I’m sure you’ve seen Iron Man and War-Machine cosplay before, but I’m pretty sure you’ve never seen anything like this before.

We’ve seen some work of Iron Man fan, Anthony Le, in the past, I’ve even posted another War-Machine costume he made a while ago, but his latest masterpiece is simply too awesome for words. This talented costume creator built his first version of the War-Machine costume, before any footage from the first Iron Man movie came out, and he only used comics for inspiration.

But Anthony has come a long way, since his first costume, and is now sporting a kick-ass replica of the War-Machine costume worn by Jim Rhodes, in Iron Man 2. For the armor he used thin, high-impact urethane plates, joined together by around 1,500 rivets and washers, the helmet was sculpted from clay and enforced with a special resin mix, and the mounted shoulder gun was made from pipes and an old engine.

LEDs in the eyes and armor, and a small servo-motor that lifts the faceplate make this War-Machine costume even more real. As you can imagine, Anthony Le is a big hit at conventions, and he’s now working on other awesome costumes, for himself and clients. Chapeau!

Check out more awesome photos and a video, below.

Photos via Anthony Le

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To celebrate the release of the Iron Man 2 movie, Superherohype-forums member Masterle 247 is building a replica of War Machine’s costume, complete with all his gadgets.

Masterle 247 posted some cool photos of his work so far, and I have to say it already looks very impressive. The suit is made up of high impact urethane pieces, held together by around 600 rivets, it features a shoulder minigun and rockets, an arc reactor, light-up eyes and even repulsor gauntlets.

But Masterle 247 says his creation is far from finished. He wants to make his war Machine costume bulkier, more tank-like, so every part of his body is covered when he wears it.

I’m really glad War Machine and Iron Man will be able to get together in real life soon. Oh, if you guys really meet, make sure you take some photos and send them over.

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A Russian chess player is facing a lifetime ban from official competitions after allegedly trying to poison an opponent by spreading mercury compounds on her chess board.

Amina Abakarova, a 40-year-old chess player from the Russian Republic of Dagestan, stands accused of trying to poison another female player during a chess tournament in Makhachkala. Surveillance footage from the Dagestan Classical Chess Championship shows the 40-year-old woman spreading a substance later identified as mercury on the chess board and pieces that would later be used by another player, Umayganat Osmanova. CCTV footage clearly shows Abakarova walking to the table where Osmanova was about to play and tampering with the chess board and pieces before casually walking away so as not to draw attention. Her actions would have probably gone unnoticed had Umayganat Osmanova not begun to experience symptoms like nausea and dizziness just 30 minutes later.

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Fat-tailed sheep are a type of domestic sheep mainly found in arid areas and known for accumulating fat, mainly in the rear part of their bodies, which not only gives them a unique look but also helps them stay cool in extreme heat.

Native to the Middle East and North Africa, fat-tailed sheep have been around for thousands of years, but some people are still oblivious to their existence, mainly because of their geographical distribution. In the 5th century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus wrote about fat-tailed sheep and how shepherds made small wheeled carts to keep their animals’ droopy tails from touching the ground. Although there are several fat-tailed sheep breeds, most of them have broad fat-tails where large amounts of fat are accumulated in buttock-like deposits in the hind parts of a sheep, on both sides. Some of them end up looking like they had a Brazilian butt lift, which makes them really popular with breeders.

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A small shrine along the treacherous Gata Loops in India’s mountainous Ladakh region has become famous for the large number of plastic bottles left as offerings to a spirit known as the Ghost Of The Gata Loops.

Bicycle and motorcycle racers traversing the Gata Loops as part of their Trans-Himalaya tours are often confused by a large pile of plastic bottles around what looks like a makeshift shrine. Some confuse it for simple pollution, a consequence of the increase in popularity of the region with adventure tourism enthusiasts, but the explanation for this bizarre sight in the middle of nowhere is much more intriguing. Many of those who attempt to cross the Gata Loops leave water bottles at the shrine as offerings for the Ghost Of The Gata Loops, the wandering soul of a poor man who died here decades ago due to thirst and extreme cold. Some people believe that passing by without leaving a water bottle will upset the ghost and bring them bad luck on their arduous journey.

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The Pirangi Cashew Tree in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte is considered the world’s largest cashew tree. It has a circumference of around 500 meters and covers an area of 8,400 square meters.

Legend has it that the Pirangi Cashew Tree was planted in 1888 by a local fisherman who later died at the age of 93 under the shade of the humongous tree. However, experts believe that, based on its growth characteristics, “the tree is estimated to be more than a thousand years old”. One thing is for sure, though, this is no ordinary cashew tree. It is the size of 70 normally sized cashew trees and actually has to be seen from a special lookout point high above to be truly appreciated. It produces over 60,000 cashew fruits per year and also attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over Brazil.

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The airplane flight between the Scottish islands of Westray and Papa Westray holds the world record for the shortest commercial flight, as the plane is usually in the air for just under 2 minutes.

Most of us can just hop into a car, bus, or train for short trips, but things are different in the islands of northern Scotland. The few people who call the Orkney Islands their home have only two options, a ferry ride over rough waters, or an incredibly short flight in a small plane. The second option is the most popular – because the ferry can often face disruption due to rough waters – and the most famous because of how short the flights can be. In fact, the flight between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray is officially recognized as the world’s shortest commercial flight. It usually lasts about 90 seconds, but with favorable winds, it can be over in less than a minute.

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A Chinese zoo has given up on its plans to help an overweight leopard lose weight after two months of efforts yielded virtually no results.

