Tag: #5-2

Пятый ряд – место 2 (видео)

Everything Everywhere All at Once

What made the film an Oscar favorite in 2023?

Reading time 10 minutes

Everything Everywhere All at Once – an American science fiction action comedy that will be released in the summer of 2022. The film is about a Chinese-American immigrant named Evelyn who discovers that she can connect with versions of herself from parallel worlds. With the help of this new ability, Evelyn must now prevent the destruction of the multiverse.

The Daniels directorial duo: Daniel Scheinert (right) and Daniel Kwan (left)
The Daniels directorial duo: Daniel Scheinert (right) and Daniel Kwan (left)

The film, directed by the “Daniels” duo, paid off several times at the box office, grossing over $130 million on a budget of about $20 million. The love of the audience and the positive reviews of film critics eventually contributed to the fact that “Everything Everywhere and at Once” was shortlisted as a nominee for the Academy Award. As a result, out of 11 nominations, the film won 7 at once and received the golden statuettes in the categories of “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Actress”, “Best Supporting Actor”, “Best Supporting Actress”, “Best Original Screenplay” and “Best Editing”.

Let us find out together what made “Everything Everywhere and All at Once” a box office hit and an Oscar 2023 record holder.

1. Best actress: a celebration of inclusion
Shot from the film "Everything is everywhere and at once." Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wong
Shot from the film “Everything is everywhere and at once.” Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wong

Michelle Yeoh, who plays the title role in Anywhere, is a Malaysian actress of Chinese descent who has been active in both Asian and Western cinema. Michelle became world famous for the project Crazy Rich Asians, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, in which the actress played the smart and charismatic mother of the protagonist. In the film “Everywhere and at once” Michelle showed the full range of her acting abilities, as the plot is set in parallel universes. From world to world she slipped into the most diverse roles – from a contract killer to a cook to a lesbian with sausages instead of fingers.

One version of Evelyn Wong in a parallel universe
One version of Evelyn Wong in a parallel universe

Critics note that besides the factor of Michelle’s acting talent, her origin allowed her to win. After all, Michelle Yeoh became the first woman of Asian descent to be awarded the title of “Best Actress”. In response to the criticism they had been receiving, the Academy strategically chose to award a statuette to a member of a national minority in order to maintain the film award’s rating. However, it is difficult to name such a factor as an unambiguous reason for presenting the Michelle Yeoh award. After all, the actress could really surprise the audience with acting, showing the full range of her skills on the screen.

2. Best Supporting Actor: The triumphant return of Jonathan Ké Kwan
Jonathan Ke Kwan in "Everything Everywhere" 2022 (left) and in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" 1984 (right)
Jonathan Ke Kwan in “Everything Everywhere” 2022 (left) and in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” 1984 (right)

Jonathan Ké Kwan rose to prominence in the film industry as a child as Harrison Ford’s boy assistant in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984. However, like many successful child actors, his career declined with age. Jonathan continued to work in film production, but as an assistant action choreographer and assistant director. The last film in which he took part as an actor before filming in Everything Everywhere and At Once was The Second Attempt, a 2002 fantasy drama that failed at the box office.

After the release of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, film critics predicted a glorious future for the little charismatic boy, and some fans of the franchise called him their favorite character. That is why the return of Ké Kwan to the big screens after 20 years has become a long-awaited and joyful event for many viewers. For the first time after a long break, Jonathan not only played an interesting and diverse role but also immediately received an Oscar for it. Given that the actor’s awards culminated in a touching hug with Harrison Ford, this story seems like a good plot for a movie.

3. Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis as Tax Clerk
The image of Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie "Everything is everywhere and at once"
The image of Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie “Everything is everywhere and at once”

Awarding Jamie Lee Curtis at the Oscars came as a surprise with many film critics. In one category, actresses such as Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) competed with her, Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Hong Chau (“The Whale”) and Stephanie Xu, her colleague in the film “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, which played the role of the daughter of the main character.

