Hulu's original movie "Palm Springs" is the comedy we needed this summer
Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti get stuck in an infinite wedding time loop.
- Two wedding guests discover they're trapped in an infinite time loop, waking up in Palm Springs over and over and over.
- As the reality of their situation sets in, Nyles and Sarah decide to enjoy the repetitive awakenings.
- The film is perfectly timed for a world sheltering at home during a pandemic.
Everyone remembers Bill Murray's hilarious time loop in the 1993 film Groundhog Day. While covering the infamous annual event in Punxsutawney, Murray comes to terms with waking up over and over again in the same situation. The movie is responsible for making "Groundhog Day" a metaphor for dealing with monotonous and unpleasant situations.
That's what happens when Sarah (Cristin Milioti), a maid of honor at a Palm Springs wedding, wakes up the morning after the ceremony only to discover the wedding is that day. She approaches Nyles (Andy Samberg), who she connected with the prior evening, to figure out what's happening to her.
Nyles has been in the time loop for some time. The story flips the generic romantic comedy on its head as the two figure out how to navigate this shared reality together.
Palm Springs is a perfectly timed release in a nation that feels like it's stuck in a time loop during the pandemic. In fact, the film offers another perspective from the fear portrayed in the media on a daily basis: the triumph of love during a time of immense confusion and frustration. Instead of being weighed down by the stress of the situation, the characters adapt to their circumstances while learning plenty about themselves along the way.
Palm Springs is a Hulu Original. Sign up for a free 30-day trial now. After the trial period expires, enjoy a subscription starting at only $5.99/month.
One month free trial offer valid for Hulu (ad-supported) or Hulu (No Ads) plans only. Offer valid for new and eligible returning subscribers only. After free trial ends subscription fees apply starting at $5.99/mo unless canceled. Cancel anytime. Terms apply.
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Godzilla vs. Kong: A morphologist chooses the real winner
Ultimately, this is a fight between a giant reptile and a giant primate.
April 10, 2021
Surprising Science
The 2021 film “Godzilla vs. Kong" pits the two most iconic movie monsters of all time against each other. And fans are now picking sides.
<p>Even the most fantastical creatures have some basis in scientific reality, so the natural world is a good place to look to better understand movie monsters. <a href="https://www.formorphology.com/">I study</a> functional morphology – how skeletal and tissue traits allow animals to move – and evolution in extinct animals. I am also a huge fan of monster movies. Ultimately, this is a fight between a giant reptile and a giant primate, and there are relative biological advantages and disadvantages that each would have. The research I do on morphology and biomechanics can tell us a lot about this battle and might help you decide – #TeamGodzilla or #TeamKong? </p><h2>Larger than life</h2><p>First it's important to acknowledge that both Kong and Godzilla are definitely far beyond the realms of biological possibility. This is due to sheer size and the laws of physics. Their hearts couldn't pump blood to their heads, they would have temperature regulation problems and it would take too long for nerve signals from the brain to reach distant parts of the body – <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-movie-size-too-big-2019-5">to name just a few issues</a>.</p><p>However, let's assume that somehow Godzilla and Kong are able to overcome these size limitations – perhaps because of their radiation exposure they have distinctive mutations and characteristics. Based on how they look on the big screen, let's explore the observable differences that might prove useful in a fight.</p><h2>Kong: the best of ape and human</h2><p>At first glance, Kong is a colossal primate - but he's not simply a giant gorilla.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAzODQ2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDc3NDM4NX0.16lYmKa-rUc-DYeoYLOp3I-B0Cwmsfh1CMdar9AsaJk/img.jpg?width=980" id="d466d" width="800" height="1200" data-rm-shortcode-id="1eb26a54f1eb117553aad0ef96991a9a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kong has a mix of both gorilla and humanlike physical traits.">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Cliff/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY</small></p>
