The world’s fastest train travels a little over twice the speed of the quickest in North America, and footage of it in action has gone viral.

Amtrak’s Acela train bolts along 457 miles of track on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, DC, and Boston, Massachusetts, and it is swift to say the least with speeds of up to 150mph – which is nothing compared to the Japanese Maglev bullet train.

It sounds disrespectful calling the Acela slow, with it being the speediest train in the US that serves six states – Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland.

Central Japan Railway’s seven-car Maglev train returns to the station after setting a new world speed record in a test run near Mount Fuji, clocking more than 373 mph on April 21, 2015 (JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)

But when a video of bystanders watching the maglev blister past them and out of sight in the space of seconds, it is obvious the US and the rest of the world is poles away from the railway lines in East Asia.

I introduce to you, the Maglev – its name is a mash up between magnet and levitate, but we’ll get to why later.

In April 2015, a manned superconducting Maglev train was clocked at 375mph – which, to put that into comparison, is more than half the speed of a Boeing 747.

The Maglev is a superconducting magnetic train developed by the Central Japan Railway Company and the Railway Technical Institute, which began all the way back in the 1970s.

The way in which it reaches high speeds is simply incredible – it works on the philosophy of magnetic repulsion that takes place between the coaches and the track itself.

Six of the eight fastest trains in the world hail from East Asia (Getty Stock Image)

When the train reaches 93mph, the magnetic force between the coach and the track is powerful enough to lift the train four inches off the ground it eliminates any friction preventing it from reaching even greater speeds.

Now, a train hurtling around the country at 310mph doesn’t sound safe does it? But apparently it is, in fact Tesla used the same technology in its Hyperloop pod.

Anyway, let’s talk about the hilarious video which shows Japanese bystanders in complete shock at what they just saw… just… saw, with it traveling so fast.

Taking to Reddit one user shared: “The pure f**king delight lol.”

While a second added: “That’s a bit more than half the speed of a commercial flight. For the record the fastest land speed ever recorded was a bit over 1200 km/h, and that thing was basically two rockets strapped on a chair.

“That’s some insane speed. And a whole train is going this fast. I wonder how much kinetic energy it has.

“It’s faster than the fastest animal (bird) on earth (nearly 400km/h, this guy is crazy). Except it’s hundred of ton of metal. I can understand why this guy laughed in face of this level on unnatural power.”

“Someone in the background declared ‘Hai, ijou desu!’, (basically, ‘Well, that’s concluded!’),” another explained.

“It helped set people off laughing, as it’s a phrase that often finishes a speech or presentation that’d you’d expect to go a fair bit longer.”

People living in a small village in Japan are ‘probably outnumbered’ by puppets and not just any puppets – life-sized ones.

If you were left creeped out by Coraline and couldn’t even fathom the idea of watching Child’s Play or Annabelle: Creation this Halloween then you may want to avoid traveling to one particular village in Japan.

It’s reported less than 60 people currently live in the southern village of Ichinono as a result of young people growing up and leaving to pursue their education, careers or simply a busier pace of life in a city.

Left behind are those who have grown old in the village and retired, who decided to remain rather than leave despite being encouraged to go elsewhere.

And it’s those past retirement age who are ‘now paying the price,’ 88-year-old widow Hisayo Yamazaki told Agence France-Presse news agency, with many battling feelings of isolation and loneliness in the small village.

A solution? Well, rather than moving out or inviting more people to join the area, the villagers came up with a slightly more out-of-the-box solution – making life-sized puppets.

Puppets ‘probably outnumber’ the people left in Ichinono (PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)

Images of Ichinono show puppets made up to look like a family, with two adults and a child with a trolley full of logs.

Another shows a young puppet on a bike, there’s a young girl puppet positioned on a swing and others positioned right on the steps of some people’s homes.

Yamazaki said: “We’re probably outnumbered by puppets.”

Puppets can benefit older generations’ mental health (PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)

Why puppets can benefit mental health

A staff newsletter from Ciusss West-Central Montreal details a ‘Puppet Hour’ scheme which was launched by Coordinator of Therapeutic Leisure and Recreology for SAPA, Josie Di Benedetto, and external consultant Janice Greenberg.

Arguing why puppets aren’t solely for children, Di Benedetto cites studies which have shown puppets can alleviate symptoms of loneliness and depression in older generations.

Not only this, but puppets offer a ‘stimulating visual experience’ which can be beneficial for older people who are experiencing ‘social and cognitive decline’.

Drama therapist Dannielle Jackson echoed to ABC News: “In the ageing process where things like memory or speech might decrease, the imagination doesn’t seem to.”

Puppets can also be made to trigger certain memories of people or experiences.

