35 Years After Its Release, This Robin Williams Drama, the Fisher King, Earned Five Oscar Nominations, Won Best Supporting Actress and Followed a Shock Jock’s Redemption

35 years ago, Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King opened in 1991, starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges. The drama follows a radio host whose careless words lead to tragedy.

Bridges plays Jack Lucas, a New York shock jock chasing a television career. However, a listener acts after one of Jack’s cruel on-air remarks and opens fire at a café.

Jack loses his job and falls into a deep depression. Meanwhile, Anne Napolitano, his girlfriend, tries to support him while demanding he face his past.

Three years later, Jack meets Parry, a homeless former professor played by Williams. Parry saves Jack during an attack, so Jack begins trying to repay him.

Yet Parry’s life connects directly to Jack’s guilt. He watched his wife die in the café shooting linked to Jack’s radio show.

Parry now lives with grief and visions of a threatening Red Knight. However, he believes a search for the Holy Grail can restore what he has lost.

Therefore, Jack helps Parry approach Lydia Sinclair, the woman he loves from a distance. Amanda Plummer plays Lydia, and their unusual relationship gives Jack a reason to keep helping.

Jack first acts because he wants relief from guilt. Still, his growing friendship with Parry forces him to choose responsibility over escape.

Five Oscar Nominations Followed

The film earned five Oscar nominations for the 1991 awards season. Robin Williams received a Best Actor nomination for playing Parry.

Mercedes Ruehl won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anne. The other nominations recognized art direction, original score, and Richard LaGravenese’s original screenplay.

LaGravenese wrote the film, while Gilliam directed it. The cast also includes David Hyde Pierce alongside Williams, Bridges, Ruehl, and Plummer.

The official synopsis says Parry creates “a world of his own invention” after losing his wife. As a result, Jack’s attempt to help him becomes more than a simple apology.

The Fisher King stands apart for mixing fantasy with a human story about regret. It asks whether people can move toward forgiveness after they have caused lasting harm.

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/BNUvHwX

Stanford Scientists Grew Human Brain Tissue in Mice—It Wired Into Their Nervous Systems

Stanford scientists transplanted lab-grown human brain tissue into newborn rats to learn how human neurons mature and work inside a living brain. The grafted tissue grew, received sensory information, and influenced learned behavior in controlled experiments.

The 2022 Nature study used cortical organoids, small clusters of brain-like tissue grown from reprogrammed human cells. Organoids mimic parts of the cerebral cortex, the outer brain layer involved in memory, thought, and sensory processing.

Why Transplant the Tissue?

Brain organoids grown in a dish are useful, but they lack blood flow, immune support, and sensory input. Those missing conditions limit how fully the cells can develop. By placing the organoids in living rat brains, researchers gave human neurons access to a more natural environment.

The team implanted the tissue into the sensory cortex of rats two to three days after birth. Because the animals’ brains were still developing, the human organoids could grow with the rats’ own neurons and form connections.

After six months, the grafts occupied about one-third of the implanted brain hemisphere. Rat blood vessels entered the human tissue, bringing oxygen and nutrients. The transplanted neurons also grew larger and produced more complex branches than similar neurons left in a laboratory dish.

What Did the Team Discover?

The grafted neurons became part of active neural circuits. When scientists blew air across the rats’ whiskers, neurons inside the human tissue responded. This showed that sensory signals could travel from the rat’s body to the transplant.

Researchers then used optogenetics, which activates specific cells with light. They paired light stimulation of the human neurons with water. Over time, the rats learned to approach a drinking spout when the light appeared, showing that the transplant could influence behavior through the host brain’s circuitry.

“This is the most advanced human brain circuitry ever built from human skin cells,” said Sergiu Pașca, the study’s lead researcher. “Our platform provides, for the first time, behavioral readouts for human cells.”

The model could help scientists investigate conditions including autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. The study did not create human-like rats: researchers found no clear changes in memory, movement, or seizure risk.

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/cYRmjhE

TSA Moves Forward With Two Major Changes

Over the past few years, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been undergoing a bit of a transformation to make airport security better and more efficient as the agency modernizes and deploys new technology. Now, the agency is moving forward with two high-profile changes to some longstanding policies.

One of these changes is already being deployed at 13 airports throughout the country, while the other is still in the beginning stages of deployment and could be rolled out over the next few months. Both changes, however, will make things a bit easier for TSA PreCheck travelers.

