Animation studio Virtual Republic turned classical music by German composer Ferdinand Ries into a rollercoaster ride for this clever ad for the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

The musical notes are synchronized, so the visual part of the rollercoaster ride actually match what you hear.

Hit play or go to Link [Vimeo] - via The Atlantic

Photo: Eichental/Flickr

Look closely. See something odd about the photo above?

That's right, folks - that's the Crouching Tiger and Turtle, a roller coaster walkway in Duisburg, Germany.

Kuriositas has the story:

It stands about eleven meters in height and is part of the city’s Capital of Culture project. Crouching Tiger and Turtle, Magic Mountain (to give it its full name) is a work by sculptors Ulrich Genth and Heike Mutter. Visitors are encouraged to follow the twists and turns of the roller coaster and enjoy the surrounding Ruhr landscape from slightly different perspectives than usual! [...]

Yet why the name? According to one of the sculptors, Heike Mutter, the roller coaster represents acceleration and the high speed of a tiger but the sightseer has to investigate it step by step like a turtle.

Link - via The Presurfer

The Euthanasia Coaster, designed by London's Royal College of Art's student Julijonas Urbonas, lets you ride the last ride of your life. Literally.

The three-minute ride involves a long, slow, climb -- nearly a third of a mile long -- that lifts one up to a height of more than 1,600 feet, followed by a massive fall and seven strategically sized and placed loops. The final descent and series of loops take all of one minute. But the gravitational force -- 10 Gs -- from the spinning loops at 223 miles per hour in that single minute is lethal.

According to Urbonas, the "Euthanasia Coaster is a hypothetic euthanasia machine in the form of a roller coaster, engineered to humanely -- with elegance and euphoria -- take the life of a human being." [...]

Euthanasia Coaster isn't simply meant to be about death. Urbonas sees it as both an intellectual and artful departure from the world, one that isn't about the paperwork and medical issues of the current euthanasia system. The few places where voluntary euthanasia is legal include: Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington.

"There is no special ritual, nor is death given special meaning except that of the legal procedures and psychological preparation. It is like death is divorced from our cultural life…" Urbonas writes. "…But if it is already legal, why not to make it more meaningful?"

Link

This wooden roller coaster called the Reverse Cowgirl was built by Mike Nawrot and Romain Teil for Rush Week at MIT. I would find this totally terrifying. Link -via the Daily What

Harnessing the same technology that powers fighter planes off aircraft carriers, the rollercoaster’s carriage travels the ride’s 2.07 km (1.2 miles) distance in just a minute and half.

Oh, and did we mention it was built above Abu Dhabi’s Formula 1 track? Well, it is. It’s the star piece for the “Ferrari World” theme park that’s opened just in time for the UAE’s grand prix on November 12th.

See a “point of view” video (which may cause dizziness) and a look behind the scenes at World’s Biggest. Link

Who doesn’t love going to an amusement park? There is no comparing the thrill you get from such a controlled environment. There is that off chance though that something could go wrong.

The blog below tells, in great details, every amusement ride accident dating back to 1998. There are roller coaster derailments, inflatable bounce castles blowing away with people still inside, and the county fair rides that were just not put together right, it’s all there.

I promise that you will be amazed and a little creeped out by how many of these "incidents" occur but you never hear a word.

Link – via suburbanfoodforthought

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by stevesteve8383.

Here’s a fun Flash game where you get to create your own rollercoaster. It’s not as easy as it looks. You must respect angles otherwise your cars along with its passengers will fly off the track. A fun game that will keep you busy for a while.

Source: fatratgames

Eighteen people who rode a roller coaster in Anhui, China, got more than they bargained for: they got stuck upside down for half an hour when strong winds caused the roller coaster to stop on its track!

Strong winds brought a roller coaster to a halt at the top of its loop at a fun park in Anhui province in east China, leaving 18 people hanging upside down for about half an hour with six of them falling ill, an official said.
All the six persons were sent to a hospital and were discharged later, the official said.

The equipment was in good condition and the weather was suitable when the coaster began its journey but a sudden gust halted it, which was then locked to the loop by safety devices, with the passengers hanging upside down.

Zhang Shengying, Deputy Director of the Wuhu Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, said investigation showed that the accident had been caused by “extreme weather” at the amusement park.

Source: ptinews
Image: China.org