Actress Angela Bassett
Actress Angela Bassett

After the ceremony, a flurry of criticism fell upon the film academy, as many predicted the victory of African-American actress Angela Bassett for the role of the Queen of Wakanda. In the film, she played a strong woman who, even after losing her son, could support her country and her people in difficult times.

The victory of Lee Curtis is justified by two factors at once. People overlooked Jamie Lee Curtis in previous award seasons. Jamie Lee Curtis began actively acting in films back in the 1970s, was a favorite of viewers and critics. But someone has not even nominated her for an Oscar. She could receive an award for “Everything Everywhere at Once” based on merit in the US cinema, as a tribute to her experience and talent, which had gone unnoticed for so long.

Second, the image of Jamie Lee Curtis in the film is really very different from the more familiar roles of the actress. We are talking about both the appearance and the scale of the role. At 64, the actress herself performed her own stunts in action scenes and, like Michelle Yeoh, skillfully changed images during the jumps between parallel universes during the film’s plot. However, it would be incorrect to deny the ambiguity of the film academy’s decision. Many viewers and critics have the impression that it gave the award to the actress “for long service”, which does not correspond to the principle of the award. After all, it is in such a case that there are special nominations in the film academy.

4. “Best Editing”: an undisputed technical victory
Shot from the film "Everything is everywhere and at once"
Кадр из фильма «Всё везде и сразу»

One of the main storylines of the film is the constant movement of characters between parallel universes. Each of these universes is special, with its own color and lighting solutions and scenery. The combination of these different universes and the creation of a coherent story from the most dissimilar expositions is the merit of skillful editing. The film is called “a triumph of surrealism and abstraction”: graphic inserts and sharp jumps create the illusion of immersion in a near-comic story, and the constantly changing visual range does not let you get bored behind static scenes. Editing enhances the impact of the story on the audience, as the effects inside the film no longer work at the expense of camera work or playwrights. Intra-frame movement, breaking the boundaries of the screen – all this made the installation of “Everything Everywhere and At Once” bright and memorable.

All the above together allowed the film to pick up the last three nominations – “Best Film”, “Best Director” and “Best Original Screenplay”. “Everything Everywhere and At Once” became an example of a commercially successful picture that conquered the film academy. An absolute win for a film of this nature clearly broadens the horizon of opportunity for future Oscar-winning filmmakers. And also, it clearly points to the shift towards new bold cinema that is happening in the film academy and in the world of cinema.

 

233 degrees Celsius: what literature could not be read in the USSR?

Big soviet brother is watching you

Reading time 7 minutes

«It was impossible to find these two volumes on sale, only in libraries and without taking out» – say Kirill Sorvin, HSE sociology professor, about one book which he was looking for when he was a student in USSR. Some literature was banned in USSR due to official ideology. Very few people at the time knew about it. Nevertheless, such books were read and even distributed with Samizdat that was illegal in the country. However, the majority of citizens found out about banned literature only after the collapse of the USSR.

Contradictions of Early and Late Marx

For the first time it became possible to buy «Economic-philosophical manuscripts, 1844» in the USSR only in 1983.
For the first time it became possible to buy «Economic-philosophical manuscripts, 1844» in the USSR only in 1983.

«The work is called Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts 1844, it was the 42nd volume of the Works of K. Marx and F. Engels collection or a separate volume From Early Works. This work was not presented in any other form. Western Marxists discovered in this book another Marx’s philosophy, they called it «Marx-humanist». There was a discussion about the contradiction of «Early and Late Marx», which, of course, was denied in our official philosophy». Accordingly, this work was not among the «canonical» books like «The Capital» which was close to Russian vision of communism.

As a student, Kirill Sorvin tried to exchange a two-volume book of the Strugatsky brothers, which was highly valued among the youth of that time, for «Economic and philosophical manuscripts», but such a book anybody from his classmates did not have.

