Damn, imagine going to the ocean to have fun or to relax and then you spot a huge snake emerging from it! That’s terrifying. Wildlife photographer Rachelle Mackintosh was able to capture an image of an olive sea snake that seemed to appear from nowhere and swam on the surface for a couple of seconds, did a full lift out of the water, then splashed down and disappeared. Giant Freakin Robot has more details: 

The olive sea snake is both large and venomous. They grow in length of up to six feet and have a painful bite that has proven fatal on more than one occasion. It is the most common sea snake along the northern coast of Australia (the snake and spider haven) but is not known as aggressive creatures. Mackintosh explained that researchers said the snake could have been trying to escape danger from the predatory shark. The snake also could have been simply inspecting its surroundings or upon seeing Mackintosh and company, engaging in playful behavior. Well, what’s playful to snakes may not be too playful to humans.

Image via Giant Freakin Robot

Expect a lot of lucky cats in this temple and hopefully, more luck!  Meet Gotokuji Temple, located in the Setagaya ward of Tokyo. The temple is believed to be the birthplace of the maneki-neko (‘luck inviting cat figurine’). You know, the lucky cat figurines that feature a cat sitting up and raising either their right or left paw. Live Japan has more details: 

Temple legend states that during the early 17th century, Ii Naotaka (then the second lord of the Omi-Hikone Domain) escaped from being caught in a sudden thunderstorm after having been invited inside the temple by a cat that lived there. To show his gratitude to the cat, Naotaka decided to dedicate the temple to the Ii clan. After Naotaka passed away, the temple was renamed to Gotokuji, from his posthumous Buddhist name “Kyushoin-den Gotokuten ei-daikoji.”

The cat that created that opportunity for the temple to grow into a respectable and important place was deified as “Fortune-Inviting Kannon.” The cat was later said to bring good fortune, being called “shou-fuku byou-ji” or “maneki-neko.” Gotokuji Temple has been filled with lucky cat figurines donated by worshippers ever since.

Image via Live Japan

Meet Maman, a nine-meter spider that graced the opening of the Tate Modern in 1999. Created by Louise Bourgeois, the sculpture provides a feeling of awe with its detailed crevices and sheer gigantic size. Is it very intimidating? Imagine a nine-meter spider actually hovering over you, like a real spider of that height. No thanks! However, seeing it as a still work of art is another experience altogether. Check the Conversation’s piece on the artwork here. 

Image via The Conversation 

Urban archaeologist Scott Jordan has been shoveling through the trash for nearly five decades. He takes the different items he finds and transforms them into new artworks. His findings offer a glimpse into the culture and lifestyle of the previous generations that resided in New York City, as Colossal details: 

A new documentary produced by Kaleidoscope Pictures chronicles Jordan’s lifelong practice that involves digging and uncovering items that he then transforms into new artworks. Dubbed “The Artifact Artist,” the short film by the same name follows the archaeologist and historian as he pulls glass bottles, Civil War-era garments, and small toys from the earth. While Jordan cleans and restores much of the pottery and well-preserved items, he utilizes the rest to create jewelry and assembled, sculptural works that nestle into shadowboxes, which he then sells at flea markets.

Watch the full documentary below, and find more information on Jordan’s site, Things Found NYC, which he runs with Belle Costes. Shop the pair’s findings on Etsy. 

Image via Colossal 

A glacial lake was spotted in a remote region in the Northeast Himalayas. The reddish-brown lake was discovered thanks to satellite images taken over the past 20 years. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reported that the body of water is situated 5060 meters above sea level, near the Zanskar valley, Ladakh in the Himalayan range: 

It is 11 kilometers (~7 miles) from the nearest village, and covers an area of approximately 0.2 square kilometers — about the size of New York City’s Grand Central Station. The lake is being fed by a northeasterly glacier, and the researchers suggest that it has either been formed or expanded due to glacial melt caused by climate change. 

The team predicts that the reddish hue of the lake is caused by the dissolution or mixing of iron-rich minerals such as hematite and goethite in the area; a reaction likely catalyzed by chlorine levels in the water or microbial weathering of sub-glacial bedrock. Because of the unique geochemistry in the area, the molecules in the lake are reflecting light at longer wavelengths, giving the lake the reddish color. 

The researchers hope to conduct a field study of the lake in the coming summer to better understand the ecology and glacial geochemistry. 

Image via Massive Science

So what does this mean? The site could imply that the dinosaurs liked to travel in packs. Thanks to the discovery of the first T. rex mass death site in Utah, evidence of the species’ pack-like behavior was found. According to Dr. Joe Sertich, curator of dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, the discovery “should be the tipping point for reconsidering how these top carnivores behaved and hunted across the northern hemisphere during the Cretaceous:” 

In the past, paleontologists have long debated whether the huge dinosaurs lived and hunted alone or in groups.

