Hypnosis has been used to treat conditions like anxiety and pain, but Los Angeles hypnotherapist and mother of three Lisa Machenberg says it can be a very effective parenting technique. She’s even given her unusual method a name – hypno-parenting.

Machenberg first started using hypnosis on her children to help them get through the night without wetting the bed, but has since then used the clinical technique to aid them deal with things like performance anxiety or focusing difficulties. The Malibu-based therapist also admits to using hypnosis on her kids and husband in order to make sure things run smoothly around the house. “I hypnotize my children and my husband to do things for my benefit all the time,” she recently told Barcroft Media. “We have a household to run. Many times, I exert influence so my children are able to get their chores done, so this house runs efficiently.”

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If you’re too busy or squeamish to pick up after your dog, you’re going to love this new smartphone app that connects you to someone willing to do it for you, for a fee.

A service that allows you to call someone to pick up your dog’s poop sounds unreal, which is probably why the announcement of Pooper has been met with skepticism. Articles claiming that the app is most likely fake have prompted the creators of Pooper to issue a statement saying that their service is real, but they are fine with all the doubts as long as it spreads the word and attracts more investors.

Here’s how Pooper works: after installing the app on a smartphone and opting for one of the monthly payment plans, a dog owner (referred to as “pooper”) can take a photo of the dog’s excrement, pinpoint its location on a digital map and call on a nearby “scooper” to come pick it up. They are then free to leave knowing that the dog’s business will be taken care of. You can opt to pay $15 a months for two scoops a day in 15-mile scoop radius, $25 for three scoops a day in a 30-mile radius, or $35 for unlimited scoops in an unlimited radius.

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Onions may be one of the healthiest, most flavorful vegetables on the face of the Earth, but they’re definitely no fun to chop. However, your days of getting teary-eyed in the kitchen may be coming to an end as Japanese company House Foods Group prepares to launch the world’s first tear-free onion to the market.

Aptly named “Smile Ball”, because it puts a smile on your face rather than make you cry, this new type of onion is the result of two decades of research. In 2002, House Foods Group scientists published a paper in which they hypothesized that tear-inducing enzymes in onions could be weakened while retaining their full  flavor and nutritional value. Their research actually won an Ig Nobel Prize – an award handed out to honor achievements organizers consider unintentionally funny – but last year the company announced that their theory had finally become reality. Although the announcement mentioned that House Foods Group had no intention of producing Smile Ball onions commercially anytime soon, it appears the wonder vegetables will hit Japanese stores this fall.

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In his most insane stunt yet, professional skydiver Luke Aikins will jump out of an airplane flying at 25,000 feet without a parachute or wingsuit in an attempt to land on a special net designed to break his fall. No one has ever attempted anything like this. If he makes, it, Aikins will become a living legend, if he doesn’t…

Aikins, who has spent much of his life in the air and has over 18,000 parachute jumps under his belt, was approached about doing this extreme jump a couple of years ago by a couple of Hollywood guys looking to produce the all-time-greatest reality TV stunt. “You won’t believe these guys, they want me to jump out without a parachute,” he remembers telling his wife at the time. She said “Oh, with a wingsuit,” to which he replied “No, they want me to do it with nothing.” They had a good laugh about the preposterous proposition, but in the weeks that followed, Luke just could stop thinking about it. Could anybody actually perform such a stunt and live to tell the tale?

If anyone could, it would have to be Aikins. He made his first tandem jump when he was 12, followed by his first solo jump four years later. he’s never really stopped since, performing about 800 leaps a year. He has taught skydiving, performed all kinds of complex stunts and routines, but even when his parachute got tangled with that of another diver, he could always rely on his backup chute. That only happened about 30 times out of 18,000, but this time he would have no backup to turn to. “If I wasn’t nervous I would be stupid,” he says. “We’re talking about jumping without a parachute, and I take that very seriously. It’s not a joke.”

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Ronnie Music Jr., 45, is facing life in prison after pleading guilty to investing part of his lottery winnings into a crystal methamphetamine drug ring. In 2015, Music had won $3 million in a Georgia scratch-off lottery game. You know what they say about pushing your luck. Don’t!

