A Japanese woman was somehow fooled into paying 4.4 million yen ($30,000) to help a “Russian astronaut” she had met online return to Earth from the International Space Station.

It’s not often that we feature news stories worthy of an “Idiocracy” sequel, but this is definitely one such rare occasion. To be honest, had it not been reported by two of Japan’s largest news outlets – Mainichi and Kyodo News – we would have dismissed it as a satirical piece by The Onion. But, it turns out that a 65-year-old woman from Japan’s Shiga Prefecture really did fall in love with a man claiming to be a Russian astronaut and sent him $30,000 to help him hitch a ride back to Earth from the International Space Station. Really makes the “Nigerian prince” scam sound believable, doesn’t it?

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In a competition where the goal is to do nothing but lie down for as long as possible, one man emerged victorious after spending 60 hours laying flat on the ground.

The village of Brezna, in Montenegro, recently held the 12th annual edition of its “Lying Down Championship”, an unusual competition where the end goal is to spend as much time lying down as possible. It sounds easy enough, but as time passes by, your bones and muscles start to ache, your limbs go numb, and you just feel the need to get up and stretch. This year, the champion managed to lie down for about 60 hours.

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Located in Yokohama, Japan, Unco Shop specializes in producing and selling poop-themed apparel like T-shirts and sneakers, jewelry, accessories and more.

Poop-themed apparel and accessories are not that uncommon in souvenir shops, but did you there is a Japanese shop that only sells this kind of product? Named after the Japanese word for poop, ‘unco’, this unique venue is located in Seya Ward, an industrial district in Yokohama. Unco Inc., the company behind Unco Shop sells over 400 poop-themed products, and is popular with influencers and celebrities in the Asian country, but few know that the project began as a simple hobby.

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Lays, the world’s bestselling potato chip brand, recently launched a limited edition miniature washing machine for oily fingertips.

Let’s face it, there are few things in the world more addictive than potato chips, but if there’s one thing everyone hates about them – apart from getting us fat – it’s the grease they leave on our fingertips. You need to have napkins on hand, lick your fingertips (yuck!), or get up from that comfortable sofa and wash up when you’re done stuffing your face. Well, thanks to a rather ingenious marketing campaign, potato chip enthusiasts now have another option – a miniature washing machine designed specifically to clean oily fingertips.

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Mohamed Buya Turay, a striker for Swedish football club Malmö FC couldn’t attend his own wedding in Sierra Leone because of a match, so he asked his brother to stand in for him on the big day.

Last month, 26-year-old footballer Mohamed Buya Turay decided leave the Chinese league and sign with major Swedish club Malmö FC.  After announcing the deal on July 22, the club notified Toray that they were expecting him to join the team as quickly as possible to begin preparations for an important match. There was just one problem – the African striker had already planned his wedding, and there was no backing out of it. But he couldn’t make a bad first impression on his new club either, so he decided to do both. Since his brother couldn’t play football in his place, Mohamed asked him to take his place at the wedding.

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If you love karaoke, but can never hit the right notes of your favorite songs, don’t despair! Apparently, all you need to do is use a weird karaoke training device for just three minutes per day, and you’re all set.

Karaoke is really big in Japan. Few people know that the pastime enjoyed internationally by millions originated in the Asian country, so it’s really no surprise that so many people of all ages still love it here. But just because you love singing your favorite songs doesn’t mean you’re good at it, and that can be an issue, especially if you prefer doing it in public karaoke establishments, of which there are many in Japan. Sure, you can take singing lessons, but that requires time and money that most karaoke enthusiasts don’t have. Luckily, there is apparently a simple, albeit more bizarre alternative…

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A New Zealand art gallery recently sparked controversy for displaying a controversial artwork consisting of a pickled cucumber slice stuck to the ceiling.

Titled ‘Pickle’, the thought-provoking artwork belongs to Australian artist Matthew Griffin and is currently on display at the Michael Lett Gallery in Auckland. It consists of a ketchup-smeared pickled cucumber slice out of a McDonald’s cheeseburger stuck to the ceiling of the art gallery it is exhibited in. The bizarre artwork is being described by the gallery as a deliberately “provocative gesture” designed to question what has value. Moore himself appears to think his creation has decent value, as it comes with a price tag of 10,000 New Zealand dollars ($6,200).

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A 25-year-old man from Zhengzhou recently got his five minutes of online fame after photos of him went viral online because of his unusually old appearance.

