A team of Japanese researchers recently unveiled a weight-shifting contraption that attaches to a glass, making it feel heavier or lighter than it actually is, thus altering the drinker’s perception of the beverages they are consuming.

It has long been known that we consume foods and drinks with a number of senses, not just our taste buds. There is a reason why chefs go through the trouble of developing eye-catching plating techniques, or why specialty cafes rely on the scent of freshly ground coffee to attract patrons. But did you know that the weight of the glass can influence the drinker’s perception of the beverage they are drinking. A team of scientists at the University of Tokyo proved this with the help of an ingenious device that changes the weight of the glass depending on the position it is in.

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Named after the Nordic god of Thunder, Mount Thor is the world’s tallest vertical rockface, which also makes it one of the most difficult rock formations to climb.

A part of the Auyuittuq National Park, on northern Canada’s remote Baffin Island, Mount Thor isn’t the park’s tallest peak, but it is definitely the most intimidating, especially when viewed from the west. It’s a 4,101-foot rock face, which makes it the longest vertical drop on the planet. But really, Mount Thor is steeper than vertical, as it is 105 degrees, making it more of an overhang. Many have tried scaling this monster overt he years, but dozens of rock climbers failed, until an American finally reached the summit in 1985, at the end of a grueling 33-day climb.

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Zhang Ziyu, a 14-year-old basketball player from Shandong, China, has been getting a lot of attention because of her unusual height, 7ft 5in (2.26m), and getting compared to Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming.

In photos and videos that have been doing the rounds online for the past week, Zhang Ziyu can be seen towering over both teammates and opponents during an under-15s tournament in Jingzhou, where she just happened to score 42 points in a game, as well as 25 rebounds and six blocks. Chinese media reported that Zhang’s parents were both professional basketball players, but still, her stature is surprising, especially considering her age.  She is already  taller than both her father (6ft 11in/2.13m) and her mother (6ft 6in/1.98m).

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While most real-estate firms try their best to conceal potentially disturbing details about the properties they are trying to sell or lease, one Japanese company puts these details front and center, focusing on the advantages haunted or spooky houses have.

Jikko buken, the Japanese term for “accident properties” are a controversial aspect of Japanese culture. The term describes generally undesirable homes, be it because of their proximity to cemeteries or crematoriums, or because of disturbing events that took place in them, from suicide, to accidental deaths or even murder. Because Japanese law states that any potential buyer or renter needs to be notified about any such details, the term “accident property” is generally used. But while most real-estate companies avoid giving details about the “accidents” in their listing, Jobutsu Estate, aka Buddhahood Real Estate, has built its business model around giving potential clients as many disturbing details as necessary.

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Priced at an eye-watering $214, Quintessential Grilled Cheese has held the the record for the world’s most expensive commercially-available sandwich for over seven years.

You could say that New York-based restaurant Serendipity 3 is specialized in setting food-related Guinness records. It currently holds world records, most expensive desert, most expensive hamburger, most expensive hot dog, largest wedding cake and largest cup of hot chocolate. But the one we’re interested in today is the records for world’s most expensive sandwich, which happens to be a humble grilled cheese treat. Named Quintessential Grilled Cheese, the sandwich is deceptively simple, as it features some of the world’s most exclusive ingredients.

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Synsepalum dulcificum, aka the miracle fruit or miracle berry, is a unique plant known to produce fruits that, when eaten, make all sour foods and drinks subsequently ingested taste sweet.

For centuries, indigenous tribes of Ghana, in West Africa, used the fruits of the Synsepalum dulcificum plant to sweeten sour or tart fruits, foods, and drinks, but it wasn’t until 1968 that the miraculin protein that makes the fruits special was finally extracted and turned into tablets. That made it possible for virtually anyone in the world to experience the “taste tripping” that miracle berries are so famous for. Miraculin essentially alters your senses, causing things that should taste sour, like lemon or vinegar, to taste sweet, or even too sweet for up to 60 minutes after the protein is consumed.

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An amateur chef in Guatemala has become famous for turning the country’s Pacaya volcano into a pop-up pizzeria that serves fresh volcanically-baked pizza to tourists.

Mario David García Mansilla grew up in the shadow of Pacaya, one of Guatemala’s most active volcanos, and although he loved his home enough to know he never wanted to leave, he never imagined he would one day use the volcano as a pizza oven. Today, his now popular Pizza Pacaya has become one of highlights of visiting the active volcano, with tourists paying a premium to have Mansilla cook his delicious pies right on the smoldering volcanic rock, right next to flowing rivers of lava.

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A mysterious ruined villa was recently discovered on a beach in Costa del Sol, El Salvador, leaving tourists scratching their heads at how it got there.