Second volume of ‘Robinson Crusoe’

The Novel of English writer Daniel Defoe started publishing in Russian Empire in 1762. Only the first part of the series entered the treasury of world literature, which spawned a fashion for pseudo-documentary fiction. Nevertheless, people knew about existing of the sequel and even the book was popular among Europe readers. However, in Russian Empire the second volume was not published and in USSR from 1935 to 1992 it was banned.

In 1971, the publishing house «Pravda» published a retelling of the work with a limited edition.
In 1971, the publishing house «Pravda» published a retelling of the work with a limited edition.

Only In 1971, the publishing house «Pravda» published a retelling of the work with a limited edition. The main reason for this was that Robinson during his Siberian trip faced a lot of corruption and said that Moskovia is «barbaric, powerless and poorly managed mob of slaves».

«In the second part Robinson, among other things, travels in Russia, gives her not all the appropriate characteristics. Why did publishers have to take the responsibility to comment on «such» past of people?» – Kirill Sorvin explains.

George Orwell and Yevgeny Zamyatin

Yevgeny Zamyatin is considered a pioneer in the genre of anti-utopia. The novel «We» became the cause of serious criticism of the writer, and since 1929 his books have stopped at all publishing in the USSR. Zamyatin describes a society of rigid totalitarian control over the individual. Actually «We» is a critic of the Soviet system, with which the genre of anti-utopia began to flourish. Although, for example, Aldous Huxley, one of the first writers in this direction, categorically denied acquaintance with the work of the Russian writer.

Illustration to the novel E. Zamyatin «We»
Illustration to the novel E. Zamyatin «We»

The satirical story «Animal Farm, 1945» by George Orwell depicts the transition of the animal society from their freedom to the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon. According to playwright Arkady Bartov, «Animal Farm» is an allegory of the 1917 revolution and subsequent events in the USSR. Orwell wanted to portray how easily totalitarian propaganda could control people’s opinions and at the same time to condemn «Stalin’s distortion of socialist ideals». Last but not least fact about this book is that boar Old Major is an allegory of Karl Marx. And how you find out from the first paragraph: Soviet authorities couldn’t stand when somebody represented the idol of their philosophy in «wrong way».

The Russian aphorism «All are equal, but some are more equal» belongs to George Orwell. The complete version in the book «Animal farm» sounds like this: «All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal».
The Russian aphorism «All are equal, but some are more equal» belongs to George Orwell. The complete version in the book «Animal farm» sounds like this: «All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal».

Subsequently, most of the books in this genre, including the Soviet ones, were banned in the USSR. Anti-utopias will appear in Soviet society only with the introduction of a policy of publicity near the end of the 1980s. For example, George Orwell’s most popular novel «1984» was declared anti-Soviet immediately after its release in 1949 and remained banned until 1988. The policy of publicity is a controversial process in the history of the USSR. Some believe that it has undermined the people’s belief in the system, while others thank Gorbachev for it. But the fact is that these books can now be read legally – both online and offline.

«Authoress» or «author»?

The discussion about the tolerant dictionary left many questions open

Reading time 7 minutes

Journalists and editors of the Internet portal «Such Cases»  (charity Fund «Need help» ) thought about tolerant vocabulary, and the result of these reflections was the tolerant dictionary «We do not say so» . According to the authors, it contains the basic formulations that will help to avoid unwanted incidents.

The publication of the dictionary caused a strong reaction in the network. The user NaVi writes: «the word «epileptic»  – than it offensive and worryingly? So I’m asthmatic, my son is asthmatic, we don’t feel insulted, and an epileptic should?» . Marina Pavlova said: «Socially vulnerable groups «robber» , «crook»  and «corrupt»  – it’s hard. Where can I transfer money to socially vulnerable Sechin?» .

