Commentary Ticker
- When in Rome…Make Better Concrete: How Theirs Beats Ours
June 18, 2013 | 10:40 pmFrom the Hoover Dam, to the Burj Khalifa, to the Panama Canal, concrete underlies the greatest of modern architectural achievements. But modern concrete, it seems, doesn’t hold a candle to Ancient Rome’s. A little history for you: the Romans were the first to engineer concrete in mass, and it was upon this concrete that they [...]
- Google Wants Balloon Internet for Everybody
June 15, 2013 | 11:06 am“Balloons. That’s right. Balloons,” says the voice of a young girl in a video for Google’s latest endeavor: bringing the world online with massive balloons. The initiative, called Project Loon, comes from Google X, the experimental lab within the company whose sole purpose is to dream up big, borderline insane, ideas. Google X created self-driving [...]
- Watch Researchers Discover a Sunken Egyptian City
June 13, 2013 | 9:36 pmThonis, the legendary port city that served as an entryway to the Egyptian empire, was long considered to be a myth. The tales of its immense power and vast riches conflicted with the evidence of its existence—mainly that there was none. Cities of such grandeur do not typically disappear off the face of the earth. [...]
- “I Am The Nucleus” and Other Bizarre Quotes By Kanye West
June 12, 2013 | 10:06 amKanye West says the darndest things. On his unrelenting quest to become his own species of hip-hop artist, he has established a reputation as irreverent, controversial, and unapologetic. Though he makes time for public grandstanding by claiming a US President “doesn’t care about black people” or interrupting the VMAs, he remains mostly quiet when it [...]
- 50 Charities, 10 Years, $1 Billion Wasted
June 11, 2013 | 12:38 pmIn Holiday, Florida, sits a warehouse. From the outside, it looks like nothing special, but as a joint investigative report from the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting uncovered, inside is one of the most useless charity in America: Kids Wish Network. For every dollar it raises, a mere 3 cents goes [...]
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Absurd Former Olympic Sports and Their Proposed Alternatives
It’s been an exciting run for the modern Olympic games. Since 1896, athletes a world apart have convened in different cites across planet Earth to prove how quickly and forcibly their muscles can react. It’s an occasion for each country and their constituents to show the skills they possess and the games said skills are applicable to. Yet the Olympics known today and the competition expected in London later this summer do not completely represent the games of past years. Events like tug-of-war, dueling pistols, and horse long jump have made their way in and then out of the competition. Below is a list of three former Olympic games, and their un-popular alternatives that didn’t make the cut.
Distance Plunging
As made famous by the 1904 games, Distance Plunging is grueling task that requires the ability to jump and then remain motionless for a prolonged period of time. Distance plungers would prepare themselves at the edge of a body of water before diving as deep as they could muster. Then in a moment of supreme athleticism, the plunger would wait completely still until they floated to the surface. The last plunger to surface was declared victor.
Un-Popular Alternatives:
Pasta Drop: Participants drop a handful of Capellini into a small pond, the last noodle to sink to the bottom marks the winner.
Downhill Pumpkin Roll: Olympians close their eyes and roll undersized pumpkins down a slight incline. This sport is judged by a panel who uses a 1-10 scale for technique.
Live Pigeon Shooting
Bringing in throngs of spectators since the 1896 Olympics, is the live pigeon shooting event. While some marksmen and marksmen-enthusiasts might be familiar with the clay pigeons commonly used in rifle-sport, the idea for those flying discs came from the a much livelier and avian counterpart. In the 1900 Olympics in Paris, an executive decision was made to spice things up and use actual birds. A participant armed with a rifle would take aim as a flock of pigeons was released. More than 300 birds were killed during this exciting event.
Un-Popular Alternatives:
Trap shooting: Bear-traps are tossed into the air and assaulted with rifle-fire. Points are awarded for contact with the trap. Any damage to the claw mechanism results in disqualification as the traps are reused for the “Human Survivor Challenge.”
Spear fishing: Able-bodied men boarded a raft with fishing poles and attempted to ensnare and reel in tribal spears without using Spear Bait. This game was cancelled in 1940 as most couldn’t complete the task and due to prolonged rafting, would perish from scurvy.
Solo Synchronized Swimming
Introduced in the 1984 Los Angeles games, solo synchronized swimming bewildered all who watched–and all who participated. Swim dancers would orchestrate solo routines to be performed in sync with music while partially submerged in water. Nearby lifeguards often mistook the performers for drowning children thrashing in the water and frequently disrupted the performances to deliver mouth-to-mouth. Based on the confusing nomenclature, the judges assumed the water ballerinas were synchronized with other dancers they simply could not see. In 1985, reported ghost sightings in LA doubled.
Un-Popular Alternatives:
Marathon of One: In keeping with the origin of the Marathon, participants run the 26.2 mile event alone while over 3,000 spectators eagerly watch each step and foible.
One v. One Football: Two singular competitors stand off in a game of American football. Touchdowns can only be scored by passing the elongated ball to another player. Most games end in ties.
Attribution
Time