One of the last things you would expect to find washed up on a tropical beach is a concrete villa, and yet that’s exactly the kind of bizarre attraction that beachgoers at the picturesque La Puntilla Beach are treated to these days. It’s unclear how the abandoned home ended up on the popular beach, but it seems to have been there a while, as it is covered up with what appears like recent graffiti. One of the most popular theories is that the villa was the victim of a powerful hurricane that his El Salvador over two decades ago.

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A Utah-based firearm company has halted production of its colorful Block 19 gun which was designed to resemble a toy gun made from LEGO-like bricks, after facing criticism.

Culper Precision, a company that specializes in taking “a firearm of known value” and transforming it into a “personalized invaluable treasure for a fair price”, recently debuted the Block 19, a Glock handgun that looked more like a child’s toy. Vividly colored and seemingly assembled out of LEGO bricks, the gun definitely attracted a lot of attention from everyone, including  gun control activists and non-profits, which described the pistol as irresponsible and dangerous. One organization even wrote LEGO, asking the Danish company to intervene.

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An Ohio woman reportedly crashed her car into two other vehicles and a house after taking her hands of the wheel and letting God take control at a speed of 120 mph (190km/h), as a way to test her faith.

Authorities claim that the unnamed 31-year-old was driving a car with her daughter, aged 11, down the streets of Beachwood, Ohio, at around midnight on June 15. Security footage shows her car running a red light and eventually spin out of control, hit a utility pole and two other vehicles before stopping into a house. Luckily, neither the driver nor her child were seriously hurt, and the house they crashed into, which was empty at the time, suffered only minor damage. Upon questioning the driver about the accident, police officers were shocked to hear that she had been going through trials and tribulations lately, and simply decided to “let go and let God take the wheel”.

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A 42-year-man in India recently made international headlines for suffering from a condition that causes him to sleep 300 days a year.

Indian media recently reported the bizarre case of Purkharam, a middle-aged resident of Bhadwa village, in Rajasthan, who allegedly suffers from “HPA axis hypersomnia”, a rare condition that causes him to sleep for long stretches of time that can last up to 25 days. 23 years ago, when Purkharam was first diagnosed with the rare disorder, he slept for about 15 hours at a time, but his symptoms gradually got worse and by 2015 his family started counting his sleeping schedule in days instead of hours. The small shop owner would sleep for more than 7 or 8 days at a time, but the condition kept worsening, and he now sleeps for up to 25 days. Out of 365 days, he spends about 300 sleeping.

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The latest and strangest trend in DIY teeth whitening involves rubbing your not-so-pearly whites with pieces of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers for some surprisingly impressive results.

When it comes to removing grime and leaving surfaces looking shiny, Mr. Clean is an established solution, but until recently most of the world had no idea that it could also be used on teeth. Last month, news reports of viral TikTok videos promoting Mr. Clean Magic Eraser as an effective and cheap way of whitening your teeth in the comfort of your own home went viral, attracting mixed responses from both the general public and dentists.

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The South American country of Uruguay is home to a unique eucalyptus plantation with a very distinct shape that can only by admired from high above.

Up until a few years ago, few people even knew that the Florida Goblet existed. It wasn’t until Google Earth became a thing that people discovered its unusual shape. To some, it looks like a goblet with a crown on top of it, while others see a chandelier, but the thing that everyone can agree on it its massive size. The plantation measures about 500 meters long by 235 wide and the lines that make up the top and bottom of the design are around 13-meters-wide. It’s so large that from the ground, you could never tell it has this peculiar shape.

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A beauty salon in Dubai has been getting a lot of attention for its microchip manicure, which involves applying a small NFC chip onto the client’s fingernails and turning them into business cards.

We covered the trend of having NFC microchips inserted under the skin to make interacting with gadgets a more seamless experience, but one Dubai salon has come up with a non-invasive technique to achieve similar results. Instead of using a needle to insert the subdermal chip, the Lanour Beauty Lounge in Dubai simply applies it onto the fingernail and covers it with a special coating for protection. They can have all sorts of data installed onto the chip, from the user’s social media profiles and websites, to their contact details and phone number.

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A Russian man was given a 3.5-year suspended prison sentence for tormenting his neighbors with loud horse neighing and stomping noises every night, for over two years.

47-year-old Yuri Kondratyev is famous in his home city of Nizhny Novgorod, after making national headlines for mentally torturing the neighbors in his apartment building for over two years. The unemployed man, who lives alone ever since his wife left him, started harassing his neighbors in 2018. Annoyed by the noises one of his neighbors’ kids were making during the day, Yuri started exacting his revenge on the whole building at night. At first, he started playing loud rock music for hours, and at one point switched to recordings of horse neighing and stomping.

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