Back in the day when newspapers were just about the only form of daily entertainment, New York papers printed stories that may or may not be true to fill pages, and no one complained as long as they were entertaining. The 1895 hijinks of a goat and his cat friend were just more fodder for the morning edition. A goat, "who had been living on tomato cans, nails, and broken glass for months," smelled the papier-mâché icicles that were being installed above the new ice skating rink. The goat could not reach them, and set out to enlist the help of Dolph, a cat who was renowned for doing tricks on stage.

The goat ran down Lexington Avenue and stopped in front of Mr. Falk’s house, where he bleated a special signal to summon his feline friend. Dolph saw his goat friend through the window and exited the basement door to join him. “There was consultation and then off the two started, and a few moments later halted in front of the ice palace.”

The goat gave Dolph a few instructions, and the cat took off, scrambling up the felt-covered walls toward the ceiling. He then dodged into a hole that marked the uncompleted part of the sub-ceiling. According to The Sun reporter–who noted that details of the story were not all necessarily true–Dolph bit off a few icicles for his goat friend.

After satisfying his friend’s hunger, Dolph decided to satisfy his curiosity by prowling around between the two ceilings. Meanwhile, workmen continued building the icicle sub-ceiling, eventually sealing the hole through which Dolph had entered.

This unlikely explanation led to Dolph being trapped in the ceiling for eight days, which may be true enough. Less likely was the epilogue about the goat and cat no longer speaking after the incident. Read the story and how it turned out at The Hatching Cat.  -via Strange Company

For those of you who have been craving some juicy Apple information, we have some big news to share. Your waiting is finally over! Last week Siri, everyone’s favorite virtual assistant, let it slip that on April 20th Apple will hold the Spring Loaded event. Since then rumors have been thrown left and right. Here are some things to expect (and hope for).

iPad Pro

With the iPad Air having a better chip and worse camera setup, most are wondering if a new iPad Pro is going to drop. That would make the Pro the definitive iPad. 

There is a big rumor that the new iPad Pro will have a chip comparable to the M1. That would make it a great alternative if you are looking for a powerful work-from-home machine. If the iPad Pro also ends up being 5G compatible, that machine will also be a great work-from-anywhere device. Here’s hoping that happens!

Some experts also expect the iPad Pro to have a new mini-LED screen and Thunderbolt. The mini-LED screen would allow for less burn in and deeper blacks. Thunderbolt would make for better display connectivity. This is one rumor I think might actually be true.

AirTags

The forever rumoured AirTags (which are tracking keychains using similar technology to Find My iPhone) are a possibility, but I give this bit of gossip a big maybe. One of the most reliable leakers said that nothing “particularly innovative” is going to be at this event.

Let’s hope we are both wrong. I would love to see AirTags.

Image: MacRumors

MacBook Pro

The MacBooks are infamous for their lack of ports, and the design is due for a refresh. Video editors everywhere are hoping for a new model with a SD card reader. This, however, doesn’t sound like a very Apple-y thing to do. Apple is known for their less-is-more strategy.

SD card reader or not, leakers are sadly hinting that we won’t hear much about the MacBook Pro at this event.

Image: MacBook Pro 2014

Apple Pencil

An update of Apple’s popular drawing tool would pair nicely with an announcement of a new iPad. It makes sense for the company to create something else to market to artists who will be investing in fresh devices with the improved displays. There is even an image circulating online that claims to be a leaked photo of said pen. The picture suggests that the new pencil might go back to its glossy plastic origins. I would take that rumor with a big grain of salt.

Image: Mr. White

AirPods

The popular wireless listening device hasn’t gotten a refresh since 2019 (which seems like a million years to a tech company). My unconfirmed hopes are that Apple will come out with multiple silicon tips, an option for foam, and no stems. I also hope, but doubt, that they will be fully compatible with Windows and Android. If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t take this bet.

And More!

There is certainly room for a lot more surprises. Possibilities include a new iMac, hinted at by the curve of the spring loaded logo being the same as the Hello from the original Macintosh. Who knows! Maybe the whole Siri leak was intentional, and we’ll be getting an entire Siri interface redesign (IDK). Expect the unexpected, get your bots ready to scalp all the new gadgets. Tune in on April 20th, 10:00 AM Pacific! 

