How animals get their skin patterns is a matter of physics – new research clarifying how could improve medical diagnostics and synthetic materials

Color patterns seen in fish and other animals evolved to serve various purposes. Lagunatic Photo/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Ankur Gupta, University of Colorado Boulder

Patterns on animal skin, such as zebra stripes and poison frog color patches, serve various biological functions, including temperature regulation, camouflage and warning signals. The colors making up these patterns must be distinct and well separated to be effective. For instance, as a warning signal, distinct colors make them clearly visible to other animals. And as camouflage, well-separated colors allow animals to better blend into their surroundings.

In our newly published research in Science Advances, my student Ben Alessio and I propose a potential mechanism explaining how these distinctive patterns form – that could potentially be applied to medical diagnostics and synthetic materials.

A thought experiment can help visualize the challenge of achieving distinctive color patterns. Imagine gently adding a drop of blue and red dye to a cup of water. The drops will slowly disperse throughout the water due to the process of diffusion, where molecules move from an area of higher concentration to lower concentration. Eventually, the water will have an even concentration of blue and red dyes and become purple. Thus, diffusion tends to create color uniformity.

A question naturally arises: How can distinct color patterns form in the presence of diffusion?

Movement and boundaries

Mathematician Alan Turing first addressed this question in his seminal 1952 paper, “The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis.” Turing showed that under appropriate conditions, the chemical reactions involved in producing color can interact with each other in a way that counteracts diffusion. This makes it possible for colors to self-organize and create interconnected regions with different colors, forming what are now called Turing patterns.

However, in mathematical models, the boundaries between color regions are fuzzy due to diffusion. This is unlike in nature, where boundaries are often sharp and colors are well separated.

Moray eels have distinctive patterns on their skin. Asergieiev/iStock via Getty Images

Our team thought a clue to figuring out how animals create distinctive color patterns could be found in lab experiments on micron-sized particles, such as the cells involved in producing the colors of an animal’s skin. My work and work from other labs found that micron-sized particles form banded structures when placed between a region with a high concentration of other dissolved solutes and a region with a low concentration of other dissolved solutes.

The blue circle in this diagram is moving to the right due to diffusiophoresis, as it is swept along with the motion of the red circles moving into an area where there are more green circles. Richard Sear/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

In the context of our thought experiment, changes in the concentration of blue and red dyes in water can propel other particles in the liquid to move in certain directions. As the red dye moves into an area where it is at a lower concentration, nearby particles will be carried along with it. This phenomenon is called diffusiophoresis.

You benefit from diffusiophoresis whenever you do your laundry: Dirt particles move away from your clothing as soap molecules diffuse out from your shirt and into the water.

Drawing sharp boundaries

We wondered whether Turing patterns composed of regions of concentration differences could also move micron-sized particles. If so, would the resulting patterns from these particles be sharp and not fuzzy?

To answer this question, we conducted computer simulations of Turing patterns – including hexagons, stripes and double spots – and found that diffusiophoresis makes the resulting patterns significantly more distinctive in all cases. These diffusiophoresis simulations were able to replicate the intricate patterns on the skin of the ornate boxfish and jewel moray eel, which isn’t possible through Turing’s theory alone.

This video shows small particles moving due to a related phenomenon called diffusioosmosis.

Further supporting our hypothesis, our model was able to reproduce the findings of a lab study on how the bacterium E. coli moves molecular cargo within themselves. Diffusiophoresis resulted in sharper movement patterns, confirming its role as a physical mechanism behind biological pattern formation.

Because the cells that produce the pigments that make up the colors of an animal’s skin are also micron-sized, our findings suggest that diffusiophoresis may play a key role in creating distinctive color patterns more broadly in nature.

Learning nature’s trick

Understanding how nature programs specific functions can help researchers design synthetic systems that perform similar tasks.

Lab experiments have shown that scientists can use diffusiophoresis to create membraneless water filters and low-cost drug development tools.

Our work suggests that combining the conditions that form Turing patterns with diffusiophoresis could also form the basis of artificial skin patches. Just like adaptive skin patterns in animals, when Turing patterns change – say from hexagons to stripes – this indicates underlying differences in chemical concentrations inside or outside the body.

Skin patches that can sense these changes could diagnose medical conditions and monitor a patient’s health by detecting changes in biochemical markers. These skin patches could also sense changes in the concentration of harmful chemicals in the environment.

The work ahead

Our simulations exclusively focused on spherical particles, while the cells that create pigments in skin come in varying shapes. The effect of shape on the formation of intricate patterns remains unclear.

Furthermore, pigment cells move in a complicated biological environment. More research is needed to understand how that environment inhibits motion and potentially freezes patterns in place.

Besides animal skin patterns, Turing patterns are also crucial to other processes such as embryonic development and tumor formation. Our work suggests that diffusiophoresis may play an underappreciated but important role in these natural processes.

Studying how biological patterns form will help researchers move one step closer to mimicking their functions in the lab – an age-old endeavor that could benefit society.

Ankur Gupta, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

As the climate changes, plants must shift their ranges. But can they?

Lots of them depend on fruit-eating birds and mammals to spread their seeds. But it’s debatable whether the animals — many in trouble themselves — can disperse seeds far and fast enough to keep pace with a warming world.

By Liam Drew

Haldre Rogers’ entry into ecology came via the sort of manmade calamity that scientists euphemistically call an “accidental experiment.”

She’d taken a job in 2002 on the Pacific island of Guam and the neighboring Mariana Islands to study the invasive brown tree snakes that were introduced to Guam, likely from a cargo ship, shortly after World War II. In the ensuing decades, these large snakes thrived, and many native animals were obliterated.

Rogers’ initial task was to track reported sightings on nearby islands. The job, she says, “gave me lots of time to just stare at trees, trying to see snakes. And I realized that, ‘Oh, there’s actually all of these differences between forests on Guam and forests on other islands.’”

And so, for her PhD, Rogers decided to address whether the snakes themselves had changed Guam’s trees and shrubs.

The potential link was this: Many trees and other plants rely on animals to disperse their seeds — and that’s often achieved through fruit. Like mini ecological Trojan horses, fruit evolved to be eaten, its pulp a nutritious lure to make an animal consume it and swallow a plant’s seeds, too.

The animal moves on. After a while, it defecates, depositing the swallowed seeds somewhere within its range. Oftentimes, those seeds emerge in what amount to little fertilizing clumps of manure.

