This set of mysterious stones has remained on the periphery of the modern age. It serves as a reminder that we had quite a colorful past, and also a shining beacon of light for scholars who wish to study more about our world history. Even if it has stood there for quite a long period of time, it remains as enigmatic as ever. 

However, a team from the University of Salford, in Manchester, and English Heritage, the charitable trust that manages Stonehenge, have unveiled one of the many intrigues surrounding the site. These experts have found out that the original circle of 157 standing stones (only 63 complete stones remain today) once acted like a sound chamber. The stones can amplify and enhance voice and music within its circle, but it would sound muffled and indistinct outside the area.“Some acoustical research had already been done at Stonehenge, but it was all based on what’s there now,” Trevor Cox,  an acoustical engineer at the University of Salford and one of the researchers in the study, shared. “I wanted to know how it sounded in 2200 B.C. when all the stones were in place.”

Read more about the study here.

Image via wikimedia commons

It happens. Corporations that seem greedy or too up in people’s business online trying to be “relatable” for clicks and advertisements can get the ire of the common folk. If you’re interested in knowing which companies are really hated by the populace, the 2023 Axios Harris Poll has been released. These results were produced by asking more than 16,000 Americans to score the 100 companies they considered “most visible” across nine categories of reputation.

The list reveals the reputations of around 100 corporations in the U.S. Much to nobody’s surprise, social media companies are one of worst ranked organizations. Twitter, Meta, and TikTok were the giants included, but they were also badly ranked. Meta and Twitter scored badly in the culture and ethics categories, and this can be attributed to the recent lay-off of thousands of workers over email. We’re also going to include Musk’s reputation and as well as his choices after his acquisition of Twitter.

TikTok on the other hand, scored badly on the character category. This also is no surprise, with how American lawmakers are making a big fuss or concern over how it can be used by the Chinese federal government to gain more influence (and information). For reference, here are the other brands with bad reputations in the country according to the poll:

• The Trump Organization
• FTX
• Fox Corporation
• Twitter
• Meta
• Spirit Airlines
• TikTok

Image credit: Pixabay

Who can say no to making a few extra bucks from items we’re not really interested in hanging onto anymore?

Well, with spring coming around the corner, around 77 % of households are estimated to do a full routine cleanup of their home, according to the National Cleaning Survey. This number is a record high, and it’s not going to be surprising to see a lot of old vintage items resurface in the coming months. We’re talking about old family photos, vintage frames, porcelain, music boxes, utensils, and more. 

If you’re one of the people who would brave their old family’s attic or basement for spring cleaning, you might want to keep an eye out for these items that can make you some money thanks to collectors. Check out Delish’s full piece here to learn more!

Image via Ebay 

Well, we have to admire his dedication to looking for his phone. Rajesh Vishwas, a food inspector with the Chhattisgarh state government in India, was taking a selfie when he dropped his phone. 

The government official was in the Parallkot reservoir, a scenic spot in central India. So it’s no surprise that he took the chance to take photos. However, he was not able to secure his $1,200 Samsung phone, and it dropped below the reservoir. He did try to take it back using different attempts. His first try was sending divers into the reservoir, but they failed to bring his precious gadget.

He then decided to have the entire reservoir drained. It took three days to drain around 530,000 gallons of water from the reservoir, but after all that effort Vishwas was able to get his phone back. But alas, it stopped working. 

According to reports, the reason why he took such efforts to get it back was because his phone contained sensitive government information and he had permission to drain the reservoir. The state, however, denied that he had no such permission. He is now suspended as a full investigation will be taking place.

Image screenshot via CBS News

Sign me up. Embrace the stress and hardships brought on by finals week in school with themed makeup. Even if you’re too tired to do other fun things except just eat, bathe, and study (also take tests in between), there’s no harm in making sure you look amazing. Even if you fail (we hope you don’t). 

Well, if ever you feel like you need to look more awake than ever, maybe makeup can give you some assistance. Personally, we just like this one because of the sheer hilarity of the concept behind it. Introducing, Sephora and Stabilo's (yes, the brand that produces a lot of highlighters) collaboration: a felt eyeliner collection that is shaped like a highlighter. It’s like a weird brainchild from a fever dream you had while studying for hours. 

The eyeliner comes in a container that is shaped like a small Stabilo highlighter and comes in different shades. These are Ink Splash (black), Back to School (gray), Summer Holiday (blue), and Chocolate Break (yes, that’s brown). While it is currently listed on Sephora Singapore’s website, we’re having our fingers crossed to have this collection reach other areas (such as ours) as well. 

Image credit: thebrunettemix

These containers do help us when it’s time to store our leftovers in the refrigerator, or when we want to organize our produce and other ingredients in the fridge. Apparently, there is no need to buy them, according to celebrity chef and founder of Momofuku Noodle Bar, David Chang. “There's no reason to buy Tupperware. There's no reason to buy those Ziploc things,” he says in a video on GQ’s YouTube channel. Instead, he proposes to reuse plastic containers you got from ordering takeout or delivery. “This is just simply, solely, more useful to use as a storage of food," he further explained. 

