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Remember when the internet cried actual tears for an anglerfish earlier this year? Now, TikTok has a new deep-sea obsession. Brought to light by creator and wildlife biologist Josh Allyn, TikTok has recently discovered Octopolis and Octlantistwo real underwater sites off the coast of Australia where gloomy octopuses have been quietly building their own cities and complex societies. Im kinda pissed right now. Was nobody going to tell me that octopuses are creating their own underwater cities? he said in a video posted last week. It has since gone viral with 13 million views at the time of this writing. I had to find out through Instagram Reels. What the hell. @joshallyn I feel betrayed original sound – Basement Biology This isnt a new discovery. Once thought to be solitary creatures, gloomy octopuses (named for their downcast eyes rather than their mood) were first seen living communally in 2009, when diver Matthew Lawrence discovered the original octopus city in Jervis Bay, Australia. Home to 16 octopuses, it was dubbed Octopolis. Then, in 2017, Lawrence and a group of researchers discovered another site with a similar social arrangement of gloomy octopuses that was located only a few hundred meters from Octopolis. They dubbed it Octlantis. At both sites, octopuses were observed sculpting dens from piles of clam and scallop shells, socializing, bickering, and even evicting one another. As one Reddit user joked in a 2022 thread about the phenomenon: Octopus landlords? Octopus rent? Octopus homeowner associations? I swear, if octopi reinvent capitalism, I’ll be so disappointed. Now that TikTok has discovered these octopus cities, the content writes itself. As well as being fodder for AI slop, some have turned the cephalopods society into viral skits. Youre soooo early. We just learned about Octopolis, one user commented under comedian Vinny Thomass post. I cant wait to understand this in 30 minutes.” @vinn_ayy an octopus landlord in an octopus city (which are real) original sound – Vinny Thomas So why is something discovered over a decade ago trending again now? Thomas has a theory: Were all in this moment fixating on it because were so desperate. Were so desperate to imagine that there’s a society somewhere where theyve got it all figured out, he explained in another post. The octopuses are just down there butt-ass naked, eating crabs, living it up. Meanwhile, we are not doing great. I think we are just desperate for that little ounce of hope. He added: Maybe its alright with the octopuses. @vinn_ayy Replying to @ Sara wait lets discuss Very Sad – Enchan Still, in the era of generative AI and AI slop, some viewersscarred by past hoaxes like Trampoline Bunny-gatewant hard evidence before getting emotionally attached to Octopolis and Octlantis. Good news: This time, the octopus cities are very real.
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I dont know what more we could possibly say about Trump, South Park co-creator Trey Parker told Vanity Fair last September. Then Trump won the 2024 election. After witnessing the chaotic first six months of the presidents second term, the razor-tongued, foul-mouthed satirists behind South Park have understandably found more to say. The July 23 premiere of Season 27 skewered Trumps extractive legal battles with the media and other institutions, his long entanglement in the Jeffrey Epstein saga, and, well, his manhood. The Department of Homeland Security has since tried to reclaim the narrative, using South Park for its own ends by putting an image from the show into a try-hard tweet. But this is one battle the U.S. government has no chance of winning. The day before its most recent episode aired, the shows X account tweeted a pair of images, debuting a South Park-ian version of real DHS Secretary/influencer Kristi Noem and depicting South Park Elementary guidance counselor Mr. Mackey as a new member of ICE. Within hours, the DHS account reacted, repurposing an image of masked ICE officers from the teaser and adding a link to ICEs recruitment site. (The episode comes amid a major recruitment push; on August 6, Noem announced the removal of ICEs current 21-and-up age limit for new recruits, perhaps hoping to capitalize on all the fresh attention.) https://t.co/nZkBEj3GGi pic.twitter.com/N7cFpDhb7W— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 5, 2025 The goofily menacing use of South Park animation in a tweet is perfectly in keeping with DHSs social media in 2025. Americans generally tend not to look to the government for daily doses of humor, but try telling that to the second Trump administration. Since Januarys inauguration, the official White House X account has posted images of Trump as a king, pope, and Star Wars sith, while the DHS account has posted edgelord tweets including Studio Ghibli-style AI images of immigrants being taken into custody in tears, not to mention AI crocodiles wearing ICE hats to inaugurate the so-called Alligator Alcatraz detention center. These accounts conjure a queasy alchemy of the visual vocabulary of memesonly wielded with the sneering smugness of total authority toward people who have no power to fight back. Now, however, theyve squared up against people who do have that power. Trying to get in on the joke Not long after DHS tweeted a South Park-branded recruitment ad for ICE, the show clapped back. Its X account quote-tweeted DHSs post, adding: Wait, so we ARE relevant?a reference to the White House statement about South Parks season premiere, which claimed the show has not been relevant for over 20 yearsand adding, for good measure, a hashtag encouraging DHS to eat a bag of, well, manhood. Wait, so we ARE relevant?