By Cynthia Herbert :: 4:34 PM
A skydiver in Norway was nearly struck by a falling meteorite when he took a jump in 2012, and today, that video is making the rounds of the Internet.
Anders Helstrup, along with several other members of the Oslo Parachute Club were on a jump in the summer of 2012 that originated from the Østre Æra Airport in Hedmark, Norway. The jump was routine, but Helstrup had noticed something strange just after his parachute deployed.
“I got the feeling that there was something, but I didn’t register what was happening,†Helstrup said of the experience, to Norwegian news outlet NRK.
Helstrup’s jump was being filmed by a helmet-mounted camera, and when he later reviewed the footage, he clearly saw how close he came to being struck by the space rock.
Despite involving scientists from the Natural History Museum is Oslo, Helstrup and his friends have yet to locate the rock after it plummeted to Earth.
“It can’t be anything else,” Oslo geologist Hans Amundsen told NRK news. “The shape is typical of meteorites, a fresh fracture surface on one side, while the other side is rounded.”
The video is important because it is the first time in the world that a meteorite has been filmed during what is known as ‘dark flight.’ This is the period of time when the bright light around a meteorite fades away, and the rock begins to fall straight down towards Earth, with no light surrounding it at all.
Watch the video below – the meteorite appears around the 26 second mark.
By Gilbert Falso :: 5:05 PM
Mad Men fans – your long wait is over. The last season of the critically acclaimed AMC drama is now available on streaming video service Netflix.
The program became available to stream in the U.S. today, but has been available via Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service for several weeks. Season 7 of the program will begin airing on AMC on April 13th. So if you want to get caught up on the lives of Don, Peggy, Pete, Betty and the others before the newest season, you have about two weeks of binge-watching the show ahead of you.
Season 7 will be the last season of the show. and without revealing any spoilers, it looks like season 6 will bring a lot of change to the life of Don Draper and those close to him.
Can’t remember where Season 5 left off? Maybe this brief review from AMC (below) will help refresh your memory.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 7:58 PM
A zoo in Copenhagen, Denmark is enduring scathing criticism across social media today after news broke that zoo officials approved the killing and dismemberment of a young giraffe in its care.
The 18-month-old giraffe, named Marius, was shot with a bolt gun, and cut up in front of curious onlookers on the zoo property. Meat from the baby giraffe was set aside to feed to the zoo’s lions and tigers.
The zoo claims that Marius was killed because he lacked the correct genes for future breeding possibility. The zoo also claimed that there were no other institutions in Europe that wanted the giraffe.
“You have to accept that there is a surplus of animals that cannot be included in the genetic chain without causing inbreeding problems,” zoo director Bengt Holst told a Danish newspaper after public outrage began to spread.
At least two wildlife parks, one in the Netherlands, and one in the United Kingdom, placed last minute requests to save Marius, with offers to take him on at their properties, but the offers were rebuffed by the Copenhagen zoo.
After the giraffe was killed, the body was moved to a public location, where a crowd, including small children, watched as zoo officials cut up the body. A graphic video is below.
By Paul Thomson :: 2:23 PM
Google’s free Gmail email service went offline around 2:00 PM Eastern time on Friday afternoon, and the Internet, Twitter in particular, reacted in a frenzy.
From the “is Gmail down for anyone else?” Tweets at the beginning of the outage, to the witty jokes and banter as it became obvious that the glitch was more widespread, most people are taking the outage in stride.
At 2:12 PM, Google update the application status dashboard for all its apps with the following message: “We’re investigating reports of an issue with Gmail. We will provide more information shortly.” An estimated fix time has not yet been established.
Below are a sampling of reactions that might make you smile a bit as you continue to mash the refresh button to get your Gmail tab to load.
Gmail is still down. I am just dusting down the fax machine in the office. We could be using it a lot if this continues.
— Malcolm Graham (@malcolmcgraham) January 24, 2014
Gmail’s down. I’m gonna run through the office yelling “ANARCHY!”
— andy walker (@awalk_23) January 24, 2014
the office is currently in pandemonium over Gmail being down. I’m just thrilled I have an excuse not to work.
— Amanda White (@amanduhwhite) January 24, 2014
It’s my fault Gmail is down. I had an out of office auto responder and emailed myself 🙁
— Paul Stovell (@paulstovell) January 24, 2014
Gmail is down and the office is already deciding who of us will be eaten first.
— Philip Johnson (@thatphiljohnson) January 24, 2014
Gmail is down – office workers now have to face terrifying prospect of communicating with coworkers face to face
— Kayla Epstein (@KaylaEpstein) January 24, 2014
By Gilbert Falso :: 4:21 PM
Search and services giant Google has purchased the company behind the smart Nest thermostat and smoke detector devices. The purchase price was $3.2 billion, in an all-cash deal.
In a release about the deal, Larry Page, Google CEO said, “Nest’s founders, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, have built a tremendous team that we are excited to welcome into the Google family. They’re already delivering amazing products you can buy right now–thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe. We are excited to bring great experiences to more homes in more countries and fulfill their dreams!â€
Nest is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and was founded in 2010. Both co-founders, Fadell and Rogers, were former engineers at Apple. More than 130 employees worked for the company by the end of 2012.
The first Nest product, the Nest Learning Thermostat, hit the market in 2011. In October 2013, Nest announced the Nest Protect, a smart smoke and carbon monoxide detector.
Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest, said, “we’re thrilled to join Google. With their support, Nest will be even better placed to build simple, thoughtful devices that make life easier at home, and that have a positive impact on the world.â€
Google will allow Nest to operate under the leadership of Fadell, and the company will keep its own distinct brand identity. The transaction is subject to the usual closing scrutiny, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the United States.