Viral

Weather Channel reporter Mike Seidel looks like he deserves a raise -- he's working on the ground, in the winds of a category 4 hurricane ... and the videos are scary.

Mike threw on a rain jacket and trudged out into the thick of Hurricane Ian as the storm's eyewall made landfall Wednesday on Florida's Gulf coast ... and as you can see, the 84 MPH wind gusts are giving him a hard time.

With Ian's wind and rain bearing down on him and waves crashing at his feet, Mike admits live on the air he and his crew are getting hammered by the storm ... but the show goes on.

Mike's still out in this mess ... doing more live shots even as Hurricane Ian intensifies for folks in the Fort Myers area.

The wind is only going to pick up, and the water will continue to rise ... but so far, it looks like Mike can handle whatever comes his way.

These Florida men, who decided to go swimming off a pier in the area, also seem to think they can handle the storm. We're not as sure about their safety as we are Mike's.

Mankind is doomed, except for Usain Bolt.

Oregon State University just unleashed the fastest bipedal robot in the world -- a machine that is faster than the speed of light your average mall walker ... which just clocked a 100-meter dash with the time of 24.73 seconds!!

The star robo-athlete is named Cassie ... which was invented by the OSU College of Engineering. OSU says Cassie was built with knees like an ostrich and has no cameras or censors -- so it is basically blind.

The big single-entry race went down at the school's Whyte Track and Field Center ... and while it may not outrun the average human, the accomplishment is incredible for a robot.

FWIW ... Bolt's 100-meter world record is secure at 9.58 seconds.

As it turns out, Cassie has another major feat on its resume ... after running a 5k in 53 minutes back in 2021.

"Cassie has been a platform for pioneering research in robot learning for locomotion," project leader Devin Crowley said. "Completing a 5K was about reliability and endurance, which left open the question of, how fast can Cassie run? That led the research team to shift its focus to speed."

Rough week for 'Try Guys' star Ned Fulmer ... he just got kicked out of the group after being accused of being unfaithful in his marriage.

The popular YouTube group 'Try Guys' announced Tuesday that Ned was no longer working with the group's 3 other members -- Keith Habersberger, Eugene Lee Yang and Zach Kornfeld -- following allegations Ned cheated on his wife, Ariel.

It's pretty messy, Ned was recently filmed kissing producer Alex Herring, who also works on projects with the crew, in a New York club.

The 'Try Guys' -- famous for trying all sorts of things, from food to women's clothing -- say they cut the cord with Ned following an internal review, explaining they did not see a path forward together.

It appears Ned is already being scrubbed from a ton of 'Try Guys' content ... eagle-eyed fans say he suddenly disappeared from some recent videos, and he's been absent from the group's recent podcasts.

If you can't beat 'em ... beat up your teammate?!?

That's what one Mali women's basketball player apparently tried to do following a FIBA World Cup loss this week ... throwing several punches after walking off the court -- and the video is nuts!!

The incident went down after Mali's 81-68 defeat at the hands of Serbia ... which marked the country's fourth L in four appearances.

The loss was seemingly 23-year-old forward Salimatou Kourouma's breaking point ... because she decided to let her hands fly and go after her own teammate, 17-year-old Kamite Elisabeth Dabou.

In the video, you can see the players' teammates jumping in to break it up ... but Kourouma tried like hell to get more punches off.

It's unclear if something in the game sparked the incident.

The altercation got FIBA's attention ... and an investigation is now underway.

Mali didn't have much luck in its final match of the Cup, either ... losing 88-65 to Canada on Tuesday. Both players suited up for the contest ... as Kourouma netted 9 points and 6 rebounds, and Dabou added 6 points.

Rachel Dolezal has an OnlyFans page... and while that's soaking in, add this -- the reason she's posting risqué pics is to show her love for Rihanna's lingerie line.

The ex-local NAACP Prez -- famously embroiled in a race controversy years ago for posing as a Black woman -- had 4 steamy photos of hers plastered online Monday night, which were screenshots from what appears to be her OF account ... something we've confirmed really does exist.

