Corridors of the Mind
ARCHITECTS HAVE BEEN talking for years about “biophilic” design, “evidence based” design, design informed by the work of psychologists. But last May, at the profession’s annual convention, John Zeisel and fellow panelists were trying to explain neuroscience to a packed ballroom. The late-afternoon session pushed well past the end of the day; questions just kept coming. … Read more
Monsters of the deep
These are amazing to look at… and perfect for creature design! They look like monsters from another planet. But far from inhabiting some alien world light-years from ours, these frightening looking creatures exist at the bottom of Earth’s deepest oceans. Astonishing new pictures of Polychaetes, or scale worms, show how they have evolved to survive … Read more
Fear Helps You Appreciate Abstract Art, Study Finds
Article by Amy Lee @ the Huffington Post The next time you’re having trouble appreciating Jackson Pollock, try seeing a horror movie first. According to a new study, feeling fear may actually help people to better engage with abstract art. In the study, which used 85 Brooklyn College students as a sample, participants were assigned … Read more
DNA Robot Kills Cancer Cells: Device identifies target then releases deadly payload
I’m not sure why robots are in the air of late, but I found this veeeery interesting. By Alla Katsnelson of Nature magazine DNA origami, a technique for making structures from DNA, may be more than just a cool design concept. It can also be used to build devices that can seek out and destroy living cells. … Read more
Neuroscience: the new face of warfare
I find this scary and horrifying. (Via Reuters) – Directed energy weapons that use wave beams to cause pain, and electrical brain stimulation that boosts a soldier’s combat ability – it may sound like science fiction warfare, but experts say advances in neuroscience mean it’s on the horizon. Rapid progress in the ability to map … Read more
The benefits of meditation – MIT News Office
Okay, I’ll admit I get completely geeky over findings about meditation practices, but check it out! Studies have shown that meditating regularly can help relieve symptoms in people who suffer from chronic pain, but the neural mechanisms underlying the relief were unclear. Now, MIT and Harvard researchers have found a possible explanation for this phenomenon. … Read more