After such reviews, on April 17, the portal «Such Cases»  organized a discussion with the participation of different experts  in the coworking «table» – from philologists and psychologists to activists and transgenders, where participants tried to «understand how we understand and correctly call each other» .

journalist of the portal “Such things” Maria Bobylev (left). Photo: Such Cases/Anya Todich

Author of the dictionary Maria Bobyleva, journalist of the portal «Such Cases»  stressed again that the creation of the dictionary was dictated by the desire to introduce tolerant vocabulary. «Sex change surgery – what is it? How, at the time invented the «face of Caucasian nationality»  – it seems to be polite, but this [nationality] is not really» , – says Maria, but adds that the dictionary is not the ultimate truth, many words in it cause controversy even among experts, and it will be modified and supplemented.

Ksenia Razen, the expert of the Center for curative pedagogics “the Special childhood” . Photo: Such Cases/Anya Todich

Particular emphasis was placed on the section of the dictionary devoted to diseases and restrictions. According to the authors, it is not necessary to reduce a person to one characteristic – his disease, it is worth remembering that this is the only part of a person’s life: for example, not «down» , but «a person with down syndrome» . The authors of the dictionary support the expert of the Center for curative pedagogics «the Special childhood» , Ksenia Razen: «I think it’s important that… we are discussing many different specific words… this process reduces the anxiety [in society] and provides security» .

Zara Harutyunyan, psychologist, specialist in working with victims of violence ( in the center). Photo: Such Cases/Anya Todich

According to Zara Harutyunyan, a psychologist, a specialist in working with victims of violence, the people who created this dictionary «think about how to intelligently express themselves», and Ekaterina Messorosh, a transgender woman, a transactivist of the initiative group T-Action believes that «the responsibility of public people is to introduce these words into circulation» .

Catherine Messorosh, transgender woman, TRANS-activist of the initiative group of the T-Action (in the center). Photo: Such Cases/Anya Todich

And, by the way, about «psycologist» : gradually the discussion began to move away from the dictionary to the problem of feminicides and their use in the Russian language. It turned out that the audience is keenly interested in the use of such words as «authoress» , «headmistress» , etc., although «сommunist»  and «weightlifter»  sound quite comfortable.

Maxim Krongauz, a linguist, Professor, HSE, Russian state University for Humanities. Photo: м24.ru/Александр Avilov.

«In Russian, the infinitive is used only if for some reason I need to emphasize that it is a woman»,  – says Maxim Krongauz, linguist, Professor of HSE and RSUH.

Does it turn out that the use of feminicides is a manifestation of selfishness? What if this particular woman-director is important to be told about her «directress» , stressing that her creation is the work of a woman, not a man? And what about mentioning the names of foreign authors, when it is impossible to determine whether it is a woman or a man?

Anna Narinskaya, journalist, literature critic (right). Photo: Such Cases/Anya Todich

Journalist, literary critic and exhibitions curator Anna Narinsky, supports the use of feminities, but believes that they cause negative associations from Russian-speaking people. «This is a real crisis of self-identification… here is the «female journalist» , no.. I’m probably a journalist, because I’m good»  – says Anna.

Hasan Huseynov, philologist, Professor at the HSE. Photo: Such Cases/Anya Todich

At the end of the discussion, many questions remained open. The desire not to stand out, to be «like everyone else»  and to speak habitually has not disappeared, and society itself should decide whether to accept new expressions or stay with the same, and the dictionary will be improved and developed. But, as noted by the philologist, HSE Professor Hasan Huseynov: «We live in a world where it s not necessary to be with the majority» .

New shades of erotica from Erica James

The author of the world bestseller announced her new novel

Reading time 4 minutes

Erica Leonard James who gained acknowledge in the world of literature due to the raucous trilogy about «50 Shades…»  announced her new novel named «The Mister» .

The bestseller author E.L.James

In January, 24 in the author’s official account the photo occurred which illustrated the book with presupposed cover and planned release date – april, 16. For more detailed information the writer directed all her fans on her official website where one can find an intrigue beginning of the plot. Like Mr.Grey, Maksim Trevelyan has careless life. He owns money, connections, wonderful appearance and hearts and bodies of many girls… Erica James calls her novel «A Cinderella story for the 21 century» . Besides, the writer offers to get acquainted with several parts of the new work. The book is ready for pre-ordering on the official site of Penguin publishing house in Great Britain and the USA where it is included in the list of books required reading in 2019.

