AsapSCIENCE gives us a song with all the elements in order, including the recently-added ones. Those go pretty fast, so try to keep up! The tune is “Infernal Gallop” by Jacques Offenbach, which most folks call “the Can Can Song.” -via Blame It On The Voices
[source: Neatorama]
![Adding a hairy coat to a building to capture wind power
Looking for an alternative to turbines for capturing wind energy, Belatchew Arkitekter has proposed adding a hairy addition to Stockholm’s Söder Torn. It would serve as more than an architectural toupee, capturing energy through the movement of all those tiny straws.
The straws of the facade consist of a composite material with piezoelectric properties that can turn motion into electrical energy. Piezoelectricity is created when certain crystals’ deformation is transformed into electricity. The technique has advantages when compared to traditional wind turbines since it is quite [sic] and does not disturb wildlife. It functions at low wind velocity since only a light breeze is sufficient for the straws to start swaying and generate energy. The existing premise on top of the building is replaced with a public floor with room for a restaurant. The new extension creates, a part from the energy producing shell, room for the citizens with the possibility to reach a lookout platform at the very top of the tower with an unmatched view of Stockholm.
The idea is that the residential building would double as a power plant, and from the ground, the building would appear as a living, breathing object stretching into the sky.
[soiurce: io9]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/c3e07efc73c760be40e015d36fddc145/tumblr_mn3habHSmN1qzqfu4o1_500.jpg)
Adding a hairy coat to a building to capture wind power
Looking for an alternative to turbines for capturing wind energy, Belatchew Arkitekter has proposed adding a hairy addition to Stockholm’s Söder Torn. It would serve as more than an architectural toupee, capturing energy through the movement of all those tiny straws.
The straws of the facade consist of a composite material with piezoelectric properties that can turn motion into electrical energy. Piezoelectricity is created when certain crystals’ deformation is transformed into electricity. The technique has advantages when compared to traditional wind turbines since it is quite [sic] and does not disturb wildlife. It functions at low wind velocity since only a light breeze is sufficient for the straws to start swaying and generate energy. The existing premise on top of the building is replaced with a public floor with room for a restaurant. The new extension creates, a part from the energy producing shell, room for the citizens with the possibility to reach a lookout platform at the very top of the tower with an unmatched view of Stockholm.
The idea is that the residential building would double as a power plant, and from the ground, the building would appear as a living, breathing object stretching into the sky.
[soiurce: io9]
Think Fitzgerald Would Be Improved by Cats? Watch ‘The Great Catsby
You know what the Internet always says: everything can be improved by cats. Including The Great Gatsby, the film trailer of which is here reimagined with the cast of Disney’s The Aristocats. Of course.
[source: Flavorwire]
![A Piano with Only Five Keys
Is it hard to play a piano? I think I could do a good job on Björn Perborg’s variant. It has just five keys and one pedal. Now let’s try to play “Galope-Marche.”
Link -via Yababoon
[source: Neatorama]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/42b23d3cad085763bda3ff9d62b6e840/tumblr_mmqk8by63z1qzqfu4o1_500.jpg)
Is it hard to play a piano? I think I could do a good job on Björn Perborg’s variant. It has just five keys and one pedal. Now let’s try to play “Galope-Marche.”
[source: Neatorama]
![Forms in Nature
Forms in Nature is a artwork with a light source surrounded by a dense and unruly tree and root system created in minature sculpture. The forest is mirrored around it’s horizontal central axis and forms a circle 360 degrees around the light source and thereby leads one onto the notion of a real world versus an underworld.
[source: HildenDiaz]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/b6f2215bad10422edfa4025a29935b8b/tumblr_mmqk1juR8z1qzqfu4o1_500.jpg)
Forms in Nature is a artwork with a light source surrounded by a dense and unruly tree and root system created in minature sculpture. The forest is mirrored around it’s horizontal central axis and forms a circle 360 degrees around the light source and thereby leads one onto the notion of a real world versus an underworld.
[source: HildenDiaz]
![A Solar Eclipse Unlike Any You’ve Ever Seen
During a total solar eclipse, our view of the Sun’s disk is blocked entirely by the Moon. The Sun’s corona, however, remains very much in view – a roiling wreath of spellbinding atmospheric activity.
The image above was captured by Czech photographer Miloslav Druckmüller on July 22, 2009, when the Moon blocked our star from view for a whopping 6 minutes and 39 seconds. It was, and will remain, the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century. From the Enewetak Radiological Observatory on the Marshall Islands – an archipelago in the northern Pacific Ocean – Druckmüller managed to capture a series of images of our Moon in transit, with the express purpose of photographing not just the Sun’s blockage, but the extent and shape of its corona.
