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Tag: Australia

  • Google Adding Underwater Street View Imagery For Sydney

    Not content to just photograph the world’s land for Street View, Google has been acquiring imagery from under the sea as well.

    Back in 2012, Google teamed up with The Catlin Seaview Survey to add underwater imagery from the world’s oceans. Last week, Google announced that it has new imagery from the partnership up, including from Isla Mujeres and Cancun.

    Now, Google announced that it is getting new imagery for Sydney, Australia from the Catlin Seaview Survey, which has partnered with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. They’re looking at marine life along Sydney’s Harbour and coastline, from Manly to Bronte, and utilizing Catlin Seaview Survey’s 360-degree panoramic SVII camera.

    “Street View imagery has been used for many purposes around the world, from town planning to artistic projects to disaster recovery,” says product manager Nabil Naghdy in a blog post. “It can also be very valuable for scientists looking to better understand a place – even when that place is underwater.”

    “We hope this new Street View imagery not only advances important scientific research, but also inspires people to learn more about the beautiful—and delicate—ecology of Sydney Harbour and our local beaches,” he says.

    Google Maps will get the new imagery later this year.

    Images via Google

  • Snake Eating Croc Actually Not Rare Occurrence

    If people who don’t care for all things huge, creepy and dangerous needed yet another reason to steer clear of Australia, this would be it.

    Several bystanders at Lake Moondarra witnessed an enormous water python devouring a small crocodile in a shocking display of food chain action.

    Mother Tiffany Corlis was having breakfast near the lake on Sunday when some nearby canoeists directed her attention to the epic reptilian battle going on not far from where she was, according to the Brisbane Times.

    She said of the events that slowly unfolded, ‘‘[The crocodile] was fighting at the start, so it was trying to keep its head out of water and survive. But, as the morning sort of progressed, you could tell that both of them were getting a little weaker. Finally, the croc sort of gave in and the snake had uncoiled for a little while and had a brief break and then actually started to consume the crocodile.’’

    ‘‘It was just unbelievable.” she continued,”We were sort of thinking that the snake had bitten off a little more than it could chew. But it did. It actually ate the crocodile. The aftermath showed the overstuffed snake lying still, where presumably it stayed for some time as it digested its dinner. When you actually looked at the snake, you could actually see the crocodile’s ridges, legs and everything inside its belly.’’

    (Cringe)

    Strangely enough, this sort of event is not uncommon. Snake expert and Associate Professor at the University of Queensland’s School of Biological Science Brian Fry, said of the occurence, ‘‘Crocs are more dangerous to catch but easier to sneak up on,’’ he said. ‘‘Up in Kakadu, for example, they feed heavily on small rodents but that’s not to say they won’t take the crocs as well. The problem is they are risking being injured or killed, so they have to be judicious.’’

    The crazy part of this whole ordeal is that swimming in this particular lake has always been considered a safer choice. I’m sure residents will rethink this evaluation. I know I would if I realized that this huge snake called the mud and waters of Lake Moondarra his home.

    Image via Twitter

  • Ten-Foot Snake Eats Crocodile Whole

    Onlookers witnessed a frightening scene in Australia on Monday, as a ten-foot snake, believed to be a python, won a lengthy battle with a crocodile.

    The episode took place at Lake Moondarra and was captured on camera by local residents. The snake can be seen fighting with the crocodile, and then later moving him to the land and swallowing him whole.

    Tiffany Corlis witnessed the whole incident, and was able to snap several pictures of the snake and crocodile. “It was amazing,” she explained to the BBC. “We saw the snake fighting with the crocodile – it would roll the crocodile around to get a better grip, and coil its body around the crocodile’s legs to hold it tight.”

    Apparently, the snake coiled so tightly around the crocodile that he was no longer able to move, and could be seen trying to hold his head out of the water. “The fight began in the water – the crocodile was trying to hold its head out of the water at one time, and the snake was constricting it,” Corlis continued.
    “After the crocodile had died, the snake uncoiled itself, came around to the front, and started to eat the crocodile, face-first.”

    Tiffany’s husband Travis explained that snakes and crocodiles are very common in the area, however he had never seen them fighting like this before.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Missing Mango Mystery Revealed in Australia

    Everything is bigger in Australia.

