Roots do the Obama Remix

Like Loud Misic, Scared of Going Deaf - Fear No More

From SciAm.com:

Anti-Loudness Protein

Fans of club music and rock concerts who like the volume cranked up to 11 but want to save their hearing might someday pop a pill rather than plugging their ears. Scientists have pinpointed the biochemical mechanism in ears that works to limit damaging effects of loud sound. When a noise registers in the brain as too loud, the protein nAChR, located on sensory hair cells in the inner ear, kicks in to limit the ability of the hair cells to respond. Mice genetically altered to produce a more potent nAChR could not hear soft sounds, and they suffered less permanent damage to their hearing when scientists blasted 100-decibel noise at their ears. "We know some drugs can modify the protein," says Paul Fuchs of Johns Hopkins University, who published the findings in the January 20 PLoS Biology. "But we need to know more about specific amounts" before a sound-protecting drug can be made. So don't toss the earplugs yet.
--Kate Wilcox

CT Scan Music Video

Inside The Jaymis: Squishy Bits Version from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Inside The Jaymis: Skeleton Animation - Wide Time from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Giant Panda at Castaways Tonight

Don't forget that GPGDS is playing at Castaways tonight. For more info...see the sidebar.

Back Before You Know It: Giant Panda Shows

Giant Panda will be back soon, so here's a heads-up on the local shows:

Thu Apr 2, 2009
Ithaca, NY
Castaways
(map)
9:00 PM Ages 18+ $8. 607-272-1370

Thu Apr 9, 2009
Buffalo, NY
Nietzsche’s
(map)
9:00 PM $12. 716-886-8539

Fri Apr 10, 2009
Rochester, NY
Water Street Music Hall
(map)
8:00 PM Ages 16+ $10 adv/$15 day of. (585-546-3887)

Tour dates have also been added to the GPGDS section of the sidebar for your convenience

New Panda Show

Check out the latest available Giant Panda show. Good sound quality, nice set list (including one of my favorite songs - Higher Ground Dub (Rachel's New Dub), a particularly good version of "Pockets," a sweet new melodica dub, and by far the best version of "Seasons Change" I have ever heard!), but short (10 songs; appr. 47 min.):

Live @ The Note
(photo by Sara Bobeldyk; cartoon by ant AKA PNDK)

Regulatin' Genes

This is too funny not to post (although it may be over your head if you know nothing about genetics):

Slow Jammin' the News

Jimmy Fallon slow jams the news on his first episode as Late Night host with The Roots as back-up. Short clip, worth watching:

Guitars Go Green

Even guitar makers are into the green revolution. Obviously, the concern with guitars is the sustainability of the logging practices used to obtain the wood. Most major guitar producers already voluntarily make at least some guitars with lumber certified as “sustainably harvested." Gibson, Taylor, Fender, Martin, Guild, Walden and Yamaha are all additionally partners with the Music Wood Coalition, a project of Greenpeace. According to Greenpeace Forest Campaign Coordinator Scott Paul, the biggest challenge is resistance from musicians, “Players expect a spruce soundboard, a mahogany neck, an ebony or rosewood bridge.” Tradition can be a bitch. For more, check out this SciAm.com article.

Giant Panda Live @ Castaways Tonight

For those of you who live in the I-town area, I strongly encourage you to come check out Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad (GPGDS) tonight at Castaways (9pm). For more about GPGDS and to hear some tracks - check out the side bar or the music player at the bottom of the page.