Recommended Links of the Week (No. 732)

This week's recommended links cover the brain and consciousness, the problems with dopamine, the earliest anime in history, and a re-evaluation of "Dark City". Enjoy!

We have a dopamine problem: "The neurotransmitter dopamine is causing a lot of panic these days. According to books, articles, and social media posts, our need for a quick dopamine hit is why we crave cookies and spend too much time on Instagram. Logic dictates that if we keep giving in to these desires, we can never stop."

Philosopher 1, Scientist 0: The bet on consciousness that science lost: "Time will tell... and a quarter of a century later, it did. Twenty-five years ago, two men made a bet that could easily have been one of those 'I bet you...' phrases we toss around in casual conversation. But these were two renowned figures in their fields: Australian philosopher David Chalmers and German neuroscientist Christof Koch. And the challenge was one of existence's most intriguing topics: consciousness."

'Schadenfreude' and the re-evaluation of cruelty: "These emotions usually stem from a sense of injustice, moral superiority, envy, or the feeling that someone 'deserves' what happens to them, explains Montiglio. That's why we smile when the boss scolds a colleague we're jealous of, or laugh when we see that shiny sports car pulled over right after it sped past us on the highway. Schadenfreude is also why much of the world laughed and shared memes when the Titan submersible disappeared last month."

Mutiny on the Storozhevoy: The story that inspired "The Hunt for Red October": "The Hunt for Red October (1984) is one of Tom Clancy's most popular novels. Its fame grew with the 1990 film adaptation, in which Sean Connery played the charismatic Commander Marko Ramius. It tells the story of this Soviet officer's attempt to defect to the United States with one of the Soviet navy's most advanced submarines. This classic of the techno-thriller genre did not come entirely from Clancy's imagination."

The fascinating film that deserved the success of "The Matrix": "'Dark City' (1998) was a failure because its distributor, New Line, didn't know how to sell it. Is it science fiction? Is it film noir? Is it a pastiche of many things? Be that as it may, almost no one saw Alex Proyas's film—I still remember the handful of us in the theater at its release, surprised to see so few people at the new movie from the director of the admired 'The Crow' (1994)."

Die Hard imitation films: "After the huge success of Die Hard (1988), a bunch of bastard children emerged trying to ride on its success, imitating its premise—the typical setup where a group of terrorists, for whatever reason, takes over a location (building, train, plane, etc.), and a lone hero has to eliminate them one by one and save the hostages. So many such films have been made that, unintentionally, they've created an entire subgenre within action cinema."

Track & Field: When Konami turned us into true Olympic athletes: "At first glance, no two worlds seem as far apart as sports and video games. However, in 1983 we all became Olympic athletes thanks to Track & Field. In fact, the consequences of being a professional athlete and a Konami game addict were remarkably similar. Training for the 100-meter dash can cause all sorts of injuries, chafing, and blisters. Exactly what happened if you played Track & Field too much."

Anime Classics (1924-1944): "Although the earliest surviving anime date from 1924, they are known to have existed as early as 1917. The first anime is considered to be created by Oten Shimokawa, who drew the adventure Mukuzo Imokawa the Doorman, painting directly with black ink on celluloid. None of his works survive. In the following months of 1917, Shimokawa made more short films, all five minutes long. At the same time, Seitaro Kitayama created the first animated adaptations of traditional Japanese tales."

The sad story of the orca Ethelbert: "Over a two-week period, there was considerable debate among the media and authorities about the animal's fate. The operators of the Jantzen Beach pool expressed interest in capturing the orca alive and displaying it in a tank. The Oregon Humane Society opposed this idea, considering any capture inhumane. Instead, they believed the orca should be euthanized to end its suffering, as it was clearly dying."

The heaviest animal that ever existed: "Paleontologist Mario Urbina made an exceptional discovery 13 years ago. After decades analyzing fossils in the coastal desert of southern Peru, he found sediments so large and so strangely shaped that the field photos baffled other researchers. It's Perucetus colossus, an ancient species of whale, according to a study published today in Nature. It is believed to be one of the largest and heaviest animals known."

Earth's water is much older than the Sun and formed outside the Solar System: "The origin of Earth's water is much older than the Sun, the planets, and any celestial body in the Solar System. This is what we know. Not even the main star of the Solar System is as ancient as Earth's water, according to observations from the ALMA radio observatory (Atacama Large Millimeter Array) in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Researchers believe that the water on our planet originated in interstellar space."

Why do other moons have names but ours is just called Moon?: "In recent years, we've witnessed a curious competition between Jupiter and Saturn over which planet has the most moons. In 2019, Saturn took the lead from Jupiter with a total of 83 moons. However, in early 2023, several circulars from the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union announced 15 new moons of Jupiter, propelling it back to the top with 95 satellites."

VIDEOS: Bizarre Guinness record, the scale of the Milky Way, the blackest car ever, 3D printed self-replicating, wood ash furnace, shearing an alpaca, ticklish seal, cleaning very dirty Persian rugs, Thunderstruck by toothbrushes, the Ring Nebula, Harry Potter but in Spain, the shady world of the Steam market, orca biting a whale shark, baby monkey adopts cat mom, free diving record (122 meters), bombing Japan wasn't necessary, the incredible story behind Monty Python, bird building its nest and raising chicks from start to finish, and the shorts Outcast (thanks, José!), Night of the Living Dread, Einstein-Rosen (science fiction), Portrait of God (horror), and the complete first season of TMNT (1987).

GALLERIES: Vibrant photography of Asia, photos of people with statues, astrophotography images, embroidered artworks, office assistants, the Life and Science 2022 photos, the winners of the 2023 iPhone Photography Awards, the miserable suffering of men while shopping, confusing perspective photos, the Animated Dump, and the Weekly Visual Dump.

Thanks, thanks, and thanks for dropping by to see what another edition of the Recommended Links had in store! See you, friends!