Taiwanese Politician Ridiculed for Looking Unrecognizable in Campaign Posters

A female candidate for a local position in Taipei, Taiwan, recently became the butt of social media jokes, after people noticed that she looked nothing like the woman on her campaign posters.

The world of politics is no stranger to image editing software, as many politicians turn to programs like Photoshop to make themselves look better in campaign posters. However, PR people sometimes overdo it to the point where the editing is obvious even to the untrained eye. And then there are cases like that of Wang Zhiya, a politician running for a position on Taipei’s City Council, whose campaign posters look absolutely nothing like her.

Read More »

Indian Minister Ridiculed For Claiming That Ancient Indians Had Access to Internet

We all know politicians sometimes say stupid things, they’re only human after all, but sometimes their statements just leave you scratching your head in disbelief. Take Indian minister Biplab Deb, who recently said that the internet existed back in the ancient days of Mahabharata.

Speaking at a regional workshop on Public Distribution System (PDS) in Agartala, in the Indian state of Tripura, Chief Minister Biplab Deb told the audience that the internet was invented “lakhs of years ago”, along with other advanced technology like satellites, and not by Western countries, but by ancient Indians. He argued that some of the events described in the Mahabharata couldn’t have been possible without this technologies, which, in his mind, is proof that they existed thousands of years ago.

Read More »

Costa Rican Inmates Use “Trained Cats” to Smuggle Cell Phones into Prisons

Mobile phones being smuggled into prisons is a worldwide problem, but Costa Rica may have recently became the first country where people are using “trained cats” to deliver cell phones into prisons.

On Tuesday morning, the Costa Rican Ministry of Justice released a video of a cat intercepted while trying to make its way into La Reforma prison, in Alajuela. Footage shows the feline with a strange parcel strapped to its chest and tied around its neck. After struggling to remove the package from the animal, penitentiary staff cut it open and reveal that it contains a used mobile phone, as well as a charger, a replacement battery and earbuds.

Read More »

Jelly Alchemy – The Amazing 3D Jelly Cakes of Siew Heng Boon

Jelly cakes don’t really sound very appetizing, or particularly impressive for that matter, but that’s only because you’ve probably never seen one of Siew Heng Boon’s amazing 3D jelly cakes.

Intricately-designed 3D jelly cakes are really popular in South-East Asian countries like Vietnam and Malaysia, and in Mexico, but some of the world’s most amazing such edible masterpieces are actually created by an Australian artist from Sidney. Siew Heng Boon has been making 3D jelly cakes for only two years now, but she’s already considered a master of the trade, and her incredible creations often have people do a double take.

Read More »

Canadian Naturopath Claims She Cured Aggressive Child with Remedy Made from Rabid Dog Saliva

A naturopath in Victoria, British Columbia, is facing massive criticism online, after boasting that she treated a four-year-old boy’s aggression and behavioral problems with a remedy made from rabid dog saliva.

Dr. Anke Zimmermann recently wrote about this “interesting” case on her website. Apparently, when she first 4-year-old Jonah, he had trouble sleeping, partly because he was afraid of werewolves, and would “hide under tables and growl at people” at school. After talking to his parents, Zimmermann also learned that he liked meat, particularly hamburgers, hot dogs and meatballs, and didn’t like to be cuddled, but instead would someone sniff, nuzzle and lick his mother, like a dog. Armed with this information, the naturopath asked Jonah’s mother a critical question:

Read More »

This Playmobil Toy Boat Has Been Sailing the High Seas for Almost a Year

Children usually launch their toy pirate ships in their pool or bathtub, but two Scottish brothers decided they wanted their toy ship to tackle the high seas. They launched it from Peterhead, in Scotland, last May, and it has been sailing the world’s seas and oceans ever since.

Ollie Ferguson (8) and his brother Harry (5), launched their Playmobil pirate ship into the North Sea as part of a bucket list of adventures that they put together. Their parents were more than happy to help out, preparing the ship for its maiden voyage. They toy ship had a counterweight added, to help it stay afloat, and its hull was filled with polystyrene to improve its buoyancy. But despite these modifications, no one expected it to still be sailing almost a year after being launched from Peterhead. It’s currently passing by Guyana, in South America.

Read More »

Man Bought Used Car for 100-Mile Trip Because It Was Cheaper Than a Train Ticket

A young bargain hunter recently managed to show just how insanely expensive train tickets in the UK can be, by buying a car, petrol, insurance and road tax for it and still spending less than the cost of just one train ticket for a 100 mile trip.

27-year-old Tom Church, from London, wanted to visit a friend an colleague in Bristol, just 100 miles away, but was put off by the high cost of a train ticket. After seeing a photo of a £218 ($311) train ticket for the same route he was interested in, posted on Reddit, Tom was both outraged and inspired to come up with a cheaper alternative. After doing some research, he figured out that it would actually be cheaper to buy a used car for the trip.

Read More »

50-Year-Old Woman Looks So Young People Mistake Her for Her Son’s Girlfriend

Remember Puspa Dewi, the 50-year-old Indonesian woman who people often confused with her two sons’ girlfriends? Well, she’s apparently not the only one with this “problem”. 50-year-old Liu Yelin’s incredibly youthful looks have the same effect on people.

