Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The arts
The arts are a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many endeavors (or artforms) united by their employment of the human creative impulse. The term implies a broader range of disciplines than "art," which in modern usage usually refers only to the visual arts. The other major constituents of the arts are the literary arts, more often called literature -- including poetry, novels and short stories, among others -- and the performing arts, among them music, dance, magic, theatre and film. Literary arts and creative writing are interchangeable terms. These divisions are by no means absolute as there are artforms which combine a visual element with performance (e.g. film) and the written word (e.g. comics). This list is by no means comprehensive, but only meant to introduce the concept of the arts.
Whether or not a form of creative endeavor can be considered one of "the arts" can be contentious due to the cultural values attached in Western culture to the term "art," which can imply that it is a field elevated above popular culture.
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Science & Society News
January 21, 2026
Jan. 16, 2026 Humans pay enormous attention to lips during conversation, and robots have struggled badly to keep up. A new robot developed at Columbia Engineering learned realistic lip movements by watching its own reflection and studying human videos online. ...
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Jan. 19, 2026 Long before humans became master hunters, our ancestors were already thriving by making the most of what nature left behind. New research suggests that scavenging animal carcasses wasn’t a ...
Jan. 19, 2026 Researchers found that autistic and non-autistic people move their faces differently when expressing emotions like anger, happiness, and sadness. Autistic participants tended to rely on different ...
Jan. 12, 2026 Waiting to eat when your food arrives first feels polite—but it may be mostly for your own peace of mind. Researchers found people feel far more uncomfortable breaking the “wait until everyone is ...
Jan. 6, 2026 Dogs began diversifying thousands of years earlier than previously believed, with clear differences in size and shape appearing over 11,000 years ago. A massive global analysis of ancient skulls ...
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Dec. 31, 2025 A philosopher at the University of Cambridge says there’s no reliable way to know whether AI is conscious—and that may remain true for the foreseeable future. According to Dr. Tom McClelland, ...
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Dec. 24, 2025 The familiar fight between “mind as software” and “mind as biology” may be a false choice. This work proposes biological computationalism: the idea that brains compute, but not in the ...
Dec. 24, 2025 AI writing tools are supercharging scientific productivity, with researchers posting up to 50% more papers after adopting them. The biggest beneficiaries are scientists who don’t speak English as a ...
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