Category: Education

Impact Lab > Education
Analysis, Brain, Breakthrough Thinking, Education, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries

Why you have your best ideas when you’re least productive

idea bulb black background

Ideas happen at the darnedest times.

We all have our favorite times to power through work; some of us are up at the crack of dawn toiling away, while others feel more productive when the sun’s setting. But a new study suggests that out best ideas actually come to us when we’re not at our best.

Researchers have been studying how innovation and creativity varies with circadian rhythms—the natural patterns that make you a morning person or an evening type—and the findings are suprising…

Continue reading… “Why you have your best ideas when you’re least productive”

Animals, Breakthrough Thinking, Education, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries

Individual dolphins identify themselves to new dolphins they meet

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Dolphins are able to carry on multiple conversations simultaniously.

Dolphins apparently have a system of identifying themselves to each other similar to the way you and I use names.

Scientists have actually known since the 1960s that this system existed. Basically, each dolphin creates their own “signature” whistle when they’re very young. In studies of captive dolphins, they used this whistle mainly when they got separated from the rest of the group. It was like a way of saying, “Hey, I’m over here!” Or, given the environment, perhaps some version of “Marco! Polo!”

But at Not Exactly Rocket Science, Ed Yong writes about a new study of wild dolphins that has really increased our understanding of signature whistles and how dolphins use them…

Continue reading… “Individual dolphins identify themselves to new dolphins they meet”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Education, Entertainment, Health & Fitness, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

Blood Lamp

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/6792724[/vimeo]

What if power came at a cost to the individual?

The average American consumes 3383kwh of energy per year. That’s equivalent to leaving the light on in 4 rooms for a whole year. The simple flick of a switch allows us to power appliances and gadgets 24/7 without a thought to where it comes from and the cost to the environment.

Continue reading… “Blood Lamp”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, DIY, Education, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, Latest News

How to extract your own DNA using household items

You can extract your own DNA with drinking water, salt, dish soap, alcohol, food coloring, and your own spit! This NOVA/PBS-made video shows you how.

I’ve been writing about DNA for more than a decade, and I just realized that until this video, I’ve never actually seen DNA. And there it is, in the form of a white string in a plastic cup. Pretty freaking neato…

Continue reading… “How to extract your own DNA using household items”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Education, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries

Bacteria communicate by touch, new research suggests

bacteria communicate

Associate professor Christopher Hayes and graduate student Christina Beck researching.

What if bacteria could talk to each other? What if they had a sense of touch? A new study by researchers at UC Santa Barbara suggests both, and theorizes that such cells may, in fact, need to communicate in order to perform certain functions…

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Analysis, Big Problems, Crazy Stuff, Education, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues

The true cost of gasoline is closer to $15 a gallon

Last week’s news cycles were dominated in part by rising gas prices, and the political parties’ response to costs at the pump inching closer to $4 per gallon. The GOP is outraged, rather, is feigning to be outraged, and is disingenuously blaming Obama’s energy policies for the spike.

But all this political football obscures one important fact…

Continue reading… “The true cost of gasoline is closer to $15 a gallon”

Analysis, Crazy Stuff, Education, Entertainment, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Internet, Latest News

SOPA’s author wants everything you do online logged and made available without a warrant

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Lamar Smith has a unique vision for your internet rights.

Lamar Smith (R-TX), author of the ill-starred SOPA Internet regulation, has an even dumber idea for the Internet. In the name of fighting child pornography, he wants to force ISPs to log everything you do online, then make it available to police and government agents without a warrant. Leslie Meredith has a writeup on the mounting opposition to Smith’s latest act of unconstitutional lunacy…

Continue reading… “SOPA’s author wants everything you do online logged and made available without a warrant”

Analysis, Crazy Stuff, Education, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, New Viewpoints

Five common misconceptions about the Middle Ages

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The Middle Ages may not have actually been the way you thought.

No matter how interested you are in history, you probably have still heard a lot about the Dark Ages, but much of that information, even the stuff you learned back in school, is actually fiction. Here are five commonly held beliefs about the Middle Ages that aren’t actually fact.

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Breakthrough Thinking, Education, Health & Fitness, New Inventions

Smartphone sensor scans food for E. coli

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Scan your food and stay safe with your smartphone.

If you’ve ever suffered from any kind of food poisoning you’d understandably see the genius in this little device. Engineers at UCLA have created a prototype scanner that attaches to your smartphone camera and checks out that great looking burger to make sure you’re in the clear from E. coli.

The phone attachment essentially turns your phone into portable fluorescent microscope that light up the harmful bacteria like a Black Sabbath poster under a black light…

Continue reading… “Smartphone sensor scans food for E. coli”

Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.