A strange feature has been observed on the surface of Mars: a deep pit, showing as a black spot of darkness in images taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The HiRise team at the University of Arizona adjusted the brightness of the image to find out what the black spot was. The mystery area is a pit with a sand floor and slopes down to the southeast, as Futurism detailed:    

The scientists behind the discovery are now trying to figure out if the deep pit could be connected to a network of underground tunnels left behind by fast flowing channels of lava — much like the ones found in Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park.

Researchers have long suspected that ancient volcanoes may have left behind large cavernous lava tubes on the surface of Mars. In fact, some of these suspected caverns could be big enough to house entire planetary bases, providing future human settlers protection from the harsh environment on the Martian surface above.

“The hope was to determine if this was an isolated pit, or if it was a skylight into a tunnel, much like skylights in the lava tubes of Hawai’i,” Beyer wrote. “We can’t obviously see any tunnels in the visible walls, but they could be in the other walls that aren’t visible.”

Image via Futurism 

ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) YouTuber Sarah Toth is not like the usual ASMRtists. She strips her videos of the pretense that ASMR videos are known for. Toth greets her viewers, tells some small anecdotes, and shares her wide-ranging experiences of trauma, from heroin addiction to suicide attempts. These additions make her videos more authentic and personal: 

Whether its a whispery tarot-reading, a haircut simulation, or a “mom tucking you in” roleplay, her frank familiarity gives viewers the impression that they’re building a relationship of trust, in spite of the hundreds of thousands of viewers live-commenting on the video.

Toth offers her life story for every viewer, in all its grit, ugliness, and triumph. Her approach is a crucial one when it comes to addressing addiction, according to her throngs of commenters.

While many ASMRtists will receive outpouring adoration from fans with insomnia or loneliness (ASMR is believed to promote relaxation and sleep), Toth operates in different margins with higher stakes. The comment-section seems less like the usual trolling clusterfuck and more like the safe space of an AA meeting. “I hope she feels as good about herself as she makes me feel about myself. I adore her,” says one viewer. “I’m going to get clean like her someday.”

Image via Mic 

Our ancestors really did live like Tarzan! New findings suggest our ancient ancestors really swung from tree to tree. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, resolved a debate over our ancestors’ ability for brachiation (the ability to swing from tree limbs only using one's arms). The research pointed out the possibility that great apes, the last common ancestor of hominids, climbed and swung in trees: 

"Our findings support the view that humans and chimpanzees evolved from an ancestor that had similarities to modern apes in their locomotor adaptation," lead author Thomas C. Prang, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University, tells Inverse.

esearchers used a sample of 400-plus specimens, encompassing both living primates and ancient hominoid fossils.

First, researchers analyzed the ancient hand bones of Ardipithecus ramidus, which believers of the disputed hypothesis use to support their idea regarding a quadrupedal last common ancestor. Ardipithecus ramidus is a human ancestor that lived nearly 4.4 million years ago. Our understanding of it is predominantly linked to a partial skeleton found in 2009, nicknamed 'Ardi.'

The initial interpretation of this hand suggested the last common ancestors of humans and chimpanzees used a form of locomotion called "above-branch clambering," Prang explains.

Image via Inverse 

Well, it’s a rare spectacle to witness indeed. A dolphin ‘stampede’ was captured on camera just off the coast of California. The dolphins were seen rising up from the water really, really fast as they swam in huge flocks. Don’t worry, because unlike human stampedes, no dolphin was seen hurt by the other dolphins. 

(via Flipboard) 

Image screenshot via Flipboard

It’s backed by science too! Sans Forgetica, built by designers and behavioral scientists from RMIT University, is a font that could help you more easily remember the information you’ve read or typed. The group of designers used cognitive psychology in the process of creating the font. The science behind the font is: since the font type is more difficult to read, your brain works harder and makes the reader remember what you read more. I might use this while studying for exams!

Image via iHeart80s

This is super cursed and also the funniest goddamn thing I’ve seen all week pic.twitter.com/OOAblOwomM

— JR (@USofJR) February 24, 2021

How do you fry an egg? It's a great mystery. So in trying times like this one, summon an unholy monster from the depths of Hell to teach you. The modern urban legend Slender Man, who reaches toward you from the dim light of your peripheral vision, is an excellent chef, despite his cumbersome arms.

-via Super Punch

I really like this cute silver ring by Etsy seller Astha. When viewed from the right angle, it looks like a high quality piece of dollhouse furniture resting on your hand, offering a hospitable cup to guests.

-via Arsenic in Shell

2020 indeed has been a challenging year for all of us, and it is thanks to those around us that we were able to survive the previous year. 

One of the many things that have greatly helped people during 2020 are emotional support animals, such as dogs, cats, and rabbits. CNN covers the story of Finn and Budgie: two bunnies that gave great emotional support to their humans.

