The next time you shop for a vehicle, flip through a furniture catalog, or look at clothing online, the images you see may not be photography, but rather a collection of pixels assembled by an artist on a computer screen. More
The Side Effects of Screen-Addiction
Is technology ruining our teenagers? Today’s teens are constantly staring at screens of smartphones, iPods, tablets, computers and TVs. And the consequences are problematic, psychologist Dr. Aric Sigman has found. Teens’ addiction to gadgets is wrecking their attention spans, triggering depression, and creating a sedentary lifestyle that is linked to heart disease, strokes and diabetes. Not to mention contributing to global warming, SmartPlanet reports. Obviously technology is doing the world a lot of good—but how do we harness tech without turning our children into mush? More
Digital Life Science Partner Insights
Healthcare of the Future: Connected and Mobile
The U.S. healthcare industry has come a long way in recent decades in using telecommunication services to improve patient care. Sick or injured people in remote areas such as the South Pole and on cruise ships can get evaluated by specialists thanks to advancements in technology. More doctors are adopting electronic health records to manage patient care, and more patients have access to those records via Internet-based systems. More
Why One Globetrotter Dumped the iPhone and Learned to Love the Droid (With Google Voice)
I wondered: did I make a mistake? Did I walk out too soon? But sometimes you have to make a break. Despite years of togetherness, new-and-improved wasn't good enough. So describes a fraught goodbye, as with glimpses of no. 5 appearing above the horizon, I made the switch. It was a tough decision to leave iPhone for Android. I’d been a long-time loyalist—ever grateful to the unflinching attention given to sensibility in product design, not to mention user experience. But I finally abandoned superior detailing and materiality for something more basic: the freedom of the open road. More
Is Art.sy the Pandora of the Art World?
Art.sy, a free online fine art image repository, went live on Monday, promising to do for the world of fine art what Pandora and Netflix have done for music and film. The company has partnered with 275 galleries and 50 museums, digitizing about 20,000 images into what they are calling the "Art Genome Project." The repository recognizes about 800 tags, or "genes," developed and applied to the works by a dozen art historians. From objective criteria like time and place, to the more quirky attributes of contemporary art, each label is designed to link to other similar works that might be of interest to viewers or buyers. More
Higher Ed for a Networked Age: A View From Inside NYU
To answer the research questions that have emerged during the first two decades of digital mass media, a new academic discipline is emerging in universities around the world. We might call it Network Studies—an interdisciplinary field that synthesizes network theory, media history, and mathematics, along with various social, cognitive, and computer sciences to research a global network culture that is morphing with increasing velocity. More
Crowdfund Your Next Album Release, Even If You’re Already a Star
As a result of digitalization and widespread piracy, music album sales are less than half what they were a decade ago. The trend forces many artists to produce albums independently. An increasing number of musicians are circumventing major record labels by using crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter. More
Government Learning Manufacturing
Defense Department Funds High School “Hackerspaces”
A new $10 million federal program is bringing “hackerspaces” to high schools, the New York Times reports. Hackerspaces are community groups for hackers to build and invent technology (and take things apart). They are considered incubators for innovation and a major part of the DIY movement—but the high school program has sparked some controversy. More
Worried About Student Debt? Major in STEM
Student debt is so widespread that two-thirds of the class of 2010 graduated with loans averaging $25,250 each, according to the Project on Student Debt. At the same time, some experts say the country is facing a shortage of workers in STEM fields—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. This means that it may be easier to find good-paying jobs in these fields.Is the STEM shortage a way out of student loan woes? Perhaps if more students choose to study a STEM subject, the country would see less student debt. More
