Businesses usually have to pay someone to keep their work spaces clean, but the shops on Sea Street, a popular jewelry hub in Sri Lanka’s capital city, actually require a fee to let people clean their premises.

Hong-Kong based media outlet South China Morning Post recently featured the sad story of a heroin addict from Colombo, in Sri Lanka in a short video documentary that also included a segment on a very peculiar job. Mavin, the 47-year-old protagonist makes a living and sustains his drug addiction by cleaning the bathrooms of jewelry shops on Sea Street, a place he refers to as “the most precious street in Sri Lanka”. The whole street is lined with gold, diamond and jewelry shops, only they don’t pay people like Mavin for cleaning, they actually demand a fee from them…

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It’s safe to say that Toronto-based artist Bashir Sultani isn’t the superstitious type, as he has no problem spilling the salt to create some of the most amazing temporary artworks we’ve ever seen.

Afghan-born Sultani originally rose to internet fame about nine years ago, when photos and videos of his early celebrity salt portraits went viral online. They’re still impressive after all these years, but the talented artist has come a long way since, taking his salt art to a whole new level with a life-like food portrait series. Instead of sticking to pure salt on a black canvas, Bashir Sultani now uses colored salt as well to create convincing representation of various foods solely by sprinkling it on a dark plate.

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An 18-year-old girl suffering from a skin condition called dermatographia, which causes her skin to swell up when touched, is using her own body as a canvas for playful doodles.

18-year-old Emma Aldenryd creates her very own type of body art by running a pencil over her skin, which causes the lines she traces to swell and redden, leaving behind temporary doodles that fade after about 30 minutes. The Danish teen discovered that she had dermatographia three years ago, after a friend noticed that her arms turned red and swollen. Instead of hiding away her skin condition, Emma decided to embrace it and use her own body as an artistic medium.

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Most people are apprehensive about using public restrooms as it is, so making them completely transparent would just boost their anxiety, right? Well, apparently, the exact opposite is true.

Japanese public toilets generally have a higher standard of hygiene that other public restrooms around the world. I distinctly remember posting about Benjyo Soujer, a Tokyo social club whose members gather every Sunday morning to voluntarily clean public toilets around Japan’s capital. But even in this country, some people dread the thought of having to walk into a dark, smelly, dirty and possibly unsafe facility to do their “business”. But what if you could see how clean or safe this facility was before walking in?

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A farmer who refused to sell his land on the outskirts of the Polish city of Lublin to apartment building developers continues to harvest crops using combines and tractors under the surprised gazes of his new neighbors.

Imagine living in an urban apartment and looking out the window to see a huge combine plowing through a field of wheat or maize? That’s the view that residents on Jantarowa street, in the Polish city of Lublin, are treated to every summer or fall. Apparently, while most land owners in the area sold their farmland to residential building developers, one farmer refused to budge, so the apartment building were built around his property, where he continues to farm every year.

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Chichen Itza, the pre-Colombian archaeological site built by the Mayans in northern Yucatan, Mexico, is home to many architectural and cultural wonders, one of which has baffled acoustics experts for decades.

The Temple of Kukulkan is one of the most visually-striking structures at Chichen Itza, but perhaps its most intriguing characteristic is acoustic, not visual. Clapping at the base of the Mayan pyramid causes an echo that closely resembles a bird’s chirp. Do it repeatedly, or in a group, and the echos will sound like a chorus of ghostly chirps rolling down the steps of the impressive structures. It’s one of those tricks tour guides use to impress visitors, but it’s actually no gimmick. Acoustic experts have been fascinated by the “Chichen Itza Chirp” ever since it was documented by an acoustic engineer in the late 90’s, but so far no one has been able to demonstrate if the architects of the pyramid designed it with the specific echo in mind, or if it was accidental.

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The Euglossines, aka Orchid Bees are often described as the world’s most flamboyant bee tribe, and looking at their brilliant metallic coloration, it’s easy to see why.

Orchid bees are probably the closest thing to real living jewel. Sporting bright metallic colors – with green, blue and gold being the most common – and very few hairs compared to other families of bees, these pollinators really stand out as some of the most visually striking insects on Earth. But it’s not just their bright, shiny exterior that sets them apart from other bees. Euglossines don’t make honey, they don’t build hives, most species of the tribe are solitary, and perhaps most fascinating of all, males collect and mix fragrances which they then use to impress females.

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Authorities in Tokorozawa, a Japanese city located north of Tokyo, recently unveiled a total of 27 high-tech manhole covers featuring LED displays inspired by popular anime.

