Well, there are other colors available of course. But we did notice how a lot of artworks incorporate blue into their paintings. It’s not just used to depict the sky or any objects that can be associated with the color. Depending on the theme and idea of the painter, it can be used to depict an emotion or any other theme. 

An exhibition in Galerie Koch, located in Hannover, Germany, aims to showcase and explain why and how these talented people use blue in their art. The event, Blau: Von farblichen Akzenten bis zur Monochromie V (Blue: From Color Accents to Monochrome V) shows 40 works by 26 international artists from the 20th and 21st centuries. Each of them, as the exhibition name suggests, features blue either as the only color in their work or applied to accents that are central to their composition.

Blue, according to the Gallery, is considered the color of vastness, longing, and internalization. “In the Romantic period, the color blue then became a symbol of ideal, spiritual ideas, in the art of the 20th and 21st centuries it finally became the expression of a metaphysical striving in art, as a metaphor for the spiritual. But it also serves as a means of expressive expression and thus as a carrier of meaning,” they wrote. 

Image credit: Galerie Koch via artnet 

Geologists have confirmed that the continent of Africa is slowly splitting apart. The lands are making way for a whole new ocean to run through the space being left by the continent. According to experts, Zambia and Uganda could one day have their own coastlines should the continent fully split. 

The crack in the continent, known as the East African Rift, was pinpointed to be on the borders of three tectonic plates, which are the African, Arabian, and Somali plates. Millions of years from now, the consistent movement of these plates would lead to a new body of water. The rift currently runs 35 miles long and appeared initially back in 2005. 

Geologists believe that the Arabian plate has been slowly moving away from the African continent for the past 30 million years. Ken Macdonald, a marine geophysicist and professor emeritus at the University of California explained that they were able to measure the rates of movement to a few millimeters per year thanks to GPS measurements. "The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea will flood in over the Afar region and into the East African Rift Valley and become a new ocean, and that part of East Africa will become its own separate small continent," he confirmed.

Image credit:  Africa Infohub / YouTube

No, this is not a magical portal into the feywilds or any other dimension outside of the place we’re living in. It does certainly have that vibe.

The photo of a gothic-looking gate was taken in a school in Vienna, Austria. It appears to extend much farther down the path, even though it’s actually smaller than how we might perceive it to be. This mind-bending gate leads to the Theresianum Academy, a private boarding and day school founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. 

Thanks to an optical illusion, the gate provides a good lesson in perspective for the students of the institution. It shows that only one point is needed to trick our eye into thinking that something is either larger or further away than it is. 

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Sleeper trains are the sought-out option for people traveling for multiple days, even before the introduction of air travel. These trains provide cabins and beds where people can sleep while they go from one place to another. 

These kinds of trains are now making a serious comeback in Europe with their level of luxury, comfort, convenience, and affordability. New routes are being launched by different companies to provide more accessibility to travelers on the continent. With a lot of night trains launching, Back-on-Track, a European network that promotes cross-border night trains, decided to create a map that shows all the available routes running across the continent. 

Check the high-res version of the map here!

Image credit: Back-on-Track via TimeOut

Dreams do come true. It’s a wonderful award season for Everything Everywhere All at Once star and now Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan. It was a triumphant moment for him when his name was announced as the victor of the Best Supporting Actor award during the ceremony last week. 

For us at home, watching him take this award had us crying. From Ariana DeBose’s teary mention of his name, watch as the 51-year-old Vietnamese-American finally made a successful Hollywood comeback after decades of struggling in the acting industry. 

Quan was a former child star who appeared in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and tried to get more serious roles but the industry just relegated him to a bunch of stereotypical Asian roles. “Mom, I just won an Oscar!” he exclaimed tearfully as he get the award from Ariana DeBose and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 

Image credit: Ke Huy Quan/Instagram

An extremely worrisome bacteria has infected over 50 Americans across 13 states to the point that the government started investigating the issue's source. While illnesses can be easily cured, what got their attention is the fact that these affected patients turned blind. 

