It seems too simple. To fight cancer for the entire population, provide art and jungle gyms. Yet is works for mice. I had read a lot about this while researching the forthcoming book, QUIRK. Lab mice whose cages contain some stimulating objects — an exercise wheel, wooden toys, tunnels — are mentally healthier than those [...]
I love peopleofwalmart.com. Page after page of people wearing things I wouldn’t wear. But recently a friend said, “Isn’t it just making fun of poor people?” And the answer is so complicated. It has to do with how humans advertise our tribal affiliation. And that — human culture — is simultaneously sacred, and sensationally silly. So, [...]
The verdict is in! Male and female brains use different areas to assess the beauty of art and natural objects. Females engage both the left and right parietal ( areas, while males engage only the right. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.) Now sisters, before we start the hooting and huffing, take heed: [...]
“Expertly composed in red ochre and black charcoal.” “Art is … the cognitive ability to communicate something.” “Did [art] serve as social glue…” The Darwin issue of Science holds an essay on on the origins of art that’s positively frosting my flakes. Observe, if you will, the famous “lion panel” from Chauvet cave [...]
