A military buff in China alerted authorities after discovering that the discarded books he had bought from a recycling station for just one dollar were classified military documents.

China’s Ministry of State Security recently took to social media to praise the actions of a military enthusiast surnamed Zhang who had alerted authorities after buying some military books from a recycling station without knowing that they actually contained confidential military secrets. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Zhang called a hotline to report the incident and then handed over the documents to the appropriate authorities. The Ministry praised his responsible reaction, acknowledging that things could have been very different had the military secrets ended up in the hands of bad actors. But how do such secrets end up on the open market, especially in a strict country like China?

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A French woman is taking telecom giant Orange to court for “moral harassment and discrimination at work,” accusing the company of paying her for 20 years without giving her any tasks.

Laurence Van Wassenhove was recruited as a civil servant by France Telecom in 1993 before the company was taken over by Orange. Her original employer knew that she was hemiplegic – partial paralysis of the face and limbs – from birth and suffered from epilepsy, and offered her a position adapted to her medical conditions. She worked as a secretary and in the HR department until 2002 when she asked to be transferred to another region of France. Her request was approved, but her new workplace was not adapted to her needs, and an occupational medicine report confirmed that the position was not suited for her. Despite this, Orange allegedly failed to make any adjustments to her job, preferring to pay her full salary for the next 20 years, without giving her anything to do.

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A Turkish university candidate was recently arrested after being caught using an AI-powered system to obtain answers to the entrance exam in real-time.

On June 8th, thousands of high school graduates took the Basic Proficiency Test (TYT), the first session of the Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) in Isparta, but one incident made international news headlines. One candidate, referred to only by the initials M.E.E. by Turkish media, was reportedly caught cheating using an ingenious system involving an internet connection, a concealed camera, and an AI-powered software that could read the questions on the test and provide answers in real-time. Unfortunately, the man’s behavior during the test attracted the supervisors’ attention and upon closer inspection, his cheating method was discovered.

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A Japanese supermarket that implemented an extra-slow checkout where customers are never rushed recently reported a ten percent increase in sales.

Most supermarkets these days are constantly looking for ways to speed up the checkout process, and for good reason – with time being such a valuable commodity, many customers feel pressured by their peers to pack their groceries and pay as quickly as possible, so as not to hold up the line too long. Unfortunately, some people just can’t be that fast, either because of their age, various disabilities, or even being pregnant. Some of these individuals are often left feeling guilty about moving too slowly, so much so that they avoid going to the supermarket altogether. However, one supermarket in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture seems to have solved the problem with an extra-slow checkout register where people can spend upwards of 20 minutes without feeling pressured in any way.

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Lina, a young Colombian woman involved in a polyamory relationship with seven pensioners, has been accused of taking advantage of the elderly men for financial gains.

Hailing from the city of Barranquilla, Lina has become the talk of an entire country after her unusual story went viral online. After a series of disappointing romantic relationships with men her own age, the young woman realized that she could achieve emotional and financial stability a lot easier if she targeted pensioners instead. Reflecting after yet another failed relationship, Lina remembered that her neighbor’s elderly husband always flirted with her, and she understood that she was a lot more desirable to pensioners because they would give anything to be with a woman her age. So she started spending time in parks and other places where lonely old men usually hang out, and she is now in a polyamorous relationship with seven pensioners who all support her financially.

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Danionella cerebrum, a translucent fish only 12mm in size can produce sounds exceeding 140 dB, comparable to the sound perceived by a person standing 100 m from a passenger jet during take-off.

Danionella cerebrum fish were originally identified in the 1980s, but the species was officially recognized in 2021 after scientists discovered subtle physical differences between it and Danionella translucida. The two species are so small – about the size of a human fingernail – and so similar that the differences between them could only be identified under a microscope. Recently, a team of researchers also discovered another fascinating characteristic of Danionella cerebrum, one that not only sets it apart from its genus sibling but also puts it very high up on the list of the loudest animals in the world. The tiny translucent fish uses a combination of sonic muscles and drumming cartilage to produce sounds as loud as a gunshot.

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For the past few years, police in the Finnish city of Espoo have been employing an intriguing tactic to keep youths from partying on a local beach – blasting classical music from loudspeakers.

There is no scientific evidence that young people have an aversion to classical music, but police in Espoo swear that it works, and the fact that they have been using this tactic for the last six years is a testament to that. Apparently, at the end of the school, year, the beach in Espoo’s Haukilahti neighborhood becomes a popular gathering place for youths eager to party until the late hours of the night. Local authorities had tried multiple other methods to disperse youths, but nothing worked quite as well as classical music masterpieces like Strauss’ The Blue Danube, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Schubert’s Ave Maria. So, starting in early June, police blast classical music from a couple of loudspeakers on the beach to keep youths from gathering there after sunset.

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Researchers at the University of California recently created a self-powered throat patch that uses machine learning to translate muscle movements into speech, helping people to speak without vocal cords.

