A Japanese woodworker has developed a “three-dimensional wood inlay” technique that allows him to create exceptional artworks that require no coloring whatsoever.

From intricate carpets carved right into wood flooring, to whimsical furniture that looks warped and cracked, we’ve feature some awesome wood art over the years, but I think it’s safe to say that the creations of Japanese woodworker Toru Fukuda are on a whole other level than anything we’ve ever showed you before. The young craftsman garnered attention recently for his latest work, a simple wooden board with droplets of water on it. Only that water is actually wood that only looks like water. And that’s just one of the incredible creations Fukuda has produced, some of which look too good to be true.

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A young Lamborghini owner in China recently got his five minutes of online fame by trying to barbecue some skewered pork with the car’s fiery exhaust and incurring about $80,000 in repair costs.

A few days ago a group of men gathered around an orange Lamborghini sports car in an underground garage in Changsha, Hunan Province, to witness the cooking of what many have called the world’s most expensive skewered pork. Apparently, the luxury car owner and his friend decided that it would be fun to use the Lamborghini’s super hot exhaust to barbecue a small piece of meat skewered on a stick. The driver kept pressing the acceleration pedal of the parked car, while his smiling friend held the skewer. What could go wrong, right?

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The Common Baron Caterpillar is a true master of camouflage. When it positions itself perfectly on a mango tree leaf, it is nearly impossible to spot, even if you know it’s there.

Some animals naturally develop camouflage in order to make themselves harder to spot by predators, but some are much better than others, and some blend into their natural surroundings perfectly. The Common Baron Caterpillar (Euthalia aconthea), a critter native to India and Southeast Asia, fits in the latter category. It has evolved to blend into its preferred background so well that it is nearly impossible to see.

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An invisible sculpture created by Italian artist Salvatore Garau recently acquired by a private collector who paid a whopping 15,000 euros for it during an auction.

If you’re one of those people who just can’t understand how someone can pay large sums of money for digital assets like video game skins, accessories or increasingly popular non-fungible assets (NFTs), then the sale of Salvatore Garau’s immaterial sculpture is really going to do a number on your brain. Titled “I am” the invisible work of art basically represents a void, a technically empty space that is actually occupied by the energy of the sculpture. Sound like something you’d be interested in? No? Well, it’s too late anyway, as someone has already snatched it up by paying 12 thousand euros (15 thousand with auction rights) earlier this month.

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Scientists and fire crews in California recently discovered a giant sequoia tree that is still smoldering and smoking, almost a year after the surrounding area was devastated by massive wildfires.

The 2020 Castle Fire, which broke out in August of last year and scorched more than 150,000 acres of land, including at least 10 sequoia groves in the region. No one knows how many of these ancient giants were destroyed by the blaze, but one thing is for sure, at least one of them is still smoldering and smoking, almost a year after. National Park Service staff made the shocking discovery earlier this month, while conducting surveys in the area to assess the damage caused by last year’s wildfire. One of them noticed plumes of smoke rising in the distance, and, using a long camera lens, tracked it down to a single sequoia.

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Police in China have recently been issuing warnings about “fake women” using realistic-looking silicone breasts prosthesis to trick men into removing their clothes during online chats and then blackmailing them with the footage.

If the last couple of years have taught us anything, it’s that you should definitely not trust anything you see online. From commercially available apps like FaceApp, to advanced deepfake and artificial intelligence, technology has gotten so good at tricking the human eye that you just can’t trust your vision anymore. But it’s not just technology, either. According to recent reports, gangs of Chinese men have been using rudimentary tools like silicone breasts and makeup to pose as women online and blackmail gullible people.

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A one-of-a-kind flower endemic to Greece is believed to emit a scent similar to that of decomposing insects in order to attract one of its main pollinators, the coffin fly.

Flowers are usually associated with sweet, pleasant smells, but truth is that not all flowers smell nice. In fact, some smell like some of the grossest thing in the world, and that’s by design, because their pollinators are actually attracted to these disgusting scents. Take Aristolochia microstoma, a small flower endemic to Greece, which deceives its main pollinator, the coffin fly, by emitting a highly unusual mix of scents that includes a compound found in dead beetles. As their name suggests, coffin flies are attracted to carrion, to the scent lures them into the flower where they are trapped long enough to deposit any pollen they carry onto the female organs.

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American tire manufacturer Goodyear once created tired illuminated car tires that glowed from the inside thanks to multiple lightbulbs.

