Science

Exercise and the brain

Spark Book Review: The Science of Exercise and the Brain

Changing thinking about exercise and the brain Written by bestselling author and psychiatrist John J. Ratey with Eric Hagerman, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain is a positive book that looks at how exercise can improve neuroplasticity, learning, and executive function. It suggests exercise as a helpful addition to medication, or sometimes even a replacement […]

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Flipped Classrooms and the Cardboard Challenge

Here are a couple of creative back-to-school ideas to get excited about. The first is the story of one little boy’s ingenuity which became a movement schools worldwide can participate in. It’s called the Cardboard Challenge and it combines play, creativity, technology and community in a heartwarming way. If you are looking for a way

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Naked to Nature

I’m a fan of the The Naked Scientists podcast with Chris Smith. This is a fun, English podcast with features such as ‘kitchen science’ experiments for kids to try at home and quizzes for listeners. For weekly podcasts on Science with a more serious tone, my new favorite is Chris Smith’s Nature podcast. Many of

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Theatre of the Mind

Currently reading: Theatre of the Mind: Raising the Curtain on Consciousness You may have seen Jay Ingram co-host Discovery channel’s science magazine, Daily Planet. It’s my son’s favorite show. What would he think of me if I confessed my other favorite is something called “Ugly Betty?” I am enjoying Ingram’s book, which initiates the layman

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Tim Flannery — Making waves about weather

Canada’s investigative journalism magazine, W5, did a recent expose on Canadian climate change skeptics. Of these, many are paid by the oil and gas industry, many have not published recently in peer-reviewed scientific journals and some are linked to the same American publicity firm that tobacco companies hired to question evidence linking smoking with health

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