Utrecht’s fish doorbell is up and running again to help spawning fish navigate the city’s canals. “If you see a fish, press the doorbell. This alerts the lock operator to open the lock.”
Art has the power to capture emotions in a way words often cannot. These 14 street art pieces and sculptures express love, grief, hope, and longing in striking and unforgettable ways.
A sculpture of a crouched figure made from steel and filled with stones, visually embodying the crushing weight of sorrow. The texture and posture evoke a sense of deep mourning and resilience.
On Burning Man by Alexander Milov
This luminous installation at Burning Man depicts two adults sitting back-to-back inside wire cages, with their inner child figures reaching out to each other—symbolizing the barriers we build and the innocence that remains within.
Tribute to Grandparents by SMUG in Melbourne, Australia
A hyper-realistic mural of an elderly couple, their expressions rich with history and emotion. The details in their wrinkles and eyes speak of love, loss, and a lifetime of shared experiences.
The Day Will Come by Sasha Korban in Tbilisi, Georgia
A mural of a soldier embracing his loved one, symbolizing the pain of war and the hope of reunion. The sheer scale of the piece amplifies its emotional weight.
A minimalist yet striking mural spelling out “LOVE” using hands and shadows, part of the Baltimore Love Project. It speaks of unity, connection, and the power of simple gestures.
Mooncake by Insane51
A mesmerizing double-exposure style mural showing two lovers gazing into each other’s souls, layered with a haunting X-ray effect. A visual representation of love transcending physicality. See the video for the full effect here!
A Swing in the Summer Light by ATTORREP (Antonino Perrotta) in Belsito, Italy
A nostalgic mural of a girl on a swing, seemingly floating into the sky. The warmth of the scene contrasts with the mysterious figure in the window, adding an air of melancholy.
A Good Host Turns Places Into Friends by HERA (Herakut) in Karlstad, Sweden
A wire sculpture by Martin Debenham of a mermaid sitting on a rock, with the intricate metalwork mimicking flowing water.
Mama Mimi by Thomas Dambo in Wyoming, USA
A massive wooden troll sculpture sitting by the water, looking deep in thought. Crafted from reclaimed materials, it carries an environmental message alongside its quiet, contemplative presence.
Jade and Moggy Cat Mural by Nina Valkhoff in Gent, Belgium
A heartwarming mural of a young girl lovingly hugging a cat, her eyes closed in serenity. The surrounding fish and leaves add a dreamlike quality, emphasizing deep companionship.
Homeless Man and His Dogs by Lalone Laleiro Leilo in Málaga, Spain
A mural of a hooded man cradling his sleeping dogs on the street. The realism and tenderness in their expressions highlight themes of loyalty, hardship, and unconditional love.
Chalk Mice with Heart by David Zinn
A whimsical yet touching street piece showing two tiny chalk-drawn mice connected by a string, holding a dangling heart. A small but profound message of connection in the simplest of forms.
‘Brightness through the clouds of cancer’ by JDL in Rotterdam, Netherlands
A playful yet deeply emotional mural showing an elephant extending its trunk to give a bouquet of flowers to a tiny rat. A reminder that kindness knows no size, and friendship transcends differences.
From majestic ships crashing through waves to powerful portraits of sailors and sea gods, these murals span cities and coasts to bring ocean legends to life. This curated collection includes works from France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and beyond—each one a tribute to maritime culture, the mysteries of the deep, and the stories carried by the tide.
Epic Poseidon Mural by Ster UPC in Southend-on-Sea, London, UK
A towering tribute to Poseidon, this vivid blue mural by Ster UPC features the god of the sea with a flowing beard, golden crown, and trident. The swirling waves and powerful gaze give the illusion of oceanic movement.
Life at Sea by DJOELS in Basque Country, Spain
In this grayscale mural, a weathered man with glasses builds a ship model while ghostly ships loom behind him. A tentacle curls beneath his hands, merging memory and maritime legend.
Photo by Dieter Wundes
Wanderer by Innerfields in Cologne, Germany
Referencing Caspar David Friedrich’s famous painting, this mural shows a modern wanderer gazing at a capsized ship as a distant cathedral rises through the mist—blending romanticism and catastrophe.
Old Man and the Sea 2.0 by Creaero in Morlaix, France
A powerful monochrome portrait of an elderly sea captain, paired with a puffin and a storm-lashed lighthouse. The mural evokes life at sea, resilience, and solitude.
