A type of clay-based flooring being used in Eastern Africa promises a healthier, more affordable alternative to concrete. EarthEnable offers a "durable, sealed floor for less than half the cost of concrete," said The Associated Press. In Uganda, for example, many people have dirt floors, which can cause infections and coughs, and the EarthEnable floor prevents these ailments. The company also hires young men who can no longer afford school and trains them to become masons.

A 200-year-old condom has become an unlikely artifact on display at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. The prophylactic, most likely fashioned from a sheep's appendix, is part of the exhibition "Safe Sex?" at the Dutch national museum. Thought to be a "luxury souvenir" from a "fancy brothel in France," the archaic contraceptive is decorated with an "erotic image" of a nun and three clergymen and is in "mint condition," said the BBC. The museum purchased the condom at auction last year.