Tattooed Parrot Fish and other species of ornamental fish are becoming quite popular at a pet-shop in Chengdu, China.
Known as Fortune Fish, these tattooed swimmers bear patterns, such as flowers and rainbows, and characters that are said to bring good fortune and happiness to their owners. The tattoos were apparently done with lasers and made the common Parrot Fish quite popular.
A normal Parrot Fish sells for 10 yuan, while a tattooed Fortune Fish sells for 25 yuan.
via ImagineChina
At the Sidney International Food Festival, the flags of participating countries were recreated using popular foods of each nation. I tell you, I’d love to eat my way through Switzerland, but France doesn’t look half bad either, if you’re ok with stinky cheese. And, for desert, Vietnam is tasty and healthy at the same time.
Which ones are your favorites?
via Toxel
ITALY
Milan Karki, an 18-year-old from Nepal, may have solved the world’s increasing energy problems, by inventing a solar panel that uses human hair instead of expensive wiring.
The young Nepalese, together with 4 classmates, has been trying to come up with a way of producing cheap, renewable energy for his home village ever since he went to school in Kathmandu, but now he dreams of powering up the whole world with his invention.
Milan has discovered hair not only makes us look good, but is also light sensitive and a great energy conductor, because of the melanin it contains. So he replaced the silicon in normal solar panels with human hair and thus invented a new type of solar panel, four times cheaper than the ones on the market today.
The inventor says he has already sent out a couple of his prototypes to districts in Nepal, to be tested for feasibility, but is confident he has found an answer to his country’s energy issues. He says buying half a kilo of human hair is not only cheaper than a set of batteries, but also produces energy for much longer period of time. And anyone can replace the hair, so the solar panel doesn’t require a lot of servicing.
Photos by Tom van Cakenberge/BARCROFT MEDIA
via Daily Mail
I’m sure that’s what Patit Paban Halder thought to himself when he decided to open up a fish hospital in the comfort of his own home, in India.
The Fish Hospital of Chandannagore, India, is the only one of its kind. Halder, together with his wife and son, has set up a 32-aquarium facility where they observe and treat sick ornamental fish. The fish doctor does rounds, takes blood sample, checks them for fungus and bacteria and even gives the tiny fish injections.
I don’t know how many of his patience actually make it out of the hospital, but the mere effort of trying to save them is worth my respect.
Photos by DESHAKALYAN CHOWDHURY/AFP/Getty Images
via LIFE
I knew Russian modders had some mad skills, but it seems the ones from the Czech Republic are just as good. This Cooker PC mod is proof of that.
I don’t speak Czech, so I don’t know much about the building process of the Cooker Computer, but apparently it was done last year, starting from scratch. No photos of it in action have been found yet, but I’m sure it works just fine. After all it’s all about the look, and a computer in a stove is just about as fresh and cool as modding gets.
Considering you speak Czech and want to know more about the Cooker Computer project, check Modding.cz. Maybe you could give us some more details too. I’m sure we’d all appreciate it.
It might also be the biggest, but Cho Woong’s Star-Wars collection is by far the coolest one I’ve ever seen.
Cho Woong is a Korean dude who managed to put together what might actually be the ultimate Star-Wars collection and actually made it a part of his home. Everything in Cho’s apartment, including his entertainment system, coffee table and even the bathroom is somehow connected to the Star-Wars universe.
Some people collect coins, stamps or even cigarette packs, but this is on a whole other level. And unlike the crazy Pokemon collection, his Star-Wars collection actually looks neat and well-organized, managing to complement his apartment.
Photos by Cho Woong
Dan Phillips has become a regular celebrity in his home town of Huntsville, Texas, for building 14 fully functional recycled houses out of construction waste and scraps.
The 64-year-old constructor has lived a varied life, working as an intelligence officer in the army, a college dance instructor, antique dealer and even as a puzzle maker. He has spent the last 12 years building affordable houses for the poor, using discarded materials.
Anything durable people throw away is a potentially useful building material for Dan Phillips. He runs down to construction sites and landfills and takes away almost everything they throw away. His houses are not all the same, he builds each one with the materials at hand, but he views that as a good thing. After “repetition creates pattern”.
Dan Phillips’ recycling philosophy has changed the way the entire community sees the recycling process and he has even been contacted by companies who wanted advice on how to build recycled warehouses.
Dan uses his very own construction company to build the houses, but always asks the beneficiary to take part in the building process. This way, if something ever breaks, they’ll know where everything is and how to fix it.
via New York Times
With Halloween not so far away, it’s time to think about this year’s horrible pranks and this hacked-up human body may be just what you need.
Made-of durable latex, the axed male body from Fright Catalog will scare the hell out of anyone who lays eyes on it. Hacked up into bloody bits and pieces, the hacked-up body also features a lot of disgusting guts, to add to the horror effect.