Her rep tells TMZ ... yes, Dolezal has indeed started a profile on the site, which as you've no doubt heard, has made some people millionaires. However, the rep says Rachel's in this to pay homage to Savage X Fenty, RiRi's incredibly popular underwear line.

We're told RD got her hands on the latest batch of lingerie, and wanted to show it off for her subscribers ... and they certainly got an eye-full, as did the rest of Twitter.

The OnlyFans URL at the bottom of the leaked pics goes directly to her page, and it's clear Dolezal isn't hiding this. She posts quite regularly, and has had the account for much of 2022, if not earlier.

Her bio says this account is dedicated to her "creative content" where she can interact with her fans. It also notes subscribers get to "see how my sensual side pairs with my creative spirit through intimate images inspired by color, light, and lingerie on the weekends." It's unclear how many sexy pics she's got in total -- it'll cost ya $9.99/month to find out.

Many are expressing shock over this ... but it's not totally out of the ordinary. There are tons of people, famous and otherwise, turning to OF. Like we said, it can be lucrative.

Folks might find this a bit jarring because of Dolezal's buttoned-up past -- which got rocky around 2015, when it was revealed she was actually a white woman who said she identified as Black for years.

Dolezal stepped down from her Spokane NAACP position amid the scandal.

A child hanging on for dear life on the edge of a balcony in China received the superhero treatment, courtesy of his neighbor ... who literally turned into Spider-Man to save the day.

Watch this video shot in the city of Foshan, located in the Guangdong Province near south China ... showing a young kid who's got his head stuck between two metal posts, which are the only things stopping him from dropping down 7 stories off his apartment patio.

It's scary -- the boy's got nearly his entire body dangling over the edge ... as he desperately tries to get himself back onto the balcony, to no avail. People are looking from down below and seemingly calling for help -- which came in the form of a quick-thinking do-gooder.

It appears that a man living next door jumps out onto his patio gate, and then shimmies his way to where the kid is ... who then starts to push him back through the bars. The camera pans away for a bit, and when it refocuses -- you see a woman, presumably a family member, on the other side of the gate trying to help get the child back inside safely.

Their efforts eventually work, and the boy is slid back inside without any harm falling on him. The neighbor then begins to slide his way back to his unit -- it doesn't seem he could just hop the gate or easily enter, so he had to go back the long (and dangerous) way.

China is known for its high-rise apartments ... which are usually stacked pretty close together. The structure here seems no different -- and, thankfully, the architecture came in handy for this man to pull off some heroics.

American Airlines passengers traveling from L.A. to Dallas probably thought they were about to witness to a mile-high encounter, that sounded downright orgasmic!

Passengers on the Sept. 6 flight heard what one passenger described as "somewhere between an orgasm and vomiting."

Check out the video and listen ... it's coming from the P.A. system, and it sounds like some dude is about to become a member of the not-so-exclusive club!

It was a source of confusion to the flight crew ... apparently, one flight attendant thought someone was pulling a prank, but it turned out to be a weird malfunction in the P.A. that sounded like a man's moans.

An AA rep told KTLA "Our maintenance team thoroughly inspected the aircraft and the PA system and determined the sounds were caused by a mechanical issue with the PA amplifier, which raises the volume of the PA system when the engines are running."

Asteroids, you have a problem ... humans!!!

NASA just successfully tested a new way to defend Earth from potentially dangerous asteroids ... by crashing a spacecraft into a floating space rock.

The space agency carried out its $325 million DART mission Monday in the final frontier, with a space probe purposefully colliding with an asteroid to send it in a different direction.

The mission was broadcast live across the globe, there were cameras on the front of the probe as it crashed into the asteroid, and mission control went bonkers when the probe successfully made impact, redirecting the asteroid.

NASA's DART probe -- an acronym for Double Asteroid Redirection Test -- is being tested to see just how much a spacecraft can alter an asteroid's trajectory simply by crashing into the darn thing. Only humans could dream this up.

