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Pop Culture

Young celebrities are imagined decades into the future with AI technology

Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Ryan Gosling and more.

ai portraits, alper yeslitas

Harry Styles and Greta Thunberg, many years into the future.

In only a short amount of time, AI-generated art has made a huge (and seemingly lasting) impact on our world. Whether that impact is entirely a positive one is up for debate, but it has undeniably pushed boundaries of what’s possible when it comes to blending creative imagination and advanced technology.

Previously, photographer and lawyer Alper Yesiltas wowed us with hyperrealistic portraits of celebrities who passed away at a young age, exploring what they might look like “if nothing had happened.”

He then took stars of a bygone era—like Greta Garbo and Charlie Chaplin—and placed them into our modern world for a series called “Thisness.”

This time, Yesiltas imagines what certain younger icons might look like many years into the future. Decades, even. That’s right—Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and more, with all the wrinkles that come with age.

He calls this series “Young Age(d).”


Producing images that feel this authentic is no easy process. Multiple editing programs, a photo-enhancing software called Remini and meticulous attention to detail were required to achieve the look.

And it looks like his efforts were well worth it. I mean, just take a look at debonair senior Harry Styles.

You can tell that even with the various signs of (artificial) age, these photos still maintain the likeness of the individual remarkably well.

Also below—Greta Thunberg, exuding major Jane Goodall vibes in the best way.

Basically, if the kids today are making you feel old, just know that it’s only a matter of time before they feel the same way. Not even Dua Lipa will be spared.

Of course, by then we’ll all be even older.

Jokes aside, these photos can actually help us fear aging a little less. Growing older is indeed a privilege, not guaranteed to all. With it comes its own kind of beauty. Many folks would say that, despite what certain stigmas might indicate, things only get better, leaving them to feel sexier and more powerful.

Just look at Emma Stone (gorgeous) or Ryan Gosling (dashing). They don’t seem like they're pining for their youth.

Sure, these are fake images. And yes, celebrities might have access to things that make the aging process a little more glamorous, but still—it’s time we looked at growing older as the work of art that it really is.


If you’re curious to see more of Yesiltas’ work, you can find it on Instagram. He has a ton of captivating works on there, whether you're nostalgic about the past, or curious about the future.

Our home, from space.

Sixty-one years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to make it into space and probably the first to experience what scientists now call the "overview effect." This change occurs when people see the world from far above and notice that it’s a place where “borders are invisible, where racial, religious and economic strife are nowhere to be seen.”

The overview effect makes man’s squabbles with one another seem incredibly petty and presents the planet as it truly is, one interconnected organism.

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Health

Here’s how we can use the power of awe to make our lives more fulfilling

Being amazed by things outside ourselves is tremendous for our mental health.

A young man looking into the sky

The exhilaration of a rock concert. The feeling of deep serenity you experience during a religious ceremony. That sense of connectedness you get while walking through a dense forest. The lightness that flows through your body while dancing and the dissolution of the ego you experience on psychedelics. These are all experiences that give us the feeling of awe.

Most of us love having at least a few of these experiences and believe they help us grow. But now, a team of psychologists has explained why cultivating a sense of awe can benefit our minds and bodies and how we can create these experiences ourselves.

Maria Monroy and Dacher Keltner posit that a sense of awe can help solve the crises of individualism, excessive self-focus, loneliness and a culture of cynicism, and can even improve our physical health. They explain it in a research article titled “Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health.”

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@allbelongco/TikTok

How bizarre, how bizarre.

It should go without saying that it’s not cool to steal from your Airbnb. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still happen.

However, when one Airbnb host recently discovered a guest had—for some strange reason—stolen one of her paintings, then replaced it with a completely different painting, she decided to make the best out of a very uncool situation by sharing the story on TikTok.

As a result, viewers got to witness an continuously unraveling, truly bizarre modern-day art heist.

Okay, let’s get into it.

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Pop Culture

Woman flawlessly breaks down how luxury bags—and other designer brands—keep people 'poor'

"They're targeting the people who want to look rich—middle and lower class folks who don't have a lot of money or savings. That is the bread and butter of designer brands."

Cara Nicole/Youtube

Not worth it.

It feels safe to say that we are all hoping to be more mindful about how we spend our money these days, whether it’s to be kinder to the environment, align better with our values, improve our finances or simply exercise free will against the siren call of consumerism.

That’s why this video essay created by Cara Nicole (who gives all kinds of financials and sustainability education on her Youtube channel) feels so timely.

In just under twenty minutes, Nicole astutely breaks down how luxury brands like Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Rolex create the fake illusion of wealth through “manufactured exclusivity” and getting free marketing from celebrities and influencers—who often don’t even pay for the products themselves. Meanwhile, most real rich people wouldn’t be caught dead in the flashy brands, and in reality consider them "overrated." But still, the illusion persists. Because advertising.

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@keepingalfoatwiththejoneses/Instagram

Inexpensive and tranquil…what's not to like?

Saving money and living comfortably don’t always go hand in hand, but people do find ways to accomplish it. Sometimes all it takes is thinking a little outside the box—getting a job that allows you to travel the world or swapping out a traditional mortgage for more creative, less costly home ideas.

Take this couple in North Carolina, for example, who gave up living on land to move into a floating cabin and apparently saved $27,500 annually by doing so.

According to Good News Network, Sarah Spiro, 27, and her boyfriend, Brandon Jones, 40, break down the math: Their one-bedroom floating home, which they bought in March 2021, originally cost less than $30,000. The pair then spent two months and $23,000 renovating, for a total initial investment of less than $50,000. And now, they pay $2,500 a year to live on the lake. Yes, you read that right. $2,500 a year. They used to pay that much per month on their combined individual rents.

Obviously, it was a “no brainer,” said Spiro.

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@katherout/TikTok

Just another unsolved mystery

Who doesn’t like a good mystery?

A video creator known as @katherout certainly does. At the gym Kath frequents, there’s a whiteboard with a revolving prompt with simple questions like “What are you listening to?” or “What city were you born in?” Gym goers then write their responses anonymously on the board.

Kath recently became enthralled—and tickled—by a person who somehow manage to write the word “monke” (as in the word describing a group of monkeys, apparently) on every single one of their answers.

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