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Watch Japan’s epic, 60-foot Gundam robot come to life in first set of full motion tests

The gigantic mecha stands at a towering 60 feet and weighs in at a whopping 55,000 pounds.

Elias Marat

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(TMU) –  Since the 1974 release of kaiju film classic Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, it’s been no secret that Japan loves enormous robots. The genre took a major step forward in 1979 with the release of the wildly popular Mobile Suit Gundam anime series, which introduced the concept of mecha – gigantic, humanoid military robots piloted by a human.

As we’ve been reporting for months, the madmen at Gundam Factory Yokohama in Japan have been conducting simple movement tests and putting the finishing touches on a full-sized, 60-foot-tall robot based on the RX-78F00 Gundam. The gigantic mecha stands at a towering 60 feet and weighs in at a whopping 55,000 pounds.

And now, in stunning new video released from the Gundam hangar at Yokohama’s Yamashita Pier, the larger-than-life mecha can be seen conducting its last test to ensure that it operates at its full range of motion.

The stunning full-range motion show that this marvel of Japanese engineering may have hit some snags this year due to the pandemic, but this hasn’t stopped the Yokohama Gundam team from plowing forward to ensure that this towering full-sized Gundam is ready for its debut on October 1, 2020.

In the latest progress video, the robot can be seen going through its full range of motions, including walking, kneeling, moving its head and its arms, and pointing its finger. Weighing upwards of 25 tons, the robot will have 24 degrees of freedom allowing it to walk wherever it pleases.

【#LikeJapan遊戲動漫】橫濱高達 9月17日大型動作測試/ RX-78 real size Gundam is testing in Yokohama, Japan!大量細節相片/more…

Posted by 喜愛日本 Like Japan on Thursday, September 17, 2020

Some of Japan’s top engineering, technology, and design talent have been collaborating since 2014 through the Gundam Global Challenge project to transform this futuristic concept into a reality, giving the East Asian country its first truly operational mecha.

The Gundam Global Challenge website offers a number of videos where you can learn about the epic project to construct the robot, along with various testimonials from the engineers and designers behind the project.

As previously noted, this won’t be the first time that a huge Gundam robot will be standing tall in Japan’s skyline, although it is the most ambitious mecha project yet.

Lead designer Masaki Kawahara also has three other life-sized Gundam mechas under his belt, including an RX-0 Unicorn Gundam replica from the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn series, which is parked in front of DiverCity Tokyo Plaza and has moving light panels, shifting armor plates, and the ability to switch into Destroyer mode. However, the humble RX-0 Unicorn is more like a massive statue than a mecha with full-motion capabilities.

Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Gundam series is one of the most celebrated and recognizable Japanese pop culture icons of the past four decades since Mobile Suit Gundam debuted in 1979. Filled with massive and sleek-yet-blocky mecha robots who fought each other with swords and advanced gun blasters, Gundam spawned a massive manga, anime, plastic model franchise and videogame franchise while also inspiring the mega-popular Macross mecha series.

In addition to nearly 50 official Gundam TV series and films, the franchis has also served as the main inspiration for Western properties including Transformers, Pacific Rim, Voltron, Robot Jox, MegaBots, and Real Steel – not to mention popular Japanese mecha franchises including Macross, Patlabor and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

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Jeff Bezos Thanks Amazon Workers And Customers For Paying For His Flight To Space

Elias Marat

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The billionaire space race chalked up one more ignoble milestone on July 20 when the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, boarded a reusable rocket his company Blue Origin built and funded, flew to the edge of space for a moment of weightlessness, and came back down to earth.

You can watch the flight and learn more about the journey here.

The Amazon founder has faced withering criticism for accumulating his massive fortune on the backs of an exploited workforce that is subject to harsh working conditions and low pay in warehouses or Fulfillment Centers where staffers must urinate in water bottles in order to meet their quotas.

In his press conference following the launch, Bezos thanked that same workforce for helping him to shoot himself into space in a move that many critics have described as a simple “joyride.”

“I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for this,” he told the crowd, which responded with laughter. “Seriously, for every Amazon customer out there and every employee thank you from the bottom of my heart very much. It’s very appreciated.”

