Guest Thinkers — February 16, 2011

Whining aside, the music industry looks okay to me

The graph below from Nielsen Soundscan shows that we’re buying fewer albums (i.e., CDs) but that overall music purchases continue to rise.

The music industry looks okay to me. It just had to reinvent itself… [click on image for larger version]

[hat tip to Mashable]

Neuropsych

Testosterone-injected gerbils become extra-cuddly, “super partners”

The recipe for a perfect date night: a rom-com, a bowl of popcorn, and a syringe of testosterone — at least for gerbils, anyway.

The Future

Electric planes are coming: Get ready for battery-powered flights

Short-hop regional flights could be running on batteries in a few years.

Health

An old anti-psychotic offers a new way to treat chronic pain

Fluphenazine, once used to treat schizophrenia, is capable of blocking a compound connected to chronic pain.

Neuropsych

The brain undergoes a great “rewiring” after age 40

The aging brain is networked differently.

High Culture

50 years ago, an artist convincingly exhibited a fake Iron Age civilization

The artifacts were often made from found objects – an Ivory dish-soap bottle transformed into an earthenware figure.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

What I said to the NEA

Earlier this month I asked what you would say to the NEA Board of Directors if you had the chance. Thank you, everyone, who chimed in with thoughts and suggestions. Here’s […]