FeaturedMore

A town full of women offers reward for having a son

Miejsce Odrzańskie is the name of the town we are talking about. It’s located in the South of Poland, right next to the frontier of the Czech Republic. It doesn’t have many inhabitants, less than 300, to be precise. Which is not necessarily unusual. What’s odd about this town is that the majority of the citizens are women.

Miejsce Odrzańskie the town full of women

The last male was born 12 years ago

The last male was born not more and not less than 12 years ago. Citizens claim this strange phenomenon has been going on for over decades. No male children seem to be born in this town anymore.

Investigating the case…

The town aimed to discover what exactly was causing these occurrences, and so they decided to start digging. They analyzed all of their birth certificates, but didn’t really find anything other than the reality of the case. The majority of the children who were born there were simply female.

How could they determine the cause?

The problem with such cases is that there are so many factors that can alter results that it’s almost impossible to determine what it could be. You have to look into history and statistics. Take a look at the relation the parents have amongst each other. Interview both the parents and the children. Take the environmental factors into account. Only then would they be able to determine what causes might exist behind this odd phenomenon.

An “attractive reward”

Until the town finds out the exact cause of the high number of female births, the mayor has decided to offer a reward to anyone who can provide them with the first male child. It might not encourage parents, as they can’t exactly control who they give birth to.

However, it’s more of a “thank you” for those who are able to. The mayor has not confirmed what exactly the reward will be, but he has stated it will be, in fact, an “attractive reward”.

Images: Unsplash and Wikipedia

Hidden Fees To Avoid When Planning A Vacation

Most people look forward to taking time off and going on a much-deserved vacation during the summer months. However, when making bookings for different hotels, flights, and rentals, you might be shocked to see the price you wind up paying is nothing close to the original price you saw advertised. You can blame the many companies that add on hidden fees to take advantage of travelers. As a measure to save money for your next vacation, we have compiled this list of hidden fees to avoid.

Flight Reservation Fees Via Phone

woman at a laptop making a phone reservation, which can have hidden fees.

If you are curious about booking a certain flight, or need some clarifications about baggage fees, the natural solution is to call the airline to get an answer. However, you are likely to spend many minutes, even hours on hold just to get in contact with a live representative, who then will require a surcharge for booking via phone. This is why prices you might see online are different from the ones you book if you call the company. If a clarification with a representative is vital, it is best to make the call and then book yourself afterwards online.

Spiked Toll Fees Using A Rental Car

handing over car keys for a rental, which has hidden fees.

For those who are used to having an E-Z pass or other automated toll payer in their car, one might expect that rental car company toll payers work the same way. Drive through a toll and voila! The toll fee is automatically charged to your credit card. Wrong. Many rental car companies actually charge you both the toll price, PLUS an extra charge for passing a toll booth, up to 15$! That is a startling amount that can add up over the course of a road trip. To avoid the hidden fees, either drive on roads without tolls, or come prepared with your own cash to pay manually at the tolls.

Hidden Hotel Resort Fees

A woman holding a suitcase inside a hotel room.

Excited because you found an AMAZING price for a hotel at your next vacation spot? Make sure to go through the site and see what the final price is for the hotel room. Many resorts will actually charge you to use some basic amenities, even wifi and towels! While it is fairly standard for hotels will to tack on some fees, make sure to compare final prices before making the booking. And last but not least, remember to never eat or drink the items in the fridge, the hotels will charge you a TON!

Photos: Freepik

Six Unusual Animal Facts You Never Knew

We all have our own hidden talent or habits, so why would it be any different with animals? With over 8.7 million species living on planet earth, it seems only natural that some have their own special body compositions and unique quirks (so we recommend you know how to act around them). We guarantee you never knew some of these unusual animal facts!

A Grizzly Bear’s Powerful Jaw

We know better than to mess with a giant grizzly bear in the wild, but this fact might make you even leerier of even getting close to the animal. Turns out, a grizzly bear’s bite is strong enough to break a bowling ball!

