Borderline fun

How a pig started a war: 10 of the funniest border disputes ever

Image: Jim Witkowski

Borders are treated seriously—but not always. From prank invasions to livestock wandering into the wrong country, some of history's most absurd geopolitical clashes are downright comedic. While most of these disputes didn’t lead to war, they certainly led to raised eyebrows, diplomatic side-eyes, and in a few cases, friendly resolutions over a shared drink.

Image: Jordi Vich Navarro

France vs. Spain, 1659–present

After the Treaty of the Pyrenees, France and Spain agreed to co-own a small island in the Bidasoa River. But how? By literally swapping custody every six months.

For centuries, Pheasant Island has switched national flags twice a year without issue—despite having no permanent residents.

Image: Felix W.

Canada vs. Denmark, 1984–2022

For nearly 40 years, Canada and Denmark playfully "invaded" Hans Island, which by the way is a completely barren rock islet, by planting flags and leaving bottles of liquor behind.

In 2022, after many years of endless border pranks (and shared liquor), the two countries finally agreed to split the rock 50/50, calling it the "Whisky War" resolution.

Image: Christopher Carson

USA vs. UK, 1859

It all started when an American farmer shot a British pig rooting in his potato patch on the San Juan Islands. This seemingly minor incident, however, sparked an international crisis that was only narrowly averted after U.S. President James Buchanan himself stepped in.

After this event, troops camped in a peaceful standoff for 12 years until arbitration gave the islands to the U.S. No human lives were lost, but still, sadly, the pig became the sole casualty of the conflict.

Image: Azzedine Rouichi

Egypt vs. Sudan, 1902–present

Due to conflicting colonial maps, Egypt and Sudan both claim the more valuable Hala'ib Triangle—and disown Bir Tawil, a barren strip of desert.

To this day, Bir Tawil remains one of the few unclaimed territories on Earth. Many micronations and would-be monarchs have planted flags there, but no one officially claims it.

Image: Vincent Foret

Belgium vs. Germany, 20th century

After Germany’s defeat in the First World War, it was required to cede vast swaths of land to other European nations. Among these was the Vennbahn, an old railway built under the German Empire.

When the Vennbahn railway tracks were transferred to Belgium, a peculiar situation arose: the railway snaked in and out of what was rightfully German territory, creating hundreds of small German exclaves entirely surrounded by Belgian land.

Image: Priya Singh

India vs. Bangladesh, 1970–2010

New Moore Island was a small, uninhabited sandbar that unexpectedly emerged from the Bay of Bengal in the 1970s, and both countries claimed it—only for the sea to reclaim it in 2010.

The long-winded dispute disappeared as literally as the island itself, with nature doing the diplomacy by sinking the land back underwater.

Image: Cristina Munteanu

Russia vs. China, 2000s

Not exactly a border dispute, but more of an unfulfilled promise and stalled partnership—a massive steel bridge across the Amur River, separating Russia and China, remained unfinished for years, stopping mid-stream due to inactivity on the Russian side.

This created a humorous situation for locals on the Chinese side, who could see that their half of the bridge was completed long ago, yet it led to nowhere. Eventually, Russia completed its half—but only after satellite photos of the disconnected bridge ends went viral.

Image: Caleb Woods

Australia vs. Rabbits, 1900s

Not a nation-vs-nation conflict, but a border of sorts: Australia once built a 2,000-mile fence to separate rabbit-infested regions from rabbit-free ones.

However, the rabbits won in most cases, either by digging under or jumping over. While the fence failed to completely stop them, it did become a bizarre national landmark.

Image: Michael

Imaginary

While there were no actual disputes here, since the territory in question is completely fictional, "Null Island" is a fun example of a made-up place created solely for cartographic purposes.

Located at 0°N, 0°E, this imaginary island is often used humorously in mapping and geographic databases, or as a placeholder for errors—a sort of cartographic joke.

Image: Stephan Seeber

Belgium vs. Prussia, 1816–1919

For almost a century, a small triangle of land with a valuable zinc mine became a "neutral" zone jointly administered by two countries—mainly to circumvent the new border policies established by the 1814 Congress of Vienna.

