It seems that our parents are wrong when they say that nothing good comes from browsing on the Internet. Shaun Winterton was able to discover a new species of insect while browsing on Flickr! The California-based entomologist made a discovery by looking at pictures online. He was looking at pictures by Guek Hock Ping when he found photos of a green lacewing that had patterns on its wings that he never saw before, as PetaPixel detailed:  

He then contacted the photographer, who informed him that the image was taken the the jungles of Malaysia. Without a specimen, however, there was no way to learn whether the image was in fact a new species — or simply some kind of outlier.

One year later, Guek returned to the spot, found another identical lacewing, and this time trapped it in a jar. The specimen was then sent to an entomologist in London and confirmed to be new. The discovery was recently published in the scientific journal ZooKeys, with the new insect named Semachrysa jade after Winterton’s daughter.

image via PetaPixel

How far will people go for $70,000? It seems that they’ll be willing to play hide and seek! MrBeast challenges people to hide in different places at a rundown amusement park. Whoever he finds last will keep the money. Watch to find out who brings the money home! 

Ahead of Autism Awareness Month in April, Vans launched a new line of sensory-inclusive footwear, named Vans Autism Awareness Collection. The footwear was designed with Autism Spectrum in mind, and was created in partnership with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards. The shoe collection includes calming colour palettes and design features, as The Independent detailed: 

Sensory issues such as hypersensitivities often accompany autism, according to autism advocacy organisation Autism Speaks, and be triggered by stimuli such as light, sound, smell or touch. 

“For example, many people on the spectrum are hypersensitive to bright lights or certain light wavelengths such as fluorescent lights,” the organisation states. 

Sales of the Autism Awareness Collection will benefit others as well, with Vans donating a minimum of $100,000 of its proceeds to A.skate, an non-profit organisation that introduces children with autism to skateboarding. 

image via Vans

Hungry monkeys were fighting over one banana in Thailand. Due to COVID-19, the number of tourists in the country declined, and they are the ones who usually feed the monkeys. The monkeys were from two ‘rival gangs’, a gang from the city, and the other from the temple areas. The monkeys were never seen to be that aggressive as they fought for the banana, as DailyMail details: 

Footage shows hundreds of monkeys crossing a road and then chasing a single monkey which has got hold of a banana. 

At first the primates are seen running independently as they appear to look for food. 

But then the noise of their cries increases dramatically as dozens chase a single monkey which seems to have a banana. 

They are seen jumping on it and others as they fight over the food. 

Even locals who are used to seeing the monkeys were shocked by their ferocity.

Onlooker Sasaluk Rattanachai captured the scene from outside a shop where she works.

She said: 'They looked more like wild dogs than monkeys. They went crazy for the single piece of food. I've never seen them this aggressive.

image credit: ViralPress via DailyMail

With the spread of COVID-19, businesses and establishments are trying their best to adapt to the changes brought by the pandemic. Due to the pandemic, Pokemon Go will now make you not leave you house, which is the opposite of what the game originally did. The game normally requires players to go outside and head to points of interest. The developers of the game are “prioritizing updates to Pokémon GO features and experiences that can be enjoyed in individual settings,” as Polygon details: 

Notably, the game will be increasing habitats so that trainers can see more monsters nearby while playing closer to home.

Incense packs, which increase monster spawns, are also going on 99% discount — and when they’re active, they will now last an hour.

Incubators, which ask players to accrue a certain number of steps before hatching eggs containing Pokémon, will now be more effective. “Trainers can hatch Eggs twice as fast,” Niantic said.

Finally, PokéStops are dropping Gifts with more frequency. All of these changes are in effect immediately, and will continue until “further notice,” Niantic told Polygon. In addition to these tweaks, Niantic has already postponed its previously-planned Abra Community Day, along with some other real-world events. Existing events, such as the first season of the game’s Battle League, will allow players to compete with one another without being in the same place, while the upcoming Special Research adventure that will debut Genesect will require tasks that can be “completed by individuals,” Niantic says.

