Bored during the last stages of the Covid-19 lockdown, a Japanese man spent a whole month catching dung beetles and creating a mesmerizing color gradient collection.

On August 17, Japanese Twitter (X) user bochimushi posted a photo of hundreds of shiny dung beetles arranged by color – from deep blue to purple – forming an impressive gradient. Apparently, the eye-catching collection of beetles was created in August of last year, as a way to pass the time during the end of the Covid-19 lockdown. Bored out of his mind, the man started hunting dung beetles and then arranging them neatly in this gradient style for a stunning visual effect. Bochimushi’s collection consists of a whopping 450 dung beetles.

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The ARCHAX is a real-life 4.5-meter-tall mecha robot created by Japanese company Tsubame Industry that can be yours for the low price of 400 million yen ($2.75 million).

If, like me, you grew up watching Gundam anime and playing video games like Armored Core or Titanfall, you probably imagined yourself piloting a giant mecha at least once in your life. Well, thanks to a company called Tsubame Industry, that dream is about to become reality. Well, if you can afford it, of course. The small Japanese startup recently showcased its newest product, dubbed ‘ARCHAX’, a pilotable robot inspired by Japanese mecha culture. Standing a whopping 4.5 meters tall and weighing around 3.5 tons, this real-life mecha is powered by a 300V battery and can switch from a standing mode to drivable mode, attaining a top speed of 10 kilometers per hour. However, in order to experience the thrill of piloting the ARCHAX, you’ll have to pay an estimated 400 million yen ($2.75 million) for one.

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Pinanga subterranea, a new species of palm discovered by researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, is one of only two known plants that exclusively fruit and flower underground.

There are more than 2,500 species of palm known to science, but Pinanga subterranea, a new species discovered on the tropical island of Borneo, is the only one that flowers and fruits only underground. The plant and its sweet fruits are well-known to the island’s indigenous population, but it has somehow been overlooked by scientists until now. Dr Paul Chai, a Malaysian botanist and namesake of the palm species Pinanga chaiana was the first to spot the underground-flowering palm, and in 2018, Kew scientists Benedikt Kuhnhäuser, Peter Petoe and William Baker took some samples for research purposes and discovered the plant’s amazing abilities.

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Japanese company Suidobashi Heavy Industries recently unveiled a miniature version of the Phalanx CIWS automatic gun system which fires thousands of plastic BB pellets instead of metal bullets.

Featuring a radar-guided 20 mm Vulcan cannon mounted on a swiveling base, the Phalanx CIWS is one of the U.S. Navy’s most reliable weapon systems, finding itself in use on almost every class of surface combat ship. It’s also the inspiration for what many are calling the coolest BB gun ever made. Kogoro Kurata, the creative genius behind Suidobashi Heavy Industries, the Japanese company that brought us the awesome KURATAS mecha (boardable robot) over a decade ago, recently unveiled the Phalanx BB gun on his Twitter page.

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Popular Youtuber and DIY master ‘The Q’ recently unveiled the world’s smallest functional bicycle, which, despite its deceptive size, can support up to 100 kilograms of weight.

Named Big Boy, the world’s smallest rideable bicycle was made from scratch, using rollerblade wheels and a strong iron frame. The Q goes into great detail about the build in his impressive YouTube video, which has over 1.4 million views at the time of this writing, but it’s obviously not something that anyone can make at home. Building a tiny bike is one thing, but making sure that an adult can actually ride it is something else entirely. Obviously, Big Boy isn’t the most comfortable bicycle to ride, even for small children, but at The Q demonstrates in his viral DIY video, it can definitely be done.

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Sandry Riffard is a talented tattoo artist from France who specializes in macabre hyperrealism with a three-dimensional layer.

We’ve featured some amazing tattoo art over the last 15 years, from titans of the trade like Arlo DiCristina and Karol Rybakowski, to talented newcomers carving out their own niches, like Eduardo “Duda” Lozano or Mexican artist Yatzil Elizalde, but when it comes to hyperrealistic macabre tattoos, it’s tough finding someone better. The French artist has always had a thing for horror-inspired art, but he has come so far in the last few years, setting himself apart from other practitioners of the style with some incredible projects.

