The Blood Fountains of Bucharest

Hemophilia is a serious condition,and over 2,000 Romanians suffer from it. To draw some attention to the hardships the 2,000 Romanians suffering from this disease, have to go through every day, the Romanian Association for the Problems of Hemophilia colored the water fountains, in the center of Bucharest, bloody red.

Passers-by did in fact notice the red water flowing in the fountains, but it’s going to take a lot more than this to inspire them to help hemophilia victims.

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219,000 Cigarettes to Help Smokers Quit

In an attempt to raise public awareness to the dangers of smoking, an Australian pharmaceutical company has set up an installation, featuring 219,000 cigarette imitations, in the middle of Sydney.

This unusual display, located in central Sydney, is supposed to convince smokers to seek professional help, and give up smoking. The cigarettes are covered by transparent panels, and in case you’re wondering why there are 219,000 of them, that’s how many a smoker goes through, in a period of 30 years, at a rate of 20 cigarettes per day.

Photos via ChinaDaily

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7 Incredible Artists of the Animal Kingdom

Not long ago, scientists considered the capacity to create art one of the major differences that separates man from animals. But that was only because no animal ever had the chance to use a paintbrush. The animal kingdom has plenty of artists  more than capable of handling a paintbrush, and these seven examples are undeniable proof:

The Painting Elephants of Thailand

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Dishes from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Angela Rossi, uses old “orphaned and unloved antique plates” to bring homage to the popular characters of the Star-Wars saga.

The daughter of an antiques collector, Los Angeles-based Angela was stuck with a bunch of old dishes that her mother had to give up, when she moved. They were all hand painted, and beautiful, but didn’t exactly match her modern lifestyle, so she considered selling them on eBay. But then she decided to make them cool again, by adding her own personal touch.

Using a special heat technique, the young artist seals images of popular characters, on to the dishes, and sells them on her Etsy shop, for $35 each. Judging by the number of Star-Wars inspired items, Angela must be a big fan, but you can see a variety of famous characters, in her collection, including Frankenstein’s monster, Gizmo the Gremlin, or Dr. Spock.

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Sassy Thomas – Eating for Pleasure and Profit

Eating anything you want and getting paid for it seems like a fantasy, but for Sassy Thomas, a supersized internet model, it’s just everyday life.

30-year-old Sassy Thomas has had trouble with her weight, ever since she can remember. her parents put her on a diet, wen she was only 10-years old, but after countless diets and nutritionist consults, the poor girl still weighed a lot more than most kids her age. School, and pretty much life in general, were a nightmare for the young Brit, from Tottenham, North London. In everyone’s eyes, she was the fat kid, and that’s never easy.

At 18, Sassy left school, and got a job as a security guard. She would spend her shift reading glamor magazines and thinking celebrity life-style was out of her reach. But one day, after a simple Google search, she discovered the wonderful world of Big Beautiful Women (BBW). She signed up on a forum, with a picture, and within minutes, received 20 emails from men who wanted to see more of her. It was the start of the life she always dreamed of. Read More »

Stained Glass Fit for Transformers Church

Timothy Miller, known as AutobotWonko, on DeviantArt, creates stained glass artworks, inspired by popular franchises, like Transformers.

So far he has created the Autobot and Decepticon stained glass emblems, as well as portraits of Autobots BumbleBee and Optimus Prime. If anyone finally decides to start a Transformers church (I know I’d join) at leas we know what they’re going to use for windows.Maybe Timothy can make another stained glass painting of Optimus plunging a spear into Megatron, or something like that.

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Home Design Doesn’t Get Much Greener than Living Plant Curtains

Greenpeace activists are going to fall in love with the genius invention of Li Fan : curtains made of living plants.

Chinese inventor, Li Fan, has come up with a brilliant way to support the environment, and help people say “adios” to cleaning and washing curtains. Her living curtains are actually self-sufficient plants, on a supporting mesh.

