Week is set to kick off at 9 PM on Sunday.
You'll want to have your snacks planned and ready ahead of time: this is like a nerdy version of the Super Bowl. The Daily Beast notes that the last three Shark Weeks were the three most watched ever, averaging a cumulative viewership of 27.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.
Shark Week kicks off with "Ultimate Air Jaws," which features with massive great whites exploding from the water in a sneak attack on their seal prey. Videographers will be experimenting with different techniques to better capture Air Jaws. Though the sharks in-flight time can be less than a second, a great white shark can propel itself up to 10 feet into the air.
Or if you happen to be in South Africa, you can go on Shark Adventures in False Bay by Seal Island and see sharks breaching for yourself. Keep in mind this is likely slightly more expensive than sitting at home on your couch. But it might be worth it, "Scientists have acknowledged that great white sharks behave differently in False Bay at Seal Island, than anywhere along the South African coastline," the Shark Adventures website reads. The topographic structure of the island makes it an ideal place for shark "flying."
Also on Sunday, "Into the Shark Bite," premieres after Air Jaws, where Discovery will show close up views of a shark's bite. Shark expert Mark Addison and underwater cameraman Andy Casagrande use mini-HD cameras to show you what a shark bite is like, from inside the shark's mouth. Dare we say jaw dropping?
If Sunday seems like years away and you're just too antsy to contain yourself, count down Discovery's Top 100 Shark Facts.
Like Shark Fact #84: "Sharks may seem like a permanent part of the ocean, but according to the World Conservation Union, 20 percent of sharks are close to extinction. The main culprit? Commercial fisheries accidentally catching sharks on their hooks and nets."
Think about that if one of your Shark Week snacks is sushi.
One last thing, don't forget to Shark yourself.
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The LEGO Taj Mahal is the biggest toy in the company's history, and is available only online for $300. (Newscom)
LEGO Taj Mahal sales skyrocket after soccer star David Beckham builds one
LEGO Taj Mahal sales shot up 633 percent in a single day after getting an unexpected endorsement from soccer star David Beckham, the company said.
In an appearance on the Johnathan Ross show on July 16, Beckham said that he spent his spare time in Italy while on loan to AC Milan constructing a replica of the famed 17th century mausoleum. He told the chat host that, were he not a soccer player, he would like to be a professional LEGO builder.
Believe it or not, professional LEGO building, is an actual job, although the pay is probably somewhere south of the $1-million-a-week paycheck that Beckham is currently pulling in.
IN PICTURES: Cool LEGO creations
According to CNN, LEGO has invited Beckham and his family to tour the company's Denmark headquarters and "contribute new ideas to the Lego Group."
As for the LEGO Taj, it is available only online, with a price tag of $300. According to LEGO, the set is the company's biggest, with 5,922-pieces. It measures 20 inches wide and is 16 inches tall.
As strong as the sales of the Taj may be – LEGO didn't say how many it sets actually sold – it probably has a long way to go before becoming the bestselling set of all time. That would be the Mindstorms Robotics Invention System, which has sold more than 1 million sets globally.
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BREACHING WHALE: Whales' surface behaviors consist of lunging, porpoising, spyhopping, lobtailing, and breaching, among others. When a whale breaches, at least 40 percent of its body comes out of the water, making it momentarily airborne. Right, Humpback, and Sperm whales breach the most. A 40 ton whale seen here crashed into a South African couple's yacht on July 18. (Newscom)
40 ton whale smashes yacht, donkey parasails; what animal will fly next?
What's with all the flying animals lately?
At a resort in Russia earlier this week, a donkey flew.
The terrified, braying animal soared over sunbathers on the Sea of Azov, strapped to a parachute. The flying donkey turned out to be a PR stunt by an area resort to promote their parasailing.
IN PICTURES: Flying animals that aren't birds
Children on the beach cried to their parents, "Why did they tie a doggy to a parachute?" Russian newspaper Taman reported. Police have launched an animal cruelty investigation.
On Wednesday, a 40-ton whale flew into a boat. The breaching animal momentarily flew through the air and gracefully landed – on a South African couple's yacht.
