Latest news with #SuperStimulated
Irish Independent
19-07-2025
- Science
- Irish Independent
How superstimuli like porn and junk food flood our brains with dopamine but don't bring lasting satisfaction
Superstimuli such as processed food, pornography and social media may be giving us too much of a good thing In Super Stimulated, Danish science writer Nicklas Brendborg successfully answers an unsettling question – why are many of us fatter, unhappier, and having less sex than our forefathers, despite today's world of unprecedented convenience? Brendborg says it's because our basic instincts can be tricked and he opens with an example from nature. In the 1950s, Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen discovered an oystercatcher bird will ignore her eggs to sit on fake, oversized, bright blue ones. The exaggerated features confuse her natural inclination to nurture her bigger eggs. Humans, Brendborg argues, are no different.
The Advertiser
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Addicted to watching reels on your phone? Blame it on your biology
New releases include police procedural Broke Road by Matthew Spencer and Super Stimulated by Nicklas Brendborg. Nicklas Brendborg. Hodder Press. $32.99. Are you addicted to your smartphone? Specifically, to social media or perhaps those endless videos so engaging that you just can't help scrolling? What about those sugary doughnuts? Brendborg engagingly explains the science behind how we are being hacked by companies that want us to eat their empty-calorie junk food and watch their mindless videos. We are, it seems, being played for fools, obese, lonely, depressed and anxious as a society because our biology is being manipulated. Scariest quote? An inventor of the Like button: "I find myself getting addicted - yes, in some cases to the very things I've built." Jeff Apter. Echo Publishing. $34.99. American promoter Lee Gordon had an extraordinary impact on post-war Australia. Arriving in Sydney in 1953, Gordon transformed show business by bringing hundreds of international stars, such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Buddy Holly, to Australian audiences. He was a friend to rocker Johnny O'Keefe, opened the nation's first drive-in restaurant and introduced roller derby. Gordon's bold approach and larger-than-life persona - he once had a coffin in his living room - helped to lay the foundations for the modern entertainment industry. He paved the way for showbiz names such as Harry M. Miller, Michael Gudinski and Michael Chugg. Katherine Biber. Scribner. $36.99. On January 18, 1901, when the Australian Federation was 17 days old, Wiradjuri man Jimmy Governor was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol. Governor and his brother Joe murdered nine people in NSW - killings triggered, he said, by racial taunts towards his white wife. In the ensuing manhunt, Joe was killed near Singleton. Jimmy was caught near Wingham. Legal scholar Katherine Biber's detailed research was guided in part by Governor's descendants. Biber reconstructs events, explores attitudes of the time and aims "to see how law, politics, science and religion - but especially law - made modern Australia in the wake of the Governor brothers". Jaap de Roode. NewSouth Books. $44.99. Why do dogs eat grass? An explanation is in this book, which is a journey through the many ingenious ways that animals find and use medicine, from apes that swallow certain leaves whole to kill parasites to elephants that eat clay and sparrows that cleverly use discarded cigarette butts to protect their nests from blood-sucking mites. Scientist Jaap de Roode demonstrates that observing animals can provide more than a few clues for healing humans. He also argues that we can help our animals by repairing damage we have done to the environment, starting with the "biodiversity deserts" that are lawns. Pip Smith. UWA Publishing. $26.99. In December 2010, more than 50 asylum seekers died when a rickety Indonesian fishing boat, the Janga, known as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel-221 or SIEV-221, crashed against rocks and sank off Christmas Island. The footage of the unfolding tragedy shocked the world. This poignant novel for young adults explores the horror, heartbreak and humanity of the tragedy through the experiences of a 13-year-old Australian girl living on Christmas Island. As Coralie throws lifejackets to people on the boat that has crashed into the cliffs she locks eyes on 11-year-old Iranian boy Ali who soon disappears beneath the waves. She resolves to find him. Matthew Spencer. