The Internet Archive and Open Library are related projects to put books on-line. The inspiration and motivation behind them is seasoned entrepreneur Brewster Kahle. The project itself will prove to be a wonderful resource and it is being approached in the spirit of liberty of which the web was born. Unlike Google’s project, which will …
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Category:Education
Cooking makes humans intelligent.
It’s a pet hypothesis that interesting food makes interesting (and interested) people. There seems to be a correlation between interesting people and their interest in food and cooking. People who appreciate variety in food and who can play in the kitchen seem to be that little bit more passionate about life. … well, that’s the …
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Getting education wrong, and right.
Attention to the school curriculum in the UK has produced recommendations for changing the system. Change is good, but it appears that the proposals may eliminate important aspects of formal education and fail to provide life skills as well as fail to give factual knowledge. Two articles from the Economist outline the problems: In praise …
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A new view of the early earth
Evidence from analysis of rocks in Australia have repainted our picture of the early earth. Until recently it was taken for granted that the earth, from birth 4.5 billion years ago for about 700 million years, was a hellish place of heat and flames. Geologists now almost universally agree that by 4.2 billion years ago, …
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Video game youth reacts quickly, but can’t think …
Professor Michael Shayer of King’s College London looked at how 800 secondary pupils performed in problem-solving tests. Today’s 14-year-old pupils are better at quick-fire answers, but much worse at complex questions than teenagers in the 1970s. The findings reflect that children now live in an environment of text messaging, Wiis and talkback which favours instant …
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Compulsory relationship education – a step in the right direction
The UK announced that it will make sex and relationship education compulsory for all pupils aged 5 to 16. While the details are not clear, and sex education for the youngest groups is not advisable (and is not proposed), this kind of practical education is critical if people are to develop emotional intelligence and life …
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Biomimicry wins Nobel prize
Biomimicry involves emulating nature in technology. A clever trick borrowed from jellyfish has earned two Americans and one Japanese scientist a share of the chemistry Nobel Prize. Read the report here.
IMD MBA top of EIU ranking
OK, so there’s a vested interest … but its nice to see my alma mater, IMD, top of the list 🙂 Also, it is good to see HKUST high up the rankings (11). Here’s the list.
Numeracy is built in to the brain.
A study appearing in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences demonstrates that numberacy is built in to the brain, in a similar way that we have the ability to recognise colour. This finding should encourage those afraid of numbers that there is no need to fear them and embracing them will simply …
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Humanity has been wiping out other species for millenia
Humanity has been wiping out other species for millennia, we’re just doing it faster now. New research using the latest technology shows that large animals of prehistoric times were made extinct by over hunting by humans. Back then it might have been excusable to wipe out a species because we did not have the experience …
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