Back in March, a leopard at the Panzhihua Park Zoo in China’s Sichuan Province became an overnight internet sensation after photos and videos of him went viral online. The overweight feline quickly became known as ‘China’s Officer Clawhauser’, a reference to the overweight police officer from Disney’s hit animated movie, Zootopia. Many people joked that the fat leopard resembled a seal, while others took his deformed frame more seriously, expressing concerns about the animal’s health and general well-being. Due to mounting criticism, the zoo was eventually to put out a statement, promising to make a series of changes to make the leopard lose some of its extra weight. However, it recently announced that its initiative failed miserably, as the real-life Officer Clawhauser hasn’t lost any weight in two months.

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CCTV cameras in Mexico recently recorded one of the strangest street fights in history involving a band of mariachi and a fire-breathing performer quarreling over busking territory.

They say life is stranger than fiction and a short video clip captured by surveillance cameras in the Mexican city of Morelia proves it! Not even the brilliant Quentin Tarantino could have come up with the idea of a fiery street fight between a group of guitar-armed mariachi and a street-performing fire-breather in broad daylight, but that’s exactly what occurred last week, at a busy intersection in the Mexican capital. The viral video shows a man being chased by a mariachi and then put in a headlock until more mariachi arrives. They punch and kick the man, but then he turns the tables on them, as he starts blowing plumes of flames at them, literally setting them ablaze. Not the kind of thing you see every day, that’s for sure!

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The backbend is considered a crucial move in Chinese folk dancing, but it is also the main cause of severe spine cord injuries in children as young as five, leaving thousands of them paralyzed for life.

Ironically, the vast majority of parents pushing their beloved children towards folk dancing have their offspring’s best interest in mind, hoping to improve their physical fitness and overall health, but studies have found that one particular move taught in folk dancing schools is putting children’s lives at risk. Data analyzed by the Chinese Orthopaedic Association showed that the percentage of spinal cord injuries caused by the backbend exploded from just 4% between 1992 and 2002 to a whopping 33.9% of all pediatric spinal injuries between 2015 and 2019. Other reports show that, since 2005, over 1,000 children have been left paralyzed after doing backbends in dance classes, making this move the single greatest paralysis threat for young Chinese children.

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Ox Horn, a sprawling research and development complex built by Huawei in Shenzen, China, features 12 towns and 100 separate buildings, all inspired by European architecture.

If someone were to be teleported in the middle of Ox Horn and made to guess where they were, China would probably be at the bottom of their answer list. That’s because the Chinese tech giant’s new campus is heavily inspired by European architecture, including both replicas of well-known Western landmarks and buildings heavily influenced by various European architectural styles. Completed in 2019 at a cost of a whopping $1.5 billion, Ox Horn houses Huawei’s main research and development offices and features its own tram transportation system, but has come under fire for its obvious European inspiration.

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Ohio-based flamethrower manufacturer Throwflame recently unveiled the Thermonator, a remote-controlled robot dog with a functional flamethrower mounted on its back.

Robot dogs have been getting more and more popular in recent years, with news reports from China suggesting that they are replacing real dogs because they require less attention and maintenance. However, one American company is using the robotic quadruped as a platform for its flamethrowers. The Thermonator is an advanced flamethrowing dog equipped with Throwflame’s ARC flamethrower which has a firing range of 30 feet and can be used for a variety of tasks, including wildfire management, agricultural burns, snow and ice removal, and special effects. And you can buy yours for just $9,420.

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A video of a lightly-clothed yogi meditating in the middle of a snowstorm in the Himalayas has gone viral online sparking a heated debate about its authenticity.

We live in a time when the old saying “seeing is believing” just doesn’t apply anymore. The advent of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology has made it possible to create virtually anything and make it look authentic. Realistic-looking AI news anchors and digital influencers are a part of this new reality, so you can’t blame people for doubting their eyes. Case in point, a viral video out of India showing a yogi with his hair and beard caked with snow meditating high up in the mountains during a snowstorm. He looks so comfortable in one of the harshest environments on Earth that many people rightly believed it was staged or the result of AI digital manipulation.

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Chinese company Betavolt recently unveiled its BV100 battery which is smaller than a coin in size but has a lifespan of around 50 years and doesn’t require recharging.

Atomic batteries aren’t new. Both the United States and the USSR produced such power units during the 1960s, but these nuclear batteries were large, dangerous, and expensive to make. Plutonium was used as the radioactive power source for the first atomic batteries, but science has come a long way since, and Betavolt’s revolutionary battery now relies on a much safer isotope, nickel-63, which decays to a stable isotope of copper. The diamond semiconductor material in the battery allows it to run stably in environments ranging from -60 to 120 degrees Celsius. Measuring just 15mm x 15mm x 5mm, the new Betavolt BV100 constantly generates electricity as the isotopes degrade, unlike conventional batteries which simply store energy.

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A Japanese company that has been developing crow repellants for 15 years claims that its Crow Buster, a translucent piece of yellow plastic, is more effective than any scarecrow.

Crows are auspicious omens in Japanese culture, but in day-to-day life, they can be quite pesky pests. Notoriously intelligent and highly adapted to both rural and urban environments, crows have been known to cause serious damage to fruit and vegetable farms, rummage through garbage in search of food, and attack smaller birds, animals, or even humans, if they perceive them as threats. Because of their higher-than-average bird intellect and excellent memory, crows can be very tough to deal with, so even the most realistic of scarecrows may prove ineffective. However, one Japanese company claims that all you need to keep crows at pay is its surprisingly simple Crow Buster.

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