Myriad factors will determine whether a seed ever becomes a mature plant. But by co-opting the wings, legs, guts and back ends of animals, rooted plants have evolved a way of scattering the embryonic forms of their offspring far and wide.

In Guam, forest trees had relied on seven main species of disperser — six birds and one bat — and the tree snakes decimated them. When Rogers arrived, only one bird disperser remained, and only in a limited range, and the bat population was down to about 50 individuals. “So, basically, no seed dispersal,” says Rogers, now an ecologist at Virginia Tech.

Across the island, fruits now just drop to the forest floor.

There are winners and losers among Guam’s plants, Rogers found. Some species that are less dependent on animals are thriving. But many native fruiting trees and shrubs are struggling. There is less mixing, and forests have a lower diversity of plant species as a result.

Particularly striking is what happens when a mature tree falls in the forest. Normally, Rogers says, a free-for-all ensues as masses of growing seedlings fight over the newly available light. On Guam, these gaps fill very slowly because seeds aren’t brought in. “When you lose a seed disperser,” Rogers says, “there’s nothing else that’s going to take over that role in the system.”

If this were simply an inadvertent experiment on one faraway island — confirming what ecologists have long hypothesized about plants’ reliance on frugivorous, or fruit-eating, animals — it would be a local misfortune. But with populations of wild animals plummeting worldwide, ecologists fear that, instead, it serves as a widespread warning.

In Madagascar, researchers recently showed that several endangered trees, including species of palm and baobab, produce seeds too large for any living animals to swallow and distribute. The giant lemurs and elephant birds that must once have distributed them are long extinct, rendering them “ghost fruit.”

In the Western United States and Mexico, as numbers of pinyon jays plummet, ecologists worry about the long-term persistence of piñon pines, whose seeds are cached and spread by these birds.

Examples like this exist all over the world.

But an even bigger issue is that plants probably need their seed-dispersing animals now more than ever. As temperatures quickly rise due to climate change, many plants will have to move to cooler locations to survive. However, research by seed-dispersal ecologists is suggesting that the world’s shrinking animal populations do not have the capacity to mediate these migrations.

“The world is changing so rapidly. Things have to respond in some way,” says Rogers. “Understanding movement is going to be hugely important.”

The right moves

Researchers estimate that over half the world’s seed-bearing plants rely on animal-mediated seed dispersal and that in tropical forests, the number is 75 percent or more. That reliance, Rogers says, takes various forms.

For example, as shown in Guam, fruit-eating animals serve an ongoing and vital maintenance function within a local population. Seeds dispersed randomly by animals can land in healthy new growing spots and ensure mixed ecosystems, whereas fruits that fall beneath their parents are competing with their siblings and are, quite literally, in their parents’ shadow.

Such fallen seeds have also lost the often-important step of passing through an animal’s gut. Digestion may wash away molecules that inhibit germination and it strips the seed of surrounding flesh that, if left in place, can promote the growth of fungi and other pathogens.

But as Rogers and colleagues described in the 2021 Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, another service will be important for surviving climate change: transporting seeds beyond their parents’ current range. As temperatures rise, plants will have to track — or follow — the movement of the climatic conditions to which they are adapted. Broadly speaking, that means moving north for Northern Hemisphere species and south for Southern Hemisphere species — or to higher altitudes.

Juan P. González-Varo, an ecologist at the University of Cadiz in Spain, explains that since average temperatures vary according to latitude — getting cooler farther from the equator — ecologists can calculate how quickly a species will need to move toward cooler climes to stay at the same average temperature, based on data about rates of global heating. The current estimate is 4.2 kilometers per decade — a significant range shift. And the rate of needed movement is greater for woody fruiting plants because they often take years or even decades to reach reproductive maturity, González-Varo says.

Ecologists are asking whether today’s animals populations will permit plants to achieve this.

González-Varo’s own work, for example, is focused on birds. He says that in the mid-2010s, when ecologists described how crucial plant migration would be in the future, authors of certain influential papers said that migratory birds are well-positioned to move seeds the necessary distances.

But although migratory birds do make lengthy journeys, seeds can pass through avian gastrointestinal tracts as quickly as 20 minutes after being swallowed. Will birds retain seeds long enough to carry them far enough?

Researchers examining the gut contents of migratory birds on the Atlantic’s Canary Islands did find seeds from the mainland some 170 kilometers away, indicating that long-range dispersal can happen. But González-Varo felt there was a problem and, in 2021, he and colleagues published work on European forests that confirmed his pessimism: Migrating birds are typically traveling in the wrong direction when they eat fruit.

The researchers gathered data on 949 examples of 46 bird species eating the fruit of 81 different plants. They observed that migrating birds tended to eat European fruits when they were heading south for winter, from colder to warmer climes. It’s the opposite direction from that needed to keep up with climate change. Only around one-third of the plant species studied, including plants such as holly, wild olives and ivy, produce fruit in the spring when the birds are heading north — a time that would help the species move to cooler latitudes.

So if migratory birds had been seen as the solution to plants tracking climate change, González-Varo says this study showed they are “a very partial solution.”

Rising temperatures, shorter distances

A huge simulation published in 2022 examined more closely the global capacity of all animals to move seeds around. The results were also concerning.

Ecologist Evan Fricke of MIT, Rogers and coauthors first built a database of every field study they could access in which researchers had quantified aspects of seed dispersal by animals. Which animals eat fruit from which plants? Do the animals swallow, strip, cache or destroy the seeds? How far do the animals take seeds? And in which instances do seeds produce new plants? The model was ultimately fed by data from around 18,000 animal-plant interactions.

Next, the team added data describing each animal and plant species; the team also included data on the natural geographic ranges of species, including estimates of where extinct species would live today had they not gone extinct.

Finally, they used machine learning to simulate the degree to which animals are distributing seeds across the globe today, and how declines in dispersers and their habitats are affecting seed movement.

The first thing to pop out of the model was a strong correlation between the size of an animal — especially mammals — and how far it disperses seeds. Typically, large mammals have large ranges and seeds take longer to pass through them. (Birds, Fricke says, mostly occupy quite small ranges when they’re not migrating.) That is a problem, because large mammals are far more likely than small ones to have been driven to extinction by people or to be heading in that direction.

