Sept. 1, 2009 — Non-human animals usually prefer silence to our music. However, when cotton-top tamarins heard songs based on their own calls, the diminutive, fluffy primates listened with interest to the monkey music, which even altered their moods, according to a new study.
Music therefore appears to be most effective when it is species specific, suggests the study, published in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters.
Co-author David Teie told Discovery News that “all of the previous studies on the effect of human music on animals has shown that they don’t give a hoot about our music.” Read the rest of this entry »
Singer/song writer Nora Jones performs at the 2007 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. A computer program found her songs were likely to be hits.
DiscoveryNews
Oct. 27, 2009 — Musicians intent on rock stardom can now turn to a simple file scan that uses an algorithm to improve odds at scoring a chart-topper.
That’s the idea behind Music Intelligence Solutions’ Hit Song Science (HSS) technology located on uPlaya.com. The technology mathematically analyzes the underlying patterns in a track, including harmony, chord progression and lyrics. Read the rest of this entry »
The patient, a 57-year-old right-handed man, sustained his first cerebral vascular accident in the right middle cerebral artery region at the age of 45, which resulted in right-sided hemiparesis that resolved completely within 3 months. He continued to run his private business successfully while living with his mother.
The patient lost his father in early childhood. There was no evidence of an emotional or conduct disorder during school years, and the patient eventually obtained his university degree. He continued to manage his successful practice until he sustained the second cerebral vascular accident in the left middle cerebral artery region at age 53.
The patient became aware of his homosexual orientation in his early teens and had several gay partners. He suffered a major depressive episode at age 26 that resolved within a few months. He also had a diagnosis of excessive harmful use of alcohol, but there was no evidence of dependence.
The patient started complaining of his changed personality and heterosexual orientation 6 months after his second stroke. At the same time he complained of excessive mood swings and changed interests. He became preoccupied with photography and had a successful photographic exhibition a year after his second stroke. His sexual orientation remained heterosexual 4 years following the second stroke, and he preferred to describe himself as bisexual because of his previous homosexual orientation.
AP Photo | Aviation Pioneer Amelia Earhart appears above in her flight gear in this undated photo.
Oct. 23, 2009 — Legendary aviatrix Amelia Earhart mostly likely died on an uninhabited tropical island in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati, according to researchers at The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR).
Tall, slender, blonde and brave, Earhart disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937 in a record attempt to fly around the world at the equator. Her final resting place has long been a mystery. Read the rest of this entry »
I can’t say I see that as a good thing, unlike columnist Rebecca Hagelin at the Washington Post in a recent piece.
“Of course I dislike the Nazis. But who is to say they’re morally wrong?” The shocking statement was made to a college professor in New York by one of his students, as documented by author Kerby Anderson in a much-needed book, “Christian Ethics in Plain Language.” Mr. Anderson reports that the professor “said that he has never met a student who denied the Holocaust happened. But he also reported that 10 to 20 percent of his students cannot bring themselves to say that killing millions of people is wrong.”
A Different Kind of Blog 