While Iddo napped…

About two weeks worth of things I’ve learned while Iddo napped.

NPR – Learning A New Skill Works Best To Keep Your Brain Sharp – Brett and I like to laugh at the commercial for the program that says it is based on the “science of neuro-plasticity.” Those people should learn to quilt instead.

Scientific American – Black Death Survivors and Their Descendants Went On to Live Longer – I find studies on the survivors of the Black Death fascinating. In part because they are my ancestors and passed on whatever benefits they got from it to me.

NPR – Flood Of Noahs Hit U.S. Cribs In 2013, Taking Baby Name Honors – This article gets the “Best Headline of the Week” award. That is all.

Scientific American – Pluto Bids to Get Back Planetary Status – I love that there are still astronomers fighting for this planet. Go Pluto!

NPR – Harry Potter And The Forbidden Books – I love the transformative power of books!

NPR – What’s Your Major? 4 Decades Of College Degrees, In 1 Graph – I think graphs like this are interesting. The rise in business majors and drop in education majors is especially interesting. I know of at least one university that dropped it’s bachelor degree for secondary ed recently. You have to get a subject matter bachelor degree and then a masters of teaching in order to be certified for secondary ed there now.

Scientific American – Anatomy Of A Dance Hit: Why We Love To Boogie With Pharrell – She doesn’t like the bridge much, but she’s definitely picked up the beat of the main part of the song on this one.

NPR – Vision Involves a Bit of Hearing, Too – The brain is so much more connected than we can even imagine. Which is interesting since imagination takes place inside our brains.

Scientific American – A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop – You can type roughly as fast as you talk. But that probably means you’re typing more notes than you need rather than focusing on the important parts. Kind of like highlighting an entire page rather than the main ideas. There’s the physical memory associated with writing that you don’t get with typing as well.

New York Times – What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades – And even more evidence about the importance of writing by hand, both print and cursive. If Iddo doesn’t learn it at school, she’ll be learning it at home. There’s something beautiful about writing by hand.

APOD: Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014 – Images like this fill me with such a sense of awe and wonder. The majestic power of creation is astounding.

NPR – Playtime With Mom Helps Boost Toddlers’ Under-Developed Brains – It’s amazing to think that interaction with adults can have such a profound effect on brain development. Obviously not being malnourished physically is important, but it seems the research keeps pointing to the importance of not being malnourished mentally as well. I wonder if any scientists will be brave enough to study the effects of being spiritually malnourished. Also, Iddo’s up. I need to go play with her. It’s for the good of both of us.