A Food-Fueled Flamingo’s Coat

two pink flamingos in front of white flamingos

For those that have never seen a flamingo in the wild, typically one pictures the animal as a bright pink. In reality, flamingos are white! The reason they appear pink is due to their diet. A flamingo’s coat will change to a pink hue if they eat large amounts of brine shrimp and algae.

The Feline Form Of Communication

a cat meowing, the way the animal communicates with humans.

Everyone from a young age learns that cats say “meow,” and yet… meowing isn’t actually a cat’s way of communicating with one another! Scientists have concluded that meowing is in reality just a cat’s way of getting human attention, nothing more.

The Not-So-Mighty Cry Of A Bald Eagle

Typically we associate bald eagles with power, strength, and a piercing cry. However, the national symbol of America really has a pipsqueak voice, that sounds more like yips. The sound is so meek and mild, that Hollywood producers actually dub the voice of bald eagles in movies with the sound of a red tailed hawk.

A Criminally Confusing Koala

The cute animal koala clinging to a tree

The cute and fuzzy koalas from Australia actually have fingerprint formations that are almost identical to that of a human. As a result, koala fingerprints have sometimes been accidentally confused for a human’s at crime scenes of various criminal investigations.

A Snail Snooze Fest

a snail out of its shell, a slimy animal.

Snails are slimy by nature and will die if they dry out and are exposed to too much heat. As a result, snails have developed hibernation tactics for when they detect the air is dry. They burrow underground or curl in their shells and sleep– sometimes up to three years! Talk about a real power napper!

Photos: Pixabay, Unsplash

“The superhero factory”: providing free limb prostheses

Gino Tubaro is the young student who started this project. He travels around in a truck that’s equipped with solar panels, and goes around printing 3D prostheses to give them out to those who need them.

Ver esta publicación en Instagram

Una publicación compartida de Atomic Lab ? (@theatomiclab) el 18 Nov, 2018 a las 8:56 PST

The young inventor

It all started some years ago, when Tubaro was only 16 years old. He had set up a 3D printer all by himself, although 3D printing technology was still in its early stages. From then on, he decided what he would be doing for the rest of his life. He kept experimenting and improving his technique until he set up what now is “Atomic Lab”.

A non-profit organization

Atomic Lab is a non-profit, non-governamental organization that is changing people’s lives all around the world. In addition to this particular project, it has many others going on. And they all have one thing in common: providing products 100% for free.

Making prosthesis available for everyone

Ver esta publicación en Instagram

Una publicación compartida de Atomic Lab ? (@theatomiclab) el 6 Nov, 2018 a las 5:07 PST

Tubaro claims that he think this is something society needs. Prostheses were extremely expensive and people could not afford them, thus becoming unreachable for those who need it. He came up with a solution, and made it available for those who ask for it.

PLA, a biodegradable material

The prostheses are 3D-printed out of a material called PLA, which is a corn derivative. It’s completely biodegradable, unlike other materials they chose not to use, which also means it cannot cause skin rashes or any other conditions.

Not just for children

Ver esta publicación en Instagram

Una publicación compartida de Atomic Lab ? (@theatomiclab) el 4 Nov, 2018 a las 2:07 PST

The inventor is riding around Argentina creating prosthesis as he goes, using the energy that comes from the solar panels. However, his project has already gone worldwide. “The superhero factory”, though the name might lead you to believe it’s focused on children, is available for all age ranges.

The project obtained that name because it was set up with the thought in mind of allowing people to have a “superhero hand”. Children are those who need it the most, as they will keep growing and moving. But the prostheses have been given out to an equal number of adults.

Make a donation

As the Superhero Factory is a non-profit organization, it relies on the donations of people. You can make your contribution on their webpage, and make sure they keep putting smiles on people’s faces.

