Surely you’ve seen these multi-colored flowers in shirts, art pieces, and other accessories. These flowers, brimming with joy and happiness, were created by Takashi Murakami. How did Murakami’s flower designs reach the mainstream? Watch Hypebeast’s video explaining how the iconic flower design has made it in fine art, high fashion, and streetwear. Also, the next time you see these flower designs, remember they’re originally by Murakami.

Sorry guys, no photo-ops on this one. Meet the Denmark Strait cataract, the largest waterfall in the world. The gigantic waterfall is located between Greenland and Iceland, stretching over 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide and plunging 11,500 feet (3,505 meters) down from the Greenland Sea into the Irminger Sea, as How Stuff Works details: 

The most astonishing thing about the Denmark Strait cataract isn't, perhaps, how it got to be so tall and mighty, but that an undersea waterfall can exist at all. It's easy to picture an ocean as a giant bathtub that sloshes around with the tides, but seawater is actually very dynamic; waters of different temperatures and salinities — and, therefore, densities — are always interacting on large and small scales.

The Denmark Strait cataract is formed by the difference in temperature between the ultra-cold Arctic waters of the Greenland Sea meeting those of the slightly warmer Irminger Sea. Since the molecules in the cold water are less active and take up less space than in warm water, they are packed together more tightly, making colder water denser. That means that when water from the Greenland Sea meets the Irminger Sea water, it slides right down through it to the bottom of the ocean.

Image via How Stuff Works 

Magic Castle was a rejected game created by a small team of Japanese developers in 1998. The game never went anywhere after being rejected by seven major publishers, including Sony. Well, two decades later, Magic Castle can now be played thanks to the magic of emulators and one of the original members of the developer team: 

One of the team members, PIROWO, recently found the source code for the project—created on Net Yaroze—and decided to tie up its loose ends and release it to the public. This game looks cool as hell, not just for its isometric style, but for a number of very modern touches like a customisable UI and dynamic music.

Image via Kotaku

The Marigold, or ‘the ring of prosperity’, is a circular band with a floral design. What’s special about the Marigold is that it holds 12,638 diamonds with a total weight of more than 38 carats. Created by Harshit Bansal from Renani Jewels in India, the jewelry breaks the Guinness World Record for highest number of diamonds in a ring, as CNN details: 

The previous record -- 7,801 diamonds in a ring -- was also set in India by the Hyderabad-based jeweler Hallmark Jewellers.

Bansal told Guinness that he was first was inspired to break the diamond-studded record in 2018, while studying jewelry design in Surat, India. Two years later, his company completed the ring design on November 30, 2020.

Image via CNN 

I’m surprised it survived, actually. The Green Man was a pub in Loughborough, Leicestershire that was shut down in 1993. The bar is still surprisingly intact, even if a new mall has been built above it. From murals, to propped up benches, to empty pint glasses all over the place, and to bags of peanuts on the bar, this place feels like it was frozen in time:  

Although the pub has been visited by potential developers, they all decided against taking on the job.

Speaking in 2011, Baljit Kooner, Carillon Court's manager, said: “Developers looked at it a couple of years ago, but they were put off by the cost.

“Lots of pubs seem to be being bought by Tesco to make them into Express stores. But I don’t think even Tesco would want to put a shop down there.

"The whole place looks like a castle inside, the pictures are very impressive.

“It is also pretty clean as well – there are not as many cobwebs as you’d think.”

image via The Sun 

It might look lowkey odd at first glance, but Daisy Collingridge’s depiction of the naked human body as ‘squishies’ in her art shows her interpretation of our fragile yet fascinating forms. Her depiction of the human body is just a joyful representation, not a statement or a revolt against the idea of an ‘ideal body type,’ as Observer details: 

“The reaction to this work varies hugely. From this, I have learned that we all inhabit a body therefore we all have an opinion of equal validity,” she says. “Bodies are so unbelievably different despite being made from the same components. I am not seeking to promote or demote any one type of body. This work is bodily. There is warmth and softness, these signifiers of life. They celebrate flesh, form, touch, and movement.”

