The investment works as a tool for conservation efforts and a way for the investors to get more money from tourism, glamping and rewilding safaris, and from the government’s post-Brexitenvironmental land management schemes.
Bir Tawil is the last unclaimed, habitable land on Earth. Wedged in between Egypt and Sudan, the oddity has captured the attention of thrill-seekers, curious minds, and people who want a chance to own or rule an unowned plot of land.
At the moment, Dwain Coward, a 41-year-old barrister from south London, proclaims himself the king of Bir Tawil. He even did a coronation ceremony, complete with a crown and oath to develop his ‘new country.’ His interest in the land is due to the belief that Bir Tawil can become an ‘oasis of possibility.’ When travel restrictions due to the pandemic are loosened, the barrister aims to travel to the land in order to redouble his efforts in persuading stakeholders to invest their futures in his vision.
A Zeer pot is a traditional pot-in-pot refrigerator that dates back as far as 3000BC. Surprisingly enough, this kitchen gadget is still used in India and Nigeria. These kinds of pots are composed of two clay pots, an outer pot lined with wet sand, and an inner pot where food items can be stored.
London-based designer Ellie Perry created a modern interpretation of the Zeer pot called the Terracooler. Unlike its predecessor, this new pot is tri-tiered and fits right on the kitchen counter. Learn more about this handy kitchen tool here.
I wonder if the student would mind if I borrow her idea? God knows we pour blood, sweat, and tears into making our thesis. It’s a very difficult feat, and we need to celebrate our success in every possible way!
You can visit these extravagant and beautiful churches and marvel at their unique architecture. Each one is a testament to the trends of its time. They serve as a record of architectural trends that future generations can study regardless of religious affiliation.
From detailed sculptures that adorn these buildings, to their towering tops and onion domes, Luxury Columnist lists the top religious edifices around the globe. Check the full list here.
Josh Sundquist has become a legend for his clever Halloween costumes that always incorporate the fact that he has only one leg. We've posted almost all of them over the years. Today he revealed what he's been working on for 2021. He's a microscope!
You have to wonder where the inspiration for this came from. Does it have a hidden meaning, or did he decide to do it because it's difficult? Sundquist has made himself into inanimate objects before, like the leg lamp and the IHOP sign. The Pixar lamp is definitely animated, even though it's a lamp. Oh yeah, and then there was the Christmas tree, which was featured in a rather hilarious video that runs through Sundquist's previous costumes. -via Bored Panda
People who use Ring doorbell and security cameras send in unusual things they've recorded to the company, which then makes occasional compilation videos for our amusement. This is the Halloween edition, in which we see plenty of costumed characters, some acting as expected and others not so much. There are also creepy critters, from spiders and bats to a bear who wants that pumpkin and a coyote who wants that house cat. While the narration can be a bit annoying at times, they also slip in some Halloween trivia in order to avoid any hint of silence. -via Boing Boing
Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills were a patent medicine first manufactured in 1854 and promoted as a cure for dyspepsia, liver trouble, women's ailments, pimples, and a host of other maladies. They were manufactured and sold by various Comstock family businesses and their partners, and are still sold today in Australia.
But what makes them really interesting is the marketing. The advertisement shown above is dated to somewhere between 1870 and 1900. It has a cat and a poem, which draws the attention, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with medicine. It turns out that this is a series of ads, with a much longer complete poem that tells us what happens to the cat. Continue reading to see the rest of the series.
This dog has guts! A playful Labrador interrupted a soccer game and demanded a belly rub in Gori, Georgia. Many players tried to catch the dog and remove him from the field, including the referee. Instead of feeling scared or threatened, the dog thought they were playing a game and happily ran away from them. The dog was eventually coaxed to get off the pitch. No one really knows where the dog came from or how it got into the field.
These stunning photographs by kazkovuykyiv depict several Disney icons in real life. From Snow White to Belle to Rapunzel, the characters were photograpped in a gauzy wonderland setting. The photographer enlisted the help of some Ukrainian celebrities to play the roles. Check more photos below!
The ghjattu-volpe, also known as a ‘cat-fox,’ was once a mythological being among shepherds. However, thanks to a project on Corsica, this being has been proven to exist! According to a genetic analysis, the cat-fox could actually be a previously unrecognized species of wildcat.
Researchers hope that its genetic information will be distinct enough to be recognized as a new subspecies, at least.
When a puppy in Thailand ended up getting lost, he managed to make his way to the perfect "help desk." It happened to be the Putahracsa Veterinary clinic, where the puppy had received his vaccines months earlier. The pupper sat outside until the staff recognized him and proceeded to call his family.
Leave some space for fruits and vegetables on your diet, please. No one said anything about a fast-food ban!
A teenage boy became blind after a long period of eating just Pringles, fries, plain white bread, and occasional processed meat. According to Dr Denize Atan, who treated him at Bristol Eye Hospital, "his diet was essentially a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day," In addition, the doctor states that "he also used to snack on crisps – Pringles – and sometimes slices of white bread and occasional slices of ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables."
With the boy’s lacking diet, he developed vitamin B12 deficiency, which can lead to reduced color vision and other eye problems. In addition, he suffered from Arfid, also known as avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. His vision deteriorated after not continuing his supplements, which was against medical advice.
We know that President Theodore Roosevelt was a veteran, a fitness buff, and an outdoorsman. He always tried to stay in shape, and was no stranger to a hard day's work, even while in office. Roosevelt camped outside, even when it rained, and was known to pitch hay with the best of them. This endeared him to working people, except for those he outworked in public. In fact, he managed to leverage his physical strength to influence others in many ways. In other words, he wasn't above making hay out of it. This account quoted from a magazine was published in the Essex County Herald on November 22, 1907.
A delegation from Kansas visited President Roosevelt at Oyster Bay. The president met them with coat and collar off, mopping his brow.
“Ah, gentlemen,” he said, “dee-lighted to see you—dee-lighted! But I’m very busy putting in my hay just now. Come down to the barn with me, and we’ll talk things over while I work.”
Down to the barn hustled president and delegation.
Mr. Roosevelt seized a pitchfork and—but where was the hay?
“John!” shouted the president. “John! Where’s all the hay?”
“Sorry, sir,” came John’s voice from the loft, “but I ain’t had time to throw it back since you threw it up for yesterday’s delegation.”
Exorcism is a ritual used to remove demons that possess the bodies of people. Casting out demons goes back at least as far as the Bible, and is usually associated with the Catholic Church. However, exorcism has occurred in Pentecostal and Evangelical churches in more modern times. There is no doubt that people will occasionally show symptoms that couldn't be explained any other way in the days before modern medical science, that today would be diagnosed as mental illness or even physical ailments -or a combination. The spiritual belief in demons can go a long way toward making them seem real. But whether or not you believe that demons can possess people, the rituals used to cast them out are very real, and some have been extensively documented. Some appeared to have been successful, while others were lifelong battles, and even more left no documented followup. Read the accounts of six documented historical exorcisms ranging over the past 400 years at Mental Floss.
