Latest news with #PengYujian
Gizmodo
7 hours ago
- General
- Gizmodo
Viral Paragliding Video May Be Partly AI-Generated, Experts Say
Last week, numerous media outlets, including Gizmodo, reported on a shocking paragliding accident in China that saw a strong updraft shoot 55-year-old Peng Yujian 18,000 feet (5,500 meters) into freezing air. However, a digital security firm is now 'fairly confident' that parts of the video allegedly capturing the event are AI-generated, according to Reuters, who originally distributed the video. 'The video, originally posted after the paraglider's May 24 flight by his support team on Douyin, China's TikTok, employed artificial intelligence to fake some of the footage, according to a review by a digital security firm consulted by Reuters,' reads the Reuters update. 'Digital security firm GetReal said it was 'fairly confident' the first five seconds of Peng's video contained AI-generated images,' the article continues, noting that the video also includes inconsistencies such as strange changes to the paraglider's helmet and equipment. Many news sites, including NBC and the BBC, have taken the video down, and the video we linked to in our own coverage on May 29 is no longer available. An article by Sixth Tone (an English language news outlet reporting on China) still has the alleged footage from Peng's camera, including the inconsistencies noted by Reuters. As we previously reported, Peng was testing paragliding equipment at around 10,000 ft (3,000 m) above sea level when a dangerous meteorological phenomenon known as 'cloud suck' allegedly pulled him up to around 28,000 ft (8,500 m). For comparison, the peak of Mount Everest is 29,029 ft (8,848 m) above sea level. He was in the air for over an hour, exposed to almost -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit), before landing 20 miles (33 kilometers) away from his starting point. A camera mounted onto his equipment supposedly filmed the accident. The video—highlighting Peng's snow-crusted face looking around confusedly—went viral on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, before Chinese state media picked it up. The state-run broadcaster CCTV distributed it internationally via a Reuters-owned platform, according to the Canadian news agency. Abhinav Dhall, an associate professor in Monash University's Department of Data Science and AI, told ABC Australia that it's difficult to determine whether the video is real or AI-generated, 'if we closely observe the starting say 3 or 4 seconds of this video we can see that the clouds in the background do not really look real. They look like as if, you know, it's a 2D picture.' Peng's story, however, is technically possible. In 2007, German paraglider Ewa Wisnierska reportedly survived a similar accident when a storm front sucked her nearly 33,000 ft (10,000 m) into the air, according to ABC Australia. Reuters, however, reports that French pilot Antoine Girard holds the 'current record for a planned flight' for flying 27,582 ft (8,407 m) over the Himalayas in 2021. It remains to be seen how the news industry will adapt in the face of increasingly realistic AI-generated visual content.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Paraglider accidentally pulled 28,000ft into the air in -40C conditions receives stern punishment from Chinese communist authorities after he went viral
A paraglider who was accidentally dragged 28,000ft into the air in -40C conditions has received a stern punishment from Chinese communist authorities after he went viral. Peng Yujian has been banned from paragliding for six months after the ordeal which saw him soaring in line with flight paths at nearly the height of Mount Everest. The Chinese paraglider began from an elevation of around 9,800ft in the Qilian mountain range in northern China on Saturday. He had intended to test a new second-hand equipment purchase without making a proper flight, according to an investigative report by the Gansu Provincial Aviation Sports Association. But just 20 minutes into his practice, he became trapped in a strong updraft which blasted him over 16,000ft higher into the icy air. Frightening footage from Peng's mounted camera revealed the severity of the conditions the paraglider had to endure. Visibility was poor as he was rapidly sucked to high altitudes over the snow-topped mountains while he struggled to cling on to his parachute. He was seen soaring above the clouds and covered in icicles as the temperature plummeted to a reported -35C as he tried to regain control over his equipment. The paraglider, who miraculously survived the chilling ordeal, managed to catch a clip moment of the incident on camera which has now made its rounds on social media The paraglider was not wearing an oxygen mask which left him fully exposed to the dangerous elements. However, Peng miraculously remained conscious throughout the ordeal and managed to successfully land his parachute safely. Following the incident, he recalled experiencing hypoxia and having his hands exposed to the freezing cold temperatures above the clouds, according to local reports. 'I just kept communicating over the radio the entire time,' he said The paraglider was left with extensive frostbite following the ordeal. Authorities praised Peng's survival, conceding it was an accident. A 'normal person cannot be exposed at 8,000metres without oxygen [so] this is not something that can be done voluntarily' said a sports bureau official, according to Sixth Tone. But Peng, who has around five years' experience paragliding, had never intended to leave ground level meaning he had not registered any flight plans. Under regulations, this meant his ordeal was 'not subject to relevant approvals', the report said. In response he was banned from flying for six months. The bureau report, based on an interview with Peng, said he was in the air for more than an hour, and had stayed in radio contact with his friend, Gu Zhimin, who was still on the ground. The report said he had attempted to return to land but his efforts were 'ineffective', and as he flew higher he became confused and briefly lost consciousness. Peng was eventually able to land about 30km from the launch site, where he was met by Gu and another friend. Gu later posted a video of Peng's flight and comments on the ground to Douyin, China's domestic version of TikTok, where it soon went viral. 'Gu Zhimin posted a flight video without permission, which had a bad impact,' the report said. 'He was grounded for six months and asked to write a report to deeply reflect on the negative impact of his behaviour.' The bureau said any record broken by Peng's flight would not be officially counted because his flight was not registered. Chinese national aviation sports regulations state that aerial activities need prior airspace approval from air traffic control. Paragliding activities have to be carried out according to a pre-arranged plan, and trips are prohibited under adverse weather conditions. Changing flight plans without authorisation is also not allowed.
