Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Guy Travels 5,000 Miles to Meet Total Stranger That Facebook Suggested He Would Like

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 06:24 AM PST

While most people tend to ignore Facebook's friend suggestions, this Belgian student actually traveled all the way to Austin, Texas to meet up with a stranger just because the social network's algorithm suggested they become friends!

24-year-old Victor Van Rossem was intrigued when Facebook displayed 49-year-old as a 'suggested friend', because they obviously had no connection other than a mutual acquaintance. "Facebook suggested we become friends, and I thought that was pretty absurd," Victor said.

But as he spent time looking through Neal's pictures, he became more and more interested in the artist's life. "I became fascinated by him. He had a long beard and looked a little unusual. He did art performances and paintings of mythical creatures and strange beasts which only made me more interested in him."

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Amsterdam Crane Gets Converted into Luxury Hotel

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 06:12 AM PST

Ambitious architects in Amsterdam have converted an old beast of a crane into a luxury hotel, complete with swanky rotating suites, spa pools and a TV broadcasting station.

The 250 ton, 50-meter high, decades old maritime crane is actually one of the world's oldest and highest mechanical structures. It was almost in ruins, doomed to a life of decay, when a group of daredevil architects from various Dutch companies decided to get together and give it a new lease on life. 

Despite being dismissed as 'technically impossible', they decided to take on the task of converting the old crane into a world class luxury hotel. The project was not easy – they had to lay new foundations to withstand the weight of the massive structure, because the quay of the old wharf was simply not strong enough. Developers splurged nearly a million dollars on constructing each room. They even fitted the structure with a thrust bearing made of gold, allowing each suite to rotate with the wind.

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Hospital Creates Fake Bar to Test New Anti-Drinking Drug

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 05:45 AM PST

Believe it or not, the hospital at National Institutes of Health in Washington now has a fully stocked bar! Well, don't worry, the bar is fake and all the bottles are actually filled with colored water. The whole setup is a part of an experiment to test the effectiveness of a new anti-drinking drug. The dimly lit replica bar is designed to amplify the alcohol craving of test participants in order to determine if the pill is able to counter the urge to drink.

"The goal is to create almost a real-world environment, but to control it very strictly," said Dr. Lorenzo Leggio, lead researcher of the project. He revealed that the pill contains a hormone called ghrelin that is believed to increase appetite for food and perhaps inhibit the desire for alcohol.

NIH's bar lab is one of about a dozen other versions in the US that are focused on experimenting with ghrelin. The hormone is produced by the stomach, and controls appetite via receptors in the brain. Researchers have discovered an overlap between receptors that fuel overeating and those that encourage alcohol cravings in the body. Dr. Leggio is now involved in testing whether blocking ghrelin's actions also blocks those cravings, using an experimental drug that was originally developed for diabetes but never sold.

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