Fricke’s team then looked at dispersals greater than 1 kilometer from parent plant’s range — the sort needed to shift plants’ ranges. Their model showed that extinctions and declines in habitat have vastly reduced the long-distance dispersal of seeds. “There have been really strong declines in long-distance seed dispersal as a result of the massive loss of big animals from the ecosystems,” says Fricke.

Whether it’s cave paintings in France or the fossil record, historical data show that large mammals were once widespread, constantly moving seeds long distances. “That helped deal with the climate changes that have happened in the last 10,000 years or so,” Fricke says. “But they’re no longer helping plants with climate change now, because they are either completely extinct or are restricted to really small areas within their former ranges.”

The team ran another simulation in which all currently endangered birds and mammals become extinct. Under this scenario, seed dispersal of more than 1 kilometer would further suffer, with some of the greatest losses occurring in Madagascar and Southeast Asia.

In short, Fricke says, as temperatures increase, seed movement is decreasing — right at the time when it’s needed most.

Dwindling dispersal

To complicate matters further, sometimes an animal species can stop dispersing seeds even when it’s still around and still eating fruit, says Kim McConkey, an ecologist affiliated with the UK’s University of Nottingham Malaysia campus who has observed the habits of many frugivorous creatures. Loss of predators is one cause. Without the fear of being snatched by, say, a fox or a hawk, rodents are less likely to carry seeds away from the plants where they found them. Noise and light pollution is another: It can deter seed dispersers from venturing into certain areas.

Reduced competition for food can also dramatically change dispersal patterns. On Guam, surviving frugivores, freed from competition, eat fruit from fewer plant species. In Tonga, the insular flying fox — a bat species whose numbers are declining there — now rarely pick fruit from a tree then carry it elsewhere to eat, McConkey says. They just feed happily in the fruiting tree, dropping the seeds below. “When you’ve got a few bats, they don’t fight — and you’ve got no seed dispersal,” she says. “If there aren’t enough bats, almost nothing moves.”

Habitat fragmentation is a further problem, says Dov Sax, a conservation biologist at Brown University. “Much of Europe is in agricultural fields. And the same is true for much of the middle of the US,” he says. “That creates a huge barrier to dispersal.”

In so many ways, the world is now radically different from how it was during previous periods of climate change, Sax adds. “In North America and the UK, none of us grew up with elephants roaming the landscape, or giant sloths or lots of bison,” he says. “It’s easy to forget that that was the situation for millions of years, and that through all the previous episodes of climate change, those mammals were available to move seeds.”

Sax does note one significant uncertainty in forecasting how much plants must migrate to survive global heating. It’s possible, he says, that they have more built-in flexibility than assumed to deal with conditions different to those within their historical ranges. Still, there is widespread evidence that plant and animal ranges really are shifting. Parts of the Arctic tree line are moving towards the north pole by 40 meters a year or more; the US Environmental Protection Agency says ranges of North American species have moved north by an average of 16.9 kilometers a decade since the 1970s; and across the world plants are shifting to higher, cooler altitudes, including alpine species that have ascended hundreds of meters up the Himalayas and the Hengduan mountains.

What seed ecologists must do next is directly show if and how animals are facilitating — or preventing with their absence — such movements. They also need to learn how new communities function when novel plants join ones that already live at higher latitudes or altitudes, creating new combinations of species. Fricke’s modeling, supported by real-world data on existing introduced plant species, suggests that when fruiting plants move to new habitats, most of them will have their seed-dispersal needs met by local fruit-eating animals. But nobody knows for sure.

The answers have important implications for conservation (see sidebar). But for these issues to gain traction, the crucial role of animals in dispersing seeds needs far more appreciation among the public and from conservation policymakers, says Rogers.

Certainly, pollination by bees and other insects is now a flagship conservation issue. Maybe that’s unsurprising, since some 75 percent of human crops depend on animal-mediated pollination, whereas seed dispersal is primarily an issue for wild plants. But perhaps it’s also easier to turn bees flitting from flower to flower into icons of environmentalism than it is to celebrate thrushes or bears eating berries then defecating the seeds.

Nevertheless, seed dispersal is an essential ecological function, stresses Rogers. For wild plants, she adds — and therefore, the health of global ecosystems — the message is quite simple: “You can have all the pollination you want. But if it doesn’t get dispersed, it’s not going to succeed.”

Seed-dispersal lessons

Given the ecological importance of animal-mediated seed dispersal, researchers say, conservation or rewilding initiatives should consider the following:

• Ensure that new plantations are populated by appropriate seed dispersers.

• Preserve natural populations of large-bodied mammals, as well as their freedom to roam, because these animals carry out especially important dispersal functions.

• Connect areas of natural habitat by corridors or other linkages to enable seed-carrying animals to move between them.

• Actively move plants from one place to another if it becomes clear that plants are no longer able to migrate naturally to cooler regions.

— Liam Drew

Liam Drew is a freelance journalist covering most avenues of biology from his home near London. Read more about him at liamdrew.net.

This article originally appeared in Knowable Magazine, an independent journalistic endeavor from Annual Reviews. 

How Young Adults Can Build a Healthier Future

Shaping the future of public health into an equitable one means ensuring all people and communities have access to the health care and resources they need to live well. The nation requires a strong, diverse public health workforce to accomplish that goal.

That’s why AmeriCorps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched Public Health AmeriCorps – to support the recruitment, training and development of early career public health workers who can serve their local communities.

Bridging national service and public health, the initiative supports a diverse group of early career professionals working to address today’s public health challenges in a range of roles, including:

• Health education and training
• Community outreach and engagement
• System navigation, referrals and linkage to care
• Research, data collection, analysis and assessment

What Members are Saying
Everyone was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – including Dionne Johnson, who lost a loved one to the virus.

“I had a family member die from COVID-19, and it really touched me,” Johnson said. “That gave me the passion and lit the fire under me to actually pursue a career in public health.”

Now, Johnson is realizing her dreams of transforming public health in her community. In her work, she wants to teach people in Black and brown communities how they can learn to be healthy and advocate for themselves.

Another member, Jaiden Singh, is the son of immigrants. Singh launched a promising career in public health so he can give back to the community where he grew up.

“Being a part of the organization not only has really supplemented my education that I’m working toward in public health and policy, it has also given me the opportunity to do work that I am really passionate about in a community that I have known all my life and really do love,” Singh said. “I would highly recommend being a part of this really valuable and inspiring community.”