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. From its clever opening line, this police procedural leads you with compelling precision through an increasingly suspenseful murder investigation in the fictional village of Red Creek located between the authentically drawn (and very non-fictional) hardscrabble town of Cessnock and the luxurious cellar doors, lush golf resorts and other tourist traps of Hunter Valley wine country. Homicide detective sergeant Rose Riley and journalist-turned-crime author Adam Bowman, first introduced in journalist-turned-crime author Matthew Spencer's 2023 debut novel Black River, make an engagingly reluctant double act probing the suspiciously staged murder of a young woman in a townhouse in a new residential estate. A Forbidden Alchemy Stacey McEwan. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. TikTok sensation and Australian fantasy novelist Stacey McEwan creates a rich new world in her newest dystopian series. This slow-burn adventure follows Nina Harrow as she tries to escape her mining town upbringing in dazzling Belavere City. Nina is desperate to become an "Artisan", wielding magical powers to fulfill the city's grand ambitions. But when a violent revolution comes, she faces an impossible choice. Expect political intrigue, suspense and romance, plus a few heart-stopping moments. McEwan, who was raised on the Gold Coast, has said her love for period dramas and World War I inspired the world of Belavere City. Jessica Dettmann. Atlantic Books Australia. $32.99. The fourth novel by Jessica Dettmann is billed as a witty heartwarmer for "every woman who has looked up and wondered where the past decade or two has gone, and whether she's made the right choices in the juggle of family, work and life". When Margot receives an email from friend Tess, it comes as a shock. Tess, the English backpacker Margot met in Sydney but never ended up travelling across Europe with because love and life got in the way, died 20 years ago. Now Tess is giving her the means to have that adventure but is Margot ready for her second chance? New releases include police procedural Broke Road by Matthew Spencer and Super Stimulated by Nicklas Brendborg. Nicklas Brendborg. Hodder Press. $32.99. Are you addicted to your smartphone? Specifically, to social media or perhaps those endless videos so engaging that you just can't help scrolling? What about those sugary doughnuts? Brendborg engagingly explains the science behind how we are being hacked by companies that want us to eat their empty-calorie junk food and watch their mindless videos. We are, it seems, being played for fools, obese, lonely, depressed and anxious as a society because our biology is being manipulated. Scariest quote? An inventor of the Like button: "I find myself getting addicted - yes, in some cases to the very things I've built." Jeff Apter. Echo Publishing. $34.99. American promoter Lee Gordon had an extraordinary impact on post-war Australia. Arriving in Sydney in 1953, Gordon transformed show business by bringing hundreds of international stars, such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Buddy Holly, to Australian audiences. He was a friend to rocker Johnny O'Keefe, opened the nation's first drive-in restaurant and introduced roller derby. Gordon's bold approach and larger-than-life persona - he once had a coffin in his living room - helped to lay the foundations for the modern entertainment industry. He paved the way for showbiz names such as Harry M. Miller, Michael Gudinski and Michael Chugg. Katherine Biber. Scribner. $36.99. On January 18, 1901, when the Australian Federation was 17 days old, Wiradjuri man Jimmy Governor was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol. Governor and his brother Joe murdered nine people in NSW - killings triggered, he said, by racial taunts towards his white wife. In the ensuing manhunt, Joe was killed near Singleton. Jimmy was caught near Wingham. Legal scholar Katherine Biber's detailed research was guided in part by Governor's descendants. Biber reconstructs events, explores attitudes of the time and aims "to see how law, politics, science and religion - but especially law - made modern Australia in the wake of the Governor brothers". Jaap de Roode. NewSouth Books. $44.99. Why do dogs eat grass? An explanation is in this book, which is a journey through the many ingenious ways that animals find and use medicine, from apes that swallow certain leaves whole to kill parasites to elephants that eat clay and sparrows that cleverly use discarded cigarette butts to protect their nests from blood-sucking mites. Scientist Jaap de Roode demonstrates that observing animals can provide more than a few clues for healing humans. He also argues that we can help our animals by repairing damage we