<p>One of the most striking things about Kong is his upright, bipedal stance – he mostly walks on two legs, unlike any other living nonhuman apes. This ability could suggest close evolutionary relationship to the only living upright ape, humans – or his upright stance could be the result of <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/convergent_evolution.htm">convergent evolution</a>. Either way, like us, Kong has thick muscular legs geared toward walking and running, and large free arms with grasping hands, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.04.001">enabling him to use tools</a>.<br></p><p>Humanity's bipedal, upright posture is unique in the animal kingdom and provides a slew of biomechanical abilities that Kong might share. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9416">human torsos are highly flexible</a> and particularly good at rotation. This feature – in addition to our loose shoulder girdle – makes <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-humans-became-the-best-throwers-on-the-planet-131189">humans the best throwers</a> in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0107">the animal kingdom</a>. Throwing is helpful in a fight, and Kong could probably <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12267">throw with the best of them</a>.</p><p>Kong is also, of course, massive. He absolutely dwarfs the largest known primate, an extinct orangutan relative called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23150"><em>Gigantopithecus</em></a> that was a bit bigger than modern gorillas.</p><p>Kong does have many gorillalike attributes as well, including long muscular arms, a short snout with large canine teeth, and a tall sagittal crest – a ridge of bone on his head that would be the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.12609">anchor point for some exceptionally strong jaw muscles</a>.</p><p>Strong, agile, comfortable on land and with the unparalleled ability to use tools and throw, Kong would be a brutal force in a fight.</p><p><br></p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAzODQ3NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzY3MjE3MX0.nLpABTQui6xLmJ0yHpTARYZjp0joqNeKb6MrY5f6PAc/img.jpg?width=980" id="6dc96" width="800" height="867" data-rm-shortcode-id="064cef235fb2d309bff52f49c7daf6e0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Godzilla's upright posture is unique among lizards and dinosaurs. Figure depicts what he'd look like with a dinosaur posture.">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Kenneth Carpenter/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA</small></p>
<p><br></p><h2>Godzilla: An aquatic lizard to be reckoned with</h2><p>Godzilla appears to be a giant, semiaquatic reptile. Like Kong, Godzilla has the traits of a few different species.</p><p>Recent Godzilla movies show him decently mobile on land, but seemingly much more comfortable in the water despite his lack of overt aquatic features. Interestingly, Godzilla is depicted with gills on his neck – a trait that land vertebrates lost after <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icm055">they emerged from the sea about 370 million years ago</a>. Given Godzilla's terrestrial features, it's likely that his species has land-dwelling reptile ancestors and reevolved a mostly aquatic lifestyle – kind of like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0406">sea turtles</a> or sea snakes, which can actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0300-9629(75)90387-4">absorb oxygen through their skin</a> in water. Godzilla may have uniquely reevolved gills.</p><p>Godzilla's tail is what really separates him from Kong. It is massive, and anchored and moved by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.21290">huge muscles attached to his legs, hips and lower back</a>. Dinosaurs like <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em> stood horizontally and used their tails for balance and to help them walk and run. Godzilla, in contrast, stands vertically and keeps his tail low to the ground, probably for a different type of balance. This vertical posture is unique for a two-legged reptile and more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0381">resembles a standing kangaroo</a>. Godzilla stands on two muscular, pillarlike legs similar to those of a sauropod dinosaur. These would provide stability and help support his gargantuan mass but would also bolster the strength of his tail.</p><p>In addition to his powerful tail, Godzilla carries three rows of sharp spikes going down his back, thick scaly skin, a relatively small head full of carnivorous teeth and free arms with grasping hands, all built onto a muscular body. Taken together, Godzilla is a terrifying and intimidating adversary.</p><p><br></p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAzODQ4MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODQzOTQ1N30.cO7kEO9SJ3rrahKmQ22lmyqnCyNUv5WINKzBhtdieAM/img.jpg?width=980" id="585d0" width="1118" height="1600" data-rm-shortcode-id="0ff6064d58a66b2ef4456fe61af8c8bf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Tim Simpson/Flickr, CC BY-NC</small></p><div style="display: none;"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAzODQ4MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODQzOTQ1N30.cO7kEO9SJ3rrahKmQ22lmyqnCyNUv5WINKzBhtdieAM/img.jpg?width=980" id="585d0" width="1118" height="1600" data-rm-shortcode-id="5df8e29f86a5dfd40012d79c4c8d8948" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kong is faster and could use tools, but Godzilla is stronger and has armored skin. "></div>
