Varya Akulova is one of those extraordinary human beings most people have never even heard of. Often referred to as “The World’s Strongest Girl”, Varya holds two Guinness records and is able to lift up to four times her own body weight.

Born in 1992, in the Ukrainian mining town of Krivoy Rog, Varya Akulova showed remarkable physical abilities from a very young age. When she was just one year old, Varya could do a handstand, at one and a half she did flips, at three years of age she started performing acrobatic routines with her parents, and by age four she was already doing powerlifting exercises with massive weights. When Varya’s mother, Larisa, became pregnant, her father, Yuri, started making plans about performing in the circus with his yet-unborn strong son, but when his wife gave birth to a girl, he knew his dreams would never materialize. But as the days went by, Yuri began to realize that with the right training, his daughter could become as strong as a man. The girl had stronger arms and legs than most babies her age, and soon he became certain Varya had inherited the Akulovs’ legendary strength. Historically, his ancestors served at the court of Catherine II and became known for their amazing abilities and toughness during the Russian – Turkish wars. And as the years passed, it became clear Varya was truly an Akulov, able to lift massive weights when other girls her age were busy playing with dolls.

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If you’re a fan of coffee and Japanese anime, you’re going to love these amazingly detailed latte portraits of famous Japanese cartoon characters. They are the creations of Twitter user, Sugi, who only started doing latte art a year ago.

I’m a big fan of coffee art, whether it’s executed directly on a cup of joe or on a canvas, using the delicious medium as paint, so when I saw these incredible works of anime art I just couldn’t resist sharing them with you guys. If you thought latte hearts and leaves were cool, Sugi’s designs are probably going to blow your mind. The talented Japanese barista only took up coffee art last April, but she is already able to create unbelievable portraits of anime characters like Sailor Moon or Naruto in stunning detail. Using only toothpicks, chocolate syrup for the dark areas and cocktail syrups for the other colors, Sugi hand-draws two-three of her beautiful artworks every day. So far, she has created over 800 latte masterpieces, and posted photos of them on her Twitter page.

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Tao Xiangli, a 37-year-old inventor from Beijing, China, has spent over 150,000 yuan ($25,000) and more than 11 months building a functional robot made of scrap parts and wires bought from second-hand markets.

In China, Tao Xiangli is known as a DIY genius, with a collection of amazing home-made creations under his belt. Three years ago, he made headlines in international media after building a submarine all by himself, and today he’s back to with another impressive achievement – a 496lb (225kg) robot he pieced together in his small Beijing apartment. “He’s ugly, but he’s kind of awesome,” Tao said about the  2.1-meter-tall metal behemoth  that can apparently perform simple movements and even mimic human actions by using infrared rays. It can turn its neck, raise its legs and even shake hands at the flick of a switch on the board located on its back. Instead of crating a humanoid casing for his robot, Tao Xiangli decided to leave it “naked”so viewers could see every one of the over 110 scrap parts and 3,000 lengths of wiring required to make it work. To make it easier on the eyes, the young Chinese inventor fitted his robots with strips of bright neon cabling.

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With a population nearing nine billion people and food shortages becoming increasingly problematic, the human race needs sustainable solutions if it wants to survive. Japanese designer Ai Hasegawa has come up with a very controversial approach to solving environmental and food-related issues – the possibility of women giving birth to various animal species and eventually eating them.

In one of her most intriguing projects yet, “I Wanna Deliver a Shark…”, Ai Hasegawa tackles “the problem of human reproduction in an age of over-population and environmental crisis.” She envisions the possibility of humans one day giving birth to their food and satisfying both their nutritional needs and that of giving life. The 33-year-old says having a human baby isn’t as simple as some people think, especially with our world about to face a major food crisis. She argues that bringing new humans into this world is definitely not the answer, but giving birth to endangered animal species might be just what we need to survive. “We are genetically predisposed to raise children as a way of passing on our genes to the next generation but we live in an age where the struggle to raise a child in decent conditions is becoming harder with gross over-population and difficult environmental conditions,” Hasegawa says. “We must also eat, and we are equally facing growing food shortages as a result of over-fishing, land use and a growing population. By giving birth to an edible animal it might place more value on that endangered species and help prevent it’s extinction.”