Critics on Twitter responded with derision, noting that Bezos was able to enjoy the trip at the expense of his hard-working employees.

“Thing is, employers are supposed to pay their employees, not the other way around, but that’s basically how Amazon works,” one user tweeted.

While another tweeter asked: “Maybe they’re searching space for signs of a livable wage or a way to pay their fair share of taxes?”

On Tuesday, Bezos blasted off in the sub-orbital New Shepard rocket from Texas. The date for the launch was chosen to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Members of the crew, which included his brother mark and 82-year-old female astronaut Wally Funk, brought a number of historic items on the flight, including a piece of canvas from the conceptual plane originally flown by the Wright brothers, the goggles Amelia Earhart used to fly across the Atlantic, and a brass medal made from the first hot air balloon which flew in 1783.

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Keanu Reeves Praised As Video of Him Offering Seat to Lady in Subway Resurfaces

Elias Marat

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Keanu Reeves is an actor who has long been loved by audiences —and not necessarily due to his acting skills, but due to how nice the John Wick star is.

And now, Reeves is once again earning praise as a “true gentleman” after resurfaced video footage shows Reeves giving up his seat on the subway.

The clip was shared by Instagram film fan account Cinemonkeys where it has since earned nearly 45,000 likes.

The video footage dates back to 2011, when it was shared on YouTube by a user of the video-sharing platform.

At the time, Reeves was already a superstar riding on the fame he earned from the Matrix, Speed, and a number of other blockbuster hits.

When Reeves notices a woman carrying a heavy bag, he quickly points to his seat and asks if she would like to sit. The woman accepts and Reeves gets up without hesitating to let her take his seat.

Reeves, ever the model citizen, then stands and holds onto a subway pole while carrying his bag.

The video has since been watched over 27 million times and was even cited in a 2019 Time magazine profile of the actor describing Reeves as the “soul mate” of the internet.

The resurfacing of the clip on Instagram once again impressed users of the platform.

“This human being’s soul honestly shines so bright,” wrote one user.

“OMG I love him in every single way,” another person commented.

His kindness knows no bounds,” commented someone else.

Keanu is set to reprise his role as Neo in the upcoming fourth Matrix film directed and written by Lana Wachowski, who co-directed the earlier trilogy with her sister Lilly. He will also return to the silver screen in John Wick: Chapter 4, which will be released in 2022.

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Animals

Drunk Man Rescues Injured Baby Bird By Sending It To Animal Shelter… In An Uber

Elias Marat

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An injured baby bird received a new lease on life after a young man who was inebriated had the good sense to send the little creature to an animal shelter because he and his friends were too drunk to drive.

In the Summer of 2019, a small lesser goldfinch suddenly appeared by itself at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah. The center’s chairman, Buz Marthaler, was notified by a volunteer who sent him a photo.

“It was a picture of this bird, and it had come by Uber,” Marthaler told FOX13. “It was just crazy.”

As it turns out, the tiny bird – which was only two weeks old – indeed rolled up to the site by its lonesome, the sole passenger in an Uber vehicle called by concerned citizens who found the injured creature.

Among those good Samaritans was Tim Crowley, who had been “day drinking” on that Saturday before he and his buddies witnessed the little bird fall from the sky.

“Impromptu, sitting in some camp chairs, hanging out, having a few drinks when we had a visitor fall out of the sky,” he explained.

Crowley then snapped a photo of the bird and sent it to the WRCNU, which instructed him to immediately bring the bird in. However, the group obviously couldn’t drive since they had been guzzling booze all day.

So Crowley decided he’d hail a cab for the creature.

“At first it was a joke, like, ‘Hey, maybe we should just call Uber!’” he said. “Then we were like, ‘No, really. Why not? We’re paying them.’”

As it turns out, the bird – since named “Petey Uber” by staff at the rescue center – likely would have perished if not for Crowley’s quick thinking.

Marthaler remains impressed by Crowley’s move and shared the news on its Facebook page.

“While we feel we’ve seen it all and can’t be amazed by anything, there is always someone out there to prove us wrong,” the shelter’s post read. “Thank you to the rescuer who helped this little one get the care it needed in a timely manner and thank you for keeping yourself safe and others on the road safe as well.”

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