Hum is a picturesque hilltop settlement in Croatia’s Istria region whose main call to fame is being the smallest town in the world.

Located in central Istria, approximately a 2.5 hours drive from Croatia’s capital city of Zagreb, the medieval hilltop town of Hum is home to between 20 and 30 people (21 according to the 2011 national census, and 27 as of 2021). Its origins are shrouded in mystery, but its first mention in historical documents dates back to the year 1102, when it was called Cholm. A bell and watch tower was built in 1552 as part of the town’s defenses, and guards and their families started moving in, but the town never really developed over the centuries, and even today it consists of just three neat rows of medieval houses and two streets.

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A Japanese mother has come under fire for having her 9-year-old daughter undergo double eyelid surgery in order to become more beautiful.

In Japan, plastic surgery is legal for anyone under the age of 18, as long as they have the consent of their parents or a legal guardian, and according to a recent report by VICE Asia, some parents are actually encouraging their children to undergo cosmetic procedures in order to enhance their physical appearance. In a recent episode of its “Deadly Beauty” series, the online magazine featured Rucchi and Micchi, a Japanese mother-daughter duo whose YouTube channel focuses on makeup and plastic surgery. In order to help her 9-year-old daughter become more beautiful, Rucchi had her undergo a blepharoplasty operation, aka double eyelid surgery.

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Often weighing in at more than 10 kilograms (22 lbs), the Flemish Giant is by far the largest rabbit breed in the world. They are also extremely docile creatures and make great pets.

Originally a utility breed raised in Flanders, Belgium for its fur and meat, the Flemish Giant eventually became a show breed, due to its high bone-to-meat ratio. Today, they are considered one of the most docile and tolerant rabbit breeds in the world and can make great pets, if raised correctly. According to breed standards, a well-developed Flemish Giant has a large head, long, erect ears, a long and powerful body, and a nicely rounded rump. Unsurprisingly, the world’s largest rabbit is a Flemish Giant rabbit that weighs 49 lb (22 kg) and measures 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in).

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A team of Volkswagen designers and engineers developed a high-tech office chair that you can drive at a top speed of 12mph (20km/h)

Most high-tech office chairs are either simply waterproof, or stainproof, or are designed at a higher standard in terms of ergonomics. But Volkswagen’s recent take on a high-tech office chair shows just how low the bar sits at the moment. The German car manufacturer designed and built an office chair with a built-in motor and controls, allowing the user to drive it at a respectable top speed of 12mph. And that’s just one of the crazy features built into this one-of-a-kind piece of office furniture.

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A Chinese man recently went viral on social media after he was photographed lighting up and smoking several tobacco cigarettes while running a marathon.

At this point, I think everyone can agree that smoking tobacco isn’t the healthiest thing you can do. But it’s one thing to light up in the comfort of your own home while enjoying a cup of coffee, or on a cigarette break at work, and quite another while running a 42-kilometer marathon. So when photos of a man in his 50’s casually smoking while taking part in the Xin’anjiang Marathon last week went viral, everyone was curious to know his story.

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A South African woman allegedly wired her mouth shut with “slimming wires” in a desperate attempt to lose weight for a breast reduction surgery.

Aviwe Mazosiwe has been trying to lose weight and reach a certain BMI to qualify for breast reduction surgery that she hopes will improve her quality of life. She had managed to lose 12 kilograms with intermittent fasting, but after reaching a plateau on her weight-loss journey, the South African woman decided to take more drastic measures. In June of this year, she had slimming wires fitted on her teeth. These are orthodontic brackets with wires wrapped through them that are attached to the wearer’s teeth to keep the jaw shut. It’s a controversial weight loss device that has attracted a lot of criticism online after Aviwe started sharing her experience on TikTok.

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Peruvian police in Lima recently received international attention for an offbeat operation in which officers disguised as Marvel and DC superheroes dismantled a crime family.

In a video that has been doing the rounds online for about two weeks now, police officers disguised as Captain America, Thor, Spiderman and Cat Woman can be seen listening to the briefing for ‘Operation Marvel’. After listening to a superior explain the details to them, they walk out to a car and drive to the location of their objective, a criminal operation run by the Mariátegui family, who specialized in drug trafficking. The superheroes casually stroll through the streets all the way to their objective and then smash through the door of a house, catching their targets by surprise.

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A Japanese girl sparked controversy recently after revealing that she has been getting plastic surgery since 5th grade and that she has so far spent over 10 million yen ($72,000) to change her appearance.

