Japanese monks mummified themselves while still alive

Hidden in remote mountain temples across Yamagata and Fukushima prefectures, you’ll find Japan’s mysterious Sokushinbutsu — self-mummified monks who underwent an extreme ritual to achieve enlightenment. Sokushinbutsu is the ancient practice of self-mummification followed by Shugen-do Buddhist monks in Japan’s mountainous regions. This extreme ritual involved a strict diet, intense physical training, and ultimately, sealing oneself in a tomb while still alive. Monks pursued Sokushinbutsu for enlightenment, to ease suffering, and as an act of spiritual devotion. They viewed it not as suicide, but as a sacred path to transcendence. The path to Sokushinbutsu began with a strict three years diet of nuts, seeds, and fruit, combined with intense physical activity to eliminate body fat. This was followed by another three years of consuming only bark and roots, further dehydrating the body. (via Voyapon)

He left $13 million to a tiny village he had never visited because they shared the same name

A man has given over €10 million to a village in Normandy although it is not known that he had ever visited or had any connection to it. Roger Thiberville did not have any heirs so he decided to bequeath part of his fortune to his accountant and the rest to Thiberville, a village of just 1,800 residents in the Eure. Guy Paris, the maire of the town, was first notified of the donation back in August when he received a call from a notaire, however the exact sum was only confirmed in the last few days. Not much is known about Roger Thiberville. He was a weather engineer who lived in a small flat in Paris and led a discreet life. He came from a family of winemakers and inherited from both his parents and his sister, who also died without an heir. He died on August 23 this year aged 91. The bulk of the donation came from four Paris flats that he owned. He is not known to have ever set foot in Thiberville. (via The Connexion)

After she complained about a stuffy nose doctors removed a 48-year-old bullet

A Chinese woman had a bullet lodged in her head for 48 years without her knowledge. She has finally got it removed by doctors, News.com.au reported. The 62-year-old woman, identified in local media only by her surname Zhao, had a bullet 2.5cm long and 0.5cm in diameter extracted from her head. She had gone to the doctors complaining about a chronic stuffy nose, headaches and swollen lymph nodes that had bothered her for 10 years. The question of how she went 48 years without knowing about the bullet resulted in conflicting media reports. According to Want China Times, Zhao said she was hit on her right temple when she was 14 years-old. At the time she thought it was a stone. But the Shanghaiist reported the woman as saying she had been hit by a stray bullet as a girl, but only felt minor pain and decided she would live with it. (via Deccan Chronicle)

Hi everyone! Mathew Ingram here. I am able to continue writing this newsletter in part because of your financial help and support, which you can do either through my Patreon or by upgrading your subscription to a monthly contribution. I enjoy gathering all of these links and sharing them with you, but it does take time, and your support makes it possible for me to do that. I also write a weekly newsletter of technology analysis called The Torment Nexus.

Searchers continue to look for Samba the capybara who escaped from a British zoo

Samba the capybara is still at large. Along with her older sister, Tango, the intrepid rodent made her escape from Marwell zoo in Winchester in March. Tango all but gave herself up on day two; Samba broke for the marshy wetlands of the River Itchen. Word spread and within days the fugitive was an international social media star. But despite an intense search, the dense Hampshire countryside has afforded her a haven. Six months on, Samba remains elusive. Marwell’s staff still aren’t sure how the capybaras escaped, although they have their suspicions. Tango and Samba were born on Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park in Suffolk in the summer of 2025. They arrived at Marwell zoo on Monday 16 March, to great excitement. They were immediately placed in a quarantined habitat, as is standard procedure for new arrivals. The plan was to keep them there for 30 days. The next day, the vet and zookeepers did their morning checks and everything was fine. But when they returned that afternoon, Samba and Tango had vanished. (via The Guardian)

It took five years after the invention of weak glue for someone to invent the Post-It Note

In 1968, Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M in the United States, attempted to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead, he accidentally created a "low-tack", reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive for the aerospace industry. For five years, Silver promoted his "solution without a problem" within 3M both informally and through seminars, but failed to gain adherents. In 1974, a colleague who had attended one of his seminars, Arthur Fry, came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmark in his hymn book. Fry then utilized 3M's sanctioned "permitted bootlegging" policy, which allows employees to spend some of their work time on projects of their own choosing. The original notes' canary yellow color was chosen by chance, from the color of the scrap paper available at the lab next door. Fry provided 3M employees with a prototype of the product, and individuals started exchanging messages, demonstrating the product's communicative effectiveness. (via Wikipedia)

He blew a tire on his Tesla while driving at 175 miles per hour on the Autobahn

Acknowledgements: I find a lot of these links myself, but I also get some from other places that I rely on as "serendipity engines," such as The Morning News from Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack, Jodi Ettenberg's Curious About Everything, Dan Lewis's Now I Know, Robert Cottrell and Caroline Crampton's The Browser, Clive Thompson's Linkfest and Why Is This Interesting by Noah Brier and Colin Nagy. If you come across something you think should be included here, feel free to email me at mathew @ mathewingram dot com