[source: io9]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/b7e4d968d4cc4be153222145be9b6b3d/tumblr_mmonamdKpI1qzqfu4o1_500.jpg)
A Solar Eclipse Unlike Any You’ve Ever Seen
During a total solar eclipse, our view of the Sun’s disk is blocked entirely by the Moon. The Sun’s corona, however, remains very much in view – a roiling wreath of spellbinding atmospheric activity.
The image above was captured by Czech photographer Miloslav Druckmüller on July 22, 2009, when the Moon blocked our star from view for a whopping 6 minutes and 39 seconds. It was, and will remain, the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century. From the Enewetak Radiological Observatory on the Marshall Islands – an archipelago in the northern Pacific Ocean – Druckmüller managed to capture a series of images of our Moon in transit, with the express purpose of photographing not just the Sun’s blockage, but the extent and shape of its corona.
[source: io9]
Ever wondered why OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” can put a manic grin on your face? Or why Adele’s “Someone Like You” makes you sob like a baby?
In the latest episode of It’s Okay to be Smart, Joe Hanson takes to the streets of the live music capital of the world to test a recent hypothesis, which holds that our emotional relationship with music may be neurologically related to the perception of body language. Writes Hanson:
Humans are the only species we know that creates and communicate using music, but it’s still unclear how or why we do that, brain-wise. Is it just a lucky side effect of evolution, like Steven Pinker says? Or is it a deeper part of our evolutionary history, as people like Mark Changizi and Daniel Levitin argue?
Some brand new evolutionary psychology research says that we may read emotion in music because it relates to how we sense emotion in people’s movements. We’ll take a trip from Austin to Dartmouth to Cambodia to hear why music makes us feel so many feels. The connections between movement and music go far beyond dance moves!
[source: It’s Okay to be Smart, via io9]
Can a nightingale’s song help you pass an exam or a blackbird’s twittering encourage you to open a bank account? Sound experts are using it to do both.
They argue the positive results speak for themselves even though researchers say there is little hard scientific evidence to show people respond positively to birds singing. Most support for the theory is anecdotal.
So what are the innovative ways it is being used?
Homework
“People find birdsong relaxing and reassuring because over thousands of years they have learnt when the birds sing they are safe, it’s when birds stop singing that people need to worry. Birdsong is also nature’s alarm clock, with the dawn chorus signalling the start of the day, so it stimulates us cognitively.” […]
The effect of birdsong on our brains is being researched by Eleanor Ratcliffe. She is carrying out a three-year study looking at how natural sounds can improve mood and attention […]
Post-meal slump
An experiment at a primary school in Liverpool - run by “sonic branding” company Condiment Junkie, Glyndwr University and architects Nightingale Associates - found that playing pupils a soundscape of birdsong and other natural sounds made them more alert and better able to concentrate after their lunch break. […]
A fear of needles
Watson created a shortened version of the dawn chorus called Wild Song at Dawn which patients and staff could also listen to on a personal audio player.
The recording was used to calm young patients as they received injections and other treatments, with positive results. […]
Transport
While few scientific studies have been done on people’s particular response to birdsong, research has established the restorative effects of natural sounds in general when it comes to stress. Studies have included prescribing woodland walks to combat depression and treat heart problems.
But birdsong is also being experimented with in crowded places where noise levels and anxiety can be high, like transport hubs. […]
The National Trust suggests people listen to birdsong for a few minutes a day to combat low moods. Sound expert Julian Treasure agrees.
“It resets the ears, allows us to hear properly. Most of us walk around with our ears switched off because so much noise is unpleasant. Unlike so many other sounds there’s no maximum exposure to birdsong.”
Business
“Architects need to start designing for our ears as well as our eyes,” says Treasure. “Businesses also need to recognise its importance. Good sound is good business.”
[source: BBC News Magazine]
What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains
Thanks to the talented animators at Epipheo, Nicholas Carr’s book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains is now in a cartoon format.
[source: Farnam Street]
When life gets messy, stress can make it hard to concentrate and keep a clear mind. But simply thinking about one’s values can boost that problem-solving ability.
Self-affirmation has been shown in past studies to help reduce stress and narrow performance gaps for people in stressful situations, such as women in engineering and science fields.
“It’s not a Stuart Smalley type of idea like ‘gosh darnit, I really like myself,’” Creswell said.
Instead, self-affirmation means identifying and focusing on each person’s most important values, whether they are family, friends, money or leisure.
It also seems to play a role in cognitive performance: Research has shown middle-school students who perform self-affirmations tend to do better academically than those who don’t, Creswell said.
Creswell thinks thinking about what’s important may remind people about the resources they have internally to deal with stressful situations.
The boost in problem-solving appeared whether people prized a belief in God, a sense of humor or wealth.
“It doesn’t even matter what the value is, it’s about finding something that’s personally important to you that can have these effects,” Creswell said.
[source: LiveScience]
