New Scientist: Skin-based networks that run at 10 Mbs may revolutionize P2P.   On a lighter note, imagine a party where people shared music and movies with physical contact. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

Art Treasures Shown, but Few Behold Them. Over a hundred artistic treasures from a Spanish province are on display at the cavernous Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, but the exhibition has received scant attention and small crowds.

Among the works in the ambulatory at the back of the cathedral at Amsterdam Avenue and West 112th Street are a remarkable painting of St. Sebastian by El Greco from the cathedral in Palencia; an unusual work by Goya from a convent in Valladolid; a painting by a noted Flemish artist from the tiny village of Castrojeriz; early examples of polychrome statues, richly enameled caskets, ivory statues and notable examples of Castilian art from the Romanesque to the Baroque. . . . By Celestine Bohlen. [New York Times: Arts]

Arts and Letters Daily, a wonderful and dense blog, has folded up its tent due to the bankruptcy of its parent company. A&L Daily will be auctioned off by the receivers. [Boing Boing Blog]

Prime Time Gets Real With a Plump Heroine. The sudden embrace of the Rubenesque seems to span all across popular culture, including a new ABC sitcom, "Less Than Perfect." By Alessandra Stanley. [New York Times: Arts]

In a Film Festival's Winners, a Focus on Artists at Work. Montreal's Le Festival International du Film sur l'Art will be offering film buffs a sort of on-screen tour of artist's studios and galleries around the world. By Joanne Latimer. [New York Times: Movies]

Japanese Masters Get Closer to the Toilet Nirvana. Toilets in Japan are far more than mere hygienic necessities: new models test biological samples, provide climate control and even soundtracks.

Japan's toilet wars started in February, when Matsushita engineers here unveiled a toilet seat equipped with electrodes that send a mild electric charge through the user's buttocks, yielding a digital measurement of body-fat ratio.

Unimpressed, engineers from a rival company, Inax, counterattacked in April with a toilet that glows in the dark and whirs up its lid after an infrared sensor detects a human being. When in use, the toilet plays any of six soundtracks, including chirping birds, rushing water, tinkling wind chimes, or the strumming of a traditional Japanese harp.

By James Brooke. [New York Times: International]