    On Sunday night in Bowen, a town on the eastern coast of Queensland, a mango went missing. But not just any mango. A seven ton, 33-foot tall, 26-foot wide mango.

    The Big Mango has been a tourist attraction in Bowen for 12 years in Bowen, which calls itself the mango capital of Australia. The “Kensington Pride” mango monument cost $90,000 to build.

    After it went missing on Sunday night, “Mango Gate” erupted on Twitter, most assuming the theft was a huge, but fairly brilliant, p.r. stunt. Bowen officials didn’t even file a complaint, making residents question the disappearance even more.



    Paul McLaughlin, tourism chaiman, told Sky News, “At the end of the day it’s a bloody big mango and I’m sure someone will see it and we’ll find it anyway.”

    Officials examining video footage saw what appeared to be a crane being used by the thieves around 2:00 in the morning.

    But where does one hide a fruit that large?

    On the official Facebook page of Bowen’s Big Mango, humorous images and conspiracy theories began to surface.



    Then on Monday, Nando’s, a chain of chicken restaurants, posted a video of the big fruit burglary, admitting to lifting the giant landmark as a publicity stunt.



    In confessing, Nando’s promised to return it safely – but not before they followed through with big plans for it on Friday.

    The Big Mango isn’t the only gargantuan monument in the Queensland area of Australia. There is also the Big Cane Toad, The Big Frog, The Big Meat Pie, and The Big Rum Bottle, just to name a few.

    Keep up with breaking news on The Big Mango on the official Facebook page.

    Image via Facebook

  • Dolly Parton’s Australian Tour Starts Strong

    A countless number of hits, great guitar playing and wonderful comedic banter. It’s all of those things that make country legend Dolly Parton such a great performer, and it’s also what’s causing her to be a big hit in Australia as she tours.

    According to reports, Parton wowed the Melbourne crowd on Tuesday, as she began her Australian Blue Smoke Tour, and the fact that the audience was multi-generational, shows just how many people admire the 68-year old singer-songwriter, and want to see her perform. And based on the many reviews she didn’t disappoint.

    Whipping through cuts like “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5,” Parton showed the crowd that she hasn’t lost one single step in all her years of performing, and proved that by picking up and playing a bevy of instruments like the banjo, the mandolin, the autoharp and of course the guitar.

    But it was Parton’s playful banter with the crowd that seemed to really win them over and make Tuesday’s show such a big hit, as she spoke about everything from her childhood to her much talked about physical appearance.

    “It costs a fortune to make me look this cheap.” I’ve had this wig so long “It’s my hair now,” she joked. “I appreciate you coming to see me again, because I need the money.” And my personal favorite: “We weren’t Catholics, we were just a bunch of horny hillbillies,” which left the crowd in stitches.

    In an interview with Yahoo, Parton says she has no plans to retire and wants to sing and perform to the very end. “I hope to just fall over dead one of these days, right in the middle of a song or something lovely that I’m doing” she said.

    Wikimedia Commons

  • Stanislas Wawrinka Wins His First Grand Slam

    Swiss tennis player Stanislas Wawrinka nabbed his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Sunday. In an interview with CNN, the 28-year old Wawrinka seemed thrilled and maybe even a little surprised.

    “I never dreamed about that, never expected to be in that situation and that’s just crazy … You don’t really know what’s happening, I started to tell myself ‘You just won a grand slam.’ It’s something amazing for me.”

    Wawrinka wasn’t the only one surprised by his victory.

    When Spain’s Rafael Nadal beat Wawrinka’s compatriot Roger Federer in the semi-finals Friday night, many assumed that Nadal would take the Australian Open title.

    A victory for Nadal would have tied him with tennis legend Pete Sampras at 14 Grand Slam titles. He would have been the first man in the Open era to win each of the Grand Slam titles twice, and only the third in history to do so. (Australians Roy Emerson and Rod Laver accomplished the feat previously.)

    Sampras himself tipped Nadal to win: “It’s a tough match-up and I’m not sure [Wawrinka] has the firepower from the back of the court. He’s got to deal with Rafa and his nerves, it’s his first major final so he needs to settle down and work his way into the match … I think Rafa’s just playing too well.”

    Wawrinka had lost to Nadal in all 12 of their prior matches – and all 26 sets. But before their Australian Open match-up, Wawrinka pointed to his record with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic: “I’m playing my best tennis here, I’m physically ready. I’m going to try everything. Before I beat Djokovic it was the same — I had lost 14 times to him before that.”