The boat was damaged, but the couple and the whale continued on their separate ways – except for some blubber and barnacles the big guy left behind.
That's not all. In January, a panda took to the air.
The National Zoo in Washington's four-year-old panda, Tai Shan, flew FedEx Panda Express to Chengdu China for a breeding program. And Tai Shan wasn't the first panda to fly! FexEx also took Tai Shan's parents Mei Xiang and Tian Tian to the US in 2000.
And as the Discovery Channel prepares for Shark Week on Aug. 1, videographers will be experimenting with ways to better capture "Air Jaws" on film. A Great White shark can leap up to eight feet into the air. We think we'll give them flying credit for that.
Keep your eyes open for pigs. They're next.
Related:
- 40 ton whale nearly destroys sailboat off South African coast
- Penguin deaths on Brazil's beaches caused by unusual currents
- Blog: Move over blobfish, the fangtooth is scarier
UFO over Chinese airport? An unidentified flying object was spotted in Hangzhou, China, forcing the closure of Xiaoshan Airport. (Newscom/FILE)
UFO over Chinese airport [VIDEO]
The summer heat really must be getting to people.
First there were two chupacabra sightings within 10 miles of each other in Texas. Then, China shuts down Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou after a UFO sighting (video below).
Apparently someone didn't listen to Stephen Hawking and contacted the aliens.
Authorities in China are expected to discuss the object with a "bright comet-like tail," that was seen by a flight crew preparing for descent. Residents also said they saw the UFO emitting red and white rays of light.
"The thing suddenly ran westwards fast, like it was escaping from something," a local bus driver said of the strange glowing object.
Mirages? Hallucinations? Reflections of smog? The Oriental Yeti just got his pilot's license? We'd love to know.
Just like the chupacabra had a logical and realistic explanation – the mythical creature is likely a run-of-the-mill mammal with mange – so too is there an explanation for flying saucer sightings: mirages.
Specifically, a "superior mirage." A mirage is an optical phenomenon that occurs when light rays are bent to produce an image of a distant object. Mirages can be captured on camera, but the 'objects' they depict are nothing more than refracted light.
A superior mirage create appears above an object, higher in the sky. This mirage forms when cold air lies beneath warm air, known to meteorologists as temperature inversion. Light rays refract downward to the colder air, making the object appear to our eyes as above its actual position.
Christine Pulliam, a spokeswoman from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, says that everyone has seen a superior mirage.
"The same phenomenon occurs to the sun every day and makes it appear to be above the horizon when it's actually slightly below it," she told NPR in 2008.
At night, the moving lights from cars on a highway can be refracted, making red taillights and white headlights seem as though they're coming from the sky.
Pulliam's opinion on alien UFOs? She sums up Carl Sagan's famous dictum: "I would say that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. And if somebody really thinks it is alien visitors or hyperdimensional travelers, they need to come up with a better explanation than eye witness reports."
Of course, journalistic balance requires us to hear from the other side, too. So here goes: According to latestufosightings.us, UFOs are a government cover-up. They believe the government is building a large "Death Star."
Or we could just go with the age-old "It's the Russians!" Speculations that the UFO could be a Russian satellite, a hidden US bomber, or a new Chinese missile flooded the Internet after 18 flights were affected at Xiaoshan Airport.
Question is, why isn't anyone blaming Canada?
We think we'll stick with mirages as the explanation for this one though.
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The Old Spice guy, Isaiah Mustafa, is seen here in his final personalized video from YouTube. (Screengrab via YouTube)
Old Spice ad man to stop giving advice to President Obama
After commandeering Old Spice's Twitter account earlier this week, Old Spice Ad man Isaiah Mustafa began a series of personalized online videos to thank his fans. And according to AdFreak, he's now throwing in the towel.
"I am just one ridiculously handsome man. I can't write to everyone," the Old Spice man reports.
Goodbye, Ladies.
The Old Spice man addressed his thanks from a bathroom and clad only in a towel to bloggers, YouTube commenters, Twitterers, and celebrities who complimented his ads online.
You remember them? "Swandive!"