An intrigue cover of the new novel

Judging a barrage of comments under the publication and numerous articles and news items in foreign and Russian mass-media the book has all possibilities to become a bestseller and win hearts of billion readers. It is noticeable that other photos and publications in the writer’s account hardly counts 100-200 comments, yet on the announcement there was more than 2000 responds.

Erotic novels by Erica James are extremely popular. «Fifty shades of grey»  overcame famous «Twilight” and «Harry Potter»  by the number of sales over the short period of time. In Russia the book translated into Russian and published in «Eksmo»  became a bestseller as well. After it, the author proceeded seria and presented other two parts of this story: «Fifty shades darker»  and «Fifty shades of freedom» .

BDSM, beautifull views and affluent life became a formula of success for novels

The movie was made on the plot. In several Russia regions (Osetia and Karachai-Cherkesia) these films were withdrew from broadcasting on ethical grounds. Films gained a host of adverse feedbacks, however, it didn’t prevent from obtaining record box office.

Loose lips sink ships

Why you should not chat about your aims but to formulate them correctly

Reading time 4 minutes

New year means new plans and new aims. People can’t wait to share them with others! For example, to tell that you are going to learn a second language, lose weight, learn to draw and so on. But after a while motivation to do it disappears somewhere and created to-do list gathering dust on the shelf. We will tell you why it happens and how to set targets.

Mental traps

Reward addiction = dopamine addiction

It may seem, what’s wrong with sharing your plans for the future? You have told, you have dreamed and… sit on your plans. It seems to be so anxious to implement the conceived as quickly as it’s possible, but soon your aspiration disappeared. That is happening because a person, who talks to someone about his or her plans, falls into a trap without noticing it. The brain does not see the difference between reality and imagination. In one of the researches published in APS, scientists have concluded that when a person wants to deliver on target, consciousness tries to help: it is looking for ways to achieve the goal, calculates all the tracks and chooses the best.

Dopamine – a stimulant of the brain

However, if people tell others about their plans, the brain takes desirable  for real. In psychology, this is called social reality, the effect of having consciousness trapped in a completed action, feeling that everything is already done.

«Smart» formula

Instead of rattling about your plans it is better to articulate the goal for yourself. A clear statement of purpose is the first step towards achieving it, so it is important to pay special attention to the correct formulation. To do this, there is a universal formula SMART, which will help to set the goal properly.

Decoding the SMART formula

SMART is an abbreviation, each letter of which indicates what the purpose should be. SMART stands for the following:

S – specific. The goal should be specific, for this you need to define clearly the outcome, what should happen after it is achieved;

M – measurable. The formulation should contain clear quantitative or qualitative indicators that the goal has been achieved;

A – achievable. When setting a goal, it is important to understand whether you have a chance to achieve it;

R – relevant. Moving to the goal will be easier if you understand for what you need it;

T – time based. The time frame is necessary to ensure that the goal set for a year will not be postponed to the next one.

Incorrectly Correctly
To lose weight By June, lose 7 kg (from 67 kg to 60 kg) to go to the sea

Set goals correctly and achieve them!

Do everything and forget nothing

Techniques of effective learning and time management

Reading time 5 minutes

Being on top of your game is very important, especially when you have a lot of deadlines. These couple of techniques will help organize your studying and working. They cannot give you extra hours in a day, but they are able to increase your productivity.

The Cornell Note-taking System

Cornell Notes example

Walter Pauk, a professor at Cornell University and the creator of this method, decided to walk away from a usual linear form of writing notes in the 1950s. He suggested to divide a piece of paper into several blocks to help organize different information. In an original variant these blocks are notes, keywords and comments, and summary. The main advantage of this technique is that it allows you to process and analyse the information while note taking. Psychologists Annie Piolat, Thierry Olive, and Ronald T. Kellogg conducted a study which proved that The Cornell Method actually helps to remember information faster and to be more productive. So arm yourself with pens and learn to make notes correctly.

