The Brunch round-up: The week and how it made us feel

Dwayne Johnson has been all over our feeds, this time pink and glittery. Jazzy and Tia, his “tornado” daughters, had been begging him to let them put eyeshadow on him. It turned into a full makeup session. Remember the scene from Despicable Me 2 when Gru was forced into a pink princess outfit? Same same, but different.

Here’s science we do not need. Researchers have been feeding datasets of animal sounds and actions to AI, hoping to create a sort of animal language that humans can comprehend.Why? The animal-human bond is what makes us more compassionate pet parents. Imagine waiting for a bot to tell you that your dog needs a hug. Besides, AI is faulty enough. Why test it on animals?

Indians just don’t get it. All the fines, signs, public service campaigns, colour-coded garbage bins, trash truck jingles and we still chuck litter where we please. Might social media succeed where all else failed? A slew of videos show people filming and shaming litterers, and seem to be going viral. We love @RJ_Sandy07’s clips. Here’s to a cleaner tomorrow.

With 140K followers, @NatashaRastogiiii from Meerut hasn’t blown up on social media yet. But we’re loving her running commentary on the odd things people choose to cook and eat. Our faves: The real-or-cake trend, that aunty cooking Dairy Milk and Fanta together, and of course, her almost-famous line, “Parathe nahi banaye jaa rahe?” Serve us more!

Comedian Amy Schumer kept ignoring every troll that said her face was starting to look weird. Then, doctors chimed in too. She finally paid attention, got tested and realised she has Cushing’s syndrome, a condition in which the body has too much cortisol. A swollen face is usually a telltale sign. The trolls have proved useful for once. Let’s not tell them.

Found a unique stick, but no one thinks it’s cool? The folks at @OfficialStickReviews do. The page is devoted to cool sticks found across the world. Fans have found sticks shaped like wizarding wands, swords and snakes. There are plenty of finds from India. The site even donated some $2,000 of their merch revenue towards the Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts. So wholesome!

The world’s funnest bet has been going on for 17 years. Since 1997, five Swedish researchers have been sneaking Bob Dylan song titles into their articles and research papers. For one on flatulence: The Answer Is Blowing In The Wind; for one on nitrate and nitrite: The Times They Are A-Changin’; they’ve worked Blood On The Tracks into one too. Cue harmonica and don’t think twice, it’s all right.

Saudi Arabia’s national anthem, Long Live the King, was composed in 1947, but the country has decided that it needs an upgrade. And they want Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer to compose something fresh. Mr Zimmer, will it sound like Interstellar, Inception, Gladiator or Dune?