The Briiv Air Filter is a gadget and an aesthetic piece at the same time. The self-proclaimed  “world's most sustainable air purifier” contains a miniature forest that provides fresh air in any indoor space. Isn’t that amazing? The air purifier contains a beautiful terrarium with natural filters and high-tech design, proving that plant-based designs can be effective, as My Modern Met details: 

The innovative air filter has a minimalist appearance, but it contains an ingenious four-layer filtration system which removes 97.84% of airborne particles. The top layer of moss inside the glass terrarium first traps the largest particles—such as pollen and allergens. Next, a layer of coconut fibers filters bacteria and mold spores. The two final layers then ensure maximum air purity. Crafted from the cocoons of humanely raised silkworms, a silk matrix of nanoscale mesh traps the floating dust which is invisible to the naked eye. Finally, a layer of activated carbon removes unpleasant odors and gases. The result is healthy air with a fresh, clean feel. In fact, one Briiv Air Filter efficiently provides the air quality benefits of 3,043 houseplants.

Developed by sustainable design experts Sean Sykes and James Whitfield, Briiv is guided by a circular design process. This means the designers consider the “circle” through which a product moves from conception to eventual disposal. To ensure true sustainability, each of the four filter layers is completely natural and biodegradable. When the affordable replacements are inserted every six months, the old filters can go straight into a compost bin. This is in contrast to the standard HEPA filters used in most air purifiers which take thousands of years to decompose. With Briiv, consumers can avoid contributing to the problem of landfill accumulation.

Image via My Modern Met 

This pop socket can transform your iPhone into another gadget. Meet the Magic Mouse Mini, a pop socket that can turn your iPhone into a mouse for your computer! Unfortunately, the pop socket is still a concept, so you won’t find it in stores. Created by Yongbin Kim, the Magic Mouse Mini has a switch that turns the optical sensor on, turning your iPhone into a magic mouse: 

Switch the device on, and the optical sensor above the Apple logo powers on, turning your iPhone into a magic mouse!

The iPhone and the socket at the back work in tandem to replicate the Magic Mouse experience. The optical sensor on the socket helps with cursor-tracking, while the iPhone’s touchscreen shoulders the responsibility of providing the control surface, allowing you to left-click, right-click, pinch, zoom, scroll, and do a variety of other gestures, just like you would on a Magic Mouse.

I’d surmise the Magic Mouse Mini concept would work remarkably well with iMacs and MacBooks, but would even probably do a pretty good job with iPads too! It’s a small, clever addon that helps your phone (by allowing you to grip it better), and helps your MacOS devices too, by giving you a Magic Mouse experience without having to shell out a hundred bucks for a new Magic Mouse. 

Image via Yanko Design

Coffee cups are now available without the traditional plastic lid. The Unocup is a coffee cup with an origami lid that lets you fold into place to seal the cup. The cup is a 100% plastic-free, compostable unit that replaces the traditional lid with paper folds that seal the drink tightly, as FastCompany details: 

“When people think of sustainable solutions,” Papo says, “they think of certain compromises that have to be made. What’s really exciting about this is that it’s a sustainable and practical solution at the same time.” Currently fulfilling small orders, ranging from 10 to 2,000 cups, that have come off Kickstarter, Chan and Papo are meeting with investors and aiming for a larger rollout to restaurants, coffee shops, and airports by early 2021.

Image via FastCompany

Warsaw-based artist Nespoon created an artwork that covered a side of the Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode. It features delicate mesh and floral elements, as if the artwork is a huge lace blanket covering the museum. Nespoon chose the lace motif from the institution’s archive, which dates back to 1894. The artist then spray-painted the intricate details onto the building.

Image via The Colossal 

Different dogs and cats are painted on a wall in Northumberland. From pets who have died, to the furry companions that provided companionship during the lockdown, these paintings are all for a good cause. Created by Sally Pattison, the money raised from the paintings will be given to help protect local wildlife. Pattison donates the proceeds  to Northumbrian Hedgehog Rescue Trust, who rescue, care and rehabilitate hedgehogs, as the Chronicle Live details:

Sally, 43, from Bebside, in Northumberland, said: "People have been bringing their dogs to meet their painting and all of the portraits are of pets from the local area so it's been really nice for the community to see."

The mural, which is currently being created on the corner of a disused building on Front Street, in Bebside, is the latest in a series of creations from Sally, who discovered her talent while studying art at school.

Her first mural was created in 2017 in preparation for the Tour of Britain passing through the area, which featured three cyclists racing.

Image via the Chronicle Live

Okay, for the record, they aren’t actual gigantic humans. A black and white image of dancers performing a tango-inspired dip can be seen from Residences at La Colombe d’Or, a 34-story apartment and boutique hotel tower on Montrose Boulevard. Called ‘Last Tango,’ the artwork is Blek le Rat’s largest mural, which he completed at the age of 69. The Houston Chronicle has more details: 

“I don’t want to make horrible, aggressive images,” Blek says. “I prefer to give people some happiness.” He purchased the tango image from a British photographer and has adapted it recently in smaller murals in France, Germany and Italy — minus the dove with golden wings. “This image is about something positive,” Blek says.

