It’s not just your phone that’s always listening to you, the debate over social media bans goes on and Creative Commons’ legal tools are recognised as a digital public good.
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What I've been reading this week:
Real art in museums stimulates brain much more than reprints, study finds
Neurological research suggests looking at original art stimulates the brain more than reproductions.
Research from the Netherlands shows that, neurologically, looking at “real works of art in a museum stimulate the brain in a way that is 10 times stronger than looking at a poster”. In the study electroencephalogram (EEG) brain scanners and eye-tracking equipment recorded the brain activity of participants when looking at five original artworks and posters of them. Admittedly, the study only included 20 participants so it would be very interesting to see if the results are reproducible in more experiments. If they are, this certainly bodes well for all manner of cultural heritage institutions, bolstering claims of the value of the arts and the importance of galleries and other cultural venues for local audiences and tourists alike.
