Are you a hard-working research biologist waiting for your story to be told? Look no further than Allegra Goodman's new novel, which Booklist called "a timely inquiry into our society's problematic matrix of science, money, and politics."

From the book jacket:

Hailed as "a writer of uncommon clarity" by the New Yorker, National Book Award finalist Allegra Goodman has dazzled readers with her acclaimed works of fiction, including such beloved bestsellers as The Family Markowitz and Kaaterskill Falls. Now she returns with a bracing new novel, at once an intricate mystery and a rich human drama set in the high-stakes atmosphere of a prestigious research institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Sandy Glass, a charismatic publicity-seeking oncologist, and Marion Mendelssohn, a pure, exacting scientist, are codirectors of a lab at the Philpott Institute dedicated to cancer research and desperately in need of a grant. Both mentors and supervisors of their young postdoctoral protégés, Glass and Mendelssohn demand dedication and obedience in a competitive environment where funding is scarce and results elusive. So when the experiments of Cliff Bannaker, a young postdoc in a rut, begin to work, the entire lab becomes giddy with newfound expectations. But Cliff’s rigorous colleague–and girlfriend–Robin Decker suspects the unthinkable: that his findings are fraudulent. As Robin makes her private doubts public and Cliff maintains his innocence, a life-changing controversy engulfs the lab and everyone in it.

With extraordinary insight, Allegra Goodman brilliantly explores the intricate mixture of workplace intrigue, scientific ardor, and the moral consequences of a rush to judgment. She has written an unforgettable novel.

You can read an excerpt at Amazon. "Intuition" earned a Starred Review from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. They wrote:

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. In another quiet but powerful novel from Goodman (Kaaterskill Falls), a struggling cancer lab at Boston's Philpott Institute becomes the stage for its researchers' personalities and passions, and for the slippery definitions of freedom and responsibility in grant-driven American science. When the once-discredited R-7 virus, the project of playboy postdoc Cliff, seems to reduce cancerous tumors in mice, lab director Sandy Glass insists on publishing the preliminary results immediately, against the advice of his more cautious codirector, Marion Mendelssohn. The research team sees a glorious future ahead, but Robin, Cliff's resentful ex-girlfriend and co-researcher, suspects that the findings are too good to be true and attempts to prove Cliff's results are in error. The resulting inquiry spins out of control. With subtle but uncanny effectiveness, Goodman illuminates the inner lives of each character, ... [ Read More (0.3k in body) ]

Intuition

What can you do in one second? Listening to the musical/sonic concoctions of sound designers, composers, musicians, piano tuners, and the odd stand-up comic faced with the time restriction, a lot. Asked to "create digital music" in honor of the leap second added to correct atomic clocks New Year's Eve, you responded with an astounding array of miniature compositions. They're a reminder that in an age of sprawling evening-length music and all-night DJs, a tiny musical morsel can be just as pleasurable. They also prove that the 23 seconds added to our clocks since the early 70s to account for slowing Earth rotation are no small matter.

Leap Sounds: 1-Second Music for the Leap Second

Beautiful.

ashes and snow Portfolio - ashes and snow

Neuroscience research has already shown that the visual cortex of even adult blind people can become responsive to sound, and sound-induced illusory flashes can be evoked in most sighted people. The vOICe technology may now build on this with live video from a head-mounted camera encoded in sound.

Hmm... this could be fun to play with from a musical perspective. What 'music' does this space sound like?

Seeing with Sound - The vOICe

Former Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten once famously derided the rock and roll accolades as "a place where old rockers go to die", dubbing it the "Rock and Roll Hall of Shame".

There's something very very wrong with this.

Sex Pistols join rock's fame list

your new boyfriend.

Levitated | Levitated Daily Source, the good source

One of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the world, Hong Kong has an overall density of nearly 6,700 people per square kilometer. The majority of its citizens live in flats in high-rise buildings. In Architecture of Density, Wolf investigates these vibrant city blocks, finding a mesmerizing abstraction in the buildings' facades.

These are amazing photographs. I wish I could go to the exhibition.

yes, they are beautiful. But I like to think of them as "why this will be a breeding ground for pestilance."

MICHAEL WOLF

Switched-On Bach caught the attention of my father, Fredric, a noted orchestra conductor and music educator. In my teenage years, we had many conversations about the nature of music, and now our talks broadened to include technology. Shortly before his own death in 1970, he told me of a strong feeling he had, that one day I would combine my interests in computers and music. This conversation, a direct result of Moog's work, was very much on my mind when I founded Kurzweil Music Systems in 1982.

Someone needs to fact check Ray a bit more in this article (Theremin's name?), but it's touching nonetheless and I believe it can't be overstated how important Bob Moog was to music, culture, and ultimately expression.

Kurzweil eulogizes Moog

Friends, Buzz & Click 3PO is here! - Nashville Events

Anyone who doesn't have plans for this Saturday needs to come out and experience the joy and wonder that is Nashville's only annual electronic music showcase! We've given administrative duties to Buzz and Click over to Nashville's best radio station (91.1WRVU) and they've honored us with another great year of music running the gamut from melodic electronica to experimental noise and everything in between! There's a great lineup this year, including appearances from at least 2/3 of Venus Hum, Let's Say Baltimore, and Jensen Sportag. Huh? Oh, yeah - Logickal is definitely blowing it up as well.

It's all happening Saturday - Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th in case ya didn't know) and it all starts at 8pm. It can all be had for a measly $5 (for 10 acts!) that goes to benefit WRVU (That means that you might also want to think about buying CDs from the artists...). You can follow the link below to read what the Scene had to say about it, and take a gander at the full lineup.

Hope to see a bunch of ya there!

-Jeremy

The Scene Sez:
http://nashvillescene.com/Stories/Arts/Our_Critics_Picks/2005/11/03/Our_Critics_Picks/index.shtml

The Lineup (in order of appearance):

8pm Matt Hamilton
8.5 Birdfeeder
9 Let's Say Baltimore
9.5 Bluff Duo
10 Logickal
10.5 Satellite City
11 3kStatic
11.5 Athena Blue
12 Jensen Sportag
12.5 Tomorrow Ishikawa

Friends, Buzz & Click 3PO is here! - Nashville Events

This guy has some great pieces showing at Gallery One (Belle Meade) on Saturday before the WRVU benefit. I'm gonna be there if anyone wants to join me before heading over to the show.

Marcus Antonius Jansen