Action That Creates Impact
The diverse work of Public Health AmeriCorps benefits not only program members but also the communities they serve. As examples of the program at work, members have:

• Provided overdose rescue education, raised awareness about opioid use disorder and harm reduction strategies and distributed overdose rescue kits containing naloxone (an overdose-reversing nasal spray).
• Held back-to-school COVID-19 testing events, distributed early childhood health education and built community gardens in underserved communities.
• Participated in a community mental health crisis intervention system to assess, stabilize and link people in crisis to follow-up care and services.
• Supported elementary schools as part of a dental hygiene program that sends out staff and volunteers to provide free teeth cleanings to students.

Learn More and Apply
If you want to start your career and make a difference in public health, consider member benefits such as:

• Education awards to apply to higher education or student loan forgiveness
• Student loan deferment and forbearance
• Living allowance
• Hands-on experience
• Training from experts

Visit AmeriCorps.gov/PublicHealth for a list of opportunities to serve and contact your desired opportunity by phone or email to learn more and apply. You can also subscribe to the newsletter to learn more about the initiative.

 

SOURCE:
AmeriCorps

Trade unions in the UK and US have become more powerful despite political interference and falling memberships

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Steven Daniels, Edge Hill University

In September 2023, Joe Biden became the first sitting US president to join strikers on a picket line. He told car workers that they “deserve a significant raise and other benefits”.

Even more surprisingly perhaps, those same workers – in a dispute with three of America’s biggest car manufacturers – were later praised by Donald Trump. Meanwhile in the UK, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to repeal anti-strike laws, and “unequivocally” support the right to strike.

It seems that ongoing – and largely successful – strike action in both the UK and the US has forced political leaders to take trade unions more seriously than they have for decades.

There is a shifting balance of power towards the unions, with employers increasingly agreeing settlements in the strikers’ favour. In the UK, key workers in sectors such as education, healthcare and transport continue to strike in pursuit of better pay and conditions – no doubt encouraged by the successes they have seen elsewhere.

For example, in October last year, striking barristers received a 15% pay rise, while London bus drivers ended their industrial action after accepting a pay deal worth 18% in February 2023. Then in July, Royal Mail workers concluded a three-year dispute after receiving a 10% rise .

In the US, a well-publicised strike which stopped production of popular TV shows and films ended in success for the Writers Guild of America, bolstering action by striking actors who have now agreed a “tentative” deal with Hollywood studios.

Low numbers and high barriers

That successful strike action is taking place at such a size and scale is remarkable considering the various hurdles still being faced by unions in both countries.

UK unions, once powerful enough to bring down a government (as when Edward Heath succumbed to the National Union of Mineworkers in 1974), have faced an increasingly restrictive environment. This culminated in 2016 legislation which established high legal barriers for strike action, such as requiring a 50% turnout, or placing tight restrictions on where and how pickets can be conducted.

In the US, striking rights are weaker still, with the balance of power overwhelmingly favouring employers. Every single state (except for Montana) is an “at will” state, meaning that an employer can effectively dismiss an employee at any time, for any reason (if the decision is not illegal, such as being discriminatory).

Membership levels also paint a depressing picture for trade unions. In the UK, just 22.3% of workers were part of a union in 2022. In the US, the proportion is 10.1%, and 84% of households do not include a single union member.

For younger workers, with no memory or experience of what unions have achieved in the past, the numbers are even lower. Only 4.4% of US workers aged 16 to 24 are members of a union, and in the UK it’s just 3.7%.

Lower levels of union membership results in less bargaining power, and therefore a weakening of employment rights and job security – which again makes the recent levels of industrial action a surprise.

Striking a blow

Falling membership also has a direct impact on the number of working days lost to industrial action, with substantial declines in recent decades. The US saw a peak of 52.8 million lost working days in 1970, and a low of 200,000 in 2014.

In the UK, 29.5 million working days lost in 1979 went down to as little as 170,000 in 2015.

But this vital metric of successful unionisation is also changing, with the number of days lost rising to 2.2 million in the US, and 2.5 million in the UK in 2022.

This suggests unions are becoming much more effective at galvanising the members they do have. An increase in the number of lost working days implies that workers’ feel like they can take industrial action, and that such action will actually make a difference.

This snowball effect will only embolden unions further, and aggrieved workers will feel more confident about standing up to their employers.

The fact that workers seem to be feeling empowered despite low numbers and an increase in the barriers to strike action, begs an important question about what is behind the current resurgence.

It may be down to the cost-of-living crisis spurring strained workers to demand above-inflation pay rises. Or it may be thanks to unemployment levels being at their lowest in nearly 50 years, providing substantial bargaining power and leverage.

Many employers would struggle to find replacement workers at the moment, especially highly skilled ones, like those in the car industry. Unions know this, and therefore feel more comfortable agitating for better terms and conditions.

Responding to the unions’ apparent new levels of confidence, the UK government recently introduced legislation designed to force some strikers back to work. Meanwhile Labour, which receives substantial funding from unions, is seeking to walk a tightrope of pleasing both workers and employers as it seeks a broad electoral coalition.

Both parties need to accept that trade unionism is experiencing a revival few thought possible – and one that shows no signs of stopping.

Steven Daniels, Lecturer in Law and Politics, Edge Hill University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

How Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor became Halloween’s theme song

In Bach’s era, the pipe organ was one of the world’s most technologically advanced instruments. Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis via Getty Images

Megan Sarno, University of Texas at Arlington

Imagine a grand house on a hill, after dark on an autumn night. As the door opens, an organ pierces through the thick silence and echoes through the cavernous halls.

The tune that comes to many minds will be Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, an organ work composed in the early 18th century. Most people today recognize it as a sonic icon of a certain type of fear: haunting and archaic, the kind of thing likely to be manufactured by someone – a ghost, perhaps – wearing a tuxedo and lurking in an abandoned mansion.

The iconic intro to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Paul Fey/YouTube1.04 MB (download)

Bach could not have thought that his nearly 9-minute organ piece would become so strongly associated with haunted houses and sinister machinations. As a musicologist whose current research is focused on the musical representation of mystery, I see the story of this song as a classic example of how the meaning, use and purpose of music can change over time.

