Lean Encyclopedia and Wholesome Articles for the Hungry Mind.
Category: Education
Learn new tricks and tips to do better at school! Here you can find tutorials and insights on how to become a great student and take better notes, study more efficiently and get the most out of your classes!
Physics doesn’t just happen in a fancy lab — it happens when you push a piece of buttered toast off the table or drop a couple of raisins in a fizzy drink or watch a coffee spill dry. Become a more interesting dinner guest as physicist Helen Czerski presents various concepts in physics you can become familiar with using everyday things found in your kitchen.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more.
There is an international agreement that explains how all related to space discovery is and should be used for the benefit of all human kind. If you mix this new sustainable development goals of the UN, you find that the research and innovation in aerospace can be used to address humanity’s biggest challenges.
Quinoa grain has become popular in many countries where it is not naturally grown such as United States, Canada, Europe and Australia which in turn increased the crop value. Quinoa grain is also appreciated by the many health benefits that it is associated including losing weight and high content of protein.
“Nutritional value
Raw, uncooked quinoa is 13% water, 64% carbohydrates, 14% protein, and 6% fat (top nutrient table). Nutritional evaluations indicate that a 100 g (3.5 oz) serving of raw quinoa is a rich source (20% or higher of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, dietary fiber, several B vitamins, including 46% DV for folate, and dietary minerals.
After cooking, which is the typical preparation for eating, quinoa is 72% water, 21% carbohydrates, 4% protein, and 2% fat and its nutrient contents are collectively and substantially reduced. In a 100 g (3.5 oz) serving, cooked quinoa provides 120 calories and is an excellent source of manganese and phosphorus (30% and 22% DV, respectively), and a moderate source (10-19% DV) of dietary fiber, folate, and the dietary minerals, iron, zinc, and magnesium.
Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Possibly owing to these qualities, it is an experimental crop in NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration human occupied space flights.” Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa#Rising_popularity_and_crop_value
” Vanilla extract is a solution containing the flavor compound vanillin as the primary ingredient. Pure vanilla extract is made by macerating and percolating vanilla pods in a solution of ethanol and water. In the United States, in order for a vanilla extract to be called pure, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires that the solution contains a minimum of 35% alcohol and 100 g of vanilla beans per liter (13.35 ounces per gallon). Double and triple strength (up to 20-fold) vanilla extracts are available.
Vanilla extract is the most common form of vanilla used today. Mexican, Tahitian, Indonesian and Bourbon vanilla are the main varieties. Bourbon vanilla is named for the period when the island of Réunion was ruled by the Bourbon kings of France; it does not contain Bourbon whiskey.
Natural vanilla flavoring is derived from real vanilla beans with little to no alcohol. The maximum amount of alcohol that is usually present is only 2–3%. Imitation vanilla extract contains vanillin, made either from guaiacol or from lignin, a byproduct of the wood pulp industry.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_extract
Weird Hiccup Cure – Hiccups are annoying; they go away as sudden as they come. However, there is a simple solution to this problem, albeit a little bit gross.
Condor Cluster – Giving the Air Force Research Laboratory a low budget did not stop them from building their own supercomputer. Having not enough money to buy a supercomputer, they decided to buy 1760 Playstation 3 units.
Colours to influence behaviours – According to scientific research, some colours are effective in reducing one’s negative thoughts, be it suicidal tendencies or aggressiveness.
Plastic Wishbones – Its Traditional for two people to break apart a birds wishbone after extracting it from a cooked dinner.
Bottled Air & Bags of Dirt– When travelling overseas, it is always a good idea to bring something that reminds you of your home.
Shooter Stopped with a Hug – If you ever encounter a man with a gun, your natural instinct would be to hide or run away as fast as you can.
Black Dyed Water – It is said that the more you prohibit people, the more they are inclined to do it.
Face Masks Fooling Bengal Tigers – Bengal tigers are considered one of the most dangerous predators in India.
