Intriguing

December 22, 20233min readIn 2023 we learned that cats really are choosing to ignore humans and that—despite dogs getting all the glory when it comes to retrieving prowess—cats want to play fetch, tooBy Lori Youmshajekian Any pet parent has seen some odd behaviors from their furry companion—from sniffing butts and tilting heads to delivering unwanted, lifeless “gifts.” Every year scientists inch closer to explaining these mannerisms by finding evolutionary or genetic underpinnings to our favorite animals’ quirks. Here’s…

Déjà vu, a sensation where individuals feel as though they’re reliving an experience, has been a subject of intrigue for many. Recent scientific research suggests this phenomenon can be triggered by spatial similarities between a new scene and an unrecalled memory. Various studies, including those using virtual reality, aim to uncover more about the causes of déjà vu. Credit: SciTechDaily.com What is déjà vu? Psychologists are exploring this creepy feeling of having already lived through an experience before.Have you ever…

Too Long; Didn't ReadTasks of this type often appear in interviews at major companies, and understanding the methods of their solution can be quite beneficial. The first task is 136. Single Number (easy)(https://leetcode.com/problems/single-number/)Given a non-empty array of integers, you need to find the element without a pair. Solve the problem in O(n) time complexity and with constant extra memory. Too Long; Didn't ReadTasks of this type often appear in interviews at major companies, and understanding the methods of…

The Hollywood Reporter’s list of the town’s “biggest winners and losers” in 2023 could make Meghan Markle’s powerhouse agents worry about their efforts to relaunch her U.S. career — if they haven’t already begun to rethink their association, as surmised by PR and branding experts since she and Prince Harry were caught up in furor surrounding Omid Scobie’s controversial book “Endgame.” THR, one of Hollywood’s leading trade publications, placed Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, among its list of “losers” for the year —…

Film: Nostalgia (Italian/English Subtitles)Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Francesco Di Leva, Tommaso Ragno, Aurora Quattrocchi, Sofia EssaïdiDirector: Mario MartoneRating: 3.5/5Runtime: 117 mins ‘Nostalgia, ’ Italy’s entry for the Oscar’s, is based on the novel by Ermanno Rea, and is a captivating character study of a man haunted by his past trying to find closure. Persuaded by his wife Arlette (Sofia Essaïdi), Felice Lasco (Pierfrancesco Favino) a resident of Cairo and a…

Every once in a while, we get to see a pretty original game take the stage at The Game Awards 2023. And Tales of Kenzera: ZAU certainly seems like it’s taking a fresh look at its genre inspirations, bringing something new to action-platforming next April. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is from Surgent Studios, under the EA Originals label, working in collaboration with Critical Role. It’s a huge list of big names, but the idea itself is really compelling. ZAU is a gorgeous action-platformer with some ‘Vania inspiration.…

The internet can be a wonderful treasure trove of knowledge—so long as you’re curious, media-savvy, and know what sources are reputable. The ‘Today I Learned’ (aka TIL) online community is a powerhouse of edutainment and one of the most well-known groups on Reddit.Its members share interesting facts about the world they learned only recently. It’s honestly the perfect inspiration to get all of our creative juices flowing and our brains (re)energized. We’ve collected some of the freshest and most intriguing TIL insights…

C Pam Zhang’s acclaimed debut, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, was about the wild west during the gold rush. Her second novel explores another world ravaged by greed. Set in the near future, Land of Milk and Honey imagines the planet’s devastation after an environmental catastrophe has shrouded the world in smog: “Biodiversity fell… Scientists bickered over the smog’s composition and politicians over whether pollution or lax carbon taxes or China or nuclear testing or America or Russia were to blame, and all the while…

Parisian film-maker and illustrator Céline Devaux, whose award-winning shorts have been shown at Cannes and Venice, now makes her feature debut with a salty romcom character study; it is deceptively slight, though leaning heavily on a certain kind of quirkiness, and undoubtedly intriguing.Jeanne is an entrepreneur who has fallen into a depression caused by the death of her mother and the recent bizarre collapse of her business; she has an inner anxiety-voice represented by Devaux’s own sketches of the cartoon-ghost in her…

Materials found in the rocks of Mars' Jezero Crater suggest that organic matter may be widespread across the red planet.Spectroscopic analysis using instruments aboard the Perseverance rover has revealed evidence of hydrocarbon molecules in multiple rock formations. Moreover, the detections show different abundances and types of molecules in different rocks.This is not the first time that organic molecules have been detected on our planetary neighbor – the Curiosity rover found them in the Gale Crater, too – but the…