Now: there is still debate about how good plastic takeout containers are. However, experts do agree that you can reuse them up to a certain point. "Most food-safe containers from restaurants can be used as storage for a short period of time, as these plastics are usually meant for food-grade applications," food scientist Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D. told Martha Stewart.

You can use takeout boxes up to 25 times before throwing them out, just make sure to clean them between each use. 

Image credit: ArtHouse Studio

Çatalhöyük is known as one of the oldest buildings in the world. Located in modern-day Turkey, it is dated to be around 9,400 years old, the location suggests that human activity started around 7,400 BCE. The edifice was maintained for over 2,000 years. Experts believe that the society of humans that built this building had mastered agriculture. This is because the materials needed to create the Çatalhöyük could only be achieved by a group of people who had organization and had easy access to natural resources. 

The Çatalhöyük is believed to be a vast settlement, expanding for about 34 acres. Archaeologists believe that it could be home to around 3,000 to 8,000 people.

“Today we know that Çatalhöyük was not the earliest or the largest farming community in Anatolia and the Levant; however, it was a major participant in the cultural and economic changes that swept across the Near East in the Neolithic Period,” UNESCO explained. “Its strategic location in Anatolia made it a bridgehead for the spread of the Neolithic way of life to Europe and beyond.” 

Image via wikimedia commons

It cleans the toilet. 

Hydrogen peroxide is a good alternative for a toilet bowl cleaner, especially if you need one for an emergency. What happens is that the chemical can effortlessly remove dirt, grime, bacteria, and the gross stuff that's really causing your toilet bowl stains. In fact, the 3% bottle of the chemical that we can have in our medicine cabinet is enough. That small amount of hydrogen peroxide makes it also safe to use around humans and pets. 

House Digest recommends that you add the chemical into the bowl and let it set for 30 minutes if you want to remove and target smears and stains. To make things easier, you can also buy the chemical in a spray bottle (or transfer it to a recyclable spray bottle). You can reach nooks and crannies with that kind of application too! 

Learn more about using hydrogen peroxide for toilet cleaning here.

Image credit: Karolina Grabowska

Now they don’t need to worry about reaching the top of buildings to go home. A new venture of luxury residences by automotive brand Bugatti and developer Binghatti. The high-rise building will not just include beautiful and well-designed residential areas, but will also include car elevators. 

This will allow car owners to bring their vehicles right up to their penthouse suites. So far, that is the most interesting aspect of the building. Not much is also known about the edifice, actually. Aside from the car elevators, the developers have revealed that it will contain 171 Riviera Mansions residences and 11 Sky Mansion penthouses. Additionally, amenities such as a beach area, a private pool,  a jacuzzi spa, and a fitness club will be built for future residents. 

"Unmatched craftsmanship and exquisite finishes that set a new standard for opulence will be at the heart of the living spaces curated for Bugatti Residences, ensuring that the 'Art of Living' is reimagined for a contemporary defining era," the company explained in a press release. "Both penthouses and mansions offer spacious living areas adorned with the finest material selection the world has to offer. The Bugatti Residences carry a seamless blend of comfort, functionality, and elegance that reflect Bugatti and Binghatti’s pre-eminence in design."

Image credit: Bugatti

Way back in 2014, a loggerhead sea turtle was in a dire state after having a hole in her shell. When she was rescued near a power plant in New Jersey, the team from San Diego’s Birch Aquarium joined forces with the Digital Media Lab at UC San Diego Library to find a way to save her life and nurse her back to health. The team not only fed her and took care of her, but they also created the first ever 3D printed shell brace for sea creature care in 2017. 

This was done to cure the turtle of the abnormal curve in her spine and paralysis of her back flippers.  “We teamed up with the Digital Media Lab at Geisel Library to create a brace that will prevent the shell from curving further downward and will promote more normal growth. It’s our goal to prevent further complications and keep her as healthy and happy as possible,” said Jenn Nero Moffatt, senior director of animal care at the aquarium. 

The people at Digital Media Lab performed a blue light 3D scan of the turtle’s shell so the brace they made could fit perfectly, and would prevent further complications. Now, six years later, the loggerhead is living her best life. She is now about 3 feet long and more than 2.5 feet wide. Additionally, she now weighs 210 pounds, which is way more than 75.4 pounds, which was her weight when she was rescued.

Image credit: birchaquarium / Instagram

OpenAI, the company behind the very successful and popular AI tool ChatGPT has one secret hidden beneath its grand popularity, and it’s not as good as one might think: it’s low-wage contract workers. 

The money OpenAI earns doesn’t flow well into the workers hired to trained their AI, which is the source of their money. For those unaware, for an AI program to work, there needs to be people making sure it keeps trained. These contract workers now revealed to NBC News that for others up the corporate ladder, keeping these computer models “trained” is very much grunt work. According to 34-year-old Kansas City denizen and OpenAI contractor Alexej Savreux, their job consists of labeling photos, writing predictions for the AI, and other things that can help the AI to generate responses better. "You can design all the neural networks you want, you can get all the researchers involved you want, but without labelers, you have no ChatGPT," he said. "You have nothing."