In an ingenious attempt to improve the image of the local sewer system and also hopefully prevent nighttime crime on the main boulevard of Tokorozawa, the city’s Waterworks and Sewerage department recently installed a total of 27 new manhole covers illuminated by solar-powered LED lights and featuring anime-inspired designs. The new manholes were laid on August 1, 2020, and are the first manholes in Japan to feature LED lighting.

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In a landmark ruling that will act as precedent for similar trials in the future, the Italian Supreme Court ruled against the appeal of a 35-year-old man who still expected financial assistance from his parents.

The historic sentence marked the end of a five-year case in which an adult part-time music teacher who earned an annual income of 20,000 euros (about $24,000) claimed financial assistance from his parents. In an initial ruling, a Tuscany judge actually awarded him a monthly allowance of 300 euros ($360) from his parents, a decision that was later overturned by an appeal court, and last week by Italy’s Supreme Court. Judges ruled that the 35-year-old’s parents financial support cannot be expected to continue indefinitely.

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If you’re looking for a way to add that wow factor to a special event, take a look at the amazing cakes of Los Angeles-based confectioner Julie Simon, they’re really something else.

When it comes to floral-inspired cakes, there’s just no one better out there than Julie Simon, and after looking at all the intricate cakes below, I’m pretty sure you’ll agree with me. Most often than not, her delicious masterpieces look like carefully arranged vases or bouquets with real flowers sticking out of them. Only those vases are actually cakes and the flowers are made of sugar. It’s hard to believe, but only because the LA-based confectioner is so exceptionally good at her job.

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Once every 7 to 10 years, Nevada’s Lake Pyramid experiences an algae boom so significant that its color changes from dark blue to a vibrant turquoise. This phenomenon is known as “whiting”.

Located in a remote desert area of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribes’ Reservation, about 40 miles northeast of Reno, Lake Pyramid is famous for the whiting events that occur there every decade or so. Over the course of a few weeks, the water turns light blue, turquoise, and, in rare cases, even white. This spontaneous precipitation of calcium carbonate is well documented, but not very well understood. All scientists know is that contributing factors include high water temperatures, algae bloom and increased calcium concentrations. Interestingly, whiting events are not dangerous to the aquatic life. However the same cannot be said for land life, including humans…

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Edson Brandao, an online influencer, personal trainer and writer from Brazil, has been getting a lot of attention because of his age-defying appearance. Despite being in his early 50’s, Brandao constantly gets mistaken for a 20 or 30-year-old.

Looking at photos of Edson Brandao from when he was in his thirties and forties, and comparing them to his looks at age 53, you could say the Brazilian-born has only been getting younger. While he doesn’t deny that his youthful appearance have something to do with good genes, the 53-year-old credits his positive attitude, healthy lifestyle and daily skin care as the main reasons for his impressive looks. Brandao also swears that he has never undergone any cosmetic procedures to retain his youthful appearance.

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A dog in China recently made national headlines for being found alive and well after spending over a month trapped under the ruin of his master’s following a landslide.

On July 8, the people of Cangbaotian village, in China’s Guizhou Province had to be hastily evacuated before most of their homes succumbed to a terrible landslide. Only a handful of the 130 buildings in the village were left standing, and despite being unable to retrieve most of their possessions before the evacuation, residents weren’t allowed to return until the area was deemed safe by authorities. Earlier this month, one man who returned to see if anything could be salvaged from his collapsed home was shocked to hear barking coming from under the rubble.

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Residents of an industrial area of Olten, a town in north-western Switzerland, have been reporting chocolate powder raining from the sky for several days now.

If chocolate was ever going to fall from the sky anywhere in the world, it had to be in Switzerland. The European country is well-known for making perhaps the best chocolate in the world, so it kind of makes sense that a chocolate rain occur here. Anyway, reports of chocolate powder falling from the sky in the town of Olten started showing up online a few days ago, accompanied by photos of cars covered in the brown stuff. People could hardly believe it, but then authorities confirmed it and so did the company responsible for the bizarre phenomenon.

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Living in a huge airport isn’t easy, the sound of planes taking off and landing alone is deafening, but one for stubborn Japanese farmer it’s the only place worth living in.

Takao Shito’s family has been growing vegetable on the same farm for over 100 years. His grandfather was a farmer, his father as well, and now he has taken on the same mantle, only things are a bit different for him than they were for his ancestors. Where before the Shito farm was part of a village of around 30 families surrounded by open fields, today it stands alone in the middle of Narita Airport, Japan’s second largest airport. Jets fly over his head 24 hours a day, and his only way to and from the farm is through underground tunnels. Most people would be dying to move away, but not Takao Shito. He has been fighting to keep his farm for over two decades and even refused an offer of over $1.7 million for his land.

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