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Every kid’s morning cup of calcium just got an extraterrestrial twist, thanks to the design team at I-Media. This Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan-based creative agency has developed quirky new packaging for the Molocow milk company, inspired by the famous legend of a Kansas cow’s alien abduction. Youngsters may not be familiar with the folklore, which dates back to 1897, but they’re nonetheless likely to moon over this fantastical design.

The conical glass vessel in I-Media's playful design mimics a beam that leads up to its UFO-shaped plastic cap, capturing an ascending cow that’s printed as a logo on the front. The sleek, translucent packaging also emphasizes the fresh, pure quality of the product, elevating the beverage from standard to stellar. The clever concept just might convince more adults to drink their daily dose of dairy, too.

This “spacial edition” milk is not yet available for sale in the United States, but you can check out I-Media’s more down-to-earth design concepts on their website.

I-Media: Website | Behance
via [Laughing Squid]

Here are just a few of the fascinating artifacts you might encounter during a visit to The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.: Moon rocks; the Hope Diamond; the fossilized skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex; ancient mummies dating back to 1200 BC—and that’s just what’s on display. The Museum houses over 126 million scientific specimens and cultural relics, and a large fraction of the colossal collection is kept behind closed doors.

The Museum’s private storage is almost unfathomable in size and scope, containing curiosities that span from birds to bones to butterflies. The artifacts are scrupulously preserved, catalogued, and organized, so that authorized scientific experts can explore for new discoveries. According to the Museum, the goal is to better predict the future by examining the past: "NMNH scientists and their colleagues worldwide seek the puzzle pieces that will form detailed pictures of vital topics such as evolutionary relationships of organisms, biodiversity loss and global climate change."

Though the secluded shelves are normally off-limits to the public, the Museum offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the clandestine compendium in the photographs below.

Top photo credit: Chip Clark

Photo credit: Chip Clark

Photo credit: Chip Clark

Photo credit: Chip Clark

Photo credit: Chip Clark

Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History: Website | Facebook
via [Amusing Planet, NMNH]

A historic moment took place when an all-female flight crew landed a Royal Brunei plane in Saudi Arabia, on February 23rd. It ended up being a very significant event because women aren't even allowed to drive a car in the country. Only men can get a driver's license in Saudi Arabia, whereas women will be fined or arrested if they're seen driving in public. Yet, women are interestingly allowed to obtain a pilot's license and, in 2014, the first Saudi woman became certified to fly a plane.

Currently, Royal Brunei is working to add more women to their workforce, especially since it's estimated that there are only 4,000 female pilots out of the 130,000 total pilots in the world. Plus, only 450 women work as captains in the industry. Sharifah Czarena Surainy, the woman who landed the plane in Saudi Arabia, is actually Royal Brunei's first female pilot. "As a woman, a Bruneian woman, it is such a great achievement," Surainy told The Brunei Times, after she received her captains' epaulettes in 2012. "It’s really showing the younger generation or the girls especially that whatever they dream of, they can achieve it."

Royal Brunei: Website | Facebook | Instagram
via [Mashable, The Brunei Times]

Luke O’Sullivan uses a combination of drawings and sculptural carvings to construct wondrous urban landscapes. His extensive metropolitan pieces strike a balance between recognizable architecture and impossible structures in order to create fantastical subterranean systems. The 3-D artworks protrude into space, similar to a diorama display, but O'Sullivan purposively ensures that his miniature worlds are rooted partially in reality and partially in the absurd.

His latest release, Cool Shelter makes use of screen printed drawings and wooden structures to create a labyrinth of twists and turns. His piece aims to explore the relationship between an over-world and underworld by blending together above and below with three-dimensional and two dimensional to create an exceptional environment. O’Sullivan states that he draws inspiration from dystopian science fiction and early Nintendo animations to conceive his artwork. With this in mind, his vibrant world explores the idea of an urban environment in a novel and interesting way.

Luke O'Sullivan: Website | Instagram
via [Booooooom]

Australian mom Shelley Gifford has mastered the art of hair. Every morning, she styles her 6-year-old daughter's hair and, though she does so in under 20 minutes, she's able to send Grace off to school with the most impressive braids we've ever seen. The night before, Gifford will plan out the hairstyle, which can involve anything from woven hearts to spiral crowns. If the mom thinks that the look will take more than 20 minutes, she ends up saving the braid for the weekend.

Gifford later decided to share her hair art with the world, which is when she created Pretty Little Braids. "I found accounts that were solely set up to show hairstyles that mums had created on their daughters. I loved what I saw and it was then that I started my own Facebook and Instagram braiding accounts," the mom told BuzzFeed. "I just love learning new styles and advancing my skills. I’m hair obsessed." Gifford also mentions that many of her followers wonder how Grace is able to sit still for that long, but she explains that the young girl has been getting her hair braided since she was a toddler and is completely used to it by now.

"I don't have a favorite braid; however, I love challenging myself to multistrand braids," Gifford told POPSUGAR. "As for Grace, she loves anything pretty and styles that she can see herself in the mirror, like a high bun or a side braid." Plus, the mom reveals that her followers tend to love anything involving a heart (or two).