Jun Chen, an assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, came up with the idea for a non-invasive speech-enabling device after feeling his vocal cords get tired as a result of lecturing for several hours at a time. He began thinking of ways of helping a person speak without using their vocal cords, and with the help of his colleagues at the University of California, he designed an innovative patch that sticks to the user’s throat and uses AI technology to decode their muscle movements into speech. The lightweight device is resistant to skin sweat and also harnesses the user’s muscle movements to generate electricity, which means that it doesn’t require a battery to operate.

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The unusual love story between a 23-year-old woman from China’s Hebei Province and an 80-year-old man she met at a nursing home sparked a heated debate in Chinese society.

23-year-old Xiaofang (pseudonym), met the love of her life while working as a volunteer at a retirement home in Hebei Province. 80-year-old Mr. Li (pseudonym) was a resident there and the two quickly became friends after realizing that they shared many interests and hobbies. But, as time went by, their friendship evolved into something more, as Xiaofang was attracted by Mr. Li’s maturity, stability, and wisdom, while he was moved by Xiaofang’s youthful vitality and kindness. Unfortunately, the young girl’s family did not approve of her romantic relationship with a man old enough to be her grandfather, but she decided to follow her heart and severed ties with her parents to be with Mr. Li.

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VabsRider, the ‘world’s first virtual axis bicycle seat,’ is an innovative bicycle saddle featuring two sides that move independently as you pedal to distribute the load more evenly for a more comfortable ride.

Australian engineer Robin Macan had always wondered why no one had come up with a more comfortable bicycle seat. The flaw of the common saddle was obvious – “no amount of cushioning can compensate for the inherent pain points on the human body,” so he came up with a concept for an articulating bicycle seat that would dynamically distribute body weight as the rider pedaled. He took his prototype to the Inventors Association of Australia, a nonprofit offering support to inventors, and that was where he connected with industrial designer Philippe Guichard. The two set out to refine the design, and after two years of work, they combined forces with Whistle, an industrial design and engineering company, to develop a market-ready product. Now, the vabsRider split-seat bicycle saddle is ready to offer users the most comfortable bike ride of their lives.

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A Colorado man can consider himself extremely lucky to be alive after surviving a gunshot thanks to the silver necklace around his neck.

Last week, the Commerce City Police Department in Colorado posted photos of a bloodied metal necklace with a small piece of metal lodged in its links on its Facebook page. Apparently, it belonged to a local man who had been involved in a heated argument with another person and had been shot at. According to the viral post, the bullet would have pierced the victim’s neck if not for the silver chain around his neck, which turned what would have likely been a fatal gunshot wound into a minor puncture wound.

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The Fanvue Miss AI pageant, the world’s first beauty pageant for AI-generated female models, judges contestants on beauty, social media clout, and their creator’s use of AI tools.

At first, they said artificial intelligence was coming after our jobs, but now it seems that not even beauty pageants are safe. Originally announced back in April 2024 by Fanvue, a subscription-based platform for creators, the world’s first beauty pageant for AI-generated avatars made international news headlines and sparked controversy online. But, based on the popularity of AI models like Aitana Lopez and Emily Pellegrini on social media, this type of event was bound to happen at some point. About 1,500 AI-generated girls were submitted by creators from all over the world, but only 10 of them made the finalist list.

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A  football field at the Luzhniki Olympic Sports Complex on the outskirts of Moscow recently hosted the world’s longest football game, which lasted a total of 26 hours.

To celebrate All-Russian Football Day last Saturday, two teams of 7 players each gathered at the Luzhniki Olympic Sports Complex to break the record for the longest football match ever. The game started at noon on Saturday and ended after 26 hours, at 2 in the afternoon on Sunday. The previous record had been set in 2014 when two teams played the beautiful game for 24 hours straight. This time around, the Red Team defeated the White Team with a score of 416 goals to 409.

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An Algerian man was recently convicted for indecent behavior and sentenced to two months behind bars for hugging random people on the street to spread peace and positivity.

Mohamed Ramzi, a 30-something vlogger from Algeria, sparked outrage in his home country last summer by posting a TikTok video inspired by a popular European vlogger who became famous for social experiments like hugging random people on the street. Only that kind of thing is apparently frowned upon in Algeria, as the footage sparked outrage and attracted condemnation from the general public, and not even Mohamed’s apology could stop the imminent charges against him. Last year, a court found him not guilty on all charges, but his case was then referred to the Algerian Judicial Council after prosecutors appealed the decision, and this time he was found guilty.

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A Hungarian kids ‘football team won the Under 14 National Championship after surmounting an impressive 40-goal difference with a 43-1 victory in their very last match of the season.

With just one match left to play, Kerekegyháza SE and Miklós GYFE were tied at 43 points, but the latter had a comfortable 40-goal advantage, which virtually guaranteed its first-ever U14 football title. But there is a reason why ‘virtually’ isn’t synonymous with ‘definitely’. In their last match, Kerekegyháza SE scored an epic 43-1 victory over Palmonostora, the last team in the rankings, while Miklós GYFE only managed a 1-0 victory in their last match. Miklós GYFE was getting ready to celebrate their title after the comfortable win when they got the unbelievable news that they had actually finished second, behind Kerekegyháza. The 43-1 victory is now being investigated by the Hungarian Football Federation.

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