In an attempt to do more than simply raise awareness about child abuse, a Spanish organization has created a smart billboard that contains a secret message visible only to children  under the age of 10.

Using a technology known as lenticular printing, an organization dedicated to aiding abused children joined forces with Grey Group Spain to develop a special billboard that sends different messages to kids and adults. They were looking for a way to help even children accompanied by abusive adults by sending a message exclusively for them, hidden from adults’ eyes. The lenticular printing allowed them to assemble to different images in the same billboard, one visible from the point of view of adults and another aimed at children as tall as 4’4”, or around 10-year-old. While adults can only see a simple yet powerful message “”Sometimes child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it”, children receive useful instruction: “If somebody hurts you, phone us and we’ll help you,” along with the Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk (ACAR) foundation’s phone number. The image displayed on the billboard also changes depending on the angle it’s viewed from. Adults with an average height of 1.75m see a normal looking boy, while children of around 1.35m will see a bruised-up child they might identify with.

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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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Florida-based artist Princess Tarinan von Anhalt creates abstract works of art by hurling cans and bottles of paint into the air and letting the strong winds produced by a jet engine splatter it onto a canvas. It’s probably the most expensive paintbrush ever used, but clients will often pay as much as $50,000 just to watch her work.

Jet Art, characterized by using a jet engine’s air currents to create abstract shapes on a canvas, was invented in 1982, by Prince Jurgen von Anhalt of Austria. After he passed away, his legacy was kept alive by his wife, Princess Tarinan von Anhalt, who became the first woman to use the unusual painting technique, in 2006. She has been using Jet Art to decorate pieces of clothing including sportswear, swimwear, luggage, and jeans, which she presents at various fashion shows, but using the power of a jet engine to create unique artworks remains the most impressive use of this intriguing yet dangerous practice. Last week, the artist was invited to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Learjet, a private airplane brand, by painting 101 canvasses in just two days. Believe it or not, that’s a lot tougher than simply throwing paint into the air and letting the engine do the rest. Princess Tarinan von Anhalt has to endure winds several times stronger than a hurricane and temperatures that can reach 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Thor’s hammer is one of the coolest weapons in the superhero universe. Called Mjolnir, it can summon lightning, crush through pretty much anything and help the Norse god fly. No wonder Caleb from Hack A Day wanted one for himself.

But the gifted builder wasn’t looking for yet another simple prop that looked like Thor’s hammer, he wanted something that actually produced bolts of lightning. Armed with his own DIY superpowers, Caleb Kraft set out to create a foam replica of Mjolnir and sought the help of battery-powered Tesla coil maker Staci Elan, who provided a tiny but effective device able to produce 80,000 volts of electricity. Caleb says he had to make a choice: “I was either going to go portable and live with small arcs, or make this a stationary piece and hide a giant Tesla coil in a base. It would have bigger arcs, but I couldn’t carry it around.” In the end, he opted for the portable version, fitting his light but realistic looking hammer with a a small 12v powered coil. It creates 3″ arcs when going to another piece of metal, and can power on light bulbs if you hold them close to the hammer. Nowhere near as cool as the real Thor’s powers, but pretty awesome for a mere mortal, wouldn’t you say?

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If it weren’t for the sound of the waves gently washing up on its fine sand beach, people would probably walk right past Playa del Amor without even knowing it was there. Located several meters inland on one of the Marieta Islands, the Hidden Beach is one of those unique natural wonders you definitely don’t want to miss.

The Marieta Islands archipelago, located off the coast of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico are believed to have formed centuries ago due to volcanic activity in the area. During the early 1900s, the Mexican Government took advantage of the fact they were completely uninhabited and used the islands to conduct military tests. After years of research and efforts to legally protect the archipelago, scientists led by the famous Jacques Cousteau managed to convince Mexican authorities to declare the Marietas a national park protected against fishing, hunting and any other harmful human activities. To this day, the islands remain uninhabited and only authorized boat service providers can take tourists to see their natural wonders up-close. Although the large explosions and bombings carried out for decades have greatly damaged the flora and fauna of this tropical paradise, some say they’re also responsible for the creation of one of its most amazing attractions – Playa del Amor, also known as the Hidden Beach of Mexico.

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Talented balloon artist and Toy Story fan, Jeff Wright, has managed to bring the popular space ranger Buzz Lightyear to life with an incredibly detailed inflatable costume made from hundreds of interwoven balloons.