    But another Grand Slam win wasn’t in the cards for Nadal this time around. The Spaniard suffered a back injury on Sunday, and although he played through the pain barrier, he lacked the power to overcome Wawrinka.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_reY1EtQDk#t=21

    The final score: 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

    The win puts Wawrinka at number 3 in the world:

    In what the tennis world has quickly come to recognize as his typical humble style, Wawrinka said: “It’s really not the way you want to win a tennis match, but in a Grand Slam final I’ll take it.”

    Image via Twitter

  • Snoop Dogg’s Smoking Causes Fire Department To Come

    Now it’s no surprise that rapper Snoop Dogg has a passion for smoking the green stuff. In fact, he’s built a whole career around it, so perhaps it’s not shocking to hear that he was caught lighting up in his Australian hotel room.

    But what might be surprising is that Snoop was puffing away so much, the hotel staff believed a fire was coming from his room, and the fire department showed up.

    According to TMZ, the 42-year-old was in Australia for a performance, and he set off the hotel’s fire alarm while smoking. From there, the fire department raced up to his room, but only found a very high Snoop, and no fire, which was obviously to the relief of the fire department as well as the hotel staff.

    But here’s the funny part: The firemen stuck around to appear in some photos with the rapper that he later posted to his Instagram account. “Blew it down,” wrote Snoop on the photo, which shows two men in fire-fighting equipment looking happy as ever. A second photo shows the California native standing with four firemen, with the caption “Fire dept shut it down” attached to the picture.

    In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Snoop talked about his love for the Chronic and how he likes to smoke with his son. He said if he tried to play the stern-parent-role, he would only be making himself look foolish, which many folks would probably disagree with.

    “My kids can do whatever the hell they want,” he said. “For me to say otherwise would be hypocritical. A lot of motherf—ers don’t have a relationship with their kids, and that’s when they get on drugs and have suicidal thoughts and drive drunk. Me and my son is mellow. I’m his father, so I wanna show him the proper way because he looks up to me.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Victoria Azarenka Wins First Round of Australian Open

    Victoria Azarenka is off to a good start in her quest to defend her consecutive Australian Open singles titles (2012 and 2013.)

    Azarenka battled long and hard in the dangerous Melbourne heat on Tuesday to advance to the second round. The second-seeded Belarusian tennis player was up against Sweden’s Johanna Larsson. Larsson put up an admirable fight in the first set, pushing Azarenka to 6-6.

    However, Azarenka won the tie-break 7-2, taking the second set 6-2 in just over 30 minutes.

    Of the extended time she spent on the court in dangerously high temperatures, Azarenka said “It would have been nice to get it over quicker … But it is a win and that’s the main thing.”

    If Azarenka were to take the singles title again this year, it would make her the first woman to win three successive titles in Melbourne since Martina Hingis did so in 1997, 1998, and 1999.

    However, Azarenka won her other Grand Slam titles without facing Serena Williams, who was eliminated in both those Australian Opens due to foot injuries.

    When asked about the rivalry between her and Williams, Azarenka said “I think everybody is the one to beat here. We have such a high competition right now … You always have to look for every opponent you play. You cannot look past anybody because everybody is prepared, everybody wants it badly.”

    Indeed, Larsson proved those words true when she ran Azarenka all over the court on Tuesday.

    Azarenka will be joined in the second round by Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki. The tenth-seeded Wozniacki had a much easier time of it on Tuesday, winning 6-0, 6-2 over Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino.

    Wozniacki said it was so hot that when she set a plastic water bottle down on the court, it began to melt.

    Temperatures peaked at a dangerous 42.2 degrees Celsius (107.9 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday. Although temperatures over the next few days shouldn’t reach quite that high, they’re forecasted to remain above the 100-degree mark.

    Officials have already implemented two stages of the tournament’s heat policy: ice vests are required for all players and women are required to take a 10 minute break between second and third sets.

    They said that humidity levels were too low to call for the tournament’s more aggressive heat precautions which involve closing the retractable roof over the two main courts and discontinuing play on the outside courts.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Cockroach in Ear: One Man’s Disgusting Story

    Just like rats, cockroaches are some of the most resilient little creatures on earth, and why? Because they can survive under the most horrid conditions and can live off just about anything. Apparently, one was trying to find something to eat outside of the cupboard, because a roach was found in a man’s ear, which caused him to rush to the hospital.

