Brain Candy

Science

Pi Day Isn't Just Magical, It's Mathematics. And There's Pie!

10:04am March 14, 2015

by L. Carol Ritchie

Math geeks are excited about 3-14-15, this year's Pi Day. The San Francisco Exploratorium will celebrate with a pizza-pi-dough-tossing contest, a pi parade and special pie. Mmmm, pie. Or is it pi?

Planet: bottom of a glass containing half-and-half, water and food coloring. Moons: bottom of a glass containing coconut milk, water and food coloring. Stars: salt, cinnamon, baking powder and Tums.

Science
Arts

Behold! The Cosmos Created From The Contents Of A Kitchen

12:13pm March 13, 2015

by Poncie Rutsch

From spices, flour, milk, water and food coloring, a photographer creates startlingly realistic-looking images of space. These photos are convincing enough to impress an astrophysicist.

Science
Arts

We're Not Taking Enough Lunch Breaks. Why That's Bad For Business

2:17pm March 05, 2015

by Here & Now

Research shows that only 1 in 5 five people takes a break and leaves his desk to eat. Most workers are simply eating at their desks. But creativity can take a big hit without a change of scenery.

Science

Salty, Sweet, Sour. Is It Time To Make Fat The Sixth Taste?

4:24pm February 18, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

Fat has a lot in common with the five basic tastes: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami. But while people easily recognize the texture of fat, scientists say they can't quite perceive the taste.

After the pot-smoking comes the insatiable hunger. Just ask James Franco and Seth Rogen's weed-loving characters in Pineapple Express.

How Marijuana Highjacks Your Brain To Give You The Munchies

12:20pm February 18, 2015

by Angus Chen

Where there's pot, there's often an insatiable hunger. Now researchers have a big clue why: Cannabinoids, the drug in marijuana, appear to flip a neural circuit that normally tells us we're full.

Robert Davies (standing) and the quartet during a performance of "The Crossroads Project." Musicians include (left to right) Robert Waters, Rebecca McFaul, Anne Francis Bayless and Bradley Ottesen.

Climate Scientist Tries Arts To Stir Hearts Regarding Earth's Fate

12:45pm February 17, 2015

by Joe Palca

Physicist Robert Davies worked with a classical quartet and two visual artists to create a musical performance about climate change. The music and images, he says, help the information take hold.

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Can A Computer Change The Essence Of Who You Are?

12:46pm February 16, 2015

by Lulu Miller

The latest episode of NPR's Invisibilia takes us online. Some people think interacting with these machines is changing us all — for better and worse.

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"Flavor is the most important ingredient at the core of what we are. It created us," John McQuaid writes in his book Tasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat.

'Tasty': How Flavor Helped Make Us Human

2:57pm February 11, 2015

by NPR Staff

From an evolutionary standpoint, flavor has long helped define who we are as a species, journalist John McQuaid argues in his new book, an exploration of the art and science of taste.

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Dealer Omar Abu-Eid adjusts a stack of chips before the first day of the World Series of Poker's main event in Las Vegas last July. Humans still reign in most versions of poker. Whew.

Look Out, This Poker-Playing Computer Is Unbeatable

9:20pm February 09, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

Forget chess. Poker may be even harder for a computer. But a software program has now "solved" a variant of Texas Hold'em, the bot's creators say. And nothing can keep it from winning.

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Residents of ShantiNiketan, a retirement community near Orlando, Fla., walk in a Hindu religious procession.

Being With People Like You Offers Comfort Against Death's Chill

1:52pm February 09, 2015

by Lulu Miller

Iggy Ignatius bet that immigrants from India would long to live with other Indians in his Florida condos. He was right. Psychologists say intimations of mortality make us want to be with our own kind.

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