I’ve seen rubber dolls used in many ways, most of them for adult eyes only, but using them as flotation devices makes much more sense.

Hundreds of crazy Russian swimmers gathered in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third largest city, for the annual Bubble Baba Challenge (Bubble Woman Chalenge). They plunged into the cold waters of the Ob River and had to swim for 100 meters with a rubber doll. The dolls helped keep them afloat, but were quite difficult to maneuver.

The first five swimmers to complete the Bubble Baba Challenge received prizes and diplomas.But what’s important is, everybody, including the 1,000 spectators, had fun. Read More »

They’ve only been born for a year and they’re already competing in sporting events. No wonder they’re called Olympic Babies.

Babies born on August 8, known as Olympic Babies, take part in a sporting competition that fits them like a diaper, a crawling race.  The race took place on August 6, 2009 in Beijing, to commemorate a 1 year anniversary since the Olympic Games held in the Chinese Capital.

via China.org

Unlike the Spanish, who like to get involved, the Chinese just like to watch as two bulls brutally fight each other. I’m not talking about the Spanish and the Chinese in general, but there’s no denying there are those who actually enjoy this type of displays.

These particular bullfights took place in Lianglong Village, Guanxing Province, China and were part of the local Xinmi Festival. As always, violence and blood managed to gather quite a crowd. And you can’t really blame the animal, they don’t know any better, but the people…

At least I hope they don’t kill the bulls, like they do in the corrida.

via China.org

As a horse, you have to be really small to be called a small pony and Koda is smaller than most dogs and only a bit bigger than a cat.

The smallest pony in Australia, Koda weighs just 35 kg and is only 59 cm tall. As an American Miniature pony, he was supposed to be small, but not this small. Diagnosed with dwarfism soon after his birth, Koda has struggled to survive as long as he has. The 13-month-old pony had serious health problems and had to go through extensive surgery.

He might look like a cute plush toy, but Koda has a pretty tough life. he’ll soon have to go through some dentistry to remove his adult teeth that simply don’t fit in his tiny mouth. His eyes look so sad, but i hope he’ll soon be able to live a normal life.

via Telegraph.co.uk

Just because they’re short doesn’t mean little people shouldn’t have the chance to compete in sporting events, at an international level. That’s why the World Dwarf Games were created.

Similar to the Paralympics, the World Dwarf Games gives athletes suffering from dwarfism the chance to prove themselves. The games are held every four years, in locations all across the world. The 5th edition of the games was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from July 24 until August 2nd. Competitors from all around the world tried their best to win and qualify for the 2012 Paralympics.

Photos by Reuters

Built by artist Alexa Andromeda, the Unlimited Drive motorcycle represents the thousands of giga-byte of hard-drive “to be driven on the Internet data highway”.

Did I mention this 18-inches-long masterpiece was built only with parts from old computers? The thick, shiny wheels are magnetic discs found in hard-disks. Unlimited Drive looks even more impressive when you learn it was built way back in 1995.

To celebrate Michael Jordan‘s induction into the Naismith Memorial, Gatorade teamed-up with an advertising company to create one of the oddest mosaics ever.

Using an image of “His Airness” leaping towards the basket, 14, 641 Gatorade Limited Edition Jordan bottles and 200 lightboxes, a giant drinkable mosaic was created. The unusual creation was first tested in an enclosed space, before being transported to an outdoor basketball court, in Chicago’s South Side, where hundreds of curious Michael Jordan fans awaited to see their idol recreated from Gatorade bottles.

via: Total Pro Sports

Check out the video at the bottom:

It might sound like an exaggeration, but the root bridges of Cherrapunji are indeed alive. Unlike most parts of the world, these bridges are grown, not built.

Known as the wettest place on Earth, Cherrapunji is home to some of the most amazing plants. One of these is the Ficus elastica tree, a sort of rubber tree that grows a ind of secondary roots from higher up in the trunk. The War-Khasis, a local tribe, noticed this plant and realized its potential.

Using hollowed-out betel nut trunks, the tribesmen are able to direct the roots in whatever way they like. When the roots grow all the way across a river, they are allowed to return to the soil, and over time, a strong bridge is formed. It takes up to 10-15 years for a root bridge to develop, but it becomes stronger with each passing year and are known to last for centuries.

Boulders and stones are placed among the rubber tree roots for an easier crossing. The living root bridges of  Cherrapunji are incredibly sturdy, able to sustain more than fifty people at a time.

via rootbridges

Wilcraft is an innovative vehicle specifically designed to ensure ice-fishermen return home safely from their fishing sessions.

It might not be the coolest car you’ve ever seen, but then again, it wasn’t built to win awards for its look. Wilcraft was built for ice-fishing, but it also drives on snow and water without sinking. Its wide tires create a pressure of only 130grams per square meter, even with a load of up to 250 kg.

Wilcraft also features a tent to protect you from bad weather and a 5-cm-thick insulated floor that keeps you nice and warm on the coldest ice. You too can be the proud owner of a Wilcraft, for the (not so) small price of $10,450.