<p><br></p><h2>Ready, fight!</h2><p>So now that we've looked a little closer at how Godzilla and Kong are built, let's imagine who might emerge victorious in battle.</p><p>Though Kong is a little bit smaller than Godzilla, both are more or less comparably massive in size and neither has a clear advantage here. So what about their fighting abilities? </p><p>Godzilla would likely favor his robust tail for both offense and defense – much like modern-day large lizards that <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2017.2299">use their strong tails as whips</a>. Scale up that strength to Godzilla's size, and that tail becomes a lethal weapon – which he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO_utO644sk&ab_channel=Gigan2004">has used before</a>.</p><p>However, Kong is more comfortable on land, faster and more agile, can use his strong legs to jump, and possesses much stronger arms than Godzilla – Kong probably packs a walloping punch. And as an ape, Kong would also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030380">likely use tools to some degree</a> and might even capitalize on his throwing ability.</p><p>Both would have a gnarly bite, with Kong likely getting a slight advantage. However, Godzilla's bite is by no means weak, and all of his teeth are flesh-piercing, similar to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.05.025">crocodile</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373-35.4.525">monitor lizard</a> teeth.</p><p>On defense, Godzilla has the edge, with thick scaly skin and sharp spikes. He might even act like a porcupine, turning his back to a rapidly approaching threat. However, Kong's superior agility on land should be able to offer him some protection as well.</p><p>I will admit I am #TeamGodzilla, but it's very close. I may give a slight edge to Kong in broad terrestrial battle ability, but Godzilla's general mass, defense and tail would be hard to overpower. And lest we forget, the tipping point for Godzilla is that he has atomic breath! Until researchers find evidence of a dinosaur or animal with something like that, though, I will have to reserve my scientific judgment. </p><p>Regardless of who emerges victorious, this battle will be one for the ages, and I am excited as both a scientist and monster movie fan.</p><p><em>This article has been updated to use more inclusive language</em><img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157101/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1">.</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kiersten-formoso-1218031">Kiersten Formoso</a>, PhD Student in Vertebrate Paleontology, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/usc-dornsife-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences-2669">USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences</a></em></p><p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/godzilla-vs-kong-a-functional-morphologist-uses-science-to-pick-a-winner-157101">original article</a>.</p>
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How do you tell reality from a deepfake?
The more you see them, the better you get at spotting the signs.
April 10, 2021
ROB LEVER/AFP via Getty Images
Technology & Innovation
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul><div></div><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><div><p>When Donald Trump belatedly <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/politics/2021/01/trump-admits-defeat-after-congress-confirms-electoral-vote.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">acknowledged</a> defeat two months after last year's US presidential election, some news reports zeroed in on a fundamental question: whether his speech had <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-trump-consession-video-deep/fact-check-donald-trump-concession-video-not-a-confirmed-deepfake-idUSKBN29G2NL" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">actually happened</a> at all.</p><p>The dramatic <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2020/05/25/deepfakes-are-going-to-wreak-havoc-on-society-we-are-not-prepared/?sh=213d62df7494" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">proliferation</a> of deepfakes – online imagery that can make anybody appear to do or say anything within the limits of one's imagination, cruelty, or cunning – has begun to undermine faith in our ability to discern reality.</p><p>Recent advances in the technology have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/25/deepfake-video-apps/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shocked</a> even seasoned technology observers, and made anyone with a phone and access to an app like <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/avatarify-ai-face-animator/id1512669147" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Avatarify</a> capable of an adequate version.</p><p>According to <a href="https://thesentinel.ai/" target="_blank">one</a> startup's estimate, the number of deepfake videos online jumped from 14,678 in 2019 to 145,277 by June of the following year. Last month, the FBI <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/fbi-warns-deepfakes-will-be-used-increasingly-foreign-influence-operations" target="_blank">warned</a> that "malicious actors" will likely deploy deepfakes in the US for foreign influence operations and criminal activity in the near future. Around the world, there are concerns the technology will increasingly become a source of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305120903408" target="_blank">disinformation</a>, <a href="https://www.ibanet.org/Article/NewDetail.aspx?ArticleUid=432E7100-35BE-44B4-B6AB-AD55758411F4" target="_blank">division</a>, <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/07/08/deepfakes-and-synthetic-media-in-financial-system-assessing-threat-scenarios-pub-82237" target="_blank">fraud and extortion</a>.