After first entering the advertising scene during the Super Bowl, with the slogan, "Smell like a man, man," Mustafa again starred in a new commercial earlier this summer, giving fans another dose of his shirtless, textbook masculinity.
The New York Times reported that when the Procter & Gamble brand was developing a new advertising campaign, they discovered that women purchase about 70 percent of the shower gel for men in their households. Former NFL wide receiver Mustafa was their golden ticket.
Mustafa was able to grab the attention of ladies while also casting the product as "decidedly masculine to lure men away from bar soap."
A contributor for The Daily Femme says that she likes the Old Spice ads because they do not portray women as stupid or as sexual objects.
And the Chicago Sun Times writes:
The torrent of words that Mustafa unleashes so crisply during this 30-second spot are primarily aimed at women. The seductive ad copy allows females to buy in to the proposition that manly men will want to use Old Spice body wash, and that women should encourage their men to use the product if they want to be more like Mustafa. While women are getting into the commercial's verbal sales pitch, male viewers can just revel in the very manly presence of Mustafa himself and bond accordingly with him and with Old Spice body wash.
Overall, the Old Spice commercials were heralded as advertising gems, a rare piece of smart TV advertising.
And the personalized videos that have gone viral? Also gems. The "hijacking" of Old Spice's YouTube channel is being called the best social-media ad campaign ever.
"People just like what they see, and they want to see more of it, so why not give it to them, right?" Mustafa told ABC.
George Stephanopoulos asked the Old Spice man what President Barack Obama could do to get back some support, especially from females. Using, "Hello, Ladies," instead of "My fellow Americans," and wearing only towels are Old Spice man's political advice. For Demi Moore, the Old Spice man beats up a pirate piñata with a freshwater silver fish. For the Huffington Post, he declares he is the Prime Minister of female hearts.
And in his goodbye for Everyone, the Old Spice man says he "must ride his Jetski lion into the sunset." There are giant oaks that need chain sawing, Bermuda Triangle mysteries, and exotic car throwing competitions to be had.
"Thanks for saying its hard to argue with my awesomness," the Old Spice man told Tim Nudd from AdFreak. We agree.
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Carl's Jr.'s Footlong Cheeseburger is the newest giant sandwich in the fast food world. Here, a man takes a bit of Burger King's Whopper in March 2009 in Orlando, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)
Footlong cheeseburger: Why couldn't they make it bigger?
It's the American dream after all. Bigger and better, and bigger still. Who knew there was a whole world beyond KFC's Double Down, which consists of two fried pieces of chicken sandwiched together with cheese and bacon?
Apparently the footlong cheeseburger.
Earlier this month, Sonic released their Footlong Quarter Pound Coney, a 12-inch hotdog with chili and cheese that can be yours for $3. Not to be outdone by either KFC's mondo sandwich, Sonic's weiner, or iHop's cheesecake-stacked pancake, Carl's Jr. restaurant is testing the Footlong Cheeseburger.
IN PICTURES: Mmmmmmmmm... That's a lot of meat!
Excuse us if we are underwhelmed.
Foodbeast, who tasted Carl Jr.'s creation, said, "it’s basically just a few patties and ingredients mimicking a sub sandwich. The dough on the bread seems a little off, but the execution of the entire sandwich still remains interesting."
It's called a cheesburger sub, people. And it's nothing new.
Boston-area restaurant, Moogy's, has been making their cheeseburger sub for years. And by the way, it's 13 inches long – a baker's foot, if you will.
The Footlong Cheeseburger really just like Burger King's Triple Whopper, just enlogated.
Wouldn't you want a greater concentration of meat and cheese, rather than having it spread out over a foot? And when you're eating over a grand of calories in a sandwich, do you really need those extra carbs that come with a footlong piece of bread?
We didn't think so.
Stick with the good old giant sandwiches, your fressers, multiple patty burgers, triple-stacked PB&Js, or grilled cheeses. Chances are you'll get a lot more for your money.
Carl's Jr. Footlong Cheeseburger comes in a "Deluxe" version, which means for an extra 50 cents, you can add onions, lettuce and tomatoes - $4.50 for a sandwhich that "seems a little off?" Fine, Thanks.
