Neurologically, scientists are still working to understand boredom's effects on the brain, but they theorize that the state involves a failure in the neural networks that control attention.

WSJ: Interesting Fact: There's a Yawning Need for Boring Professors

Dr Husbands and his colleagues have found a way to mimic the workings of NO in the neural networks they are evolving to create control programs for robots.

BBC: Robot brains become more human

Dr Mozer's household-control system consists of a number of different neural networks, each in charge of one aspect of his domestic economy.

ECONOMIST: The learning home