Escamol is an ancient dish made with the edible larvae and pupae of two species of ants, known for its nutty, buttery flavor. It has been consumed in Mexico since the time of the Aztecs.

Commonly known as ‘Mexican caviar’, because of its similarity to fish eggs, escamol consists larvae and pupae of ants belonging to the Liometopum apiculatum and L. occidentale, two species native to some semi-arid areas of Mexico and the southern United States. Its origins can be traced back hundreds of years, back to the time of the Aztecs, when consumption of insects as food was very common. Escamol was considered a delicacy by the Aztecs, who would trade for it with nomadic tribes such as the Otomis, because it was difficult to procure. Its price in Mexican restaurants suggests that escamol has retained its status as delicacy in modern times as well.

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Jacu Bird Coffee is one of the world’s rarest and most expensive coffee varieties. It is made from coffee cherries ingested, digested and excreted by Jacu birds.

At around 50 hectares, the Camocim Estate is one of the smallest coffee plantations in Brazil, but it still manages to rake it quite a nice profit thanks to a very unique and sought-after type of coffee. It all started in the early 2000s, when Henrique Sloper de Araújo woke up to find that his precious plantations had been overrun by Jacu birds, an endangered, pheasant-like bird species, protected in Brazil. They weren’t known to be coffee cherry fans, but they seemed to love de Araújo’s organic coffee. But they were going to pay him back for the meal in the most unusual way.

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A 24-year-old man almost choked to death after a small fish got lodged in his throat following a bizarre fishing accident.

Colombian media recently reported the case of a young young man from the country’s Pivijay municipality, who almost lost his life in a very peculiar fishing accident. The man, whose name has not been revealed, was reportedly fishing for his family on January 23rd, when he managed to catch a fish. He had just finished removing the hook when he noticed that another fish was pulling on the other line. Unwilling to let it swim away with the bait, the fisherman put the caught fish in his mouth and rushed to grab the other fishing rod. Only the fish had other plans…

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Mafia members in the Italian city of Naples have reportedly threatened ambulance crews to stop using sirens as, the noise is too similar to that of police sirens, and interferes with “business”.

Ambulance drivers and first responders in Naples have recently started asking for police escorts, after numerous reports of armed mafia crews threatening and even assaulting ambulances, over their use of sirens and light signals. Apparently, these emergency signals used by ambulances are very bad for business, as they disturb drug-pushers and scare away customers, both of which often mistake them for police. Such cases have been reported for years, but the problems has intensified recently, due to the Covid-19 crisis.

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Mary Kenyon, a self-taught artist from California transforms real seashells into stunningly-beautiful jewels that have this very vintage charm to them.

A self-confessed “crafts addict”, Mary Kenyon inherited her passion for arts and crafts from her father, who was a talented oil painter. They did a lot of different things together, from painting to leather carving, and after he passed away, Mary inherited his workshop and was inspired to use all those tools and supplies to come up with a whole new art form.

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Are you stuck in quarantine? Do you miss staring out the window at the clouds below while flying to your next vacation destination? Apparently, there’s a lamp for that!

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted all facets of daily life, but traveling has been particularly hard hit. For globetrotters used to frequent flying from destination to destination, the last year has been nothing short of a depression-inducing nightmare, but luckily, there are ways to treat your wanderlust. One solution, this clever lamp that perfectly imitates an airplane window and the view from above the clouds.

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An Indian man who was under the impression that he and his family were being harassed and extorted by a group of sophisticated, ruthless hackers learned that the perpetrator was his underaged son.

Last month, Indian media reported the case of a desperate man from Ghaziabad who had approached local police about an extortion scheme that he and his family had fallen victims to. Rajiv Kumar complained that his email account had been hacked on January 1st, and that he had been receiving threats and financial demands from a group of hackers ever since. The alleged criminals were demanding Rs 10 crore (one million rupees), or they were going to release sensitive photos of Kumar to the public, and then kill him and his family.

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A very patient Vietnamese artist spent three years meticulously drilling a whopping 45,863 holes smaller than a human hair into a hollowed-out ostrich egg.

Nguyen Hung Cuong, a talented artist from Hanoi, Vietnam, has been turning chicken eggs into intricate works of art for over a decade, but his most recent project is by far his most impressive yet. The 30-year-old reportedly spent the last three years of his life carefully drilling tens of thousands of holes, some only 0.2 mm in diameter, to create one of the most impressive egg carving in human history.