The test of the futuristic planetary defense technology was carried out on a harmless asteroid, Dimorphos, some 6.8 million miles from Earth.

Meanwhile, at mission control, Bill Nye was watching in real-time.

Daddy Long Neck's baby boy is out of the hospital and is on the mend ... this after the BF of the kid's mom was arrested for allegedly abusing the kid so badly he ended up there.

Long Neck tells TMZ ... his 9-month-old son, David Alfredo Samuelson Lopez, was released last Saturday from the hospital and is currently with a foster family -- and we're told the kid's doing way better.

Long Neck says David's off the feeding tube and is eating and drinking on his own ... he's even been giggling more and is a lot more active with his hands. He says doctors still aren't sure if there'll be any lasting effects from the ordeal, but he is improving every day.

As we reported, baby David went to the hospital last month after suffering skull fractures and brain bleeding.

The Montebello Police Department says officers ended up arresting Long Neck's ex's bf, Daemien Obeso, and booked him for child abuse causing great bodily injury. He'll be arraigned September 28.

The Portola Festival in San Francisco was out of control Saturday, and it was impossible not to look and recall the tragedy in Houston.

The event went down at Pier 80 in San Fran, and it was packed with people ... some of whom stormed the barricades to get inside for Fred Again and Charli XCX.

Whatever security was there ... they were completely overwhelmed. It didn't seem there was any serious attempt to control the crowd.

The Festival runs through Sunday and some of the biggest names in dance music are hitting the stage, including Flume, The Chemical Brothers, Gorgon City, Kaytranada, James Blake, M.I.A., Lane 8, Peggy Gou, Fatboy Slim, Caroline Polachek, Toro Y Moi, Caribou, Jamie xx, Four Tet+Floating Points and more.

The Festival is produced by Goldenvoice ... the same org that puts on Coachella.

As far as we know, there were no serious injuries ... at least so far.

A new horror movie is coming out next week, and the studio found a creative way to let people know about ... sending background actors to live baseball games, front and center.

We're talking about Paramount's latest offering, "Smile," which drops next Friday ... and amid a lot of "Don't Worry Darling" chatter, it seems the mountain execs were trying to find a way to break through the noise and stand out ... and they chose MLB broadcasts to do it.

Several marquee matchups aired on big-time TV stations Friday -- including Dodgers vs. Cardinals, Mets vs. A's and Yankees vs. Sox. In all of them, there was at least one person prominently positioned behind home plate that held a super creepy smile the entire time.

It was perhaps most notable during the Mets game, where a woman in a highlight green shirt (with the word SMILE written across) was standing and smiling awkwardly ... that is, until a security guard told her to park it.

Another guy in green was also spotted at the Dodgers game, sitting in silence and holding a creepy smile for much of the game. Some of them stood up at times, but mostly sat still and just held the pose ... completely committed to the gag.

Another man, this time in blue, was seen at the Yankees game ... and he got up occasionally -- with viewers at home certainly taking notice and noting it was freaking them out.

Unclear if there were more actors at other games, but these are the ones that people paid close attention to. Of course, this is good old-fashioned viral marketing ... and it would appear it worked, 'cause the stunt is getting some media coverage.

"Smile" is going up against Billy Eichner's rom-com, "Bros," next week ... not to mention any spillover from 'DWD' and other recent horror releases like "Barbarian" and "Pearl." Plus, "Avatar" is back in theaters, and it already seems to be doing well -- so tough competition.

Paramount's smiling through it all though, especially at the ballpark!

The 56-year-old Utah mom carrying her son's baby says while the pregnancy brings the potential for health risks, there's been a lot of love and peace through the whole process.

Nancy Hauck and her daughter-in-law, Cambria, joined TMZ Live Friday to talk about the unique family dynamic as they patiently await the arrival of the new baby girl. Nancy's carrying her son, Jeff, and his wife Cambria's baby after a life-saving hysterectomy left Cambria unable to support a pregnancy.

Nancy tells us she's the one who volunteered to carry the embryo, and at first, she didn't even think it was medically possible.

