Photograph by Terry Virts International Space Station astronaut Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) tweeted this image of a Vulcan hand salute from orbit as a tribute to actor Leonard Nimoy, who died on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. Nimoy played science officer Mr. Spock in the Star Trek series that served as an inspiration to generations of…
Fisherman Dino Ferrari caught and released a Wels Catfish weighing 280-pounds (127 kg) and measuring 8 ft 9 in. (2.67 m) in length. The 280-pound behemoth is believed to be the largest catfish ever caught with a rod and reel. Ferrari caught the fish on 19 February 2015 in the Po Delta, an area…
A CT scan has recently revealed that a Buddha statue is actually a tomb, containing the mummified remains of what scholars believe is the body of Buddhist master Liuquan, a monk who lived in the 1100’s. The statue is currently on display at Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands (exhibit info here). The exhibit marks…
For the last 27 years these two brothers have sent each other the same birthday card, filling whatever space they can find for some brotherly love. Sometimes they are early, often they are late and sometimes they completely miss a year! But the tradition continues along with the passing back and forth of a…
Since 2009, Shaun Usher has curated the incredible blog, Letters of Note; a collection of fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes and memos throughout history. Usher has carefully catalogued nearly 1000 letters and going through the archive is a recurring ritual for the Sifter. Last year, 125 of the most entertaining, inspiring and unusual letters…
Located in The Netherlands town of Weesp is a special gated village called Hogeweyk. It is notable because it has been designed specifically as a pioneering care facility for elderly people with dementia. The setting has been compared to that depicted in the film The Truman Show with doctors, nurses and specialists working around…
Photograph by Philip L. Hillman On Tuesday, a mystery Bostonian was spotted shovelling the snow off of the iconic Boston Marathon finish line. The city had just been hammered with over 24 inches (61 cm) of snow and Philip Hillman captured the pic above from the Charlesmark Hotel on Boylston street. The mystery shoveller…
Photograph by another sergio on Flickr A new study has shown a simple, no-cost trick to increasing fruit and vegetable consumption by as much as 54%—switching recess to before lunch in elementary schools. Photograph by USDA on Flickr Joseph Price, an economics professor at Brigham Young University, collaborated with Corenell’s David Just…
Photograph via @MetroUK on Twitter On 29 June 2012, Andrew Shannon entered the National Gallery of Ireland and punched a hole through a Monet painting from 1874, valued at nearly $12 million. While Shannon was recently sentenced to 5 years in prison, the painstaking process of restoring the prized artwork took an arduous 18…
Before N After Adoption is a subreddit dedicated to sharing before and after photos of adopted animals. The heartwarming images show abandoned animals in their new and loving homes and it’s just wonderful to see. The subreddit was created after a series of posts on reddit went viral (here and here) and people have…