SSS-经典episodes*81Beingabigfishinasmallpondismorelikelytogetyounoticed.That'sgoodnewsifyouare,say,thebestpitcherinyourlittleleaguedivision.Butit'snotsogoodfiyouareanactualfish.Becausebiggerfisharetheonesthattendtogetcaught.Notonlyisthatbadnewsforthefish,butitmaybebadforthewholefishpopulation.OrsosayscientistsfromAustraliaandCanadaintheonlineeditionoftheProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences.Theyfindthatfishingforthelargestindividualstargetsthefastestgrowers,leavingbehindtheirslower-growingcounterparts,thatmeansthatcurrentfishingpracticesmayfavortheevolutionofslower-growingfish.ThescientistsstockedtwosmalllakesinBritishColumbiawithtwostrainsofrainbowtrout:onethatgrowsquicklyandismoreaggressiveinchasingdownfoodandanotherthatgrowsslowlyandtendstobemorecautious.Thethenusedcommercialgillnetstofishthelakesandfoundthattheybaggedthebolderfishthreetimesfasterthantheshyones,whichworeleftbehindtomultiply.Sowecouldinadvertentlybebreedingfearfulsmallfrythatarenearlyimpossibletocatch,whichwouldmakethem...hard-to-seefood.2Aresmarterpeopledrawntomusic,theateranddance?Ordoesartstraininginchildhoodchangethebraininpositiveways?In2004,thephilanthropicDanaFoundationcreatedaconsortiumofneuroscientistsfromsevenuniversitiestoaddressthosequestions.OnMarch4,thegroupreleasedareport,Learning,Arts,andtheBrain,availableatdana.orgSomeofthefindings:Aninterestinperformingartshelpsdevelopsustainedattentionspans,whichcanimproveotherareasofcognition.Linksexistbetweentraininginmusicandtheabilitytomanipulateinformationinbothshort-termandlong-termmemory.Musictrainingalsoappearstoimprovekids'capacityforgeometricrepresentation,aswellastheacquisitionofreadingskills.Actingclassesleadtoimprovedmemory,viabetterlanguageskills.Dancelearningisdonethroughobservationandmimicry,andthattrainingappearstoimproveothercognitiveskills.Sosciencesaythatdance,theaterandmusiccanmakelifefullofsoundandglory,signifyingsomething.3Whenisanantlikeapieceoffruit?Whenitisinfectedbyaparasite.Researchersaffiliatedwiththe