The geoduck or gooyduck is the largest species of clams on the face of the earth. The clam itself is 15 to 20 cm long, which is pretty big but the really impressive part is its long siphon that often reaches one meter in length. it weighs between 0.5 and 1.5 kilograms, but there have been stories about 7.5 kg heavy gooyducks.

The incredible aspect of the gooeyduck isn’t only limited to its size, but also to its lifespan. It has a life expectancy of 146 years, which makes it one of the longest-living organisms in the animal reign.

As repulsive as they look (personal opinion) geoducks are a delicacy in China and Japan, where they are often eaten raw, sashimi style.

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But before you think about getting one for your special someone, there are a few things you should know. First of all the Titan Arum‘s flowering stalk reaches a height of 3 meters and has a diameter of over a meter, so it’s going to be pretty hard to carry. And second of all and, most importantly, it reeks like a decomposing dead body…that’s why it’s sometimes known as “the corpse flower”

It’s native to the rainforests of central Sumatra, Indonesia and it rarely blooms in captivity, so when that actually happens it’s a pretty big deal. Haven’t seen one up close yet, but considering the smell, I consider myself lucky.

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The Karni Mata Hindu temple was built by Maharajah Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata and the most intriguing aspect of it, is that it’s home for over 20.000 worshiped rats.

The legend behind this temple is that Karni Mata, a matriarch from the 14th century was a reincarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. at one point one of her clansmen’s child died and she tried to bring it back to life only to be told by Yama, the god of death that he had already reincarnated as a rat. Karni Mata struck a deal with Tama, that all her dead clansmen would reincarnate as rats, until they were ready to be born again into the tribe.

It’s a nice story but I can’t stop thinking about how that place must smell…

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Ivrea is a small town, about 40 minutes north of Turin, Italy. It isn’t a very animated settlement, but once a year, during the Orange Battle Carnival, Ivrea comes to life. the battle is an allegoric representation of the medieval insurrection of 1194, against the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick of Swabia. Masked, armored men throw oranges at the crowd who in turn throw them back at them, until the streets are covered by a carpet of squashed oranges that is sometimes even 30 cm thick…

As much fun as I’m sure this carnival is I have to wonder if those oranges, like the bananas in the banana wall, would have been more appreciated by some starving children in a third world country. But hey, that’s just me…

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Ariana Page is a very…unique artist, due to the fact that she suffers from a condition known as dermatographia (the immune system exhibits hypersensitivity, via skin, that releases excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the skin’s surface is lightly scratched). She draws various patterns on her body and then takes pictures of herself, thus works of art are born.

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Built by Gary Reighn in a 19×14 foot room in Philadelphia, this home cinema is a good replica of the Enterprise’s bridge. It’s actually quite impressive what a man can do with a bit of hard work and around 15.000 dollars if he’s passionate about something, even if that something is a sci-fi series

The cinema comes complete with a Sony LCD projector, a 7.1 Polk sound system, a Velodyne subwoofer, Yamaha receiver, Bravo DVD player, Philips Pronto remote and Bass Shakers beneath two of the theater’s chair.

Situated in the village of Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, in Sweeden, the Icehotel is one of the most fantastic tourist locations on the face of the Earth. Using pure, clear ice from the frozen Torne River, artists from all around the world come to Jukkasjärvi every year, to sculpt beautiful ice and snow structures. We are not aware of how spicy the prices are ( you can check here) but we’re sure it’s a unique experience that’s gotta be worth every penny!

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I don’t know about you but I get the heebee geebees just looking at this little girl. I don’t know what the author had in mind but a little girl in a bathtub full of blood isn’t my idea of artistic vision. Anyway some of you might enjoy them and, as they say, you never discuss taste! So here are some of the most disturbing images I’ve seen lately:

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The cold wave that hit Greece these last few days really produced some incredible photos of places that use to bathe in the sunlight all year long. I never imagined I’d think of Greece and think snow dunes, icy streets and -15 degrees Celsius temperatures…no matter what anyone says, I blame this on global warming, it’s just not normal!

The Stipa-Caproni prototype aircraft was basically a venturi tube fitted with 120hp de Havilland Gypsy III engine and a propeller at the front end of the tube. It was built by Caproni in 1932 but it never went into mass production because…well, it didn’t really fly; the original test report says the strange plane only flew for a distance of 500m at a height of 5/6 meters. A unique replica of the odd looking flying machine is owned by Lynette Zuccoli, from Brisbane, Australia.

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The story behind these photos is, this lady came into the doctor’s office one day with that “beauty” coming out of her forehead and saying she had a bump on her head 20 years earlier, that later burst(!?!) and dried up, eventually turning into a horn. When it was removed, the horn had a length of 17 centimeters. Pretty strange…

The city of Schiedam was and remains to this day, the poorest city in the Netherlands and the Yellow Brick Road, that connects the center of the city to the new train station, is not only meant to make the city more beautiful, but also to symbolize the road to prosperity and success. Yellow Brick Road also has a shine that resembles that of gold.

Well I can probably think of a few stranger things to put on my fingers but a fly shaped ring is definitely up there with the strangest and ickiest! They’re probably great prank material but still, you wouldn’t catch me dead wearing one of these things!

Tough Guy is a traditional English challenge, in which the participants have to use every ounce of their energy just to get to the finish line. to give you an idea of how tough this event is, the promoters say that the US S.E.A.L.S. “Grinder” Assault Course is the only thing that barely comes close in terms of difficulty.

Photo: A-punkt/Wikimedia Commons

 

Sure she does not have ebony-black hair and she doesn’t have 7 dwarfs pampering her, but hey this is real life. The young lady in the photos is Nicola Roberts, member of the popular British pop group, Girls Aloud. Here she is with fellow band member Kimberley Walsh during their vacation in L.A. Somebody needs a tan!