Mind Maps

A mind map is a way of visualizing information based on radiant thinking. Simply put, it is a method of organizing data in which the facts are presented in the form of associations, starting from a Central Idea.

Mind map on time management

A lot of people know about mind maps, but not all of them understand why they are effective. Tony Buzan, a psychologist who created mind mapping, explained that nowadays a left hemisphere, responsible for logic, is dominating over a right hemisphere, responsible for creativity. This causes an imbalance which reduces productivity. Mind maps make both hemispheres work together because a written information combines with images. This method is helpful not only in studying, but also in planning. However, it is important to learn some rules first, so the technique can work efficiently.

The Eisenhower Matrix

Time is the most valuable resource, so it is essential to know how to use it correctly. The Eisenhower Matrix is a method of setting priorities. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States and the creator of this technique, was known as a well-disciplined and organized person. The Eisenhower Matrix consists of four squares in which you put your tasks depending on their urgency and importance.

Pomodoro Technique

When all notes are taken, mind maps are created, and tasks are prioritized, there is the one thing left – make yourself to do all planned and learn everything written. At this point, there are problems with self-organization because concentrating on one task can be very complicated. That is when you should use Pomodoro Technique.

A “tomato” as a remedy against procrastination

Its essence lies in the fact that the learning process is divided into periods of time, which are conventionally called “tomatoes”. One “tomato” is 30 minutes long: 25 minutes of work and 5 min rest. After 4 “tomatoes” you need to take a long break for 20-30 minutes. It is very important to time yourself not with a phone (so you won’t be distracted by notifications), but with a timer, as Francesco Chirillo, the author of the technique, did. Currently, there are multiple sites with Pomodoro timer.

 

 

“Radar” from the inside: how it works

Yandex.Radar ranked the best online projects

Reading time 4 minutes

Yandex has launched a service where it publishes a rating of popular projects that have an extension in the network. The resource reflects the current situation in the advertising and media market.

Analytical service Yandex. Radar tracked only the popularity of browsers and search engines. Now Radar publishes top popular Internet sites. This article describes how the platform works and creates the top.

Rating is based on aggregated and impersonal data.

10,000 projects participate in the ranking. Yandex ranks the lists and forms the top based on impersonal data of its extensions: Browser, Alice, Elements and Metric.

In addition to the ranked list of projects, minimum and maximum indicators of site traffic are shown on the Radar page (displayed when you hover the cursor over the column). More detailed information is available for some projects that allowed Yandex to use Yandex.Metrica and AppMetrica data: the average time that users spent on the site, the daily audience and the percentage of visits. Radar users can see detailed information about the audience of the resource: region of visitors, age, gender, average income and type of device.

Business News Rankings

Projects are filtered by type and subject. For example, to see a site with news about a business, you need to select the type “News” and subject “Business”. Several filters may belong to the same Internet platform.

User can adjust the rating by type and subject of the project.

The uniqueness of “Yandex.Radar” consists in using two attendance scales simultaneously: regular and cross-driver. Information tracking methods affect the realism of indicators. In the standard system, users who open a site on multiple devices are counted twice. Most analytical services use only the standard scale. Cross-driver system tracks users on different devices and browsers and takes into account only one visitor. The cross-driver attendance indicator reflects the real picture of the market.

The law against «groups of death»

Правительство РФ поддержало законопроект об ужесточении наказания за побуждение к суициду

Reading time 8 minutes

Sorry, this text was translated with Google machine. Mistakes and misunderstandings are possible!

What happened?

Tenth day of March the official website of the Russian government published positive opinion the bill, Vice speaker of the state Duma Irina Yarovaya, providing for toughening of responsibility for incitement to suicide.

The document notes the need to prohibit “the dissemination of information promoting suicide.” Now it is illegal to distribute only the information about methods of suicide and calls for it.