The partners liked Blek’s design because it reflects the ethos of the Residences at La Colombe d’Or project. “This is a place where people can come together and enjoy life. That appealed to us more than abstract possibilities or landscapes,” says Dan Zimmerman, who redeveloped his family’s property with his older brother, Steve Zimmerman.

The image strikes a balance between fine and street art and also the brothers’ slightly different generations, adds Lea Weingarten, the consultant. “It’s an art historical image being used as street art.” Zimmerman notes that tango is inherently democratic, often performed in the streets, so the image also speaks to the democracy of street art — and his project. “This is on a major street where everybody can enjoy it…. It’s a surprise, a gift for a lot of people,” he says.

Image via the Houston Chronicle 

An art project called Traverse is a series of self-guided tours around murals created by the city of Guelph’s local artists. This campaign is part of the city’s new tourism initiative to encourage their residents to explore their own community. Thirty-nine transit shelters across the city have been turned into exhibits, with each one displaying a different mural, as Guelph Today details; 

The bus shelters are scattered throughout the six wards, along routes set up to provide different sights, entertainment, drink or food options for residents to experience. 

All artists asked to be part of Traverse were selected by the city based on past performance and involvement in other city initiatives. These artists are Abby Novakowski, Chanel DesRoches, Christopher Cape, Greg Denton, Jessie Buchanan, and Robert John Paterson. To learn more about murals, click here.

According to a release from the city, residents can drive, bike or walk these tour routes from 

September 25 to November 25.

Traverse aligns with Culture Days, a national celebration of arts and culture, which is celebrated at the end of September. 

The release adds that Traverse was made possible by The Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF), who offer financial relief and supports economic recovery efforts in the Tourism sector due to impacts from COVID-19.

Image via Guelph Today 

What if your favorite couch had a life on its own, like a Transformer? Visual artist Max Siedentopf’s studio took that concept and created a goofy series called Mundane Machines. The series illustrates what happens when the most mundane objects in our home turn into machines, from hamburgers, to sneakers, to cigarette boxes, Siedentoph displays what would happen if these objects became life-sized machines. It’s lowkey scary, so hopefully this doesn’t happen in the future.  

Image via Plain magazine 

Would you trust your life to a cat? I mean, cats are expendable, and can probably get to you faster than any human. I’d trust a cat with my life. It seems that there’s a possibility of cats becoming trained firefighters! YouTuber and mechanical engineer William Osman has turned his furry companion into a firefighter. The cat may not jump to a burning building, but it can push a button to save people, as Nerdist details: 

Osman decided to train the cat to put out fires as part of a laser-baby build inspired by The Boys. But while the baby build is entertaining, what’s really fascinating here is the cat training. Because, yes, cat training is just as unreliable—and semi-futile—as one would expect.

Despite the difficulties of training Jimmy Neutron the cat, Osman eventually trained him to press a button And all it took is a contraption with numerous moving pieces powered by servo motors; including a treat dispenser, a clickable button, and, to use Osman’s term, a “flame system.”

Toward the end of the video (around minute 13), Osman placed the cat near a tiny wooden house. Osman then lit the house on fire and waited for his cat to press the button—and thusly douse the flaming house with a spit of water from a tiny fire truck. And while it took the feline a while to screw its courage to the scratching post, it eventually put out the fire.

Image via Nerdist

Plants and animals try their best to adapt to the rapidly changing climate by moving to other territories and shifting breeding seasons. Apparently these aren’t the only ways they cope with climate change! Researchers have discovered that for the past 75 years flowers tend to adapt to temperature and declining ozone by altering their color. To be specific, flowers are altering ultraviolet (UV) pigments in their petals, as Science Magazine details: 

To find out, Koski and colleagues examined plant collections from North America, Europe, and Australia dating back to 1941. In all, they examined 1238 flowers from 42 different species. They photographed flower petals from the same species collected at different times throughout their natural range using a UV-sensitive camera, which captured changes in UV pigment. They then matched these changes to data on the local ozone level and temperature.

On average, pigment in flowers at all locations increased over time—an average of 2% per year from 1941 to 2017, they reported this month in Current Biology. But changes varied depending on flower structure. In saucer-shaped flowers with exposed pollen, like buttercups, UV-absorbing pigment increased when ozone levels went down and decreased in locations where ozone went up. But flowers with pollen concealed within their petals, such as the common bladderwort, decreased their UV pigment as temperatures went up—regardless of whether ozone levels changed.