Collingridge started this year with the goal to work more collaboratively, which the pandemic made near impossible (also canceling her first solo show). Like many artists, however, she says she is naturally a solitary worker and still was productive alone in her studio space. She recently became part of the Sarabande foundation in London, a move that’s allowed her to begin working on a collaborative film project with Isabel Garett. They’re currently working on a short film detailing the life and loves of the Squishy family, meaning these joyous depictions of the human form will soon be getting a backstory. 

Image via Observer 

Archaeologists have discovered a Sanctuary of Apollo in Pera Orinis-Fragkissa Lefkosia, Cyprus. The Sanctuary is considered one of the most important structures found in Cyprus, as it contains many priceless sculptures. The building was actually part of a ‘rescue excavation’ in 1885, but afterward, the exact location of the Sanctuary was tragically forgotten: 

The survey revealed not only a high concentration of pottery shards, but also fragments of ancient sculptures and terracotta figurines in a relatively narrowly-defined area. A geophysical survey by ground penetrating radar, carried out in cooperation with the University of Cyprus under the direction of Apostolos Sarris, confirmed the findings.

Structures located deep beneath the ground can only be found in the part of the valley that was also prominent in the archaeological survey.

A preliminary analysis of the finds showed that the area had been occupied since the Iron Age and was used throughout the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. The numerically smaller finds from the Roman and Byzantine era are considerably more eroded, however, and most likely originate from a settlement of this period further downstream, which is already known.

Image via the Greek Reporter 

Hey, this could let New York City commuters forget about the rats and the dark tunnels on the station. The Moynihan Train Hall will now welcome incoming passengers from the train, with its 92-foot-high ceilings and art installations by Kehinde Wiley, Stan Douglas, and creative duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. The area will surely be a good waiting spot and a great photo-op location: 

“Is it grand? Yes. Is it bold? Yes, because that is the spirit of New York and that is the statement we want to make to our visitors, to our children and to future generations,” says Governor Andrew Cuomo, who unveiled the space Wednesday, in a statement. “As dark as 2020 has been, this new hall will bring the light, literally and figuratively, for everyone who visits this great city.”

Speaking with the New York Times’ Dionne Searcey, Wiley, who is perhaps best known for his presidential portrait of Barack Obama, describes the inspiration behind his contribution to the hall: Go, a hand-painted, stained-glass ceiling triptych that depicts young, black New Yorkers break dancing.

Image via the Smithsonian

No, you cannot eat this one. No matter what its Pokedex entry says, you cannot have it for a snack! It’s very huggable though! NintendoSoup is now taking preorders for Pokemon Center’s 65-cm long Appletun plushie. The Pokemon, which first appeared in Pokemon: Sword and Pokemon: Shield is a turtle-like Pokemon that has an apple-pie-like shell. For more details (and all the logistical details for pre-ordering one for yourself), check NintendoSoup’s full piece here. If I had the extra money to splurge, I’d probably buy one for myself. 

The photo looks too good to be true, alright. That doesn’t mean it was Photoshopped, though. Photographer gm_astrphotography posted a photo of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn that sparked discourse about its authenticity. The image contains ‘spikes’ seen around the two planets, which looks too good to be true. It is true, as PetaPixel confirms: 

“Diffraction spikes in astrophotography are “artifacts” that show on images of brighter stars where beams of light run through an obstacle on the camera lens and are bent, causing the light to spread out to capture a better image of the sky, according to Photographing Space. Said another way, in an image of a star or planet, they are the straight beams of light that point out in four directions from the object.”

Garret explains that he made those prominent spikes by using tape and rubber bands that he stretched across the front of the refractor in a cross pattern as a kind of practical effect. So while the image is enhanced by the photographer, it was not done in post-production: what is seen is really how the camera captured the photos.

“If you’re into telescopes as much as I am, you’re probably asking yourself how did I capture these spikes with a refractor?” Garret writes. “The best way I found to do this is with tape and rubber bands stretched across the front of your refractor in a symmetrical pattern (I did a plain cross). I feel like it adds something a little extra to the image!”

USA Today accepts his explanation and has rated this viral image as “true.”

Image via PetaPixel

Wait, we already have a hottest colors list? The year has barely started! Apartment Therapy consults professionals on what colors will make it big this new year. The choice is yours, of course, if you’d want to incorporate these colors into your home. If you’re just curious as to what colors will be popular this year, check the full piece here. 

