5 things you absolutely must know today

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Chinese sculptor creates maps from honeycombs

Chinese artist Ren Ri has created a sculpture series of maps made from honeycombs. The series is called “Yauansu I: The Origin of Geometry.” ‘Yauansu,’ roughly translated, is the words ‘element’ and ‘mold’. He calls the work a collaboration between humans and bees, hoping the series will demonstrate the harmonious and destructive elements apparent when humans interact with nature. [Source: io9.com]

Intellectual dissenters tag Immanuel Kant’s home

Intellectual ruffians have vandalized philosopher Immanuel Kant’s home outside Kaliningrad, spraying the words “Kant is a moron” on its walls. Arthur Schopenhauer was the most likely suspect, but authorities were forced to rule him out, as he’s been dead for 155 years. “The say no reason, pure or otherwise, was given for the crime,” read a sentence from the originating story. The note was discovered by a journalist touring the home, which, historians say, is not the original dwelling place of the famous philosopher, but one built on its original foundation. Kant, I’m sure, would say a lot of complicated, mind-bending things about this crime, if he were around to do so. [Source: The Atlantic]

Ikea print passes for art in museum, described as “unbelievable”

Ikea is in the news again. And, again, it’s quite hilarious. A group of winky, tongue-in-cheek pranksters from the Netherlands added a cheap piece of Ikea art to a fancy art museum, describing the piece to those interested as an Ike Andrews (IKE-Andrews) original. And it passed as art, convincing the young and old. Someone even described it as “a depiction of chaos inside [the artist’s] mind.” And another remarked at the “unbelievable” level of detail. [Source: YouTube]

Protests planned in Tunisia following museum shooting

Tunisia remains in shock after two gunmen, one of whom was known to police, stormed the country’s national museum, killing 18 tourists, five Tunisians, and injuring 50 more. Security forces shot both gunmen, and four people have been arrested in connection with the incident. Protests have been planned for Thursday. Mohammed Nasri, a young activist, told news sources, “After the last election we thought we made a big step forward to real democracy, but what happened today was like a KO to our future. An attack so close to our parliament makes us speechless.” [Source: The Guardian]

Photo gallery: The northern lights