Li Fan’s curtains filter light, like regular curtains, but also suck all the impurities out of the air, and smell fresh all the time. Living plants curtains are the hottest thing in Beijing home-design, right now, and Li Fan says business is booming.

No word on whether these living plant curtains are available outside China, but I’m sure there are people out there willing to pay top dollar to green-up there homes.

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Mosquito Monument Found in Russian Village

If this thing was for real, you’d need a lot more than a can of Raid, to hold on to your blood.

Back in 2007, Biologists from the Tyumen Regional Museum, who were examining the Noyabrsk area, for creating an eco-tourism route, for kids, stumbled across what they considered the most bizarre find, in their careers, in Lata village. A giant mosquito, as tall as an average person, was staring them in the face.

Luckily for them, this particular blood-sucker was just a sculpture, made from scrap metal. Local artist, Valery Chaliy built this strange monument, using old car and truck parts. It’s not exactly a monument, since we’re talking about a pest that no one would really miss, but the artist admits he was inspired by the millions of mosquitoes inhabiting the neighboring swamps.

Photos via svintuss

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Pigs That Grow Wool, Who Knew?

I know you’ve heard of a woolly mammoth, but did you know there’s actually such a thing as a woolly pig? Well, there is, and it’s called Mangalitsa.

Seen from a distance, these pigs look like sheep, and it’s only when you spot their snouts and hear their growl, that you realize they’re actually pigs. Commonly referred to as “sheep-pigs” these strange breed is called Mangalitsa, and it’s on the brink of extinction. That’s right, even though their wool makes them very resistant, both in summer and winter time, it doesn’t do a damn thing against man’s appetite.

Mangalitsa pigs originated from Austria and Hungary, and they come in three color varieties: blond, brunette and redhead. Apart from their bizarre appearance, these pigs have another trait that made them even more popular: their meat, apparently, tastes delicious and is considered a delicacy.

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Tim Tebow Portrait Made with BB Gun Balls

A talented Gainesville artist found an original way of paying homage to Gators quarterback, Tim Tebow. He created a mosaic using thousands of plastic balls.

John O’Hearn claims he can recreate any image or photo, using just 5 color plastic balls (red, blue, green, black and white). He is a big Gators fan and thought this would be a great way to honor what Tebow has done for the team. O’Hearn started out as a sculptor, but began experimenting with BB gun balls, in recent years.

The Tebow mosaic measures 4 feet by 6 feet, and contains 207 tubes, each with 204 plastic balls. The grand total adds up to 46,308 small BB balls. Such an impressive work of art couldn’t go unnoticed by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, who bought it for the Orlando Odditorium.

Plastic ball Tim Tebow was purchased, by Ripley’s, in December of 2009, but since the Odditorium is getting a little crowded, O’Hearn is put on the trading block. Anyone who wants a shot at this unique piece of art, has to offer another oddity, perform an amazing stunt, or make a donation. If that’s you, make an offer!

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Ruby Dickinson – The World’s Youngest Tattoo Artist

Three-year old Ruby Dickinson, from Wales, is preparing to ink a small tattoo, on her father’s body, and become the youngest tattoo artist on Earth.

Ruby has been living in a tattoo-filled environment, ever since she was born. Her father, Blane, has his own tattoo shop, set up right in their home. Tattooing has already become part of Ruby’s life, and she always talks to her father’s customers, about what they’re planning to ink on their bodies, and repeats whatever her father tells them, on the matter.

Blane has already ordered a special tattooing tool, from the States, one that fits Ruby’s small hands. Right now, she is practicing her favorite design, a spider, about the size of a 2 p coin. Since her father already has 70% of his body covered with tattoos, he’s not worried Ruby might mess up the spider.

Brent says “this will set her off on a fantastic career, and a tattoo machine is a lot cheaper than university fees.”

Photos by Cascade News via Daily Mail

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The Cat Who Liked to Read

That there must be a really interesting book, to attract the attention of a cat.

