Tag Archives: Palace

Buckingham Palace Christmas Market: Tourists Arrive Only to Face a Locked Gate and a Large Puddle

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Name: Buckingham Palace Christmas Market.

Year: Debuting this year.

Exterior: Absolutely charming.

Really? A Christmas market at Buckingham Palace? Indeed! Picture a spacious avenue adorned with wooden stalls, creating a “stunning winter wonderland” filled with twinkling lights and festive trees, right at the palace’s forecourt.

Sounds almost too good to be real. Is that true? Just take a look at the images!

I. Where are those lights suspended from? They seem to float magically. That’s part of the allure.

And there’s snow on the ground. When was this picture taken? Don’t worry. You can check it out for yourself. There are many trains heading to London, and they are all free.

Wait – is this a prank? Yes, it has some elements typical of a hoax.

Like? AI-generated fake photos of the Buckingham Palace Christmas market are circulating on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.

What’s the purpose? That remains unclear. Numerous accounts have shared various AI fabrications without any obvious intent.

Besides disappointing royalist Christmas enthusiasts? It certainly seems that way. Many visitors have reported encountering only locked gates, safety barriers, and remnants of water puddles.

So, is there any truth to this? Just around the corner from the palace gates, the Royal Mews gift shop is offering a festive pop-up, featuring royal-themed Christmas gifts and a single kiosk serving hot drinks at the back.

It’s not quite the same. The Royal Collection Trust feels the need to clarify: “There will be no Christmas market at Buckingham Palace,” it states.

Are these types of AI hoaxes becoming more frequent? It’s unfortunate. In July, it was reported that an elderly couple was misled to the Malaysian state of Perak by a video showcasing a non-existent cable car.

That’s hard to believe. Additionally, travel agency Amsterdam Experience is noting a rise in inquiries for trips to Amsterdam to see imaginary places in the Netherlands.

What about their iconic windmills? Windmills beside picturesque canals and tulip fields exist only in AI-generated visuals.

When will people learn? It appears not anytime soon. Tourists who rely on AI for travel planning could find themselves stranded on a secluded mountaintop in Japan or searching for an Eiffel Tower in Beijing.

I’m not usually one for quick judgments.Using AI for travel planning is quite misguided. Perhaps, yet currently, around 30% of international travelers are doing just that.

Remember to say: “Never travel without ensuring that the destination actually exists.”

And please don’t say things like: “I’m looking for the main entrance to Jurassic Park. Is it located behind the carpet warehouse?”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Baby Palace Took Flight Immediately After Hatching, But Crashed in the Storm

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Artist’s impressions of a pterodactyl hatchling battling a tropical storm

Rudolf Hima

The young pterodactyl appeared to have taken flight just days post-hatching, yet some individuals suffered broken wings during a turbulent storm that struck their lagoon habitat.

This immature pterodactyl possessed an adult-like wing configuration, showcasing strength and aerodynamic traits conducive to flight. However, paleontologists have long questioned whether newly hatched individuals were capable of flying.

At the Solnhofen site in southern Germany, countless plant fossils are trapped in limestone. During an examination using ultraviolet light at Haassov’s Museum Bergel, David Unwin and Robert Smith from the University of Leicester, UK, identified a fractured wing of a Pterodactylus antiquus specimen. They soon discovered another hatchling exhibiting the same wing fracture.

“We were astounded,” stated Unwin. “We are not easily shocked. Under UV light, it practically leapt out of the rock. Our immediate reaction was, ‘Bloody hell!’

Unwin and his team estimated that these two specimens, both measuring just 20 cm and still in their growth phase, lived around 150 million years ago, approximately two million years apart. At that time, the location was part of an archipelago, featuring numerous islands and saltwater lagoons, where intense tropical cyclones occasionally triggered rapid underwater landslides that helped preserve fossilized remains.

The hatchling’s bones exhibited a healthy structure without signs of rotation or healing, apart from clean, angled breaks in the humerus (the upper arm bones supporting the wings). These injuries resemble the typical wing damage that adult birds and bats sustain when navigating through oceanic storms.

Juvenile Pterodactylus antiquus skeletons from Solnhofen, Germany

University of Leicester

“The most plausible explanation for these unfortunate pterosaurs with fractured wings is that they were airborne during the incident,” Unwin notes.

“In calm conditions, they could potentially float, but turbulent, wave-driven surfaces would cause them to sink.”

These findings bring valuable evidence to the long-standing debate regarding flight capabilities in hatchling pterosaurs, according to researchers.

“I don’t believe they hatched and simply leapt into the air,” Unwin stated. “However, they were likely airborne almost immediately post-hatching. This is one reason why these very young specimens are represented in the fossil record today.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com