30 seconds of sheer suspense

Bach was a technically skilled musical craftsman and a scholar of composition. In his work, he sought to dutifully serve his employer, whether that was a Lutheran church, a royal court or a town council. He wasn’t like the famous composers of later eras – Mozart, Haydn, Liszt – who used their talents to build fame and increase their influence.

As Bach scholar Christoph Wolff has pointed out, Toccata and Fugue belongs to the repertory of virtuosic show pieces that Bach created to exhibit his own prowess as an organ player.

For Bach, who left no documents pertaining to this piece, the work would have been merely functional, a way to show the abilities of the organ and to put his talent to good use – not indicative of emotions, stories or other ideas.

The music of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue owes much of its spookiness to the drama it employs: Harmonically, it is set in a somber minor mode that is generally aligned with more negative emotions such as sadness, nostalgia, loss and despair.

Within this minor mode, a striking melodic contour is unleashed. The piece’s first pitch is the fifth scale degree instead of the first pitch of the scale. The unexpected note creates uncertainty. Then there’s a quick descent down the D minor scale after the initial flickering ornament.

Add to this the silent background and the pregnant pauses between musical phrases, and the first 30 seconds are sheer suspense. A heavily contrasting texture – with lots of notes stacked up on each other – follows, introducing sonic clashes and rich harmony that swell with power.

The piece moves quickly after this arresting beginning, relentlessly following a pattern of solo figures interspersed with massive, pounding chords.

The organ’s haunting effect

The sounds of the pipe organ further enhance the piece’s spooky sound.

During the Baroque era – roughly 1600 to 1750 – the organ reached the height of its popularity. At the time, it was one of humankind’s most technologically advanced instruments, and musicians routinely performed organ music during church services and in concerts held at churches.

But as musicologist Edmond Johnson has explained, many instruments preferred in the Baroque era, such as the organ and the harpsichord, had become out of fashion by the 19th century, stashed in storage rooms where they gathered dust.

When music historians and ancient music revivalists first brought these instruments out for public performances after more than a century in storage, the now unfamiliar instruments sounded archaic and creaky to audiences.

Musicologist Carolyn Abbate has argued that music can be “sticky,” collecting new meanings as contexts change and time passes. You can see this in the way Schubert’s famous “Ave Maria” – originally written as accompaniment to the words of Walter Scott’s poem “Lady of the Lake” – became associated with Catholic devotional music. Or the way Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” morphed from an underappreciated neo-Romantic ballet in 19th-century Russia to a popular annual Christmas tradition in the U.S.

A song that stuck

So how did the piece become associated with Halloween?

One landmark film likely contributed to the impression that Bach’s Toccata and Fugue portends something nefarious: the 1931 release of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Rouben Mamoulian’s famous adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel uses Bach’s Toccata in the opening credits.

The opening credits to ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ (1931).

The piece sets a tone of suspense and suggests the depths of evil that Dr. Jekyll will encounter in his experiments. In the film, Dr. Jekyll is portrayed as an amateur organist who enjoys playing Bach’s music, so it is easy for a listener to apply the dramatic, suspenseful and complex nature of the Toccata to Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego.

Since then, the music has also been used in other spooky films and video games, including “The Black Cat” (1934) and the “Dark Castle” video game series.

Though Bach himself would not have thought of Toccata and Fugue in D minor as spooky, its origins as an innocuous concert piece won’t prevent it from sending a shiver down people’s spines every Halloween.

Megan Sarno, Assistant Professor of Music, University of Texas at Arlington

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

ALABAMA TO HOST ITS FIRST EVER PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

"Alabama will host its first ever Presidential Debate on Wednesday, December 6 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

“I am thrilled the fourth Republican presidential debate has been finalized, and that it will be in the Yellowhammer State. This is an amazing opportunity for the state of Alabama, as well as primary voters across the country. Alabama is one of the strongest Republican states in the nation, and I think it’s fitting that we host a primary debate as candidates fight for the support of conservative voters,” said ALGOP Chairman John Wahl.

“Tuscaloosa will be a great host city, and I look forward to working with student groups and young conservatives during this process. Reaching out to young voters is one of my targets as the youngest Republican State Party Chairman in the country, and this debate will give us a unique opportunity for collage outreach,” he continued.

The debate will be moderated by SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly, NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, and the Washington Free Beacon’s Eliana Johnson.

“I want to thank the Debate Committee and RNC leadership for making this happen. This debate has been in the works for months, and I am proud to have played a small part in ensuring Alabama has the opportunity to host its first ever official televised presidential debate. Raising Alabama’s political profile is important to me as Chairman, and I think this debate will continue the work the ALGOP has been doing in this area,” said Chairman Wahl.

Details about the venue will be released in the coming days.

Chairman Wahl is available for interviews about the debate. Please contact ALGOP Communications Director Jeannie Negrón Burniston to schedule. "

https://algop.org/its-official-alabama-to-host-its-first-ever-presidential-debate/

6 Holiday Gifts for Teens and Young Adults They'll Actually Like

One of the best parts of the holidays is being together with those you love, and for many families that time together involves the exchanging of gifts among loved ones young and old. Finding the right gift for everyone can be a challenge, especially if teenagers and young adults are on your shopping list. 

It seems like social media feeds are constantly filled with a new tech item, style, pastime or trend, making it more challenging to pick out gifts for the young ones on gift lists. This year, consider some on-trend gift ideas – like Jelly Belly Jelly Beans – to show appreciation for the Gen-Zers in your life with presents and stocking stuffers that can win them over.

New in Tech
As one of the most popular categories of gifts for teens and one that’s always evolving, deciding which devices and gadgets to gift can be hard. Consider your loved ones’ hobbies and interests to make the job easier; for example, if they’re music lovers or podcast fanatics, wireless earbuds or headphones are a perfect option. If social butterflies are on your shopping list, portable phone chargers and smartphone accessories like a pop-out phone grip can make sure they’re one step ahead of their next photo or social post. 

For Boba and Candy Lovers
Many Gen-Zers love a good cup of bubble tea or boba swag, so feed their cravings with an option like Jelly Belly Boba Milk Tea jelly beans. With gift boxes, snack bags and more, these delicious treats made for candy lovers provide a perfect balance of tea, tapioca and sweetness in five true-to-life milk tea flavors: Mango, Taro, Matcha, Strawberry and Thai Milk Tea jelly beans. Find these treats at JellyBelly.com where you can purchase online or locate a store near you.