“While we’ve made these updates based on the current global health situation, we also encourage players to make decisions on where to go and what to do that are in the best interest of their health and the health of their communities,” Niantic said.

image via wikimedia commons

A farm in northern England was set on fire by one of the pigs! The pig swallowed a pedometer, and when it finally excreted the inedible device, the copper in the object’s battery sparked a flame in the pig dung and dried hay. The fire spread out to about 75 square meters of the farmyard before it was put out. Fire crews and civilians rushed to the farm with water to “save the bacon”, as LiveScience detailed: 

In recent years, lithium-ion batteries in personal devices such as cellphones and vape pens have spontaneously combusted, sometimes causing severe burns and even broken bones, Live Science previously reported.

However, no animals involved in the pigpen fire — including the firehog who inadvertently started the blaze — were harmed by the flames or smoke, according to the firefighters' tweets.

image via LiveScience

E3 is officially cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. There were events and conferences that were cancelled before E3, so this wasn’t really a big surprise to most. However, E3 is one of the gaming industry’s biggest and most famous expo. Big companies such as Sony and Nintendo usually announce their new products in this event. With the cancellation, most of the industry will be now looking for a new way to show off their upcoming releases, as IGN detailed: 

The most obvious immediate routes for those who were scheduled to attend E3 lie in two directions. The first is Gamescom. The German show is already the world’s biggest games event by footfall and comes with its own slate of (albeit smaller) conferences. Gamescom also has a major developer, publisher, and retailer presence – E3 has traditionally had a side-function of acting as a useful meeting space for companies, leading to future deals between them. Gamescom could provide a similarly useful space, leading to companies pivoting towards it. Set over two months back from E3, it might be seen as a safe bet in terms of the trajectory of the spread of Coronavirus, while retaining some of the sheen and prestige of an E3 announcement. It wouldn’t be hugely surprising to see a far more announcement-heavy Gamescom 2020 (should that show go ahead, of course) - particularly as Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live (which began last year, and is due to continue this year) has already helped galvanise Gamescom-centric announcements.

The second is to follow Nintendo’s lead, and take those announcements in-house and online. The Direct model has been successful enough for the world’s biggest console manufacturer to adopt it, and Sony’s State of Play has been joined by the likes of Xbox, Devolver, and Blizzard, who have all taken digital announcement events in their own directions. It feels likely that some of E3’s major players will now attempt to create their own schedule, with the benefit of making big announcements entirely on their own terms, and with less possibility of being drowned out by someone else’s mega-news arriving on the same day.

image via E3

No one has the exact (and agreed upon) measurement of Polaris, the North Star. Different methods are used by different researchers, which yield conflicting results. Because of that, humanity’s navigational star still eludes scientific explanation, as Futurism detailed: 

Part of the problem — and an equally baffling quirk — is that measurements suggest that one of the two binary stars is significantly older than the other, according to Live Science.

It’s possible, astronomers told Live Science, that the main star in the Polaris system used to be two smaller stars that merged — a process that makes stars appear younger than they are and also messes up some of the methods used to determine their mass.

image via wikimedia commons

Parker The Snow Dog is now the honorary mayor of Georgetown, Colorado. The celebrity dog is the mascot for Loveland Ski Area and the Camp Therapy Dog for the Rocky Mountain Village Easterseals Camp, and the unofficial mascot for a football team. The Bernese Mountain Dog is two-years-old, and loves to nap and greet people, as Oddee detailed: 

Police Judge Lynette Kelsey performed the ceremony that took place at the Georgetown Community Center. Judge Kelsey said: “I, Parker the Snow Dog, Do swear, on my stuffed animals, that I will give love and hugs to the people and four-legged friends in Georgetown, Colorado. Parker, please stick out your tongue if you acknowledge.” When asked to stick out his tongue, Parker looked around at the people (making the entire crowd laugh), looking nervous. Then he ‘excitedly agreed,’ according to KRDO News . “We thank Parker for everything he does, and we are super honored to be here,” said an officer of Georgetown. They had the dog in a tie, cape, and glasses through the majority of the swear in.

image via KRDO News

Tomohiro Yasui creates action figures from everyday items. The Japanese sculptor takes items such as rubber ducks, plastic hammers, and masks. Some of the items he uses to create figures are from donations. From the items, Yasui creates chiseled physiques that can be moved and posed. Now that’s a great way to recycle items! 

