A list of intriguing things
One: This is a small demonstration of something called cymatics—the effect of sound/vibrations over matter. Love it? Watch a longer and very cool video of more experiments here.
Two: Is this woman in an 1860 painting holding a smart-phone? FYI: It is titled “The Expected One” and is by Austrian painter Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. Also: sadly, that is a prayer book. We stumbled on this thanks to this older Vice story—which has the whole backstory.
Three: This is a bit of the spiral staircase taken from the Eiffel Tower. It’s almost three meters high with 14 steps—and used to connect the second and third levels until it was replaced by an elevator. In 2016, a similar set of stairs sold for €500,000. But this one will only fetch €30,000-40,000. Read more about it here.
Four: This is New Zealand’s Bird of the Year—and for a second year running. Say hello to the chubby parrot species named kakapo. Also intriguing: a vote-rigging scandal that may have helped kakapo to rob the Antipodean albatross of this honour.
Five: ICYMI, this giant gold dog was making the rounds over Diwali weekend. It is the Turkmenistan president’s tribute to a local breed called Alabay. Also: the nation has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Upside: it’s an improvement on the 2015 statue—also made of solid gold—which featured the president riding a horse.