Ants for Stitches – Sutures weren’t a thing back as early as 1000BC, so our ancestors had to make do with what they had on their hands. Plant fibres, animal hair, ants…
“Instant” Baggage Claims – Having to wait to claim your baggage is extremely infuriating, especially if you just had a long flight. Using Typewriters Against
Spies – Within days of Edward Snowden’s revelations, Kremlin agents were quick to replace all their high-end computers with something more traditional – typewriters.
Fish Eating Dead Skin – Turkish people came up with a weird solution to treat psoriasis – fish.
Piano Stairs – Ever wish you can have fun while using the stairs? Then piano stairs can do the trick.
Balls to Reduce Evaporation – California often experiences drought spells, so to prevent the Ivanhoe reservoir from getting dried up, they filled it balls – lots of it.
Flame Weeding – Tired of plucking weeds all day? Worried about contaminating the land with pesticides? Well, How about just flame-thrower-ing the ground? Sounds crazy but this solution, called ‘Flame weeding’ is an organic alternative, used by a number of conscious gardeners and agriculturalists around the world.
“Agroforestry systems can be advantageous over conventional agricultural, and forest production methods. They can offer increased productivity, economic benefits, and more diversity in the ecological goods and services provided . (An example of this was seen in trying to conserve Milicia excelsa.)
Biodiversity in agroforestry systems is typically higher than in conventional agricultural systems. With two or more interacting plant species in a given land area, it creates a more complex habitat that can support a wider variety of birds, insects, and other animals. Depending upon the application, impacts of agroforestry can include:
Reducing poverty through increased production of wood and other tree products for home consumption and sale
Contributing to food security by restoring the soil fertility for food crops
Cleaner water through reduced nutrient and soil runoff
Countering global warming and the risk of hunger by increasing the number of drought-resistant trees and the subsequent production of fruits, nuts and edible oils
Reducing deforestation and pressure on woodlands by providing farm-grown fuelwood
Reducing or eliminating the need for toxic chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, etc.)
Through more diverse farm outputs, improved human nutrition
In situations where people have limited access to mainstream medicines, providing growing space for medicinal plants
Increased crop stability
Multifunctional site use i.e. crop production and animal grazing.
Typically more drought resistant.
Stabilises depleted soils from erosion
Bioremediation
Agroforestry practices may also realize a number of other associated environmental goals, such as:
Carbon sequestration
Odour, dust, and noise reduction
Green space and visual aesthetics
Enhancement or maintenance of wildlife habitat” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry
What?! Its not butter? Its not healthy? Its just cheaper and a cash cow? YES! But its got an awesome history!. Check it our!
” Margarine originated with the discovery by French chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul in 1813 of margaric acid (itself named after the pearly deposits of the fatty acid from Greekμαργαρίτης or μάργαρον (margaritēs / márgaron), meaning pearl-oyster or pearl, or μαργαρίς (margarís), meaning palm-tree, hence the relevance to palmitic acid). Scientists at the time regarded margaric acid, like oleic acid and stearic acid, as one of the three fatty acids that, in combination, form most animal fats. In 1853, the German structural chemist Wilhelm Heinrich Heintz analyzed margaric acid as simply a combination of stearic acid and the previously unknown palmitic acid.
Emperor Napoleon III of France offered a prize to anyone who could make a satisfactory butter alternative, suitable for use by the armed forces and the lower classes. French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès invented a substance he called oleomargarine, which became shortened to the trade name margarine. Mège-Mouriès patented the concept in 1869 and expanded his initial manufacturing operation from France but had little commercial success. In 1871, he sold the patent to the Dutch company Jurgens, now part of Unilever. In the same year a German pharmacist, Benedict Klein from Cologne, founded the first margarine factory “Benedict Klein Margarinewerke”, producing the brands Overstolz and Botteram.
