TRY NOT SMILING 😄👩‍🦳

"Every time I put a new color on grandma, we die laughing."

(🎥:thecolourchemist)

pic.twitter.com/6N1WqMPykn

— GoodNewsCorrespondent (@GoodNewsCorres1) April 17, 2023

This is cute! 

People of any age are allowed to change their looks when they want to! A video of an elderly woman smiling in delight as she gets her hair dyed in a salon has been making rounds online. The short clip shows the reaction of the grandma as the hair stylist applies different colors to her hair. The video ends with a reveal of the woman looking giddy and amazed with having three different colors on her hair. 

Netizens praised her new look and found it cute that she remarked that she was going to look like an Easter egg (she did not look like one) but remained excited and enthusiastic all throughout the process. Very wholesome!

Image credit: Thecolorchemist

Yusuke Nagata is a Tokyo-based street photographer specializing in spontaneous street portraits. For two years (2019-2021) he decided to embark on a project about the Toyoko Kids, a group of homeless teenagers living around Shinjuku’s Toho Cinema in the Kabukichō district.

Nagata noticed in his frequent visits to Kabukicho that older homeless people he met way back in 2019 began disappearing. This was because the government was starting to prepare for the 2020 Olympics. The square was being redeveloped to get new buildings for business and this could be a possible reason why the elderly left. The photographer noticed that teenagers, many of them girls, replaced these elderly homeless people. “I guessed they were homeless because they had bought suitcases. They never seemed to leave,” Nagata shared. 

The photographer would go to the area regularly to chat with the people drinking out in the space next to the cinema in Kabukicho. “I’d stop by in the evening with a beer and just start chatting,” he remarked. “Once we’ve been chatting for a bit I might snap a picture.” 

According to Nagata, these kids did not trust adults, possibly due to their experience with their parents and the police. Some of the teenagers came from abusive homes, and if the police found out their real age, they would send them back to the places they escaped from, or to detention centers. 

image credit: Yusuke Nagata

You’ve heard of artists and writers getting replaced by artificial intelligence (AI), and these machines using their work to generate content— get ready for voice actors (VAs) getting replaced by AI who stole their voices. 

A troubling trend has arisen in the voice-acting industry. Companies are now asking professional VAs to sign contracts that would allow corporations to synthesize their voices using AI. This meant that companies now have these voices for as long as they want. They can use them to say what they want without paying additional compensation. Sometimes they have to deceptively hide these statements deep in the contracts. 

"The language can be confusing and ambiguous," Tim Friedlander, president of the National Association of Voice Actors, told Vice. "Many voice actors may have signed a contract without realizing language like this had been added. Some actors are being told they cannot be hired without agreeing to these clauses.”

Image credit: Dmitry Demidov

There’s a certain tradition behind these little trinkets. If you’ve ever spotted some items left on somebody’s gravestone, it’s not just there randomly. It usually is left because of sentiment. 

Leaving coins on a gravestone signifies that the person buried there was a member of the military. These pennies are a symbol of remembrance, intended to honor the individual for their service to their country. They can be left by loved ones, friends, or coworkers who visit the deceased to convey their pride.

These coins can also make an impact on the family left behind by the deceased. Now, note that each type of coin left holds different meanings. For example, if someone left behind a nickel, it means that the visitor who left the coin went to boot camp with the person buried. A dime, on the other hand, signifies that the visitor served alongside the deceased. 

Lastly, if you see a quarter, it means that the person who left it was present when the soldier passed away. 

Image credit: Ralph C.

A few days ago, viewers who were listening (and doing their tasks) with Lofi Girl, were a bit surprised when she and her cat disappeared in the middle of an April 10 stream on YouTube. The music still kept playing, but the iconic character was nowhere to be seen. Listeners noticed that some odd clues were left in the empty room. These included a slow zoom on the blinking blue light of a window and a teaser for April 11. 

The channel fulfilled its promise when the day rolled in: a new person entered a different room– a purple-themed area. It was a guy getting down to do his work, with his dog climbing on the desk to fall asleep. The stream then revealed the new name: “synthwave radio - beats to chill/game to.” 

Listeners can now choose between Synthwave Boy or Lofi Girl for their background music of the day. Note that you don’t need to go to a different channel. They usually stream at the same time, and you can swap between the two characters or streams for the music you would like. 

And it looks similar to Earth. Will this be our new home in the future?

Experts have found a planet that shares a lot of characteristics with our planet– from size to orbiting around a star to having a magnetic field. The exoplanet, named YZ Ceti b, contains a magnetic field. This is an exciting discovery as the reason why our planet is habitable is because of its strong magnetic fields. These are responsible for enveloping our atmosphere and stripping away charged particles from that area. 

