Japanese Yakuza Boss On the Run for 14 Years Caught in Thailand After Photos of His Tattoos Go Viral
A former Japanese yakuza boss who had been on the run for more than fourteen years was finally arrested in Thailand this month, after photos of his impressive tattoos began circulating online. Thai police arrested 74-year-old Shigeharu Shirai last Wednesday in a province north of Bangkok, where he had been hiding for more than ten […]
Library of Abandoned Books – Garbage Collectors in Turkey Open Library with Books Destined for the Landfills
An incredible new library has opened in the Çankaya district of Ankara, Turkey featuring a collection of salvaged books once destined for landfill. Local sanitation workers, who spent months collecting abandoned and discarded books from the streets, established the library to be used by themselves and their families. As the collection grew, however, word spread […]
Taiwanese Man Divorces Wife Because She Only Bathed Once a Year
A Taiwanese man recently had his petition for divorce approved by the New Taipei City District Court after claiming psychological torture due to his ex-wife’s hygiene habits, or lack thereof. The woman, surnamed Lin, allegedly bathed just once a year and only occasionally washed her hair or brushed her teeth. The unnamed plaintiff said that […]
Indian Man Single-Handedly Builds 8-Km Mountain Road So His Kids Could Visit More Often
A devoted father in the eastern Indian state of Orissa has single-handedly constructed an 8-km (5 miles) stretch of mountain road so that his children, who live away from home for school, can visit him more frequently. For the past two years Jalandhar Nayak, 45, set out every morning with an ax and crowbar and spent up […]
Experienced Ultramarathon Runner Is Stripped Of His Titles After Investigation Reveals He Won Races by Hiding in Portable Toilets
Ultrarunner Kelly Agnew, 45, has been disgraced and stripped of his titles after an investigation by event officials revealed that he had hidden inside porta-pottys to win races. Agnew had one the last four 48-hour Across the Years ultramarathons since 2014, when he was the first to run 201.5 miles within the allotted time, but […]
Dumbest Internet Challenge Yet Has Teens Popping Detergent Pods in Their Mouths
In a world of dumb social media trends, we may have reached peak idiocy. Somehow the absurd and dangerous ‘Tide Pod Challenge’ has become a thing among teenagers, and is on the verge of going viral. The challenge involves filming yourself biting on one of the colorful laundry detergent pods, posting the video online, and […]
Hong Kong Startup Turns Concrete Water Pipes into Stylish Micro-Houses
The tiny house movement has taken off over the past decade as urban developers have had to find creative solutions to soaring property prices worldwide. James Law Cybertecture of Hong Kong has joined this trend with their newly released Opod Tube House, made from repurposed concrete pipe. Hong Kong, one of the most populous cities […]
This $850,000 Gene Therapy Injection Is the Most Expensive One-Time Dose Medicine Ever Made
A new and first-of-its-kind gene therapy treatment for inherited blindness, called Luxturna, was approved by the FDA last month. The groundbreaking medication, however, comes with the staggering cost of USD 850,000, making it one of the most expensive treatments in the world, and placing it far beyond the means of most patients. Spark Therapeutics, the […]
Chinese Woman Had No Idea That “Boyfriend” of More Than a Year Was Actually a Woman Too
A Chinese divorced mother-of-one was left shocked and devastated after her live-in boyfriend of more than a year vanished without a trace. What she uncovered a short time later stunned her even more – her “boyfriend” was, in fact, a woman in disguise. Wang Qi, 41, from the Zhejiang Province of China, had met the […]
Japanese Ex-Programmer Opens “Open Source Restaurant” Where Patrons Can Work for Their Food
An unusual restaurant in the Jinbocho district of Tokyo offers meals in exchange for 50 minutes of labor. This unique “open-source” eatery, called Mirai Shokudo, is the brainchild of former engineer Sekai Kobayashi, 33, who wanted to create a place for hungry people who otherwise couldn’t afford to eat out. There is no permanent staff […]
Alligators Survive in Frozen Swamps by Sticking Their Snouts Through the Ice So They Can Keep Breathing
Alligators are infamously fierce creatures and have existed in the primary Crocodylia body form for over 180 million years, making them living dinosaurs. These massive reptiles have adapted in some unusual ways to ensure their long-term survival, and one such adaptation astounded visitors and staff at a North Carolina swamp park this week. Shallotte River […]
Australia’s “Firehawks” Deliberately Start Wildfires to Flush Out Prey
According to a research paper published recently in the Journal of Ethnobiology, several Australian birds of prey have the habit of starting wildfires for the soul purpose of flushing out prey from the blazing grasslands. Interestingly, aboriginals have known about this for over 40,000 years and even have a name for the fire-wielding birds – […]
Turkish Academic Claims Noah Used Cellphone to Call His Son Before the Flood
On Jan. 6th, Turkish academic Dr. Yavuz Örnek, a lecturer at the Marine Sciences facility at Istanbul University, went on a TV programme at Turkey’s public broadcaster TRT 1 to make some pretty wild claims about the biblical story of Noah and the flood. Örnek said technologies were much more advanced 10,000 years ago than […]
Portuguese Town Encourages Children as Young as Five to Smoke on Epiphany
On January 6 the Portuguese village of Vale de Salgueiro celebrated the traditional Epiphany festival, also known as the Feast of The Three Kings. While the holiday involves such benign traditions as eating cake and singing carols, there is one tradition that causes an outcry every year – parents allow and even encourage their children […]
Woman Plans to Marry Tetris Video Game After Failed Relationship with a Calculator
A 20-year-old mathematics student from Orlando, Florida has announced her intention to marry the vintage computer game Tetris, after losing her previous boyfriend in a fatal accident. The ex-flame was a calculator called Pierre, and he met his demise during a routine cleaning. Noorul Mahjabeen Hassan, who prefers to go by Fractal Tetris Huracan, identifies […]