The tropical islands of the Seychelles archipelago are home to a legendary palm tree that produces the world’s largest plant seed – a suggestively-shaped thing that can weigh up to 20 kilograms.

Lodoicea maldivica, also known as the double coconut, or coco-de-mer is a remarkable species of palm tree that grows between 25 and 34 meters tall and yields giant seeds that measure 12 inches long, nearly 3 feet in circumference and have a weight of over 40 pounds. Because of their suggestive shape – they look like a pair of female buttocks – they inspired a number of legends and were highly sought after by both monarchs and other people of influence throughout the years. Even today, their rarity makes coco-de-mer seeds highly sought after by collectors.

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Rutin chicken, a domestic hybrid dubbed ‘the world’s smallest chicken’ has become incredibly popular in China lately, fueling a veritable pet craze.

Technically, the rutin in chicken is not a chicken. It is a cross between a quail and a partridge, but people have dubbed it the “world’s smallest chicken” and the nickname stuck. To be fair, it fits too, as the birds are about the size of an average human fist and weigh only about 50 grams. They are super cute as well, and their size makes them suitable for relatively small enclosures that come with lights, plants, stairs, and even dollhouse-like sleeping quarters.

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The highest-altitude cash machine in the world is located at the Khunjerab Pass border between China and Pakistan, at an elevation of 4,693 meters.

Over the past few decades, the ATM has become one of the world’s most ubiquitous pieces of technology, but you wouldn’t expect to see one while trekking through the snow-covered mountains of Pakistan, now would you? And yet, the Khunjerab Pass border pass in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan province is home to the world’s highest fully-functional ATM. Installed by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in 2016, the solar- and wind-powered cash machine is a truly unusual sight to behold in such an isolated place as Khunjerab Pass, the highest paved border crossing in the world.

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Hajime, Japan’s most popular YouTuber, recently surprised his millions of subscribers by covering his body with the world’s blackest commercially-available paint.

Musou Black, a special type of paint developed and sold by Koyo Orient Japan, isn’t the world’s blackest paint. That title belongs to Vantablack, an incredibly black coating capable of absorbing up to 99.965% of visible light. It makes everything look like a black hole, but it is obscenely expensive and currently unavailable on the open market. Musou Black, on the other hand, absorbs a respectable 99.4% of visible light, making it the world’s second blackest paint, and it is available on Amazon for $17 per 100ml. So it was the ideal choice for someone wanting to become a walking shadow, or the blackest man on Earth.

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Measuring around 10 cm, with a diameter comparable to that of a cooked spaghetti, the Barbados Threadsnake (Tetracheilostoma carlae) is by far the smallest snake in the world.

Spotting a Barbados threadsnake for the first time, you could swear it was an earthworm. They are actually comparable in size and diameter, with the largest specimen ever found measuring only 10.4 centimeters, and are also blind. They also typically weigh under one gram and are small enough to coil on an American quarter. The species was officially discovered slithering beneath a rock near a patch of Barbadian forest in 2008 by evolutionary biologist S. Blair Hedges, but little has been discovered about its ecology and behavior since.

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A 35-year-old man from India’s Tamil Nadu state recently set a new world record for the longest distance driven in reverse in under 30 minutes – 16 kilometers and 140 meters.

During an event that took place last week at Edappadi Bypass in Tamil Nadu, Chandramouli, a passionate motorist from Salem district, managed to set a new world record by driving over 16 kilometers in reverse gear in under 30 minutes. The man, whose passion for driving cars goes back to when he was only 10 years old, practiced hard for the task, knowing that he had to beat the previous record set by 22-year-old Tesson Thomas from Pathanamthitta of Kerala, who had covered 14.2 km driving in reverse for 30 minutes. Chandramouli managed to blow that record out of the water, backing up for 16 kilometers and 140 meters in just 29 minutes and 10 seconds.

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The fruit of Pollia condensata, aka the marble berry, a plant that grows in the forests of Central Africa, has been scientifically recognized as the brightest organic substance in nature.

The elusive marble berry plant grows up to about meter-tall and sprouts clusters of up to 40 small, impressively-shiny fruits. Seeing a marble berry up close, you could swear it was coated in a layer of metallic blue paint. It looks a lot like a shiny miniature Christmas bauble, shimmering in the sunlight, which is unusual for a plant. The world is full of brightly-colored plants and fruits, but none of them are as iridescent as the marble berry. That fact intrigued scientists, who, after conducting a series of tests, concluded that the fruit of Pollia condensata was not only the brightest fruit in the world, but the brightest organic thing.

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The world of contact sports is about to be taken by storm by one of the craziest creations in human history – armboxing, a weird take on the art of boxing.

The world is full of weird and wacky sports, but when it comes to downright crazy inventions, the Russians definitely take the cake. After the insanity that was ‘car-jitsu’ – basically jiu jitsu in a car – the brilliant minds in Mother Russia have come up with something even more insane. Known only as ‘armboxing’, this new contact sport sees two fighters standing opposite each other being chained to a podium with their lead hands glued together and the other hand free to do damage.