Gateside by TSA PreCheck

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, gate access has been severely limited at the airport, as a boarding pass is generally required to get through airport security. Under a new TSA initiative, however, that’s changing.

This month, the TSA began rolling out a new program called Gateside by TSA PreCheck that allows TSA PreCheck members without an airline ticket to pass through airport security and visit airport gates.

“The bottom line is we’re trying to make the travel experience for people all across the country a lot smoother, a lot friendlier,” Dan Velez, a TSA representative, told 2KUTV.

The change is designed to allow TSA PreCheck members to accompany family or friends to their gates, meet arriving passengers at the gate, or simply shop or eat at restaurants that are on the other side of the gate.

“If you would like to go to the airport, you don’t have to be accompanying anyone,” Velez said. “You can just go there and hang out if you like.”

So far, the initiative is available at 13 different airports throughout the country, but is expected to roll out at others in the future.

Water Through Airport Security?

In another change on the horizon for TSA PreCheck members, the agency is considering allowing members to bring full water bottles through airport security checkpoints at select airports throughout the country, senior TSA officials told CBS News last week.

While it’s not clear which airports would be included in this new program or when such a program would begin, CBS News reports that the change would be rolled out to airports that are equipped with the new CT screening technology and automated detection capabilities that can distinguish water from other liquids.

This would be a significant change for the TSA, as liquid containers have been limited in size for about two decades after authorities in the United Kingdom uncovered and foiled a plot to detonate liquid explosives on board aircraft travelling from London to various U.S. and Canadian cities back in 2006.

It’s worth noting that despite this proposal, CBS News reports that the TSA is not currently prepared to end all restrictions on liquids. Currently, carry-on liquids must be in containers of 3.4 ounces or less as a result of the restrictions. That’s not expected to end anytime soon, even once the TSA begins allowing water.

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/k8wfb74

Scientists Studied 1,199 Adults and Found One Surprising Clue About Longevity

Your gut may reveal clues about how well you’re aging that your birth date can’t.

A new study published in Nature Communications analyzed 1,199 adults ages 20 to 72. Researchers compared participants’ gut bacteria with their age, inflammation levels and other measures of health. Surprisingly, differences in gut bacteria were more closely linked to most of those health measures than chronological age was.

“People of the same chronological age can have very different inflammatory and metabolic profiles,” study author Carsten Eriksen, Ph.D., said of the findings. “This suggests that chronological age alone does not capture the biological processes underlying healthy or unhealthy aging.”

Related: Should You Get an at-Home Gut Microbiome Test? What Doctors Are Saying

One Type of Gut Microbiome Stood Out

Gut-friendly foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fermented foods can help support a diverse gut microbiome.

Photo by Getty Images

The researchers found one gut pattern that looked particularly unfavorable.

It’s called Bacteroides 2, or B2. People with this pattern tended to have less variety among their gut bacteria. They also showed more inflammation, poorer heart and lung fitness, and less favorable measures of metabolic health.

The biggest surprise appeared among younger adults.

People with the B2 pattern showed signs of inflammation normally associated with aging much earlier. Eriksen described it as an “inflammaging-like phenotype already in early adulthood.”

In a summary of the research, he said other microbiome groups “did not reach the inflammatory levels of a 20-year-old B2 individual until ~37 years later.”

That doesn’t mean someone with B2 is literally 37 years older. It means certain inflammation levels seen in young adults with B2 weren’t observed in other groups until much later in life.

Related: A Dietitian Says Men Are Making This Gut Health Mistake and Could Be the Reason You Feel Bloated

Your Gut Isn’t an Aging Test

The researchers also tracked participants’ health records for up to nine years. B2 was associated with a greater risk of developing health problems, while a more diverse gut microbiome was associated with lower inflammation and lower overall disease risk.

But there’s an important catch.

“This is observational. We cannot infer causality,” Eriksen cautioned. In other words, the study doesn’t prove that gut bacteria caused these health differences—or that changing your microbiome can slow aging.

Still, unlike your birthday, Eriksen noted that “gut microbiota composition is in principle modifiable.”

Related: Scientists Say These Popular Fermented Foods May Have Bigger Health Benefits Than We Realized

Related: That Strange Feeling Before a Storm Arrives May Have a Scientific Explanation

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/BZgeG2t

Milwaukee's Super Compact M12 Batteries Are on Sale for $30 at Walmart Right Now

Men’s Journal aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission. Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.