YZ Ceti b orbits a small red dwarf star and can be found 12 light years away from the Earth. The scientists found the exoplanet thanks to repeating radio signals coming from YZ Ceti b. They hypothesize that the signals could be a result of particle interactions between the exoplanet’s magnetic field and the star it orbits around on.

Learn more about the exoplanet here.

Image credit: Huebert World

Apo Whang-Od, a mambabatok (traditional tattoo artist), has been invited as the latest cover star for their issue for Vogue Philippines. The 106-year-old woman is from the Philippines and specializes in inking people using a sharp bamboo stick and charcoal soot. She is believed to be the last and oldest artist of her kind in the country. 

Whang-Od imprinted symbols of her tribe, the Kalinga tribe on thousands of people who traveled to Buscalan to see her. She began tattooing headhunters and indigenous people when she was just 15 years old. “I’m the only one left alive that’s still giving tattoos. But I’m not afraid that the tradition will end because (I’m training) the next tattoo masters,” she told CNN in 2017. “The tradition will continue as long as people keep coming to get tattoos. As long as I can see well, I will keep giving tattoos. I’ll stop once my vision gets blurry.”

The traditional tattoo artist is now training her grandnieces, Elyang Wigan and Grace Palicas, her unique art as it can only be passed down to blood relatives. Learn more about Apo Whang-Od here.

Image credit: Vogue Philippines

Girlboss! 

Zhang Guifang was elected chief of her home town in China and did her best to turn the rundown village into a tourist hotspot. The 26-year-old Hebi City resident won the love of the Internet and other residents as she stepped into the role and promoted the village online to boost the area’s tourism. 

Additionally, Zhang also pushed for the advancement of the construction of infrastructure in Hebi City. Her ascension to the post isn’t due to some random occurrence of luck and favor from her constituents. It turns out that she returned home in 2021 to run for the election after leaving school, believing that being a village head was a well-paying job. 

“Maybe because I’m young the villagers trust in me. They have shown a very tolerant attitude and supported me,” Zhang told Dianshi News. Since being elected, she had walls painted with rainbow-themed murals to attract more visitors. She teamed up with an artist friend to beautify the walls without any upfront charge. According to South China Morning Post, the chief promised to pay her friend 100,000 yuan (approximately $15,000) after the work was done. 

The murals were a hit, and Zhang was able to pay her friend. Additionally, she received more sponsors to fund future construction projects in the village. She now aims to improve the area’s telecommunication network.

Image credit: Duoyin

Yikes. 

A missing Florida toddler was found in the mouth of an alligator a few days ago. Further investigation into this tragedy revealed that the animal did not crawl out of its own mind into the land to nab the boy. Unfortunately, the boy was found to be put there by his father, according to affidavits from the St. Petersburg police affidavits. 

The father, 21-year-old Thomas Mosley, is already accused of killing the child’s mother. “Due to the extremely serious allegations surrounding these tragic losses, our investigation is currently focused on gathering information about the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as our client’s mental state,” a spokesperson for Sixth Judicial Circuit Public Defender Sara Mollo said in a statement.

The police also alleged that the man threw or placed his 2-year-old son into the lake, which caused the child’s death. The authorities began the search for the boy when he was not found at the scene of the crime (his mother’s). They then found an alligator miles away where she was found dead, holding an object in its mouth– which was the child. 

Image credit: St. Petersburg Police Department

The first appearance of Virtuix’s Omni was in Stephen Spielberg’s Ready Player One. According to founder and CEO Jan Geotgeluk, Warner Brothers reach out to them for two of their VR Treadmills to be used in the move. “We shipped them two, and they were used as the model for the CGI in the movie,” he shared. 

The Omni doesn’t look like a traditional treadmill. It has a concave design and slip-on shoe covers, which use the effect of foot slipping to stimulate movement in VR. A decade since its Kickstarter campaign in 2023, people can now grab their high-tech treadmills for exercise or video games. 

The story of how the Omni was built was quite a journey. The production of the device was known by Ernest Cline, the writer of Ready Player One. Interested in the development of the gadget, he even allowed the company to give signed copies of his book to the backers of the Kickstarter campaign. 

Initially, they were able to deliver hundreds of units to backers, but refunded all of them eventually as they shifted plans for the Omni. They wanted to focus on commercial clients such as arcades and arcade-adjacent venues. This is because the size and price of the device can be more profitable if pushed toward these bigger companies. 