Cozy Comforts
For teens heading to college or young adults venturing out on their own, consider gifting items to spruce up their new spaces. You can give them a helping hand to start their next chapter with fun decor items like throw pillows and blankets or add life to their new homes with stylish wall art or flower subscriptions. For simple reminders of home, consider candles with their favorite scents or aromatherapy diffusers and essential oils to add a touch of calm to the chaos of heading out on their own.

Play to Their Hobbies
Help them embrace their talents and favorite activities whether it’s art, reading, cooking, gaming, playing sports or mastering instruments. New paint kits and supplies can help young Picasso’s take their art to the next level while a new appliance or cookbook can provide an upgrade for avid home chefs.

The Gift of Music
Whether they have a favorite band or are up-and-coming musicians themselves (or both), give the gift of music with fun ways to enjoy their favorite songs. Record players and vinyl records are making a major comeback while portable speakers allow music lovers to take their favorite sounds wherever they go. A subscription to a streaming service can be perfect for casual listeners or, if you’re looking to splurge, consider concert tickets.

Outdoor Adventures
From jogging around the neighborhood to exploring nearby parks and trails, outdoor enthusiasts can never have enough gear. Runners are always searching for the latest sneaker launch or fitness tracker to keep on pace with their goals while more casual enjoyers of the outdoors may love a new water bottle, picnic blanket or beach bag.

 

SOURCE:
Jelly Belly

Parenting Young Children: Navigating bedtime battles, aggression and body exploration

Parenting young children is full of love and joy, but it also comes with inevitable challenges.

In fact, according to research conducted by The Goddard School, 83% of parents of children 6 years old and younger have concerns about their children’s behavior. The most common concerns are sleeping habits and aggression.

When it comes to sleep, aggression and another top-of-mind topic for parents of young children – body exploration – understanding what’s to be expected and the appropriate steps to take can mitigate negative experiences for parents and children alike.

To help parents dealing with these situations, Dr. Lauren Starnes, senior vice president and chief academic officer at The Goddard School, and Dr. Jack Maypole, pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and member of The Goddard School’s Educational Advisory Board, offer this guidance and reassurance.

Bedtime Battles
Sleep deprivation and parenthood often go hand-in-hand, especially during a child’s first 12 months. It may be a surprise to some families that establishing sleep routines for preschoolers can also be challenging. For toddlers and 2-year-olds, the difficulty may be in their newfound freedom of toddler beds. For older preschoolers, the struggle may be the child’s burgeoning imagination – having scary thoughts, bad dreams or fear of being alone.

For young children, one of the most important elements at bedtime is establishing consistent, predictable sleep routines and not reinforcing sleep disruptions with unintended positive reinforcement like extra attention when they sneak out of bed or climb into bed with their parents.

Aggression
Aggressive behavior is common among toddlers and preschoolers. It may look like a sudden shove, kick or snatch of an item. As children mature and gain greater self-control, these behaviors can be redirected and eventually outgrown. Toddlers and 2-year-olds frequently show aggression due to communication frustrations or when seeking independence.

Three- and 4-year-olds more readily exhibit this behavior as they look to control their surroundings, as a cause-and-effect experimentation or reciprocal modeling of behavior that they may have seen elsewhere. The root cause of aggression can often be visually observed and the response will vary accordingly.

Body Exploration
Body exploration and self-stimulation is a common behavior seen in older preschool-aged children. In the preschool years, body exploration is done out of curiosity and as a comforting behavior. Self-stimulatory exploration is most commonly seen at naptime, bath time or bedtime.

Some children may attempt to explore the genitals of others. While the latter may be uncomfortable, it’s important to address privacy, boundaries, consent and respect for others in age-appropriate ways.

To access a wealth of actionable parenting insights, guidance and resources –  including a webinar with Starnes and Maypole that dives deeper into how to address challenges with sleep, aggression and body exploration – visit GoddardSchool.com. 

SOURCE:
The Goddard School

Serve Plant-Based Sweets This Holiday Season

Make this year’s festivities truly memorable by adding a touch of sweetness to holiday celebrations with this delightful combination of fluffy cupcakes, creamy frosting and a heavenly caramel drizzle.

These Dairy Free Salted Caramel Cupcakes are a perfect cold weather confection that’ll have everyone reaching for more. Made using Country Crock Plant Butter and Plant Cream, which are 100% dairy free, you can ensure there’s something delicious for everyone at the table to enjoy.

As easy 1-for-1 swaps in favorite holiday recipes, Plant Butter and Plant Cream can be used in the same amounts as dairy butter and dairy heavy whipping cream. They cook and bake like their dairy counterparts, so your guests won’t even know you’ve made the swap. Whether you or your guests are lactose-intolerant, vegan or simply trying to enjoy more plant-based ingredients, all can savor these rich, creamy flavors at your holiday table.

Find more holiday dessert ideas by visiting CountryCrock.com.

Dairy Free Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Servings: 12

Salted Caramel:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks with Avocado Oil, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup Country Crock Plant Cream, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cupcakes:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks with Avocado Oil, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup Country Crock Plant Cream

Vegan Caramel Frosting:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks with Avocado Oil, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus additional, if necessary
• 2 teaspoons caramel sauce, at room temperature
• Country Crock Plant Cream, as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons caramel
• salt flakes (optional)
• caramel cubes (optional)

1. To make caramel: In medium, light-colored saucepan over medium heat, stir sugar constantly until evenly melted.
2. Remove pan from heat and add Plant Butter, Plant Cream, coconut oil and salt.
3. Return mixture to medium heat, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Turn heat to low, stir and cook until mixture is thick and smooth. If caramel separates, whisk vigorously until it's back together.
4. Pour caramel into heat-proof bowl, passing through fine mesh strainer to remove crystallized sugar. Cover and cool completely in fridge.
5. To make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pan with liners; set aside.
   In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
6. In bowl of stand mixer, using whisk attachment, cream together Plant Butter, powdered sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and cooled caramel, whisking on medium speed until combined.
7. Slowly add flour mixture, Plant Cream, scraping down sides of bowl until combined. Divide batter evenly into liners, filling each 3/4 full.
8. Bake until tops spring back when touched or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack and cool 5 minutes then remove from pan. Allow cupcakes to cool completely at room temperature.
9. To make frosting: In bowl of stand mixer, mix Plant Butter on medium-high speed about 1 minute.
10. Add powdered sugar and Plant Cream together about 1 minute then add caramel sauce and mix until fully combined.
11. Add vanilla then Plant Cream as necessary, 1 teaspoon at a time, while mixing to desired consistency.
12. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes, drizzle with caramel and sprinkle with salt flakes, if desired. Garnish with caramel cubes, if desired.

