Inverse Daily: The little-known story of how Pokémon went global
Plus: How SpaceX will get you to the Moon. And: A way to think like Sherlock Holmes.
While I worry for my beloved Alamo Drafthouse, let's get you up to speed on a few big science and technology stories from the writers at Inverse. Each will help you learn more about your world, and in one story, remember more about your world.
I'm Nick Lucchesi, editor-in-chief at Inverse.
A Quick Request — Let me know your favorite video game by sending an email to newsletter at inverse dot com with "VIDEO GAME STORIES" as the subject line. The reasons could be emotional or counterintuitive. In fact, the more unlikely the story, the better. I'm collecting my favorites for a new project, and I'll publish a selection of responses in an upcoming edition of Inverse Daily.
This is an adapted version of the Inverse Daily newsletter for March 4, 2021. Subscribe for free and earn rewards for reading every day in your inbox.
How did Pokémon go global? The story is not what you'd think.
Nearly lost in translation — If it wasn’t for the interference of an unlikely Pokémon Master — Nintendo’s late, great president, Satoru Iwata — the game wouldn't have made it to the West.
As Joe Merrick, owner of the world’s most popular Pokémon fansite, Serebii.net, tells Inverse, it’s no surprise Pokémon’s success is directly tied to Iwata.
Before Pokémon could become a global phenomenon, it first had to be an unlikely success.
Read the full story here.
Related stories:
- What's next for Pokémon in 2021? Diamond and Pearl remakes, Legends, and more
- Everything we know about Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Everything you need to know about new Pokémon Snap
Yusaku Maezawa is going to the Moon — and you could join him.
Moonshot — This week, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced a competition to travel to the Moon with him.
The news comes three years after Maezawa made history as the first paying customer for the SpaceX Starship rocket in 2018. The Starship is still in prototype, but Maezawa planned ahead. The mission is slated (tentatively) for 2023.
- Who is Yusaku Maezawa? SpaceX's first lunar passenger is revealed (2018)
- SpaceX teases announcement about private Moon trip (2018)
- Subscribe to Musk Reads+
Hello, friend. I'm about to challenge your understanding of human evolution. Buckle up.
An evolved creature — The cuttlefish has a trick hidden up its tentacles — or rather, in its large brain, reports science writer Tara Yarlagadda. New research reveals one surprising aspect of this creature's intelligence: its ability to exercise self-control.
The findings are helping scientists understand more deeply the evolution of intelligence. Also interesting: The study, published this week, finds the cuttlefish also show self-control by delaying gratification in order to snare higher-quality prey.
What they're telling Inverse: "Finding evidence for self-control in a cuttlefish, an invertebrate that diverged from the vertebrate lineage over 550 million years ago, is ... surprising." —Alexandra Schnell, a researcher at the University of Cambridge.
More new evolutionary science:
- Humans are still evolving: 3 examples of recent adaptations
- 'Platypus fish' discovery changes what we know about one type of evolution
- 4-million-year-old hand debunks a popular theory of human evolution
Benedict Cumberbatch portraying Sherlock Holmes. His demonstration of loci on BBC's Sherlock showed the ancient technique to a new generation.
Hack your brain — New research suggests the techniques used by memory athletes — people with such infallible recall that they compete against one another — might be able to help the rest of us.
They often use a technique called loci, or the memory palace, to enhance their recall. The technique first described in early Greek and Roman treatises was popularly demonstrated by Benedict Cumberbatch in BBC’s Sherlock, helping one man memorize as many as 65,536 digits of pi.
As sophisticated as it may sound, building a memory palace is relatively simple.
More on memory science:
- Brain study shows why sports create especially powerful memories
- Brain scan findings may lead to new drugs for memory loss
- Why doesn't our memory serve us well in this pandemic?
Adios! You can follow me on Twitter @nicklucchesi, where I share some of my favorite stories from Inverse, Input, and Mic every day. Just yesterday, I shared a great piece about how WandaVision will end. By now, you may know the answer.
Happy birthday to Antonio Vivaldi. The Italian composer and exceptional violinist was born on this day in 1678 and is best known for a series of violin concertos known as the "Four Seasons." They are beautiful pieces of music, and while it's hard to think past the number of times they've been used ironically for well-deserved laughs, they are still quite good. Have a listen on Spotify. While only 50 operas of his have been discovered, he claimed to have written 94 at one point in his life, in a letter. There may be others out there yet to be heard.
Maybe we will hear new music in the future by a musician whose work is the soundtrack to popular notions about the past.