</p><p>When Myanmar's ruling junta recently posted a video of someone incriminating the country's detained civilian leader, it was widely <a href="https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-accused-using-deepfake-technology-prove-graft-case-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi.html" target="_blank">dismissed</a> as a deepfake. Last year, the Belgian prime minister's remarks <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/belgium-all-news/politics/106320/xr-belgium-posts-deepfake-of-belgian-premier-linking-covid-19-with-climate-crisis/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">linking</a> COVID-19 to climate change turned out to be a deepfake, and Indian politician Manoj Tiwari's use of the technology for campaigning <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/02/19/868173/an-indian-politician-is-using-deepfakes-to-try-and-win-voters/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">caused alarm</a>. In Gabon, belief that a video of the country's ailing president was a deepfake <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/deepfake-gabon-ali-bongo/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">triggered</a> a national <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/13/how-sick-president-suspect-video-helped-sparked-an-attempted-coup-gabon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">crisis</a> in early 2019.</p><p>Manipulating images to alter public perception for political reasons dates back at least as far as <a href="http://history.com/news/josef-stalin-great-purge-photo-retouching" target="_blank">Stalin</a> – who famously <a href="https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/stalin-photo-manipulation-1922-1953/" target="_blank">deleted</a> purged comrades from official photos.</p><p>However, some say a more pressing issue is the increased vulnerability of non-public figures to online <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/14/us/raffaela-spone-victory-vipers-deepfake.html?searchResultPosition=4" target="_blank">assault</a>. Indian journalist Rana Ayyub has <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/deepfake-porn_uk_5bf2c126e4b0f32bd58ba316" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">detailed</a> attempts to silence her using deepfake pornography, for example.</p><p>Some <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/.premium-the-deep-fake-scare-is-more-dangerous-than-ai-tech-behind-it-1.9279014" target="_blank">argue</a> the threat of the technology itself is overhyped – and that the <a href="https://gvu.gatech.edu/research/projects/liars-dividend-impact-deepfakes-and-fake-news-politician-support-and-trust-media" target="_blank">real problem</a> is that bad actors can now dismiss video evidence of wrongdoing by crying "deepfake" in the same way they might dismiss media reports that they dislike as "fake news."</p><p>Still, according to one <a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/research/deepfakes-a-grounded-threat-assessment/" target="_blank">report</a>, technically-sophisticated, "tailored" deepfakes present a significant threat; these may be held in reserve for a key moment, like an election, to maximize impact. As of 2020 the estimated cost for the technology necessary to churn out a "state-of-the-art" deepfake was less than $30,000, according to the report.</p><p>The popularizing of the term "deepfakes" had a <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/nekqmd/deepfake-porn-origins-sexism-reddit-v25n2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sordid</a> origin in 2018. Calls to regulate or ban them have grown since then; related legislation has been <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6088" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">proposed</a> in the US, and in 2019 China <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/29/20988363/china-deepfakes-ban-internet-rules-fake-news-disclosure-virtual-reality" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">made it</a> a criminal offense to publish a deepfake without disclosure. Facebook <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2020/01/enforcing-against-manipulated-media/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> last year it would ban deepfakes that aren't parody or satire, and Twitter <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/4/21122653/twitter-policy-deepfakes-nancy-pelosi-biden-trump" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> it would ban deepfakes likely to cause harm.</p><p>It's been <a href="https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/deepfakes-explained" target="_blank">suggested</a> that the best way to inoculate people against the danger of deepfakes is through exposure. A variety of efforts have been made to help the public understand what's at stake.