All the items are hand made, but some of the clients complained the models aren’t as detailed as they could be. Still, I’d buy one of these just to see my friends faces when they see me “hacking it up” in the bathtub.
The “Day of the Geese” is a Spanish Fiesta in which “brave” contestants have to wrench the head off a goose while being plunged into the water.
In the Basque fishing-town of Lekeitio, near Bilbao, people have a rather unusual way of keeping themselves entertained. Every year, during the Day of the Geese, young men try to prove their skill at tearing the head off a goose.
Geese are strung up on a wire, above the town’s harbor, as young men approach in boats and try to grab them. They are then lifted up into the air and plunged into the water repeatedly, until they pull the head off the goose or fall into the water.
Quite a challenge but at least the winner gets a worthy price: he gets to keep the goose…I can’t say I’m surprised to see this kind of display in a country fascinated by archaic traditions like Corrida or the Shearing of the Beasts, but at least here they kill the goose beforehand (if that can be considered a positive aspect). The Day of the Geese used to be celebrated with live geese. Read More »
Wang Guohua has his sight set on entering the Guinness Book of Records for his impressive cigarette pack collection.
The Chinese collector began his search for cigarette packs 6 years ago and now he is the proud owner of 30,000 packs of cigarettes from over 100 production areas of more than 10 countries. He has prepared an application for the Guinness Book of Records, as the man with the biggest cigarette pack collection on Earth.
As you can see in the photos, he’s even used some of them to cover up an entire room inside his house.
Photos by ImagineChina
Located on the Croatian Island of Bisevo, the Blue Cave is one f the most spectacular caves in the world.
Croatian fishermen have known about the existence of the Blue Cave for a long time, but it has been revealed to the rest of the world in 1884, when a small entrance was blown-up in the side of one of its walls.Before this happened, the only way to access the cave was to dive underneath its wall.
The best time to visit the Blue Cave of Bisevo is on a sunny day, between 11 am and 12 pm, when the sun rays penetrate the water and reflect off the limestone bottom of the cave, filling it with an incredibly beautiful blue light. It’s a truly unique experience that makes visiting the Blue Cave totally worth it.
via Atlas Obscura
Sarah Kaufmann earned herself the nickname of The Cheese Lady through her ability to carve stinky works of art from cheddar cheese.
Using a small carving tool, The Cheese Lady takes between six to twelve hours to create her “cheesy” artworks. Her tasty masterpieces are often featured at children’s parties, birthdays and even hotel openings.
Photos by Sarah Kaufmann/REX FEATURES
via Telegraph.co.uk
Zhang Tingting, a popular kung-fu artist from China, managed to tow eight cars using only the incredible power of her hair. This was her last performance before becoming a Buddhist nun.
52-year-old Zhang Tingting has been touring China for decades, mesmerizing people with her unique kung-fu talents. Using the power of her braided hair, Zhang is able to pull cars and even cut paper. She has been practicing the ancient art of kung-fu ever since she was 17 years old, but has now decided to quit and become a Buddhist nun.
The talented artist has been living the life of a nun for the last two years, but decided to give one last performance, for the people in her native town of Kaifeng, before shaving her precious hair. On August 25, Zhang Tingting pulled off one of the most amazing stunts ever, towing eight cars for a length of 20 meters.
She has shaved her unusually strong hair, but it has not been lost. Authorities chose to preserve it and are considering sending it on a pilgrimage to Buddhist temples in Tibet, or displaying it in a museum.
Photos by ImagineChina
Tao Xiangli, a 34-year-old amateur inventor from China, spent two years building a fully-functional homemade submarine.
Tao is not the first person to build a homemade submarine, but that doesn’t make his achievement any less impressive. Especially since he did it using oil barrels and tools purchased from a second-hand market.
After two years of hard work and testing, on September 3, young Tao Xiangli presented his invention to the world and took it for a test dive in a lake just outside Beijing. His homemade submarine features a periscope, electric motors, a manometer, two propellers, depth-control tanks and it only cost $4,385 to make.
Photos by Reuters
via Drugoi
Gao Xianzhang has managed to create what some would call the holiest fruits ever, pears shaped like Buddha.
Gao has been working on his pear-growing technique for six years and this season he managed to grow 10,000 Buddha-shaped baby pears. Each fruit is grown in an intricate Buddha mould and ends up looking like a juicy figurine. The ingenious farmer says the locals in his home village of Hexia, norther China, have been buying his Buddha pears as soon as he picks them from the trees. Most of them think they are cute and that they bring good luck.
Gao Xianzhang pears aren’t cheap, roughly $1.8 each, but their success in China convinced him to start exporting them into Europe.
Photos by Central European News
via Daily Mail
