This is your brain on Jane Austen, and researchers at Stanford are taking notes Stanford Report, September 7, 2012 Researchers observe the brain patterns of literary PhD candidates while they're reading a Jane Austen novel. The fMRI images suggest that literary reading provides "a truly valuable exercise of people's brains." By Corrie Goldman The Humanities at Stanford L.A. Researcher Natalie Phillips positions an eye-tracking device on Matt Langione. The inside of an MRI machine might not seem like the best place to cozy up and concentrate on a good novel, but a team of researchers at Stanford are asking readers to do just that. In an innovative interdisciplinary study, neurobiological experts, radiologists and humanities scholars are working together to explore the relationship between reading, attention and distraction – by reading Jane Austen. During a series of ongoing experiments, functional magnetic resonance images track blood flow in the brains of subjects as they read excerpts of a Jane Austen novel.
Synthesized 'solar' jet fuel: Renewable kerosene from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide With the first ever production of synthesized "solar" jet fuel, the EU-funded SOLAR-JET project has successfully demonstrated the entire production chain for renewable kerosene obtained directly from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide (CO2), therein potentially revolutionizing the future of aviation. This process has also the potential to produce any other type of fuel for transport applications, such as diesel, gasoline or pure hydrogen in a more sustainable way. Several notable research organizations from academia through to industry (ETH Zürich, Bauhaus Luftfahrt, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), ARTTIC and Shell Global Solutions) have explored a thermochemical pathway driven by concentrated solar energy. A new solar reactor technology has been pioneered to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels suitable for more sustainable transportation.
Diane Ravitch Ordo Amoris: Norms and Nobility Prologue IV: I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will Some 100 years before David Hicks penned Norms and Nobility , in the Lake District of England, Charlotte Mason wrote these words as an educational philosophy: "I am, I can, I ought, I will." We moderns like to say," I am and I can," but we lose even the little we have by not adding, "I ought and I will." From those 4 phrases we can move towards a philosophy of education as Charlotte Mason did in her original series and as David Hicks does in Norms and Nobility. It is appropriate that Hicks ends his prologue with that nasty word "ought." I don't mean to embarrass anyone but we have the great fortune to have picked up Krakovianki for some of this study. Also please link to your posts in the comments. I will end this section with a couple of quotes from section IV. "David Halberstan (The Best and the Brightest )warns against the pride and blindness that operational brilliance is heir to. Question: Does it?
Feeling the heat over steam; Critics want a review of oilsands extraction process after Cold Lake leaks Oil glistens on water as booms line a marsh during the ongoing cleanup of bitumen seepage at Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.'s Primrose East oilsands project. Photograph by: Ed Kaiser , Ed Kaiser Originally published August 10, 2013. COLD LAKE - In a hard hat and overalls, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. president Steve Laut stands on a new boat launch on the edge of a marsh while behind him a fleet of watercraft are skimming an oily film off the water. Noise cannons are booming, screeching recorded bird calls, plastic flags and decoys help keep wildlife away from this site where bitumen is leaking into the water on the company's Primrose East oilsands project near Bonnyville. About 80 per cent of Alberta's oilsands will be extracted by in situ methods as opposed to open pit mines. Some say this method is more environmentally friendly than mines that carve up the earth. On the four sites, the leaks are now contained and the bitumen is vacuumed up daily or weekly. spratt@edmontonjournal.com
Public Schools for Sale? BILL MOYERS: This week on Moyers & Company, the high cost of turning our schools into profit centers. DIANE RAVITCH: In terms of the public coffers there are billions of dollars, but I think what’s at stake is the future of American public education. I believe it is the foundation stone – one of the foundation stones of our democracy. ANNOUNCER: Funding is provided by: Anne Gumowitz, encouraging the renewal of democracy. Carnegie Corporation of New York, celebrating 100 years of philanthropy, and committed to doing real and permanent good in the world. The Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. The Herb Alpert Foundation, supporting organizations whose mission is to promote compassion and creativity in our society. The John D. Park Foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. The Kohlberg Foundation. Barbara G. BILL MOYERS: Welcome. DIANE RAVITCH: It’s wonderful to be with you, Bill. DIANE RAVITCH: Absolutely.
Project Based Instruction in STEM Education Intro to Inquiry Learning | YouthLearn A (Somewhat) New Approach to Educating and Inspiring Kids Inquiry-based learning is not a new technique—in fact, it goes back to education philosopher John Dewey—but it does stand in contrast to the more structured, curriculum-centered framework of today's schools. Asking questions is at the heart of inquiry-based learning. The goal is not to ask just any questions, of course, but ones that kids honestly care about. Inquiry-based learning is a style particularly well-suited for out-of-school programs because they have a freer hand to complement, enhance, and expand on the work children are doing in their K-12 classes. This article explains some of the key principles of inquiry-based learning. Key Principles of Inquiry-Based Learning "Inquiry-based learning" is one of many terms used to describe educational approaches that are driven more by a learner's questions than by a teacher's lessons. How is inquiry-based learning different from traditional approaches? The Art of the Question