In the early 1960s, Goodyear employees William Larson and Anthony Finelli worked together to create the world’s first neothane automobile tires. Neothane was just a fancier name for urethane, the chemical compound invented three decades earlier by German chemist Otto Bayer. Unlike traditional tires, which required multiple layers of rubber as well as fabric and a laborious process to manufacture, neothane tires were grippy, squishy, responsive and easy to make. But the advantages didn’t end there. Neothane tires were also translucent, could be dyed in various colors, and, as Goodyear demonstrated, they could even be fitted with lights for a unique visual effect.

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The Dutch province of Utrecht is home to a bizarre-looking lake that seems to have been carved up with a giant knife, which sounds preposterous, but is actually fairly accurate.

Vinkeveense Plassen (Lakes of Vinkeveen) consists of a large body of water and bizarre strip-like sand-islands dotted with houses, wooden peers and trees. It’s the shape of these long strips of land stretching far into the water that first catches your attention, especially when seeing the lake from above. They don’t look like any lake islands I’ve ever seen, but then again, this is no ordinary lake. Vinkeveense Plassen may be a popular vacation area today, but it started out as as peat extracting site, and those long strips of land were used to dry the peat on.

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‘Mojie Ringo’ is a Japanese technique of harnessing the power of the sun to create beautifully decorated apples without the use of any sort of chemicals.

For centuries, apple growers in Japan’s Aomori Prefecture have been creating stunning heirloom apples by using the mojie ringo technique. The process is fairly simple, as basically implies depriving the apples of sunlight for a period of time and then applying stencils to ensure that some portion of the apple peel remains discolored. Most often than not, mojie ringo apples are decorated with messages and symbols of good fortune and prosperity, and are offered as gifts.

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A Spanish teenager who started digging a hole in his backyard after an argument with his parents, six years ago, is now the proud owner of an underground cave in his own backyard.

Andres Canto was 14 when he first headed into his backyard in Alicante, Spain, with a pickaxe, following an argument with his parents. They wouldn’t let him go put into town wearing a track suit, so he decided to stay home and let off some steam by digging a hole. The thing he hadn’t planned one was enjoying digging as much as he did. Andres found that he loved coming back to his growing hole every evening, after classes, and just expanding it little by little. He eventually brought a friend to help him with the digging, and together they turned the hole into an impressive cave.

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A deeply religious man who became convinced that God would grant him a Lamborghini sports car if he fasted for 40 consecutive days and nights almost died after shunning food for a whopping 33 days.

Mark Muradzira,  a Youth Leader of the Risen Saints Church in Bindura, Zimbabwe, recently decided to put God’s generosity to the test by asking for a Lamborghini sports car. Somehow, the 27-year-old man became convinced that the Almighty would grant his wish if he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, so he isolated himself in a remote mountain area to prevent being tempted by food. The unemployed man had opted for the extreme and bizarre way of obtaining a Lamborghini because he was unemployed and was unable to spend upwards of $200,000 on a new one. However, he was determined to offer his girlfriend her dream car, and fasting was the only affordable way to do it.

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The Screambulance is a new haunted house experience in Japan designed to offer the most terrifying experience in a very tiny space, while abiding by social distancing rules.

The Covid-19 pandemic has really taken a toll on the entertainment business, and haunted house experiences are no exception. So now companies are coming up with creative workarounds to stay in business and offer people the scares they crave while abiding social distancing protocols. One such ingenious service is the Screambulance, a mobile haunted house experience in the form of a bloody, beatdown ambulance with an even scarier interior, and a zombie-like staff to boot.

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Chinese media recently covered a shocking beauty trend that allegedly has young girls getting nerves in their legs severed so that their calves appear slimmer.

It’s crazy the extreme lengths some people will go in the name of beauty, or at least their idea of beauty. Take for example this new and disturbing trend reportedly dubbed “calf blocking”, which essentially has young, healthy girls getting “less important” nerves in their legs surgically severed to permanently atrophy their calf muscles, so that their lower legs appear slimmer and straighter.

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The Tail Company recently unveiled its newest creation, the miTail, an animatronic tail for humans, which can move all by itself or via smartphone commands.

You probably never knew that there was a market for naturally moving tails for humans before, but the Tail Company has been in the business of creating the most realistic human tails for over 15 years. Its latest creation, the miTail, launched on Kickstarter 2 weeks ago and was funded in under two hours. Apparently, the tail-wearing community is bigger than any of us ever imagined. Whether you need a tail for cosplaying projects or just enjoy being able to wag your tail, I think you’ll find the miTail pretty cool.

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