A flag was even designed, and over time, locals proposed adopting Esperanto as the official language, with some pushing for independence. The League of Nations eventually dissolved the territory, but not before it became Europe’s weirdest almost-country.

Stranger truths

10 things once dismissed as nonsense that are now undeniable science

Image: National Cancer Institute

Science is an unending search for truth, but when some truths are stranger than fiction, even the most experienced scientists find them hard to believe at first. As we learn more about the world we live in, phenomena once thought impossible are turning out to be more plausible than previously believed. From genetic memory to magnetoreception in humans, here are 10 examples of things once denied, doubted, or even feared—until evidence proved otherwise.

Image: digitale.de

Generational trauma was once considered nothing more than a poetic idea—but now, according to some scientists, it may be a measurable genetic phenomenon. Studies indicate that certain traumatic experiences can trigger epigenetic changes in DNA, influencing stress responses in descendants.

While researchers are still exploring the full scope of this phenomenon and which types of trauma can cause such changes, the findings challenge the long-held belief that our genetic makeup is entirely separate from individual life experiences.

Image: Jamie Street

Once dismissed as impossible, emerging research suggests humans may have a subtle magnetic sense linked to cells in the eye.

Scientists have identified cryptochromes—light-sensitive proteins in the retina—that could allow the eye to detect magnetic fields. Although the effect is weak and difficult to observe in humans, evidence indicates we might have a subconscious geomagnetic sense connected to vision.

Image: julien Tromeur

The idea that gut bacteria could influence our mood or behavior once sounded absurd, but we now know the gut microbiome communicates with the brain through the vagus nerve and various chemical messengers.

Imbalances in the microbiome have been linked to anxiety, depression, and even neurodegenerative diseases.

Image: Slaapwijsheid.nl

The phenomenon of sleep paralysis was once dismissed by science as mere fantasy, and it didn’t help that in pre-modern times it was often attributed to demonic visitation and other supernatural causes.

Today, it is recognized as a REM sleep disorder in which the brain wakes before the body. Visual and auditory hallucinations are common due to the lingering dream state.

Image: Naomi August

Until recently, consciousness was thought to require a functioning brain. However, recent experiments have revealed brain-like electrical patterns in some simpler organisms**.**

While this raises a plethora of questions about how consciousness emerges in living beings to begin with, it remains a very early field of study where much is still unknown.

Image: Thomas T

Einstein called it "spooky action at a distance," as it seemed too strange to be real. Yet years later, the phenomenon was experimentally confirmed.

We now know that particles can become entangled, so that a change to one instantly affects the other, even across vast distances. This principle underlies quantum computing, a field still in its infancy.

Image: Marco Bianchetti

People have reported feeling pain in amputated limbs since ancient times, but until recently, scientists didn’t know what to make of it, and largely dismissed it as a psychological phenomenon.

Today, neuroscience and brain imaging have confirmed it’s real. The brain retains a sensory map of the missing limb, which can trigger pain. Fortunately, mirror therapy can help retrain the brain to quiet these signals.

Image: Marc Szeglat

Not so long ago, extreme environments such as the deep sea, Antarctic ice, or boiling vents were thought to be lifeless.

However, research has revealed microbes thriving in boiling acid, under immense pressure, and even in radioactive waste. These discoveries have prompted scientists to reconsider the origins of life and its remarkable ability to survive under extreme conditions.

Image: Ryoji Iwata

Large groups of people fainting or convulsing without any apparent medical cause were once hard to make sense of. All sorts of explanations were proposed—rarely rigorous enough to prompt scientific interest.

Today, the phenomenon is recognized as mass psychogenic illness, typically triggered by a combination of stress, anxiety, and suggestion. It has been well documented in schools, factories, and even entire towns under high pressure.

Image: Jackie DiLorenzo

The idea that plants could "talk" was once dismissed as magical thinking or pseudoscience. But time has proven otherwise—botanists now confirm that plants do release chemical signals to warn nearby plants of threats like insect attacks.

Even more remarkably, some plants can even detect and respond to the sound of herbivores chewing nearby.