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 

I just had to contribute pic.twitter.com/Sqv9rBaC18

— Tom (@ThomasCDix) July 10, 2019

Lisa Stinson found a scientific paper with a title that made her laugh. Is it the funniest ever? Maybe so, maybe not, but posting it to Twitter made other people run and look up memorable science paper titles that made them laugh, too. It appears that scientists know all the puns related to their research, and when the opportunity arises to incorporate them into a paper title, they just can't help themselves. There are a lot more of these in the Twitter thread, or you can see the best 30 of them ranked at Bored Panda.

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 

Her presence is very soothing. This video of Alice Bradley has gathered nearly 6 million views, so you know that the way she explained what to do when you get too high is effective- or at least, soothing enough to calm people down during their drug-induced high. It will give you a sense of peace, whether or not you’re high: 

Alice Bradley, Lifehacker, former victim of getting too stoned, and quite possibly the sweetest lady on Earth, reminds us that no matter how ripped you are, it’s all gonna be okay.

Here are the key steps Ms. Bradley teaches us:

1. Breathe some fresh air – sometimes you need to take a step outside, or open up a window, look up at the sky, and admire the spherical shape of the earth.

2. Stay hydrated – You probably won’t have this issue, because the cottonmouth will have you chugging H2O in an instant, but some nice hydration is a great way to calm down the paranoia.

3. Make Lemonade – According to Ms. Bradley, lemons can help regulate THC levels.

4. Grind some pepper – If you feel like you’re so high you could touch the moon, get you some pepper. It’s been known to help bring you back down.

4. Watch TV – A nice sitcom such as Friends can help bring you back to reality.

5. Phone a friend – Sometimes you just need a familiar voice to remind you that everything’s gonna be okay.

According to an economic report by Goldman Sachs, copper will be replacing oil. Not exactly as a new source for energy, but the material will be crucial in decarbonization and in producing more renewable energy sources. Copper has the physical attributes needed for creating, storing and distributing clean energy from the wind, sun and geothermal sources, as Business Insider details: 

"Discussions of peak oil demand overlook the fact that without a surge in the use of copper and other key metals, the substitution of renewables for oil will not happen,' the report said.

Copper will be needed to create the new infrastructure systems required for clean energy to replace oil and gas, however there has not been enough of a focus on this so far according to the report.

Demand will therefore significantly increase, by up to 900% to 8.7 million tons by 2030, if green technologies are adopted en masse, the bank estimates. Should this process be slower, demand will still surge to 5.4 million tons, or by almost 600%.

Copper is a key part of sustainable technologies, including electric vehicle batteries and deriving clean energy. As the deadline of the Paris Agreement comes closer, political and economic pushes towards renewable energy and green technology are becoming stronger.

Image via Business Insider

Need to spice up your social media accounts? Okay, maybe you can’t go to tourist locations and take the most wonderful photos, but you can get creative in the confines of your home! If you’re thinking of the next concept for your photo upload, or just looking for good photography tips, Mango Street provides some tips and tricks on how to make your photos pop, without expensive or gimmicky editing methods: 

After a brief discussion of what makes a photograph compelling, you’ll see how to become more creative by abandoning your comfort zone and shooting subjects you haven’t photographed before. This could mean hiding a model’s face with an interesting foreground subject, shooting from a unique perspective, or coordinating a subject’s wardrobe with elements in the background.

Other tips in the video include the creative use of color, telling a story with your photographs, and techniques for making your main subject “pop” by creating background separation. You’ll also learn some simple tricks for using light, and composing images differently from your typical approach.

None of what you see in the video is difficult to achieve—it just requires a different way of looking at the world before you and capturing what you see.

You can find more helpful tips like these on the Mango Street YouTube channel. And if you missed yesterday’s powerful tutorial on how to shoot super sharp images, be sure and take a look.