have done to the environment, starting with the "biodiversity deserts" that are lawns. Pip Smith. UWA Publishing. $26.99. In December 2010, more than 50 asylum seekers died when a rickety Indonesian fishing boat, the Janga, known as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel-221 or SIEV-221, crashed against rocks and sank off Christmas Island. The footage of the unfolding tragedy shocked the world. This poignant novel for young adults explores the horror, heartbreak and humanity of the tragedy through the experiences of a 13-year-old Australian girl living on Christmas Island. As Coralie throws lifejackets to people on the boat that has crashed into the cliffs she locks eyes on 11-year-old Iranian boy Ali who soon disappears beneath the waves. She resolves to find him. Matthew Spencer. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. From its clever opening line, this police procedural leads you with compelling precision through an increasingly suspenseful murder investigation in the fictional village of Red Creek located between the authentically drawn (and very non-fictional) hardscrabble town of Cessnock and the luxurious cellar doors, lush golf resorts and other tourist traps of Hunter Valley wine country. Homicide detective sergeant Rose Riley and journalist-turned-crime author Adam Bowman, first introduced in journalist-turned-crime author Matthew Spencer's 2023 debut novel Black River, make an engagingly reluctant double act probing the suspiciously staged murder of a young woman in a townhouse in a new residential estate. A Forbidden Alchemy Stacey McEwan. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. TikTok sensation and Australian fantasy novelist Stacey McEwan creates a rich new world in her newest dystopian series. This slow-burn adventure follows Nina Harrow as she tries to escape her mining town upbringing in dazzling Belavere City. Nina is desperate to become an "Artisan", wielding magical powers to fulfill the city's grand ambitions. But when a violent revolution comes, she faces an impossible choice. Expect political intrigue, suspense and romance, plus a few heart-stopping moments. McEwan, who was raised on the Gold Coast, has said her love for period dramas and World War I inspired the world of Belavere City. Jessica Dettmann. Atlantic Books Australia. $32.99. The fourth novel by Jessica Dettmann is billed as a witty heartwarmer for "every woman who has looked up and wondered where the past decade or two has gone, and whether she's made the right choices in the juggle of family, work and life". When Margot receives an email from friend Tess, it comes as a shock. Tess, the English backpacker Margot met in Sydney but never ended up travelling across Europe with because love and life got in the way, died 20 years ago. Now Tess is giving her the means to have that adventure but is Margot ready for her second chance? New releases include police procedural Broke Road by Matthew Spencer and Super Stimulated by Nicklas Brendborg. Nicklas Brendborg. Hodder Press. $32.99. Are you addicted to your smartphone? Specifically, to social media or perhaps those endless videos so engaging that you just can't help scrolling? What about those sugary doughnuts? Brendborg engagingly explains the science behind how we are being hacked by companies that want us to eat their empty-calorie junk food and watch their mindless videos. We are, it seems, being played for fools, obese, lonely, depressed and anxious as a society because our biology is being manipulated. Scariest quote? An inventor of the Like button: "I find myself getting addicted - yes, in some cases to the very things I've built." Jeff Apter. Echo Publishing. $34.99. American promoter Lee Gordon had an extraordinary impact on post-war Australia. Arriving in Sydney in 1953, Gordon transformed show business by bringing hundreds of international stars, such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Buddy Holly, to Australian audiences. He was a friend to rocker Johnny O'Keefe, opened the nation's first drive-in restaurant and introduced roller derby. Gordon's bold approach and larger-than-life persona - he once had a coffin in his living room - helped to lay the foundations for the modern entertainment industry. He paved the way for showbiz names such as Harry M. Miller, Michael Gudinski and Michael Chugg. Katherine Biber. Scribner. $36.99. On January 18, 1901, when the Australian Federation was 17 days old, Wiradjuri man Jimmy Governor was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol. Governor and his brother Joe murdered nine people in NSW - killings triggered, he said, by racial taunts towards his white wife. In the ensuing manhunt, Joe was