“I’m sorry, what were you saying? I was too busy staring at the giant metal breast with a flashing nipple siren on top of your ice cream truck. A lactation activist (lactivist) by the name of Jill Miller drives this vehicle around Pittsburgh to spread the good word on nursing.” w/ photos

“Anne Cautain and Bernadette Touloumond suffer from hypersensitive reactions to electro-magnetic radiations. The symptoms include unbearable burning and terrible headaches, so bad that they couldn’t stand to live in the outside world anymore. After trying several other options, a cave has become their ultimate refuge. Anne and Bernadette’s cave is located outside the town of Beaumugne, on the edge of the Vercors plateau range, in France. To gain access to the area, a small ladder needs to be scaled while clinging to a rope. A sign reading ‘Mobile Phones Prohibited’ is displayed on the hillside. 52-year-old Anne says, ‘I can’t take any sort of electro-magnetic waves, whatever they may be: Wi-Fi, mobile phones or high-tension wires.’ She was the first to settle down in the cave, and is now spending her third winter there.” w/ photos

“For most couples Valentine’s Day is a chance to get down to some serious smooching. But for Rachel Prince and fiancé Lee Warwick, kissing is off the agenda tomorrow – or any day soon – due to her rare allergy to water. The condition, called aquagenic urticaria, means even a few spots of saliva from Mr Warwick, 26, would bring Miss Prince out in horrible hives. The allergy also means the 24-year-old, Ripley, Derbyshire, cannot go for a swim, enjoy long baths or even drink a cold glass of water as her throat swells up whenever she takes a sip.” w/ photos

“Despite the slightly absurd business model, these photos are very beautiful and moving… The funeral parlor has been in business since 1974 and is thought to be the only drive-through funeral home in southern California, according to office manager Denise Knowles-Bragg. Here are images from the funeral of Robert Sanders, held at California’s only drive-through funeral home.” w/ photos

“A 55-year-old man with type 1 diabetes shocked his doctors, after he revealed what looked like two bottom cheeks hanging below his navel. The patient from South Africa, had been told to inject his life-saving insulin jabs into two areas of his stomach to control his blood-sugar levels. However, he hadn’t realized that he needed to rotate the injection site around different parts of his body because the hormone insulin encourages the build up of soft fatty swellings within the layers of the skin. The man went on to develop ‘firm and pendulous’ masses on his stomach – a condition known as lipohypertrophy. Mild cases are surprisingly common, however this patient had a severe case as he hadn’t changed his injection sites for three decades.” w/ photos

“A hideaway perfect for a James Bond villain, surrounded by water with the only way to gain access via Britain’s lone privately-owned suspension bridge, Scaramanga would have found this exclusive abode quite to his liking. Perched atop a large rock, residents Lord and Lady Long are to move after a decade in the unique Cornwall property. Originally put on the market two years ago, the couple have dropped the asking price by more than a quarter of a million pounds. While navigating the 100ft long bridge, suspended some 90ft off the ground, might excite our fantasies of international espionage, the elderly couple said it is becoming increasingly difficult with age and they are selling up.” w/ photos

“The big freeze shows no sign of letting up in Europe as Venice’s famed waterways fell victim to sub zero temperatures this morning. Water buses were stranded in some of the Italian city’s canals after they froze solid in temperatures as low as -10C. More than 60,000 homes were left without power in Milan and officials declared a gas supply emergency as the cold temperatures saw pipes burst.” w/ photos

“The 57-year-old from Crescent Springs, Ky., has managed to make a heart-pumping workout out of ordinary chores such as vacuuming and washing windows. According to Markovich, the vacuum cleaner is the most versatile exercise machine ever. He’s found a way to combine squats, lunges and hip twists while he’s getting the floors clean. He says that he burns so many calories through house chores that he can afford to allow himself a few treats once in a while. A vanilla ice cream topped with peanut butter, for instance. He seems pretty fit for his age, although he does sport a tiny little paunch.” w/ photos + video

“A British expedition to one of the deepest parts of the ocean has discovered an enormous species of crustacean that looks like a prawn and is 11ins long. The so-called ‘supergiant’ – a type of amphipod – was discovered more than four miles below the surface in waters north of New Zealand. Most amphipods are usually 0.8in-1.2in long. But the new specimen, found by a team from the University of Aberdeen, was ten times the size.” w/ photos + video

“Constantly shuttling between New York and Silicon Valley for work, Hyde doesn’t live in a house or an apartment. When he’s not working, he’s traveling extensively, taking his worldly possessions of 15 things everywhere he goes. Andrew Hyde says that he has always been interested in the concept of minimalism, starting out by seeing if he could make do with just 100 items. But in August 2010 he took the concept even further, selling all of his belongings but for 15 things.” w/ photos