http://straddle3.net/context/ context weblog, an emerging culture observatory, tracks news on art, science, technology and their intersections en-us 2006-12-29T22:19:59+01:00 the smell of an odor is not merely a result of chemical detection but is also influenced by what the smeller learns about the odor. verbal context strongly influences the perception of odor quality. learning also changes odor quality. prolonged exposure to one odorant resulted in improved differentiation among related odorants (and even among novel related odorants). http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_12_29.html perceptual learning, neural plasticity, context josep 2006-12-29T22:19:59+01:00 by studying the songs of a bird species that has succeeded in adapting to urban life, researchers have gained insight into the kinds of environmental pressures that influence where particular songbirds thrive, and the specific attributes of city birds that allow them to adjust to noisy urban environments. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_12_22.html city, evolution josep 2006-12-22T10:47:49+01:00 MyCreativity, a convention of international creative industries researchers. intended to bring the trends and tendencies around the creative industries into critical question. investment in "creative clusters" effectively functions to encourage a corresponding boom in adjacent real estate markets. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_12_08.html josep 2006-12-08T21:11:33+01:00 the librarian of congress, on the recommendation of the register of copyrights, has announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_12_01.html intellectual property, copyright, reverse engineering, skylarov, johansen, felten, kaneko josep 2006-12-01T09:50:20+01:00 the massive change project explores the legacy and potential, the promise and power of design in improving the welfare of humanity. it researched the capacities and limitations of human efforts to change the world for the better. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_11_24.html design, citizens josep 2006-11-24T10:16:53+01:00 how can it be that our neurons, which are responsible for our crystal-clear thoughts, seem to fire in utterly random ways? researchers study shows that the brain's cortex uses seemingly chaotic, or "noisy," signals to represent the ambiguities of the real world --and that this noise dramatically enhances the brain's processing, enabling us to make decisions in an uncertain world. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_11_17.html noise, neurons, brain, bayesian inference josep 2006-11-17T18:22:43+01:00 scientists have for the first time observed the spontaneous production of coherence. modern physics was born by the discovery that all particles in nature are also waves. coherence means that such waves are all 'in sync.' the spontaneous coherence of the matter waves is the reason behind some of the most exciting phenomena in nature. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_11_10.html matter, coherence, sync josep 2006-11-10T11:33:26+01:00 even a small increase in our understanding of the dynamics of cooperation and collective action could have enormous payoffs in regard to international relations and conflict-resolution, the evolution of economic institutions, and the future of democratic governance and civil society. the cooperation project, a collaboration between the institute for the future and howard rheingold, proposes to catalyze an interdisciplinary study of cooperation and collective action. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_11_03.html cooperation, cooperation commons josep 2006-11-03T10:47:24+01:00 new findings of a novel mechanism that thwarts the evolution of cheats and broadens our understanding of how cooperation might be maintained in nature and human societies. bacteria are known to cooperate in a wide variety of ways, including the formation of multicellular structures called biofilms. researchers found that diverse biofilms contained fewer cheats and can produce larger groups than non-diverse biofilms http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_10_27.html cooperation, evolution, network josep 2006-10-27T10:47:08+01:00 scientists have gained a deeper insight into rainfall patterns and atmospheric dynamics by using techniques originally developed for magnetic materials. what finally triggers the rain? "whenever you find different systems that are governed by the same mathematical laws, you are hitting on something fundamental. you have found a thread in the mathematical fabric of reality. this study raises the concept of 'self-organized criticality' to a higher status." http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_10_20.html complexity, critical point, self-organized criticality josep 2006-10-20T20:22:45+01:00 magnificent stone sculptures of classic maya culture commonly show acts of public performance conducted by rulers, revealing the prominent role which state theater played in maya political organization. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_10_13.html anthropology, city, public space, performance, theater. maya josep 2006-10-13T16:41:11+01:00 researchers have deepened our understanding of the remarkable ability of some specialized areas of the brain to activate both in response to one's own actions and in response to sensory cues of the same actions perpetrated by another individual. this ability is thought to be based in the activity of so-called mirror neurons, which have been hypothesized to contribute to skills such as empathy, socialized behavior, and language acquisition. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_10_06.html embodied semantics. mirror neuron, social cognition, empathy, socialized behavior, language josep 2006-10-06T17:51:22+01:00 for the first time, researchers have shown chimpanzees exhibit generational learning behavior similar to that in humans. unlike previous findings that indicated chimpanzees simply conform to the social norms of the group, this study shows behavior and traditions can be passed along a chain of individual chimpanzees. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_09_29.html animal cultures, culture, chimpanzees, ape, primate, hominoids josep 2006-09-29T22:54:06+01:00 severe climate change was the primary driver in the development of civilisation. the earliest civilisations developed largely as a by-product of adaptation to climate change and were the products of hostile environments. civilisation was a last resort - a means of organising society and food production and distribution, in the face of deteriorating environmental conditions. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_09_22.html civilisation, civilization, climate change, city, cities josep 2006-09-22T11:45:38+01:00 a new, solid, energy-saving light source which also has many other applications that improve human quality of life. applications using it indicate that the technology can reduce energy consumption, bring reading lights to the outermost areas of developing countries, sterilize water in a more efficient and cheaper way, and store data in much smaller spaces. new applications for the technology and ways of using it to improve human quality of life are being developed all the time. http://straddle3.net/context/03/en/2006_09_15.html light, photonics, solid state lighting, data storage, energy, water, climate change, pollution josep 2006-09-15T11:54:03+01:00