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Spanish fashion designer Manel Torres is the man behind the world’s first spray-on clothing, which is applied directly on the body and can be washed and worn again just like your regular clothes.

It may sound like something out of a futuristic film, but Manel Torres actually patented his amazing spray-on clothing back in the year 2000. He came up with this original idea while studying for his MA in Fashion Women’s Wear, at the Royal College of Art, London. Torres was aware of the slow process of creating regular garments, from weaving the actual fabric to dyeing it and tailoring the clothing items, so he tried to come up with “a futuristic, seamless, quick and comfortable material.” I’m sure most of you can come up with even more outrageous concepts than a spray-on fabric, but the Spanish designer was determined to make his a reality. Since he had no real knowledge of chemistry he sought the help of scientists at the London Imperial College, and after years of research and testing, Manel invented the spray that turns into a wearable second skin in contact with the human body.

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The Chinese owner of a Maserati Quattroporte worth $423,000 paid three men two smash it with sledgehammers at the 2013 Qingdao Auto Show, because he was disappointed with the way the car dealer had fixed it.

The man known only as Wang told Chinese media he had bought the car in 2011 and was forced to bring it back for repairs only two months later. He said the dealer charged him for new parts, but they really replaced the faulty components with second-hand ones. Later, the staff failed to fix a problem with the car door and even managed to scratch it. That was apparently more than Wang was willing to take, so he decided to deliver a loud and clear message to Maserati. He waited for the Qingdao Auto Show and tipped off the media to show up for an unforgettable spectacle. On the day of the show, he brought in his luxury car draped in a banner accusing Maserati of poor service, and paid three men to smash it with sledgehammers, in front of hundreds of onlookers. They shattered the car’s windscreen, headlights, grill and mirrors, and left some serious dents in its metal body. “I hope foreign luxury car producers acknowledge clearly that Chinese consumers are entitled to get the service that is commensurate with the brand,” Wang said.

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His bright eyes have the power to see into your soul, his glossed hair makes girls reach for their computer screens to touch it, and his photo captions make you feel like you’ve skipped grammar classes in school. He is Ahmed Angel – the greatest internet superstar ever…

If you thought Zoolander was just the fruit of Ben Stiller’s wild imagination, think again. He’s real, and his name is Ahmed Angel. Quite an appropriate name for this angelic male super model the world can’t seem to get enough of. Crazy photos of this new internet superstar have been doing the rounds on sites like Buzzfeed or The Huffington Post for the last week, with everyone trying to find out more about him. Apart from his out-worldly prettiness everything else about Ahmed Angel was a mystery. Well, maybe not everything. Anyone could see he was craving attention like his life depended on it, and his love for makeup, hair gel and acid-washed jeans was obvious from the hundreds of edited photos he posted on his Facebook page. But the world wanted something of substance. Who was this dashingly handsome man that captured the imaginations of millions around the world and inspired hundreds of hilarious comments on Reddit with his killer looks? Was he even real? Luckily, Ahmed was kind enough to answer questions posted by various media outlets on his Facebook page, and reveal more about himself.

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When it comes to painting, or even digital art, Microsoft Excel isn’t usually the first thing that pops into your head. Yet 73-year-old artist, Tatsuo Horiuchi, has been using it to create stunningly beautiful traditional Japanese artworks.