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A Chinese man who recently bought 20 robot vacuums online for an unbelievable bargain price documented his experience to the delight of the internet.

The average price of a decent robot vacuum in China is around 1,000 yuan ($145), with more advanced models costing several times that much. So imagine finding a robot vacuum for just 27 yuan ($4) online! Can you blame this guy who bought 20 of them at once, just to make sure that their number compensates for performance only to learn the hard way that that’s not how these things work? As you can imagine, there was a reason those things cost next to nothing, but at least he got a good laugh and a lot of online attention out of it.

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Smartwatch manufacturers are constantly trying to one-up each other with feature-rich devices, but one Japanese company prides itself on making the world’s dumbest smartwatch.

The Stone Watch is not a smartwatch, it’s just designed to look like one. Created by Japanese capsule toy maker Tama-Kyu, the low-tech accessory doesn’t even tell time, let alone feature advanced tech like heart rate measurement, or smartphone connectivity. It doesn’t even have a display, it’s just a glossy, black piece of plastic with a silicone band that does nothing but look nice on your wrist.

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Lithuanian artist Toma Skabeikyte uses body paint and makeup to turn her own body into various optical illusions.

Toma Skabeikyte, a 32-year-old makeup artist and body painter extraordinaire, has been getting a lot of attention on social media for her intriguing optical illusions. Using her own body as a canvas, Skabeikyte, who hails from Akmene, in Lithuania, spends hours creating all sorts of surreal designs inspired by anything from films to videogames and other artworks.

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Motorcycle chariot racing is a modern take on one of the most popular sports in ancient Greece, Rome, and the Byzantine Empire.

We’ve featured our fair share of unusual sports here on Oddity Central, but motorcycle chariot racing is undoubtedly one of our most unique entries. Replacing the horses of old with some real horsepower in the form of two motorcycles, this unusual sport is making a comeback in the Land Down Under. Originally invented in the early 1900s in Australia, motorcycle chariot racing eventually spread to Europe and the USA before gradually being banned because of the danger to the riders. However, the adrenaline-fueled sport is currently making a comeback in Australia, thanks to a professional stunt rider.

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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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Back when paper and postage charges were prohibitively expensive, people developed a technique to convey as much information as possible on as little paper as possible.

We’re privileged to live in an age when paper, writing supplies and postage fees are generally affordable, so much so that most of us take them for granted. But things weren’t always like this. Back in the Civil War era and up until the 1900s, the paper that letters were written on and the postage charges were so expensive that people had to write on a piece of paper in multiple directions in order to save money. The technique was called cross-writing, or cross-hatching, and despite seeming unreadable, back in the day everyone was used to it and could read every word with ease.

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Lays, the world’s bestselling potato chip brand, recently launched a limited edition miniature washing machine for oily fingertips.

Let’s face it, there are few things in the world more addictive than potato chips, but if there’s one thing everyone hates about them – apart from getting us fat – it’s the grease they leave on our fingertips. You need to have napkins on hand, lick your fingertips (yuck!), or get up from that comfortable sofa and wash up when you’re done stuffing your face. Well, thanks to a rather ingenious marketing campaign, potato chip enthusiasts now have another option – a miniature washing machine designed specifically to clean oily fingertips.

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Yuki Tsuboshima, a metalworking artist from Japan, specializes in ingeniously-designed, mechanical sculptures that turn into different shapes, like little Transformers.

As a child, Yuki Tsuboshima was fascinated by puzzle-like toys with movable parts and intricate mechanisms, and he never really outgrew this passion. He majored in metalworking, specializing in uchidashi, a traditional Japanese metalworking technique used to manipulate metals like copper, brass and silver. He then completed a master’s course in industrial design at Musashino Art University Graduate School in Tokyo, where he learned to use software like 3DCAD to create all sorts of shapes and mechanical parts.

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French tattoo artist Veks Van Hillik specializes in clever black and white artworks that change shape when the person bends their arms or legs.

Tattoo artists usually steer shy of elbows and knees, because of the way their designs are warped when the client bends their arms or legs, but Veks Van Hillik embraces the challenge, creating mesmerizing tattoos that turn into something completely different when people bend and unbend their joints. Examples of these ingenious designs include an elbow-positioned scarab that opens its wings when the person straightens their arm or an expanding koi fish.

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