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Traditional landscape painting in living fungus

A special painting depicting the Great Wall and cranes through the medium of fungi has gone viral. It was created by five students studying biology at Anqing Normal University in Anhui province. They spent months learning how to use living fungi as a medium for their artwork. It was made on a board with a growing medium for fungi of different colors. The students used brushes to "paint" fungi spores on the board and then waited for them to grow. Chen Bosong, one of the artists, said that it took about nine months to cultivate the fungi, and some fungi take longer to grow than others and have different growing seasons. Many netizens expressed amazement at the intricate artwork.

Oscar shortlists for nine categories released

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released shortlists for the 92nd Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, in nine categories, including International Feature, Documentary Feature and Animated Short Film. Ten films under consideration in the International Feature Film category include the Czech Republic's The Painted Bird, Estonia's Truth and Justice, France's Les Miserables, Hungary's Those Who Remained, North Macedonia's Honeyland, Poland's Corpus Christi, Russia's Beanpole, Senegal's Atlantics, South Korea's Parasite and Spain's Pain and Glory. A record-breaking 93 films were submitted in the category. Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards will be announced on Jan 13. The 92nd Academy Awards will be held on Feb 9, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles.