The “Walk on Water” challenge of Dixon High School has reached its 8th edition. Just like every year, since this event was started, students had to walk on water, without falling in.

Over 120 physics students, in 27 groups, tried to cross a 50-meter-long pool, in the 2 minute time limit, without getting wet. To complete this task, they were required to build mechanical gear that would keep them afloat and moving, at the same time. From giant hamster wheels, to floating skis, the students tried everything.

A few of them actually succeed in walking on water, and thus won the big prize: the chance to skip a final exam. Now that’s worth getting a little wet, over.

Photos by Renee C. Byer/Sacbee.com

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Seeing him rest on the steering-wheel of his toy truck, smoking a cigarette, you might think he’s a truck driver stuck in the body of a toddler, but Ardi Rizal is really just a two-year old boy who loves to smoke.

The 56 pound toddler, from Indonesia’s South Sumatra province, smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day and sits on his toy truck all day long. There’s hardly ever a moment in the day when Ardi isn’t puffing away on a cigarette, and that’s the main reason why he can hardly move by himself anymore, let alone run along and play with other children.

His mother has desperately forced the toddler to quit, but he always got so angry that he started screaming and banging his head against the walls, saying quitting makes him dizzy and sick. He also asks for a specific brand of cigarettes, that costs his family $5.50 a day. While his mother is set on somehow getting Ardi to quit, his father says: ‘He looks pretty healthy to me, I don’t see the problem.’ Now this is what I call a “great” parent.

Although authorities have even offered the Ardi Rizal’s parents a brand new car, if they convince him to stop smoking, the parents don’t dare ask him anymore. Read More »

Many said she would never make it, but teenager Jessica Watson shut them all up when she completed her months long journey, and sailed into Sydney Harbor, on May 15, 2010.

The Australian sailor took off on her daring trip around the world, on October 18, 2009, all by herself. For over 200 days and 23,000 nautical miles, Jessica was all alone on her 30-foot-long pink yacht, “Ella’s Pink Boat”. She had to overcome strong winds, waves as high as mountains, and loneliness, in order to prove young people can accomplish their dreams, whatever they might be.

Ms. Watson said the toughest times were when bad weather was forecast, and she had to fight against monster storms. But she managed to keep her cool, kept her boat afloat, and against all odds, complete her journey around the world.

Having become the world’s youngest person to sail around the world, non-stop and unassisted, Jessica Watson captured the attention and admiration of the whole world, and become rich and famous, in consequence. While she was away at sea, her team managed to secure deals estimated at around $1 million, with several companies, including one of Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers. She also has a nationwide book tour coming up, for her “True Spirit: The Aussie Girl Who Took on the World” book, due to come out in July, as well as other souvenir sales.

But saying Jessica Watson did it all for media attention and profit just wouldn’t be fair. She is clearly in love with the ocean, and she said that even after seven lonely months at sea, she was reluctant to leave the pink yacht that had become “more than a home”.

Photos via CourrierMail

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Germany’s first ever strip poker tournament took place on may 12, 2010, in the Blauer Salon of the Dresden Park Hotel. 40 contestants, 33 men and 7 women, tried to keep their clothes on, for the chance to win a trip to Las Vegas.

Organized by the Billy Boy condom company, the Dresden Strip Poker Tournament got hot from the start. As there was no admission fee, contestants only had to bring their clothes, as currency, and their best game. Ladies were asked to bet responsibly and keep their clothes on as long as possible, so their male counterparts could focus on poker.

Each player was given a stack of chips, and every time they lost it, they had to take off a clothing item, to receive more. Extra chips could be earned if the stripping was entertaining, so as you can imagine, things got really hot in the Blauer Salon. Ladies were also asked to cover their nipples, so the guys could play on, undistracted.

12 of the 40 poker players advanced to the Strip Poker Championship Final, in Hamburg, where they will compete for a trip to Las Vegas, which includes 4 nights at the MGM Grand Hotel, a stretch limo and a helicopter ride over Sin City.

via Bild.de

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Prahlad Jani, the amazing Yogi who claims he hasn’t eaten or drunk and fluids, for the last 70 years, was put to the test, by Indian specialists, and proved his claims were honest.

82-year-old Prahlad Jani, who says he has survived the last seven decades on heavenly nectar, poured through a hole in his palette, by a goddess, is now a confirmed unique phenomenon. Prahlad, who was first tested, by scientists, in 2003, has now returned to the same hospital, to undergo a new series of investigations.