Jackson resolved: “It’s not childish, or child’s play. Puppets allow you to project in a way that is safe […] Puppets, or empathetic puppets, allow social engagement and expression.”

A man who flew from Denmark to Los Angeles without a ticket or even a passport faces up to five years behind bars after being found guilty of being a stowaway.

Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava, 46, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on November 4 via Scandinavian Airlines flight 931 from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Somehow, he managed to make the trip without a boarding pass or even a passport.

Officials were initially confused as to how Ochigava could have completed the journey without any documentation, while for his part he reportedly claimed he ‘did not remember how he got on the plane in Copenhagen‘, or how he got through security.

His alleged amnesia did not prove a successful defence on court, however, with prosecutors outlining how he actually managed to illegally board the plane.

Getty Stock Photo

It turns out Ochigava followed another flyer through a security turnstile at Copenhagen Airport the day before on 3 November.

This allowed him to gain access to one of the terminals, where he remained overnight to get some kip.

The next day, the man – who holds both Russian and Israeli passports – managed to board the Scandinavian Airlines flight undetected.

After boarding the long-haul 11-hour flight, cabin crew members noticed Ochigava switching seats on a regular occurrence to ones that were listed as unoccupied.

However, Ochigava’s illegal mission came to an end as he touched down in Hollywood, as he was stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at LAX.

This came after officials became suspicious of Ochigava as his name failed to appear on any incoming international flight records, including flight 931 he was on.

Prosecutors say he also failed to provide any form of identification to officials on the ground in Los Angeles, while none of his stories seemed to add up.

Getty Stock Photo

“Ochigava gave false and misleading information about his travel to the United States, including telling CBP that he left his passport on the airplane,” a statement from local officials read.

CBP officers found a photo on the man’s phone that partially showed a passport containing his name, date of birth and a passport number.

One thing missing there though? A photograph, of course.

Officials also found what ‘appeared to be Russian identification cards and an Israeli identification card’.

Court documents also state that Ochigava ‘claimed he had not been sleeping for three days and did not understand what was going on’.

And after a three-day trial, the jury found Ochigava guilty of one count of being a stowaway on an aircraft.

He is now facing a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison as a result of his travel stunt.

He will be sentenced on 5 February.

Life-sized puppets ‘probably outnumber’ people in a small village in Japan and it’s a sight to see.

There’s a lot of things on this planet we’d probably prefer didn’t turn human-sized anytime soon – worms, ants and well, the idea of human-sized dolls certainly sparks the idea of horrors Annabelle or Chucky rather than something out of Barbie in my mind.

Inside Ichinono, Japan

It’s reported less than 60 people currently live in the southern village of Ichinono in Japan and where there aren’t human residents, there are life-sized dolls instead.

Images of Ichinono show puppets made up to look like a family, with two adults and a child with a trolley full of logs.

Another shows a young puppet on a bike, there’s a young girl puppet positioned on a swing and others positioned right on the steps of some people’s homes.

A resident of the town called Hisayo Yamazaki told Agence France-Presse news agency (via Sky News): “We’re probably outnumbered by puppets.”

But why?

Puppets ‘probably outnumber’ the people left in Ichinono (PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)

Well, the low population number of the town is a result of young people growing up and leaving to pursue their education, careers or simply a busier pace of life in a city.

Left behind are those who have grown old in the village and retired, who decided to remain rather than leave despite being encouraged to go elsewhere.

And it’s those past retirement age who are ‘now paying the price,’ widow Yamazaki explained, many battling feelings of isolation and loneliness in the small village.

And the solution the village came up with?

Well, rather than moving out or inviting more people to join the area, the villagers came up with a slightly more out-of-the-box solution – making life-sized puppets.

Puppets can benefit older generations’ mental health (PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)

Why puppets can benefit mental health

A staff newsletter from Ciusss West-Central Montreal details a ‘Puppet Hour’ scheme which was launched by Coordinator of Therapeutic Leisure and Recreology for SAPA, Josie Di Benedetto, and external consultant Janice Greenberg.

Arguing why puppets aren’t solely for children, Di Benedetto cites studies which have shown puppets can alleviate symptoms of loneliness and depression in older generations.

Not only this, but puppets offer a ‘stimulating visual experience’ which can be beneficial for older people who are experiencing ‘social and cognitive decline’.

Drama therapist Dannielle Jackson echoed to ABC News: “In the ageing process where things like memory or speech might decrease, the imagination doesn’t seem to.”

Puppets can also be made to trigger certain memories of people or experiences.

Jackson resolved: “It’s not childish, or child’s play. Puppets allow you to project in a way that is safe […] Puppets, or empathetic puppets, allow social engagement and expression.”