Linking the coastal communities of the Municipality of Tempi and the Municipality of Agia, the Palaiopyrgos bridge is a vital route for locals, but it is visibly sagging, with its central section mere inches above the waters of the Pineios River below. However, the dangerous deformation has never stopped daring motorists from using the bridge.

Officially, the Palaiopyrgos bridge collapsed in 2023 and has been closed for circulation ever since. But it was neither barricaded in any way, nor fixed, so people who choose not to obey the signs prohibiting passage for obvious safety reasons can do so.

Drone footage captured by the Larissanet Daily Newspaper shows a Ford Ranger slowly managing the collapsed bridge like an obstacle course, but ultimately passing from one end to the other. According to locals, many motorists prefer to risk crossing the Palaiopyrgos bridge this way because the alternative route involves a significant detour that would cost them valuable time and fuel.

Interestingly, tourists are reportedly often guided towards the collapsed bridge as well, forcing them to turn back the way they came from when they see the warning signs or risk crossing the collapsed bridge.

Photo: Larissanet Daily Newspaper

Held at a Domix store in the city of Stavropol, the unusual competition challenged dozens of participants to drink out of toilet bowls as fast as possible for the chance to win a 100,000 ruble ($1,276) prize. Competitors were split into groups of seven, with the fastest drinker advancing to the second round.

In the second stage of the competition, the seven winners from the previous round had to sit on a closed toilet seat for as long as possible, with the last person sitting being declared the winner of this unusual Game of Thrones.

It’s unclear who claimed the 100,000 rubles, but according to the organizers, after ten hours of the competition, only two people had quit, with the rest continuing to suppress their physiological needs.

The unusual competition went viral on social media, drawing criticism from the general public, with many people calling it degrading.

The Do Hiemon Box is a metallic container with a transparent glass door designed as a personal cooling space for humans. You climb in, sit on the built-in seat, and enjoy air cooled to approximately 5°C directed toward your head, neck, shoulders, and back. According to the manufacturer, a 10-minute stay in a Do Hiemon Box helps quickly reduce body temperature and alleviate the symptoms of heat-related exhaustion.

The human refrigerator maintains a constant temperature of approximately 15°C, features three cooling and airflow modes, automatically shuts off after 20 minutes to prevent overcooling, and consumes approximately half the energy of a standard mobile air conditioner. It also requires no special installation and can be easily moved around thanks to its built-in wheels.

The recently unveiled Do Hiemon Box is already available through a series of industrial refrigeration distributors, at a price of 1.5 million yen ($9,200). It is currently aimed at companies and government organizations looking to keep their staff cool in a more cost-efficient manner, but if it proves effective, it could become available for domestic buyers as well.

Sora News reports that human refrigerators have already begun appearing in public spaces, with some local authorities inviting people to use them for free to cool off on hot days.

Most of us out God-given mobility for granted until we start to lose this gift either to old age or to various medical conditions. That’s when we realize that simple acts like pulling on a sleeve or undoing a button suddenly require a great deal of effort and coordination. But that’s where SWAG comes in. Powered by robotic vines, this futuristic clothing puts itself so you don’t have to.

The secret behind SWAG is the vine robot developed by Stanford’s Allison Okamura. They are designed to creep forward by everting from their tip, the way a party horn unrolls, and have so far been used to explore hard-to-reach places like rubble or even the inside of the human body. But researcher Kim Nam Gyun decided that the design was perfect for clothing that people could put on without using their hands.

“When I was riding a bicycle, it ⁠started to rain … and I thought it would be helpful if a raincoat could be ​put on automatically (as I ride),” Kim told Reuters. “The vine robot stays close to the person and dresses them by turning the clothing inside out as it moves, allowing it to climb stably along the shape of the ​body.”

Inspired by garden ivy, the vine robot advances by growing at its tip and adapting to the shape ⁠of its surrounding environment. It inflates and extends along the wearer’s body, turning the fabric inside-out as it advances. Depending on the air pressure used to extend the vines inside the clothing, it can take up to 10 seconds to put on a suit.

The clever unfurling robot has been used to create a series of garment prototypes, from simple sleeves, to pants and full-body suits, and the results are nothing short of impressive. Although the vines are still very visible within the clothes, they are extremely efficient and could make a world of difference for people with low mobility.

