THE SCIENCE OF MUSIC: Is humanity’s response to music universal? Put another way: is music created by one culture fundamentally understood by another? Those questions are at the heart of a fascinating article in New Scientist magazine. As you might guess, nothing has been 100 percent decided just yet. But it’s interesting to see the lengths that scientists are going to to test their theories, including playing music for babies and monkeys to gauge their responses. This is a good read for music theorists in specific and nerds in general.

PAIN IN THE REAR: At the theater, the only thing the audience is asked to do is sit. So why do theaters make it so difficult by installing some of the worst chairs imaginable. That’s a question on Elaine Liner’s mind, which she explored in a recent post on theaterjones.com. The thin, boxy seats at the Wyly Theatre are Public Enemy No. 1 in her book. “Why build a Rolls Royce of a theater and then put the audience in the Yugo of seats,” she asks. To which I can only say: preach on.

QUOTABLE: “I got bored with making art about which I already knew the end result, even before I started.”

Houston printmaker Orna Feinstein, on making the switch from realism to the abstract. She discusses her show at Craighead-Green Gallery with dallasnews.com.