Of all the things he could have done with his $3 million dollar lotto prize, Ronnie Music Jr., of Waycross, Georgia, decided to invest part of it in a drug business. Evidence presented in the case against him revealed that he had worked with a criminal group to gain access to high quantities of methamphetamine and distribute it all throughout Georgia. His co-conspirators were caught trying to sell approximately 11 pounds of meth, worth more than $500,000 on the streets, and during the investigation Music was identified as the supplier. At his home base in Ware County agents found over $1 million worth of methamphetamine, several firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and $600,000 in cash.

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A gas station in Russia’s Oblast region has been making headlines this week for organizing an unusual promotion – a free tank of gas to anyone who showed up dressed only in women’s swimsuit and high heels.

The ingenious publicity stunt took place on July 21st, in the south-western city of Samara, and only lasted three hours. Anyone looking to get a free tank of gas was invited to show up at the gas station wearing skimpy underwear and high heels. The rules were pretty simple – wear the appropriate attire, fill up the tank yourself, and go to the front desk to tell the station attendant the pump number and fuel type. Abide by this terms and you get a full tank absolutely free.

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Meet Mohit Kumar, a 10-year-old boy from Manaitand, India, who has been feasting on dog milk ever since he was four. His parents are desperate to get him to stop sucking the milk of stray bitches in their town, but so far they’ve been unable to find a way.

Mohit was weaned at two years, but at the age of four he developed a rather strange habit – sucking the milk of stray bitches. “Once Mohit was playing with stray dogs outside and happened to suck on the breasts of a bitch. Since then he does the same whenever he gets a chance to do so,” his mother Pinky says. “Bitches of the area have also taken a liking to him and feed him whenever Mohit wants them to.” His worried parents don’t even allow the boy to go outside without supervision, for fear that he will seek out stray bitches to get his milk fix, but he sometimes gives them the slip. “We do not even allow him to go to school fearing that this habit may only get worse,” Pinky adds.

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Russian diamond company World of Diamonds has teamed up with Singapore restaurant Ce’ La Vi to offer a lucky couple the world’s most expensive dining experience, for the decadent price of $2 million. It probably doesn’t seem that way, but it’s actually a bargain!

World of Diamonds recently unveiled a 2.08 carat blue diamond ring with a rose-gold plated platinum band that they named after actress Jane Seymour. It has received interest from a number of parties, including a royal family, but instead of simply auctioning it off to the highest bidder, the Russian company decided to make acquiring the stunning piece of jewelry a truly special event. A rich couple will get to take part in an 8-hour dining experience described as the most expensive in the world, at the end of which they will be handed the Jane Seymour diamond ring.

“This is the most expensive dining experience in the world, and the most lavish one possible,” Karan Tilani, Director of World of Diamonds Group, said. “As a diamond mining group, we recognize that Ce’ La Vi is a diamond in the sky. [We expect] the response will be beyond overwhelming, but it’s only two diners who will eventually have the privilege.”

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Nestled in the foothills of the Macayo Mountains, in Aragon, Spain, lies a quaint village plagued by a curse so strong that only the Pope can lift it.

Trasmoz was once a bustling settlement with a population of around 10,000 people, but today it numbers only 62 inhabitants, of which only 30 live there permanently. For many, the downfall of Trasmoz has a lot to do with the curse placed on the village by the Catholic Church centuries ago and the stigma associated with witchcraft. Its history is riddled with legends of witches and pagan rituals, and even the ruined castle at its center is said to have been built in a single night by a magician called Mutamín. How many of these stories are true, and how many are simple rumors spread by the Church to justify its actions is left to interpretation.

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A group of high-school students from Italy have invented an awesome vending machine that grinds used plastic bottles into pellets which are then turned into smartphone cases by a built-in 3D printer.

Saving the planet, making the world cleaner for future generations or just doing the right thing are powerful arguments for recycling, but the truth is some people require more materialistic incentives to actually give a damn about the environment. It’s a sad reality, but a group of kids have come up with an ingenious invention that may just get more young people involved in waste recycling – a vending machine that eats up plastic trash and turns it into stylish cases for a variety of popular smartphone models.