(via Designboom) 

image via Designboom

Photographer Elke Vogelsang captures portraits of dogs in their more intense and emotional moments, such as waiting for a treat, or waiting to catch a toy. Vogelsang highlights fleeting expressions, shown through head tilts, open-mouthed smiles, and wide-eyes stares, as Colossal details: 

Each piece is matched with an equally playful title, like “The Dog Side of the Force” and “Bessy Muppetational.”

Vogelsang began photographing her three rescue dogs during a period of family hardship that started in 2009—she was charged with caring for her mother-in-law, who was suffering from dementia, shortly before her husband was in a coma due to a ruptured aneurysm. “I decided to start the project, despite my husband being in the hospital, or rather because of it, as I wanted to try to keep up a bit of normality and have something like a visual diary for my husband of that time,” she tells Colossal.

image via Colossal

Egypt has finally reopened Djoser’s Step Pyramid after a $6.6 million restoration process that lasted more than 14 years. The pyramid was the first ever built, 4,700 years ago.  Djoser’s Step Pyramid is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the restorations for the famed pyramid started on 2006, as Reuters detailed:  

“Today we celebrate the completion of the project of warding off the danger and maintaining and restoring the first and oldest remaining pyramid in Egypt,” said tourism and antiquities minister Khaled al-Anani.

The structure was designed by Imhotep, described by some as the world’s first architect.

“We are in awe as to how he was able to create this structure, which has remained standing for 4,700 years,” said Anani.

Restoration work stopped in 2011 after Egypt’s popular uprising that toppled longtime President Hosni Mubark, but resumed at the end of 2013.

Djoser’s Step Pyramid, the first large-scale stone construction in history and the largest pyramidal funerary complex, is located at Saqqara archaeological site, west of Cairo.

The 60-metre-high pyramid consists of six stacked steps over a burial shaft tomb which is 28 meters deep and seven meters wide.

image via wikimedia commons

Sybil Wettasinghe enlisted the help of students across Sri Lanka to contribute stories, poetry, and drawings for her book, Wonder Crystal. Due to Wettasinghe and the childrens’ combined efforts, Wonder Crystal is now the Guiness World Record Holder for most number of alternative endings for a book. The book has a whopping number of 1,250 alternative endings. Truly a wonderful feat!  (via UPI)

image via wikimedia commons

ASMR content creators are now putting out videos that can help their audience unwind and be informed at the same time. Due to the spread of the Coronavirus, some people do need to find a place to calm down in these stressful times. ASMR content creators such as ASMR Darling uploaded a 30-minute video where the viewer has the point of view of someone who is being tested for Coronavirus. Buzzfeed has the details: 

Taylor runs the popular YouTube channel ASMR Darling, an account with 2.46 million subscribers. In her recent 30-minute video "Testing You For Corona Virus (Raising Awareness And Debunking Myths!)", Taylor is filmed in a point-of-view style as she introduces herself as "Dr Darling". She then soothingly conducts a full checkup for COVID-19, and then runs through some information about the virus.

Taylor said she made the video — which she said she hasn't monetised — to help her viewers learn more about COVID-19.

"I wanted to raise awareness and debunk myths around the virus. I know the virus really affects older people," she told BuzzFeed News. "Using my platform to raise awareness on how not to spread illnesses is a way I can feel like I can help not only them, but other people."

The video is obviously fake, but Taylor said she researched to make the video informative and relaxing. She opens the video by washing her hands for 30 seconds, and washes her hands two more times.

"I definitely thought this was an important thing to incorporate because it is all the WHO keeps [advising people] to do about the virus. I discovered what kind of tests they have for the virus and tried my best to mimic it to make the experience realistic, but also adding relaxing and calming touches to it," she said.

It’s hard to go around our daily routine without being conscious of how we act or what we look like. Some social interactions are difficult because we tend to think about what the other person thinks about rather than thinking about how to continue the actual interaction. It’s a torturous habit that diminishes our self-esteem and just makes us stiff and unapproachable. However, to actually stop caring what other people think is easier said than done. Popsugar shares six steps on how we can slowly and fully stop caring at all. 

image via wikimedia commons