These purring fur ball has become an internet sensation, in China, after its owner took some pictures of her, reading a book. The cat seemed to be drawn to that pile of books, always trying to get a sneak peak, when her master was reading. Noticing her peculiar behavior, the man took a camera and immortalized the cat’s reading activity.

As you can see, the feline seems focused on reading every Chinese character, but that made her little brain very tired. After every reading session, the cat needed a good nap, to recover, and get back to her book.

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Cliff Penrose – The Rabbit Whisperer

60-year-old Cliff Penrose can put even the hoppiest bunny in a trance, by using the mysterious art of hypnosis.

Cliff needs just a few seconds to subdue a rabbit. After making a squeaking sounds, to attract the animal’s attention, Britain’s only rabbit whisperer applies some pressure and gives the rodent a little massage. To make sure the hopper doesn’t feel at all threatened, Cliff lowers his head, and finally closes its eyelids.

According to this unusual animal tamer, this technique places any rabbit in a trance, with its paws in the air, for up to 10 minutes at a time. But you have to be confident when handling the animal, and never try to do it when you’re stressed, scared, or nervous. According to Cliff, rabbits are incredibly intelligent animals that react to your state of mind.

Cliff Penrose has placed hundreds of bunnies, under his spell, and even has a special phone line, for troubled owners. Because of his special gift, he is in high demand, among vets in St. Austell, Cornwall.

via Daily Mail

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Bunny Museum – The Hoppiest Place on Earth

Featuring over 26,000 bunny-inspired items, the Bunny Museum of Pasadena, California, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest bunny collection.

It all began when she called him honey-bunny, and he gave her a stuffed bunny, for Valentine’s Day. Steve Lubanski and Candace Frazee, met in 1992, at a singles seminar, and both discovered their love for bunnies. At first, each gave the other bunny gifts, on holidays, then, every day, and even several times a day. At their wedding reception, in 1994, Steve showed up in a bunny costume, they both did the bunny hop, and ate carrot cake.

In just a few years, the couple already had an impressive collection of bunny memorabilia, so, in 1998, they officially opened the Bunny Museum, right in the house they live in. It was included in the Guinness Book of Records, as the world’s biggest collection of bunnies, in 1999, when it only numbered 8,437 items.

But the collection kept growing, and the Bunny Museum now features over 26,000 bunny-inspired things, from stuffed toys, to wind chimes, phones and pretty much anything you can imagine. Since Steve and Candice actually live in the Bunny Museum, admission is free, but by appointment only. So far the cute museum has been visited by 16,000 people.

If you decide to visit, make sure you don’t call the bunnies “rabbits”, Candice doesn’t like that very much.

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Chinese Farmer Creates Army of Home-Made Robots

Wu Yulu, a Chinese farmer, from a small village, outside Beijing, has created a series of 47 robots, out of scrap metal. They can accomplish various functions, from drinking, to walking and even pulling a rickshaw.

Ever since he can remember, Wu Yulu has been fascinated with the mechanics of movement. He always dreamed of building robots that could imitate human behavior, and in 1986, he decided to put his dream into practice. 24 years later, our techie farmer is the proud inventor of 47 home-made robots.

But Wu Yulu has made many sacrifices, in the name of science. He almost lost his wife and two children, after burning down the house, while working on a robot, accumulated great debt, and was even sprayed with battery acid. But like any respectable mad scientist, our man didn’t give up.

And now his effort are finally being rewarded. Mr. Wu has been invited to showcase his scrap metal creations and their functionality, at the 2010 Shanghai Expo. This after already receiving a number of prizes and contracts with universities. But he doesn’t get all this go to his head. he still lives in his modest village house, surrounded by pieces of metal and broken doll parts.

The strangest thing, about Wu Yulu, is he declared he loves his metal robots, more than he loves his own kids. He refers to his rickshaw robot as his 32nd son, and even programmed it to say “Wy Yulu is my dad, I take him out on the town.” How cool is that!

Photos by REUTERS via Daylife

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