Word: backgrounders
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...only way to stop Tito was to bar the hatch if he showed up--triggering an international diplomatic incident--or to convince Russia that the investment tycoon was unqualified for space flight. NASA tried the latter, but it was tough given Tito's background. He may not be a cosmonaut, but he is an actual rocket scientist who worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory before becoming a successful businessman. (He founded the investment firm Wilshire Associates.) He also completed some 900 hours of training in Star City, the cosmonauts' boot camp, and was deemed flightworthy by Russia's space...
...greatest sources of misunderstanding surrounds the so-called Mozart effect. For years researchers have found that playing background music can improve the spatial skills of listeners, causing many laymen to conclude that creative skills can be boosted too. Last year Harvard University released a study called Project Zero that analyzed 50 years of research on this idea. The studies showed that college students who had listened to music performed better on paper-and-pencil spatial tests, but the effect lasted no more than 15 minutes and then faded away. There was no evidence that the listening improved brain power...
...That background explains why the publishing world has whipped itself into a fine froth of hype and hoopla over a rather creepy 12-year-old fictional hero named, as is the novel he stars in, Artemis Fowl. British rights to the book, written by Irish schoolteacher and children's writer Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer, 35, were purchased last summer by Penguin/Puffin. Then Talk Miramax Books snapped up U.S. rights, and Miramax Films optioned the book for a film. At that point, publishers all over the planet began bidding on Artemis Fowl, which has now been sold in 18 countries...
...range chicken is tasty!" you're not alone. In their quest for a hip young crowd, a growing number of restaurateurs are turning up the music, jamming folks into tighter spaces and designing their places with open kitchens, high ceilings and hardwood floors--all of which can turn pleasant background buzz into cacophonous...
...backlash against the sounds of "scene dining" may be under way. In Zagat Surveys of diners in Boston; St. Louis, Mo.; on Long Island, N.Y.; and in New Jersey, noise is the No. 1 complaint. (In New York City, where subways and traffic are background music, noise is relative, and it is No. 2 on the complaint list, behind bad service.) Annoyed critics have started ranking noise levels in reviews, and it isn't uncommon to read blistering acoustics-based pans. "I was prepared for loud but not for the level I had to deal with," wrote a foodie...