The bill already approved by the Supreme court, interior Ministry, Investigative Committee, Ministry of education and Roskomnadzor.

The essence of the bill

The project involves the amendment of article 110 of the Criminal code. The responsibility proposed for the “encouragement of suicide” and “assisted suicide”, in addition to the existing paragraph on “incitement to suicide”. Despite the fact that “incitement” is interpreted as “cruel treatment or systematic humiliation of human dignity of the victim”, and “declination” means “persuasion, bribery, offers, deception”.

It is proposed to increase the maximum penalty to 12 years old (now he is 5 years).

Spring notes that the main goal of the project is the fight against Internet criminals. The project involves the introduction of a separate article for the involvement of minors in the “group of death”. Activities of such communities, in his opinion, is “remote killing”, against which measures need to be taken.

“Bill, we the first in Russia to put a barrier to those who entices children to suicide, and those who organize deadly games for children, such as “Run or die”, “Fairy”, “shaping” creates “group of death” in social networks,” says Spring.

Authorities approve

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the initiative to expand the list of acts entailing criminal liability, during his speech at the Collegium of the Ministry of interior. The President stressed that the sites that affect children and adolescents with unstable mentality and advocating suicide, are a serious problem.

Authorized under the RF President on the rights of the child Anna Kuznetsova also spoke in support of the bill, saying that now the Internet against children “is a real war”, and the number of cases of child suicide is increasing. “This is unacceptable and must be strictly prosecuted by legal means”, – concluded the Ombudsman.

The first Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee on security Ernest Valeev has declared that the existing punishment for the crime is not enough. On the question of a possible infringement of the freedom of the Internet, Valeev said that he sees the danger, and that the blocking of illegal sites is now provided by law.

Deadly games

In February Irina Spring said that over the past year, 720 children had committed suicide, and for the last three years committed suicide 2205 children. The MP stressed that the promotion of suicide comes from the Internet, in particular from the so-called “groups of death”.

The theme of the urge to suicide was widely discussed after publications “the New newspaper” in which it was said that for half a year killed 130 children, consisting in certain online communities.

In such groups the participants were asked to play a game where the last mission was to kill myself. If the participant refused to perform the task, the curators of the game threatened to kill his relatives. The symbol of these groups was the whale – an animal that supposedly is capable of consciously committing suicide by jumping to shore.

Children joined the community, such as “the Blue whale” or “Sea of whales”. Then the curators began to send them puzzles, videos, audio recordings and tasks (for example, to climb on the roof or go on the rails). During the game the children were convinced that they were elected, and that suicide is bad.

In November 2016 according to article 110 of the was sentenced Philip Bodaken, the administrator of one of these groups. He was charged with incitement to suicide.

“Anya was afraid of loneliness”


Maria Rakitina
It was in the eighth grade. Anna was my friend. She was communicative and very beautiful. Well-studied, wrote poetry. Hanging out is not loved, she liked the cozy get-togethers with friends in a cafe or home. She lived with her mother and grandmother, was an only child whose parents loved and spoiled.

That evening we talked to her on the phone. Vkontakte then she asked me to wish her luck. I asked: “Why?” “Right!”. I said, “good Luck.”

Morning at school we were told that Anya died, jumped out the window with the twenty-fourth floor. We at first did not understand, about what speech. Someone started to call her but the phone was unavailable. To us did not get that this man is no more. The psychologist and the teacher didn’t know how to behave with us.

Later, at a school Assembly, showed a hacked Facebook page, found messages in which she was inclined to suicide: “You’re too beautiful for this life.” Wrote that someday she’ll be alone, but in the next life all will be eternal. In the evening of the fatal day she got her status on Facebook: “Monophobia. Reincarnation”. More likely Anya was afraid of loneliness.

Expert’s opinion

Why children are involved in a deadly game? Psychologist Lyudmila Chebotareva believes that the reasons are of the most banal: out of curiosity, just for company, nothing to do, and sometimes fatal role plays randomly open a page on the Internet. But most importantly: why the child remains in the “group of death”?