Pretty Little Braids: Website | Facebook | Instagram
via [POPSUGAR, BuzzFeed]

Illustrator Chloe Giordano embroiders miniaturized animals that are so thickly sewn, they take on a sculptural appearance. Her compositions consist of layers of fine, thin threads and, together, these meticulously-stitched marks visually blend color together like a pointillist painting. At the same time, the tiny fibers are visibly fuzzy, which is ideal for The artist's subject matter of woodland creatures like deer and rabbits.

Giordano has been practicing embroidery since 2011, after graduating from college with a degree in illustration. She continued to experiment with her artistic process, using thread and hand-dyed fabrics to construct these pieces, in addition to plush sculptures.

Giordano keeps up an Etsy shop and occasionally posts her embroideries for sale. Follow her on Facebook to see when she’s got her next piece ready for purchase.

Chloe Giordano: Website | Facebook | Tumblr | Etsy
via [Art People Gallery]

If you've ever fantasized about what life on the Titanic was like, you may get the chance to experience it firsthand, as an exact replica of the historic ship is scheduled to set sail in the near future. The Australia-based company Blue Star Line is planning to recreate the original vessel using modern amenities and safety standards. Aptly called the Titanic II, it will have similar dimensions to its predecessor with 840 rooms and nine decks, with a capacity of 2,400 passengers (including roughly 900 crew).

Blue Star Line has started the design process for the updated vessel, and the company will soon conduct the first of its model testing—a 9.3 meter wooden model of the Titanic II will be put through resistance and powering tests in a 300-meter-long tank. Once that phase is complete, the ship will be launched from the construction base in China on its maiden voyage to Dubai.

The proposed interiors of the Titanic II look equally as impressive as its predecessor. They feature the grand architecture and opulent decor that helped make the previous Titanic so luxurious and unforgettable. In addition to first, second, and third class cabins, the vessel will feature gymnasiums and Turkish baths. As of now, the Titanic II is slated to set sail in 2018, which gives you plenty of time to get your historically-accurate costume ready.

First class bedroom

Third class bunks

Edwardian-inspired gymnasium

Turkish baths

Blue Star Line: Website
via [Buzzfeed, Mashable]

Before dawn on January 1, 2015, artist Stephen Lund snuck out of his house and “painted” a New Year’s message on the streets of Victoria, Canada. This painting was not your typical artistic endeavor—instead of a brush on canvas, Lund rode his bike around town and tracked his journey using a GPS. The combination of a very specific cycling path and GPS software created an unconventional work of art. After the ride, he viewed the traced path and a location-based drawing was revealed.

Lund is part of Strava, an online community of athletes from around the world. The app, which works with devices like Garmin and Fitbit, allows you to analyze, quantify, and share your performance with other users. After Lund’s inaugural ride, he displayed his handiwork with members of his online cycling club. Their enthusiastic response encouraged Lund to keep at this unusual art form. “I decided to embrace Strava artwork as a way both to spend some of my free time and recharge my creative batteries,” he writes on his website.

Over the course of 2015, Lund created a myriad of playful GPS doodles. From Star Wars to animals to machine equipment, the red lines formed colorful characters and detailed drawings you’d never expect from this newfound medium. In addition to careful planning, the impressive works represent a lot of time spent on his bike—Lund figures he rode over 3,000 miles to construct these elaborate drawings. Lund has archived all of his works on his blog, but stopped the project at the end of the year.

Lund's first doodle of 2015

Stephen Lund: Website | Instagram | Facebook
via [Booooooom]

Video game artist Rob Adams (aka radamshome) spent 350 hours of his time creating his 6-year-old daughter Lia's dream: a magical, bedroom-based tree that doubles as a reading nook. Using Disney set designs as inspiration, the dad first drew the work of his daughter's imagination and then produced an impressive 1:12 clay scale model. Once his prep work was complete, the dedicated dad immediately made sure this idea wasn't a fire hazard and, with the fire department's blessing, got to work on the 18-month-long project. Adams transformed Lia's room into a work station, drew the tree silhouette on her walls and floor, and then created a steel tree skeleton. For the project's base, he employed a portland cement, water, and polymer fluid mixture, but had to apply a lighter papier mâché on the outer branches. Adams then finished off his hard work with paint, foliage, holiday lights, and various fairy decorations.

The 6-year-old now has a tree she can read inside, climb on, admire from all angles, and even use as a nightlight. The detailed room renovations ended up costing a total of $4,250 but, for Adams, Lia's smile was all worth it in the end. "Lia’s reaction was pretty awesome," Adams told Upvoted. "She just looked at it a lot, climbed in it, hugged me over and over. She wanted her brother to sleep in there and he camped out in her room for two weeks after it was finished."

While this project did take a lot of time and effort, Adams isn't quite done with his home renovations. After all, he also has a son. "I’m going to build a pirate ship treehouse for my son this summer," he says.

Rob Adams: Reddit | Fairy Tree Instructions
via [Upvoted, A Plus]

All images via Rob Adams.