John Steele wrote in his 1850 California gold miner’s journal: “I became acquainted with Mr. Dainels, from Baltimore, who… manufactured butter from tallow and lard, and it looked and tasted so much like real butter, that… I could not tell the difference. However, he deceived no one, but sold it for just what it was. He never explained the process of its manufacturer, and whether he was the originator of oleomargarine I do not know.”
The principal raw material in the original formulation of margarine was beef fat. In 1871, Henry W. Bradley of Binghamton, New York received U.S. Patent 110,626 for a process of creating margarine that combined vegetable oils (primarily cottonseed oil) with animal fats. Shortages in beef fat supply combined with advances by Boyce and Sabatier in the hydrogenation of plant materials soon accelerated the use of Bradley’s method, and between 1900 and 1920 commercial oleomargarine was produced from a combination of animal fats and hardened and unhardened vegetable oils. The depression of the 1930s, followed by the rationing of World War II, led to a reduction in supply of animal fat; and, by 1945, “original” margarine almost completely disappeared from the market. In the United States, problems with supply, coupled with changes in legislation, caused manufacturers to switch almost completely to vegetable oils and fats (oleomargarine) by 1950, and the industry was ready for an era of product development” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarine
“Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users to see cities and landscapes from various angles. Users can explore the globe by entering addresses and coordinates, or by using a keyboard or mouse. The program can also be downloaded on a smartphone or tablet, using a touch screen or stylus to navigate. Users may use the program to add their own data using Keyhole Markup Language and upload them through various sources, such as forums or blogs. Google Earth is able to show various kinds of images overlaid on the surface of the earth and is also a Web Map Service client.
In addition to Earth navigation, Google Earth provides a series of other tools through the desktop application. Additional globes for the Moon and Mars are available, as well as a tool for viewing the night sky. A flight simulatorgame is also included. Other features allow users to view photos from various places uploaded to Panoramio, information provided by Wikipedia on some locations, and Street View imagery. The web-based version of Google Earth also includes Voyager, a feature that periodically adds in-program tours, often presented by scientists and documentarians.
Google Earth has been viewed by some as a threat to privacy and national security, leading to the program being banned in multiple countries. Some countries have requested that certain areas be obscured in Google’s satellite images, usually areas containing military facilities.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth
In the first place, we will learn about what is a cacao tree. ” A cacao tree is also called the cocoa tree. s a small (4–8 m (13–26 ft) tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae, native to the deep tropical regions of Central and South America. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make cocoa mass, cocoa powder, confectionery, ganache, and chocolate.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobroma_cacao
How to harvest cocoa trees?
Usually, ripe cocoa pods are ripe and mature when they are red, yellow or purple coloured. Other varieties tend to ripe when they are orange coloured. The fruits grow from the trunk or the branches. During the year the pods need to be harvested since they do not ripe all together in the tree. With a curved knife, the pods are harvested from the trunks, when cutting the fruit the cutter has to be very careful since a deep wound on the trunk will damage where other flowers may appear to produce more fruit.
The pods are opened with a machete to expose the seeds. The seeds and pulp are extracted and the rid is discarded. The pulp and seeds are then piled in heaps, placed in bins, or laid out on grates for several days. During this time, the seeds and pulp undergo “sweating”, where the thick pulp liquefies as it ferments. The fermented pulp trickles away, leaving cocoa seeds behind to be collected. Sweating is important for the quality of the beans, which originally have a strong, bitter taste. If sweating is interrupted, the resulting cocoa may be ruined; if underdone, the cocoa seed maintains a flavour similar to raw potatoes and becomes susceptible to mildew. Some cocoa-producing countries distil alcoholic spirits using the liquefied pulp.
A typical pod contains 20 to 50 beans and about 400 dried beans are required to make one pound (880 per kilogram) of chocolate. Cocoa pods weigh an average of 400 g (14 oz) and each one yields 35 to 40 g (1.2 to 1.4 oz) dried beans; this yield is 40–44% of the total weight in the pod. One person can separate the beans from about 2000 pods per day.
