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Oops! Landmark Study On Honesty Used Fake Data

The data were collected by an insurance company, Dan Ariely says, but he no longer has records of interactions with it that could reveal where things went awry. “I wish I had a good story,” Ariely told Science. “And I just don’t.” - Science Magazine

Because Multiple Immersive Van Gogh Experiences Are Not Enough, Here Come The Immersive Monets

"Not one, not two, but three separate traveling immersive exhibitions based on the famed Impressionist's paintings are currently gearing up — and one could be headed to a city near you." - Artnet

The Fascinating New Science Exploring Consciousness

Consciousness has long been the preserve of philosophers and priests, poets and artists; now neuroscientists are investigating the mysterious quality and trying to answer the hard question of how consciousness arises in the first place. - The Guardian

Many People Don’t Realize That John Cage Wrote Some Quiet, Very Beautiful Music

Aficionados may love Suite for Toy Piano or Sonatas and Interludes, but mostly folks know only the conceptual piece 4'33" or raucous chance-based works like the one for electronics and household appliances (Variations VII) or Roaratorio (don’t even ask). Those folks should hear the Number Pieces. - The Guardian

AI Cloned Val Kilmer’s Voice So He Could Speak After Cancer Surgery

The generated voices have gotten more realistic in the age of deepfakes, a technology that uses AI to manipulate content to look and sound deceptively real. - Washington Post

Manufacturer Alan Heller, Dead At 81, Manufactured Plastic Housewares That Were Colorful And Even Witty

“Plastic in those days was ugly, and it was cheap. But Alan and (designers) the Vignellis had made something that was beautiful, and it could be abused. You could put it in the dishwasher. You could drop it. And it lasted forever." - The New York Times

That Naked Baby On The Cover Of A Nirvana Album 30 Years Ago? He’s Suing For Damages

He's now 30, and on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles federal court against a host of defendants tied to the album, alleging the cover is “sexual exploitation” that will hurt him — emotionally and physically — for the rest of his life. - Washington Post

A New Tool To Try To Decode The Voynich Manuscript?

The 15th-century volume is written in a neat, careful script that bears little resemblance to any natural language, and no one has yet cracked its code. In a Q&A, Yale linguist Claire Bowern talks about approaching the task with computational statistics. - Knowable

Why Movie Theatres Need Vaccine Mandates

In an uncertain time, vaccine mandates for eligible moviegoers might be the only way to salvage the long-term future of the cinema experience. - The Atlantic

Kuwait Freaks Out Over One Women-Only Belly Dancing Class

"The Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce and Industry rushed to close down a sports club and suspended all its activists for the foreseeable future, in response to a crisis sparked by popular and parliamentary protests over the fitness club's belly dance class." - Global Voices

How Could Sony Have Let The Mike Richards ‘Jeopardy!’ Fiasco Happen? Like This

In case anyone was still wondering, yes, Richards-as-executive-producer definitely rigged the choice of Richards as host. Here's a look at the circumstances, expected and unexpected, that led Sony Pictures Entertainment to a PR disaster at its biggest game-show property. - Vulture

As Pandemic Worsens, So Does Outlook For LA’s Small Theaters

"And so the question looms: How much longer can these companies stay afloat financially? With pandemic funding drying up, 99-seat theaters are scrambling to stay on track with reopenings that were planned during better days." - Los Angeles Times

NBCUniversal Seeks To Boot Nielsen From Top Of Ratings Measurement Business

Nielsen had long been the undisputed master of counting broadcast media's audience, but its traditional methods have had trouble accurately measuring the number of people streaming programming online. NBCU has had enough and is actively assembling alternatives. - Variety

Smithsonian Kicks Off Major New Project On America’s Racial History

"'Our Shared Future: Reckoning with our Racial Past' (is) an ambitious multiyear program … that will tap into the vast expertise of the Smithsonian to examine the history and legacy of race through conversations, community events and digital content." - The Washington Post

Met Opera Reaches Deal On Contract With Orchestra

"The agreement concludes several months of tension over how significant future pay cuts would be for musicians, who went for nearly a year without pay during the pandemic." - The New York Times

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