Category: ideas

“H. V. Savitch knows that ‘Best of’ lists are always debatable. That’s why he didn’t make one. Instead, … [he] took a less-traveled road. He analyzed other authoritative sources to glean information on an endlessly debated topic: What’s the ‘greatest’ American city?”

“Twenty-four hours after Avatar appeared in theaters, the Web site Language Log was teeming with comments about Na’vi, the alien tongue spoken in the film. The site is always lively, but it was especially so that day because Paul Frommer – who created the language – had shown up to discuss Na’vi syntax and phonetics.”

Lab researchers study the eye movements of autistic people watching movies to see what gets their attention. An author considers the possible connections between autism and creativity. A novelist writes about his own Asperger’s syndrome.

“Every dog owner knows a pooch can learn the house rules – and when she breaks one, her subsequent groveling is usually ingratiating enough to ensure quick forgiveness.” And with each other, dogs, wolves and other canids “follow a strict code of conduct when they play, which teaches pups the rules of social engagement that allow their societies to succeed.”

Virginia Heffernan: “Like the railroad toot but unlike an old telephone ring, beeps have both a distinct start and finish … and an elastic center that can generously expand and contract like an accordion: beeeeeeeep. … Plants don’t beep, nor weather, nor animals. … If you hear a beep, you know that a person, or more likely his artifact, is signaling.”

The Getty Villa, California’s temple to ancient Greece and Rome, is currently hosting a show of objects and manuscripts from the earliest days of Nueva España. What’s the connection? “From the moment Europeans went to Mexico, … they encountered a culture that was so unfamiliar, the only frame of reference they had was their knowledge of Roman antiquity.”

“[A]ccording to newly published research, the same mechanism that regulates human self-control also operates in canines. The study … confirms the notion that self-control is a limited resource, one that can and does get depleted. It also suggests this is not ‘a uniquely human process’.”

“Borrowing methods developed to study the genetics of human disease, researchers have concluded that dogs were probably first domesticated from wolves somewhere in the Middle East, in contrast to an earlier survey suggesting dogs originated in East Asia.”

Horses “understand words better than expected, according to the research, and possess ‘excellent memories,’ allowing horses to not only recall their human friends after periods of separation, but also to remember complex, problem-solving strategies for ten years or more.”

“Children choose friends based more on whether they speak alike rather than look alike, according to a Harvard University study. … While previous research has shown that white children in the United States tend to pick same-race friends, new findings … suggest that race takes a back seat when foreign or non-native accents come into play.”