Thursday 30 December 2010
There Was Once a Woman Who Had Immortal Cells
Go to just about any cell culture lab in the world and you’ll find billions of Henrietta’s cells stored there. What’s unique about her cells is that, not only do they never die, in contrast to normal human cells which will die after a few replications, but her cells can also live and replicate just fine outside of the human body, which is also unique among humans. Give her cells the nutrients they need to survive and they will live and replicate along forever, apparently (almost 60 years and counting since the first culture was taken). They can even be frozen for literally decades and later thawed and they will go right on replicating...
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Indian Film Industry Threatening To Strike Over Proposed Copyright Reform That Would Make Them Pay Composers For Music
It's sometimes amusing to see how organizations that are strong copyright defenders, because they rely on copyright for certain aspects of their business, respond when copyright law is strengthened in ways that help others. Suddenly, they seem to react differently, and all the talk about how important copyright is to "protect content creators" goes out the window. Earlier this year, we wrote about India's proposed copyright reform, which would strengthen certain rights for the content creators themselves, at the expense of many third parties. I actually think this is probably not a very good idea, and will do more harm than good, but it's still a bit amusing (via Jamie Love) to see that the Indian film industry is threatening to go on strike if a part of the law that would require it to actually pay composers and lyricists for the music they use goes through. All too often it seems like copyright is only important when it benefits the specific industry fighting for it. If it benefits anyone else, at that industry's expense, suddenly it's bad...
Mike Masnick @'techdirt'
Mike Masnick @'techdirt'
Detox or Die
DETOX OR DIE by David Graham Scott This powerful 45-minute program is by and about filmmaker David Graham Scott, a former heroin addict trying to kick his intense methadone dependency. An emotional, no-holds-barred look at one man's struggle to get clean, ONE LIFE: DETOX OR DIE? follows Scott as he tries a dangerous, untested new detox method that promises an intense but mercifully brief withdrawal process. ** WARNING!! This documentary contains several strong scenes of intraveneous drug use and would not be suitable for children under 15 and sensitive individuals. ** The film was broadcast on BBC1 in 2004 as part of the One Life documentary strand. Here's a synopsis: Detox or Die provides an in-depth portrait of a small-time drug addict seeking redemption. Addicted to opiates for almost 20 years, filmmaker David Graham Scott decides to opt for a quick fix. The radical detox agent Ibogaine puts the user into a gut-wrenching hallucinatory state for 36 hours from which he emerges cleansed of his addiction. But several fatalities have been reported in connection with this unlicensed drug and Scott must weigh up the options before embarking on the trip of a lifetime...
Wednesday 29 December 2010
Bak Magazine (Issue 15)
Issue 15 | Theme: Love
Interviews: Michael Kutsche, Pablo Alfieri, Francoise Nielly, Paul Aresu, Murat Süyür, Maxim Goudin, Bedri Baykam, Ali Gürevin, Molly Brill
Download for Windows | MacOSX or read online!
Back Issues
What Makes A Song Sad?
Scientific American recently reported on a Tufts University study that purportedly lends experimental reinforcement to the widely accepted, albeit vague, notion that the interval of a minor third (two pitches separated by one full tone and one semi-tone) conveys sadness, in speech as in song.
From the Scientific American article, by Ferris Jabr:
Almost everyone thinks "Greensleeves" is a sad song—but why? Apart from the melancholy lyrics, it's because the melody prominently features a musical construct called the minor third, which musicians have used to express sadness since at least the 17th century. The minor third's emotional sway is closely related to the popular idea that, at least for Western music, songs written in a major key (like "Happy Birthday") are generally upbeat, while those in a minor key (think of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby") tend towards the doleful.While there might be a loose correlation—reinforced by our particular musical tradition—between minor scales and "sadness," it's a mistake to think that the moods evoked by music can be confidently reduced to tonality in and of itself. Indeed, those recalcitrant minor key songs that defy generalization about the link between tonality and mood may tell us something more important about music than the ones that conform.
Don't forget: The main reason "Happy Birthday" sounds "upbeat" and "Eleanor Rigby" sounds "doleful" is that their composers intended that they should. And because that's what their composers obviously intended, that's the way the songs are typically performed. But there's much more than tonality that goes into evoking those moods.
Take "Eleanor Rigby." It's actually a very bad example of the idea that minor key tonality is inherently sad. The best evidence for that view would be minor key songs that are stubbornly, ineffably sad despite other song elements—lyrics, arrangements, tempo, etc.—that are emotionally neutral or positive. The worst kind of song to adduce in support of minor key determinism is one in which any sadness intrinsic to the melody gets a lot of "help" from the other parts of the song. And "Eleanor Rigby," remember, was considered a breakthrough for the Beatles precisely because it was one of their first songs of this kind, one that combined song elements in mutually reinforcing ways to create a unified artistic whole...
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Daniel Wattenberg @'the Atlantic'
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