killed near Singleton. Jimmy was caught near Wingham. Legal scholar Katherine Biber's detailed research was guided in part by Governor's descendants. Biber reconstructs events, explores attitudes of the time and aims "to see how law, politics, science and religion - but especially law - made modern Australia in the wake of the Governor brothers". Jaap de Roode. NewSouth Books. $44.99. Why do dogs eat grass? An explanation is in this book, which is a journey through the many ingenious ways that animals find and use medicine, from apes that swallow certain leaves whole to kill parasites to elephants that eat clay and sparrows that cleverly use discarded cigarette butts to protect their nests from blood-sucking mites. Scientist Jaap de Roode demonstrates that observing animals can provide more than a few clues for healing humans. He also argues that we can help our animals by repairing damage we have done to the environment, starting with the "biodiversity deserts" that are lawns. Pip Smith. UWA Publishing. $26.99. In December 2010, more than 50 asylum seekers died when a rickety Indonesian fishing boat, the Janga, known as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel-221 or SIEV-221, crashed against rocks and sank off Christmas Island. The footage of the unfolding tragedy shocked the world. This poignant novel for young adults explores the horror, heartbreak and humanity of the tragedy through the experiences of a 13-year-old Australian girl living on Christmas Island. As Coralie throws lifejackets to people on the boat that has crashed into the cliffs she locks eyes on 11-year-old Iranian boy Ali who soon disappears beneath the waves. She resolves to find him. Matthew Spencer. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. From its clever opening line, this police procedural leads you with compelling precision through an increasingly suspenseful murder investigation in the fictional village of Red Creek located between the authentically drawn (and very non-fictional) hardscrabble town of Cessnock and the luxurious cellar doors, lush golf resorts and other tourist traps of Hunter Valley wine country. Homicide detective sergeant Rose Riley and journalist-turned-crime author Adam Bowman, first introduced in journalist-turned-crime author Matthew Spencer's 2023 debut novel Black River, make an engagingly reluctant double act probing the suspiciously staged murder of a young woman in a townhouse in a new residential estate. A Forbidden Alchemy Stacey McEwan. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. TikTok sensation and Australian fantasy novelist Stacey McEwan creates a rich new world in her newest dystopian series. This slow-burn adventure follows Nina Harrow as she tries to escape her mining town upbringing in dazzling Belavere City. Nina is desperate to become an "Artisan", wielding magical powers to fulfill the city's grand ambitions. But when a violent revolution comes, she faces an impossible choice. Expect political intrigue, suspense and romance, plus a few heart-stopping moments. McEwan, who was raised on the Gold Coast, has said her love for period dramas and World War I inspired the world of Belavere City. Jessica Dettmann. Atlantic Books Australia. $32.99. The fourth novel by Jessica Dettmann is billed as a witty heartwarmer for "every woman who has looked up and wondered where the past decade or two has gone, and whether she's made the right choices in the juggle of family, work and life". When Margot receives an email from friend Tess, it comes as a shock. Tess, the English backpacker Margot met in Sydney but never ended up travelling across Europe with because love and life got in the way, died 20 years ago. Now Tess is giving her the means to have that adventure but is Margot ready for her second chance? New releases include police procedural Broke Road by Matthew Spencer and Super Stimulated by Nicklas Brendborg. Nicklas Brendborg. Hodder Press. $32.99. Are you addicted to your smartphone? Specifically, to social media or perhaps those endless videos so engaging that you just can't help scrolling? What about those sugary doughnuts? Brendborg engagingly explains the science behind how we are being hacked by companies that want us to eat their empty-calorie junk food and watch their mindless videos. We are, it seems, being played for fools, obese, lonely, depressed and anxious as a society because our biology is being manipulated. Scariest quote? An inventor of the Like button: "I find myself getting addicted - yes, in some cases to the very things I've built." Jeff Apter. Echo Publishing. $34.99. American promoter Lee Gordon had an extraordinary impact on post-war Australia. Arriving in Sydney in 