The exquisitely detailed strip was found during a dig in a field near the village of Boxford in Berkshire. Experts have already described it as the most exciting mosaic discovery in Britain for the last 50-years.
Tag: 09.03.17
Could Playing A Video Game Counteract The Ravages Of Brain Aging?
Playing a videogame will certainly make you better at that game. But the evidence that playing a game makes you better at life—remembering and focusing in everyday situations—is weak at best. Psychologists call these types of benefits “far transfer,” and they’re the ultimate goal of every brain game designer.
Caravaggio: Genius, Thug, Gangster, Nightmare Tenant
Nightmare tenant? Oh, yes – he poked holes in the roof of his apartment and threw rotten vegetables at his landlady. That in addition to the murder, brawling, whoring and vandalism. In fact, writes Noah Charney, “we know far more about Caravaggio than most pre-modern artists because he was brought to trial so often.”
Berlin’s Staatsoper Reopens After Renovation
“When the city committed itself in 2008 to renovating the Staatsoper, which needed to be reinforced from groundwater leaks, the conductor Daniel Barenboim insisted that the acoustics also be improved. While he and Stefan Rosinski, the former Berlin Opera Foundation general director, advocated a full modernization of the interior, the mayor at the time, Klaus Wowereit, favored a historic preservation in keeping with German laws about cultural heritage.”
Keeping Alive The Sacred Royal Dance Of Cambodia
Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, granddaughter of the late King Sihanouk and half-sister of the current king, toured the world in the 1950s and ’60s as one of the leading dancers of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia. In the 1990s, after the years of the Khmer Rouge and the later Vietnamese invasion, she located surviving dancers and musicians and refounded the company, and she’s now training a new generation.
Orlando Ballet, Finally Stabilized, Is Ready To Move Ahead
“Two years after headlines screamed ‘Ballet in crisis’ – and the company was a hair’s-breadth from shutting its doors for good – the troupe has received coaching from arts turnaround expert Michael Kaiser, hired an executive director and rebuilt its board of directors. And after four years of travails that began when a mold infestation cost the ballet its longtime home, officials say it’s finally time to start moving forward.”
If A.I. Can Paint Pictures and Compose Music, Why Can’t It Tell Good Jokes?
As we’ve seen this summer, artificial intelligence software has written songs and created paintings that many listeners and viewers can’t distinguish from those made by humans. So why have the few attempts at A.I.-created comedy lagged behind> Turns out humor is a lot more complex than music or art.
Berlin’s Fabled Staatsoper, Daniel Barenboim’s House, Finally Reopens (More Or Less)
“The work took much longer than expected – the company was originally scheduled to move back from its interim residence across town in the Schiller Theater four years ago – and the renovation costs spiraled from an estimated 239 million euros to 400 million ($473 million), half of which was covered by federal funds.” Even so, after a new production next month, the theater will close for another two months so technicians can master the new high-tech equipment.
Summer Movie Box Office Was Terrible. But Hollywood’s Not Too Worried
Even so, studios are unlikely to shift gears anytime soon. Overseas audiences continue to devour what Hollywood serves up. And many studio executives dismiss the recent slump in North America, which remains the world’s No. 1 movie market, as a normal part of a cyclical film business. Box office behemoths, they insist, are just around the corner.
Tiny North Adams, MA, To Get A New Frank Gehry Museum
“The proposed project, called the Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum, will be a few blocks away from Mass MoCA, which recently completed its third phase of expansion, with large-scale exhibits by Jenny Holzer, Laurie Anderson and Robert Rauschenberg. It will cost an estimated $65 million and cover 83,000 square feet.”