Uranium Glass – Collectible Radioactive Glassware From a Bygone Era
Believe it or not, there was once a time when people exposed themselves to harmful levels of radiation to create uranium glass – detailed, fluorescent glassware that glowed a radioactive green under black light. Some antique collectors still live with them in their homes today. As its name suggests, uranium glass is a special type […]
Bosco Verticale – Living in a Vertical Forest in the Middle of an Urban Jungle
Bosco Vericale is a unique residential complex in the center of Milan, Italy. It consists of two towers that stand 80 and 112 meters high and are covered in plants and trees giving them the look that inspired their name – vertical forest. Designed by a team of architects at Boeri Studio, Bosco Verticale was […]
This Cuddly Rodent Coats Itself in Lethal Poison to Keep Predators at Bay
The African crested rat, an elusive rodent that lives in forested areas of Eastern Africa, has a very strange yet intriguing defense mechanism against would-be predators – it licks deadly toxins onto its own fur. People inhabiting the highland forests and woodlands of countries like Somalia, Sudan or Ethiopia have long known to stay clear […]
Japanese Fruit Farmers “Employ” Owls as Pest Control
Japanese field voles can seriously impact the profits of apple orchard owners, if left unchecked. For centuries, many farmers have relied on owls to keep vole numbers to manageable levels, and research has shown the night predators to be incredibly efficient. Ural owls have been setting up their nests in orchards with high rodent populations […]
Confectioner Creates Exquisite Cookies That Look Inedible, in a Good Way
Cookies come in all shapes and sizes, but few look as exquisite as those of Costa Rican confectioner Lorena Rodriguez, founder of Lorena’s Sweets. Looking at the edible works of art created by Lorena Rodriguez, once doesn’t know if to eat them or hang them up on a wall somewhere, for everyone to see. Some […]
Kid Shoves Metal Coin Into His Nose, Forgets About It For 53 Years
A 59-year-old man in Zelenograd, Russia, lived with serious nose breathing difficulties for over half a century, because of a coin he had shoved up his nose as a child and forgot about over the years. Doctors at the Konchalovsky City Clinical Hospital in Zelenograd recently reported the strange case of a patient who said […]
Plant Evolves to Become Less Visible to Humans in Areas With Excessive Harvesting
Fritillaria delavayi, a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, has apparently evolved to match its background and become more difficult to spot as a direct consequence of heavy harvesting. Scientists had known that many plants evolved to use camouflage as a way of hiding from herbivores that may eat them, but a recent study suggests […]
Japanese Company Wants to Buy Your Face and Sell It as a Hyper-Realistic Mask
Would you ever sell your face? If the answer is yes, there is a Japanese company that wants to hear from you. It’s in the business of buying the rights to people’s faces so it can sell them in the form of hyper-realistic 3D-printed masks. Ever since Kamenya Omoto, a Tokyo-based specialty mask maker and […]
Helicopter Crew Accidentally Discover Mysterious Metal Monolith Deep in Utah Desert
A helicopter crew from Utah’s Department of Public Safety recently discovered a large metal monolith in the rocky desert of southeastern Utah. So far, no one knows what the metal object actually is, or how it got there. Last Wednesday, while helping the Division of Wildlife Resources count bighorn sheep in southeastern Utah, members of […]
Japanese Rapunzel Hasn’t Cut Her Hair in 15 Years
35-year-old Rin Kambe has been dubbed the Japanese Rapunzel because of her nearly 6-feet-long mane, which she hasn’t cut in 15 years. Rin, who hails from Tokyo, was never allowed to grow her hair as a child. She was on the girl’s football team so had to keep it short, but when she became an […]
Eye Art – Talented Makeup Artist Uses Her Eyes as Canvas for Tiny Masterpieces
Tal Peleg is an experienced makeup artist who goes beyond the usual tricks of the trade to create beautiful artworks in the space between her eyebrows and her eyes. They say makeup itself is an art form, but if that’s true, what do we even call what Israeli Tal Peleg does, magic? The talented makeup […]
How a Routine Blood Donation Left a Young Woman Permanently Disabled
A 21-year-old woman has lost mobility in her right arm following a botched blood donation in which a nurse allegedly drew blood from one of her arteries instead of a vein. Gabriela Ekman, of Ontario, Canada, had just turned 17 when she decided to donate blood for the first time in her life. She hoped […]
Chả rươi – Vietnam’s Popular Worm Omelet
Chả rươi, or sand worm omelet, is a seasonal Vietnamese dish made with unsightly, two-inch-long sea worms that some say give the “delicacy” a caviar-like taste. Every year, in late fall, street food stalls in northern Vietnam, particularly in Hanoi, serve a very special dish that looks very ordinary at first glance, but that actually […]
Cartel Known as “The Surgeons” Moves Liquid Drugs in Women’s Breast Implants
Colombian police recently announced the dismantlement of a Cali-based drug cartel that specialized in coercing women to get breast implants that were actually filled with liquid cocaine. Drug trafficking organizations ae known for coming up with all sorts of ingenious methods of sending their products all over the world to minimize getting discovered at security […]
Every Day, This Young Girl Dresses Like It’s the 19th Century
Mila Povoroznyuk, a young girl from the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa, has shunned jeans, and all other modern clothing for the long dresses and intricate ensembles of the 19th century. Nowadays, fashion trends change faster than ever before, but instead of trying to keep up, Mila Povoroznyuk decided to go back to a time that […]