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At just over 200 square feet in size and a yearly yield of 29 bottles of wine, Via Mari 10 is considered the world’s smallest vineyard.

Located on the rooftop of a 16th-century palazzo in the heart of Reggio Emilia, Via Mari 10 – named after the name and number of the street – is not your average vineyard. Not only is it incredibly small in size, it also has an extremely modest yearly yield of wine. However, the most peculiar thing about the Via Mari 10 wine is that you’re not supposed to drink it. The owner of the vineyard considers the 29 or so bottles of wine produced every year as works of art that should be collected and admired rather than consumed. That’s kind of a problem, considering that you are expected to pay 5,000 euros ($5,000) for a bottle of wine you’re not even supposed to drink.

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If you’re looking for the simplest way to do your laundry on the go, this plastic zipper bag might be the answer to your problems.

Created by Japanese company Kao, the Attack Zero laundry bag is a 5-liter zipper bag designed to help users do the laundry pretty much anytime, anywhere. All you have to do is open the zipper lock put your dirty laundry inside along with some detergent – it comes included with the bag – and fill it up with water. Then close the zipper, shake the Attack Zero bag to make sure the laundry is nice and soaked, and then gently rub the bag as you would if you were washing the laundry by hand. Finally, unscrew the small valve on the side of the bag and spill the dirty mixture out. Then add fresh water to rinse the laundry and repeat the process as many times as necessary.

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The hooded pitohui, a small bird endemic to Papua New Guinea, is the first and only scientifically-confirmed poisonous bird in the world.

The Melanesian people of Papua New Guinea have long known to keep their hands off of hooded pitohui, but to the western world, the bird’s toxic potential was only discovered by chance just over three decades ago. In 1990, ornithologist Jack Dumbacher was on the Pacific island looking for birds of paradise. He had set up delicate mist nets between the trees to catch them and ended up with some hooded pitohui birds in them as well. As he tried to grab the birds out of the traps, they scratched and bit his fingers, and he instinctively put his hands in his mouth to soothe the pain. Almost immediately, Dumbacher felt his lips and tongue go numb. They then started to burn and did so for hours. Later, suspecting that the symptoms were caused by the bird, he took a pitohui feather and put it in his mouth. The numbness and ensuing pain quickly returned. He had unknowingly discovered the world’s first poisonous bird.

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History Supreme, a super-yacht commissioned by a mysterious Malaysian billionaire and designed by controversial artist Stuart Hughes, is considered the world’s most expensive yacht, but most don’t even believe it exists.

The story of History Supreme is one of the weirdest we’ve ever covered here on Oddity Central. It originally made news headlines over a decade ago, when luxury jeweler and designer Stuart Hughes announced that he had spent three years working on it, after being commissioned by a Malaysian businessman who preferred to remain anonymous. Hughes described his newest creation as the world’s most expensive yacht, priced at a staggering £3 million, or $4.8 billion. Photos of the vessel started doing the rounds online and news outlets covered the topic extensively, but no one has ever seen the History Supreme in person…

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Featuring 20 ramps intertwined over five levels and connecting three major expressways, the Huangjuewan Overpass in Chongqing is considered to be the world’s most complicated overpass.

When the first photos of Huangjuewan Overpass first hit the internet, a few years back, they cause a mix of shock, amazement and concern, especially among motorists. Many were wondering how on Earth less-experienced drivers were supposed to find their way with so many ramps and lanes to choose from. And, even if you consider yourself an experienced driver, Huangjuewan does look a little daunting, at least at first sight. Despite its designers’ claims that it looks much more complicated than it truly is, Huangjuewan has become known as the world’s most complicated overpass.

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The Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari is the new world’s thinnest mechanical wristwatch, at just 1.75 millimeters thick. But whilst its frame may be diminutive, its price tag is anything but, at a whopping $1.88 million.

Unless you’re a wristwatch enthusiast, you’re probably not aware that there’s an exciting competition between watchmakers to create the world’s thinnest mechanical wristwatch.  In 2018, the world record was set by the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept, with a thickness of 2 millimeters. Earlier this year, Bulgari unveiled the Octo Finissimo Ultra, a mechanical wonder with a thickness of just 1.8 mm. But its reign was shortlived as well, because Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille decided to celebrate its partnership with Ferrari by creating an even thinner mechanical wristwatch, the RM UP-01 Ferrari, at only 1.75 millimeters.

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Derek Turcotte is a talented tattoo artist from Canada who specializes in intricate tattoo designs inspired by popular video games and comics.

Owner of the Electric Grizzly Tattoo studio in Canmore, Canada, Derek Turcotte has also made a name for himself internationally thanks to his popular Instagram account where he shares his amazing designs with over 300,000 followers. The 36-year-old has been drawing since he was just a kid and he’s been doing tattoos for 18 years now, specializing in all sorts of intricate, colorful designs. But it’s Turcotte’s comic book and video game-inspired works that have attracted the most attention of late, and for good reason – they’re stunning!

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