Why We Love This Deal

We’re at a moment when even getting discounted Milwaukee battery sets will cost you easily over $100. If you search for “Milwaukee battery” at Walmart, the initial prospects can feel disheartening. But prices on M12 tools have been looking really affordable lately compared to the M18 line, and here’s a prime example: this M12 battery is under $35 for a limited time.

The Milwaukee M12 Redlithium 2.0Ah Compact Battery is now just $30 and ships free from Walmart. To put things into perspective, this same battery is $69 at The Home Depot and Zoro, and it’s pushing $90 at Grainger.

Milwaukee M12 Redlithium 2.0Ah Battery, $30 (normally $69) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

Shop at Walmart

What Shoppers Should Know

• Model Number: 48-11-2420
• Weight: 1 pound
• Compatible With: Roughly 100 tools in the Milwaukee M12 line
• Notable Features: Compact power, water protection barrier, and intelligent overheating protection

This is one of Milwaukee’s compact M12 batteries that provides enhanced power in a small package. It’s one of the batteries included in Milwaukee’s 2-Tool Drill Driver Combo Kit due to this combination of having a smaller profile and a lightweight, 1-pound body. That makes it easy to maneuver in the perfect position and aim straight and true with considerably less hand shaking.

This M12 battery has a water protection barrier along the bottom that will help protect it from the corrosion that comes from exposing batteries to moisture. It also has the Milwaukee Redlink Intelligence feature for smart overheating control and performance-based power delivery.

Related: Milwaukee Makes a $26 Adapter That Lets You Drive Screws at a Right Angle

What Shoppers Are Saying

What are people using this battery with? One surprising thing you’ll see repeated is that people love using it with the Milwaukee heated jacket. Another, less surprising comment stated that “one battery lasted through several demanding jobs I had in my shop.”

There’s always a question when you see a price like this as to the battery’s authenticity. One shopper weighed in with a confident review. They said, “Appears to be a genuine product, and is the proper, improved version listed, not the older versions others send. Works well in daily use in our auto repair shop.” The battery is being sold by SourcedCommerce, a New Hampshire-based reseller that specializes in Milwaukee and DeWalt power tool sales and has earned dozens of 5-star seller ratings.

The Milwaukee M12 Redlithium 2.0Ah Compact Battery is just $30 right now, one of the best Milwaukee battery prices around. Don’t miss your chance to score it for what appears to be the lowest price online, because it will either rise or sell out entirely at some point.

Shop More Milwaukee Tool Deals

• Milwaukee M12 Fuel 2-Tool Combo Kit, $209 (was $249) at Walmart
• Milwaukee M18 RedLithium XC 5.0Ah 18V Battery, $134 (was $269) at Walmart
• Milwaukee M12 Battery Charger, $13 at Walmart

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/QJ1ntuK

1991 Rock Anthem Ranked 'Greatest Song of the 90s' Wasn't Supposed to Be a Hit

When most people think of the band Nirvana, the first song that probably comes to mind is the band’s smash hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the lead single off of their best-selling album Nevermind. However, when the song was written, Dave Grohl didn’t exactly expect it to be the hit that it turned out to be.

During a recent interview, Grohl admitted that he “really didn’t think much” of the song when they first wrote it, as he thought some other songs on the record were better. Now, it’s gone down as one of the greatest songs of all time.

‘The song that blew up the world’

Nirvana released “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as their lead single for their album Nevermind, and it did not take time for it to explode in popularity.

The single quickly became a massive commercial success, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending weeks in heavy rotation on MTV. The iconic music video cemented its status as a cultural phenomenon, and the track’s success propelled Nevermind to multi-platinum status, proving that alternative rock could also dominate commercial radio.

The song has left quite a legacy, as it was even named the best song of the 1990s by Rolling Stone.

“The song that blew up the world. The song that defied all rules about how music worked and how much raw emotion you could cram into four cheap chords and a crummy guitar solo. The song that kicked the future in the teeth. The song that shattered all your complacency about settling for the politics of the inevitable. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was Kurt Cobain’s challenge to the audience – and after all these years, the challenge still stands,” Rolling Stone wrote of the iconic grunge anthem.

However, Grohl admits that he never saw that sort of success coming.