However, with other findings of pack formations in Alberta, Canada, and Montana, the Utah finding may fossilize the belief of a social T. rex.

In the Canadian discovery, 12 individuals found over 20 years ago by Dr. Philip Currie, many scientists doubted T. rexes had the brainpower to organize into anything complex and thought it was an isolated case. Montana's site built upon the social theory, but now this third site may bring more certainty to the idea.

Image via The Next Web

France will be offering its residents €2,500 ($2,975) to trade their old car and get an electric bicycle. Lawmakers in France have approved the measure in a preliminary vote. France would be the first nation in the world to give money in exchange for old cars, as the Next Web details: 

The French Federation of Bicycle Users claims that if France does go ahead with the scheme, it would be the first nation in the world to give people money for old cars to put towards new electric bicycles, Reuters reports.

However, the organization must be leaving out crucial details as to how it reached that conclusion as there have been other similar schemes.

For example, as Martti Tulenheimo, chief specialist at the Finnish Cyclists‘ Federation points out, Finland has a similar rebate which citizens have used to fund more than 2,000 ebikes, 1,000 new low emission cars, and 100 public transport tickets.

Image via wikimedia commons 

I wish I could hang out with cool animals. Brian Skerry had a chance to hang out with a nursing sperm whale, and produced several photos for National Geographic. Skerry dove into the Caribbean waters to capture the images of a new sperm whale mom with a five- to six-month-old baby. NPR has more details: 

"I very gently approached, just breath-hold diving, swam down. She saw me and then actually closed her eyes. I mean, she was so relaxed that I could enter into that world. I was being allowed into her world and could make these pictures."

That moment produced one of several rare images in a new issue of National Geographic magazine, the culmination of Skerry's three-year project exploring the culture of whales.

"Behavior is what we do. Culture is how we do it," he says, paraphrasing sperm whale biologist Shane Gero.

In the photographs, Skerry assembles examples of whale behavior that seem almost human: belugas play in the shallows, orcas teach their pups to hunt, sperm whales nurse and babysit.

Image source : National Geographic Magazine via NPR 

Here’s a fun bonus: it’s made of gunpowder. How cool is that? Scientists have found an alternative material that is as strong as diamonds. The material, called lonsdaleite (also known as hexagonal diamond), is a rare six-sided crystalline mineral that has seldom been found in nature — generally only at meteorite impact sites. However, researchers from Washington State University's Institute for Shock Physics have developed their own hexagonal diamonds, as Free Think details: 

"Diamond is a very unique material," Yogendra Gupta, director of the Institute for Shock Physics and an author on the study, said in a statement. "It is not only the strongest — it has beautiful optical properties and a very high thermal conductivity. Now we have made the hexagonal form of diamond, produced under shock compression experiments, that is significantly stiffer and stronger than regular gem diamonds."

Using gunpowder and compressed gas, Gupta's team launched dime-sized graphite disks at a transparent material at 15,000 miles per hour.

Upon impact, shock waves coursed through the disks, transforming them into lonsdaleite

Image via Free Think 

Researchers have noticed a human-made structure hidden in the lowlands of northern Guatemala. Thanks to LiDAR (short for “Light Detection And Ranging”), they were able to discern the building, which was a pyramid. The pyramid was part of an ancient neighbourhood that included a large enclosed courtyard fringed with smaller buildings, as National Geographic details: 

Edwin Román-Ramírez, the director of the South Tikal Archaeological Project, began a series of excavations last summer. Tunnelling into the ruins, his team discovered construction and burial practices, ceramics, and weaponry typical of early fourth-century Teotihuacan. From an incense burner decorated with an image of the Teotihuacan rain god to darts made from green obsidian from central Mexico, the artifacts suggest that the site could have been a quasi-autonomous settlement at the centre of Tikal, tied to the distant imperial capital.

“We knew that the Teotihuacanos had at least some presence and influence in Tikal and nearby Maya areas prior to the year 378,” says Román-Ramírez. “But it wasn’t clear whether the Maya were just emulating aspects of the region’s most powerful kingdom. Now there’s evidence that the relationship was much more than that.”

Image via National Geographic 

Here’s a cute video to give us a little dose of cheer into the week! Watch as the newest big brother adorably shows off his sister to his friends. He wanted to have a little sister for a long time, the father shares, and his big grin as he pushes the stroller of his younger sister is proof enough of how much he adores his newest sibling. The video did make me smile! 