In a moment in time when AI is being advertised as the solution to virtually any problem, SWAG is proof that mechanical engineering doesn’t always need software to solve important issues.

Earlier this month, Chinese news sources reported the shocking case of a 3-year-old girl nicknamed “Peiqi” who had ballooned to 35 kilograms (77 pounds) after her parents turned her into a mukbang star, filming her eating unhealthy foods and posting the clips on social media.

Peiqi’s parents used phrases like “3-year-old 66-pound (33-kilogram) chubby girl” and “amazing appetite” in the titles of videos they uploaded on platforms like Duoyin (China’s version of TikTok). They showed Peiqi consuming high-calorie foods such as fried chicken and fatty meat purely for the enjoyment of her followers.

As the 3-year-old girl’s weight increased to 35 kilograms, far exceeding the normal range of about 15 kilograms for children her age, outraged people started confronting her parents and asking them to stop doing mukbang videos. However, the couple defended their actions, claiming that Peiqi had weighed 4.5 pounds (about 2.25 kilograms) at birth, and just had a healthy appetite. They denied forcing her to eat, and claimed that the money they made from her videos was barely enough to cover the cost of the food.

As pressure from the general public increased, the video platforms banned Peiqi’s accounts, and her parents deleted their social media accounts as well.

Peiqi’s shocking case has brought attention to the controversial practice of using minors to attract attention and get views on Chinese social media. From mukbang and prank videos featuring kids to using them to sell various products, the presence of minors on social media has increased in recent years, with serious consequences for many of them.

In 2015, the watchmakers at Swiss manufacturer Vacheron Constantin unveiled Reference 57260, a one-of-a-kind pocketwatch commissioned by a private, anonymous collector with a set of very specific requirements, including a Hebraic perpetual calendar and a unique split-seconds chronograph that would allow them to time multiple events simultaneously. It took eight years to complete and became the basis of an even more complex timepiece, the Berkley Grand Complication.

Measuring about 2 inches in diameter and crafted in an 18-karat white gold case, Berkley Grand Complication weighs 2 pounds (960 grams) and features almost double the number of complications of the previous world’s most complicated watch, the Patek Philippe Calibre 89 (33 complications).

“Because the most complicated watch before this one had 33 complications, we set a goal of 36 complications,” Dominique Bernaz, head of the Atelier Cabinotiers division, told Forbes. “As we worked together, I would regularly ask my team if they thought we could do it, and they would smile and nod yes. We were halfway through the project before we knew just how many complications the watch would have, because the project kept evolving. Each complication is a special accomplishment, but putting them all together into one watch, that was the real challenge.”

In theory, many watchmakers could create a watch with double the complications of the Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication, but it would probably have the diameter of a football. What makes this timepiece so special is that the craftsmen at Atelier Cabinotiers managed to cram 63 of them into such a small case while also figuring out how to display every one of these extra features. Keep in mind that this two-sided pocket-sized marvel is made up of 2,870 tiny mechanical components.

The price of the world’s most complicated watch was confidential, but most experts estimate the price to be in excess of $10 million. As a unique collector’s item, its value is only expected to increase over time.

There will probably come a day when another watch dethrones the Berkley Grand Complication, after all, Swiss watchmakers have been one-upping each other for hundreds of years. But it’s worth mentioning that Vacheron Constantin is giving them a run for their money, improving on the original design (Reference 57260) and adding additional complications over the years.

On July 14, Alex Toussaint, one of the founders of Tornyol, posted a video showing the company’s “first air-to-air kill”. In it, a small drone can be seen pursuing and ultimately shooting down a moth in a control test area. Obviously, a moth is not a mosquito, and the test area was very small, but this is apparently a very big step toward developing a drone capable of identifying and annihilating insects in mid-air.

Tornyol’s declared goal is the development of 40-gram drones that rely on smartphone microphones, ultrasonic sensors, and custom software to track and target insects. The drones are designed to send out ultrasonic pulses and listen for echoes with an array of microphones. Because mosquito wings create a distinct Doppler sound signature, the drones could theoretically tell mosquitoes apart from other insects.

Alex Toussaint and Clovis Piedallu, the engineers behind Tornyol, hope to one day use swarms of these micro-drones to eliminate mosquitoes from whole urban areas, with 10 of them capable of clearing one square kilometer of the winged blood-suckers.