50-year-old Liu Yelin, who goes by @queenyelin on Instagram, has been mesmerizing her social media followers with her youthful looks for a few years now, but she recently managed to attract worldwide attention with a series of herself posing in nothing more than a bikini and a pair of ski goggles at the frozen Lake Baikal, north of the Mongolian border. People just couldn’t believe how well she looked for her age, and the seemingly aging-resistant woman found herself in the media spotlight once again.

Read More »

Thai Company Rents Out Impressive Dowry to Poor Couples Who Don’t Want to Lose Face at Wedding

Looking for an original business idea? How about renting out expensive things to poor couples to show off as dowry during their wedding? A Thai company has been doing just that for the past three months, and business has been booming.

Chiang Mai-based special event company Romantiese has been making news headlines in Thailand for their newest service – a dowry rental option for couples who can’t afford to properly honour their parents on their wedding day. Known as “sin sod”, the dowry system is still very deeply rooted in Thai culture, and considered both a of honoring your bride’s parents for raising their daughter well and proof that you are financially capable of starting a family. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to have stacks of cash and gold bars on display at their wedding, which is where Romantiese comes in.

Read More »

Caterpillars Don’t Have Lungs, But Somehow This One Can Scream to Keep Predators Away

Apart from the sound they make while chewing on leaves, the vast majority of caterpillars are silent creatures. However, the Nessus sphinx hawkmoth caterpillar is able to produce clicking noises that sounds a lot like static, as a self-defense mechanism, and scientists believe they discovered how.

Insects have no lungs, but some of them can be really noisy. While humans and most other vertebrates make noise by forcing air out of their bodies, insects and larvae don’t have that luxury. Some of them have adapted, rubbing, knocking or vibrating parts of their bodies to produce distinctive sounds, the kind you hear when you open a window on a quiet summer night, but the Nessus sphinx hawkmoth caterpillar doesn’t fall into that category. When threatened, it produces a strange sound that resembles a combination of cracking and spitting, by pushing air through a constriction between its two foregut chambers, even though it has no lungs.

Read More »

Artist Faces Backlash After Killing Butterflies And Using Their Wings for a Painting Symbolizing Rebirth

A Chinese art student sparked a heated debate online after using the wings of over 500 butterflies to create a series of artworks symbolizing rebirth. While some consider her “sick” for using butterfly wings as an art medium, others think her creations qualify as original art.

Li Zheng, a fourth-year art student at Quanzhou Normal University in Fujian province, China, created a series of artworks consisting of meticulously arranged butterfly wings as part of her graduation piece. She and her colleagues were instructed by their lecturer to recreate famous artworks using different materials. Li decided she wanted to recreate some of the masterpieces of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, but at first, she had no idea what materials she was going to use.

Read More »

Indian Boy’s Body Can Allegedly Light Up LED Light Bulbs By Itself

A 9-year-old boy from Kerala, in India, has become a social media sensation after videos of him lighting rechargeable LED light bulbs just by touching their electrical contacts with any part of his body went viral online.

Abu Thahir, who hails from Muhamma near Alappuzha, Kerala, discovered his unusual power only recently, while returning home with his father after buying a rechargeable LED light bulb. His father, Nizar, who happens to be an electrician, told reporters that when he passed the light-bulb to his son, it just lit up in his hand. At first, he thought it was some sort of prank, but then he noticed that the bulb lit up whenever the electrical contacts on its bottom touched any part of his son’s body.

Read More »

Japanese Artist Twists Copper and Brass Wire Into the Most Incredible Sculptures

When it comes to metallic wire artworks, you’ll have a tough time finding a more talented artist than @tdaiki1216, a young Japanese art graduate who seems able to twist copper and brass wire into pretty much anything he sets his mind to, from sculptures that look like drawn manga, to slithering snakes and giant insects.

@tdaiki1216, whose real name is Tsutamoto Dawiki, first made headlines in Japan two years ago, when his incredibly detailed wire sculptures imitating manga drawings went viral on Twitter. Fixed into square wooden blocks and placed against a white background, his artworks looked exactly like manga comics, even though they were actually twisted pieces of wire. Those were impressive enough, but @tdaiki1216 has stepped up his game even more over these last few years, and is now specializing in more complex wire sculptures, some of which are simply mind-blowing.

Read More »

Japanese System Projects Realistic Shadows of Moving Men on Window Curtains to Protect Women Living Alone

“Man on the Curtain” is an ingenious system that uses your smartphone to project full-motion silhouettes of men on window curtains to deter criminals targeting women who live by themselves.

Tokyo may be one of the safest cities in the world, but crimes do sometimes occur and women who live alone are among the most targeted victims. Since the majority of Japanese people don’t like the idea of a roommate, apartment management company Leo Palace 21 has developed a “crime prevention projector kit” that gives would-be criminals stalking the apartments of female tenants the impression that they are not alone.

Read More »

Farmer Moves Three-Storey House 40 Meters to Avoid Demolition

A farmer from Southern China’s Jianxi Province managed to move his entire house 40 meters away from the site of a road construction site, by using an impressive system of wooden sleepers and winches.

Gao Yiping had completed work on his three-storey house in Zhouxi Town in 2014, and he and his family had only lived in it for just over a year when local authorities notified him that it was standing right in the middle of a new road construction site and needed to be demolished. The state would offer some compensation, but Gao, who had spent around 1 million yuan ($160,000) and several years building his dream home, just couldn’t bare the thought of seeing it demolished so soon. So, last year, he started searching for an alternative.

Read More »