Top 10 Incredible Sound Illusions Weird Stuff Following the popularity of our optical illusions lists (20 Amazing Optical Illusions, and Another 10 Amazing Optical Illusions), we have put together an amazing array of sound illusions (auditory illusions). In these illusions, your mind is tricked in to thinking it is hearing something when, in fact, it is not. This illusion was discovered by Diana Deutsch, and is an example of our brains “grouping” similar notes together. There are several ways in which people perceive these sounds, but the most common is to group the high and low notes together. NOTE: Listen through stereo headphones, or stereo separated loudspeakers, best placed some distance apart. Some pieces of music consist of high-speed arpeggios or other repeating patterns, which change only subtly. Compare these recordings of Christian Sinding’s Frühlingsrauschen (“Rustle of Spring”). Shepherds Ascending Tones This recording is subtle.
From Tech to Texture: Aurelie Tu of Craftedsystems We collaborated with MSN to profile four artists and designers we love who we think embody the same design, content and functional philosophies as the new MSN.com: design with fierce reductionism, sharing real-time trends, and being perfect for touch. We think you’ll love learning more about these four creatives. Experience their work here, and check out the all-new MSN here. Photo by Steve Bloch I could not be more excited to talk to Aurelie Tu. Your background is in industrial design, creating primarily tech devices, so how did you end up designing soft, felted products? My entire career has revolved around design of technology for consumers. How did Craftedsystems begin? Crafted began as an experiment with an alternate business model. Photo by Lincoln Barbour How did you come up with the specific interlocking patterns for Craftedsystems? Craftedsystems is a forum for experimentation. When you made your the first Craftedsystems pieces, why was felt your choice of material? Asira series.
10 Words You Might Think Came from Science (But Are Really From Science Fiction ) Well, I imagine the same could be said about a lot of these. Karel Čapek gave us "robot" in 1920, and from that point forward, I'd wager we would've hit "robotics" sooner or later with or without Asimov and those glorious mutton chops of his, unless someone more popular than Čapek jumped in and started popularizing a different term like "automata" or "androids" before "robotics" could really take off... off the top of my head... geneticulture (tangenting off horticulture, which has applied techniques of genetic manipulating on a macroscopic level) high space, far space (changing from the analogy of the ocean over to altitude aspects) and for the last probably something NASA tech-sounding, like G-less. I disagree with Gas Giant being reductionism. Androids are a specific class of robots. @Spaceknight I can see your point about Gas Giant not being reductionism. As for 'geneticulture' I'm not sure that it coveys the same usage as genetic engineering. As to G-less.
A Photographer Finds Order And Chaos In Disassembled Gadgets It’s kind of insane, when you stop and think, that it’s now completely commonplace for many of us to replace our cellphones every year. Whether you’re a serious early adopter, or you fall prey to a drop and a shattered screen, it’s not at all strange to put down $200 (at least) on a new phone almost before you’ve gotten used to the old one. We don’t repair our phones when they’re broken; we immediately replace them. Todd McLellan questions that practive, training his camera on our disposable tech culture through his photographs of torn-apart design classics. The contrast is especially stark when comparing, say, a deconstructed rotary phone from the 1980s (an orderly array of familiar parts) with a disassembled digital video camera circa 2005 (a dizzying collection of hardware and circuit boards). That’s one of McLellan’s two preferred methods. So the next time you’re faced with recycling an outmoded gadget, perhaps you’ll be tempted to take it apart yourself first.
Win-win game A win-win game is a game which is designed in a way that all participants can profit from it in one way or the other. In conflict resolution, a win-win strategy is a conflict resolution process that aims to accommodate all disputants.[1][2][3] Types[edit] In colloquial speech, a win-win situation often refers to situation where one benefits, not necessarily through someone else's loss.In the context of group-dynamic games, win-win games are also called "cooperative games", "new games" or "games without losers".Mathematical game theory also refers to win-win games as non-zero-sum games (although they may include situations where either or both players lose as well).The TKI Thomas/Kilmann Conflict Profile provides a model that reveals preferences under stress and pressure. Group dynamics[edit] Group-dynamics win-win games have been increasingly popular since the end of the Vietnam war and have been successfully applied to all levels of society. See also[edit] References[edit]
10 Insects That Belong in an Alien World Animals It’s easy to forget sometimes, but nature is full of wonders. There are more than one million different species of insect on the planet—that we know of—which accounts for over half the world’s living organisms. So yeah, some of them are bound to be pretty strange. Freakily strange. With their soft bodies and high protein content, caterpillars are usually incredibly vulnerable. The caterpillars are bright green and will often have a row of white spots on either side of their body. And if that doesn’t work, it can always spray out a mist of formic acid from the two horns on its back. Devil’s Flower Mantis Idolomantis Diabolica One of the largest types of praying mantis, the Devil’s Flower Mantis is also one of the strangest. Mantids are predators, and their hunting style usually involves sitting motionless until their prey comes within reach, and then whipping their forearms out at lightning speed to snag flies, beetles, even, in some cases, birds. Dasychira Pudibunda Caterpillar
Ya Wen Chou, Textile and Product Designer Ahh, design school — where navel-gazing and the pretentions of identity art are not only tolerated, but encouraged (on days when the lesson plan doesn’t focus on sustainability or people with disabilities, of course). It’s easy for lesser talents to get sucked too far into these themes and end up with over-baked work that either borders on kitsch or is completely irrelevant to the wider world, but when done right, the results can be both beautiful and culturally illuminating — as in the case of Ya Wen Chou, who used her time in the RCA’s textile department to dig into the traditions of her grandmother and her home country of Taiwan. “My grandmother’s house was always full of handicrafts made by Taiwanese artisans,” she told the Arts Thread blog last year, explaining a main source of her inspiration. Describe your most recent project and how it was made. Describe your next project and how you’re currently making it. Tell us one thing that’s been inspiring you lately and why.
Collect Sounds Like Fireflies in the ‘Re: Sound Bottle,’ a Device that Creates Your Own Personal Soundtrack The Re: Sound Bottle is the audio equivalent of running around in a field in the summer collecting fireflies in a jar. Designed by Jun Fujiwara from Tama Art University, the bottle is simple in its usage but absurdly complex in its design which relies heavily on software to handle the recording, storing, and playback of audio tracks. To use it you simply uncork the device and if sound is present it immediately snaps into recording mode. A Room Where You Can Walk In The Rain But Stay Dry Some people get a lot of joy out of running in the rain or jumping in puddles. I’m not one of them. I love everything about storms--the smells, the noises, the excuse for staying in and puttering around the house--except for the whole bit where you get wet. Rain Room, a recent installation by the digital art collective Random International, is right up my alley; it’s an indoor room in which rain continuously falls everywhere except the spot where you happen to be standing. For the project, the group turned the Curve gallery in the Barbican in London into a hundred-square-meter rainstorm. The collective says the piece is about "playing with intuition" and "pushing people outside their comfort zones." Rain Room will be open to the public through March of next year. Find out more on the Barbican’s site. All images copyright Felix Clay, Courtesy of Barbican Art Gallery