Ballet to cure Mexico City’s traffic blues
Remedios Rosas was walking down a Mexico City street Saturday when she saw seven tutu-clad dancers tiptoe to the sidewalk, their chins held high, and join pedestrians waiting to cross the road. When the light changed, music started and the dancers leaped into the street, twirling and twisting in front of surprised drivers.
The 58-second show — the duration of a Mexico City traffic light — is part of a theater company’s attempt to brighten the days of motorists at snarled intersections in this sprawling megalopolis notorious for its clogged roadways. Rosas ran home and brought back her two grandchildren to enjoy the street performances, which featured music ranging from ballet classics like Swan lake and the Nutcracker to Michael Jackson’s Rock With Me. The sound system was a boombox plugged into an iPod.
“It’s great for families that we have the opportunity to see them here on the street,” the grandmother said.
Fighting the noise of car horns and rattling engines in the northwest Mexico City neighborhood, the group danced to the tune of seven different songs, each complemented with its own routine and bright costume.
The idea of the performances was inspired by photographer Oscar Rodriguez, who captured portraits of the dancers in the streets. Now, the performances are part of an initiative called “the theatricality of public space.” The theater company is called Ardentia.
Since the performances began two weeks ago, the dancers have drawn the attention of a stable of photographers, videographers, and even a drone operator, all looking to capture a story that continues to grow.
“We never thought this was going have to this kind of impact,” said one of the dancers, Manuela Ospina Castro. “Not only are people accepting it, but they need it. They need these kinds of activities to get closer to art”.
Perched atop his bicycle, Juan Pablo said he pulled to the side of the road when he came upon the performance and stayed to watch the entire event.
But children are the most delighted. Daniela Jacqueline luna, one of the grandchildren brought by Rosas, said her favorite part of the performance was when dancers “move their feet.” One day, she said, she wants to become a ballerina herself now.
Japanese company to launch wedding plaques into space
A Japanese start-up is offering an unusual service for newlyweds to celebrate their love: launching wedding plaques into space. Warp Space, a firm founded by faculty members from the University of Tsubuka, is offering a service that will print titanium plaques with the names of the newlyweds and load them onto a series of small cubes that each hold a few hundred of the plaques. The cubes will then be released into space by the crew of the International Space Station and couples will be presented with photos snapped by the astronauts. Reservations for the service, which starts at $270, will officially open at the July 29 Super Bridal Fair at the Okura Frontier Hotel Tsukuba.
leaf blower used to see how lizards endure storms
Tropical lizards have a stick-to-itiveness in high wind that puts TV weather reporters to shame. Now we know why, thanks in part to a high-powered leaf blower. Hurricanes Irma and Maria put a group of little tree-hugging lizards to the test, and scientists were perfectly positioned to see which reptiles survived and why. Then, Harvard researchers cranked up the leaf blower to observe just how 47 of the Caribbean critters held onto a wooden rod. Under tropical storm-force winds, the lizards lounged. As the wind speed cranked up, they still held on, although it got tougher. Even at 102 mph, the lizards grasped the pole with two clingy front feet while their tails and back legs flapped in the wind like a flag.
“All the lizard needs is an inside out umbrella and the image would be perfect,” study lead author Colin Donihue said. But there’s only so much a little lizard can take. At 108 mph, it was flying lizard time. Don’t worry. No lizard was harmed in the lab test. “They do go flying in the air, but it is softly into the net and everybody was returned back home” unharmed, said Donihue, a Harvard evolutionary biologist.
The lizards’ secret weapon to surviving hurricanesij The survivors had 6 to 9 per cent bigger toe pads, significantly longer front limbs and smaller back limbs, compared with the population before the storm, according to a study in journal Nature. The study is the first to show natural selection due to hurricane, Donihue said.
‘The Simpsons not based in Massachusetts’
A veteran writer for The Simpsons says the show isn’t based in Massachusetts despite several references to the state. The Boston Globe reports Mike Reiss recently sat down for a segment on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the show and his new book, Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright lies from a lifetime Writing for The Simpsons. Reiss says the Springfield, where the show is set, is “nowhere.” He explains the writers chose Springfield as a location because there are more than 40 cities and towns that share the name across the United States.