News In Fact

After eating sand every day for the last twenty-five years, Hans Raj of Uttar Pradesh, India has been nicknamed ‘Sandman’ by his neighbors and boss. While such a diet would seemingly bring about illness, Raj claims that he never gets sick and that he lives better than people who eat ‘regular’ food. Two decades ago, Hans felt compelled to start eating sand. At first, it was only a handful every day. Now he consumes at least a heaping plateful of sand during a daily meal. He has made numerous life-altering decisions in order to pursue his love of sand. For instance, he grew up as a farmer, but switched to being a mason. This decision was made easier as he used to wander around town, stealing parts of houses so that he could eat the stones. While he likes constructing buildings, the best perk of the job is the easy access it grants Raj to a variety of sands and rocks. However, the 45-year-old man feasts on more than just sand and rocks. He recently began eating bricks

The 42-year-old was arrested in the northern province of Quang Ninh   and subsequently found guilty of drug trafficking. According to reports, this was not her first offense, but the courts decided it would be her last, as it sentenced her to death . After losing an appeal, she began looking for any opportunity to escape the death penalty. She finally found a way out, thanks to four negligent guards at one of Vietnam’s most notorious prisons. Beginning in the summer, the 42 year-old began giving money to a 27-year-old male inmate named. By August, she had slipped him $2,200 to purchase his sperm. Their arrangement involved Hung depositing his semen into a plastic sandwich bag and leaving it, along with a couple of syringes, in the prison’s communal area. This process occurred twice. In both instances, guards failed to frisk either inmate or seize the contraband sperm. Using the syringes, she inseminated herself inside of her prison cell. The second application was

Located in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in central India, the inhabitants of this town happily toss their children into a large, steaming pile of cow dung. Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is the largest celebration in Hinduism. In the weeks leading up to the event, villagers begin collecting cow poop from the roughly 600 cows that reside in the surrounding area. All of this dung is piled up in a location at the center of town. On the day after Diwali, parents take children and dip and roll their offspring in the feces, all the while drums and fireworks roar in the background. The beliefs behind this activity are multi-faceted. First, cows are among the most sacred animals in Hinduism and anything that brings a person closer to a cow is viewed in a favorable light. Second, Hindu preachers claim that both cow pee and cow poop have curative properties.   Third, adherents believe that the ritual honors their ancestors, who also participated in the c

Johncris Carl Quirante is from Cebu. When he was still a baby, his parents had no idea that he would suffer from the condition known as Hyperdontia. However, by the time he was two, it was clear that something was wrong.  Rather than having 20 baby teeth, which is normal, he had at least 50. His parents could not afford for him to visit a dentist until he was five years old, by which time there were over 150 teeth visible on his first X-ray. His condition worsened over the next four years until his mouth was crowded with 300 teeth. Johncris recently underwent surgery to extract 40 of his teeth. The operation was successful and the boy is recovering nicely. Although this procedure was a success, he will need an additional seven operations before his mouth is fully functional.  Despite the pain he suffered from all of his teeth, Quirante went to school and excelled. He is now in the fourth grade. According to his teachers, he is one of the best students in the sch

In the Buddhist religion, this is a sacred tree. According to tradition, the female-shaped fruit is meant to nourish the Gandharva, heavenly figures that lived on Earth during its early days.  The female fruit were grown to provide sustenance to the Gandharva’s needs and wants. According to the Thai tradition, the fruit trees were planted by the god Indra, in a sacred forest known as Himaphan. Rather than serving the needs of the men, this tradition states that the fruit women would provide protection for Indra’s wife and serve as her assistants. There are dried Nariphon pods on display at a Buddhist temple near Bangkok. They are similar in size and shape to the fruit, adding to the claim that they are real. Stored in the Luang Pho Jarun temple at Wat Ampawan, the pods are black and withered. They resemble small, mummified women who appear in pain. Furthermore, there are older pods that have hardened into stone over the years. According to reports, the fruit pods