Month: September 2016

COW TAKES DOWN HELICOPTER

Australian cattle ranchers have gone hi-tech for herding, but the cows are striking back. A pilot in a Robinson R22 Beta mustering helicopter was herding cattle at a Coen Cattle Station in Queensland when it crashed to the ground on Sunday. The cause? A cow. The pilot believes that the helicopter’s landing gear became entangled in the cow’s horns, pulling it off-balance. The helicopter was engulfed in flames after the crash, and the Rural Fire Service extinguished the blaze. The helicopter pilot escaped with no injuries. So did the cow.

HOSPITAL HIRES ROBOT TO PATROL PARKING LOT

Bakersfield Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield, California, has unveiled its new security guard: an egg-shaped robot. The robot is able to move about without human control, and has been assigned to the hospital’s emergency room parking lot.  

Equipped with several cameras, the meandering machine also has a security button that can be pressed to alert human guards. Ken Keller, the hospital’s chief operating officer, also said after a software upgrade, people will be able to give it commands in both English and Spanish.

“It’s here for three reasons: safety, security and surveillance,” said Keller.

The hospital is currently running a contest to name the robot.

SPIDER CAUSES CAR CRASH

An unidentified woman lost control of her car and went off the road in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday. The car rolled over into a ditch and landed upside-down. The driver was okay, emerging with only a scratch on her hand. The reason she lost control was fright -when a spider fell from her rearview mirror. The fate of the spider is unknown.

GOLF COURSE ADAPTS TO BALL-STEALING CAT

A cat named Merlin has been stealing golf balls from the Aldeburgh Golf Club in Suffolk, UK. The cat’s owner, Peter Bryson, says Merlin brings home up to a half-dozen golf balls a day. Witnesses have seen him carrying balls away in his mouth. The exasperated club managers have issued a temporary rule change to deal with the cat burglar. A new notice says,

“A large brown coloured Burmese cat has been seen picking up and carrying away golf balls in the vicinity of the 14th hole.

“Where this has been witnessed or when it is virtually certain that a ball has disappeared from the closely-mown surfaces, a substitute ball may be dropped.”

Merlin has pilfered around 30 balls so far.

MCDONALD’S PUMPKIN SPICE FRIES

2016年に1月に大人気だったマックチョコポテトが、進化して帰ってきます！！……なんと今回はハロウィンバージョンこのヤバイ色、パンプキン&チョコソースです！＃ハロウィンチョコポテト＃9月28日から pic.twitter.com/OygxYXjvAT

— マクドナルド (@McDonaldsJapan) September 21, 2016

People go a little nuts over anything that is “pumpkin spice” flavored in autumn. Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte became such a hit that the pie flavors (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and sometimes allspice) were put into everything: candy, cookies, ice cream, soda, and now french fries. Would you eat pumpkin spice fries? You won’t get the chance unless you’re in Japan. Pumpkin spice fries are normal everyday fries with a squirt of chocolate sauce and a squirt of pumpkin spice sauce. McDonald’s Japan is offering pumpkin spice fries beginning on September 28.

BUS SHELTER STOLEN

A full-size bus shelter has disappeared from Torea Street in Granity, New Zealand. It was taken sometime between June and August as construction was being done in the area. Police are asking for information from the public, stating that it is a highly unusual item for anyone to try to hide. One would think that if no one noticed in three months, maybe they don’t really need a bus shelter in that location.

If you’ve spent September (a.k.a. National Yoga Month) hitting the mat and want to keep up the routine of stretching and centering yourself, packing your bags for a yoga retreat can be a great option. You’ll take part in regular classes (often two a day) with a relaxing setting to help you unwind. For those reasons, these kinds of retreats have become big business in recent years—in fact, wellness travel in general makes up about 14 percent of all tourism spending worldwide, according to a 2013 study by the Global Wellness Institute [PDF].

Going on vacation to do yoga might seem like it’s only for people who are super-bendy and totally Zen and spend hours hanging out in downward dog. But a lot of resorts and companies offer packages that are open to newbies. You can work on your sun salutations in the morning and then go surfing, try some new dance moves, head for a hike, or take serious advantage of happy hour. Here are four brands that host awesome retreats—both across the country and abroad—that boast all kinds of fun extras. 

1. OUTESSA SUMMIT // FROM $799

These three-day retreats, organized by outdoor gear giant REI, offer a little something awesome for all women who love getting outside. Get your blood flowing during daily yoga sessions led by PrAna athletes and instructors, then pick and choose which activities excite you. Into nature? Go kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, or learn about wilderness survival. A little more laid-back? Try your hand at photography on a relaxing hike, learn about map and compass basics, or enjoy a class about essential oils. Whatever your adventure, you’ll stay fueled up with meals fresh from local farms, then camp out or opt to spend your nights in a nearby hotel. Travelers this year headed to Lake Tahoe, California, and Powder Mountain near Salt Lake City.

