Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Leslie Katz covers the intersection of culture, science and tech. Lirili Larila, an elephant-cactus hybrid, is one of the breakout ...

When I first heard about TikTok's new meme trend, Italian brain rot, it reminded me of Sukumar Ray's Abol Tabol, a collection of Bengali nonsense verse. Only that was literature; this is actually ...

Is this my “Old Man Yells at (Digital) Cloud” moment? Gone are the days when our memes are all man-made. Just a couple years ago, the internet’s favorite absurd animals were photoshopped images of a ...

In the first half of 2025, she racked up over 55 million views on TikTok and 4 million likes, mostly from tweens glued to their cellphones. Not bad for an AI-generated cartoon ballerina with a ...

Meet Ballerina Cappuccina and the Italian brain rot crew, an absurd group of A.I.-generated characters that are flooding TikTok. By Alisha Haridasani Gupta The first thing you need to know about ...

"Brain rot" refers to mindless, often absurd online content popular with kids and tweens, especially on TikTok and Roblox. A viral subgenre called "Italian brain rot" features surreal AI characters ...

Italian brain rot is a niche form of memes that went viral in January 2025. Photo by Michele Bitetto/Unsplash If we’re lucky in the Opinion section, we work through our beliefs completely and support ...

Ballerina Cappuccina, as depicted by @brainrotpumpfun, is one of the most well-known (and least controversial) Italian brain-rot characters. Photo: @brainrotpumpfun via TikTok Even if it hasn’t ...

Read full article: Questions remain after North Side home explosions, nearly a week after it occurred In the first half of 2025, she racked up over 55 million views on TikTok and 4 million likes, ...