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By: V. Srur  This year we have accumulated trends tending to call them “brainrot” which is often defined as a material of low or addictive quality, typically in online media. Internet users, particularly younger generations, are often aware of the absurdity of their obsessions by referring to their fixation as brainrot, they acknowledge the silliness of their intense engagement online with something as unimportant as a meme or viral trend. Another highly popular trend this year is Italian Brainrot, a genre of memes of AI-generated voices and videos
One of the defining memes of this year is the infamous "67 joke”. The "67 joke" is a popular internet meme and slang term, somehow manages to be everywhere without making sense. It originated in 2025 and has become a widespread cultural phenomenon, particularly among Generation Alpha. The "67" meme has no fixed meaning, which is part of the joke. Its usage is primarily a social signal for young people to show they are "in" on the meme. The term comes from the drill rap song "Doot Doot (6 7)" by Philadelphia rapper Skrilla, which features the recurring lyric "six-seven". The trend has become so popular that it was pronounced Dictionary.com's 2025 Word of the Year. In many ways, AI-generated images became the symbol of how 2025 embraced chaos in trends. These surreal, glitchy videos that may look real with distorted faces they defined the year’s humour for younger generations. The absurdity of AI mistakes, the bizarre videos that made, and the nonstop flow of unhinged art captured exactly what internet culture had become: a space where the strangest ideas spread the fastest As 2025 comes to a close, AI-generated images stand as the perfect concluding chapter in a year ruled by chaotic trends which is proof that sometimes, the best part of the internet is when nothing makes sense at all. By: A. Lotufo  2025 was, undoubtedly, an infinite mark on the history of cinematography. Many incredible movies and TV shows stood out and captured their audiences, transmitting important messages and feelings.
At the start of every year, film and television award ceremonies are held, events which gather millions of viewers worldwide. People anxiously wait for the ceremonies which award prestigious prizes ranging from “Best comedy series” to “Visual effects”; this year, many Brazilians were proudly represented through awards like Fernanda Torres’ Golden Globe for “Best actress – drama”, or “I’m Still Here”, which won the “International Feature Film” during the Oscars. Unquestionably, it is no ordinary feat to achieve such a distinguished prize. To be nominated is already considered an incredible attainment. But to ensure a non-biased choice, how are the awards decided? Take the Oscars, for example – the 19 Academy branches determine the nominations for “Best Picture”, while also independently settling the nominations for their own sector. Furthermore, in 2025, many filmmaking trends arose. Drones have been used recently to take dynamic shots which used to be too expensive or even impossible to produce. By the use of these drones, aerial images are now accessible even for smaller-scale filmmakers. Additionally, film production has been more sustainable with renewable energy-powered sets, reduced waste and sustainable materials. Lastly, Artificial Intelligence has been used to edit movies, write scripts, and help directors to resonate with audiences to be able to perfectly curate their cinematography. But, as technology progresses, we may wonder if AI will completely replace filmmakers’ creativity. Will we be overusing it, or will it become a powerful tool to help us create diverse and unique films? Technology brings many positive aspects too; we are now able to have a more sustainable and distinctive shots and views on cinematography. As we bring this year to an end, we may ask ourselves what the 2026 film industry awaits. Many believe that “Wicked – For Good” will secure a spot in the nominations for 2026 awards and continue its legacy as the sequel of “Wicked”. On the other hand, many believe that Brazilian films will conquer a place on the podium again. With many up-and-coming movies, like “O Agente Secreto”, will Brazilian movies have the potential to challenge top tier directors and actors? Technology was a persistent trend in cinema this year, with drones, AI, and more. What will technology be used for in the next year? Will it benefit or challenge the industry? As we eagerly wait, it is undeniable that 2026 cinema will stand out, and that there is still much more to come. By: L. Roschel  2025 has been a wild year for AI’s pace of innovation. Instead of just getting “better,” AI has become smarter, faster, and way more involved in everyday life. Not long ago, programs often made mistakes with information to the point that we, often laypeople, could correct them. However, now if AI makes a mistake, it not only corrects the error, it also apologises using emojis and everyday expressions, all to make it seem like a conversation between friends. The upgrades are getting harder to keep up with.