Octopus Paul swims in front of a mock World Cup trophy in his tank at Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, on July 12. Paul was given a trophy full of mussels to honor his perfect predictions throughout the World Cup tournament. Paul picked Spain to win in the final on Sunday, wrapping up his career as an animal oracle. (Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)
Octopus Paul retires, international dispute over ownership begins
Paul the Octopus is done predicting World Cup games. And not just because the World Cup is over, but because the "psychic" cephalopod is retiring.
Whether or not he'll pull a Brett Farve and be back for the 2014 World Cup remains to be seen.
Spain might be sad to see Paul step down, especially after he picked them to win their first ever World Cup trophy on Sunday, keeping with the octopus' perfect record for the tournament.
IN PICTURES: Paul the Octopus predicts World Cup outcomes
The Dutch however, are pointing fingers. Some are blaming the referee, criticizing the British ref for being too quick to call fouls on the Netherlands. And others are blaming Paul the Octopus himself.
While Paul is no stranger to death threats, it seems that some nations still have a bone to pick with the invertebrate (who himself has no bones).
An Argentine TV presenter, Roberto Pettinato, apparently harboring a severe grudge against Paul, proceeded to kill one of Paul's eight-limbed relatives on the air and put it in a blender.
And that's just the beginning of the continuing international octopus controversy.
In retirement Paul will "step back from the official oracle business. He won't give any more oracle predictions - either in football, nor in politics, lifestyle or economy," Tanja Munzing, spokeswoman for Sea Life in Oberhause, Germany, said. "Paul will get back to his former job, namely making children laugh."
But children where, you ask?
There's the rub. Several nations are now "claiming" Paul the Octopus, saying that he should live in their country. England says it owns Paul, stating he was born in Weymouth prior to his trade to Sea Life Aquarium. Italy has claimed that Paul the Octopus was caught in Italian waters and that Italy is his "rightful homeland." France has claimed that Paul was found near Elba, Napoleon's home in exile, and is therefore truly a French octopus.
And Spanish Prime Minister Jose Zapatero has even offered Paul political asylum in the wake of Spain's World Cup victory and the many death threats Paul has received. "I am concerned for the octopus ... I am thinking of sending him a protective team," Zapatero told Radio Cadena Ser.
What is Paul up to while all this international hullabaloo takes place? Likely feasting on more mussels and considering his next career move. The animal oracle was given a golden cup, similar to the World Cup trophy, filled with mussels on Monday to honor his prognosticating success.
The LA Times reported that a businessman has offered nearly $38,000 to rent Paul as a mascot for a food festival in northwestern Spain. Paul also has a Facebook page and millions of fans and followers all over the world.
Though the World Cup is over, this cephalopod's celebrity doesn't seem to be fading fast.
The real question is now, whose interview is worth more? Paul the Octopus, who according to NESN, will announce his decision on a live ESPN television event, or Lindsay Lohan when she gets out of jail?
IN PICTURES: Paul the Octopus predicts World Cup outcomes
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As opposed to Octopus Paul, who picked Spain, in Singapore's Little India neighborhood, Mani, a 13-year-old parakeet, picks up a card with the Netherlands flag on it on July 9, predicting that the Dutch will win the 2010 World Cup. (Joan Leong/AP)
Octopus Paul has thunder stolen by Mani the Parakeet
Mani the Parakeet has made his pick. The Dutch will be the 2010 World Cup champions.
Wait, but what about Paul the Octopus? Oh yeah, he had a prediction too.
Paul picked Spain to win the World Cup final. This was the first time Paul has had to pick a game that did not involve Germany. Earlier on Friday, the cephalopod stuck with his home country when he picked Germany to beat Uruguay in their 3rd-place match on July 10.
IN PICTURES: Paul the Octopus predicts World Cup outcomes
While TV stations from Great Britain to Taiwan showed up to broadcast live from Paul's home at Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, it seems as though Paul is no longer the only animal oracle making headlines.
Mani, Singapore's 'forecasting parakeet,' is on the scene too.