If you’re going to use software for artistic purposes, why not use something like the powerful and popular Adobe Photoshop, right? Well, Tatsuo Horiuchi’s explanation sort of makes sense – he says graphics software is too expensive, while Microsoft Excel came pre-installed on his computer. Plus, although he had never used it himself, before he retired from his job he often saw his colleagues using it to create graphs, so he thought the program could be used to draw art as well. In his early pension years, Horiuchi decided he wanted to try something new, so he bought a computer and began experimenting with digital painting. At first, he tried Microsoft Word, but he experienced problems with determining the canvas size to fit the printing paper, so he ultimately turned to Excel, which had a neat feature that automatically reduced the worksheet size to fit his A4 printing paper. Painting in a spreadsheet application was hard at first, but the ambitious Tatsuo managed to hone is skills, and during the last 10 years he has established himself as an original artist, with exhibitions all over Japan.

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Although some of us refuse to believe it, we live in a mean, cutthroat world. Luckily there are still some genuine good Samaritans out there, and Anthony Cymerys is definitely one of them. For the last 25 years, the man known as Joe the Barber has been offering homeless people in Hartford, Connecticut haircuts in exchange for hugs.

Anthony Cymerys started offering his barber services to those less fortunate in 1988, after hearing a sermon about the homeless. He had just retired and was only cutting hair for family, but those inspiring words he had heard in church made him decided he didn’t want the homeless looking like homeless anymore. So he prepared his tools, put them in the car and started driving around town looking for people in need of his services. In the beginning, he helped people in shelters and convalescent homes, then he cut hair in downtown YMCA for years, before moving to the carousel near Bushnell Park. Every Wednesday, the wooden benches on the Elm Street side of the park are packed with homeless people waiting for a relaxing haircut, shave and facial massage from the 82-year-old Joe.

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Viewed as one of the most unusual hotels in the world, the Controversy Inn gives the term “room and board” a whole new meaning by repurposing old tramcars  as luxurious accommodations for guests.

Located in Holland’s Hoogwoud village, the Controversy Inn is run by two kooky Prince fans and offers visitors the unique opportunity of sleeping in fully reconditioned tramcars that used to run in Germany and Amsterdam years ago. It might not sound like the most comfortable stay, but the owners of this wacky establishment have gone out of their way to make the trams as cozy as possible. All the “rooms” feature double beds, showers and toilet facilities, a well-supplied kitchenette, and lovely decorations made from old-traffic lights, discarded furniture, car parts and other recycled objects. The three tramcars and the full-sized railway car have all been themed around different cultures around the world – America, Italy, France and Mexico – and come with their own matching type of breakfast. Frank and Irma Appel, the two motoring enthusiasts behind the Controversy Inn, sleep in an English-style Double-Decker bus they’ve somehow managed to insert right in the living-room of their picturesque farmhouse. How crazy is that?

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Miami-based performance artist Orestes de la Paz has put his heart, soul and fat into 20 bars of special soap made with his liposuctioned blubber. The bars of human soap are available for purchase and priced at $1,000.

Orestes de la Paz underwent a liposuction procedure in December of last year, and decided to turn the removed fat into soap to prevent it from going rancid. He came up with the idea for his  art thesis after realizing that “clients are willing to try anything to feel and look beautiful, even to the extent of buying products with human elements in them (stem cells, placenta, semen; you name it, it’s out there.)” Working as a hairstylist and make-up artist, Orestes loves combining the worlds of art and beauty together, so the unusual project sort of made sense to him. Apart from coconut oil, organic vegetable shortening, lavender and tree tea oils, as well as other cosmetics ingredients, his unique soap bars are 25% human fat, which apparently leaves the user’s hands soft after washing. “There’s always a certain amount of blood, sweat, and tears that goes into any artwork. I just make it more explicit,” the artist said about his bizarre project.

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Unemployment in Europe has recently hit record highs, and although Denmark has been shielded from the eurozone’s economic problems thanks to its low public debt, qualified professionals are still finding it tough to get a job. Danish marketing firm Reputation Copenhagen has come up with an ingenious way of helping academics get noticed – putting them on display in storefront windows.

