School is no Place for a Reader « Canadian Notes & Queries: “Sequential levelled readers” are making their punctual way to the house in the backpack, one every week. The teacher leans forward and says, mysteriously, “There is a difference between decoding and comprehension. Perhaps she is decoding that book, but she isn’t comprehending it.” […]

Tech is killing childhood – Salon.com Tech is killing childhood – Salon.com: Some of the worst, most passive writing I’ve yet seen on this topic. She makes it sound like parents can’t do a single thing to put boundaries around technology use. “I tell you, it feels overwhelming,” says a mother who used to look […]

PLOS ONE: Cocaine Tolerance in Honey Bees PLOS ONE: Cocaine Tolerance in Honey Bees: I’m not entirely sure of the potential benefits of acclimatizing bees to cocaine, really. Digest powered by RSS Digest

"For hand towels, astronauts get those little vacuum-packed pucks that you kind of have to unravel…" “For hand towels, astronauts get those little vacuum-packed pucks that you kind of have to unravel into a towel. But what happens when you actually put the towels to use?” – What happens when you wring out a washcloth […]

"The octopus-like movements and appearance of both protists reminded James of the horrid Cthulhu and…" “The octopus-like movements and appearance of both protists reminded James of the horrid Cthulhu and Cthylla, and the little protists were baptized after the two monsters. Cthulhu is often depicted as a giant, octopus-like entity with wings. Cthylla is his […]

"Until now, brain imaging specialists like me who deal with human injuries caused by trauma to…" ““Until now, brain imaging specialists like me who deal with human injuries caused by trauma to arteries in the head and neck have always been puzzled as to why rapid, twisting head movements did not leave thousands of owls […]

How many calories does it take to bring a calorie to the ISS? | Albert Einstein How many calories does it take to bring a calorie to the ISS? | Albert Einstein: The answer is about 1.6 candy bars worth of energy, which is rather less than I would’ve guessed. PLOS ONE: Who Multi-Tasks and […]

PLOS ONE: How Large Should Whales Be? PLOS ONE: How Large Should Whales Be?: The title implies that one can consider this as a sort of abstract idea for one’s own judgement: really, how large DO you think a whale really should be? The article, sadly, is about the usual sort of size-regulation issues in […]

Precisely How Google Killed Google Reader – Alexis C. Madrigal – The Atlantic Precisely How Google Killed Google Reader – Alexis C. Madrigal – The Atlantic: Rather than finding a way to turn their most dedicated users into content creators for the larger masses of users, they just took their tools away, alienating a group […]

Universities are not job-training factories: Salutin – thestar.com Universities are not job-training factories: Salutin – thestar.com: I don’t agree with him on everything, but he has a point. I also think it’s useful to continue the separation of functions between universities and colleges (we need to stop underfunding the colleges) — and to make it […]

Not guilty | This Magazine Not guilty | This Magazine: Choice should be delightful, not debilitating. The secret of it is that there is no wrong book to read. Even if you’re re-reading Harry Potter on the subway. So maybe we should take the opportunity to cast aside the textbooks inside of which we’re hiding […]

The Evolutionary Advantage of Depression – Brian Gabriel – The Atlantic The Evolutionary Advantage of Depression – Brian Gabriel – The Atlantic: It turns out that depression may not be a mere trade-off for a vigorous immune response. Dr. Miller suggests that depressive symptoms like social withdrawal, lack of energy, and a loss of interest […]

Boiling water without bubbles: Researchers engineer special surface, allowing water to boil without producing bubbles Boiling water without bubbles: Researchers engineer special surface, allowing water to boil without producing bubbles: Published Sept. 13 in the journal Nature, the research outlines how a specially engineered coated surface can create a stable vapor cushion between the surface […]

PLoS ONE: Lost Letter Measure of Variation in Altruistic Behaviour in 20 Neighbourhoods PLoS ONE: Lost Letter Measure of Variation in Altruistic Behaviour in 20 Neighbourhoods: The results show a strong negative effect of neighbourhood income deprivation on altruistic behaviour, with letters dropped in the poorest neighbourhoods having 91% lower odds of being returned than […]

Weapons made from shark teeth are completely badass, and hint at lost shark diversity | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine Weapons made from shark teeth are completely badass, and hint at lost shark diversity | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine: For those of you who are wondering how you weaponise shark […]

How do you make the perfect sandcastle? A little water can give you a five meter high castle How do you make the perfect sandcastle? A little water can give you a five meter high castle: The function of water in sandcastles is to form small ‘bridges’ which make the grains of sand stick together, […]

Repetitious, time-intensive magical rituals considered more effective, study shows Repetitious, time-intensive magical rituals considered more effective, study shows: Cause-and-effect thinking is critical to human survival, Legare said. So it’s natural for people to find logic in supernatural rituals that emphasize repetition and procedural steps. If doing something once has some effect, then repeating it must […]

PLoS ONE: Extending Body Space in Immersive Virtual Reality: A Very Long Arm Illusion PLoS ONE: Extending Body Space in Immersive Virtual Reality: A Very Long Arm Illusion: …participants experienced ownership over the virtual arm up to three times the length of the real one, and less strongly at four times the length. The illusion […]