Oleg Shepelenko, a talented tattoo artist from Rostov-on-Don, Russia, has been getting international recognition thanks to his insanely detailed portrait tattoos.

The self-taught artist who works out of the Lucky Style Tattoo Shop knew he had a talent for art when he began painting in school, but never got any formal training. He got into tattoos naturally, and used YouTube tutorials as inspiration, trying to imitate masters of the art and developing his own techniques along the way. Developing an interest in hyper-realism, Shepelenko channeled his entire ambition into producing photo-realistic portrait tattoos, and is now considered one of the top hyper-realist tattoo artists in the world.

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Photos and videos of a functional Banco del Bienestar branch seemingly located in the middle of nowhere have been getting a lot of attention on Mexican social media this week.

Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was one of the very first people to get blamed for wasting government money on useless buildings after the photos and videos of a Banco del Bienestar branch located a long way from any human settlement, somewhere in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The building was used to mock Obrador’s “Fourth Transformation” of Mexico initiative, but a representative of the bank was quick to explain that although bizarre, the location of the branch actually makes sense.

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A Chinese couple has come under fire from both the media and the general public after allegedly filming their young, overweight daughter devouring whole plates of food and streaming the footage online.

Pictures and videos of a three-year-old girl nicknamed Pei Qi stuffing her face from multiple plates full of food have been doing the rounds on Chinese social media and sparking outrage among viewers. The parents are being slammed for abusing their child and using her as a cash cow by not only encouraging her to eat unhealthy amounts of food, but also streaming the eating sessions on the internet. The little girl’s video channel was recently removed from a popular video streaming platform, because of the online uproar surrounding this case. Pei Qi’s parents deny the accusations, saying that their daughter just has an unusual appetite, but is otherwise healthy.

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In what can only be described as one of the most bizarre divorce pretexts ever, a Muslim woman has asked a Sharia court to end her marriage because her husband because he lover her too much.

The unidentified woman from the Sambhal district of India’s Uttar Pradesh state recently approached the Sambhal Sharia court to ask for a divorce from her husband of just 18 months. Asked to explain her request, the woman said that her spouse loved her too much and never argued with her, which she just found impossible to accept. To make matters “worse”, the woman’s husband also cooked and cleaned for her, and helped with various house chores. She declared herself “fed up” and asked the members of the court to end her marriage.

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It’s safe to say that Toronto-based artist Bashir Sultani isn’t the superstitious type, as he has no problem spilling the salt to create some of the most amazing temporary artworks we’ve ever seen.

Afghan-born Sultani originally rose to internet fame about nine years ago, when photos and videos of his early celebrity salt portraits went viral online. They’re still impressive after all these years, but the talented artist has come a long way since, taking his salt art to a whole new level with a life-like food portrait series. Instead of sticking to pure salt on a black canvas, Bashir Sultani now uses colored salt as well to create convincing representation of various foods solely by sprinkling it on a dark plate.

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Chichen Itza, the pre-Colombian archaeological site built by the Mayans in northern Yucatan, Mexico, is home to many architectural and cultural wonders, one of which has baffled acoustics experts for decades.

The Temple of Kukulkan is one of the most visually-striking structures at Chichen Itza, but perhaps its most intriguing characteristic is acoustic, not visual. Clapping at the base of the Mayan pyramid causes an echo that closely resembles a bird’s chirp. Do it repeatedly, or in a group, and the echos will sound like a chorus of ghostly chirps rolling down the steps of the impressive structures. It’s one of those tricks tour guides use to impress visitors, but it’s actually no gimmick. Acoustic experts have been fascinated by the “Chichen Itza Chirp” ever since it was documented by an acoustic engineer in the late 90’s, but so far no one has been able to demonstrate if the architects of the pyramid designed it with the specific echo in mind, or if it was accidental.

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Authorities in Tokorozawa, a Japanese city located north of Tokyo, recently unveiled a total of 27 high-tech manhole covers featuring LED displays inspired by popular anime.

In an ingenious attempt to improve the image of the local sewer system and also hopefully prevent nighttime crime on the main boulevard of Tokorozawa, the city’s Waterworks and Sewerage department recently installed a total of 27 new manhole covers illuminated by solar-powered LED lights and featuring anime-inspired designs. The new manholes were laid on August 1, 2020, and are the first manholes in Japan to feature LED lighting.

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Edson Brandao, an online influencer, personal trainer and writer from Brazil, has been getting a lot of attention because of his age-defying appearance. Despite being in his early 50’s, Brandao constantly gets mistaken for a 20 or 30-year-old.

Looking at photos of Edson Brandao from when he was in his thirties and forties, and comparing them to his looks at age 53, you could say the Brazilian-born has only been getting younger. While he doesn’t deny that his youthful appearance have something to do with good genes, the 53-year-old credits his positive attitude, healthy lifestyle and daily skin care as the main reasons for his impressive looks. Brandao also swears that he has never undergone any cosmetic procedures to retain his youthful appearance.