Some of them can sense light but see nothing else. According to government officials, one died and at least five suffered permanent vision loss. Upon their investigation, they found that all these patients used tainted eyedrops. Each of them got infections in different parts of their body, such as blood, and lungs. 

This case had doctors and experts concerned about the nature of this bacterial infection and how it evolved so far to the point that antibiotics can no longer counter it. “This really shows us that it’s not something theoretical and in the future. It’s here,” said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

Learn more about the case here. 

Image credit: Towfiqu barbhuiya

There’s a certain market for these devices, even in the era where smartphones are all we need for streaming different kinds of music.

Having a digital audio player is for the audiophiles, collectors, hardware lovers, as well as those who want to listen without being distracted by other platforms, such as TikTok and various forms of social media. 

Aside from its appeal for nostalgia and its specific design, MP3 players also provide good sound quality. If you pair it with a great pair of noise-canceling earphones, then your work or study session would be in full swing. Esquire’s Jason Murdock compiles a list of the best MP3 players in the market today. Check them out here!

Image via Esquire

If you have the extra cash to get on a journey for a year, would you ever want to live on a cruise ship? Well, for those interested in such a lavish and interesting lifestyle, Life at Sea Cruises might just be for you! 

The company is currently planning to operate a three-year cruise around the world. Prices start at $30,000 per person, which includes a one-year stay on a 130-square-foot interior stateroom on the ship. Those interested in staying for the whole three years of the journey will have to pay $90,000 per head. 

Travelers will be onboard MV Gemini, a 30-year-old cruise ship. The vessel will start its journey in Istanbul on November 1, and slowly pick up guests along the way. The ship can accommodate up to 1,074 travelers with its 400 cabins. The company states that the cruise will have travelers reach all seven continents. They can also visit several popular destinations such as Half Moon Island, Antarctica; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Seoul, South Korea.

Image credit: Life at Sea Cruises

Well, what a surprise! But how did he survive? 

Zhuo Kangluo was initially believed to be dead and cremated after fleeing a care home in China. His relatives made the mistake of identifying a man killed in a car accident in 2014 as the man himself. 

For nearly 10 years, no one knew of his survival until Chongqing authorities received reports of a man acting strangely and proceeded to identify a man with a DNA test. This was done after seeing that the mysterious person was refusing to answer questions. The test matched him with Zhuo’s brother. 

The identity of Zhuo was also confirmed by his grandson, who recognized him when he visited the elder man. Authorities are now working to identify the man cremated back in 2014.

Image credit: Maria Bortolotto

She’s not so evil after all!

A viral TikTok video posted by MagicWithThomas shared how the Evil Queen Maleficent actor in Disneyland acts kindly towards Thomas, a teen with special needs, who was visiting the theme park. We can see that the matriarch was being herself with a dash of kindness and understanding, which was a bit out of character. We're not mad at that bit of change!

The actor began the interaction by greeting Thomas gently, but still upholding her regality as a monarch. She then gently took his hand and invited him on a stroll. The queen took good care of him, his dad wrote in the caption of the video. “Thomas is safe and understood [at Disneyland]. Cast members take good care of him and they show a genuine happiness/excitement to see him,” he wrote. 

Internet users applauded the Disneyland actor for understanding that Thomas likes to touch and feel things, and ensuring that the teen is safe while not stepping out of character. 

Image screenshot via MagicWithThomas

Oh, dear. 

Local residents in Lincoln County, Tennessee are now complaining about an out-of-control black “whiskey fungus” in their area. Also known as Baudoinia compniacensis, it is capable of smothering homes, porches, and cars. The fungi’s spread is fueled thanks to the ethanol vapor coming out from the popular liquor maker Jack Daniel’s facilities. The company actually built six barrel houses in the County in 2018 and still has plans to build 14 more. 

With the spread of the fungi and the announcement of more barrel houses, residents are enraged with the company. They are currently demanding the local government and Jack Daniel’s to answer for the damage and the sinking property values thanks to fungi and the ethanol-filled air. 

