Category: ideas

“Some neurologists have recently wondered whether their field is the next frontier in elective medicine. The specialty now tries to protect ailing brains from conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or migraine headaches. But doctors’ efforts may one day extend to improving normal brains. This is coming, and we need to know it’s coming. There’s even a name for the field: cosmetic neurology.”

“Sending a weak electrical impulse through the front of a person’s head can boost verbal skills by as much as 20 percent, according to a new study by the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.” Side effects? A little itching or “fizzing” around the electrodes…

Pioneer has announced a new generation of music disc – made of corn and eco-friendly. “The Japanese electronics maker said the Blu-ray optical disc, which can be written once and stores 25 gigabytes of data, is 87 percent natural polymer derived from corn and biodegrades.”

“A group of researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles and Emory in Atlanta has compiled the first extensive analysis of human and primate genomic data. The result is a big-picture look at why human brains are so evolved. The answer lies not in which or how many genes we have, but in how and when those genes turn on and off.”

Has the printed word replaced good old-fashioned brain power? “In the days before print, books had to be copied out by hand, like medieval manuscripts. If you were a copyist, you wanted to make sure you weren’t wasting a few years of your life writing out some piece of trash. You stuck with the tried and true: the Bible, or Aristotle, or Virgil. But a printer could publish anything reasonably quickly,” even if it had no real value. Besides, books were never any use to anyone, according to such noted thinkers as Socrates. Writing down information is really just an excuse not to memorize it, and the easy availability of books just encourages idiots to substitute regurgitated information for original thinking.

So says a new study of IQ. “People who sat an IQ test at the age of 11 in 1932 were ranked in exactly the same order when they took the exam again at the age of 77, showing that intelligence is stable throughout life. But researchers also found that those with high IQs tended to live longer because they made the right health decisions during their lives.”

Within a few years, you may have the option of taking a “cognitive enhancer”—a drug that sharpens your mental faculties. But should you be allowed to do it? Is it fair? These and other ethical issues…

Chinese tourists haven’t been much of a factor worldwide. But that is changing. Quickly. “Nationwide, more than 500 million tourists poured into airports, highways and train stations last year. Outbound travel by Chinese tourists reached 16.6 million people in 2002 and is expected to double this year to 32 million. The World Tourism Organization predicts 100 million Chinese will be travelling the world by 2020. The Pacific Asia Travel Association believes that figure will be reached within six years, based on current trends.”

The 1990s were a time of great expansion in the arts in America. But Andrew Taylor wonders if we have too many new mouths to feed. “Perhaps what we have built together has outstripped the capacity of all combined sources to support it. Perhaps we are entering an era of contraction, merger, bankruptcy, and market adjustment. But the question still festers in my head: ‘overbuilt’ by what measure? Are there too many nonprofit arts organizations? Do they generate too much product? Are the organizations too large or rigid in their construction?”