This Giant Wasp Is Just a Harmless Moth in Disguise
The European Hornet Moth (Sesia apiformis) looks terrifying at first glance, but its uncanny resemblance to a giant wasp is just an elaborate disguise meant to keep predators at bay. The hornet moth is a prime example of Batesian mimicry, a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the look and/or […]
Couple Use Variations of the Same 4 Letters to Name Their 11 Children
A couple in Belgium has become famous for giving their 11 children first names based on different variations of just four letters from the alphabet – A, E, L, and X. Gwenny Blanckaert and Marino Vaneeno are the proud parents of eleven children – seven girls and four boys – all of whom have four-letter […]
70-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth to Her First Child
At an age when most women are either busy playing with their grandchildren or are long past thinking about having children, a 70-year-old Indian woman just gave birth to her first child. Jivuben Valabhai Rabari and her husband had been trying to conceive ever since they got married, 45 years ago, but their every attempt […]
This Indian Temple Is Home to a ‘Vegetarian’ Crocodile
Sri Ananthapura temple in north Kerala’s Kasaragod district is allegedly home to a vegetarian crocodile named ‘Babiya’ who has been living there for over 70 years. Pictures of a large crocodile inside the Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Lake Temple made international news headlines last year, boosting the small Hindu temple’s popularity. But in reality, this was […]
Japan’s Unique Hole-in-One Golf Insurance Policy
Hitting a hole-in-one is one of the greatest things that can happen to a golf player, but in Japan, such a lucky shot can lead to such an expensive celebration that insurers actually sell hole-in-one insurance policies to mitigate the ‘risk’. The average golfer has 1 in 12,500 chances of hitting a hole-in-one, while professional […]
The Zombies of Kinshasa – Victims of a Bizarre Artisanal Drug
Authorities in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, are worried about the growing popularity of bombé, a new artisanal drug that allegedly turns energetic youths into mindless zombies. While the rest of the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic, police in Kinsasha are struggling to contain an epidemic of their own – […]
Man Lives With Mobile Phone in His Stomach For Six Months
An Egyptian man had to undergo emergency surgery to have a mobile phone that he had swallowed six months ago removed from his stomach. In a first-of-its-kind case in Egypt, doctors at the Aswan University Hospital in the city of Aswan performed an operation to remove a small mobile phone that had been inside a […]
Devious Parasite Grants Host the Gift of Eternal Youth, But For a Price
Scientists have discovered that Temnothorax ants infected by a certain tapeworm parasite can live at least three times longer than their uninfected peers while maintaining a youthful appearance and getting special treatment. A multi-year scientific study published in May of this year has revealed a phenomenon worthy of a science-fiction or fantasy blockbuster – a […]
The Tiny Russian Village Where Everyone Knows How to Walk a Tightrope
Tsovkra-1, a small village in the mountains of Russia’s Dagestan autonomous republic, is famous for being the only place in the world where the entire able-bodied population knows how to walk a tightrope. No one knows exactly how the tightrope-walking tradition of Tsovkra-1 (named ‘1’ because of another Tsvokra village nearby) began, but one thing […]
Artist Slammed for Throwing Away 1,000 Pure Gold Rice Grains to Highlight Food Waste
Shanghai-based artist Yang Yexin has been getting a lot of criticism for throwing away 1,000 grains of rice made of pure gold as part of a performance artwork to highlight current food waste. If you’re planning on visiting Shanghai soon, you may want to keep your eyes peeled as you walk through the city streets, […]
Cyber-Criminals Use Voice Cloning Technology in $35 Million Bank Heist
A bank manager in the U.A.E. was conned into authorizing a $35 million transfer after receiving vocal confirmation from the account holder. Only that wasn’t who the manager thought they were… Early last year, the manager of an undisclosed bank in the United Arab Emirates received a call from a longtime client – the director […]
Italian Artist Turns Spilled Coffee Into Art
Some people are so incredibly talented that they can be artistically inspired by the most unexpected of things, such as spilled drinks. Case in point – Italian artist Giulia Bernardelli, whose amazing coffee art began as a mishap. One day, Giulia was drawing and having her coffee at the same time. At one point, she […]
How Did a Van Wind Up on Top of a Bus Station in France?
This week, the people of Plounéventer, a town in France’s Brittany region, woke up to a very bizarre sight – a white van perched on top of a bus station. Imagine waking up early in the morning to take the bus to work and finding a car on top of the bus station? It’s still […]
The Swiss Mini Gun – World’s Smallest Working Revolver
If you’re looking for an unusual and extremely expensive way of dealing with small pests, like cockroaches, may we recommend the world’s smallest working revolver? The Swiss Mini Gun holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest functioning revolver in the world. It measures 5.5 cm long, 3.5 cm tall and 1 cm wide, weighing […]
These Halloween Brownies Look Like Crap
Aptly named Cat Poop Brownies, these Halloween treats created by Singaporean cafe Nasty Cookie really look like something you’d only expect to find in a cat’s litter box. When it comes to disgusting-looking food, we’ve featured a few examples over the years, with notable mentions including milkfish intestines and alien dumplings, but most often than […]