Gizmodo
5 days ago
- General
- Gizmodo
Paraglider Defies Death After Freak Updraft Sucks Him 28,000 Feet Into Sky
A Chinese paraglider survived being sucked in by a cloud and flung 28,208 feet (8,598 meters) into the sky—even though he was just testing his new equipment and wasn't intending to take off. On May 24, Peng Yujian, a 55-year-old paraglider, was already roughly 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) above sea level, testing the fit of his new paragliding equipment. About 20 minutes in, a powerful updraft known as a 'cloud suck' shot him about 18,000 feet (5,500 meters) higher. Peng caught the wild event on a camera mounted on his glider, which naturally went viral after being posted on Douyin, China's version of TikTok. The video shows Peng coated in ice and holding on for dear life to the glider's controls. He says he may have lost consciousness during his unexpected descent. 'I felt the lack of oxygen. My hands were frozen outside. I kept trying to talk on the radio,' Peng said in the Douyin video after landing safely 20 miles (33 kilometers) from his launch point, according to Sixth Tone. Peng was in the air for more than an hour, during which he was exposed to temperatures nearing minus 40 degrees Celsius (which equals −40 degrees Fahrenheit). 'Everything ahead [was] a vast expanse of whiteness,' he told Chinese broadcaster CCTV News. Cloud suck is a meteorological phenomenon that can be deadly for paragliders. It refers to a strong upward air movement caused by powerful thermals—columns of rising warm air created when the ground heats unevenly from the sun—feeding into a cumulus cloud. As the updraft gets stronger, it creates a low pressure region at the cloud base, drawing in even more hot air from below. This results in a positive feedback loop that can cause wind speeds of over 1,000 feet (300 meters) per minute. Ewa Wiśnierska, a paraglider from Germany, still holds the dubious record of the highest altitude reached after being pulled by a cloud suck, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. An updraft flung her roughly 33,000 feet (10,000 m) into the sky in 2007. The summit of Mount Everest, the highest point above sea level on earth, is 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level. The Chinese government grounded Peng after his 'unsanctioned' flight for six months, citing safety regulations, according to a report from the Aero Sports Association of Gansu Province obtained by The Guardian. It's unclear whether that remains in effect, but something tells me he might not want to go paragliding again anytime soon.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Chinese paraglider almost equals world record at 28,000 feet — by accident
HONG KONG — The sky was apparently not the limit for a Chinese paraglider who climbed to a near record-breaking altitude of more than 28,000 feet Wednesday. The only problem? He hadn't even intended to fly. In what acrophobes — those with a fear of heights — could only imagine in their worst nightmares, 55-year-old Peng Yujian was just conducting a routine equipment test in the northern province of Gansu when a powerful updraft lifted him off the ground. 'I had just bought a secondhand paragliding harness and wanted to test it. So I was conducting ground parachute shaking,' Peng told state-run broadcaster CCTV News on Wednesday. 'The wind suddenly picked up and lifted me into the air.' 'I tried to land as soon as possible, but I failed,' he added, explaining that he was then carried even higher by a wind and ended up trapped in the cloud system, ascending as high as 5 miles above the ground to heights usually the preserve of commercial airliners. According to a statement from the Aero Sports Association of Gansu Province, Peng is a licensed paraglider with two years of experience that appeared to come in handy on the video captured by a camera attached to his equipment. NBC News could not independently verify the footage, released by CCTV, which showed Peng's face and gear coated in ice as he said: 'I can't get out now. I'm totally lost.' Peng said he started to panic when he reached the cloud base. 'Everything ahead [was] a vast expanse of whiteness,' he told CCTV, adding that he had no directional awareness without a compass. Even with a compass, it would have been too difficult to maintain direction because of poor visibility inside the clouds, Peng said. 'I thought I was flying straight, but in fact, I kept spinning around.' Peng said the scariest moment of his ordeal was when his parachute plunged headfirst toward the earth. But he managed to right himself before emerging from the cloud system heading northeast. 