The rhythm of biology

An art exhibit in New York City explores the science behind our reaction to sounds

Written byBob Grant
| 3 min read

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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 ...

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Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

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