The Decade of the Brain, which ends this year, marked an acceleration of neuroscience research. This radio show, from the NPR series The Infinite Mind,
” takes a look at some of the astounding progress we’ve made in that decade, highlighting the ten most
important breakthroughs. Guests include Dr. Guy McKhann, associate director for clinical research at the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, associate professor of
neurobiology at the Duke University Medical Center; Dr. Jeffrey Kordower, director of research at the
Center for Brain Repair at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center; and Dr. Ronald McKay, chief of
the laboratory of molecular biology at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Narration and commentary by John Hockenberry. Includes a link to the real audio recording of the program.

Michelangelo may have deliberately depicted breast cancer. “Scholars have argued for years over the unusual misshapen
appearance of the left breast of Michelangelo’s marble statue Night.
The statue, in the Medici chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo,
Florence, shows an obvious large bulge in the breast next to the
swollen nipple, causing tethering and retraction of the skin on the
opposite side.

The left breast is quite different from the right and from the breasts on
Dawn, another figure in the Medici Chapel, or in the many other
depictions of women by Michaelangelo.

Experts have agreed that its unusual appearance is intentional and not
due to an error but art historians and plastic surgeons have argued
that it reflects the artist’s supposed lack of interest in, or unfamiliarity
with, the nude female figure.

Now, Dr James Stark, a cancer specialist at the Cancer Treatment
Centers of America in Portsmouth, Virginia, and Jonathan Nelson, an
art historian at New York University, claim that Michelangelo
deliberately set out to portray a woman with breast cancer. ” Independent

Refresh: the art of the screen saver. “22 artists have created digital projects that are both works of art and
functional screen savers. All of the screen savers can be downloaded freely
from this site and enjoyed as public art.” artmuseum.net

‘In cyberspace, music is now bigger than sex… Apparently,
“MP3” has
now overtaken “sex” as the
most frequently searched term online.’ The Times of London

Mixed Message. So that awful “Grinch” movie has become a hit. And, in so doing, the message of the original Dr. Seuss story is being profoundly subverted. “For weeks now, merchandising tie-ins to the film have contributed to that acquisitiveness, emphasizing
to the public that Christmas does, indeed, come from a store.” Hartford Courant

The World Question Center: “What is Today’s Most Important Unreported Story?”. Coverage of this spinoff from John Brockman’s Edge site in the San Jose Mercury said: “Don’t assume for a second that Ted Koppel, Charlie Rose and the editorial high command
at the New York Times have a handle on all the pressing issues of the day….when
Brockman asked 100 of the world’s top thinkers to come up with pressing matters
overlooked by the media, they generated a lengthy list of profound, esoteric and
outright entertaining responses.”

The Decade of the Brain, which ends this year, marked an acceleration of neuroscience research. This radio show, from the NPR series The Infinite Mind,
” takes a look at some of the astounding progress we’ve made in that decade, highlighting the ten most
important breakthroughs. Guests include Dr. Guy McKhann, associate director for clinical research at the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, associate professor of
neurobiology at the Duke University Medical Center; Dr. Jeffrey Kordower, director of research at the
Center for Brain Repair at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center; and Dr. Ronald McKay, chief of
the laboratory of molecular biology at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Narration and commentary by John Hockenberry. Includes a link to the real audio recording of the program.