48-year-old Mark Leigh, from Surrey, UK, is a self-confessed boring man who enjoys nothing more than to spend his days photographing lost gloves.

It all started around three years ago, when Mark found a lone glove on a stairwell at his workplace and thought it was strange. The very next day, he spotted another one in the street, and from then on, he just sort of had an eye for spotting them everywhere he went. “Once you’re aware of something, you see them everywhere,” he says. He soon started photographing his finds, and today he is proud owner of a collection of over 300 photos of lost gloves, the largest in Britain.

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Aleeda Rodriguez Pedrasa has one of the most unusual jobs in the world – she gets paid by the Cuban government to make sure that a statue of John Lennon in Havana always has a pair of glasses on when tourists come to take a picture with it.

In 1964, Fidel Castro declared a ban on Beatles’ music in Cuba, as part of his all-out war against capitalism, but the band was so popular that people steel smuggled copied of their records into the island nation. But when John Lennon became an outspoken political dissident, criticizing the United States for its involvement in foreign affairs, Castro openly embraced him, and in the year 2000, on the 20th anniversary of Lennon’s death on December 8th, he even unveiled a bronze statue of the legendary musician, in the Havana park that bears his name.

The statue of John Lennon sitting on a park bench quickly became a major tourist attraction, but also a target for thieves who loved nothing more than to steal the artist’s iconic round-lens glasses. In the beginning, the Government would replace the stolen accessories with new ones, but the new pair wouldn’t last long. It got really old really fast, and that’s when Aleeda Rodriguez Pedrasa came into the picture, as the guardian of the glasses.

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Who could have imagined that a treadmill on wheels would one day become a thing?!? Lopifit is an unusual means of transportation that allows you to power an electric bicycle by walking on a treadmill. It’s actually way cooler than it sounds.

Lopifit founder Bruin Bergmeester says it all started when he asked himself the question “How can I use a treadmill outdoor?” Why anyone would asked themselves that, I have no idea, but the point is that this guy spent the next few years figuring out a way to make it work. He eventually came up with an functional design, added an electric engine, and the Lopifit was born. It’s similar to an electric bicycle in that the motor only engages when the rider puts power in as well. Only while typical e-bikes give pedal assist, the Lopifit senses when you walk on the treadmill and uses the motor to turn a drive chain at the rear of the treadmill, helping you reach a top speed of 17 miles per hour.

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American department store Nordstrom recently made international headlines for selling good ol’ fashion stones partially wrapped in leather at the insane price of $85. But that’s not even the strangest part. For some reason, people apparently loved them so much that the bizarre item is now sold out.

Called simply a “Medium Leather Wrapped Stone”, Nordstrom’s latest hit product is just that – a simple rock around 3 inches by 4.5 inches by 2 inches partially wrapped in a vegetable-tanned leather pouch. Frankly, the only special thing about it seems to be the price, a whopping $85. Why someone would want to spend that kind of money on a rock is anyone’s guess, and Nordstrom seem to agree.

“A paperweight? A conversation piece? A work of art? It’s up to you, but this smooth Los Angeles-area stone—wrapped in rich, vegetable-tanned American leather secured by sturdy contrast whipstitching—is sure to draw attention wherever it rests,” the online product description states.

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A Slovakian luxury comb company is giving the phrase “luxurious hair” a whole new meaning with a limited edition solid gold comb priced at a whopping $9,700. Yes, you read that correctly!

If you’re the kind of person who only visits the best salons, uses only top quality shampoos and ultimately wants only the best for their hair, than you might be interested in this solid gold comb made by Tomas Veres.  The Slovakian company was built “on the passion to create extraordinary and exclusive objects for extraordinary people, who appreciate the finest things in life.” That basically means that they make outrageously expensive combs that most people can’t afford.

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A bankrupt Armenian dairy company that hasn’t paid employees and milk suppliers in months has announced that it will be settling debts in Roquefort blue mold cheese.

The Ashtarak Kat Company started producing large quantities of Roquefort blue mold cheese at its factory in Chambarak earlier this year. In 2015, it produced a trial lot under the brand “Molder Blue”, and market data showed that there was great demand for quality blue mold cheese, both from withing Armenia, but also abroad. Production was ramped up to full throttle in spring of this year, but Ashtarak struggled to find buyers for the cheese, and within just a few months it became unable to pay employees and local milk suppliers. Company debts reached 70 million Armenian dram, and it filed for bankruptcy.

With no cash to settle debts and its refrigerators stocked full of Roquefort cheese, Ashtarak decided that the best way to appease its angry workforce and local cattle farmers was to use the cheese as currency. The price per kilogram has been set at 2,000 dram, and all that remains is to split the cheese until the debts are settled. With around 60 tonnes of Roquefort in stock, the company has more than enough to pay off everyone and even cut some if its losses, but not everyone is happy with the solution.

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Ukrainian scientist Vladislav Kiselev claims that he has developed a type of battery that can power gadgets like smartphones and even cars for up to 12 years, without having to be recharged.

Kiselev, a senior researcher at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry in Kiev, and professor at Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences, unveiled his intriguing battery prototype during the 2016 edition of Sikorsky Challenge, a prestigious international competition for research projects. The matchbox-like device looks fairly unimpressive, but the Ukrainian scientist claims that it has been continuously powering electrical devices for a year and four months without a single recharge, and will continue to do so for the next 11 years. That’s because his “battery” produces energy instead of simply storing it.

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In an effort to combat plastic pollution, Indian startup EnviGreen has come up with a combination of natural starch and vegetable oils that looks and feels just like plastic, but is 100 percent organic, biodegradable and eco-friendly. You can even dispose of such a “plastic” bag by eating it.