Moreover, instead of simply giving answers, new models can break down complicated problems, test different possibilities, and even help you learn and practice. It’s definitely not human thinking, but it’s closer than ever before. Alongside this, 2025 introduced self-improving AI systems that can rewrite parts of their own code to improve themselves, in other words, faster learning, fewer glitches, and software that gets better even while you’re asleep. In the beginning, AIs could only work with text, but this year’s models can understand images, videos, audio, and text all together, as well as relate and interconnect their information. For instance, they can watch a video, explain what’s happening, answer questions about it, and even edit it automatically, which makes creative work, studying, and communication feel completely different from just a year ago. However, those advances were not only present in our daily lives. In science and medicine, researchers from the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design, including Nobel laureate David Baker, and the Technical University of Denmark, with lead author Susana Vázquez Torres, used AI to design new proteins that can neutralise deadly snake venom, speeding up lifesaving treatments. This results in faster, cheaper, and more effective medications than traditional antivenoms. Another important topic is the rise of human-AI teams. Instead of replacing people, AI is becoming a partner that handles repetitive tasks while humans focus on creativity and decision-making. As well as students using AI to help in learning, creating exercises to practice or giving feedback, and workers using it to boost productivity, create plans, presentations, and routines. Many people have already acquired a sense of teamwork and collaboration; in some cases, people even give nicknames to the AI to make the interaction more fun. For example, ChatGPT became “Geppetto.” Overall, 2025 is the year AI stopped being “future technology” and became a normal part of life. Now it helps people learn, create, solve scientific problems, design medicine, and communicate in totally new ways and forms. And the craziest part? It will only develop more each day. By: N. Jannuzzi As this unforgettable year comes to an end, it’s essential for us to remember those iconic and exiting moments in sports! From scoring decisive penalties, to winning the Masters. In this article you will read about who really marked sports history this year!
Chloe Kelly’s long, but successful career, led to one of the most decisive moments for football, and England. Only aged 17, in 2015 Kelly made her debut for Arsenal, scoring her first goal, only into 22 minutes of her game! In 2016 she moved on to Everton, on a three-month lone, to get experience as a football player. After playing for Manchester City, Queens Park Ranger (youth), she finally came back to Arsenal, however no one expected what would happen next. In the final of UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, England faced Spain, which ended with a draw, forcing a penalty shootout. She struck her shot into the net, securing England’s victory. Rory Mcllroy, a Northen Irish professional golfer, finally after many years of dedication and resilience reached his goal, win the Masters Tournament, and with that the sixth male golfer in history to complete the career Grand Slam, (Winning all four majors: Masters, U.S Open, The Open Championship and PGA championship.) Rory’s father, Gerry, Mcllroy introduced him to golf, and that was when his story started. Barely old enough to be a member of his local golf club, he spent hours practicing. With this dedication and passion led him to be named RTÉ Sports Person of the Year. Overall, Mcllory has truly marked golf history and will be never forgotton. Another memrabole icon was Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, breaking womens 400m record with a time of 48.29 seconds in the Semifinals of the 2025 World Athletics Champonships in Tokyo. Born in New Jersey, on August 7 1999. Not only did she smash the record, but also win gold in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olyimpics. Two days after breaking the 400m womens world record, she won the 400m final in 47.78, the second-fastest time ever run by a women and a new championship record. 2025 will not be remembered just for the records broken, but for the stories behind them, and how they must serve as inspiration to all, demonstrating, passion, dedication and history in the making. With 2025 behind us, we all wait 2026 to be full of acomplishements in sports history. By: O. Astor In the world of health, longevity and the fight against aging has long been humanity’s biggest barrier - an impossible hurdle that defies the laws of nature as we know it. Sure, we have made plenty of progress - from the discovery that microbes cause diseases to the development of antibiotics and vaccines, life expectancy has skyrocketed. A hundred years ago, the average lifespan for an American citizen was around sixty years. Today, it has increased by almost 20 years to 79.4.
By: O. Astor When someone says unknown, most will think of outer space - far spun galaxies and cosmic star clusters punctuated with devouring black holes or crackling supernovae. Most will think that stepping onto a rocket ship, or some other futuristic space craft, and blasting to the furthest reaches of our universe where no human has ever stepped before. Whilst that is all true, what if I told you there is a whole hidden world, where over 90% of our planet's microbes live, right below our feet? A world even more astonishing, weird and wonderful than you could ever imagine.