</p><p>Last year, the creators of the popular American cartoon series "South Park" posted the viral video "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sassy+justice" target="_blank">Sassy Justice</a>," which features deepfaked versions of Trump and Mark Zuckerberg. They <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/arts/television/sassy-justice-south-park-deepfake.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">explained</a> in an interview that anxiety about deepfakes may have taken a back seat to pandemic-related fears, but the topic nonetheless merits demystifying.</p><p>For more context, here are links to further reading from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/strategic-intelligence/" target="_blank">the World Economic Forum's Strategic Intelligence platform</a>:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>A growing awareness of deepfakes meant people were quickly able to spot bogus online profiles of "Amazon employees" bashing unions, according to this report – though a hyper-awareness of the technology could also lead people to stop believing in real media. <em>(<a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/monitor/latest-knowledge/85cfa3bef7844886a68901bd3a139fc9" target="_blank">MIT Technology Review</a>)</em></li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>The systems designed to help us detect deepfakes can be deceived, according to a recently-published study – by inserting "adversarial examples" into every video frame and tripping up machine learning models. <em>(<a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/monitor/latest-knowledge/487c48bcfc074e0baa02d79ff50c21b8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Science Daily</a>)</em></li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Authoritarian regimes can exploit cries of "deepfake." According to this opinion piece, claims of deepfakery and video manipulation are increasingly being used by the powerful to claim plausible deniability when incriminating footage surfaces. <em>(<a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/monitor/latest-knowledge/a5b302a0a922409db4c7ea5b675ca65a" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wired</a>)</em></li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>It's easy to blame deepfakes for the proliferation of misinformation, but according to this opinion piece the technology is no more effective than more traditional means of lying creatively – like simply slapping a made-up quote onto someone's image and sharing it. <em>(<a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/monitor/latest-knowledge/aafadcb9912647cca06080b215f8eb5d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NiemanLab</a>)</em></li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>A recently-published study found that one in three Singaporeans aware of deepfakes believe they've circulated deepfake content on social media, which they later learned was part of a hoax. <em>(<a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/monitor/latest-knowledge/4e46230f864c4afab637a7f5b39b4175" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Science Daily</a>)</em></li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>"It really makes you feel powerless." Deepfake pornography is ruining women's lives, according to this report, though a legal solution may be forthcoming. <em>(<a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/monitor/latest-knowledge/d5d085ba98234b538625df1b90c3cb9d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MIT Technology Review</a>)</em></li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>"A propaganda Pandora's box in the palm of every hand." Deepfake efforts remain relatively easily detected, according to this piece – but soon the same effects that once required hundreds of technicians and millions of dollars will be possible with a mobile phone. <em>(<a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/monitor/latest-knowledge/a8f4b11144dc47caa6c307dcfce2ef1b" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Australian Strategic Policy Institute</a>)</em></li></ul><p>On the <a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Strategic Intelligence</a> platform, you can find feeds of expert analysis related to <a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/topics/a1Gb0000000pTDREA2?tab=publications" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Artificial Intelligence</a>, <a href="https://intelligence.weforum.org/topics/a1G0X000005JJGcUAO?tab=publications" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Digital Identity</a> and hundreds of additional topics. You'll need to register to view.</p><p>Reprinted with permission of the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/are-we-at-a-tipping-point-on-the-use-of-deepfakes/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p><p><br></p></div>
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Ancient cave artists were getting high on hypoxia
A new study says the reason cave paintings are in such remote caverns was the artists' search for transcendence.