Now, people at home can get their own Omni One, read for individual use after a decade of development. Priced at $2,595, the device comes with a customized Pico Neo 3 headset. Beta users will get the gadget first, but eventually, Virtuix remarked that a commercial version will be released later this year. 

Image credit: Virtuix

Same, plants, same. 

A group of researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel discovered that plants make noise when they are “stressed.” These sounds cannot be heard by humans even though they are emitted at a volume similar to human speech. This is because they are at such a high frequency that we can’t hear them. 

What’s funny though is that when the researchers recorded and analyzed the sounds, it sounds like either someone is clicking their mouse too fast or someone’s popcorn is popping. The researchers also shared that each plant and each type of stress has its identifiable sound. “While imperceptible to the human ear, the sounds emitted by plants can probably be heard by various animals, such as bats, mice, and insects,” the researchers said. 

Image credit: Min An

No, it’s not America. Surprisingly. As of 2023, Luxembourg is the richest country in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, with a value of  $135,700. 

So what is it like to visit such a wealthy place? Insider’s Mikhaila Friel decided to visit the country back in March, and she’s now back to tell her experience. She spent three nights in different luxury hotels and went to different tourist spots using Luxembourg’s free public transport. 

Friel shared that one of the best parts of her trip was the hotels that she stayed in. She paid $275.50 for a one-night stay in a traditional queen room at Hotel Le Royal, a five-star hotel. The furniture and amenities were all there for her, and she had a complimentary fruit bowl and a box of chocolates as a gift. 

While all the luxury hotels she stayed in were very high-quality, Friel stated that the highlight of her trip was the public transportation in the country. It is the first country in the world to provide free mass transportation to both residents and visitors in 2022. Everything was easy to use, and the vehicles were clean and comfortable. 

If there was something she could say as a bad point about the city is that it was too quiet. While the country has 645,000 residents, most of them commute to Belgium, France, and Germany to work. “While the city was beautiful, the streets were very quiet when I visited,” Friel wrote. “When traveling solo, I usually prefer cities with a larger population, as they usually have a more lively and welcoming atmosphere, which makes it easier to meet new people and to feel less alone.”

Image credit: Mikhaila Friel/Insider

Kyoto is one of the cities you’d want to visit when you’re in Japan. As the ancient capital of the country, it has a lot of temples and historical sites to visit. Another big bonus is the cuisine served in the location. There’s a thrill in learning and discovering the local food scene as you try local delicacies and flavors you’ve never tasted before. 

For foodies and enthusiasts, Live Japan has created a full-time table of places you could visit for some good food. Their guide is perfect for those who want to sample everything that the city has to offer. They recommend making reservations before you travel to the area. 

Aside from that, Live Japan also advises travelers to plan their itinerary based on bus schedules if they don’t have a rented vehicle to use during their stay. 

Check the very detailed timetable here!

Image credit: Kyle Kroeger

Sometimes, we feel things that we can’t put into words. We can certainly describe things through paragraphs, but finding the exact word to describe our emotions can be limited. It turns out that aside from the common words we used to talk about how we feel, there are other phrases and nouns in English that can describe more complicated human emotions. 

For example, the word chrysalism (kris-a-lizim) refers to the feeling of tranquility when you’re indoors when it’s raining heavily outside. Now that’s a very familiar emotion we feel during rainy days. 

Another word is monachopsis (mo-na-kop-sis). This term is associated with the feeling of being chronically out of place. It can also refer to the inability to adapt to your surroundings.  

If you’re interested in learning more nouns, check out Esquire Magazine’s list of them here. 

Image credit: Ave Calvar Martinez

There is a point to discovering what kind of cosmetics people use back in the day as we can catch a glimpse of what their manufacturing process would look like, as well as the materials they used to create these products. Scientists were able to recreate a perfume that is close to what Cleopatra, the Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, wore.

The process used to determine the scent the pharaoh of Egypt used in her prime was paleobotany, the study of ancient plants via fossils found in rocks. Additionally, they turned to recipes recorded in Egyptian texts and inscriptions on temple walls. The results of their work were published in Near Eastern Archaeology back in September 2021 attempted to identify and recreate the scent, which they called “Eau de Cleopatra.” 

They were able to recreate a scent that had a spicy base note of freshly ground myrrh and cinnamon, which added a hint of sweetness. “It has remained potent for nearly two years, a quality associated with Egyptian perfumes already in Theophrastus’s time,” the researchers wrote.

It’s unclear however if this recreation was the same thing. According to Hyperallergic’s Elaine Velie, some Egyptian descriptions for perfumes contained unclear depictions of ingredients used in making the concoction. 

Image credit: Sean Coughlin/Institute of Philosophy/Czech Academy of Sciences