Mr Zhu doesn’t suffer from a rare condition that makes him look unnaturally old for his age. He just has the look of a man in his mid-40s, despite being only 25 years old. Photos of him wearing out-of-fashion garments, sporting eyeglasses and a much too serious hairdo have attracted a lot of attention on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, spurring a number of humorous comments.

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A Japanese man who spent a whole year fishing small pebbles out of the soles of his sneakers may have inspired a new bobby in his home country.

Neruno Daisuki, an illustrator and manga artist from Japan, recently got his five minutes of fame on Twitter after showing off the collection of pebbles and glass fragments he fished out of the soles of his shoes over the last year. You know, small stones get stuck in the grooves of our footwear soles all the time, but who would ever think of collecting them? Well, this guy did, and after a year of painstaking work, Daisuki showed off his collection of 179 pebbles, 32 glass fragments, and 1 nut.

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In case the name ‘car-jitsu’ wasn’t clear enough, this new contact sport that’s getting a lot of attention on Russian social media is basically jiu-jitsu in a car.

If you were to make a list of the most awkward places to grapple and wrestle in, the car would probably rank pretty high, and that’s precisely what makes car-jitsu so intriguing. Invented a couple of years ago by Vikentiy Mikheev, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Judo black belt and a professional mixed martial arts fighter, car-jitsu challenges practitioners to subdue their opponent in the small confines of a car. Everything inside the car – including the seat belts, steering wheel, mirrors and chairs – can be used to gain an upper hand in the match, but, just like in regular jiu-jitsu, hittinh is not allowed.

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A Shanghai man recently went viral in his home country after asking his ex-girlfriend to compensate him for all the expenses incurred while they dated.

Last week, Chinese media reported the unusual case of an unnamed Shanghai man who allegedly compiled an incredibly detailed list of expenses incurred while dating a woman who had since broken up with him. The unusual list features hundreds of line items, complete with dates and times, as well as descriptions of specific expenditures for clarity. He allegedly sent his ex the list as proof of the money he spent on her during their relationship, demanding that she compensate him.

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Tired of always buying new pairs of gym sneakers, a UK man had his favorite pair of Nikes permanently tattooed onto his feet.

Dean Gunther, a popular tattoo artist from Manchester, in the United Kingdom, recently went viral on Instagram and TikTok after sharing a short video of himself tattooing a pair of sneakers onto a client’s feet. Although drawn exclusively by hand, seen from a certain angle, the design really does create the illusion that the person is wearing a pair Vibram FiveFingers sneakers with built-in toe slots. The man apparently prefers Nikes, but they don’t make that design, so…

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Dozens of underprivileged families and families of children with disabilities in the Russian region of Tula recently received bags of Cheetos snacks as food assistance and they were just as happy as you’d imagine…

If this story was posted on April 1st, you’d probably think it a joke. Heck, you’re probably thinking that right now, and you’re right to do so, but, sadly, it’s true. In early May, Russian news media reported that the Rus food fund had recently carried out an operation, distributing 1,100 bags of Cheetos snacks to dozens of impoverished and underprivileged families in ten municipalities of Russia’s Tula region. About 700 messages of gratitude were posted on social media posts about the charity event, but the photos of the recipients with their Cheetos bags told a very different story…

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Mafe Walker, a Colombian influencer and self-described “interdimensional medium”, recently went on a television program and gave a very peculiar interpretation of an extraterrestrial language that made her go viral on social media.

If you’re a fan of sci-fi TV series like Star Trek or Stargate, you’re familiar with quite a few of Hollywood’s made-up alien languages, but if you’re interested in hearing the real deal look no further than Mafe Walker, a Colombian spiritual guide who claims to be able to “open interdimensional portals and interpret them”, as well as speak an alien tongue on a “galactic frequency” that only her vocal cords can reach. Don’t believe me? You can see her in action thanks to her viral interview on TV Azteca’s “Venga La Alegría” show.

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The Mission, a popular restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona, has been getting a lot of attention for encouraging visitors to literally lick a wall made of pink Himalayan salt.

One of the last things you’d expect to see people doing at a restaurant, at least one that reputedly serves delicious food, is licking the walls, and yet that’s exactly what many patrons of The Mission restaurant have been doing for the past 17 years. And it’s not like the staff and management don’t know about it, on the contrary, they are the ones encouraging people to lick their famous wall made of pink Himalaya salt.

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