A picture showing the awesome Buzz Lightyear costume created by Wright recently went viral on social news sharing site Reddit, racking over 170,000 views in just a few hours. Capturing all the features that make Buzz such a popular character and children’s toy, the attention to detail on this helium-inflated masterpiece is simply stunning. There’s not much information on how long it took to complete or how many balloons were used in the process, but I did find a cool video of the guy wearing the costume doing a funny impersonation of the lovable Toy Story hero. In the past, Jeff Wright has collaborated Balloon Distractions, a company that tries to make ‘the world a better place, one balloon at a time’. This Buzz Lightyear costume was definitely a great way to start, but Jeff and his wife Rachel didn’t stop there. They’ve also created an amazing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle outfit out of over 500 colored balloons, and are now moving to Bolivia as volunteers at the Life Center Orphanage, where they’ll be entertaining kids with all kinds of cool balloon creations. How awesome is that?!?

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David Gracer is an entomophagist, which means he consumes insects for sustenance and flavor. During the last 11 years, he claims he has munched on countless creepy crawlies from 5,000 different species.

Eating bugs may seem disgusting to a lot of people, but mankind has been doing it for most of its existence. The Greeks and the Romans loved them, and many cultures throughout Asia, Africa and the Americas actually raise insects for food or gather them through foraging. It is estimated over half the world’s population regularly feasts on a variety of flying and crawling bugs, and entomophagy experts advocate that they are almost as nutritious as beef, contain considerably less fat and have a low impact on the environment. 47-year-old David Gracer, from Providence, Rhode island has been living on bugs since 2001, while trying to convince others that it’s the sustainable way to go. His basement freezer is constantly packed with over 12,000 insects from 20 different species, but the convinced enthomophagist claims he has eaten over 5,000 kinds of bugs during the last 11 years. He consumes them sautéed, filleted and roasted, and says he is working hard on making insects taste more appealing.

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A shirt that can be worn for up to 100 days without having to be washed or ironed is the dream of many busy men around the world. Now, thanks to textile start-up Wool & Prince, this miracle shirt has become a reality.

Six months ago, Wool & Prince founder Mac Bishop and his friends Katie Elks and Mike Major set out to make a better, longer-lasting button-down shirt. They just weren’t satisfied with  the garments available on the market and decided to give men around the world an alternative that didn’t wrinkle and smell after a wear or two and didn’t require constant washing, dry-cleaning or ironing for long periods of time. After doing some research they discovered wool is 6 times more durable than cotton plus it naturally fights wrinkles and odors, without any added chemicals. With the help of 15 testers, the three young entrepreneurs developed their proprietary CottonSoft(TM) wool fabric that was light, breathable, durable and best of all soft. It was the perfect material they’d been searching for, but Mac wasn’t going to brag about its properties until he had the chance to test it out on himself. So he embarked on a 100-day challenge and wore the same magic wool shirt for 100 days straight, without washing or ironing it.

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If you’re going to get a tattoo, why not go for something truly beautiful instead of the usual tribal, heart, dragon or those tacky Chinese characters that people seem to love so much. Five years ago, French tattoo master Xoïl aka Loïc adopted a new artsy style called the “Photoshop Style”, which really gives “skin art” a whole new meaning.

Xoïl was born in a very small village in Southern France, where his father worked as a mason, creating beautiful things out of stuff other people just threw away. Watching his father at work inspired him to leave the rural life behind and start making cool stuff himself. He never had a formal apprenticeship under a tattoo artist, because they all had these “old-school crazy ideas” he just didn’t recognize at the time, so he simply hung out at tattoo shops picking up the basics and developing his unique style. And it shows in his current artworks. Xoïl’s style is so distinct from other skin artists’ that you can recognize one of his pieces on sight. Combining clients’ ideas with stamp-like textures, typewriter-inspired fonts and geometric patterns, the French master creates incredibly beautiful works of permanent body art that have caught the attention of tattoo enthusiasts around Europe and the US.

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Renowned microsculptor Willard Wigan MBE has created the world’s smallest ever work of art by carving a motorcycle on a hollowed-out hair stubble, by hand, in between his heartbeats. The tiny masterpiece measures just 3 microns and is only visible through a microscope.

55-year-old Willard Wigan MBE was already famous for his tiny pinhead sculptures, but he wanted “to go beyond human expectations” and “personally challenge himself” to create something even more amazing that the world hadn’t seen before. So one day, while brushing his face after a shave, he noticed a tiny hair stubble embedded in his fingerprint and decided that was going to be his new canvas. The Birmingham-based artist somehow managed to hollow out the hair fragment and armed with a special tool featuring microscopic diamond fragments he painstakingly sculpted a golden chopper motorcycle, working 16-hours a day for five weeks. Why would such a small work of art take so long to create, you ask? Willard explains that his microscopic chopper is smaller that a human blood cell and so fragile that even the pulse in his finger could have crushed it completely, so he was forced to work in between heartbeats.

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A New York City real estate company has offered employees a 15% pay raise if they get a tattoo of its logo on their bodies. So far, 40 of the 800 employees took the deal and got a permanent Rapid Realty tattoo.