Nancy and Cambria said a lot of research and advice went into the decision, and so far everything is going smoothly ... both Nancy and baby are healthy. Doctors cautioned the family that at Nancy's age there's more risk of hypertension and gestational diabetes, but everything is clear.

One thing Nancy and Cambria both echo, there's been a lot of peace and love through the whole thing ... and they're excited to welcome the baby girl into the world, and let her know the unique story of how she came to be.

A Los Angeles TV anchorman just got the boot for going ballistic against management -- on the air -- after his co-anchor was not allowed to say so long to viewers after she resigned.

Mark Mester had been suspended earlier this week, but KTLA decided what he did warranted termination.

Mester was pissed off that co-anchor Lynette Romero, whom Mester called his "best friend," told management she was leaving after 24 years to anchor at another station and management didn't allow her to have an on-air goodbye.

Producers had reportedly written a segment for Mester to read as tribute to Lynette, but he refused, instead, Mester groused, "I want to start off right now by offering up an apology to you [Lynette]. I love you so much, you literally are my best friend. You did not deserve what happened to you."

Mester was not done, calling the move rude, cruel and inappropriate.

He also told viewers a plane was flying over KTLA with a banner that read, "We love you Lynette." The plane was chartered by Mester, according to the L.A. Times.

Apparently, Lynette was willing to stay if she could anchor weeknights instead of weekends, but the station wouldn't budge and that's why she left.

A family in Utah will certainly have a story to tell their newest member ... because a 56-year-old mom is carrying her son's baby.

You read that right, 56-year-old Nancy Hauck volunteered to carry her son Jeff and his wife Cambria's 5th child, a girl. Cambria is unable to carry a pregnancy after getting a life-saving hysterectomy.

Jeff and Cambria already have 2 sets of twins, but wanted more, and that's when grandma decided she'd work as the vessel to carry the new kiddo.

Nancy, however, did express concern about carrying a baby at her age, but after docs gave her the green light she acted fast before she began menopause. It's been 26 years since Nancy was last pregnant.

Brace yourself beer-lovers ... hundreds of cans of brew are wasting away on a stretch of Florida interstate after multiple semi-trucks wrecked and sent Coors Lights flying everywhere.

Commuters in Hernando County must have been buzzing hard Wednesday morning about the traffic jam caused by the 18-wheelers colliding and opening up a trailer's payload full of cases upon cases of the ol' silver bullets.

According to Highway Patrol, the beer man was the last truck in a chain reaction accident involving a total of 5 vehicles. As you can see the suds nearly completely covered the 2-lane highway and snarled traffic for hours.

The interstate was reopened by the afternoon, though ... once a bunch of fraternity bros rallied with beer bongs to remove all the debris!!!

We kid. A regular highway clean-up crew got the job done, but our money woulda been on the frat bros.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is giving the younger generation something they've probably never seen before -- an extremely detailed look at Neptune and its rings, which hasn't been captured this clearly in over 3 decades.

NASA released the high-res snapshot of the ice giant Wednesday ... showing off a crisp view of the planet's multiple rings -- and even its faint dust bands, too.

Some of the rings haven't been spotted since Voyager 2 first observed Neptune in 1989. Shining bright above the planet is Triton, one of Neptune's 14 known moons.

Heidi Hammel, a Neptune system expert and scientist for Webb, says this isn't just breaking ground for the visual of the rings -- "this is the first time we've seen them in infrared."

In fact, the infrared cameras are the exact reason why the planet isn't coming up blue in the pics -- looking a little different to die-hard fans of our Solar System's 8th planet.

This telescope is no joke -- as we reported, it's been giving us great looks at our universe and beyond this year. NASA showed off its capabilities in true form in July, giving everyone a clear view of the Southern Ring planetary nebula (NGC 3132) and its two stars.

We also got a look at 5 galaxies known as Stephan’s Quintet, which NASA describes as colliding galaxies that are "pulling and stretching each other in a gravitational dance."