A worldwide project

Ver esta publicación en Instagram

Una publicación compartida de Atomic Lab ? (@theatomiclab) el 14 Nov, 2018 a las 12:32 PST

Throughout the world, the project is active in over 35 countries, a number that is still constantly increasing. They count with over 1000 ambassadors that help print the 3D prosthesis, and over 2000 volunteers that help set them up and send them out, amongst other tasks.

Would you like to improve the design?

It’s worth noting that all of the 3D designs of the limbs, as well as the accessories, that have been designed from the start on, have been published freely for anyone to use. The intention behind it is that people download, and print them, and then try to improve the designs.

Images: Instagram

Seizing to appear on Google and the expensive price to pay

How often have we not heard “once on the Internet, always on the Internet”. It is so, that once you upload something personal onto the cloud, it is impossible to take down. Or at least we thought so.

A life-ending picture

Imagine you have the job interview of your life, and the interviewer comes across an embarrassing photo of you that you thought you had deleted from your Facebook page. Bye-bye to your dream job. And all because of an indecent picture some friend uploaded for fun. Now it’s not “fun” anymore, is it?

The right to forget

Well, a couple of years ago Google introduced the option of applying for your personal information to be deleted from the Internet. This finally made “leaving Google” possible, yet still very hard to accomplish. It works like so: the information is still on the original website, but it’s not available for people to search on Google.

But don’t think Google was actually thinking about you. Truth is, that it was the result of a sentence from the European Union Justice Tribune. It stated our right of suppression, also known as, our right to forget.

Over half of the applications are rejected

This is good news for those of us who’ve had the most embarrassing pictures taken. However, what’s not so good news is how difficult it is for your request to be approved.

Over 55% of all requests have been rejected since its implementation. This means it’s quite probable your application gets turned down. But it’s not impossible. You just need one thing: money. And quite the amount of it.

It’s not exactly cheap

Companies that are in favor of the right to forget are not exactly the cheapest. For every URL you want deleted, they ask between 100€ and 1,000€, depending on your case and the difficulty behind it.

However, the difference with these companies is that they actually do delete the information, rather than just the search. It’s not that it won’t appear on Google. It will not appear anywhere because the information is completely gone. Are such amounts of money worth it?

Images: Unsplash

Words You Didn’t Know Could Be Used As Verbs

Whether you are a native English speaker or have achieved a high grasp of the language, there are always new things to learn about this complicated, often inexplicable language. Being the language with the most words in the world, it’s only logical that there are words we don’t know the meaning to. However, there are many common nouns that can actually be used as verbs, in a process often referred to as “anthimeria.” Shakespeare was very famous for this, and is the inventor for the verb usage of cake, elbow, and many more words. We bet you didn’t know that the following nouns could be used as verbs! Why not impress someone and drop them in your next conversation?

Tiger

Yes, the orange and black striped feline actually can be used as a verb too! “Tigering” has two meanings, as listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. One is, “to act, behave, or walk to and fro, like a tiger.” The second is “to mark like a tiger with lines or streaks of contrasting color.” This makes perfect sense, given the coat of the cat.

Crab

Yet another animal on our list of nouns used as verbs, “crab” has multiple meanings too. It can mean to move sideways, as a crab might do when scuttling, or it can also mean to complain. This is why we sometimes refer to people who are grumpy as “crabby,” for they are likely to snap at any moment.

Heaven

“Heavening” might sound a bit silly (as do all the verbs on our list, who are we kidding), but it has been used as far back as the 17th century! To heaven means to make someone very happy, as if you were sending them to heaven from pleasure. Example, we are heavening when someone surprises us with making our absolute favorite food.

Liver

No, thankfully this has nothing to do with the slimy gray food (and body part). Rather, liver is a shortened version of the word “deliver.” The verb form of liver means to hand in something, surrender, or unload cargo. You can liver that next big assignment to your boss!

Raccoon

Probably our favorite of the bunch, “raccoon” means to wander around during nighttime. This is due to the furry animal’s activity that occurs once the sun has set. There’s nothing like racooning with friends during the warm summer vacation months!

Photos: Pixabay