Like Paul, Mani picked Spain to beat Germany in the semifinals, coming out of his wooden house and picking between two cards with the nations' flags on them.
That correct prediction helped propel the little bird from Singapore's Little India neighborhood to international fame.
Mani's owner, M. Muniyappan, said about 30 people a day now pay for Mani's alleged psychic services, the AP reported.
"I've come to him before to know when my luck will change," one of Muniyappan's customers, Ali, said. "I believe in him and the bird."
So now it's not just Spain versus the Netherlands, it's Paul the Octopus versus Mani the Parakeet. Or nine brains versus one, if you want to think about it physiologically.
But also, who has more to lose with an incorrect pick?
Paul the Octopus has been inundated with death threats from Argentina and Germany. Spanish celebrity chef José Andrés is however currently running his restaurants sans octopus, but we assume Spain needs to bring home the gold trophy to keep the octopi from appearing back on the menu.
Also, Spain's Prime Minster Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has offered protection for El Pulpo Paul saying, "I am concerned about the octopus. I'm thinking about sending in a team to protect the octopus because obviously it was very spectacular that he should get Spain's victory right from there." How spectacular would Zapatero continue to consider Paul should he be wrong about Sunday's upcoming match?
Mani the Parakeet on the other hand, is cultivating a booming psychic business. We think he'll be announcing a merger with Dionne Warwick once the World Cup hoopla is over.
But clearly Paul is in a potential do-or-die situation. Could this cloud his foresight and affect his prediction?
Even though we welcomed a Spanish victory yesterday for Paul's sake, Mani the Parakeet may have the upper hand – or wing – this time. Ga Nederland!
IN PICTURES: Paul the Octopus predicts World Cup outcomes
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Octopus Paul swims in his tank at Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, on June 25. (Volker Hartmann/AP)
Octopus Paul rescues fellow octopi from the menu
Paul the Octopus has not only correctly predicted all of Germany's World Cup matches this year, he has also saved many of his fellow octopi from winding up as meals. Spain's famous chef, José Andrés, will feature a menu sans octopus until further notice in honor of the mollusk's alleged psychic prowess.
Paul the Octopus blew it for the Germans by picking Spain to win their semifinal World Cup match. Spain won by a score of 1-0, booting Germany out of the tournament. Paul's pick against his homeland earlier in the week was reported worldwide, making "Paul the Octopus" a household name.
But Paul has used his celebrity differently than say, Lindsay Lohan.
IN PICTURES: Paul the Octopus predicts World Cup outcomes
Andrés tweeted on July 7, "If Spain wins today octopus is out of all my menus!"
The Spanish chef's sudden compassion in celebration of his country's victory stands in stark contrast to Argentina's wrath after Paul predicted their quarterfinal loss to Germany.
After the match between Argentina and Germany, paella-tinged death threats rolled in from the South American nation, the Telegraph reported.
El Dia, Argentina's newspaper, said that, "All you need is four normal potatoes, olive oil for taste, and a little pepper," should you want to capture and make a meal of Paul. Argentinean chef Nicolas Bedorrou also described on Facebook, in somewhat graphic detail, how he would like to kill and cook Paul.
Will chefs Bedorrou and Andrés throw down over the fate of Paul's cephalopod brethren?
And what of the Germans? After Paul's prediction on July 6, death threats and recipes from Paul's own countrymen were sent to his owner. Now that his prediction has proven true and Paul's World Cup 2010 picks remain 100% accurate, the AP reported that most Germans are now thinking about Paul fried in garlic butter.
While we doubt that World War III will be started over whether or not to continue eating octopus, Paul's keeper, Oliver Walenciak, has always been protective. "There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive," Walenciak told the Telegraph.
Paul is no doubt looking forward to his next mussel. The eight-limbed oracle will predict the winner of the 3rd place match between Germany and Uruguay on Friday morning, and will also make his pick for the 2010 World Cup Champions. Paul will choose either the Netherlands or Spain to win in the final match on Sunday.
We'd hate for Andrés to have a reason to retract his tweet and put octopus back on his menu, so...Viva España!
IN PICTURES: Paul the Octopus predicts World Cup outcomes
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