Welcome to earth’s deep biosphere, a seemingly unglamourous world swamped by rock and acid and toxic salt compounds. I recently became aware of this fascinating ecosystem whilst doing some habitual and slightly guilty scrolling on You Tube. However, I instead ended up coming across a video by 'Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell’ (an incredible science channel that I 100% recommend) about a range of ‘extremophiles’ living deep below our planet's crust. I was enthralled by this strange new world, and fell in love with the bizarre and wonderful ways life has persisted and survived in such unforgiving conditions. Starved of oxygen, choked by acid, throttled by radiation and crushed under the weight of thousands of mountains, life persists. The total biomass of life subsurface has been estimated at 15 to 23 billion tonnes of carbon. This amount of carbon corresponds to ≈ 245 to 385 times the carbon mass of all humans on the surface. At 4000km below the surface, there is almost no free oxygen left, and the average temperature is 120 degrees celsius, though it can reach much higher temperatures if a lava pool is nearby. Here, radioactive elements such as thorium and uranium emit constant waves of radiation, and rocks are peppered with extreme amounts of salt. So, where exactly does this life actually survive? Seemingly solid rocks are filled with tiny fractures or pores. These cracks are opened by the movement of tectonic plates smashing into one another over thousands of years.Here, the bacteria desulforudis audaxviator thrives. It synthesizes its own food by consuming sulphur and carbon found in rock, and transforming them into organic substances. If conditions get too harsh, it kills itself to survive by splitting itself down the middle and breaking into two separate parts (one big and one small) known as an endospore. The big part swallows the small part, forming a cell-like structure. This spore will float around - completely dormant for maybe thousands of years - until it finds a place with suitable conditions to spring to life once again. Found here too are Altiarchaeum hamiconexum, microbes which are covered in a double membrane that protects them from extremes. They survive by shooting out microscopic ‘’grappling hooks” used to tether themselves across porous rock. Microbes down here have incredibly slow metabolisms. They had a meal when you were born, and are still digesting it now. They spend little and consume little and in this way, are able to essentially ‘’live forever’ (or at least for millions of years). Contrary to most microbes, these divide and reproduce on average only once in 1000 years due to nutrient scarcity. Life down here is a twisted, wonderful thing, suspended in perpetual slow motion and something which unfortunately, there is still so much we do not know. For one, finding and collecting deep microbe samples without contaminating them is incredibly difficult, making research into them a huge challenge. Furthermore, once these microbes are back up at the surface, it is hard to replicate these extreme conditions to keep them alive. Therefore, studying them in their natural habitat is an expensive, complicated process. However, advances in science, engineering (or just sheer human creativity) will hopefully one day open this almost unreachable world of wonders to us. It baffles me that we are already off exploring distant planets, when so much of our own incredible home is still cloaked in speculation and the unknown. By: V. Srur The ocean covers approximately 70% of Earth’s surface, yet only 1% of the ocean has been discovered. It’s the largest liable space on our planet, and there’s more life there than anywhere else on Earth. The Bermuda triangle which tends to keep a pattern of disappearing ships and planes in the area with no explanations offered, the mystery of the Mariana Trench itself or its inhabitants, which still after a lot of research is mostly completely unknown, and the compelling mysteries of the Titanic’s treasures still is unresolved to this day.
