{"id":2369,"date":"2010-09-14T13:22:08","date_gmt":"2010-09-14T20:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/?p=2369"},"modified":"2010-09-14T13:22:08","modified_gmt":"2010-09-14T20:22:08","slug":"im-just-a-sucker-for-believe-it-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/im-just-a-sucker-for-believe-it-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"I&#8217;m Just a Sucker for Believe It or Not!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>I have been a hopeless Believe It or Not! addict since the age of 10. I&#8217;m so glad to see they&#8217;re keeping up with the times. I couldn&#8217;t find a static version of this e-mail pitch, so thought I&#8217;d share. pg<\/em><br \/>\n<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: x-small;\">Technomazing! Unbelievable technology tales are featured in the new book from Ripley&#8217;s Believe It or Not! called <em>Enter If You Dare! <\/em>The book is an annual collection of unusual, unbelievable and amazing stories from around the world.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: x-large;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"border: 0pt none; margin-left: 9px; margin-right: 9px;\" src=\"https:\/\/ih.constantcontact.com\/fs093\/1102353328331\/img\/264.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Enter If You Dare\" width=\"147\" height=\"189\" \/><\/span><\/span><strong>Some of the book&#8217;s incredible tales of science and technology:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: x-small;\"><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Eye      Te<\/strong><strong>ch &#8211; pg. 222<\/strong>: Filmmaker Rob Spence from Toronto, Canada,      has developed a camera to replace the eye that he lost as a child. Rob      began working with engineer Kostos Grammatis to create the &#8220;Eyeborg,&#8221;      and is now the proud owner of a wireless bionic eye made with one of the      smallest digital cameras in the world, which is capable of recording and      transmitting video directly from his eye socket.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Onion      Power &#8211; pg. 223<\/strong>: To save electricity, some people have       started powering up their MP3 players with onions. How? Soak it in  an      energy drink and then stick a USB cable into it &#8211; and by doing  that they      can charge their iPod for an hour.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: x-small;\"><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: x-small;\"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0pt none; margin-left: 9px; margin-right: 9px;\" title=\"Edit Image\" src=\"https:\/\/ih.constantcontact.com\/fs093\/1102353328331\/img\/351.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Eye Tech\" width=\"191.4\" height=\"261\" align=\"right\" \/><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/span><strong>Liquid      Vision &#8211; pg. 223<\/strong><strong>: <\/strong>Professor      Josh Silver of England&#8217;s Oxford University has invented inexpensive,      fluid-filled eyeglasses that can be adjusted to anyone&#8217;s vision needs. The      lenses contain circular sacs filled with fluid that are connected to a      small syringe to increase or reduce the amount of fluid, thus altering the      power of the lens.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Mechanical      Insect &#8211; pg. 223: <\/strong>Scientists at Japan&#8217;s Tokyo University are      creating a range of insect-machine hybrids by rebuilding their brains and      programming them to carry out specific tasks. Already they have rewritten      the brain circuit of a male Silkmoth to react to light instead of odor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Steel      Velcro &#8211; pg. 225<\/strong>: German scientists have developed a steel      version of Velcro that is strong enough to support buildings. Using the      same hook-and-loop fastening system as Velcro, Metaklett can bear loads of      around 3.6 tons per sq ft (35 tonnes per sq m) at temperatures as high as      1,472\u00b0F (800\u00b0C).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Spy      Tooth <\/strong><strong>&#8211; pg. 226<\/strong>: The U.K.&#8217;s      James Auger has devised a new concept in secret communication- an audio      tooth implant. A surgeon implants a device into your tooth, the data is      retrieved from a cell phone, radio or computer and the vibration resonates      through your jawbone to you inner earbone, meaning that only you can hear      the information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Bionic      Fingers &#8211; pg. 226<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> A      company from Scotland has invented bionic fingers, which enable people      with missing digits to pick up a glass, hold cutlery and even write. The      $75,000-fingers are directly controlled by the brain and can write and      grip, thanks to a special sensor that allows them to detect when they have      closed around an object.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Warning      Suit &#8211; pg. 229: <\/strong>To make people aware      of the threat of skin cancer, a Canadian company has designed a two-piece      bathing suit that changes color to warn women when the sun&#8217;s rays are too      strong. The bikini is held together with pale decorative beads that turn      dark purple if the UV rays reach dangerous levels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Fatal      Sting &#8211; pg. 228:<\/strong> Microscopic      nanobees, made from perfluorocarbon &#8211; a material made from artificial      blood &#8211; have been used by scientists at a university in St. Louis,      Missouri, to kill cancer tumors by stinging them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Emotional Robot &#8211; pg. 223: <\/strong>Scientists at      Waseda University in Japan have developed a robot that can express seven      different human emotions. The Emotional Humanoid Robot, named Kobian, uses      motors to move its lips, eyelids and eyebrows into various positions and      can also strike a range of poses to back up its expressions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Robot Teacher &#8211; pg. 223:<\/strong> Children at      a school in Tokyo, Japan, had a new teacher in 2009 &#8211; a robot called Saya.      Beneath a humanlike face, Saya has a system of 18 motors that work like      muscles to give her face expressions including surprise, fear, anger,      happiness and sadness. She has a vocabulary of 700 words, has the ability      to speak in any language and is programmed to respond to words and      questions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><strong>Illuminated Dress &#8211; pg. 222:<\/strong> British      fashion student George Davis has designed a dress that lights up when the      wearer&#8217;s cell phone rings. The right shoulder of the dress, which is      connected to the phone by wireless technology, has translucent white      scales that move and light up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Please let me know if you would like to pursue any stories in the book or a story on the book itself.\u00a0 Images are available, as well as interviews with people from Ripley&#8217;s or people featured in the book.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The book cover, as well as several pages and individual images, can be downloaded at <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/r20.rs6.net\/tn.jsp?llr=lg9bwucab&amp;et=1103684973756&amp;s=35171&amp;e=001BfqmD_bCGoDxzrtzuVDa2iVdeS8paLYLGjQ193hQS9r-dpvObWnuBVbDOgbyGiyllDRdx5opRahpmGPDeF5eoyAkYdw9dI3DBuRg1_yUwtiKNv2xntfokXAEOEs80gnV\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>https:\/\/www.ripleybooks.com\/newsroom<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have been a hopeless Believe It or Not! addict since the age of 10. I&#8217;m so glad to see they&#8217;re keeping up with the times. I couldn&#8217;t find a static version of this e-mail pitch, so thought I&#8217;d share. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/im-just-a-sucker-for-believe-it-or-not\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[35,15],"tags":[303,301,302],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pTy95-Cd","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2371,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions\/2371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}