The wet beans are then transported to a facility so they can be fermented and dried. They are fermented for four to seven days and must be mixed every two days. They are dried for five to 14 days, depending on the climate conditions. The fermented beans are dried by spreading them out over a large surface and constantly raking them. In large plantations, this is done on huge trays under the sun or by using artificial heat. Small plantations may dry their harvest on little trays or on cowhides. Finally, the beans are trodden and shuffled about (often using bare human feet) and sometimes, during this process, red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the beans to obtain a finer color, polish, and protection against molds during shipment to factories in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and other countries. Drying in the sun is preferable to drying by artificial means, as no extraneous flavours such as smoke or oil are introduced which might otherwise taint the flavour.
The beans should be dry for shipment (usually by sea). Traditionally exported in jute bags, over the last decade, beans are increasingly shipped in “mega-bulk” parcels of several thousand tonnes at a time on ships, or in smaller lots around 25 tonnes in 20-ft containers. Shipping in bulk significantly reduces handling costs; shipment in bags, however, either in a ship’s hold or in containers, is still common.
Palm oil is extracted from the mesocarp of the the reddish pulp of the fruit of oil palms. These palm oils grow in Asia, Africa, and South America. Around the equator, at least 17 million hectares of this crop has been established in 2015.
” Palm oil (also known as dendê oil , from Portuguese [ˈdɛnde]) is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms, primarily the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis, and to a lesser extent from the American oil palm Elaeis oleifera and the marina palm Attalea maripa.
Palm oil is naturally reddish in color because of a high beta-carotene content. It is not to be confused with palm kernel oil derived from the kernel of the same fruit, or coconut oil derived from the kernel of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). The differences are in color (raw palm kernel oil lacks carotenoids and is not red), and in saturated fat content: palm mesocarp oil is 49% saturated, while palm kernel oil and coconut oil are 81% and 86% saturated fats, respectively. However, crude red palm oil that has been refined, bleached and deodorized, a common commodity called RBD palm oil, does not contain carotenoids.
Along with coconut oil, palm oil is one of the few highly saturated vegetable fats and is semisolid at room temperature. Palm oil is a common cooking ingredient in the tropical belt of Africa, Southeast Asia and parts of Brazil. Its use in the commercial food industry in other parts of the world is widespread because of its lower cost and the high oxidative stability (saturation) of the refined product when used for frying. One source reported that humans consumed an average 17 pounds (7.7 kg) of palm oil per person in 2015.
The use of palm oil in food products has attracted the concern of environmental activist groups; the high oil yield of the trees has encouraged wider cultivation, leading to the clearing of forests in parts of Indonesia and Malaysia to make space for oil-palm monoculture. This has resulted in significant acreage losses of the natural habitat of the two surviving species of orangutan. One species, in particular, the Sumatran orangutan, has been listed as critically endangered. In 2004, an industry group called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil was formed to work with the palm oil industry to address these concerns. Additionally, in 1992, in response to concerns about deforestation, the Government of Malaysia pledged to limit the expansion of palm oil plantations by retaining a minimum of half the nation’s land as forest cover. In March 2017, a documentary made by DW Germany revealed that palm oil is also used to make milk replacers/milk substitutes that are now used to make milk to feed calves in dairies in the German Alps. These milk substitutes contain 30% milk powder and a remainder of raw protein which is in turn made of skimmed milk powder, whey powder and vegetable fats, mostly coconut oil and palm oil.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_oil
” Agroecology is the study of ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. The prefix agro- refers to agriculture. Bringing ecological principles to bear in agroecosystems can suggest novel management approaches that would not otherwise be considered. The term is often used imprecisely and may refer to “a science, a movement, [or] a practice”. Agroecologists study a variety of agroecosystems, and the field of agroecology is not associated with any one particular method of farming, whether it be organic, integrated, or conventional; intensive or extensive, although it has much more in common with some of the before mentioned farming systems.