    According to an Australian news outlet, Hendrik Helmer, of Darwin, Australia was awoken by a severe pain in his ear, and he quickly figured out that it was an insect, which shows the guy must have a serious bug problem if that was his first guess. “I was hoping it wasn’t a poisonous spider,” he said. “I was hoping it didn’t bite me.”

    Fortunately for Helmer it didn’t bite him, but unfortunately it didn’t choose to crawl out either, so Helmer grabbed a vacuum cleaner and tried to suck it out, but that was an epic fail and the little sucker stayed put. Then he tried using water, hoping to flush it out, but still no victory and the pain only increased.

    “Later on, when I stood up and it happened, it would sort of hunch me over and drop me down to the ground,” said Helmer.

    He then went to a local hospital, where a doctor used olive-oil to wash it out, which only made the bug scurry into the ear even further. Eventually, the roach began to weaken and he showed signs of dying, but it took 10 whole minutes for that to happen.

    “Near the 10-minute mark, somewhere about there, he started to stop burrowing but he was still in the throes of death-twitching,” Helmer explained. And what’s even more disturbing is that the thing was way bigger than Helmer thought. “They said they had never pulled an insect this large out of someone’s ear,” he said. Remarkably, the roach was a full 2 centimeters long.

    Image via YouTube

  • Solange Knowles Performs In Australia To End 2013

    Solange Knowles ended 2013 doing what she does best – performing and doing it fashionably.

    Beyoncé’s younger sister performed at the Falls Festival in Australia over the weekend. In true fashionable form Solange performed in a red high-neck crop top and matching culottes and sported thigh length hair.

    Solange, along with The Roots, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, and many others performed at the festival which runs in Lorne, Victoria from December 28, 2013 – January 1, 2014, Marion Bay, Tasmania from December 29, 2013 – January 1, 2013, and Byron, New South Wales from December 31, 2013 – January 3, 2014.

    The Falls Festival began in 1993 when creator Simon Daly was “sitting around an annual NYE campfire with guitars, music, friends and family” and decided to “extend the invitation to everyone and host a music festival.” The festival also has nights of dancing they have dubbed “Boogie Nights,” as well as performances from comedians.

    After performing, Solange rang in 2014 in Tasmania. Like so many around the world she turned to Twitter to wish everyone a “Happy New Year” and even posted a picture of herself to her Instagram.

    Before saying goodbye to 2013, Solange, along with the editors of saintheron.com, listed their favorite songs, movies, and books of 2013.

    One of many songs that made Solange lose her “religion on the dance floor” was Ty Dollar $ign’s “Paranoid” featuring B.o.B.

    Her sister Beyoncé’s “Partition” and Fantasia’s “Without Me” were just a couple of songs that always made Solange feel “some type of way” – which she clarified to mean “reaaally good” if anyone was confused.

    Fruitvale Station and Behind the Candelabra were two unforgettable films from 2013 for Solange, while Taiye Selasi’s ”Ghana Must Go” was one of her favorite reads of the past year.

    You can watch the video for Solange’s single “Losing You” below.

    Image via Solange’s Instagram.

  • Caroline Wozniacki Says “Yes” to Rory McIlroy

    While golf’s Rory McIlroy may have only been able to win one major competition last year, he started 2014 with the most important victory of his career, announcing his engagement to long-time girlfriend and tennis star, Caroline Wozniacki, via Twitter on New Year’s Day.

    The announcement of the couple’s engagement follows a swirl of rumors surrounding their many potential break-ups since their relationship began in 2011. The most recent and hard-hitting rumor came this October when “sources” revealed that McIlroy had ended his relationship with Wozniacki for good following her post of this TwitPic:

    Despite the constant controversy surrounding the couple’s relationship, Wozzilroy (the couple’s self-dubbed nickname) continues to persist, even with their busy schedules which often keep them apart.

    Fortunately, the couple was able to be together in Sydney, Australia this New Year’s as Wozniacki prepares for this month’s Australian Open.

