The rhythm of biology

If ever there were an interactive art/science show, BioRhythm: Music and the Body is it. The exhibition, which debuted in Dublin's Science Gallery last year, has traveled to the Big Apple as part of the 2011 World Science Festival, which runs through June 5th. Visitors to the Eyebeam gallery in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood will be treated to a cacophony of sound and sensation in the building's yawning main space. And they'll quickly discover that they're as much a part of the show as the artwork. Yesterday, I managed to sample a few of the interactive exhibits: I played a Theremin, the scienciest of all instruments; observed the physiology of a whimsical model of the human inner ear; listened to the output of an ear-mimicking, binaural microphone embedded in a sculpture of the human head; and made my own music by moving sensors around on the "Reactable," creating a symphony of ...