Though surprising, the finding “makes total sense,” says Charles Davis, a plant biologist at Harvard University who was not involved with the work. Pollen hidden within petals is naturally shielded from UV exposure, but this extra shielding can also act like a greenhouse, trapping heat. When these flowers are exposed to higher temperatures, their pollen is in danger of being cooked, he says. Reducing UV pigments in the petals causes them to absorb less solar radiation, bringing down temperatures.Although such pigment changes may be indistinguishable to the human eye, they stand out like a beacon to pollinators like hummingbirds and bees. 

Image via Science Magazine

Some of us dreamed of becoming an astronaut and going to space when we were young. But when we saw the math and science it took for you to become one, most of us just moved on. Have you ever wondered how people get along in space? Mashable’s Jules Suzdaltsev shares an animated clip of how the 1969 Apollo 10 crew reacted after discovering... certain objects floating around the capsule. 

Image screenshot via Mashable 

An important piece of rock art discovered on the Wessel Islands depicted ancient hunters harpooning a large whale. Sure, it’s an ancient rock artwork of ancient people fishing, but what is its significance? Anthropologist Dr. Ian McIntosh tells ABC news that this discovery is an astonishing one, and is of significant historical importance: 

"The Yolngu have understood these whale hunter enterprises so much they could finely detail the boats on these rock carvings."

These hunters were known as the wurramala, and it's believed they came from Indonesia and regularly visited the Arnhem Land coast in the wet season long before Europeans or even Macassan traders arrived in Australia several centuries ago.

Dr McIntosh is part of the PastMasters history research group and also the author of The Whale And The Cross, a biography of Yolngu philosopher David Burrumarra MBE.

Mr Burrumarra was of the Warramiri of Elcho Island, and one of the clan's primary totems is the whale.

Image via ABC news

A 3D facial reconstruction of an Egyptian boy was revealed by European researchers. The boy was estimated to have been mummified during the first century A.D., and the digital reconstruction resembles a lifelike portrait of the deceased that was buried along with his remains. These “mummy portraits” that were used for comparison to the reconstruction was a popular practice among certain strata of Roman Egyptian society, as the Smithsonian details: 

Compared with the ancient funerary artwork, the modern reconstruction shows “considerable similarities”—albeit with one notable exception, as the team notes in the journal PLOS One.

Analysis of the skeleton’s bones and teeth suggests the boy was roughly 3 to 4 years old at the time of his death. But the researchers point out that “on a subjective level, the portrait appears slightly ‘older,’” likely due to its lithe depiction of the child’s nose and mouth.

This more mature representation “may have been the results of an artistic convention of that time,” lead author Andreas Nerlich, a pathologist at the Academic Clinic Munich-Bogenhausen in Germany, tells Live Science.

Similarities between the boy’s portrait and the digital reconstruction may help answer a question that has lingered since British archaeologist W.M. Flinders Petrie discovered a trove of mummy portraits in Egypt’s Fayum region in the late 1880s: Who do the artworks represent?

Image via the Smithsonian 

Pokémon is one of the most beloved franchises out there. Fans love creating and seeing new reinterpretations of the pocket monsters in any shape or form. Artist DobieDraws created an index of the first generation of Pokemon in the style of illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. Basically, it’s like a medieval Pokedex! The 32-page booklet depicts these cute beasts medieval style, and the descriptions for each Pokemon is in written in classical Latin and in distinguished calligraphy, as CBR details: 

All writing appears in distinguished calligraphy, and the pages have an aged effect to complete the illusion.

Although each Pokémon shown in the preview images is recognizable, the art appears to reflect painstaking research on medieval art, with visual references to different creatures that might have appeared in real manuscripts. Gyarados plays the part of a classic sea serpent, while Mewtwo's supreme power is represented with a Christ-like halo.

The description of the item reads, "Codex Pokemonus is a 32-page Pokemon illuminated manuscript, featuring illustrations of the original Generation 1 Pokemon in the style of illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages."

Image via CBR 

Please wear a face mask when you go outside! Remember that it’s for your own safety. If you’re tired of wearing the same surgical masks, and would like to put on a flashy and stylish face mask when you go outside,  Today is Art Day has released reversible masks that have famous artworks on them! Each face mask has two complementary designs that can spice up your wardrobe: 

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was more than a skillful painter; she was also a beloved style icon whose face is synonymous with women empowerment. So, it only makes sense that two of her greatest masterpieces would make for a gorgeous face mask. Wear The Two Fridas side one day, and the Self-Portrait With Monkeys side the next. It's sure to make you a star wherever you go.

Everyone loves Van Gogh. His exquisite Post-Impressionist paintings are world-renowned for their vivid color and expressive brushstrokes. The Starry Night and Almond Blossom Reversible Mask celebrates two of the Dutch master's most iconic works. On one side is a rendition of the captivating swirls of The Starry Night, and the other features the tender Almond Blossom. Simply place the reversible mask over the lower half of your face and use the black adjustable straps to find the perfect fit.

Image via My Modern Met