Daily News

Posted on Oct. 8: Go speed racer!

When elite cyclists are racing down Hamilton's mountain this week, you might think they know how fast they're going from information they get from their eyes. Not so. McMaster behavioural neuroscientist Hong-Jin Sun and a team of researchers have found that feedback from cyclists' legs to their brains is more important than vision in determining speed. Sun, a psychology professor, and his team use virtual reality technology combined with a modified stationary mountain bike to evaluate how the brain integrates different sources of information. The study, the first of its kind, will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal CyberPsychology & Behaviour.

Posted on Oct. 9: Artists explore re:cycled art

A beach ball that's seven feet tall, a public sign that displays personal journal entries, and a biodegradable sculpture of icy water made from drywall are among the exhibits on display throughout the McMaster community in Re:cycle, a five-week outdoor art exhibit that coincides with the Hamilton 2003 Road World Cycling Championships. The Re:cycle project, a collaborative programming project co-ordinated by the McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton Artists Inc., Art Gallery of Hamilton, and the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre, officially kicks off today (Thursday, Oct. 9). It will feature five artists' interpretations of what the word 're:cycle' represents for them, using the word broadly to reflect recreation, activity, and environmental issues. "We wanted to use the cycling championships as a springboard for ideas and issues surrounding cycling," says Re:cycle project co-ordinator Ivan Jurakic. "Some artists were very literal in the cycling connection while others were more exploratory."