PHOENIX by Gert Neuhaus in Berlin, Germany
Painted in 1989, this monumental mural blends architecture and illusion, depicting a massive ship bow slicing through waves, crashing right through the building’s facade.
Shark by Blesea in Cherbourg, Normandy, France
In an abandoned structure, Blesea paints a 3D great white shark swimming through coral reefs. The artist sits above it with snorkel gear, merging art with play.
The Drunken Ship by Claire Daliers in Brussels, Belgium
A full-building mural of a sailing ship cutting through waves, perfectly integrated with the structure’s windows and walls—an iconic piece of trompe-l’œil art.
The Ocean Statue of Neptune in Gran Canaria, Spain
This haunting sculpture of Neptune emerging from the sea holds a trident and appears in multiple sea states. It evokes awe and reverence for ocean mythology.
Poseidon Mural by Braga Last One in Lisbon, Portugal
This mural shows Poseidon in decayed classical ruins, holding his trident and surrounded by graffiti, creating a fusion of mythology and urban decay. The first image shows the wall before it was painted, and the second shows the completed mural in its full glory.
The Eye by Näutil in Siouville-Hague, France
Painted on a WWII bunker, this eye-shaped mural gazes across the beach —turning a relic of war into a watchful guardian of the sea.
Roughly 200 million women around the world suffer from endometriosis, a condition that causes tissue from the lining of the uterus to grow in places outside of the uterus. The condition can be exceptionally painful and contributes to infertility.
Endometriosis is as common as Type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and migraines in the U.S., although there is less awareness of this condition. This lack of familiarity with endometriosis among the general population and health care providers means this condition is not well understood.
"Endometriosis is an understudied disease," said Asgerally Fazleabas, professor and associate chair of research in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. "Unless you go to a physician who knows what endometriosis is, it may be misinterpreted as a gastrointestinal problem or inflammatory bowel disease."
New findings from a team that includes MSU researchers points the way to developing new non-hormonal therapies which could be a game changer for endometriosis patients, some of whom wait seven to 10 years for a diagnosis. This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Endometriosis Foundation of America.
Endometriosis starts early for most patients
"Endometriosis begins for most girls in adolescence—when they start having their periods, sometimes as early as eight years old," Fazleabas said. "Many of these girls have periods complicated with very severe pelvic pain that lasts throughout their teenage years. It affects so much of their normal life. Many of them cannot even go to school when the pain is intense, and it also significantly affects their social life.
"The only way to conclusively diagnose endometriosis is to have a laparoscopy and most physicians are reluctant to perform a surgical procedure on a young girl," said Fazleabas, who is also director of the Center for Women's Health Research and co-director of the Reproductive and Developmental Sciences Training Program at MSU.
For older women, gynecological complications like fibroids or adenomyosis can make an endometriosis diagnosis more difficult.
Study provides baseline for novel non-hormonal treatments
This study by Fazleabas and his co-researchers provides a baseline for understanding the signals, or cross talk, between the immune system's macrophage cells and cells in endometriosis lesions. Their findings have been published in iScience and could help lead to better non-hormonal treatments for endometriosis.
"What we were able to show is that the epithelium—a layer of cells within an endometriosis lesion—is able to selectively communicate with the macrophages and alter their function within the immune system," Fazleabas explained. "In general, macrophages are immune cells whose role is to help protect the body by detecting and removing harmful substances, controlling inflammation and aiding in tissue repair.
"But macrophages can take on different forms," he added. "Other researchers have shown that macrophages found within the lesions tend to be pro-tissue repair. So, rather than clearing the tissue, they are contributing to the development of endometriosis. Instead of taking out the trash, so to speak, they are making the problem worse.
"What we've shown in this paper is that the epithelial cells can communicate with the macrophages," concludes Fazleabas. "Our hypothesis is that their cross talk potentially provides an environment that's conducive to the development of the disease."
This baseline for understanding cellular cross talk provides a foundation for further research that could lead to better therapies for the treatment of endometriosis.
More information:
Gregory W. Burns et al, Spatial transcriptomic analysis identifies epithelium-macrophage crosstalk in endometriotic lesions, iScience (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.111790
Citation:
Researchers make progress toward non-hormonal treatment for endometriosis (2025, March 22)
retrieved 22 March 2025
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