    2013 was not a good year for either Wozniacki or McIlroy. Last year, Wozniacki slid to No. 10 in the world after reaching the final weekend of only two tournaments all year (winning the last tournament of the season at Luxembourg) and performing poorly in almost all the Grand Slam events. (Her best effort being a fourth round finish at last year’s Australian Open.)

    While Wozniacki starts this year on a good note with the announcement of her engagement, the road to tennis success will not be easy. Wozniacki starts 2014 with a right shoulder injury which forced her to withdraw from the Brisbane International; a move which was made to ensure she was prepared for the Australian Open which starts January 13:

    “… right now I just need some good physio, good treatment, and my head is still in Sydney. I’ve been working really well and hard in this off‑season with no problems. I wanted to start of the year well. That’s why I made the decision to withdraw from here, just because I didn’t feel like there was a need to make it worse before going into the [Australian] Open as well.”

    As for her future husband, McIlroy needs a strong year following a 2013 in which he went winless on the USPGA tour and whose best showing at a major was 8th place at the US Open until he won the Australian Open last month.

    Unfortunately, the newly engaged couple will find themselves parting ways again soon, as Wozniacki participates in the Australian Open this January while McIlroy heads to the Middle East to play at Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

    Image via Twitter

  • Twitter Adds Australia And Brazil To Alert System

    The social networking website Twitter is a simple yet effective way to get the word out about what is on your mind, a photo that you have recently taken, or the announcement of a product. With so many people currently active on Twitter, it is also a great way to send out notifications and alerts from various information-based systems and services. With this in mind, Twitter has recently added more countries to its list of areas where the social networking site actively dispenses alerts.

    When Twitter users enroll in the Twitter Alerts system, the enrolled users will receive important alerts on their phones from various organizations in an emergency, natural disaster, or any other event when other communication systems are not accessible to the user. The countries actively involved with the Twitter Alerts system are: United States, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

    On December 19th, 2013, Twitter announced that two more countries have been added to the social networking site’s alert system: Australia and Brazil.

    With Australia added, users in the Great South Land will be able to receive alerts from various Australian-based services, such as: the City of Sydney, the Australian Red Cross, the Department of Health, and fire and police departments from many other areas within their state. The New South Wales Royal Fire Service recently tweeted an announcement of their commitment with Twitter Alerts.

    In Brazil, an important service that Twitter users will definitely benefit from are alerts from Centro de Operações da Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro (COR).

    Along with Twitter adding both Australia and Brazil to its alert system, new features have been added to the Twitter Alerts service as well. On a user’s iOS or Android device, the user can visit a participating organization’s Twitter profile and subscribe to its alerts as published notifications by clicking on the bell icon. Another feature that has been added for iOS users is that users will now receive notifications at the bottom of the screen from organizations that have just published an alert from their Twitter accounts.

    To see a comprehensive list of services participating in Twitter Alerts organized by country, be sure to visit Twitter’s Participating Organizations page.

    Image via Twitter Alerts (FEMA)

  • Nicole Kidman and Family Stun The Australian Press

    The paparazzi were going crazy when Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and her Grammy award winning husband Keith Urban showed up in Australia last week. The couple was in their native homeland to celebrate the holidays with their families and to honor Kidman’s parents on their 50th wedding anniversary.

    With their two precious daughters in tow–Sunday age 5 and Faith who will be 3 on the Dec. 28–the Kidmans looked like a hip royal couple, making fans and the Australian media stand at attention and take notice.

    Urban showed up in a fitted blue suit and a cool looking pair of designer sunglasses, playing the role of rock star and rad-dad all in one. While Kidman sported a beautiful off-white floral number, looking appropriately summery, as the current temperature in Australia is about 23 degrees Celsius, which is about 73 degrees Fahrenheit.

    Little Faith was also decked out in a sparkly silver dress, nearly stealing the shine away from her famous parents, who have now been married for almost 8 years. While older daughter Sunday wore a cute gold sequin dress that was equally sparkly and attention grabbing.

    The handsome family looked very close knit, which both parents have confirmed in past interviews.

    In a 2011 chat with E! Online, Kidman said she couldn’t believe that she and Urban met so late in life, and she never thought she’d get another chance to start a new family.

    “We found each other in this huge world and we’re crazy about each other, she said. “And we now have this family that we’ve gotten to experience in our 40s. I’m so glad to have met my mate. The person that kind of protects me and loves me. He’s a good bloke.”