Image screenshot via Sixth Tone

Spry Fox had its players in mind when developing the exploration and adventure game called Cozy Grove. The game has ghost bears! If that isn’t enough for you, note that the game does not beg the player to consistently play the game for 24 hours. Cozy Grove won’t make you miss a special event when you don’t play for a full day (or every day- I’m looking at you, Animal Crossing). The Next Web’s Tristan Greene shares his review on the recently-released title: 

Most players will find the game’s combination of task-based quests and character interaction take up about 30 or so minutes a day. Once you’ve done everything you can do, you’ll have to wait about a day to do more quests.

On first inclination, this feels a bit like a rip-off. You pay your hard-earned money for a game and its developers essentially tell you to play on their terms. But then I realized Spry Fox wasn’t trying to sell me any shortcuts, loot boxes, or other crap.

From what I’ve been able to discern, Spry Fox intended for players to experience the game in small bites over months at a time rather than exhaust its content in a week of marathon play sessions.

Honestly, I might check this game out for myself. 

Image via The Next Web 

Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ has been frequently placed as design on different surfaces such as posters, blankets, pillow cases, t-shirts, and coffee mugs. Now, the masterpiece is making the Chinese night sky look brighter as drone production company EFYI Group partnered with Tianjin University to recreate the artwork using drones. A total of 600 drones were used, setting a Guinness World Record for the longest animation performed by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): 

The dazzling, immersive show lasted 26 mins and 19 seconds, which required impressively high-precision positioning technology that coordinated and synchronized the drones. All 600 drones were of the same exact model—the Agile Bee II. Each one weighs about three pounds, travels at approximately 20 miles per hour, and can stay in the air for up to 38 minutes. In order for this display to qualify as an animation, the record’s guidelines required the drones to generate 12 images per second. Guinness World Records adjudicator Maggie Luo reviewed the entire show and announced that they were successful in meeting the requirements and actually breaking the record.

Besides setting the world record, the drone light show allowed Van Gogh’s narrative to unfold in the night sky as it recreated his most famous paintings, shining a light on his art and dazzling the entire world with a mesmerizing show. Together, the drones told the story of Van Gogh’s life and paid homage not only to The Starry Night, but also to Wheat Field with Cypresses, his Sunflowers series, and The Mulberry Tree in Autumn. They also moved through more vignettes of the artist’s famous work, including Almond Blossoms, Bedroom in Arles, and Self-portrait.

To see some highlights from the drone show, check the video at My Modern Met!

Image via My Modern Met 

That’s just all the Tyrannosaurus rexs before they were wiped out! Scientists now have a numerical estimation for the total population of this particular dinosaur species during their 2.4-million year stay on our planet. According to Charles Marshall, who led the study, this estimation may help contextualize the fossil record and the rarity of finding fossilized prehistoric organisms, as Axios details: 

How it works: The team of researchers couldn't use the limited fossil record to estimate the species' population, so they instead used Damuth’s Law, which describes a relationship between population density and body mass.

The relationship, used in population ecology, generally states that species with larger body sizes tend to have lower population densities.

The researchers then computed the average body mass of a T. rex, settling on a mean of 5,200 kilograms (roughly 11,460 pounds).

Using the body mass, the team calculated that the species had a population density of around one individual per 40 square miles.

Image via Axios 

Surprise, surprise! BlackBerry is still aiming to release phones, huh? The company has partnered with a mobile security company to work on its new line of smartphones. The company, OnwardMobility, announced that they would be launching a “5G BlackBerry Android smartphone with a physical keyboard in North America and Europe.” Yanko Design has more details: 

The BlackBerry Key 3 concept comes with a profile that’s reminiscent of the Note 20 Ultra. It features a flat surface on the top and bottom, while cascading edges on the sides result in a phone that’s comfortable to hold, along with a waterfall display, there may be a chance of the phone registering accidental palm touches. The camera setup on the back features 3 lenses and a flash, looking quite similar to the one found on the OnePlus 8, and sitting right beneath that is the familiar BlackBerry logo. Flip the phone back over to the front and it kind of looks slightly meme-ish. It’s obscenely long, considering the screen’s already 20:9 to begin with. Adding to that is a slight forehead bezel (which features a single front-facing camera) and a massive chin, which houses a full QWERTY keyboard. The QWERTY keyboard, from what I can tell, is a part of the display, but it’s always there… even when you don’t need it. Sort of like the soft keys often found on Android phones, the keyboard is static in its position, and can easily be used when you need to type. This ideally means a keyboard never blocks or overlaps elements on the screen, so you’re always treated to a full-screen interface all the time. I’m not entirely sure if the keyboard’s layout is dynamic, i.e., whether it changes to reveal emojis or other languages, but if I were a betting man, that would honestly be a pretty remarkable feature. 

Image via Yanko Design