Personal knowledge base
A personal knowledge base (PKB) is an electronic tool used to express, capture, and later retrieve the personal knowledge of an individual. It differs from a traditional database in that it contains subjective material particular to the owner, that others may not agree with nor care about. Importantly, a PKB consists primarily of knowledge, rather than information; in other words, it is not a collection of documents or other sources an individual has encountered, but rather an expression of the distilled knowledge the owner has extracted from those sources. Definition[edit] The term personal knowledge base itself was coined in 2011 by Stephen Davies of the University of Mary Washington[1] and has a tripartite definition: personal: a PKB is intended for private use, and its contents are custom-tailored to the individual. Contrast with other classes of systems[edit] The following classes of systems cannot be classified as PKBs: Personal information management[edit] Historical influences[edit]
An afternoon nap markedly boosts the brain’s learning capacity
If you see a student dozing in the library or a co-worker catching 40 winks in her cubicle, don’t roll your eyes. New research from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that an hour’s nap can dramatically boost and restore your brain power. Indeed, the findings suggest that a biphasic sleep schedule not only refreshes the mind, but can make you smarter. Students who napped (green column) did markedly better in memorizing tests than their no-nap counterparts. Conversely, the more hours we spend awake, the more sluggish our minds become, according to the findings. “Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness but, at a neurocognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap,” said Matthew Walker, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the lead investigator of these studies. In the recent UC Berkeley sleep study, 39 healthy young adults were divided into two groups — nap and no-nap.
How did life originate?
How did life originate? Living things (even ancient organisms like bacteria) are enormously complex. However, all this complexity did not leap fully-formed from the primordial soup. Simple organic molecules were formed. Multicellularity evolved.
get materials
Art21 EducatorsNow accepting applications for 2013–2014. The materials in this section can be used in school and community-based settings to introduce individual artists, themes, or ideas; to contextualize the work of contemporary artists; and to encourage further research and investigation. Educators' Guides, Screening Guides, extended lesson and unit ideas, a glossary, and transcripts from artist conversations and educational events suggest a wide range of ways to teach with Art21 resources. In this section, you will find: Educators' Guides Background information about featured artists and themes from the broadcast programs. Screening Guides To encourage dynamic public-screening events, engage new audiences, and deepen appreciation and understanding of contemporary art and ideas. Prompts A collection of questions to initiate discussion around artist and thematic videos, as well as suggestions for hands-on projects.
What Does Your Body Language Say About You? How To Read Signs and Recognize Gestures - Jinxi Boo - Jinxi Boo
Art by LaetitziaAs we all know, communication is essential in society. Advancements in technology have transformed the way that we correspond with others in the modern world. Because of the constant buzz in our technological world, it's easy to forget how important communicating face-to-face is. When conversing old-school style, it's not only speech we verbalize that matters, but what our nonverbal gestures articulate as well. Body language is truly a language of its own. 10% from what the person actually says40% from the tone and speed of voice50% is from their body language. Lowering one's head can signal a lack of confidence. Pushing back one's shoulders can demonstrate power and courageOpen arms means one is comfortable with being approached and willing to talk/communicate
This Device Provides Clean Water for Pennies a Day
Photo: WaterconePassive Solar One Step Water Condensation FTW!We wrote about the Watercone back in 2004, but considering how much TreeHugger's audience has grown since then, it's likely that only a handful of you were reading the site back then. I think it's time to have a second look at this very clever device that has the potential to help provide clean drinking water for millions of people who are lacking access to clean water (or if they do, maybe the access is intermittent and they could use a plan B). Photo: WaterconeStep #1: Pour salty / brackish Water into pan. Photo: WaterconeStep #2: The evaporated Water condensates in the form of droplets on the inner wall of the cone. Photo: WaterconeStep #3: By unscrewing the cap at the tip of the cone and turning the cone upside down, one can empty the potable Water gathered in the trough directly into a drinking device.
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Lojong
Lojong (Tib. བློ་སྦྱོང་,Wylie: blo sbyong) is a mind training practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition based on a set of aphorisms formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa. The practice involves refining and purifying one's motivations and attitudes. The fifty-nine or so slogans that form the root text of the mind training practice are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering. They contain both methods to expand one's viewpoint towards absolute bodhicitta, such as "Find the consciousness you had before you were born" and "Treat everything you perceive as a dream", and methods for relating to the world in a more constructive way with relative bodhicitta, such as "Be grateful to everyone" and "When everything goes wrong, treat disaster as a way to wake up." History of the practice[edit] Atiśa journeyed to Sumatra and studied with Dharmarakṣita for twelve years. Geshe Chekhawa is claimed to have cured leprosy with mind training. 1. 2.
Lungs Can Taste! Weird Discovery Points to New Asthma Treatments | 80beats |...
Your lungs know a bitter sensation when they taste one. Yes, taste. In a Nature Medicine study, Stephen B. Liggett and company found receptors on the smooth muscle in the lungs that respond to bitterness, similar to the bitter taste buds on the tongue. Like tastebuds on the tongue, the receptors react to bitterness, but unlike tastebuds they do not send any signals to the brain. The researchers first thought that bitter compounds might trigger a constriction of the airways, to prevent toxins from further infiltrating the lungs. Liggett’s team had been looking for new means to relax and open up a person’s airway, beyond the standard beta 2 agonist inhalant for asthma patients, when they stumbled upon this. When the researchers tried bitter aerosols on constricted airways in mice or on sections of human airways freshly removed from cancer patients, they were surprised to discover the lung muscles quickly relaxed. The team’s discovery doesn’t point to a cure for asthma. Image: iStockphoto
Exceptions
