Grad Engineering Programs Probe Intersection of Science, Art When engineers seek solutions to a problem—such as how to build a bridge to traverse a river—they tend to draw upon designs that have worked in the past. It takes an artist to provide a "more creative approach," says Christie Lin, a graduate engineering student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By collaborating, engineers and artists can push the limits of what is already known about their respective fields, explains Lin, who studies nuclear engineering at MIT, where she is also part of the Art Scholars group. Margaret Duff, a doctoral student at Arizona State University's Fulton School of Engineering, agrees with Lin. "Engineers tend to make very small, incremental improvements on things that have already been done, and they don't really allow their creativity to take full force," she says. Both Lin's and Duff's schools are part of what some are calling a new movement in engineering schools toward the interdisciplinary study of science and art. [Learn about design M.B.A.'
Why you get the dizzies when standing up too fast Men's Health If you're seeing stars when you get out of bed in the morning, it's probably not because you slept with Halle Berry last night. There's actually a name for that dizziness you sometimes get when you go from laying down or sitting to standing up: orthostatic hypotension (OH). A little momentary brain static might seem like nothing, but according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, OH is linked to heart failure. Could it be a danger sign for your health? What causes dizziness Franz Messerli, M.D., a physician who directs the hypertension programs at St. Do You Really Have High Blood Pressure? This process is often so precise and automatic that you won't notice any difference when you decide to go vertical. Hidden dangers So should you be worried? And then there's a more sinister explanation: In the new study, researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill looked at data from a different, long-term study on heart disease risk factors. Are you at risk?
Cultivating Charisma: How Personal Magnetism Can Help (Or Hurt) You At Work As a socially inept teenager, Olivia Fox Cabane realized that she had two choices. “Either confine myself to a desert island, or learn how to make this human thing work,” she says. Cabane opted for the latter. Good thing. By age 24, the French-born author of The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism, published on March 29, had addressed the United Nations. FAST COMPANY: So what is the myth of charisma and where did it come from? OLIVIA FOX CABANE: It came from the Greeks, who coined the word as “gift of grace.” So where did we get the idea that one needs to be outgoing and gregarious to be charismatic? A few things. For example? For “focus charisma,” which creates a cocoon around people and gets them to share everything, introversion is actually a key, critical component because you need to completely focus your attention on a person and listen attentively. What about the three other styles of charisma? And Steve Jobs? Exactly. Indeed. No.
Hijacking Emotion Is The Key To Engaging Your Audience The default to emotion is part of the human condition. To better appreciate the role of emotion and what it allows an audience to do, we need to take a brief detour into evolutionary biology. The human brain can be understood as three separate brains working in tandem, if not completely integrated with each other. The primitive brain and the limbic brain collectively make up the limbic system, which governs emotion. Within the limbic system, there is a structure called the amygdala, which leaders need to understand. When faced with a stimulus, the amygdala turns our emotions on. The amygdala is the key to understanding an audience’s emotional response, and to connecting with an audience. I have become somewhat notorious in the programs I teach at NYU for the way I start each class. Five Strategies for Audience Engagement Establish connection before saying anything substantive. The default to emotion is part of the human condition. [Image: Flickr user Howie Le]
Pearson's Virtual School Operator Opening Physical High Schools Blended Learning | News Pearson's Virtual School Operator Opening Physical High Schools By Dian Schaffhauser05/29/12 Education publishing and technology company Pearson will be opening physical versions of its virtual schools in five cities starting in August 2012. Connections Education, a business Pearson acquired in September 2011, has announced plans to create Nexus Academy charter schools in three cities in Ohio and two cities in Michigan, catering to grades 9 through 12. Up to now, Connections Ed has focused on providing virtual school options for traditional school districts and other education entities. The new schools will be tuition-free and open enrollment public high schools, limited to serving between 250 and 300 students. The focus will be on college preparation. Curriculum will come from Pearson as well as McGraw-Hill, the companies said in a statement. Each school will have a school board and will be authorized through charter school organizations in each state.
Berries Delay Memory Decline in Adults “Among women who consumed two or more servings of strawberries and blueberries each week we saw a modest reduction in memory decline. This effect appears to be attainable with relatively simple dietary modifications,” said Harvard researcher Elizabeth Devore of the Channing Laboratory. Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer Many of you probably knew that eating fresh berries and fruit was good for you; but how good was a question left unanswered, until now. Berries are good for you, that’s no secret. “What makes our study unique is the amount of data we analyzed over such a long period of time. The research team used data from the Nurses’ Health Study — a cohort of 121,700 female, registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55 — who completed health and lifestyle questionnaires beginning in 1976. Findings show that increased consumption of blueberries and strawberries was associated with a slower rate of memory decline in older women. Image: Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer
Iroko's Jason Njoku Is Creating The Next Netflix In Nigeria 12 Practical Business Lessons From Social Psychology The Foot in the Door PhenomenonIt’s been said many times that business is all about people. That being the case, perhaps we should stop reading management books for advice and start looking at social psychology. Very simply, social psychologists study how people interact with others – their families, friends, and yes, business partners. Smart marketers and executives have been using the findings of this growing field for decades to close sales, hold effective meetings and get their way in negotiations. But rather than putting you through an academic psychology lesson, we condensed the most useful concepts into one article. Foot In Door The Concept: If you’re wondering how to convince superiors, employees or customers to do what you ask, try using the foot in the door phenomenon. How You Can Use It: This handy principle has countless applications in the business world.
Digital Promise - Accelerating Innovation in Education Does sugar make you stupid? Study suggests it sabotages learning and memory Fructose is commonly added to processed foods such as soft drinksIt was found to hamper memory and slow brain activity By Claire Bates Published: 09:12 GMT, 16 May 2012 | Updated: 00:08 GMT, 17 May 2012 Stay off the sweet stuff: Fizzy drinks contain high amounts of fructose which slows the brain Too much sugar could be making you stupid, according to researchers. The suggestion follows tests in the laboratory comparing high-fructose corn syrup, which is six times sweeter than cane sugar and a common ingredient in processed foods, with omega-3 fatty acids, known to aid memory and learning. In an experiment on rats, one group had a sugary diet for six weeks and another was fed healthily. At the start of the study, published in the Journal of Physiology, the University of California team tested how well the rats navigated a maze – placing landmarks to help them learn the way. Six weeks later, the researchers tested the rats’ ability to recall the route.