    And Urban said that his life began after meeting Kidman in 2005, and before then he was kind of lost. “I wouldn’t say it was a life-changing moment because it was more than that,” he said in an interview with the UK publication Mirror Online.

    “It was when my life started. That’s the only way I can describe it. Meeting Nic was that profound for me. Before then I didn’t really know what I was doing. Now I know exactly what I’m doing and it all makes sense. I feel very, very fortunate that I’ve met somebody like Nic and we share the same kind of ideology.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Woman Walks Off Pier with Face Buried in Facebook

    Maybe it takes falling into the ocean to convince someone they have a Facebook addiction – or, at least I hope.

    A Taiwanese tourist had to be rescued from Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne, Australia after walking straight off St. Kilda Pier late Monday night. Don’t worry, she’s totally fine. Let’s get that out of the way because the reason she fell off of the pier is absolutely hilarious.

    Here’s what Constable Dean Kelly had to say to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

    “She was still out in the water laying on her back in a floating position because she told us later that she couldn’t swim…she initially she apologized – she said ‘I was checking my Facebook page on the phone and I’ve fallen in’.”

    According to the Victoria Police, the waters were “icy” and the tourist is lucky that a witness quickly spotted her and alerted authorities.

    Also, check this out:

    “There will be no need for a lost property report as the woman kept hold of her mobile phone throughout the entire ordeal,” said Victoria Police.

    What a champ. Facing icy waters, darkness, and the inability to swim, our girl knew that having to get a new device is such a pain in the ass. I just hope whoever rescued her brought a plastic bag full of rice – that phone must’ve been soaked.

    No wonder some towns are thinking about handing out tickets for distracted walking. It’s actually kind of dangerous – evidenced by the fact that this isn’t the first time we’ve reported on someone falling into something because their eyes were buried in their devices. Last year, a Benton Harbor, Michigan woman walked off a pier while texting and just a few weeks after that incident a young girl plunged into a sinkhole in China. She was checking her phone, of course.

    Image via VisitMelbourne.com

  • Tourist Walks Off Pier While Perusing Facebook

    A tourist who was strolling down St. Kilda’s pier in Melbourne, Australia on Monday night wasn’t paying close enough attention to where she was going and fell in, authorities say.

    “She was still out in the water laying on her back in a floating position because she told us later that she couldn’t swim,” Senior Constable Dean Kelly told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “She still had her mobile phone in her hand and initially she apologised… she said ‘I was checking my Facebook page on the phone and I’ve fallen in’.”

    The woman, who was from Taiwan, floated on her back until rescuers came about 20 minutes later, holding her phone aloft to keep it safe.

    She’s not the first to endanger herself because of a need to check in via cellphone; last March, a Benton Harbor woman tripped over an object while she was texting and fell right into the harbor.

    “I had set an appointment for the wrong time and so I sent about three words. Next thing you know it was the water,” said Bonnie Miller.

    In January, a British radio personality fell into an icy canal while looking at her phone and was only spared a cold death by a passerby who happened to see her fall in.

    “Oh dear. I should really be called Laura UNsafe after the day I’ve had!” Laura Safe said. “I thought ice on the canal was pavement because it looked dark in the corner of my eye. I heard a man called out ’stop’ to me and I looked up at him, but it was too late by that point. I tried to get my balance and ended up slipping into the canal. But not before I’d saved my handbag and mobile phone. This man came running up Baywatch style, grabbed my hand and pulled me up. He was a hero and saved my life.”

    Many states have laws against texting and driving, but there aren’t many safeguards against people who do it while walking. Be safe out there, kids.

    Image: Thinkstock

  • Angelina Jolie and Family in Australia

    Angelina Jolie and Family in Australia

    The Jolie-Pitt clan is known for its globe-trotting ways, and son Maddox doesn’t let us down when he visits his mom on a movie set in Australia. Angelina Jolie, who is in Sydney directing the film Unbroken, was surprised as the 12-year-old confidently strolled on set, and greeted his mom.

    Jolie and Maddox, as well as the rest of the gang, kids Shiloh, Zahara, Pax, Knox and Vivienne and dad Brad Pitt, also got in some family time on a luxury yacht in the Sydney Harbor, splashing it up in the water and paddle boarding.

    Unbroken is based off of the 2010 best-selling novel, written by Laura Hillenbrand, which spent 108 weeks on the New York Times best seller list, 14 of which were at number 1.