Zirazyo_ is an up-and-coming Japanese influencer whose shot to fame came when she revealed that her current appearance is the result of plastic surgery. The young girl recently posted a TikTok video where she claims to have had her first cosmetic procedure in the 5th grade (10 or 11 years old), and that she has been altering her appearance ever since, spending over 10 million yen in the process. Zirazyo_ confessed that she has been struggling with criticism for her plastic surgery her entire life, but that she is fighting to break the stigma that plastic surgery is a negative thing.

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The Isles of Scilly Football League is the world’s smallest official football league, consisting of only two teams that play each other seventeen times a season.

As the home of football, England has always been crazy about the team sport, and the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago of more than 140 islands off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, is no exception. Like many other regions of England, the isles have their own football league, but what sets them apart is the size of the league – it consists of just two teams, the Garrison Gunners and the Woolpack Wanderers, that play each other every weekend during a season, as well as in two yearly cups and the traditional ‘Old Men versus the Youngsters’ game played on Boxing Day.

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Japanese convenience store chain Lawson recently launched a rather intriguing new product – flavorless candy that apparently tastes like emptiness.

Whether it be sweet, sour, salty or even spicy, candy has always been associated with a type of flavor. Well, at least until now, because flavorless candy is a thing these days. Lawson, one of Japan’s largest convenience store chains is currently testing a number of products, including the aptly-named Aji no Shinai? Ame (Tasteless? Candy), which apparently tastes like nothing. As you can imagine, the marketed lack of flavor has been raising eyebrows in Japan, and for good reason, after all, can you even imagine sucking on a candy that doesn’t have any taste?

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To celebrate the 175th anniversary of Switzerland’s first railway, a railway company created the world’s longest passenger train ever, a 1.2-mile-long monster snaking through the Swiss Alps.

Switzerland’s mountain railways are regarded as feats of engineering, but they are hardly the best place to attempt a world record for the world’s longest passenger train. And that goes double for Rhaetische Bahn railways. Not only is the alpine terrain itself a challenge, featuring sharp turns and constant gradient changes, but the railway itself is considerably narrower –  just one meter apart, compared to the standard 1.435 meters. In order for the 25 “Capricorn” electric trains (a total of 100 passenger cars) to complete their voyage successfully on the UNESCO World Heritage Albula Line from Preda to Alvaneu in eastern Switzerland, everything had to be perfect.

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It’s hard to believe, but your eyes are playing tricks on you. The black liquid you see being poured into the cup in the photo below is actually just expertly sculpted and painted wood.

A year ago, Japanese wood carver Kibori no Konno (@kibori_no_konno) took to Twitter to share photos of some hyper-realistic coffee beans he had sculpted out of wood and then painted. They looked just like the real thing, and people couldn’t stop praising his talent. Since then, he has created all sorts of interesting sculptures, and to celebrate the piece that really kickstarted his year-long artistic journey, the Japanese artisan decided to do something really special. And that he did…

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If you’ve ever wondered what Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’s protagonist Jotaro Kujo would look like in real life, one Italian cosplayer has the answer.

Taryn is an “international cosplayer & professional performer” from Italy who specializes in bringing popular male anime and video game characters to life using detailed costumes and makeup. His portfolio is nothing short of impressive, featuring real-life impersonations of characters like The Witcher’s Geralt, Arataki Itto from Genshin Impact, Ryomen Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen, gaming many, many others. But the one that really got people’s attention this year was Taryn’s Jotaro Kujo cosplay, which, in many people’s view is simply flawless.

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Japanese clothing and housewares company Nissen recently launched its most intriguing product yet – a line of bed linens and blankets that try to mimic cat fur.

Studies have shown that petting a cat for just 10 minutes reduces the levels of stress hormones, and any cat lover will tell you just how relaxing the experience can be. But what about people who would love to have a pet cat, but are living in rented apartments that don’t allow pets? Or how about people who are allergic to cats, what are they supposed to do to relax? Well, that’s where the new Neko Feel (“Cat Feel”) material developed by Nissen comes into play. The Japanese company just launched a line of bed Neko Feel linens that it claims mimics the feel of cat fur.

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IV therapy is usually associated with curing illnesses, but when it comes to creating the world’s most expensive wood, IV drips are a means of delivering poison.

About a week ago, a couple of photos showing large IV drips filled with a dubious-looking liquid hanging from trees went viral on Chinese social media, prompting all kinds of reactions from people. Some wondered if it was an art installation designed to raise awareness about the rampant deforestation taking place on a global scale, or about the human-made pollution killing plant life, while others were convinced that it was a genuine treatment method designed to save the trees from fungi or other parasites. There were even those who said it was vandalism, that the bags were filled with human urine. All of these theories turned out to be wrong.

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