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.

Last month, a truck driver in British Columbia witnessed an oncoming vehicle run over a cat in the road. The truck driver stopped and found that the small cat was not only injured, but was frozen to the road! He took her to the nearest veterinary clinic, and she is now in the custody of the SPCA.

It’s believed the female cat had been wandering and became hypothermic before collapsing in the middle of the road, where she became frozen to the pavement.

Once in the care of BC SPCA in Fort St. John, where the cat was given fluids and placed in a warming tent, she gradually became bright and alert, allowing the staff to continue their assessment of her other serious injuries which include a severely fractured knee, skin wounds and road rash. The estimated cost for ongoing care is $2,500.

The cat, which doesn’t have a name yet, is “extremely friendly and was purring and kneading the vet’s smocks as soon as she began to recover from her hypothermia,” the BC SPCA said.

A public request for funding the cat's care has far exceeded its goal by raising $15,000. For now, the SPCA is calling her the Ice Road Kitten, and asked the public to suggest a name. The finalists are "Elsa" and "Miracle." You can read the story of the ice road cat rescue at the Aldergrove Star. -via Fark

Joselyn Anderson, a wildlife photographer in Michigan, is exceptionally skilled at luring wild birds to feed from her hand. Her slow motion videos reveal in detail the movements and behaviors of these birds. Of the above Red-Bellied Woodpecker, she writes "the tongue connects around the right nostril. Watch closely at 30 sec. to see the flexing around the nostril as he uses his tongue."

-via My Modern Met

Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear first performed the song "Movin' Right Along" in the 1979 film The Muppet Movie. Now, 42 years later, they've reprised it with a socially-distanced video to welcome in 2021. Kermit plays banjo while Fozzie illustrates the places they would go if they were really going somewhere. Meanwhile, they keep breaking...  well, not the fourth wall, but the one between them.  -via Laughing Squid 

In 1936, when she was 17 years old, Helen Viola Jackson married James Bolin, 93 years old, of Niangua, Missouri. Private Bolin served in the 14th Missouri Cavalry Regiment, a US unit, during the Civil War. Jackson was a caretaker for the elderly Bolin, who offered to compensate her for her work by marrying her, thus entitling her to his military pension.

Ms. Jackson died on December 16 at the age of 101. The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War asserts that she is the last documented widow of a Civil War veteran. She never applied for the pension, as she worried about how it would impact her reputation.

With her passing, an era slips out of our grasp.

-via Kottke | Photo: Helen Viola Jackson

Previously on Neatorama: The Last Person to Receive a Civil War Pension

Bumblebee butts are cute, and I believe you will also agree to that, as there are no buts to that statement. Those who say otherwise are those who don’t know how to appreciate nature’s beauty.

Want to see more bumblebee butts? Check out the many pictures over at Sad and Useless.

(Image Credit: Sad and Useless)

One of the best things that you can experience as a child is growing up with an animal companion, who always stays by your side and tries to take care of you as well. Watch as this pittie, Dora, stays by baby Teddy’s side as Teddy grows up. The video can be seen over at The Dodo.

(Image Credit: The Dodo)

Clean water is an essential part of many aspects of human life, such as in agriculture, energy production, and drinking. One of the ways to make clean water is through a desalination membrane. Through this device, the salt from salt water is filtered out, making the water safe for consumption. It might look simple at first glance, but scientists have been baffled by the complex intricacies of the process. For decades, this has been the case, until now.

Researchers from Penn State, The University of Texas at Austin, Iowa State University, Dow Chemical Company and DuPont Water Solutions published a key finding in understanding how membranes actually filter minerals from water, online today (Dec. 31) in Science…

"Despite their use for many years, there is much we don't know about how water filtration membranes work," said Enrique Gomez, professor of chemical engineering and materials science and engineering at Penn State, who led the research. "We found that how you control the density distribution of the membrane itself at the nanoscale is really important for water-production performance."

Learn more details about this over at PHYS.org.

(Image Credit: ronymichaud/ Pixabay)

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 

Found in the deep shade of a Madagascar forest, this unflattering flower actually has a musk rose-like scent that becomes stronger when it's warmer outside.

And while all orchids are parasitic, this one depends entirely on fungi for nutrients as it lacks true leaves or other photosynthetic tissue. 

Scientists at England's Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, recently dubbed it “the ugliest orchid in the world" noting its “small, brown, and rather ugly" flowers.

Via Curtis's Botanical Magazine, The Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, & Atlas Obscura.

Photo Credit: The flower of Gastrodia agnicellus, showing the stem and part of the rhizome. Ranomafana September 2019. Photograph: Rick Burian. 

Behold the world's largest sea slug- the California Black Sea Hare.

It can be found near the coast and gulf of California. And while I don't see it, the "sea hare" is named due to the two "ear-like" protrusions on its head.

Brown algae makes up most of this giant mollusks diet. And while it might seem defenseless, it's made itself highly unappealing to predators by concentrating the toxin acetoxycrenulide from the algae in its tissues.

Read More at The Malibu Post & Oddity Central

In 1970, for just $1,800, you could purchase a kit to build your own personal jet in just 600 hours using a snowmobile engine for propulsion. The aircraft designed by Jim Bede were so small the pilots had to lie almost on their backs below fighter jet-like canopy, with a joystick-like device for control.

Unfortunately, the plane ended up performing terribly in test flights, with engine stalls common. But despite this, thousands of kits were shipped- possibly because thousands of deposits had already been put down.

With dissatisfied builders grumbling almost immediately, the company went bankrupt and left the buyers to cobble together working planes from what they had. And either due to the above, and/or the original design, 12 to 15% of all the BD-5s that ever flew have ended in fatal crashes.

Read more in Air & Space Magazine and at HistoryNet

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. 

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