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Wouldn’t it be nice if you could enjoy a nice refreshing ice-cream on a hot summer day without having to constantly lick at it to keep it from dripping all over your hands? Well, thanks to Gastronaut ice Cream, now you can!

34-year-old Rob Collington, founder of Gastronaut Ice Cream, had always been a big fan of Astronaut Ice Cream, a freeze-dried ice cream sold at space museums and camping stores across the US. He has enjoyed eating it since he was a little boy, even though he admits it doesn’t very good, because it’s made with the cheapest ice-cream available and contains artificial ingredients. But it does have a big advantage over even the most delicious traditional ice cream – it doesn’t melt, no matter how hot the sun burns.

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A Russian bank has found the perfect way to leverage the popularity of Pokemon Go to promote its products. Sberbank is offering Russian players free Pokemon Go insurance, promising to compensate players with up to 50,000 rubles (about $800) in case of gaming-related accidents.

Playing Pokemon Go can be a very fun experience, but as you’ve probably already heard on the news, the addictive game can also cause serious accidents. Ever since the game’s release, people have been crashing into police cars, tumbling down stairs, getting shot and someone has even fallen off a cliff in their effort to catch the best Pokemon. These rare, but troubling occurrences have inspired Russian bank Sberbank to develop a product aimed exclusively at Pokemon Go players – free insurance that only covers injuries sustained while playing the popular mobile app.

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“Human” might be overstating it a bit, as Graham is actually a sculpture of a person who might be able to survive a car crash that would otherwise kill any normal human being. He was created by artist Patricia Piccinini in collaboration with a  a leading trauma surgeon and a crash investigation expert, for a new Australian road safety campaign.

Graham’s gigantic, helmet-like head, the absence of a neck, his bizarre, hoof-like feet, as well as other unnatural features reflect a human body evolved to sustain the forces involved in auto collisions. According to Joe Calafiore, CEO of Australia’s Transport Accident Commission, Graham is supposed to draw awareness to our vulnerability to vehicle collisions and hopefully reduce the number of deaths and injuries on the road. “People can survive running at full pace into a wall but when you’re talking about collisions involving vehicles, the speeds are faster, the forces are greater and the chances of survival are much slimmer,” Calafiore said. “Cars have evolved a lot faster than humans and graham helps us understand why we need to improve every aspect of our roads system to protect ourselves from our own mistakes.”

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A set of photos labeled “the cruelest punishment in history” shows employees of a Chinese company forced to eat bitter gourd in front of their coworkers as punishment for not meeting their sales goals.

At Leshang Decorations Corporation, a Chongqing-based company, employees whose weekly performance falls under the expectations of their superiors are forced to eat bitter gourd while their colleagues watch. If any of them spit the gourd during this humiliating experience, they are forced to eat even more of it. Apparently, the company came up with this cruel punishment as a way of “motivating” unproductive workers to push themselves harder, so they wouldn’t have to eat the bitter vegetables in the future.

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James Holt, from Bury, England, has so far spent £21,000 ($27,500) on cosmetic procedures in an effort to copy the most striking features of the Kardashian sisters and achieve a fake look.

22-year-old Holt says he has been planning to alter his body from a very young age, when he became obsessed with looking like the models on Page 3 of English tabloids. At age 17, he booked his first cosmetic procedures at a local salon – a bout of Botox shots to his forehead and some lip injections. He had just one milliliter of liquid injected into his lips, but after that failed to draw the attention of his colleagues when he went to school the next day he decided to go back for more.

“I went to college the next day expecting everyone to be amazed and to comment on my lips, but no one said anything,” he recalls. “I went back the next morning and had another 1.5ml put in, but still no one noticed. By the end of the week I had 6ml and everyone said it looked amazing. I loved my look. It was big and juicy and it was just what I wanted.” His joy didn’t last very long, as small bubbles soon appeared on his swollen upper lip, and when liquid started to leak out of it, James was rushed to a clinic in Bury to fix his damaged lips.

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