1953, Gordon transformed show business by bringing hundreds of international stars, such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Buddy Holly, to Australian audiences. He was a friend to rocker Johnny O'Keefe, opened the nation's first drive-in restaurant and introduced roller derby. Gordon's bold approach and larger-than-life persona - he once had a coffin in his living room - helped to lay the foundations for the modern entertainment industry. He paved the way for showbiz names such as Harry M. Miller, Michael Gudinski and Michael Chugg. Katherine Biber. Scribner. $36.99. On January 18, 1901, when the Australian Federation was 17 days old, Wiradjuri man Jimmy Governor was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol. Governor and his brother Joe murdered nine people in NSW - killings triggered, he said, by racial taunts towards his white wife. In the ensuing manhunt, Joe was killed near Singleton. Jimmy was caught near Wingham. Legal scholar Katherine Biber's detailed research was guided in part by Governor's descendants. Biber reconstructs events, explores attitudes of the time and aims "to see how law, politics, science and religion - but especially law - made modern Australia in the wake of the Governor brothers". Jaap de Roode. NewSouth Books. $44.99. Why do dogs eat grass? An explanation is in this book, which is a journey through the many ingenious ways that animals find and use medicine, from apes that swallow certain leaves whole to kill parasites to elephants that eat clay and sparrows that cleverly use discarded cigarette butts to protect their nests from blood-sucking mites. Scientist Jaap de Roode demonstrates that observing animals can provide more than a few clues for healing humans. He also argues that we can help our animals by repairing damage we have done to the environment, starting with the "biodiversity deserts" that are lawns. Pip Smith. UWA Publishing. $26.99. In December 2010, more than 50 asylum seekers died when a rickety Indonesian fishing boat, the Janga, known as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel-221 or SIEV-221, crashed against rocks and sank off Christmas Island. The footage of the unfolding tragedy shocked the world. This poignant novel for young adults explores the horror, heartbreak and humanity of the tragedy through the experiences of a 13-year-old Australian girl living on Christmas Island. As Coralie throws lifejackets to people on the boat that has crashed into the cliffs she locks eyes on 11-year-old Iranian boy Ali who soon disappears beneath the waves. She resolves to find him. Matthew Spencer. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. From its clever opening line, this police procedural leads you with compelling precision through an increasingly suspenseful murder investigation in the fictional village of Red Creek located between the authentically drawn (and very non-fictional) hardscrabble town of Cessnock and the luxurious cellar doors, lush golf resorts and other tourist traps of Hunter Valley wine country. Homicide detective sergeant Rose Riley and journalist-turned-crime author Adam Bowman, first introduced in journalist-turned-crime author Matthew Spencer's 2023 debut novel Black River, make an engagingly reluctant double act probing the suspiciously staged murder of a young woman in a townhouse in a new residential estate. A Forbidden Alchemy Stacey McEwan. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. TikTok sensation and Australian fantasy novelist Stacey McEwan creates a rich new world in her newest dystopian series. This slow-burn adventure follows Nina Harrow as she tries to escape her mining town upbringing in dazzling Belavere City. Nina is desperate to become an "Artisan", wielding magical powers to fulfill the city's grand ambitions. But when a violent revolution comes, she faces an impossible choice. Expect political intrigue, suspense and romance, plus a few heart-stopping moments. McEwan, who was raised on the Gold Coast, has said her love for period dramas and World War I inspired the world of Belavere City. Jessica Dettmann. Atlantic Books Australia. $32.99. The fourth novel by Jessica Dettmann is billed as a witty heartwarmer for "every woman who has looked up and wondered where the past decade or two has gone, and whether she's made the right choices in the juggle of family, work and life". When Margot receives an email from friend Tess, it comes as a shock. Tess, the English backpacker Margot met in Sydney but never ended up travelling across Europe with because love and life got in the way, died 20 years ago. Now Tess is giving her the means to have that adventure but is Margot ready for her second chance?
