Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 7/25/2008 § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 7/25/2008

July 25, 2008

Five issues, insights, and observations shaping our perspective, from the editors of Seed.

Dennett on magic and misdirection
An analogy about magicians shows why we might be wrong about consciousness.
Outside the Ghetto and the Ghastly Example of Michael Crichton
No matter how much fun Jurassic Park is to read, Michael Crichton is still annoyingly anti-science.
Make Mine a Double—and Turn Down That #*^%!! Music
Why does loud music make us drink more?
Why do more Asians have perfect pitch?
Research suggests culture plays a large role in developing perfect pitch.
Crunching PETA’s numbers
PETA vs. the FDA, deconstructed.

Seed

Innovation

Let There Be Light

Astronomers will soon find scores of Earth-sized exoplanets, but imaging them may be decades away. That is, unless NASA decides to build a starshade.
Ideas

Into the Uncanny Valley

New findings shed light on a century’s worth of bizarre explanations for the eerie feeling we get around lifelike robots.
World

Signs from Above

The release of an apocalyptic movie prompts NASA to debunk planetary rumors, fowl play shuts down the LHC, and the Catholic Church discusses alien life.