Agroecologists do not unanimously oppose technology or inputs in agriculture but instead assess how, when, and if technology can be used in conjunction with natural, social and human assets. Agroecology proposes a context- or site-specific manner of studying agroecosystems, and as such, it recognizes that there is no universal formula or recipe for the success and maximum well-being of an agroecosystem. Thus, agroecology is not defined by certain management practices, such as the use of natural enemies in place of insecticides, or polyculture in place of monoculture.
Instead, agroecologists may study questions related to the four system properties of agroecosystems: productivity, stability, sustainability, and equitability. As opposed to disciplines that are concerned with only one or some of these properties, agroecologists see all four properties as interconnected and integral to the success of an agroecosystem. Recognizing that these properties are found on varying spatial scales, agroecologists do not limit themselves to the study of agroecosystems at any one scale: gene-organism-population-community-ecosystem-landscape-biome, field-farm-community-region-state-country-continent-global.
Agroecologists study these four properties through an interdisciplinary lens, using natural sciences to understand elements of agroecosystems such as soil properties and plant-insect interactions, as well as using social sciences to understand the effects of farming practices on rural communities, economic constraints to developing new production methods, or cultural factors determining farming practices.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroecology
” Permaculture is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems. The term was developed and coined by David Holmgren, then a graduate student, and his professor, Bill Mollison, in 1978. The word permaculture originally referred to “permanent agriculture”, but was expanded to stand also for “permanent culture”, as it was understood that social aspects were integral to a truly sustainable system as inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka’s natural farming philosophy.
It has many branches that include, but are not limited to, ecological design, ecological engineering, environmental design, construction. Permaculture also includes integrated water resources management that develops sustainable architecture, and regenerative and self-maintained habitat and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems.
Mollison has said: “Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system. ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture
” A pitaya /pɪˈtaɪ.ə/ or pitahaya /ˌpɪtəˈhaɪ.ə/ is the fruit of several cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to the fruit of the genus Stenocereus, while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to the fruit of the genus Hylocereus. These fruits are commonly known in English as “dragon fruit”, reflecting its vernacular Asian names. The names pitahaya and pitaya derives from Mexico, and pitaya Roja in Central America and northern South America, possibly relating to pitahaya for names of tall cacti species with flowering fruit. In China, the fruit is referred to as huǒ lóng guǒ.
Dragon fruit Hylocereus
Ripe dragon fruit, Vietnam
Sweet pitahayas come in three types, all with leathery, slightly leafy skin:
Hylocereus undatus (Pitaya Blanca or white-fleshed pitahaya) has pink-skinned fruit with white flesh. This is the most commonly seen “dragon fruit”.
Hylocereus costaricensis (Pitaya Roja or red-fleshed pitahaya, also known as Hylocereus polyrhizus) has red-skinned fruit with red flesh.
Hylocereus megalanthus (Pitaya Amarilla or yellow pitahaya, also known as Selenicereus megalanthus) has yellow-skinned fruit with white flesh.
Early imports from Colombia to Australia were designated Hylocereus ocampensis (supposedly red fruit) and Cereus triangularis (supposedly yellow fruit). It is not quite certain to which species these taxa refer, though the former is probably the red pitaya.
The fruit normally weighs from 150 to 600 grams (5.3 to 21.2 oz); some may reach 1 kilogram (2.2 lb).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya
“Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making possible an increasingly larger population. These settled communities permitted humans to observe and experiment with plants to learn how they grew and developed.This new knowledge led to the domestication of plants.
Archaeological data indicates that the domestication of various types of plants and animals happened in separate locations worldwide, starting in the geological epoch of the Holocene around 12,500 years ago. It was the world’s first historically verifiable revolution in agriculture. The Neolithic Revolution greatly narrowed the diversity of foods available, with a switch to agriculture which led to a downturn in human nutrition.