    The film and book tell the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympian track prodigy and Air Force pilot whose plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 1943 during World War II. He floated on a raft in shark-infested water for 47 days, only to be captured by the Japanese and sent to a prisoner of war camp.

    Zamperini competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics when he was 19. Although he didn’t win a medal, Adolf Hitler was so impressed he insisted on meeting the runner.

    Jolie spoke of the real-life war hero and how his life has affected hers, in an interview.

    “’It will be hard to make a film worthy of this great man. I am deeply honored to have the chance and will do all I can to bring Louie’s inspiring story to life. Everyone involved in the film shares this deep responsibility. Like all readers of Laura’s book and all people who love and admire Louie, I am a fan who has learned so much. He has made me a better person.”

    Unbroken is slated to hit the screens January 16, 2015.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mia Wasikowska Crosses the Outback in ‘Tracks’ Trailer

    With the summer blockbusters now behind us, studios are now packing theaters with their Oscar nominee hopefuls. Movie such as The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club will be sharing theater space with winter blockbusters such as The Hobbit.

    One of the award season hopefuls that has been quietly making its way around the festival circuit is an Australian movie titled Tracks. The movie is an adaptation of a memoir by the same name that chronicles the journey of travel writer Robyn Davidson as she treks 1,700 miles across the Australian outback.

    The movie was shot on location in Australia and directed by John Curran. Curran is best known for his well-received indie films Praise and We Don’t Live Here Anymore.

    The first full trailer for Tracks was released this week. The preview shows that Wasikowska will be alone on screen much of the time, and that See-Saw Films (one of the studios behind The King’s Speech) is shooting for another Oscar winner:

  • Brandi Brandt Faces Charges In Drug Syndicate

    Brandi Brandt Faces Charges In Drug Syndicate

    Brandi Brandt, the former Playboy model, is now facing charges after being accused of participating in a drug syndicate.

    Brandt allegedly helped hide a “commercial quantity” of cocaine on Qantas and United Airlines planes which was later picked up by employees of the catering companies that service airlines. Because the transports were done between L.A. and Sydney, Australia, Brandt has been extradited in order to face charges there next month.

    Brandt’s involvement in the syndicate stems from around 2007, and she reportedly also handled about $121,000 in drug money. Her ex-boyfriend, Rusty Setser, is accused along with her and has already been extradited to Australia. It’s not known what sort of sentence either might receive, but life in prison is a possibility. Brandt’s lawyer told the Australian Press that she has not entered a plea yet and hasn’t issued a public comment on the situation.

    “Anyone who is in custody getting extradited to another country that is very far away would not be happy, I guess,” Anthony Solis said. “She hasn’t expressed any particular emotion about it.”

    The 45-year old actress and model was one of Playboy’s most popular girls in the ’80s and was at one time married to Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. The former couple shares three children.

    Image: Playboy

  • The Earliest Life Form Found So Far is in Australia

    The Guardian is reporting that Earth’s earliest life form has been found in Australia. An Aussie research team accompanied by some U.S. scientists discovered a series of “complex microbial ecosystems” they date to 3.5 billion years ago.

    The find was made in Australia’s western Pilbara region in rock sediments considered to be some of the oldest found. In a rock body called the Dresser formation, the scientists found entire microbe communities. Slivers of ancient rock were sampled in order to search for the microscopic life.

    Team leader and professor David Walcey of the University of Western Australia told the Guardian that the radical find “pushes back evidence of life on Earth by a few more million years.” The simpler organisms (bacterium and archaea) ruled for millions of years before evolutionary leaps led to more complex, multi-celled lifeforms.

    He added, “The Pilbara has some of the best, least deformed rocks on Earth; there aren’t many rocks older than there… I would say this is the most robust evidence of the oldest life on Earth. My team has found evidence dated at 3.45bn years in the past, so we have gone further back by a few million years.”

    Walcey’s work is slowly painting a looking-glass view into lifeforms that existed eons before the evolution of man. “Microbes and bacteria like to live in communities. Think about the bacteria in your stomach, for example. These microbes lived in layers that required different chemical gradients to survive. So bacteria that liked light would be towards the top while those that didn’t were towards the bottom.”

