
Researchers explain how our minds make sense through order
Rochester scientists say they have an alternative to the standard explanation for why order matters when the human mind processes information. Ting Qian and Richard Aslin explain that our tendency to detect patterns is built into our cognitive processes, even when it’s at the risk of overestimating the importance of such patterns. (photo by Flickr user redwoodphotography made available under CC BY-ND 2.0)

Digital Humanities Project turns a lens on prewar Japan
For the last 15 years, professor Joanne Bernardi has collected more than 1,100 postcards, film prints, brochures and other visual representations of early 20th century Japan. But how can this collection continue to grow while allowing other scholars to register and contribute content? Enter the Digital Humanities Center.

New imaging technique helps predict how vision recovers after brain tumor removal
An interdisciplinary team of University neuroscientists and neurosurgeons has used a new imaging technique to show how the human brain heals itself in just a few weeks following surgical removal of a brain tumor.

Allan Greenleaf named a fellow of American Mathematical Society
The AMS awards fellowships to recognize “members who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics.” Greenleaf is being singled out for his “contributions to inverse problems with applications to cloaking, as well as for service to AMS.”

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: International Theatre Program presents Venus
The play opens in Todd Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 4, and is based on the true story of Saartijie Baartman, a South African woman taken from her home in 1810 and brought to London where she becomes an overnight sensation on the freak-show circuit.

Playing action video games can boost learning
A new study shows for the first time that playing action video games improves not just the skills taught in the game, but learning capabilities more generally.

Trustee commits additional $1 million to scholarship
Trustee Cathy Minehan and her husband, Jerry Corrigan, have committed an additional $1 million to support the scholarship they established in 2004. The scholarship provides assistance for students in the School of Arts & Sciences with significant financial need, and preference is given to underrepresented minorities, athletes in good academic standing, and those pursuing research in the social sciences.

Sustainability, astrobiology combine to illuminate future of Earth’s technological civilization
How long can a technological civilization last? Will human-caused climate change or species extinctions threaten its collapse or can industrial development continue without restrictions? In a new paper, two astrophysicists argue that these questions may soon be resolvable scientifically.

2014 Polish Film Festival marks Poland’s move toward democracy
This year’s Polish Film Festival celebrates Eastern Europe’s move toward freedom, and the 20th anniversary of the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies, which organizes the annual festival.

Haitian filmmaker leads discussion on post-quake reconstruction
The Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies will host Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck for a screening and discussion of his film, Fatal Assistance.