Image via Apartment Therapy

IKEA has produced a tiny house on wheels that could (and hopefully, will) inspired environmental and climate-friendly changes in the housing industry. The tiny house, a collaboration between IKEA, Vox Creative, and tiny home builder Escape, is a 187-square-foot model filled with IKEA furniture, topped with solar panels and stocked with an on-demand RV water heater, as EcoWatch details: 

According to NBC, it runs on electric and allows for off-the-grid living. The tiny building also emits zero pollution, including carbon. In fact, the only emissions come from the trailer being towed.

Manufactured structures are usually less wasteful than on-site constructions, according to Pebble Magazine. The interior's whitewashed panels are made from sustainably grown pine, reported Travel + Leisure, while the kitchen cupboards are made from recycled bottle tops. There is also a compostable toilet and a collapsible desk/kitchen table, Lonely Planet shared.

Abbey Stark, IKEA senior interior design leader, told Lonely Planet that she prioritized renewable, reusable and recycled materials to make the space "functional as well as beautiful." Stark designed the space as an IKEA show home with sustainable, multifunctional, space-saving and energy-efficient products, Lonely Planet reported.

Image via EcoWatch 

Ah, if I had only known how much my Pokemon Cards would sell for in the future, I would have kept them! Caleb King has managed to earn $80,000 for selling his Pokemon card collection. King is saving up to go to medical school, and this venture is a good one to earn more money for medical school: 

What's even better is that King, who's saving up to go to medical school to be an orthopaedic surgeon, hasn't even sold his most valuable cards. He has a first edition Red Cheeks Pikachu, which he estimates will net him $20,000 (~£14,680) and another 21 cards that he estimates selling for upwards of $50,000 (~£36,700).

The "Red Cheeks Pikachu", for reference, is that super-chunky piece of art in which Pikachu looks like he's had one too many Poké Puffs, and you can, indeed, find a few pricey ones on eBay.

Now that his hobby is making huge stacks of Pokédough, his parents seem to have come around to the idea, saying that they're "proud of his character [and] his drive". 

Image via NintendoLife 

Over the past few months, gamers have been subjected to the 60fps (frames per second), 4K resolution with ray-tracing promises from Microsoft and Sony. Did they actually deliver? Well, sort of. The 60fps at 4K with ray tracing pitch was a mirage, as not a single game on the market lives up to that pledge. New games such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales lets the player choose between better framerates or improved resolution and ray tracing. They can’t have both: 

The outlet cited Eurogamer's Digital Foundry article that tested the game's performance, and according to that study, Miles Morales' quality mode delivers ray tracing and 4K resolution but caps at 30 fps, while its performance mode removes ray tracing and shifts between 1512p and sub-4K resolutions to squeeze out 60 fps. Meanwhile, Digital Foundry also discovered Assassin's Creed Valhalla can't reach above 1728p, no matter what.

Tom's Guide's conclusion is clear: Despite the graphical horsepower sported by the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, the consoles can't currently deliver on their promises. However, the solution to this problem lies in one of two possibilities.

The first potential solution is obvious: If current-gen consoles can't hit 4K and 60 fps at the same time, then console manufacturers may have to brute force games with even more powerful hardware. This could mean that gamers have to ironically wait for yet another new generation of consoles, or at least until Microsoft and Sony release the inevitable Xbox Series X Plus and PlayStation 5 Pro. Judging by the time it took the companies to release the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro, Tom's Guide predicted these hypothetical improved iterations will launch around 2023.

The other solution, meanwhile, is to wait for developers to get better acquainted with the current generation's system suites. 

Image via SVG 

Alex the African grey parrot was the subject of Dr. Irene Pepperberg’s research into animal psychology. With the help of Alex, Dr. Pepperberg has shown the capabilities of birds through various exercises in cognition. Alex is also the first ever animal to have an ‘existential crisis’ or alternatively, the first to ask an existential question, as My Modern Met details: 

By the time of his death in 2007, Alex had amassed a variety of skills generally thought beyond animal reasoning. He had proven that some birds’ intelligence is even on par with that of dolphins and primates—typically considered to be some of the world’s smartest animals.

[...]

One of Alex’s most impressive moments was when he asked an existential question about his own appearance. He had been presented with a mirror, and—after observing himself for a moment—he asked, “What color?” He then learned the word “gray”—the color of his feathers—after having it taught to him six times.

Image via My Modern Met