Keep in mind you won’t be able to race this baby, since it has a top speed of just 30km per hour.

Apparently these photos were taken in Norway, where a ram was found hanging around on a steel wire. It seems the animal tried to leap over a living fence, but overshot his jump and one of his horns hooked the wire. The ram ended up being stuck 5 meters into the air, until it was rescued by tourists. They made sure they took some photos first.

I have to say this is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen, stranger than the acrobat goat and almost as strange as the tree goats of Morocco

Samsam Bubbleman has been making bubbles since 1989, when he first saw a balloon float past him, and now he’s breaking the record for the World’s Largest Free-Floating Soap Bubble.

I didn’t even know such a term  existed, but Samsam (real name Sam Heath) is a bubbleologist. You can say Sam does what he likes for a living since he owns a company that sells bubble mixtures, equipment and throws shows for some of the biggest celebrities. But making bubbles is more than a business for this bubble master, it’s truly a passion.

Sometimes called the “Willy Wonka of Bubbles”, Samsam has just attempted to set a new record for the world’s largest bubble, using a secret mixture he has been developing for 20 years. If the record will be acknowledged by Guinness, this will be his third world record. He has previously won the award for putting 50 people inside one of his balloons and putting the most balloons inside another balloon, 65.

Samsam Bubbleman says his secret is in the mixture, if the mixture is good than the tools don’t matter very much.

Photos by BARCROFT MEDIA

via Telegraph.co.uk

Rising proudly from the crop fields between Chester and Nantwich, Straw Ben is a straw replica of the famous Big-Ben, in London.

An ice-cream company from Britain thought of an original way to celebrate Big-Ben‘s 150th anniversary and came up with a very original idea. Using a steel frame and 500 bales of hay, they created a 70ft-tall replica of the famous clock-tower, almost a quarter the size of the real thing.

Nicknamed “Straw-Ben“, this straw masterpiece is surrounded by a fence and even has an alarm to discourage anyone who would try to climb it. Chris Sadler, the ice-cream company’s director, says these safety precautions were necessary, since the sculpture was very expensive.

This is just one of the straw works-of art created by this British ice-cream company and you can see some of their other creations in the photos below:

via Daily Mail

Anyone would be more then satisfied to be the proud holder of just one Guinness Record. But not Ashrita Furman, `the man who holds more Guinness World Records than anyone else on the planet.

54-year-old Ashrita Furman has spent the last 30 years trying (and succeeding) to break records. At the peak of his record-breaking career, Furman has held 100 records simultaneously and he’s not doing very bad right now, with 98 records under his belt. He has held 236 world records throughout his career and the closest anyone ever came to surpassing him was holding 20 records.

It all started when he was a little boy, reading the Guinness Book of Records and dreaming that one day he will break one himself. He accomplished his dream in 1979, when he set the world record with 27,000 star jumps, in New York City. And from there on, he never stopped.

Some of his record-breaking stunts involved pushing a car for 17 miles in 24 hours, translating and reciting a poem i 111 languages in 24 hours as well as:

walking 80.95 miles with a milk bottle on his head

chopping 27 apples in mid-air with a samurai sword within sixty seconds

deep Knee Bends on a Balance Board

racing against a yak, in a sac,  in Mongolia

Most Grapes Caught in Mouth in One Minute (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Longest Time Balancing on Swiss Ball (Stonehenge)

Skipping on a Pogo Stick (Cambodia)

Fastest Mile Balancing a Pool Cue (Egypt)

Fastest Hula Hoop Mile (Uluru, Australia)

Balancing Tallest Pole (Aspendos, Turkey)

Fastest Mile on a Space Hopper (Great Wall of China)

Now Ashrita Furman is training to break the record for the fastest mile with flippers on his feet.

Photos by Barcroft Media

via Telegraph.co.uk

Toilet paper pranks are very popular, but I can bet you’ve never seen anything of these proportions.

Someone spent a lot of effort and money to pull off what may be the greatest toilet paper prank in history. It all happened on Maplefield Road, in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan and it took hundreds of toilet paper rolls.  According to the neighbors, this particular home falls victim to pranks like this twice a year.

This looks pretty funny and cool, but I would hate to be the one who cleaning up the mess.

via WXYZ

Well, I think the name Mocha Lisa fits it best, and it wasn’t exactly painted in coffee, but recreated from thousands of coffee cups.

Mocha Lisa was created during The Rocks Aroma Festival, in Sydney, Australia and attracted the curious eyes of 130,000 people in just one day. This incredible coffee masterpiece took 8 people three hours to complete as well as 3,604 cups of coffee and 564 pints of milk.

The 20ft by 13ft replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s La Gioconda was created by adding various amounts of milk to the cups of coffee. I have to say the sepia effect achieved is simply incredible.

There’s a making-of video at the bottom, if you’re interested.

Photos by Alison Lyons/Solent

via Daily Mail