A towering figure in the development of experimental and post-war electronic art music, Pauline Oliveros explores the origin of sound with neuroscientist Seth Horowitz. Oliveros is the founder of "Deep Listening,"which comes from her childhood fascination with sounds and from her works in concert music with composition, improvisation, and electro-acoustics. She describes “Deep Listening” as a way of listening in every possible way to everything...

Later in January, art-house luminary Isabella Rossellini will appear at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in her one-woman show, adapted from the celebrated Sundance Channel series about the surprisingly kinky and confounding mating rituals of insects and marine life Green Porno. With day-glo costumes and paper puppets, Rossellini channels a host of reproductive oddities. Part nature documentary, part DIY cartoon, Green Porno is a cheeky, delightful zoology...

"A grand new vision of cognitive science that explains how our minds build the world, learn from it, and sometimes deceive themselves For as long as we've studied the mind, we've believed that our senses determine what our mind perceives. But as our understanding of neuroscience and psychology has advanced in the last few decades, a new view has emerged that has proven to be both provocative and hugely powerful-that the mind is not a passive observer,...

As children begin school and other new experiences, what happens to the values, behavior, and expectations they have learned at home? Why do so many young people follow the crowd? And when does conformity become a bad thing? This program explores those questions, visiting a group of 25 seven-year-olds who are learning to cope with peer groups and situations. Children and parents are given tasks to see who conforms and who is comfortable standing out,...

"Misinformation affects all of us on a daily basis--from social media to larger political challenges, from casual conversations in supermarkets, to even our closest relationships. While we recognize the dangers that misinformation poses, the problem is complex--far beyond what policing social media alone can achieve--and too often our limited solutions are shaped by partisan politics and individual interpretations of truth. In Misbelief, preeminent...

Are the brain and the mind one and the same? How big a role does environment play in cognitive development? Does consciousness have a physical location? This program explores these and other fundamental questions concerning the evolution and function of the human brain. Computer graphics and commentary from an array of leading international neuroscientists provide insights into the human brain's development and the nature/nurture debate. The program...

“Dementia” is the name for a group of symptoms that usually come slowly, often going unnoticed at first by relatives and friends, until a point is reached where the changes in the person’s behavior and personality can no longer be ignored. At the time of diagnosis, in many countries, the affected person is at an advanced stage and has problems with everyday tasks and communication with other people. In fact, many people with dementia never receive...

Because of constant use of disinfectants, a hospital is a place where only the fittest microbes survive, a dilemma that raises the stakes of even routine surgical procedures. This program looks at how germs develop partial or total antibiotic resistance and how researchers are pursuing new lines of attack to keep pace with these highly adaptive organisms. Computer imaging and electron microscopy help illustrate how Legionella bacteria adapt to harsh...

Everything that we do to move, live, work, play, create, and survive, is sustained by spinning a wheel. Whether engines in our cars, or whirling turbines generators in a power plant, spinning the wheels of civilization requires fuel. We've long relied on fossil fuels, but the supply is finite and the environmental costs of burning them are growing. Enter a new generation of inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are looking to the edge of discovery...

If we compare ourselves with our genetically closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, we have few physical advantages. We are far weaker, cannot move nearly as fast, and do not have the same climbing capabilities. Instead, humans excel in areas such as architecture, religion, science, language, writing, art, culture, and ideas. These achievements are due to our larger brain that contain billions of neurons. It was the rapid growth of our brain,...