SOURCE:
Country Crock Plant Cream

The Cost of Resiliency During Power Outages: 5 tips to stay prepared ahead of storms

Safeguarding your family, home and finances from disaster starts long before an extreme weather event occurs. When destructive storms challenge the electric grid’s reliability and cause loss of power for an extended period, many facets of everyday life are disrupted.

Unexpected power outages can impact vital communications, transportation and access to important businesses. It can also cause food spoilage or water contamination and prevent the use of medical devices. Protecting your loved ones and property starts with a plan.

“My family was without power for three days after a tornado touched down two blocks from our home,” said Matt Blashaw, licensed home building contractor, real estate agent and host of various HGTV shows. “I partner with the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) because I realized the importance of not only having an emergency plan but the need for a reliable energy source, like propane, to power a standby generator to keep my family and home resilient. In addition to providing peace of mind, a propane standby generator could lower a homeowner’s insurance rate and simultaneously raise the home’s property value. It’s a win-win-win in my mind.”

According to PERC, the average homeowner will experience 3.5 power interruptions in a two-year period. Even short outages lasting less than four hours can cost homeowners an average of $1,250 in spoiled food, hotels, damaged electronics and more.

To avoid a financial burden caused by power outages, consider a reliable propane standby generator as a key part of resilient design. It allows a house to:

• Resist hazards brought on by electric grid failures, such as spoiled food, loss of heat or air conditioning, hotel costs and more
• Continue providing the primary function of a home – protection
• Reduce the magnitude or duration of a disruptive event to a property and its impact on the homeowners

While no amount of preparation can stop the forces of nature, planning ahead to manage blackouts can have a significant impact on you and your family. Consider these tips from Blashaw and the experts at PERC.

Make a Plan
Creating a plan that assesses the risks of the region where you live and addresses potential disasters is a key step toward safety in an emergency. Gather your family and discuss how you’ll receive emergency alerts, where you’ll shelter, how you’ll evacuate and how everyone should plan to communicate, if the need arises. Think through needs specific to your household such as ages of residents, critical medications, dietary needs, child care, pet care and more. Putting a plan in place means you and your loved ones can react quickly when time is of the essence.

Prepare Your Propane System
Regardless of what weather may be on the horizon, it’s important to ensure your propane tank is ready. Take a few minutes to know where the gas shutoff valve is located on your propane system in case the propane needs to be turned off in the event of an emergency. Call a propane professional to inspect the system before restoring it.  

On average, a 500-gallon tank can hold enough propane to meet the annual energy needs of a single-family home. A local propane supplier will come to the home and fill the tank, providing energy for key appliances that use propane even if the fragile electric grid is down.

As the season transitions to winter, mark the tank with brightly colored stakes or flags that are higher than anticipated snow depth; this ensures propane personnel can always locate it during scheduled refills, even during the toughest conditions.

Secure Doors and Windows
When storms and high winds are expected, one easy way to protect your home and family members is to secure all exterior doors and windows. Start by checking seals to keep out wind and water, which can cause damage. Secure outdoor furniture and trim vegetation like bushes and trees to avoid flying debris shattering windows during high winds.

Have a Backup Power Source
When the electric grid is interrupted, the loss of power can impact systems like smoke and fire detection, refrigeration, air conditioning and heating, and other health and safety equipment. When a homeowner purchases a backup standby generator, a licensed technician installs the unit outside the home and wires it to the home’s circuit breaker. When a power outage occurs, the generator automatically senses the disruption of service and starts the generator’s engine, which then delivers power to select appliances in the home in as little as 10 seconds after an outage.

Available in a variety of capacities to fit the needs of any size of home, propane backup generators are versatile and can power several major appliances throughout a home including lights, refrigeration, heating and cooling equipment and critical medical equipment. For homes that already operate on propane, consider running important systems and appliances like the furnace, water heater, stove and fireplace on propane. The more appliances powered by propane, the smaller and less expensive your standby generator can be.

Plus, propane is environmentally friendly and won’t degrade over time like other fuel sources, ensuring the backup generator reliably powers your home to give you added peace of mind. As a low-carbon emissions energy source, propane is part of a wide path to achieving a low-carbon future. Its abundance, along with the growth of renewable propane, means propane can be used now and for generations to come.

Pack an Emergency Kit
Regardless of the emergency you’re facing, being prepared means stocking up on food, water and other supplies that can last your family multiple days. Although an emergency kit is largely a collection of basic household items, it’s important to have the kit packed, stored and secured ahead of potential disasters to save time and energy. Some basics to pack include gallon jugs of water, non-perishable food, flashlights and extra batteries, smartphone chargers, sanitation supplies like trash bags and moist towelettes, a first-aid kit and basic tools. Also consider items based on individual needs like prescription medications, eyeglasses, essentials for infants and pet food.

Find more resilient storm preparedness solutions at Propane.com.

SOURCE:
Propane Education & Research Council

5 Tips to Keep Kids Healthy During the Holidays

As the year comes to a close, the weather gets colder and indoor festivities ramp up. Keeping children and their families healthy during the holidays should be a priority for everyone.

“While gathering with friends and loved ones is an exciting and important part of the holiday season, staying healthy should still be on top of your ‘to-do’ list,” said Drs. Tress Goodwin and Joelle Simpson, KinderCare medical advisors. “Simple actions can be some of the most effective at keeping everyone healthy to ensure this season is a joyous one.”

Consider these five tips from KinderCare’s medical experts to keep in mind throughout the holidays.