The Neolithic Revolution involved far more than the adoption of a limited set of food-producing techniques. During the next millennia, it would transform the small and mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that had hitherto dominated human pre-history into sedentary (non-nomadic) societies based in built-up villages and towns. These societies radically modified their natural environment by means of specialized food-crop cultivation, with activities such as irrigation and deforestation which allowed the production of surplus food.
These developments provided the basis for densely populated settlements, specialization and division of labor, more trade, the development of non-portable art and architecture, centralized administrations and political structures, hierarchical ideologies, depersonalized systems of knowledge (e.g. writing), and property ownership. The earliest known civilization developed in Sumer in southern Mesopotamia (c. 5,500 BP); its emergence also heralded the beginning of the Bronze Age.”
Mushrooms are not plants, and require different conditions for optimal growth. Plants develop through photosynthesis, a process that converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into carbohydrates, especially cellulose. While sunlight provides an energy source for plants, mushrooms derive all of their energy and growth materials from their growth medium, through biochemical decomposition processes. This does not mean that light is an irrelevant requirement, since some fungi use light as a signal for fruiting.[1][2] However, all the materials for growth must already be present in the growth medium. Mushrooms grow well at relative humidity levels of around 95–100%, and substrate moisture levels of 50 to 75%.[1]
Instead of seeds, mushrooms reproduce asexually through spores. Spores can be contaminated with airborne microorganisms, which will interfere with mushroom growth and prevent a healthy crop.
Mycelium, or actively growing mushroom culture, is placed on a substrate—usually sterilized grains such as rye or millet—and induced to grow into those grains. This is called inoculation. Inoculated grains are referred to as spawn. Spores are another inoculation option, but are less developed than established mycelium. Since they are also contaminated easily, they are only manipulated in laboratory conditions with a laminar flow cabinet. SRC – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungiculture
Mushroom production synthesized in 6 steps:
Making Mushroom Compost
Finishing the Compost
Spawning
Casing
Pinning
Cropping
For additional information on mushroom crops you can visit the following page:
Lizzie Velasquez is a brilliant and fantastic 25-year-old lady who was born with a strange syndrome. In her special condition, she can not gain weight at all. During her life, many obstacles have overcome, but she has used them as a ladder to go after her dreams. As far as she´s gone she has achieved some of them and is after more.
Her speech is a motivation to all of those people that see life like a big mountain that they are not able to manage. Watch her incredible story and how she has turned negative into positive even though people attacked her for doing nothing them.
Carbon footprint term appeared almost around 1960 and 1970´s, it means the number of gases that cause climate change, exactly the ones that cause our temperatures to rise. With time the instrument was modeled and it became well known. There are many other footprints too, those include water, human, organization, and others.
On our days it has become an instrument that many businesses use to learn of their emissions, how to reduce them and add an extra to the products and
services they produce. Carbon footprint consists of making an inventory of all the things used during a process. According to standards the limits of the study are:
Bussiness to business: This means from cradle to gate or from where the production starts. For example, coffee since it is cultivated in the estate, you count on all the supplies required on this till the coffee is sold to another business. You do not count the emissions from the business on.
Business to the customer: It takes reference from the cultivation process or initial stage of creating the product or in case it is an organization you gather all the activities it makes, depending on the objectives the business has. The inventory, in this case, is made until the consumer uses and disposes of the product, as you see much longer and complicated.
The basic formula to calculate is: Data activity x emission factor
Data activity: Refers to all the things consumed and taken into account during the process to consider in the calculation. (kg fertilizers/year).
Emission factor: This means the amount of CO2 eq/kg fertilizer)
There are many standards or guides you can use to calculate your carbon footprint. Included in the list are:
GHG Protocol
IPCC (has a whole book in chapters available on the internet)
Ecoinvent provides an emission factors database.