Read about their heartwarming stories over at the site.

(Image Credit: Erin Scannell/ CNN)

When the time comes that you find yourself holding a duck, and someone shouts “duck!”, make sure that you do lower your head and not just laugh about it; you might get hurt if you don’t.

(Image Credit: Funny Vines/ YouTube)

She's upset that these guys were following her and trying to get her attention. They just wanted to alert her of the gas hose she's dragging. Real or staged? Yeah, getting this embarrassment on video seems too good to be true, but it's also behavior that doesn't seem too out of the ordinary to have happened somewhere. It reminds me of the movie Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, when a car tried to flag down our heroes going the wrong way on the highway. -via Digg

The Toronto museum has acquired a sculpture made from 100,000 pieces of Lego. Hopefully it doesn’t get accidentally dropped, because imagine rebuilding the sculpture, let alone picking up the scattered Lego pieces! The huge sculpture was created by Ghanian-Canadian artist Ekow Nimako, who envisioned the ancient trading an ancient trading town in Mauritania one thousand years in the future: 

Kumbi Saleh was the centre of the trans-Saharan trade route at the height of the Ghana Empire, boosting cultural diffusion between Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

The work was the centrepiece of Nimako’s 2019 solo exhibition Building Black: Civilisations at the museum. It was commissioned as a response to the museum’s concurrent archaeological show Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time, which explored ancient trades routes in the Sahara and their cross-cultural impact, including their role in the spread of Islam.

The acquisition “enhances the museum’s ability to tell global stories about the contributions of Muslim civilisations across time”, says the museum's curator, Michael Chagnon. And it boosts the institution’s other efforts to spotlight Islamic studies, like a newly launched podcast series exploring Muslim arts and culture.

“His being a Toronto-based artist was also critical to our decision,” Chagnon says. “The museum is a cultural hub for our neighbourhood and part of our work—and part of any museum’s work—must be to support local artists.”

Image via The Art Newspaper 

A fragment of bone found in a southeastern Alaskan cave believed to be from a large mammal has been debunked. With new DNA evidence, the bone shard was given a new identity. The fragment, also known as PP-00128, did not belong to a bear but to a 10,150-year old ancient dog: 

“Ten or twenty years ago, we would have looked through a pile of bone fragments and not seen this,” says Durham University archaeologist Angela Perri, who was not involved in the new study. “This is a nice example of what can be done with some of these advanced methods,” she adds, noting that mass screening of archaeological material can turn up new clues that might otherwise be missed. Advances in how ancient DNA is extracted, corrected for any modern contaminants and sequenced have allowed researchers to quickly assess the genetics of organisms much faster than ever before, building a growing database that can be used to detect broader patterns. The more ancient DNA that’s recovered, analyzed and placed in the database, the bigger the sample researchers have to work from when trying to understand how organisms—be it dogs or humans— relate to each other.

Image via The Smithsonian

In an effort to reduce the large amounts of leftover materials (which usually end up as waste) produced by the laser-cutting process in the industry, researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) have developed a new tool called Fabricaide. The tool could help designers save time and resources on their projects.

"By giving feedback on the feasibility of a design as it's being created, Fabricaide allows users to better plan their designs in the context of available materials," says Ph.D. student Ticha Sethapakdi, who led the development of the system alongside MIT Professor Stefanie Mueller, undergraduate Adrian Reginald Chua Sy, and Carnegie Mellon University Ph.D. student Daniel Anderson.

Fabricaide has a workflow that the team says significantly shortens the feedback loop between design and fabrication. The tool keeps an archive of what the user has done, tracking how much of each material they have left. It also allows the user to assign multiple materials to different parts of the design to be cut, which simplifies the process so that it's less of a headache for multi-material designs.

Learn more about this tool over at TechXplore.

Cool!

(Image Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology/ TechXplore)

The Nintendo GameCube is something I’m not really familiar with, a console that I usually forget when someone asks me to list the Nintendo consoles I know in chronological order. I didn’t grow up with any console except for my current Nintendo Switch, but some consider the old game console to be ‘the middle child in every aspect it could’ve been.’ The GameCube was actually more powerful than Sony’s PS2, and most of its good features were underappreciated. SVG features some of the better games that make playing the console worthwhile. If you’re like me, curious to know about the games that the console featured, check their full list here. What’s your favorite GameCube game? 

Image via SVG 

If you don’t have the older consoles but would like to play some of the games made for those game consoles, surely you’ve heard of emulation! Emulators are available on Android (sadly not on iPhones), and could run NES, SNES, or Nintendo DS games. It’s easy to find the right emulator just by searching the Play Store. But how do you download the games you’d play on your emulator of choice? Android Center has got you covered! Check their full guide to Android emulation here. 

Image via Android Central