1. Wash hands regularly. One of the simplest ways to prevent germ spreading is to wash your and your children’s hands often using soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer. Try to remember to wash your hands after leaving public places, before eating and after any diaper change or restroom visit. If someone in your home is not feeling well, wash your hands more often.
2. Share joy, not germs. Try to distance yourself from anyone who is sick (like those with coughs and colds) and avoid close contact with others when you or your child are sick. Encourage children to cough or sneeze into their elbows if no tissues are available. As a good at-home practice, regularly clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as toys, cabinet and doorknobs, counters and tabletops.
3. Keep meals well-balanced. Offer a healthy snack before holiday treats or make healthier versions of holiday favorites. Consider healthy snack options like fresh vegetables, fruits and dip, dried fruits, nuts or roasted sweet potatoes that can boost immunity for children and help balance out sugary treats. It’s also important to remember to eat healthy portion sizes and encourage children to listen to their bodily cues for hunger and fullness. Avoid juices or other sugary drinks and encourage children to drink plenty of water.
4. Schedule personal time and get plenty of rest. Festivities can be merry but also overwhelming, especially for young children. Loud music, bright lights, lots of people and changes in schedules can leave them feeling overstimulated, which can lead to emotional outbursts. Make sure to leave some time in your week for simple joys, like cuddling up to read a book together or quiet play with immediate family members, so children have a chance to step out of the hustle and bustle. Remember holidays are meant to be fun, not stressful. While it may be tempting to pack every day with fun-filled activities, try to maintain children’s routines, including nap and bedtime schedules.
5. Stay active. No matter what the weather is like, kids still need time to be physically active. Indoor play can be just as effective as time spent on the playground. Get creative with at-home winter fun with activities like dance parties, scavenger hunts and kids’ yoga. You can also visit indoor locations such as malls and museums to get those legs moving.

For more information or tips on holiday eating, indoor exercise and keeping children safe during the holidays, visit KinderCare.com.

SOURCE:
KinderCare

This engineering course has students use their brainwaves to create performing art

Francesco Fedele, Georgia Institute of Technology

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

“Arts and Geometry”

What prompted the idea for the course?

After a serious injury in 2016, I started drawing and painting during my recovery as a form of self-taught art therapy. I found the experience transformative. During my recovery, I rediscovered Pablo Picasso’s artwork and the geometry of his cubism, which inspired my early paintings.

As making art became part of my life, a desire grew to share this transformative experience with my engineering students. I wanted them to learn how to see science and engineering from a broader perspective – as an artist.

This led to the idea for, and development of, a course on arts and geometry in collaboration with professional artists of the Atlanta community. The play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” where comedian Steve Martin imagined a conversation in a Parisian cafe between Picasso and Albert Einstein, helped inspire the course. So did a book by history and philosophy of science professor Arthur Miller, “Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time and the Beauty That Causes Havoc.”

What does the course explore?

The course introduces engineering students to the geometry of manifolds – that is, cylinders, spheres or hyperboloids, and more complex surfaces, like a crumpled piece of paper or a rippled kale leaf. It then looks at how these concepts influenced modern arts and sciences: Picasso’s cubism and Einstein’s relativity. Cubism combines many angles to create a new way of seeing things, whereas Einstein’s theory changes how we think about time, which isn’t separate from the space around us – they are intertwined.

The course is integrated with weekly art labs taught over the years by Atlanta professional artists Emily Vickers, Rachel Grant, Anna Doll and Jerushia Graham, and with the support of music technologist Mike Winters. The artists teach students the fundamentals of several art mediums: pencil and charcoal drawing, printmaking, oil painting and sculptures.

We also teach students how to create performing art using their brainwaves. Brainwaves are produced when we are engaged in any activity. They can be measured by electroencephalography – or EEG – headsets.

Students learn to create auditory or dynamic visual representations of our mind activity when we think, reason, create, dance or relax doing nothing. For example, brainwaves produced by a dancer can be transformed into musical sounds, an auditory representation of the dancer’s movements. Similarly, the brainwaves of an artist making a painting, or those of a mathematician deriving an equation, can be transformed into music that mirrors the act of creating art or math.

Mind melody performance: The brainwaves of artist Rachel Grant making a painting, engineer Francesco Fedele developing equations and choreographer Bella Dorado dancing are transformed into musical sounds designed by student Dennis Frank.

The same brainwaves can power on or off a set of pumps that produce water jets in a tank, a system designed by professor Chris Lai and students Muhammad Mustafa and Alexander Zimmer. These jets interact among themselves to produce a disordered turbulent flow in the water tank. The shape and motion of vortexes generated by turbulence are a dynamic visualization of the human mind’s activity.

Choreographer Bella Dorado dances to sounds produced by the brainwaves of student Tanisha Chanda while she paints a waterscape. Francesco Fedele

Why is this course relevant now?

Civil engineering can be explained and taught using the physics and mathematics of Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, from the 17th century: the concepts of derivatives and force being proportional to acceleration.

In our fast-changing world, there are exciting discoveries happening in science and technology, like in the understanding of the universe, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

To prepare for the challenges posed by these recent discoveries, engineering students should be familiar with special mathematical tools developed by 20th-century geniuses such as Elie Cartan and Einstein. Such tools empower students to gain insights such as uncovering hidden geometric structures of complex physical systems or of large amounts of data. Normally, engineering classes don’t teach these topics.

The course also involves the participation of Colombian university students interested in arts for the RobotArts Initiative. Such an international exchange seeks to increase the number of Latino engineering students with skills in the arts, engineering and robotics. Besides taking my course, the students from Colombia also take a course on robotics.

What’s a critical lesson from the course?

Students realize the mental health benefits of practicing arts. They feel more self-confident and have more self-esteem because they have created something.

Performing art live empowers students’ self-expression. By not relying on memorization, these performances stimulate spontaneous creativity, improvisation and free thinking.

Students Dennis Frank, Muhammad Mustafa and Alexander Zimmer performing brain art. In the background, software converts student performers’ brainwaves into music and water turbulence in a tank designed by professor Chris Lai. Francesco Fedele

What materials does the course feature?

• “Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity,” by Sean M. Carroll, Cambridge University Press, 2019 – a textbook that covers the foundations of the general relativity and mathematical formalism.

• “Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc_ by Arthur J. Miller, Perseus Books Group, 2001 – a biography of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.

• EEG headsets to acquire brainwaves and SuperCollider software to synthesize them into music.

What will the course prepare students to do?

The course will prepare students to think like an artist, using abstraction, imagination and fluid thinking. They will tackle with confidence the new engineering quests and challenges of the 21st century. The challenges encompass sustainable urban and ocean infrastructure design for extreme weather, global warming mitigation, clean water and energy, quantum computing, cybersecurity and ethical use of AI.

Francesco Fedele, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.