People usually get tattoos to show off their personality, but for the employees of Rapid Realty getting inked was simply a quick and sure way to get a 15% permanent bonus. Company owner Anthony Lolli has been more than happy to pay for tattooing fees, but doesn’t take credit for the idea. Surprisingly enough, it all started when one of his employees decided to do it for free. “He calls me up,” Lolli said “‘Hey Anthony, I’m getting the logo on me.’ I show up at the shop and I’m like ‘this is cool, how can I repay you?’” And it all pretty much snowballed from there, and now 40 of his 800 workers have the Rapid Realty logo inked somewhere on their bodies. There are no restrictions regarding the size and location of the tattoo, and that got people interested. For example, Brooke Koropatnick got hers behind the ear and says: “I had a paycheck coming in what was a substantial amount of money different, so it was nice.” Stephanie Barry went under the needle two weeks ago and got a nice bonus for every successful transaction. “I was like, why am I throwing my money away when I could give myself from a $25,000 to $40,000 for the same amount of work?” Barry told reporters.

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Located in Japan’s Tomamu Resort,  on the island of Hokkaido, the Unkai Terrace is a unique scenic spot perched high atop a mountain peak that is often above the clouds, offering tourists breathtaking views of the white, fluffy sea beneath them.

The “unkai” (sea of clouds) phenomenon has been attracting tourists to the resort town on Tomamu for years. The natural hot springs in the area and the differences in temperature during the few hours when night turns into day determine the formation of an immaculate white blanket of clouds over the mountainous region, but only a few people had the chance to see the unique effect from above, until a gondola system was put in place. It takes early-bird tourists up the mountain to the Unkai Terrace, right above the sea of clouds, where they can watch the sunrise, take photos of the Hidaka and Tokachi mountain peaks as they pierce the fluffy fog and enjoy a refreshing cup of coffee or a bowl of soup. Although the gondola fare is pretty expensive (around $20), the view from Unkai Terrace is definitely worth every yen.

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For the last eight years Puerto Rico native Eliel Santos has been making a living by reeling in jewelry, cash and electronics from beneath New York City’s sidewalk grates. It may not seem like a very profitable trade, but on great days he can earn over $1,000.

38-year-old Eliel Santos lives in the Bronx, but he spends every day of the week visiting various areas of the Big Apple and using dental floss and mouse trap glue to retrieve whatever valuable items people drop through the sidewalk grates. The urban treasure hunter spends most of his time looking down through the small metal holes hoping to spot something worth pawning. Whenever something grabs his attention, Eliel positions himself over the target and pulls out his trusty tools – a line of dental floss attached to different size weights covered in mouse glue. With expert precision, he lowers his sticky lure through the grating into the darkness below and quickly catches his “prey”. Sometimes it’s just quarters or useless shiny objects, but a lot of times Santos walks away with precious jewelry, cash and even trendy gadgets like iPhones or iPods. “If you drop it, I’m going to pick it up — so be careful,” he warns the pedestrians of New York.

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Take tens of thousands of children, place them in the largest stadium in the world, arm them with giant colored flip-books containing hundreds of colored panels, train them to move in perfect unison and you get the awe-inspiring human mosaics of the Arirang Mass Games, in North Korea.

The Arirang Festival Mass Games held in Pyongyang, are the largest and most impressive exercise of state propaganda in the world. The event runs from August to October, and offers an incredible spectacle of perfectly choreographed gymnastics, dancing, singing, and of course, praising the achievements of the communist nations’s eternal leader Kim Il-Sung.  The games aren’t held every year. They are suspended in case of national emergencies, like when flooding ravages the country and the Government decides the hundreds of thousands of performers are better put to use repairing the destroyed infrastructure. But when the trained human pixels get the chance to perform on Rungrado May Day Stadium, in front of a crowd of 150,000 people, they make the performers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony look like a group of children staging a simple school play. Every 20 seconds for a period of two hours they switch the panels of their flip-books to create stunning mosaics honoring Korea’s cultural heritage and its political regime.

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Curious to know what other people who have spent the same number of days on Earth as him have achieved, English writer Richard Avis is traveling around the world looking for individuals who share his birthday.

Were you born on December 1st, 1974? Than you just might be on Richard Avis’ to-visit list. The oddball English writer has embarked on a journey to meet 40 of his “time twins” in different locations around the world and put his experiences down on paper for his new book. “I was not alone in being born on that day.  Families across the world celebrated their new additions on that day 38 years ago,” Richard writes on his website. “But what kinds of lives have these people lived?  With the same length of time on this planet as me, what have they achieved?  What have been their greatest achievements; and what are their burning ambitions?  Do they see themselves as young, middle aged or old?  Have they achieved their defining moment, or is that still to come? Are they married with children, or single, backpacking round the world?  Are they successful – and how is this judged?  How have their lives been affected by the accident of geography that led them to be born where they were?  Is our age a defining similarity, or does the concept of age change from country to country?” These are the questions he’s trying to find answers to through his unique Time Twins project.

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