While this kind of work is low-wage, uninsured, and usually on a contract basis, employees are usually thankful for the extra gig. Savreaux shared that his work-from-home AI training gig brought him $15 per hour, which is above Missouri's $12 minimum wage and pulled him out of homelessness. "People sometimes minimize these necessary, laborious jobs," he said. "It’s the necessary, entry-level area of machine learning."

Image credit: Andrew Neel/Pexels

Surprisingly enough, it’s not New York City. Readers of USA Today have sent in their votes and created a list of the top ten walkable cities in the United States. Aside from public opinion, the organization also sought the help of a panel of travel experts to help narrow down options. 

This said panel started by creating a list of the 20 most walkable cities filled with hotels, restaurants, and attractions. From there, the readers then voted for their top picks for the month. Surprisingly, New York City is only number seven. Philadelphia wins the award beating California, Missouri, Florida, and many others. 

Philadelphia’s win can be attributed to being one of the larger cities with the fewest cars per person. Additionally, it is also one of the few cities that have less traffic. “This award confirms what we already knew about Philadelphia—it is an accessible destination that is easy to navigate on foot, from river to river,” Gregg Caren, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau stated. 

For reference, the top ten most walkable cities are: 

1. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2. Long Beach, California
3. St. Louis, Missouri
4. Minneapolis, Minnesota
5. St. Augustine, Florida
6. Boston, Massachusetts
7. New York City, New York
8. Seattle, Washington
9. Chicago, Illinois
10. Washington, D.C.

Image credit: Lavdrim Mustafi

Now that’s embarrassing. Why bother going to an auction of an extremely popular and well-known building in New York, bidding over $190 million for it, and then ending up completely ghosting them afterward because you can’t pay the deposit?

Well, Jacob Garlick did bother. The man, who bid $190 million, worked as a managing partner at Abraham Trust, a venture capital firm. He was ruled out as a buyer after missing his down payment of $19 million. “I suspect he didn’t have the money, or that he realized he overbid and decided not to proceed,” Peter Axelrod, the court-appointed referee for the sale, explained to the New York Times. Garlick did try to get an extension, but his request was refused.

His bid was a bit shocking for other competitors, as his $190 million bid was way far from the starting price of $50 million. “It’s been my lifelong dream of mine since I’m 14 years old. I’ve worked every day of my life to be in this position,” Garlick told NY1. “We are honored to be a steward of this historic building, and it will be our life’s mission to preserve its integrity forever.” 

Now that the historic building is back on the market, one of the men that fought closely with Garlick shared that he was annoyed when Garlick was bidding for the Flatiron Building. “I was annoyed. I never thought he’d keep going to such a high price… All he was doing was driving up the price,” the man told the Times. With Garlick out of the picture, he now has the chance to snag the edifice for himself, but he told the press he was not interested in buying it for  $189.5 million, which was his last bidding price before Garlick won the auction.  

Image credit: wikimedia commons 

Well, that’s our entire weekend schedule right there. 

Sometimes with the many struggles in our daily lives, we tend to look for small, fun things to do to relax. Mindless tasks can help us unwind after a long day or week of doing nothing but work and stressing over problems. Coloring, while considered a childish activity, is now one of the few adult hobbies considered one of the best methods for destressing. 

Now there are a lot of adult-oriented coloring books (by this we mean more details and intricate compared to the usual ones), but they can be a bit expensive. However, Color Our Collections is now offering new pieces that you can color in your downtime for free. This campaign, initiated by The New York Academy of Medicine Library, collects coloring pages from over 100 cultural institutions from across the globe and makes them free to download online.

Check out all the available art you can color on their official website here! 

Image credit: Color Our Collections 

Oh, dear. 

Beth Bogar, an American tourist, was having a good time in Mason Elephant Park and Lodge, located in Bali, Indonesia, with her husband when she got one of the most shocking and a bit traumatizing moments in her life. It started quite innocently: she was in a resort that had animals in it and wanted to pose for a photo with one of the animals in the area. 

Bogar shared that she only realized the situation she was in when she heard the cracking of her bones. An elephant apparently decided to grab her arm and put it into his mouth while she was taking a picture. “I couldn’t get my arm out, I could just hear cracking, and I started to panic,” she told WMUR.

Now this isn’t an illegal place to take photos of animals or pose with them. The Lodge usually promotes their photo booths on social media pages. The park generally has good reviews from other visitors. Additionally, as Bogar was taking her photo, she shared that she was being directed by the animal’s trainer as well. “I just feel like the guide was guiding me and he let my arm get too close to his mouth and I didn’t know how close too close was,” she explained.

She survived the incident, with a $10,000 medical bill after getting emergency surgery. Bogar and her husband claimed that the resort initially said they would help her pay the bill, but they stopped responding to all calls and messages. “They were assuring us all the while ‘Don’t worry we have insurances we can handle this situation we’ll get you taken care of’,” her husband shared.

Image credit: Harvey Sapir