Only about 20% of the ocean has been mapped with modern high-resolution technology and hundreds of thousands of marine species are yet to be identified. Explorers have seen less than 0.001% of the deep ocean seafloor, that’s about the size of Rhode Island in the USA. Since more than 90% of the ocean is deep ocean, many fisherman and local markets and restaurants from the ocean are based in deep waters, providing food, jobs, and a lifestyle for many communities. The deep ocean holds reserves of oil, gas, precious metals, and rare minerals which could potentially within ocean depths lie cures to serious diseases and sources of other natural products with potential as pharmaceuticals, enzymes, cosmetics, and more, but a very large majority of the ocean remains to be explored. Why do scientists need to explore the ocean? The ocean doesn’t impact some of us, it impacts all of us, whether living in a coastal town or a large city like São Paulo, a landlocked area. The ocean plays a role in everything from the air we breathe, to the food we eat. We can’t protect what we don’t know and when it comes to something that fills most of the earth it is crucial to act now before it’s too late. Scientists estimate that up to 2 million species have habitats in the ocean, yet we have identified only 10 to 25% of them, and some species may even disappear before we even get the chance to name them or to understand either their benefits or dangers. Exploration also provides data to better understand and predict natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and coastal storms and how the ocean influences weather and climate which might become vital for strategic plans to combat climate change in the future and make sure everyone is prepared no matter how close you are to the ocean. By: A. Lotufo  Black holes – one of the biggest space topics. What are they, why do they attract, and, ultimately, how do we even know about them? First off, let us start with the basics: what is a black hole?
A black hole is a region in space where there is a very large quantity of matter packed in very tiny spaces – making it so dense, that the gravity just below its surface attracts everything; not even light can escape. Astronomers saw the first signs of black holes in 1964, besides the theory having been around for a while. Black holes are created when massive stars run out of fuel and explode in supernovae. Nevertheless, black holes absorb light, so we cannot see them directly. We know about them and can see them as scientists can detect black holes by looking at what is falling into it – it travels at such a high speed that it glows with heat, which can be detected. Furthermore, when a black hole’s gravity pulls on other things, like stars, they eventually orbit an “empty” space, which can be found to be a black hole. As much as the knowledge available to us is already massive, the questions are endless – amongst many other doubts, we still do not know what is inside a black hole. What we do know is that black holes aren’t that rare. As a matter of fact, most galaxies which are the size of the Milky Way have a monster black hole in their centres. Ours is called Sagittarius A*. Moreover, black holes act as particle accelerators – in the centre of galaxies, monster black holes can launch particles to near light speed. There is so much to still be learnt about black holes, but it is important to acknowledge we have already learnt so much in so little time. As stated before, they were discovered only 61 years ago. However, many aspects of black holes are still a mystery, and remain unknown. By: M. Gilchrist Space has been one of the many aspects of science least attainable to the human mind, its infinite size thus the name ‘space’ makes it hard to imagine the many possibilities inside it.
The concept of wormholes first originated more than 100 years ago in 1916. Ludwig Flamm was who depicted the idea for the first time. But who really began to develop it was one of, or even the most well-known scientist ever: Albert Einstein, along with Nathan Rosen. The influence of both these scientist onto the topic led to the name Einstein-Rosen bridge, the original name for wormholes. To understand the concept of wormholes we must view them almost as tunnels, which slices through space from one point to another allowing things to travel quicker than the average way we know of today. This way a trip through space which would take decades could theoretically take hours or minutes. Although we have never found actual evidence that wormholes exist beyond the pages of fiction or film it has been the answer to some important physics equations. Most importantly Einstein’s theory of general relativity and space-time. Einstein’s idea described how stars, planets and other objects moved throughout the universe and how it is shaped. As the basis of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, it was proposed an equation in which a German physicist names Schwarzschild solved to find the space time geometry surrounding a static, spherically symmetric mass such as a star or a blackhole. So, in basic words how does the region around these objects work geometrically. Through this solution, Schwarzschild predicted the distance from the centre of an object at which the velocity where the object can escape from the gravitation pull holding it (escape speed) equals to the speed of light. This is distance is equivalent to a radius commonly known as the Schwarzschild radius. And if an object is compressed within this distance nothing can escape, not even light, thus a blackhole. Blackholes are essential parts of understanding wormholes as Schwarzschild wormholes, aka Einstein-Rosen bridge, signifies how a black hole, where nothing can escape is connected to a white hole, where matter and light can only leave but not enter. Nowadays this solution has begun to seem oversimplified and inconsiderate to other points necessary to hold/stabilize a wormhole. It is quite probable that in the event of the big bang many small wormholes were formed which could be stabilize due to negative energy, an opposing energy to the wormhole’s gravity, but as the universe stretched they collapsed. Despite these topics being hard to grasp, the point is to identify the infinite possibilities within space. And how wormholes may be true or not. |