April 10, 2021
Credit: Petar/Adobe Stock
Surprising Science
<p>Artists of all types have been known to ingest a—shall we say—creative lubricant or two. One of the paradoxical things about art, even for people who love making it—maybe <em>especially</em> for those people—is that it's sometimes hard to get started, despite the fact that it's even harder to stop. </p><p>A <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1751696X.2021.1903177?casa_token=8ooGT9zoZvcAAAAA%3ALyJCGNa-r6jT0nrdc0iKa2T6dIS5C0Ag9e4l6jXYQUPsFVMq7m3_bOgYdC2VlFAuLw7hvzB9NIkHag" target="_blank">new paper</a> suggests this problem and solution go <em>way</em> back.</p><p>As archaeologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rixNuw8AAAAJ&hl=iw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yafit Kedar</a> from Tel-Aviv University in Israel was in France enjoying some cave art deep within the ground, she started to wonder why their creators would choose to create images so far away from natural light sources. These places are also airless, where what little oxygen there could have been would have been consumed by the burning torches the painters needed in order to see what they were painting.</p><p>Maybe, she thought, the reason these long-ago artists chose to create in such remote chambers was <em>because</em> of their lack of fresh oxygen. Perhaps the painters would have been down there creating in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoxia_(medical)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hypoxic</a>, trancelike state. In that pre-agricultural, pre-chemistry time, cave painting might have been a way to get inspirationally baked.</p><p>There are some 400 known prehistoric cave paintings found in Western Europe dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period from 40,000 to 11,00 years ago.</p><h2>The Greek oracles were probably high, too</h2><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAzODQxMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTYxNjM0Mn0.xU0lnGQr54WWPWIOU27ZqHgdpifEovCt5iGFEfVYnwA/img.jpg?width=980" id="f68fd" width="1440" height="810" data-rm-shortcode-id="a9ce46cc78574d295b40cd687bc2f28d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Credit: <a href="https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/205162455/matiasdelcarmine?load_type=author&prev_url=detail" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">matiasdelcarmine</a>/Adobe Stock</small></p><p><br></p><p>This might not be the only historical example of people inducing an oxygen-starved state to achieve transcendence or something like it. A <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Geo....34..821E/abstract" target="_blank">2006 study</a> from scientists at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Rome hypothesized that hypoxia might have been the source of the trances out of which Delphic oracles extracted their visions.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutarch" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Plutarch</a> had written that trances began when the oracle—really generations of female oracles, all of them ceremonially named "Pythia"—inhaled sweet noxious fumes from cracks in the ground beneath the temple. Lead author of the 2006 study <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/ingv.it/getiope/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Giuseppe Etiope</a> suggested that these gasses may well have been nothing more miraculous than carbon dioxide and methane filling a poorly ventilated space, thus casting Pythia off into a netherworld of semi-consciousness.</p><h2>The air down there</h2><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAzODQxNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDU4NTkxMH0.diem1gOWXACdWUz1EP7upD43HyBGNVuqL4amN1POiKI/img.jpg?width=980" id="a273e" width="1440" height="810" data-rm-shortcode-id="46f23b3cf490d304c4cdbc8c86fdf69e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Credit: <a href="https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/207154513/aleksandr-volunkov?load_type=author&prev_url=detail" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aleksandr Volunkov</a>/Adobe Stock</small></p><p><br></p><p>On the surface, the air we breathe is 21 percent oxygen. Kedar and her colleagues created computer models that revealed the likely levels of oxygen in the painted caves. They found that in some such caverns, oxygen levels can drop to 18 percent in just 15 minutes. Some models fell to 11 percent. Hypoxia is likely at oxygen levels below 14.5% percent.</p><p>Fire torches exacerbate the problem. Up near the surface in a cave open to outside air, a burning fire's exhaust flows up and out while fresh air comes in beneath it. In a narrow passageway, however, the carbon dioxide and oxygen mix, and the lighter oxygen floats upward and on out of the cavern toward the surface.</p><p>The deeper a painter went with their torch, the more extreme was the loss of oxygen. Some of Kedar's models of deep caverns found just 9 percent oxygen, the lower limit of survivability.</p><p>Kedar hopes to validate the modeled outcomes by measuring oxygen levels in existing painted caves. For now though, the models point to the "transformative nature of an underground, oxygen-depleted space."</p><h2>What is a hypoxic high like?</h2><p>Hypoxia releases dopamine and can produce euphoria, visions, and out-of-body sensations. Modern visitors have reported experiencing some of these same sorts of mental phenomena when viewing the artwork.</p><p>The paper suggests that, "The cave environment was conceived as both a liminal space and an ontological arena, allowing early humans to maintain their connectedness with the cosmos." The hypoxic mind may well have found it easy to imagine that they were seeing beyond the rock, and indeed, beyond their world. </p><p>"The images envisioned in such a hallucinatory state appear to float on the cave surfaces (walls, floors, and ceilings) as if these constituted a membrane connecting the upper and lower worlds," write the authors.</p><p>Considering the likelihood of hypoxic conditions inside caves, it may be that it was the promise of a transcendent experience that drove the painters deep into the ground rather than any inherent meaning attached to the caves. As the paper concludes:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"It was not the decoration that rendered the caves significant; rather, the significance of the chosen caves was the reason for their decoration."</p>
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