#eatabagofdicks https://t.co/HeQSMU86Da— South Park (@SouthPark) August 5, 2025 That tweet is just the beginning, too. Unlike the various social media managers embedded in this administration, the South Park creators have at their disposal more humorous weapons for a flame war than a basic command of memes and an absence of empathy. Beyond their ICE-mocking August 6 episode, subsequent outings could remain laser-focused on the topic and, of course, on Trump, if Parker and co-creator Matt Stone feel suitably inclined. As the 2012 documentary 6 Days to Air divulgedwithin its very titleSouth Park episodes can go from conception to execution in less than a week, and they can include new material practically right up until airtime. This show is nimble, adaptableand savage. These are not people this administration wants for foes. As evidenced by Trump gushing over Sydney Sweeneys membership in the GOP this week, as well as the Department of Defense referencing Sweeneys much-discussed American Eagle ad in a tweet about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, this administration is desperate for MAGA to become as culturally relevant as it is politically powerful. South Parks equal-opportunity satire Part of what South Park made fun of in the premiere, in fact, was Trump seeking to exert his wil over popular culture through political pressure, nodding toward The Late Show With Stephen Colberts cancellation and the defunding of NPR. But the younger pop-culture junkies Trump hopes to bring or keep in the tentthe Joe Rogan contingent, for instancetend to be the very audience South Park most reliably attracts (men under age 35). Even in its 27th season, the show still carries weight with young people who consider themselves politically unaffiliated. Its unapologetic, equal-opportunity satire has never been woke, per se, nor specifically anti-woke, even as it has chafed, at great length, over the strictures of political correctness. Like its fellow multigeneration-spanning vehicle for satire, Saturday Night Live, South Park punches up at whichever party is in power. Its approach to politics is perhaps best summarized in an infamous 2004 episode that depicted the election between John Kerry and George W. Bush as one between a literal giant douche” and a “turd sandwich. South Park has no sacred cows, and having just signed a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount, its creators have nothing to lose. Why MAGA wont win this meme war As with all the administration’s memes, the unsuccessful South Park rebuttals can’t cover up the MAGA movement’s overall feelings of aggrievementits festering sense that no matter how much power it amasses or how many people it gleefully deports, broader cultural cachet remains unattainable. Flailing to contort the shows barbs into content only gives South Park more power. Though Parker and Stone lamented last year that there was nothing left to say about Trump, taking the administration to task has already elevated South Park to its highest ratingsand yes, relevancein years. On top of everything else, this is all unfolding right as Joe Rogan and his ilk grow increasingly disillusioned with Trump over both his Epstein entanglements and the ICE raids, creating a perfect storm of bad buzz that this administration cant meme away. Sure enough, the episode about ICE ended up about as brutal as the DHS social media manager may have feared. After months of citizen outrage over masked ICE officers raiding spaces as innocuous as an elementary school graduation, with many comparing it to the secret police of authoritarian countries, the show parodied the agencys overzealous, blundering tacticswith a violent raid on a Dora the Explorer theatrical performance. In one especially incisive jab, the episode depicts the hypocrisy of ICE officers need for anonymity. Im proud to work for the I-C-E, one masked agent says in a recruitment video, pulling the mask higher on his face. The only response to the episode as of Thursday afternoon was from notoriously thin-skinned Vice President JD Vance, who was doing his best to appear unbothered by his debut on the show as a photoshopped, stout minion to Trump. Perhaps DHS and the White House have learned their lesson, or maybe their social teams are currently formulating what they consider the perfect response. Either way, many of the young people theyre hoping to reach are likely far more interested in what South Park has to say about the government than vice versa.
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Duolingo may be known as the worlds largest language-learning app, but it also wants to get users hooked on learning music. On August 6, Duolingo announced its plan to acquire the team behind the London-based gaming startup NextBeat. The startup’s mobile gaming catalog, which includes Piano Tiles-style games like Beatstar and Country Star, has amassed around $200 million in revenue. Now, NextBeats staff will help Duolingo make its Music course more fun, effective and, ultimately, something you don’t want to put down. [Beatstar and Country Star] combined chart-topping licensed music with intuitive, satisfying gameplay and reached tens of millions of players worldwide, a Duolingo spokesperson said of the acquisition. The teams background spans game design, music licensing, live operations, and mobile monetization, all of which will strengthen Duolingo Music and beyond. For Duolingo, the deal is part of a larger plan to build out its non-language courses using its uniquely gamified learning modelultimately moving toward becoming an all-encompassing education app. What’s next for Duolingo Music The NextBeat acquisition announcement came on the same day as Duolingo’s second-quarter 2025 earnings report, which notched a 41% increase in revenue year over year and an 84% increase in net income. The report marked an overwhelmingly positive quarter for Duolingo, in spite of the backlash the company received earlier this year when CEO Luis von Ahn announced that Duolingo would be going AI first. On an earnings call with investors, von Ahn shared that the company would be raising its full-year guidance while still investing in both our core business and exciting new areas, like chess, math, and music, that we believe will drive long-term growth. Duolingo first added math courses to its repertoire in 2022, followed by music in 2023 and chess earlier this year. While the company declined to share specific numbers on the Music courses performance, a spokesperson did say that millions of learners are studying music on Duolingo, and the company views it as a key pillar of our evolution into a broader learning platform. Currently, Duolingos sole Music offering is a piano course. Through the NextBeat acquisition, though, the company plans to experiment with new modules like guitar, voice, and rhythm-based activities, chief business officer Bob Meese told Bloomberg News. Furthermore, a spokesperson shared with Fast Company that NextBeat will help to smooth out the in-lesson user experience by improving course pacing, personalization, and feedback mechanics. Were focused on making the Music course even more joyful and captivating, the spokesperson said. Our vision is to make music learning feel just as engaging and habit-forming as language learning does on Duolingo.
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