“If the child is psychologically healthy and balanced, even taking part in this game, he soon gave it up. The situation is like addiction: not everyone who has tried to smoke will become a smoker. But if the child is non-adaptive, the game can not let go, it is easier to convince to do anything, even to hurt yourself.”

What does psychological maladjustment? It is generated by a complex of reasons, among them the conflicts in the family, betrayal of a friend, failure in school, low self-esteem and other traumatic psyche factors.

The scale of the disaster

The company “Cribrum” analyzed the content of Russian social networks and hashtag used by members of such groups, concluded that 1849 people in Moscow have expressed desire to play a deadly game. In the social network “Vkontakte” was found 9312 groups published similar hashtags.

statistics

Now Roskomnadzor is working with the administrators of social networking, experts are engaged in identifying and addressing suicidal content. Since the beginning of year 4 was blocked thousands of “groups of death”, and in just three years locked 14 thousand pages and sites with information about suicide.

What else to read:

 

Older than ancient

Ученые обнаружили следы микроорганизмов возрастом 4,28 миллиарда лет

Reading time 5 minutes

Sorry, this text was translated with Google machine. Mistakes and misunderstandings are possible!

What happened?
Nuvvuagittuq
Picturesque plateau Nuvvuagittuq

A group of scientists from the UK headed by Matthew Dodd found in Canada the traces of ancient bacteria, whose age, according to experts, is at least 3.7 billion years. The study was conducted in the mountains Nuvvuagittuq near Quebec and, according to Dodd, provides convincing evidence that life appeared on Earth much earlier than is commonly believed now.

What exactly is found out?

Traditionally it is believed that the first life forms were born from the underwater heat sources, where they received necessary for their existence minerals and heat. During research Matthew Dodd and his colleagues studied sedimentary rocks that formed due to these sources, for the presence of traces of microorganisms. As the result microscopic “tubes” were discovered with chemical composition and structure which correspond to previously discovered ancient forms of life.

"Tube"
“Tube” under the microscope

Dodd also claims that “tube” is in microscopic cavities, presumably formed due to decomposition of bacteria after their death, which is another proof of the organic origin of the findings. Researchers found out that these organisms existed more than 3.7 billion years ago, making it the oldest life forms on Earth.

Why is that interesting?

At the moment, scientists still do not have accurate data about when life originated on Earth. The first living organisms existed during the Archean era, and their birth allegedly happened 3.4 billion years ago. However, not all scientists agree with the official theory. So, mark Harrison, in his study claims that life on Earth appeared over 4 billion years ago. This conclusion was based on the study of zircons, which contained traces of activity of ancient microorganisms.

The study of Dodd and his colleagues supports the Harrison’s theory – the findings suggest that the age discovered “tubes” can reach of 4.28 billion years. Thus, microorganisms from Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone belt occurred almost at the same time with these mountains in just 200 million years after the formation of the Earth. This discovery turns the idea of scientists about life on our planet, and opens new opportunities to explore our cosmic home.

However, Matthew Dodd sees the prospects of their research as much more extensive. The scientist says that the data allows to assume possibility of existence of life on Mars. During the formation of the Solar system the red planet differed from Earth, had its oceans and, possibly, its forms of life. Later Mars became what we know it now, but traces of microorganisms on it still could be saved. Dodd believes that they can be found in rocks that formed about 4 billion years ago.

Review from HIT-Media expert
dodsworth AV
Belov, Andrey Valerevich, Professor of biology, senior coordinator HSE Lyceum

Similar findings were made repeatedly. In hydrothermal sources found bacteria that in the enormous temperatures and lack of oxygen got energy from sulfur compounds. However, there was no way to prove that they arose in the early stages of development of the planet. Now the arguments sound quite convincing and give the right to believe that life on other planets in the Solar system can exist beyond the atmosphere, similar to Earth, and look how these sulfur bacteria, which can significantly facilitate the search.

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