Fear is an emotion that all people experience, though it's easy to feel alone in your panic as your nightmares are getting the best of you. Whether it's a certain predator with scales, sharp teeth, and talons; creepy, crawly spiders; clowns who only pretend to be your friend; or a monster in your closet, we all have particular phobias that keep us up late at night. To show the world that we're never alone in such fears, artist Fran Krause created Deep Dark Fears—a web comic that illustrates others' sometimes humorous, sometimes gory, and mostly downright relatable fears.

When Kruase decided to design this series in 2012, he was inspired by his own experiences. "It just occurred to me that I had a lot of irrational fears, a lot of persistent thoughts that would pop into my head," the artist told Big Shiny Robot. "You know, I knew they were irrational and I wasn’t paralyzed by them or anything but they would happen to me and I would think, that’s a weird thing to think and it would probably be less weird if it didn’t pop up every couple months. Just these persistent things that I’ve had since childhood, that’s always been on my mind."

To help others get their fears out of their heads in a creative fashion, Krause developed an online submission form for readers who would like their deepest, darkest fears illustrated. Thanks to his success with this endeavor, the artist was able to produce a Deep Dark Fears book featuring 101 comics that are sure to make you feel less alone when a horror movie-type idea suddenly emerges in your mind.

Deep Dark Fears: Facebook | Tumblr | Instagram | Amazon

All images via Deep Dark Fears.

Photographer Alan Lawrence (who's behind the Wil Can Fly series) is now creatively celebrating the holidays with his 4-month-old son Rockwell. Instead of buying his kids an Elf on the Shelf, the dad instead went in a different direction: he made Rockwell the elf. "We have never had an Elf on the Shelf in our home but the idea has always intrigued me. Parents letting elves in their homes to watch their kids and cause mischief," Lawrence explained to BuzzFeed. "Then one day someone told us that Rockwell looked like an elf and the idea came to me. What if a real life elf came to live with us for the holidays and how would I react in real life to having it show up to live with us?"

Lawrence soon had an answer to his question because Rockwell was transformed into an absolutely adorable elf. In his bright red costume (complete with a pointy hat), the little boy can be seen playfully causing mischief all over the house, each of his high jinks caught in a sweet series of photos. Beneath each image, Lawrence writes a story that adds to the fun nature of this project, which he hopes to continue every day until Christmas.

"We love sharing our family’s story," says Lawrence. "I just feel blessed to be a dad and want the world to know how fun it can be when you don’t take life so serious."

Alan Lawrence: Website | Blog | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
via [BuzzFeed, The Mighty]

Beakerhead, a spectacular festival where art, science, and engineering collide, has recently made an exciting announcement—they're getting their own spaceship! Thanks to the new Big Bang Residency Program, Beama Visual Environments will create a large-scale engineered artwork called Bass Ship that’ll premiere during Beakerhead 2016.

On the Bass Ship, there are no passengers—everyone is a part of the crew. This immersive, fully interactive audio-visual installation explores the idea of non-verbal conversation. “When you step inside the ship, you become a part of an experiment,” Mary Anne Moser, president and co-founder of Beakerhead explains. “You have to coordinate with three other crew members to create a coherent communication.”

Members of the “crew” are guided by visual cues from the ship’s switchboards and control panels. Every action by the participants will trigger a sequence of audio, lighting, and video events that’ll happen on the ship and simultaneously be shared with the audience (who’ll appear as extraterrestrials to the crew).

Bass Ship marks the first year of the Big Bang Residency Program’s three-year initiative. It will officially debut on September 14, 2016.

Beakerhead: Website | Flickr | Facebook
Beama Visual Environments: Website | Facebook

Sometimes the most brilliant solutions are the most simple. This is certainly the case for the organization Bees & Elephants, which managed to find a natural solution that reconciles the conflicts that occur between elephants and humans, in the form of beehive fences. The structures consist of strings of wire with beehives spaced out, 10 meters apart from one another. When an approaching elephant hits the wiring, it disturbs the bees, causing them to emerge from their hive and scare off the powerful beast. Zoologist Lucy King is the brain behind this innovative project that successfully deters crop-raiding elephants and protects rural farmers in Africa, since its initial test run in 2009.

Though the image of a mighty elephant running away from a tiny bee is comical, elephants are naturally terrified of the little creatures. Bee stings cause excruciating pain to the elephant’s sensitive trunk, and researchers have noted that entire herds of elephants will avoid areas where the buzzing of bees can be heard. King was the first to think of harnessing elephants' natural aversion to bees, with the intent to “reduce elephant crop-raiding and tree destruction and enhance local income through the sale of honey.” This ingenious and natural method takes a significant step forward towards sustainable human-elephant coexistence.

Currently, there are beehive fences located in Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Sri Lanka. The organization works in affiliation with the Save the Elephants foundation, and is currently seeking funding to continue expanding this elegant feat of interspecies landscape engineering that is creating a safer future for both elephants and the people that live amongst them.

Elephants & Bees: Website
via: [Colossal, Neatorama]