Between April 28 and May 6, the incredible Yogi was supervized by 30 video cameras and a team of Indian scientists. During this time he didn’t eat a thing, and only used water to shower and clean his mouth. He also never passed any urine or other waste. Though studies showed urine in his blatter, at one point, it mysteriously disappeared.

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A German postal worker, from Possendorf, has unofficially married his beloved cat, Cecilia.

39-year-old Uwe Mitzscherlich has shared precious moments with Cecilia, for the last 10 years. Unfortunately, the purring fur-ball is now obese and asthmatic, and the vets don’t think she has much more to live. Because they’ve had such a unique relationship, for many years, Mr. Mitzscherlich decided to make it official, and asked Cecilia’s…paw, in marriage.

Sadly, human-animal weddings aren’t recognized in Germany, so Uwe Mitzscherlich had to pay a female actor to officiate the ceremony. At first she thought it was a joke, but quickly realized this was a dream come true, for the German postal worker.

The couple dressed for the occasion, with Uwe wearing a wedding suit and top hat, and Cecilia boasting a lovely white dress. It was a beautiful ceremony, and 15-year-old Cecilia even meowed loudly, through the exchanging of the vows.

Check out a video of this unusual wedding, at the bottom.

via Bild

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What looks like a bike rider waiting for the green light, in a motorcycle race, is actually a dead man at a wake, in Puerto Rico.

22-year-old David Morales Colon was shot to death, last Thursday, and his family wanted people to remember him doing what he liked most. As the young man had received a brand new Honda CBR600 F4 motorcycle, which he loved, his family asked the funeral home to embalm David and set him in riding position.

The guys at the funeral home did a great job, and David looks like he’s about to drive away any second, but this gesture caused a media stir, at an international level. Apparently this paves the way for other funeral firms to come up with original ideas for this kind of events.

As a guy living in a country where dead people are kept on the living room table, for three days, before being buried, I see this as just a cool way of honoring a person.

Photos by Vanessa Cerra via PrimaHora Read More »

I’m a big video-game fan myself, but I’d rather go out and look for a real date, than stay home and cook sexy Lara Croft a birthday cake.

Love Plus, a Japan-only video-game, for the Nintendo DS, takes the idea of dating a virtual character, a bit further than other relationship simulators. Very similar to that old pet simulator, Tamagotchi, the player must keep his better half happy, by taking her out on dates, talking with her in real time, holding her hand spending quality time together, and, apparently throwing her a hell of a birthday party, complete with cakes and presents.

On April 20, fans of Love Plus celebrated the birthday of one o the game’s most popular characters, Anegasaki Nene. As a video-game character, Nene is practically ageless, but that didn’t stop dozens of players from posting photos from the birthdays they threw for her, on a popular video-game forum.

Oddly enough, this isn’t the strangest thing anyone has done for Anegasaki Nene. Last year, player Sal9000 actually married her, and spent the wedding night in a Tokyo hotel, where they could see the city lights. And I thought Japanese neon fights were weird…

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Greenpeace activists are going to fall in love with the genius invention of Li Fan : curtains made of living plants.

Chinese inventor, Li Fan, has come up with a brilliant way to support the environment, and help people say “adios” to cleaning and washing curtains. Her living curtains are actually self-sufficient plants, on a supporting mesh.

Li Fan’s curtains filter light, like regular curtains, but also suck all the impurities out of the air, and smell fresh all the time. Living plants curtains are the hottest thing in Beijing home-design, right now, and Li Fan says business is booming.

No word on whether these living plant curtains are available outside China, but I’m sure there are people out there willing to pay top dollar to green-up there homes.

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Three-year old Ruby Dickinson, from Wales, is preparing to ink a small tattoo, on her father’s body, and become the youngest tattoo artist on Earth.

Ruby has been living in a tattoo-filled environment, ever since she was born. Her father, Blane, has his own tattoo shop, set up right in their home. Tattooing has already become part of Ruby’s life, and she always talks to her father’s customers, about what they’re planning to ink on their bodies, and repeats whatever her father tells them, on the matter.

Blane has already ordered a special tattooing tool, from the States, one that fits Ruby’s small hands. Right now, she is practicing her favorite design, a spider, about the size of a 2 p coin. Since her father already has 70% of his body covered with tattoos, he’s not worried Ruby might mess up the spider.