2. BIG SKY YOGA RETREATS // FROM $1795

If there’s a little bit cowgirl in you, these four- to seven-day trips are the retreats for you. You’ll enjoy the fresh mountain air of various locations in Montana while you move through an energizing practice every morning and a restorative session each evening (before heading off to sleep in luxe lodging); plus, you’ll also get active with hiking and horseback riding. (If you’re looking for a different destination, you’re in luck—the company boasts a few special trips to Costa Rica and Philo, California, as well.)

Choose a getaway to Yellowstone and you can relax in the national park’s natural hot springs in between your classes on the mat. Other activities to choose from, depending on the package you pick, include wine tasting, and Nordic skiing, as well as pottery-making and journaling to boost your creativity.

3. COREPOWER YOGA // FROM $1699

This popular yoga studio chain (it boasts more than 150 outposts around the U.S.) hosts getaways that combine stretching with adventure in scenic destinations like the Red Rocks in Denver. This November, they’re leading a week-long trip to hotspot Tulum, Mexico.

Each day, they’ll lead you through two 75- to 90-minute yoga sessions (which incorporate light weights and cardio bursts), plus guided meditation each morning. In between your bouts on the mat, you can take up all kinds of eco-adventures—hike the nearby Mayan ruins, try a tour, or go snorkeling. Some extra R&R more your speed? Book some healing bodywork at the Maya Tulum spa before heading to an ocean- or garden-view bungalow for the night.

4. YOGA FOR BAD PEOPLE // FROM $3050 FOR CUBA RETREAT

If you couldn’t tell from the name alone, this company’s excursions are far from the typical relaxing retreat. For one thing, you can expect to trade in those nature sounds and that New Age-y music for upbeat playlists including tunes from artists like Outkast and Led Zeppelin. Instructors lead you through yoga and meditation classes, but then you can take on fun extra activities—like hiking, stand-up paddleboarding, and dancing—based on your interests and where you go (some recent locales include Croatia, Ireland, and Cuba). During the upcoming December trip to Cuba, for instance, you can spend your time in between twice-daily yoga sessions hitting the beach in Havana, taking a nostalgic car tour, going on a walking tour of the old city, and visiting a tobacco farm.

New York City is home to an incredibly diverse array of people, foods, crafts, and businesses—but that diversity is rarely represented by its street fairs. For years, the Big Apple’s bazaars have been dominated by the same few vendors, no matter where or when they’re hosted. But now, Politico reports, Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s administration is working on bringing a bit more local flavor into the mix.

De Blasio’s administration has proposed several major changes that could benefit local businesses and communities—not to mention fairgoers’ tastebuds. Instead of allowing the same handful of vendors to run the stalls and concessions—selling the same sausages, grilled corn, novelty t-shirts, and pashminas block after block—the proposed rules would require half of all stalls to be operated by local neighborhood businesses. This would not only help make street fairs less generic, but allow store owners and restauranteurs in the community to directly benefit.

The new rules would also help more communities across New York City to host markets of their own. Right now, the vast majority of the city’s street fairs are held in just three community board districts in Manhattan. The new rules would limit the city to around 200 such events a year, and require that at least half be hosted outside of Manhattan. Together, the new rules would help more communities host fairs that directly benefit local businesses and better represent local cultures, foods, crafts, and identities.

“We’ve criticized street fairs in the past, but not on principle. These could be so amazing for New York City,” Jonathan Bowles of the Center for an Urban Future told Politico. “New York City has so many independent and entrepreneurial businesses, but so few of them have been represented in street fairs that it’s been a missed opportunity.”

[h/t Politico]

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The Elsewhere headset is designed to bring the photos and videos on your iPhone’s camera roll to life. Unlike most virtual reality headsets, the Elsewhere isn’t designed for immersive gaming or 360 degree video. Instead, WIRED reports, the headset adds a third dimension to two dimensional photos and videos and lets users view the real world from a new perspective.

The strange headset is built a little like a 19th century stereoscope. Viewers look through the lens and snap their iPhone on to the end at a slight distance. An app, which comes with the device, transforms photos and videos into 3D images, and even allows users to zoom in and out, and control the depth of field. Elsewhere’s creators, Wendellen Li and Aza Raskin, claim the device can even add more depth to the real world. By connecting to the iPhone camera, the Elsewhere app lets users view flat surfaces in the world around them, like screens, mirrors, and artwork, as three dimensional. The device also ostensibly makes the real world look even “more 3D than usual—as if it had too much volume and wants to burst” (the Elsewhere website calls this experience “hyper-dimensional”).

“Elsewhere uses a new model of human perception to convert motion directly into depth,” the website explains. “Instead of attempting to reconstruct a 3D model after the fact—which fails for everyday stuff like smoke, liquids, mirrors, screens, and GIFs—Elsewhere shows two videos (one for each eye) packed with depth information encoded in the input format of the human visual system.”

[h/t WIRED]