'I looked around and thought: 'Ah, I'm saved this time!' he said. In the Aero Sports Association statement, Peng, who was not wearing an oxygen mask, said that he gasped for air after landing and that he might have lost consciousness for about three minutes due to hypoxia and low temperatures. Peng's adventure almost saw him break the world record, itself also set accidentally in 2007 when a German paraglider was encased in ice after being sucked into a tornadolike thunderstorm in Australia and carried to a height greater than Mount Everest. Along with another pilot who published the video 'without permission,' Peng was initially handed a six-month flight suspension, Chinese air sports authorities said. Under China's national paragliding regulations, pilots are required to have a valid license issued by the Aero Sports Federation of China, and a flight plan must be approved before any activity. Individuals who violate the rules are penalized based on the seriousness of the incident. But the ban sparked a backlash on Chinese social media. 'He barely made it out alive. It's not like he wanted to fly that high,' one user wrote on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. While local media reported that the association withdrew the statement the same day, it is unclear whether Peng's suspension is still in place. Peng said the swelling in his body has 'gone down a lot,' but that his hands and face still felt numb. 'My fear hasn't completely faded,' Peng told CCTV News. 'I still feel uneasy when I think about it now.' He said he decided to 'take a break' from flying for the moment. This article was originally published on
NBC News
5 days ago
- Climate
- NBC News
Chinese paraglider almost breaks world record at 28,000 feet — by accident
HONG KONG — The sky was apparently not the limit for a Chinese paraglider who climbed to a near record-breaking altitude of more than 28,000 feet Wednesday. The only problem? He hadn't even intended to fly. In what acrophobes — those with a fear of heights — could only imagine in their worst nightmares, 55-year-old Peng Yujian was just conducting a routine equipment test in the northern province of Gansu when a powerful updraft lifted him off the ground. 'I had just bought a secondhand paragliding harness and wanted to test it. So I was conducting ground parachute shaking,' Peng told state-run broadcaster CCTV News on Wednesday. 'The wind suddenly picked up and lifted me into the air.' 'I tried to land as soon as possible, but I failed,' he added, explaining that he was then carried even higher by a wind and ended up trapped in the cloud system, ascending as high as five miles above the ground to heights usually the preserve of commercial airliners. According to a statement from the Aero Sports Association of Gansu Province, Peng is a licensed paraglider with two years of experience that appeared to come in handy on the video captured by a camera attached to his equipment. Released by CCTV, NBC News could not independently verify the footage which showed Peng's face and gear coated in ice as he said: 'I can't get out now. I'm totally lost.' Peng said he started to panic when he reached the cloud base. 'Everything ahead [was] a vast expanse of whiteness,' he told CCTV, adding that he had directional awareness without a compass. Even with a compass, it would have been too difficult to maintain direction because of poor visibility inside the clouds, Peng said. 'I thought I was flying straight, but in fact, I kept spinning around.' Peng said the scariest moment of his ordeal was when his parachute plunged headfirst toward the earth. But he managed to right himself before emerging from the cloud system heading northeast. 'I looked around and thought: 'Ah, I'm saved this time!' he said. In the Aero Sports Association statement Peng, who was not wearing an oxygen mask, said he gasped for air after landing and that he might have lost consciousness for about three minutes due to hypoxia and low temperatures. Peng's adventure almost saw him break the world record, itself also set accidentally in 2007 when a German paraglider was encased in ice after being sucked into a tornado-like thunderstorm in Australia and carried to a height greater than Mount Everest. Along with another pilot who published the video 'without permission,' Peng was initially handed a six-month flight suspension, Chinese air sports authorities said. Under China's national paragliding regulations, pilots are required to have a valid license issued by the Aero Sports Federation of China, and a flight plan must be approved before any activity. Individuals who violate the rules are penalized based on the seriousness of the incident. But the ban sparked a backlash on Chinese social media. 'He barely made it out alive. It's not like he wanted to fly that high,' one user wrote on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. While local media reported that the association withdrew the statement the same day, it is unclear whether Peng's suspension is still in place. Peng said the swelling in his body has 'gone down a lot,' but that his hands and face still felt numb. 'My fear hasn't completely faded,' Peng told CCTV News. 'I still feel uneasy when I think about it now.' He said he decided to 'take a break' from flying for the moment.