Brent says “this will set her off on a fantastic career, and a tattoo machine is a lot cheaper than university fees.”

Photos by Cascade News via Daily Mail

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Back in January, when “Top Banana” Ken Bannister was forced to split (get it?) with his giant banana collection, out of the place that served as headquarters of the Banana Club and Museum, since 1972, things looked grim for banana lovers, everywhere.

But thanks to a substantial donation, of approximately $50,000, the Banana Museum will live on. When Banana Club founder, Ken Bannister, posted an ad on eBay, announcing he was wiling to part with his extensive collection, fellow fruit lover Fred Garbutt decided to become the new curator of the Banana Museum

Garbutt’s donation bought him a 17,000 item banana collection, including a banana golf club, banana drinks, and even a Michael Jackson banana. He has big plans for his purchase, which include buying a BMW and painting it yellow, selling banana-leaf wallpaper and making banana clothes, for kids. A real banana man, as Ken Bannister, himself said.

It can’t be easy for “Top Banana” Ken Bannister to leave his 38-year-long work, in the hands of someone else, but it’s better than letting it go to waste, that’s for sure.

Photos via BananaClub

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President Obama may not be as popular as he was when he became president of the United States, but his name is still viewed as a potential client driver.

A Chinese entrepreneur, from Shanghai, China is relying on Barack Obama’s popularity to make his soon-to-open nightclub a profitable venture. The Obama Nightclub is schedule to open on April 26 2010, and as you can see in the photos below, all of Shanghai is full of advertising banners. The website is, unfortunately, under construction.

Odd as it may be, this is really not a bad idea, considering how popular the American president is, in China, You may remember the wacky ways the Chinese people celebrated his visit, last year.

Photos via ImagineChina

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It’s official, China is trying to get this cooking thing completely automated. A week after a retired engineer presented his DIY robot cook, another springs up .

The students of Yangzhou University, in Yangzhou, China partnered up with an enterprise from Shenzen, to create a fully automated robotic cook. Their result is nothing short of impressive, considering the machine can cook over 600 dishes from Chinese cuisine. All anyone has to do is put in the necessary ingredints, program the robot and weight for the dish to be served.

Bad news for Liu Changfa, the retired engineer who presented his own patented robot cook. Iguess hi dream of selling one to every restaurant in China, won’t be coming true, after all.

Photos by Zhao Jun/Xinhua

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35-year-old Kevin Easterday was born with a rare condition that prevented his spine from developing correctly. His legs were amputated, when he was only a baby, but that hasn’t stopped him from living life to the fullest.

A strange illness, known as sacral agenesis, made it necessary for doctors to amputate Kenny’s legs, when he was only six months old. Part of his shinbone was used to create the missing part of his spine, but Kenny lost the ability to walk. Believe it or not, Mr. Eastearday was able to live a rich happy life, regardless of his handicap.

During a documentary, Kenny’s father reveals he taught his son to walk using his hands, by telling him to imitate his mother, who “walks like a duck”. As a child, he was offered a pair of prosthetic legs, but he didn’t really find them very useful, so he always used his hands, or a skateboard, to get around.

Although he wasn’t expected to reach the age of 21, Kenny not only beat the odds, but enjoyed life, in the process. He learned to play pool, bowl, work, and even make love to his fiancee,Nicky. To top things off, the happy couple is waiting for confirmation that Desiree, their 7-year-old daughter, is actually Kenny’s daughter. Read More »

Liu Changfa, a retired automation engineer,from China, needed only one year to create a robot cook, using only rudimentary tools, like hammer and axe.

The Chinese inventor connected his robot cook to a laptop computer and a cellphone that allow to choose preset menus, or program it to cook certain dishes. Vinegar, salt, sugar and all other seasoning is stored in the robot’s chest, and the cooking takes place in its belly, where an induction cooker is installed. With the help of some dedicated software, the dedicated robot can be programmed to add a certain amount of seasoning, or stir a dish a certain number of times.

All Liu Changfa has to do is put the raw ingredients into the pot, and wait for the beeping sound, made by the robot. He has already contacted a Chinese restaurant, which will test the robot cook in its kitchen, and add robot dishes on its menu. More restaurants will shortly follow, says Liu Changfa.

Well, I’d wait a while before adding cooking to the list of automated fields, but this is definitely a step in that direction.

Photos via CNS Photo

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