Carbon footprint is an extense an interesting theme, in case you are interested you can learn more on the links below:
Cool Farm Tool an online calculator for carbon footprint on products score on biodiversity and water in the farm. LINK: https://coolfarmtool.org/coolfarmtool/
IPCC has a lot of information on the theme of how this is working out and other themes related to the carbon footprint. https://www.ipcc.ch/
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get distracted while studying – even when you know you really don’t have time for Facebook, Snapchat, Cookie Clicker, or whatever else is calling you?
“It’s been said that the greatest power of the human mind is its ability to focus on one thing for an extended period of time. If you’ve ever held a magnifying glass in the sun, you know how scattered sunlight can be focused to start a fire. Imagine if you could concentrate your brain power into one bright beam and focus it like a laser on whatever you wish to accomplish. But most of us struggle to concentrate. And when you can’t concentrate, everything you do is harder and takes longer than you’d like. You may be looking to improve your concentration to perform better at work, to ace your exams, to increase reading comprehension, or simply to make everyday life easier. If you can’t focus, you may think that’s just the way your brain works and that there’s not much you can do about it. But anyone can develop their ability to concentrate. There are skills you can learn and things you can do to allow your brain to focus better.” https://bebrainfit.com/improve-concentration-focus/
Attention isn’t just about what we focus on — it’s also about what our brains filter out. By investigating patterns in the brain as people try to focus, computational neuroscientist Mehdi Ordikhani-Seyedlar hopes to build computer models that can be used to treat ADHD and help those who have lost the ability to communicate.
“A new study by MIT neuroscientists reveals how the brain achieves this type of focused attention on faces or other objects: A part of the prefrontal cortex known as the inferior frontal junction (IFJ) controls visual processing areas that are tuned to recognize a specific category of objects, the researchers report in the April 10 online edition of Science.
Scientists know much less about this type of attention, known as object-based attention, than spatial attention, which involves focusing on what’s happening in a particular location. However, the new findings suggest that these two types of attention have similar mechanisms involving related brain regions, says Robert Desimone, the Doris and Don Berkey Professor of Neuroscience, director of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and senior author of the paper.
“The interactions are surprisingly similar to those seen in spatial attention,” Desimone says. “It seems like it’s a parallel process involving different areas.”
In both cases, the prefrontal cortex — the control center for most cognitive functions — appears to take charge of the brain’s attention and control relevant parts of the visual cortex, which receives sensory input. For spatial attention, that involves regions of the visual cortex that map to a particular area within the visual field.
In the new study, the researchers found that IFJ coordinates with a brain region that processes faces, known as the fusiform face area (FFA), and a region that interprets information about places, known as the parahippocampal place area (PPA). The FFA and PPA were first identified in the human cortex by Nancy Kanwisher, the Walter A. Rosenblith Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT. ” https://news.mit.edu/2014/how-brain-pays-attention
1 of every 2 humans live in cities and this will soon be 2 of every 3. The city defines the quality of life of its inhabitants more than any other factor at a mass scale, and on the individual. The impact of a city is huge. From climate change to economic vitality to our very well-being and sense of connectedness. How a city is designed matters. Peter Calthorpe is already at work planning the cities of the future and advocating for community design that’s focused on human interaction. He shares seven universal principles for solving sprawl and building smarter, more sustainable cities.
The first step in honing your new study skills is to take better notes. In the learning process, we have to keep our information handy in case we forget something we can go back to it and access the information we need. The important part is that we have to put it in our own words, that way we will be sure we understand it.
You can take notes on a computer or on a piece of paper, both will work the same. Although studies at Princeton have demonstrated that students that take notes in a piece of paper write fewer words than those that use a computer, taking on account the speed advantage at typing your notes on the computer. Although the computer note taking students were able to write more, later on, recalled for less information when making a test. The advantage of the piece of paper and pen relies on the fact that you are not able to write that many notes but you tend to analyze more what are you writing down. That is really important!
Watch the video and learn more interesting facts and tips on how to be an expert at note taking.