EnviGreen founder Ashwath Hedge came up with the idea for these revolutionary bags after seeing people struggling to find alternatives to plastic bags, following bans imposed by several Indian cities. “People were concerned bout how they would carry products from the market now. Everyone cannot afford a bag worth Rs. 5 or Rs. 15 to carry a kilogram of sugar,” he told The Better India. So the 25-year-old decided to work on something that would solve this problem while being environment-friendly.

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Authorities in Ghana have recently shut down a fake United States embassy in the capital Accra that had been issuing illegally-obtained but authentic visas for the last 10 years. The fake institution was being run by members of organized crime from both Ghana and Turkey.

The real U.S. embassy in Acra is a large office building complete with security fencing and U.S. military guards, located in one of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods, while the fake one was just a rundown, pink two-storey building with a corrugated iron roof and a United States flag flown outside. There were no actual Americans working there, not even con artists. Instead the staff was made up of English-speaking Ghanian and Turkish citizens. And yet, for 10 years, the organized crime ring operating this fake embassy was able to convince people to pay thousands of dollars for visas and false identification documents. Maybe it was the portrait of Barrack Obama that police found inside that made the place seem legit.

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Most of us don’t pay much attention to light bulbs. They play a very important role in our lives, but when it comes to aesthetics, most of them are nothing special. But there was once a company that produced the most amazing flower light bulbs, and luckily some of its creations are still around today.

Aerolux Lighting Corporation was an artistic light bulb manufacturer that operated from the 1930s through the 1970s. The company made beautiful gas-discharge light-bulbs in various shapes, from cartoon characters and animals, to religious symbols and popular emblems. But their most impressive and popular creations were the flower light bulbs. They not only had these intricate metallic flower sculptures for filaments, but they would also shine in various colors depending on the gases and coatings used. They were really popular back in the day, and looking at the photos below, it’s easy to see why.

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If you’re sick of running out of battery on your smartphone when you need it the most, and don’t mind paying a whopping $2,480 on a coat, you might want to consider getting this solar-powered jacket that can charge your gadgets on the go.

COMME des GARÇONS’ alumnus Junya Watanabe first unveiled his FW16 solar-powered men’s coat back in March, but his unique creation is doing the rounds once again, after becoming available for purchase at the hefty price of $2,480. So what makes this coat so special, apart from being a designer item, you ask? Well, just in case the four large solar panels on the back and the two in the front haven’t given it away already, this coat harnesses the power of the sun, converts it to electricity and stores it in a hidden power pack for on-the-go charging.

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Developed by champion bodybuilder and auto parts salesman Ken Kolb, the Kooty Key is a handy little tool designed designed to help people avoid touching germ-infested surfaces like door handles, ATM machine keyboards public toilet faucets.

Ken Kolb says that he spent most of his life as a traveling salesman, and the years he noticed how air blowers in public restrooms were replacing old paper towel dispensers. While the new technology does have it advantages, it also prevents people from using the paper they would wipe their hands with after washing them to open the bathroom door on their way out. This he claims increases the risk or re-contamination, so he took it upon himself to come up with a solution. That’s basically the short story behind the Kooty Key, a small hook-like plastic device that allows germaphobes to interact with potentially-germ-infested surfaces without the risk of contaminating their hands.

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For over 2000 years, the good ol’ iron horseshoe has remained the only reliable footwear for horses, but an Austrian company is ready to “take the horse out of the Iron Age” with the world’s first equine running shoes, the Megasus Horserunners.

Charly Forstner, the founder of Megasus, used to work as an animal welfare inspector for horses in Austria. He learned that over 50% of horses that needed to be put down suffered from severe hoof and leg problems. 20 years ago, he decided to dedicate his life to coming up with a better alternative to the iron horseshoe. Over the last two decades, he invented various hoof protection products made of plastic, like the ‘Dynamix’ or the ‘Easywalker’, but he recently unveiled something truly revolutionary – clip-on running shoes for horses. Forstener claims that they combine the qualities of both the common horseshoe and the hoof boot to offer horses the protection and freedom of movement that they require.

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Jose Antonio Garcia has become known as ‘The Pilgrim’ in his native country of Spain, after spending the last 11 years of his life walking over 100,000 kilometers to various pilgrimage sites on all continents except Oceania. This year, his amazing journey has finally come to an end.

Born in Puerto de Santa María, in the Spanish province of Cadiz, Jose Antonio Garcia spent most of his life on water, working as a sailor. He wasn’t the most religious person, but after going through a near-death experience, he decided to dedicate his life to an epic pilgrimage to as many holy sites as he could walk to. In 1999, the fishing boat Jose was working on capsized off the coast of Norway, and he was the only survivor out of a crew of 17. He spent hours in the freezing water clinging to the bodies of two fellow sailors, and it was then that he turned to religion, vowing to the Virgen del Carmel, the patron of sailors, that he would walk to all of the world’s holy shrines, if she saved his life.

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For the last 20 years, Elizabeth Eaton Rosenthal, a.k.a. Elizabeth Sweetheart, a fine artist in Brooklyn, New York, has been dressing from head to toe in various shades of green. To her, green is the happiest, most positive color in the world, so she can’t imagine wearing anything else.

‘The Green Lady of Carroll Gardens’, as Elizabeth is most widely known, has always had a thing for experimenting. At one point in her life she wore only 1930s print dresses, before moving on to single colors, like silver, pink, purple, blue and finally green, which she surprisingly never got bored of. Her passion for green started with some home-mixed green nail polish and a neon lime streak in her hair, but it quickly spread to her clothing and her home, as well. Today, she always sports green hair, an attire made up of different hues of green, and most of the things she buys, from towels and skin care products to furniture and appliances, are also green.
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