Many highly-trained professionals, ranging from former CEOs to lawyers and tax experts are currently finding it increasingly difficult to find decent employment on the Danish job market. Some of them have been trying for years, leaving their resumes with dozens of companies, without ever hearing back from them, and are now at a point where they are willing to try anything. Even putting themselves in display windows like mannequins, hoping to get noticed by someone in need of their services. Alexander Peitersen, managing director of Reputation Copenhagen came up with the idea of using his company’s office as a storefront for the campaign, as there are many businesses nearby that might be interested in the talent on display. So he set up a small desk, put up the “an available academic is sitting here” sign, and asked the unemployed to just sit in the windows like merchandise. It seems like a pretty desperate measure, but at least it works; according to the agency’s website 3 of the job-seekers in their window display got a job in a day or two.

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International racing crew, Team Galag, have recently unveiled one of their unique cars for the 2013 Gumball 3000 race. It’s an exact replica of the awesome Tumbler driven by Batman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy.

The Gumball 3000 is not a race in the traditional sense of the word. There’s no official timekeeping and no prizes for the fastest contestants. It’s more like a glamorous road trip adventure where the rich and famous drive across Europe in the world’s most exotic cars. Inspired by classic films like The Cannonball Run and The Gumball Rally, this event used to feature both expensive and unusual vehicles like police cars and camper vans, but in recent years it’s become mostly a gathering of brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Rolls Royce and Bentley. The anonymous members of Team Galag decided to bring back the original theme of the Gumball 3000 and commissioned Florida-based Parker Brothers Concepts to create a street legal replica of the Batman Tumbler that can keep up with the other sports cars and complete the 3,000-mile rally. The crew, aged between 21 and 34, hailing from the UK, Germany, USA and Saudi Arabia, reportedly invested around £1 million ($1.6 million) into this one-of-a-kind ride.

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Zhou Ting-Jue is an internationally renown Qigong, Tai Chi and Kung Fu grand master who has shocked the world with his abilities to generate extreme heat from his hands and stand on thin sheets of paper without falling through.

Master Zhou, also known as “The Jewel of China”, has been featured on a number of television programs such as Ripley’s Believe It or Not, That’s Incredible or Stan Lee’s Superhumans, and his amazing abilities have been studied and verified by various scientists for decades. For some time now, researchers have been presenting information about the benefits of practicing Qigong, but what Master Zhou is able to accomplish by channeling his inner Chi defies science and Western medicine. Not only is he able to generate heat close to boiling point through the palms of his hands, but this traditional healer says his Qigong treatments have the power to “dissolve tumors, heal severe, chronic injuries, as well as successfully treat “incurable” diseases.” People from all over the world seek his aid for a variety of conditions, and in the past he has used his powers to treat the Dalai Lama, members of the LA Lakers basketball team, Olympic athletes, celebrities and dignitaries. In China, he is so respected that he has been named a “Treasure of the Nation”.

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A Japanese model named Vanilla Chamu has recently become an internet sensation after it was reported she spent 10 million yen ($100,000) on 30 plastic surgery procedures in order to fulfill her dream of becoming a perfect living French doll.

She claims it’s her ultimate goal and the reason she has so far underwent tens of cosmetic procedures, but with her inflated lips and enlarged breasts, Vanilla Chamu doesn’t really look anything like a porcelain French doll. She just went from an average looking Japanese girl to a Western-looking woman with obvious plastic surgery, but the now-famous model says she doesn’t plan to stop altering her image anytime soon, and intends to soon undergo an extreme height-lengthening surgery. Her story has caused quite a bit of controversy in Japan, and she has been invited to numerous television shows to explain her reasons for the radical physical change. Vanilla, who’s current age is a well-guarded secret, claims she had her first plastic surgery at age 19, and numerous other since then, including  double eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, liposuction, eyelash implants, dimple creation, and breast implants. So far, she has spent over 10 million yen on these procedures, but her sizable investment seems to have paid off, as Vanilla Chamu is now a successful model and pop singer in her native land of Japan.

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