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Kaisefu Mudazono is a self-taught food artist who uses all sorts of ingredients, from dried seaweed and pickled vegetables, to ham and rice, to create the most amazing edible artworks.

When it comes to food art, it’s hard to find something more adorable, and at the same time impressive, than  kyaraben (or Charaben), the Japanese art form of arranging various foods to create eye-catching designs. When done right, kyaraben turns out almost too good to eat, and Kaisefu Mudazono is definitely a master at it. Whether expressing her creative talent on a bento box, or on her grandchildren’s bowls, she always manages to impress.

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A Ukrainian fitness model has come under fire from animal lovers after photos of her tattooed pet Sphynx went viral on social media.

Elena Ivanickaya, a fitness enthusiast and Instagram model, first sparked controversy in 2017, when she announced that she had had her pet hairless cat, Yasha, tattooed, even posting photos of the sedated animal during the procedure. Her decision was labeled as animal cruelty and caused so much outrage that the story eventually made international news headlines. But instead of backing off and let things blow over, Ivanickaya defended her decision and continued to post photos of the tattooed feline on her social media post. Those pics once again went viral recently, and people are once again showering the Ukrainian with criticism.

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Shiltarae bingsu, or stringed shaved ice, is a modern take on a popular South Korean treat that consists of amazingly fine ice shavings that look like super-thin pasta.

You’ve probably heard of spaghetti ice-cream before, but this is nothing like that. Shiltarae bingsu is reportedly an incredibly airy and creamy treat that not only looks good but tastes great as well. It was allegedly invented a few years back by Seoul-based café and dessert lab Tiravento, and has since become a staple dessert, and a sought-after props for Instagram users. There is no denying the visual appeal of this treat, as the shaved ice actually looks like noodles before it starts to melt.

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American singer Tim Storms holds the Guinness Records for the “world’s lowest note produced by a human”, as well as for the “widest vocal range”.

Tim Storms has always had a pretty deep voice. He was eight-year-old when he heard this Christian acapella group and found that he could sing the bass notes right along with it. But he never imagined that his voice would ever become the deepest ever measured, allowing him to hit notes lower than the frequency a human ear can detect. Storms himself says that he can’t hear the  G-7 notes he is able to hit, but claims that he sort of feels it, and the special equipment used to test his deep voice have confirmed that he can indeed reach inaudible frequencies.

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Inakadate, a nondescript village of around 7,000 people, located in Japan’s Aomori prefecture is considered the home of a rice field art form more elaborate than anywhere else in the world.

The story of Inakadate village as a world-renowned tourist destination began in the early 1990s, when local authorities realized that youths were moving to large urban centers in droves, and started brainstorming for ways of breathing new life into the village. One of the proposed ideas was an art form inspired by the local’s traditional rice cultivation, done by hand for hundreds of years. Called Tanbo Art (rice field art), it involved the use of different-color rice varieties to turn local rice fields into giant canvases for intricate designs that revealed their beauty when viewed from above.

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Carlos Alberto GH, a Mexican artist based in Guadalajara, specializes in anamorphic street art representing all sorts of surrealistic scenes that come to life when seen from just the right angle.

From birds and reptiles seemingly coming out of walls, to whales floating above urban sidewalks, street artist Carlos Alberto GH seems capable of turning anything he can think of into a stunning optical illusion. A former archaeological restorer focusing on Mayan sites and artefacts, the 31-year-old artist now dedicates all his time and attention to anamorphic art and detailed street murals.

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If you’re looking for the cheapest electric pickup truck money can buy, you should definitely check out this bargain on Chinese marketplace Alibaba – an all-electric mini pickup truck for just $2,600.

Manufactured in China under the obscure brand “R&Z” this nifty little electric truck sits on 12-inch wheels, has a maximum payload of 500 kilograms (1,100 lbs) and featured a 1.6 m (5’3″) long bed. Not the most impressive specs for a pickup truck, I know, but keep in mind that this costs a fraction of the price of any electric truck developed by western brands. Plus, it does offer a cozy two-person cabin, air vents (air condition costs extra), adjustable seats, seatbelts, LED headlights, radio, and metallic paint. Oh, and the 110 km (75 miles) range of its 72V and 7.2 kWh battery pack is pretty decent as well.

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