According to Patrick Long, one of the residents of Lincoln County, the community has two main demands: an air-filtration system for blocking the ethanol, and an environmental-impact study evaluating the amount of ethanol emanating from the barrel houses and any health risks it poses.

"I'm extremely concerned. My wife has breathing problems. One of the neighbors got cancer," Long said. "It's in the air. And you really, probably don't want to be breathing that in. But nobody has done a test to determine if it's poisonous."

Read more about the issue here. 

Image credit: Patrick Long

Shipping containers have been a favorite material for building tiny homes in recent years. It provides another way for these metal objects to be reused again. They have also been hyped as an eco-friendly material and a viable structure for sustainable housing. 

Now, we can probably see more tiny homes made from these containers as extra shipping containers were made during the pandemic due to supply chain issues. Approximately, there are around 4.3 million containers left in ports in the United States. So here’s the question: is this kind of material really sustainable? 

The general answer is yes, but there’s something else here– the builders need to have enough knowledge, resources, and money to make it a sustainable home. While they can be bought second-hand, people still need to retrofit the containers to create a home. “There are still many alterations that need to be made in order for [them] to be habitable,” architect Alex Gore shared. “You need to frame out the walls, floors, and ceilings in order to run electrical and plumbing lines, as well as insulate.”

Provided that these revisions will be made with eco-friendly materials, then these structures can be more sustainable. However, these materials aren’t really commonly used. 

In addition, the architect also believes that these containers are not the right housing material.  “Containers are scaled to house goods, not people,” Gore said. “Their proportions make it hard to accommodate human activities.”

Image credit: Pixabay

Mankind loves thinking about other living creatures on other planets, or even living away from our communities. From our visualizations of dwarves, elves, tabaxi, and more in fiction, we’ve always wondered the possibility of whether or not we’re the only species living on Earth. 

In an interesting turn of events, it’s not a group of scientists sharing a photo of what looks to be an elf. It’s the president of Mexico. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador posted a photo of what looks like an elf on his social media. He didn’t seem to be joking in the caption of the photo too. According to him, this was a sighting of an “aluxe,” a woodland spirit in Mayan folklore. “[the photo] was taken three days ago by an engineer, it appears to be an aluxe,” he wrote. “Everything is mystical.” 

The political figure is known for having a deep respect for indigenous cultures and beliefs. Do you think this is an actual aluxe, or is it just a trick of the light?

Image credit: Andrés Manuel López Obrador/Twitter

Origami artist Chris Conrad is known for creating intricate sculptures made from a single piece of paper. His newest artwork depicts a dragon slayer with a lot of incredible details. 

Conrad used a 70-centimeter painted Wenzhou paper to make this figure. The hunter has a creature-shaped helmet, wings, and patterned armor. According to the artist, he did a lot of modifications to bring the sculpture to life. 

“I made a ton of modifications while shaping, including adding a face, adding the sheath, shaped scales, totally changed the torso armor, plus minor tweaks to the dragon's head, wings, sword, arms, and legs,” he wrote on Instagram.  

Check out more of the cool details of the dragon slayer sculpture below!

Image credit: Chris Conrad

Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime performance changed lives. If that’s a bit too exaggerated, well, we can also say that it certainly had us glued to the screens, and made people on the Internet post a lot of reactions to her iconic performance. 

From memes about how her stage looked like a Super Smash Bros arena to people recreating the dance break in the show, fans have certainly been inspired by the choreography and aesthetics seen that day. One of the groups inspired by Rihanna was the residents of Arcadia Senior Living Bowling Green, an assisted-living facility in Kentucky. 

Posted on the establishment’s official TikTok account, the now-viral video shows the residents who were wearing white ensembles (to resemble Rihanna’s dancers from the performance) dancing while the remix of the singer’s “Rude Boy” played. Following the original dance break, the ladies broke out to reveal one final person who was wearing something similar to Rihanna’s red ensemble. 

Image credit: Arcadia Senior Living Bowling Green