Image via Shutterbug 

We’re so used to seeing white ancient sculptures in museums that imagining them painted in a variety of bright colors is just odd. It’s logical to believe that these magnificent artworks were just initially white marble or stone. However, it’s also worth considering that these art pieces are white now because the colors have long since faded. Did you know that most of the iconic sculptures, such as Hermes, the Winged Victory and the Venus de Milo were once very colorful statues? The Greek Reporter has more details: 

Although the statue has been long since destroyed, there is a description of it in the writings of the ancient historian Pausanias, who wrote that the statue was “chryselephantine” or in other words, covered in gold and ivory.

There is also a verse in Euripides‘ tragedy “Troades” (The Trojan Women), written in 415 BC, in which Helen says:

My life and fortunes are a monstrosity,

Partly because of Hera, partly because of my beauty.

If only I could shed my beauty and assume an uglier aspect

The way you would wipe color off a statue.

The last line clearly indicates that all scultptures had been painted, or made in color, and this must have been essential to their beauty and impact.

Praxiteles, the creator of the famous Hermes and the Infant Dionysus, was once asked which were his favorite statues. His reply was “The ones painted by Nikias.”

Unfortunately, after centuries of lying on the ground the paints on the statues has been irreparably lost

Image via The Greek Reporter

The above photograph by Mads Nissen, titled The First Embrace, was named Photo of the Year by the World Press Photo Foundation. From Nissen's Instagram page:

THE FIRST EMBRACE. 85-year-old Rosa Luzia Lunardi is embraced by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza, the first hug she receives in five months. In March, care homes across the country closed their doors to all visitors, preventing millions of concerned Brazilians from visiting their elderly relatives, while the caretakers were ordered to limit all physical contact with the vulnerable to an absolute minimum. But at Viva Bem, an old age home outside Sao Paulo, a simple new invention ‘The Hug Curtain' has once again allowed people to see and hug each other without risking their lives. And for those who do not have visitors, volunteers and staff are ready to step in – because, as they say at Viva Bem : "Everyone deserves a good hug".

The effect of a hug through the curtain looks like angel wings. The Foundation also named the World Press Photo Story of the Year, Photo Interactive of the Year, and Online Video of the Year. See those and read the stories behind them at the contest site. -via Nag on the Lake

The security camera caught a couple in Burgaw, North Carolina, leaving home when an animal attacked the woman. Her husband bravely grabbed the cat and held it up before realizing it's a bobcat, at which point he yeets it across the yard. This video was originally uploaded to TikTok, where it was deleted by their algorithm for advocating violence as the man vowed to kill the cat. He did indeed kill the bobcat, and later tests found it was infected with rabies. The couple are undergoing a series of rabies shots to stave off infection. This video contains NSFW language. -via Digg

Get your pets vaccinated.

It's like that scene in Starman: red light means stop. Green light means go. Yellow light means go very fast.

Florida Man, the alien living among us, decided that he didn't have time to wait until the drawbridge in Daytona Beach closed again. As it rose, he gunned the engine and was briefly airborne as the two halves of the bridge separated.

-via Dave Barry

Wherever you go in the United States, you'll recognize the official signs of the National Forest Service. The slightly rounded trapezoid shapes, the sturdy base, and the unobtrusive colors are consistent across the country. It wasn't always that way. At one time, Forest Service signs varied from place to place, and many sites didn't have signs at all. The iconic signs debuted 1963, the work of Virgil “Bus” Carrell, a lifelong forest ranger who had no graphic design experience, but really cared about the Forest Service. Carrell teamed up with artist Rudy Wendelin, who designed Smokey Bear.  

Carrell, Wendelin, and two landscape architects began their work with a tour of Forest Service-managed areas. They found some entrances marked with the agency’s official shield, others with hand-drawn placards or metallic eyesores. Some signs merely had the property’s name. Others featured entire histories. What they didn’t see anywhere was consistency.

Based on his observations, Carrell developed a philosophy summed up in his essay “Signs to Complement Natural Beauty.” It reads like Sun Tzu’s The Art of War for forest signs: “A sign does not have to be the gaudiest, the biggest, and the most colorful to be the best one,” and “The text should develop no more than one topic and have a warm tone.”

Read about Carrell and his dedication to the Forest Service, and the signs that are his legacy, at Atlas Obscura.

(Image credit: U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest Region)