Snowball a favorite of 2009 in Science Magazine

Snowball made the Top Ten list for favorite and most read stories of 2009 in Science Magazine.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1224/1

Go Snowball!!!

Music Has Power Awards

IMNF Scientific Advisory Board member and The Neurosciences Institute Ester J. Burnham Senior Fellow, Dr. Aniruddh Patel, was honored for his contribution to the therapeutic power of music alongside New York native and long-time IMNF supporter, Peggy Rice, in New York on September 9th (far right photo). Dr. Aniruddh Patel and wife, Jennifer Burton, are pictured in the far left photo. For the full story, click on the link. http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Coverage_Music_Has_Power_Bene

Snowball at IUPUI

Dr. Aniruddh Patel, lead scientist on the Snowball studies, was recently interviewed at IUPUI. Dr. Patel presented research that included findings published in Current Biology in May, 2009.

http://www.iupui.edu/podcasts/index.php?episode=378

Snowball in Indianapolis, Indiana

Irena Schulz discusses the science, the entertainment, and the high maintenance behind the famous cockatoo...Snowball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIJf4ChKkQw&feature=channel_page

Dr. Aniruddh Patel of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California will be presenting the research on Snowball in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Biennial Conference of Society for Music Perception and Cognition on Wednesday, August 5th at 1:30pm.
http://music.iupui.edu/smpc2009/programs.html

Snowball in The TIMES newspaper

Snowball makes front page news once again. This time he is on the front page of Sunday's The TIMES newspaper. His story is also told online alongside his Taco Bell commercial at the following link.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/article_4b3a58ed-2eae-5c3a-a095-fa3135bec62c.html

Bird Paradise

Snowball and Irena Schulz were recently in New York City to take part in the World Science Festival. Bird Paradise kindly donated a cage for Snowball to make him comfortable during his stay in New York for the Festival. They also donated numerous toys for Snowball and his friends back home, as well as food and some of Snowball's favorite treats...pine nuts!

When we went to pick up Snowball's cage, we could not believe how many different types of toys they had in the store. There were countless aisles of shreddy toys, leather toys, wood toys, acrylic toys, and you name it. If the toy was not found in this store, chances are that it's just not available. And if you wonder about cleanliness, this store was fastidiously clean. I've been to numerous pet shops over the years and none compared in product availability and cleanliness. This is a place that you have to see to believe. Below is a link to their online store.

http://www.mybirdstore.com/

Snowball and all his friends at Bird Lovers Only Rescue Service, Inc. wish to thank Bird Paradise for their generosity and kindness in making Snowball feel so comfortable in his donated show cage as well as countless hours of enjoyment playing and tearing apart his donated toys.

THANK YOU BIRD PARADISE!

Snowball in Smithsonian Magazine

Snowball seems to get around these days. He is currently featured in the Smithsonian Magazine (July 2009 issue).

Click on links below.
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2009/06/22/a-dancing-parrot-and-more/

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Wild-Things-July09.html?c=y&page=2

Snowball at the World Science Festival

Snowball made a grand entrance at the World Science Festival on Saturday, June 13th where he strutted his stuff and proved that a non-human animal can dance to a musical beat. At the Avian Einsteins venue we had a distinguished panel of scientists dance along with Snowball. At the end of the dance, Snowball was so proud of himself that he took several bows. But he had just warmed up and wanted to dance more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIjMHFbqBrY

http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/media-resources

http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55767/

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0617/p18s01-hfgn.html

http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2009/avian-einsteins

Snowball in Bird Talk Magazine

Snowball's research will be discussed in an upcoming issue of Bird Talk Magazine. A research paper which debuted on April 30, 2009 in Current Biology made news around the world which inspired an interview with Dr. Aniruddh Patel, lead scientist, of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California.

Irena Schulz was interviewed by Bird Talk Magazine for the June 2008 issue. Here is a link to that article. http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-exclusives/snowball.aspx

Snowball in NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE

Dr. Aniruddh Patel was interviewed by the New York Times Magazine on cognitive music studies involving Snowball. Studies were done to test whether Snowball's rhythmic movements matching the differing tempos of music were by chance or whether Snowball truly moves to the beat. Those studies revealed that Snowball does in fact feel the beat and adjusts to the tempo of the music. Click on the link below to read more about the research.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14ideas-section01-t-003.html

Studying synchronization to a musical beat in nonhuman animals

The recent discovery of spontaneous synchronization to music in a nonhuman animal (the sulphur-crested cockatoo Cacatua galerita eleanora) raises several questions.

How does this behavior differ from non-musical synchronization abilities in other species, such as synchronized frog calls or firefly flashes? What significance does the behavior have for debates over the evolution of human music? What kinds of animals can synchronize to music, and what are the key methodological issues for research in this area? This paper addresses these questions and proposes some refinements to the “vocal learning and rhythmic synchronization hypothesis.”

http://www.birdloversonly.org/docs/Study_NYAS.pdf

Dr. Aniruddh Patel Receives ASCAP Award

(Left) On December 9, 2008 Dr. Aniruddh Patel, President of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, accepted an ASCAP award for his most recent book "Music, Language, and the Brain" in New York City. Dr. Aniruddh Patel heads the cognitive music studies involving Snowball the dancing cockatoo. (Upper right) Dr. Patel with two judges from ASCAP and Oliver Sacks who received an award for "Musicophilia." (Lower right) ASCAP judge, Ani Patel and Joan Bossert, Dr. Patel's editor from Oxford University Press.

We congratulate Dr. Aniruddh Patel on his remarkable research not only with Snowball, but on his use of technology to investigate the correlation between language, music, and the brain.

For more information regarding "Music, Language, and the Brain" please visit: http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195123753/

For more information regarding "Musicophilia" please visit: http://www.oliversacks.com

Animal Talk Naturally Radio Show

Irena Schulz from Bird Lovers Only Rescue discusses Snowball's research and how that may relate to recent studies involving music therapy on Parkinson's Disease patients. She also discusses how the state of the economy has increased calls and emails from bird owners needing to rehome their birds.

Investigating the human-specificity of synchronization to music

Below is the link to the scientific paper "Investigating the human-specificity of synchronization to music" on Snowball's cognitive music studies lead by Dr. Ani Patel at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California.

http://birdloversonly.org/docs/Patel.pdf

Snowball on SCIENCE BLOGS

Snowball is in ScienceBlogs in the Neurophilosophy section. To read the article, click on the link below.

http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2008/06/rockatoo.php

Snowball in DISCOVER MAGAZINE

Snowball has been making news in the scientific world. Please read the latest article in Discover Magazine by clicking on the link below. Snowball is making his scientific debut this month in Canada.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/06/26/does-a-dancing-cockatoo-really-feel-the-rhythm/

Snowball in NATURE NEWS

Snowball has officially entered into the scientific world. Please click on the link below to read the article in "Nature News."

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080625/full/news.2008.914.html