    Earth was so radically different in almost every way, from higher temperatures to even higher sea levels. Bacteria like those the team discovered would have been the predominant form of life for several billion years.

    “Bacteria ruled the world back then [and] it would’ve been a very smelly world indeed,” Walcey observed. “It would’ve been pretty hostile for us. There was essentially no oxygen, a lot of CO2 and methane and much warmer oceans.”

    The ramifications of the discovery could impact how we view the entire solar system. “These kinds of ecosystems could be viewed by a rover, such as the one that visited Mars,” Walcey said. “We wouldn’t know the age, of course, as we couldn’t date them. But we would know that there was life at some point on another planet, which would be pretty exciting.”

    If you’re interested in the elementary basics of life on Earth, here’s a BBC2 clip describing the evolution of the first microorganisms on our planet:

    [Image via this BBC2 clip on YouTube]

  • “Godzilla” Platypus Discovered in Australia

    “Godzilla” Platypus Discovered in Australia

    A duck bill, webbed feet, beaver tail, poisonous spurs, and egg-laying – all perfect ingredients for a 6 year-old’s diabolical creature creation. However, this animal really does exist in nature – the platypus. This chimeric animal has been the subject of scientific studies for many years. Due to its unique characteristics and nocturnal nature, much is still not known about the platypus. One thing that scientists thought they had known about this mysterious animal, though, was its evolutionary history. Fossil records had indicated that the platypus had one of the most linear evolutionary trajectories of any animal, with the platypus slowly evolving to become smaller and toothless, resulting in today’s modern platypus.

    A recent discovery at the University of New South Wales in Australia, however, has cast doubt on the evolution of the platypus. Columbia University PhD candidate Rebecca Pian was digging through fossil remains found in the Riversleigh region of northeastern Queensland when she came across a platypus molar that seemed to be larger than any other platypus molar she had seen. After studying the tooth, Pian and UNSW Professor Mike Archer concluded that it must have belonged to a platypus measuring about 3 feet in length, twice as big as any other platypus scientists have discovered.

    “lt pretty well blew our minds,” stated Professor Archer. Sedimentary rocks at the site where the fossil was found date the platypus to be approximately 5 to 15 million years old. This dating is extremely important because it means that the Obdurodon tharalkooschild (Godzilla platypus) lived at the same time as the Obdurodon dicksoni, creating a disturbance in the evolutionary timeline of the platypus: “Discovery of this new species was a shock to us because prior to this, the fossil record suggested that the evolutionary tree of platypuses was a relatively linear one. Now we realize that there were unanticipated side branches on this tree, some of which became gigantic,” reported Professor Archer.

    With the newly discovered information concerning its evolutionary history, aborigines might want to rethink their origin myth of the platypus. The “Godzilla” platypus’s scientific name, Obdurodon tharalkooschild, pays respect to both Greek and Australian cultures. Obdurodon means “lasting (obdurate) tooth” in Greek, and tharalkooschild pays homage to the Australian creation myth. According to aborigines, the platypus was created due to the actions of an obstinate female duck, named Tharalkoo, who swam downstream despite her parents’ warnings. When the duck arrived downstream, she was ravished by Bigoon, a river-rat. When the duck came back home and laid her eggs, a platypus was born.

    Instead of a rat, perhaps the aborigines should think larger. Maybe, oh…. a beaver considering the platypus has a beaver, not rat, tail. Granted, who knows what kind of rats Australia has?

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Beyonce Didn’t Photobomb, Teen Says

    Beyonce was the subject of multiple headlines this week after a photo of her and a fan at a concert went viral. Now, the fan says the picture wasn’t what everyone thinks it was.

    The photo shows a teen apparently taking a selfie, with Beyonce popping up behind her with a microphone and a grin on her gorgeous face. The pic went up on Tumblr and immediately went viral, but the fan, 15-year old Valentina, says there was more to it.

    “Okay so as most of the people that have recently followed me i have been the girl that got her selfie ”photobombed” by Beyonce when in fact i asked her for the photo so she posed and smiled as the perfect person she is!” Valentina wrote on Tumblr. “Just thought i’d clear the air haha
    this is the link to the video on the night of the concert.”

    Indeed, you can clearly see Valentina ask Bey for a quick shot–which was, I have to admit, a nice display of manners on her part–before turning around and taking the now-infamous picture.

    Image: Tumblr