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A dog in China recently made national headlines for being found alive and well after spending over a month trapped under the ruin of his master’s following a landslide.

On July 8, the people of Cangbaotian village, in China’s Guizhou Province had to be hastily evacuated before most of their homes succumbed to a terrible landslide. Only a handful of the 130 buildings in the village were left standing, and despite being unable to retrieve most of their possessions before the evacuation, residents weren’t allowed to return until the area was deemed safe by authorities. Earlier this month, one man who returned to see if anything could be salvaged from his collapsed home was shocked to hear barking coming from under the rubble.

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Residents of an industrial area of Olten, a town in north-western Switzerland, have been reporting chocolate powder raining from the sky for several days now.

If chocolate was ever going to fall from the sky anywhere in the world, it had to be in Switzerland. The European country is well-known for making perhaps the best chocolate in the world, so it kind of makes sense that a chocolate rain occur here. Anyway, reports of chocolate powder falling from the sky in the town of Olten started showing up online a few days ago, accompanied by photos of cars covered in the brown stuff. People could hardly believe it, but then authorities confirmed it and so did the company responsible for the bizarre phenomenon.

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Police in the Japanese province of Okinawa have been struggling with a phenomenon called rojo-ne, which translates literally as “sleeping on the road”.

Imagine driving home late at night and seeing someone laying in the middle of the road. Or worse yet, not seeing that someone in time to actually slam the brakes. Such nightmare scenarios occur quite frequently in Okinawa, with provincial police reporting over 7,000 cases recorded in 2019 alone. Some of those unfortunately resulted in the loss of human lives, and authorities are desperate to put an end to rojo-ne, a phenomenon that has been on the rise in Okinawa for years. Sadly, despite taking several measures against offenders, police have seen no improvements. In fact, things have been getting worse.

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Marimo is a rare growth form of the Aegagropila linnaei algae in which the aquatic plant grows into large green balls with a velvet-like texture and appearance. It’s also a natural treasure of Japan, as well as a popular pet.

Aegagropila linnaei algae has long been a mystery in biology, particularly due to its fascinating spherical growth form. The algae can be found in just a handful of aquatic environments located in four countries – Iceland, Scotland, Estonia, and Japan – and exists either as free-floating filaments, flat growths on rocks or green balls that can reach up to 40 cm in diameter. It’s the latter that has fascinated both scientists and algae enthusiasts for centuries.

Marimo (literally “ball water plant”) are particularly popular in Japan. The largest and most impressive-looking ones can be found in  Lake Akan, in east Hokkaido. For some reason, given enough time marimo her grow up to 40 cm in diameter, much larger that the moss balls found anywhere else. The lake is shallow, providing the conditions needed for Aegagropila linnaei to thrive, so the bottom is full of these giant, fluffy balls just waiting to be squeezed. Only you’re not allowed to take those!

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Unveiled in 1939, the Pontiac Ghost Car was the first completely transparent car made in America, and eight decades later, photos of it are still a wonder to behold.

Designed to showcase everything that goes into making an automobile in a time when the automotive industry was thriving, the Pontiac Ghost Car was built by General Motors in partnership with Rohm and Hass, the company that invented Plexiglas. The revolutionary material essentially replaced the sheet of metal out of which the car’s body was usually made of, thus offering a clear view of the inner workings of the vehicle. To add to its striking appearance, the metallic structure featured a copper wash, the hardware was chrome-plated and the tires were white, instead of the usual black. The Ghost Car’s total cost was estimated at $25,000 at the time.

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They say money does not smell, but a lucrative venture thought up by a German circus is proof that money can actually stink. The Krone Circus in Munich is in the business of selling lion poop.

Circus are forbidden from performing during the pandemic, so many of them have been struggling to stay afloat in the last few months. Animal circuses have it even worse, as they have dozens of creatures to feed every day, so many of them have been forced to think outside the box in order to stay solvent. The Krone Circus, in Munich, Germany, has come up with a stinky yet profitable business idea – selling jars of poop from their 26 lions and tigers for 5 euros ($6) a pop.

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An 83-year-old man was ordered to pay a 166 euro fine after he failed to prevent his pet rooster from crowing at 4:30 in the morning, which some of his neighbors had complained about.

Angelo Boletti, a pensioner from the Italian town of Castiraga Vidardo, in Lombardy, was found to have violated local rules, which state that pets must be kept at a minimum distance of 10 metres from neighboring homes. But the real problem was that the pet in question, a rooster named Carlino, crowed loudly as early as 4:30 in the morning and waking up the neighbors. After receiving several complaints about the bird’s morning routine, police started monitoring Carlino, and after confirming his early crowing decided to fine the retired bricklayer.

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