Photo: Helena Minginowicz

“Canvas is harder, it’s bigger, and much more impressive. In contrast, this paper napkin is like a joke, but we are something like this,” the Polish artist told We Present magazine. “We are trying to be canvases, but we are paper towels! It’s so touching to me that we still try to be immortal.”

Photo: Helena Minginowicz

Using layers of airbrushed acrylic, Helena paints Renaissance-style artworks on pieces of paper towels, focusing on both human characters and the symbolic meanings assigned to various animals (doves for peace, swans for beauty, etc.) to convey her thoughts to the beholder.

Photo: Helena Minginowicz

Using a fragile, highly absorbent canvas like the paper towel makes the painting process a difficult affair, but Helena Minginowicz likes to mainly free-hand it anyway. She only outlines her general design on the towel and proceeds to carefully airbrush the painting, adding elements as she goes along.

Photo: Helena Minginowicz

Colossal Magazine reports that Minginowicz is currently working toward a solo exhibition at Paris’ Galerie Prima, set to open on October 8th.

The idea of building right under the Shuikousi Bridge was to take advantage of unused land near the center of the city, instead of expanding outwards on the outskirts. This way, residents could have easy access to the city center. But there was obviously a compromise. The over a dozen apartment buildings rising up all the way to the bridge would be affected by traffic noise and vibrations.

Two years after the completion of the bridge, about 10 residential buildings were erected as low-rent housing as well as resettlement housing projects, and gradually, more buildings were added on the remaining vacant land under Shuikousi Overpass.

As expected, the constant traffic noise and the vibrations from the passing vehicles overhead became a daily presence in the lives of the thousands of people occupying this unusual residential complex, but few of them complained. The advantages far outweighed the disadvantages, so people just adapted and started considering the noise and the shaking as part of the charm of their unique residence.

To improve living conditions, authorities eventually banned heavy semi-trucks from using the bridge, which somewhat reduced the noise and shaking. It’s still not the quietest or most comfortable place in Guyiang, and there is not a lot residents can do to keep the dust from the road from entering their homes, but it’s cheap and close to the city center.

Today, the community under the Shuikousi Bridge is regarded as an innovative way of managing urban density in a city of over four million people, where available land is very scarce.

For more unique Chinese urban planning, check out this train line that passes straight through apartment buildings in the city of Chongqing.

The history of fermented katsuobushi can be traced back to the Edo period (1603 – 1868), although mentions of “fish that has been boiled and dried hard” can be found in the Yoro Code of 718. It remains an essential ingredient for the dashi stock used to make popular dishes like miso soup and soba dipping sauce.

Photo: Adriano/Wikimedia Commons

The complex process of making katsuobushi begins with frozen skipjack tuna, aka ‘bonito’. The fish is first thawed in water for 24 hours, then cut into fillets that are placed in a special cauldron and simmered for up to 90 minutes. It is then cooled, deboned, and much of its skin and fat are removed. At this stage of the process, the water content of the bonito is about 68%.

Next, the fillets are placed in wooden-lidded baskets and wood-smoked for about an hour, then allowed to cool. This process is repeated dozens of times, for about a month. The smoke drastically lowers the water content in the fish, draws out excess fat, and also prevents it from rotting. By now, the moisture content has dropped to around 28%.

To make the highest grade of katsuobushi, the fillets are sprayed with a solution containing the Aspergillus glaucus bacteria and placed in a special chamber at a temperature of 20 degrees Celcius. After two weeks, the mold-covered fillets are taken out to dry in the sun for two days, after which they are once again sprayed with mold and left to ferment for two weeks. This process is repeated for several months until the moisture in the katsuobushi reaches the desired level of around 18% – 20%.

The mold plays a critical part in the making of katsuobushi, as it consumes moisture to sustain itself, accelerating the drying process, decomposes fat into soluble fatty acids, breaks down proteins into amino acids, and keeps off other microorganisms during the fermentation process.

Fermented katsuobushi is as hard as wood, extremely brittle, and looks like crystal or colored glass when polished. It is shaved into thin flakes using a tool similar to a wood planer.

For the world’s hardest cheese, check out Nepal’s rock-hard chhurpi cheese.