‘The audience went nuts’

While “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has gone down as one of the greatest rock songs of all time, Grohl initially had no idea it would be so successful. In a recent interview with Mojo, he admitted that he thought it was just another one of the band’s jams.

“I didn’t really think much of ‘Teen Spirit’ at first,” Grohl said. “I thought it was just another one of the jams that we were doing… But ‘Teen Spirit’ was one we kept coming back to because the simple guitar lines were so memorable.”

However, that changed when they played the song live for the first time and “the audience went nuts.”

“We played a show in Seattle to get gas money to go down to Los Angeles to record the record. We set it up at the last minute; it was an afternoon gig and we played that song for the first time, and the audience went nuts. I don’t know if it was the rhythm or the melody, but people got caught on it pretty quick,” Grohl said.

Grohl said he thought other songs were going to be the hits from that album over “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

“I thought ‘In Bloom’ was going to be the smash hit off the record, or ‘Lithium.’ I thought ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was just another album cut,” Grohl said. “It soon became pretty clear that it would be the special song on the record. But, of course, at that point we didn’t think anything was going to happen with the record.”

Clearly, Grohl was wrong, and the song has gone on to be one of the most iconic and influential songs in rock history.

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/cgMR7da

Arc’teryx’s Ultralight and Packable Sima Hoodie Is a Rare $40 Off at REI

Men’s Journal aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission. Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.

In This Story

Arc'teryx Sima Hoody, $120 (was $160)

Check Price

Why We Love This Deal

REI recently unlocked a treasure trove of Arc’teryx deals, including discounts on some of the most popular styles in the brand’s lineup, like the Kyanite Fleece and the Beta SL Jacket. While this discounted gear is selling out quickly, a select few pieces are still available, including this lightweight, sun-blocking hoodie that is perfect for summer’s chillier moments. 

The Arc’teryx Sima Hoody is on sale at REI for just $120; that’s a 25% discount from its $160 MSRP. REI not only has the best price and size selection for this hoodie, but it’s one of the few online retailers that even sells it. It’s no longer available (for men) at Arc’teryx, and major retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Backcountry don’t have this item listed at all. 

As is typically the case when Arc’teryx gear goes on sale, sizes are at risk of selling out. If the size you need disappears, it might be worth looking into Arc’teryx’s Squamish Hoody. This one was designed for climbing, but it’s a great option for travel (also packable) and hiking. Otherwise, REI’s own Swiftland Windshell Running Jacket, now available for $67, is a close alternative.

Arc’teryx Sima Hoody, $120 (was $160) at REI

The Arc’teryx Sima Hoody.

Courtesy of REI

Shop at REI

What Shoppers Should Know

• Fabric: 100% recycled polyester
• UPF Rating: 50+
• Weight: 6.34 ounces

“Hoody” might make you think of fall and winter gear, but this is actually an awesome layer for summertime. Why? Its 100% polyester Diem fabric provides excellent sun protection—it’s rated UPF 50+, the highest UPF rating—and great breathability, too. The hood provides crucial coverage over your neck, and it’s designed to fit under a helmet, so it’ll play nice with your other gear.

The Sima is a great choice to wear during fishing trips, boat excursions, beach hangs, bike rides, or any scenario where you’ll be outside and active in the sun. You don’t have to worry about applying sunscreen or losing your sun protection as you sweat, and the Sima’s breathable fabric will keep you comfortable in warm weather. 

Related: Arc’teryx’s Outdoor-Ready Beta SL Jacket Is a Rare 40% Off at REI

Here’s how the Sima stacks up against more familiar Arc’teryx layers. It can function as a base layer like the Rho LT, but it’s lighter and more breathable—the Rho has a fleecy interior lining that traps some warmth. And while the Sima lacks the weatherproofing of true jackets like the Gamma MX and Beta SL, it’s a much better choice for summer activities. Those other jackets can’t match its breathability; they will feel way too hot. 

Shoppers are swarming over REI’s stash of Arc’teryx deals, and sizes are selling out quickly. Just one colorway of the Sima Hoody has a complete size range, so there’s not much time left for this 25% deal. Get one in your cart before they’re all gone.

Shop More Deals

• Arc’teryx Beta SL Shell Jacket, From $300 (was $500) at REI
• Arc’teryx Kyanite Lightweight Fleece Jacket, $99 (was $140) at REI
• Arc’teryx Delta Jacket, $150 (was $200) at REI

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/zxKdCcl