al-mofhariz

What’s going on in that brain of yours? There may be as many neurons in one human brain as there are stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Connecting these neurons are hundreds of trillions of pathways along which electrochemical messages constantly fly. The brain’s uncanny ability to save, coordinate, and retrieve these messages is what creates our memories and very identities . Neuroscientist and biomedical engineer André Fenton is at the forefront of research on memory and forgetting. He and his colleagues discovered the first mind-bending molecule responsible for preserving long-term memories —and then went on to show how suppressing that molecule could  wipe out existing memories. Dr. Fenton asks: --If we can pinpoint how memories are stored, can we selectively erase bad memories? Should we? --How are memories retrieved? Why don’t all our memories flood our minds, causing traffic jams of thought? --How does neuronal activity—taking place on the nanoscale —translate into menta...

I know I am not the only teacher out there who when asking how to draw a conclusion, gets the response "you need to draw a picture."  In my case, it makes perfect sense! I teach the kids all year to draw to show your understanding of a concept.  However, when they see that as a test question - drawing a picture is not an option, right? So to address this idea, my teammates and I decided to start with the fact that draw is a multiple meaning word.  I started with a graphic organizer with the word draw in the top box. Then, we brainstormed all the meanings of draw - to draw a picture, to draw a card, to draw blood, to draw the blinds, etc... One of my kids said "underwear...you know drawers!"  Ha ha.. don't worry I cleared it up! We talked about the fact that draw means to pull out in many situations.  The same is true when you draw a conclusion. You are pulling out information from an experiment that you have finished or a text you have read. Example from t...

BOOK REVIEW: Vanessa L. Ryan, Thinking Without Thinking in the Victorian Novel (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012) ——————————————— Science and (the study of) literature are growing closer together. From  Stanford's Literary Lab  and a recent New York Times piece on the Digital Humanities  to reading Austen in an MRI machine  and so-called " Literary Darwinism ," there's both controversy and a certain cache (and maybe even a little cash) in bringing scientific techniques and the study of literature closer together. This is your brain on Austen ( http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/september/images/mri_reading_news.jpg ) So what about the study of science and the study of literature? History of science, say, and literary history? The short answer is that it's happening in English departments, but not so much in History. Why? More on that below. Work on the interplay between science and literature has been dominated by scholars of the Victorian novel. G...

We are working on the FOSS unit Magnetism and Electricity - another one of my favorite units! So far we have explored what is attracted to magnets using plastic bags full of materials.  Many of the materials are duplicates, only one is made of iron or steel and the other of another non-magnetic substance.  We have begun exploring how to create a circuit using D-cells and light bulbs.  Students are learning new vocabulary such as energy source and energy receiver, circuits and filament. As part of this lesson we are introduced to Thomas Edison.  Did you know that Thomas Edison did NOT invent the light bulb? He was an engineer - he found an existing problem and using through trial and error worked to find a better way. It was not until he met Lewis Latimer, an African American inventor that the modern  light bulb was improved to last more than a few days.  Thomas Latimer had created a filament that would not burn out quickly. Together they figured out...

A funny thing happened during the Super Bowl. No, not that thing . Yes, the 34-minute power outage brought a lot of issues into focus—issues linked to the "Sandy Studies" Lee proposed in the hurricane's wake ( and is now teaching ). But I have a different sense of power in mind—the power of (academic) science in the marketplace. On Sunday, Prudential aired a thirty-second spot (that could've cost up to $4,000,000! ) advertising its retirement planning services. The ad featured a "real-life experiment" (their term, from the video's description) emceed by a real-life academic scientist: social psychologist, bestselling author, and Harvard Professor Daniel T. Gilbert . Details of the proceedings are fleshed out in both the one-minute and behind-the-scenes expansions of the original spot. Some folks—though surprisingly few on Twitter , and comments are disabled for the video—might be curious why Gilbert got involved. This is certainly the first academic I...

In Berlin, they keep dragons in the museum. Right next to the lions. And the aurochs . See for yourself. (The dragons are the strange-looking cat creatures....) I recently* viewed the displays at the Pergamon Museum (named for the enormous alter in its first room, more on that later), and found them, once again, entrancing. Only the British Museum's artifacts compare with the Pergamon treasures. I arrived at the museum with some new mental baggage and ended up enjoying my visit all the more. Keep reading for more Babylonian aurochs, a king's bodyguards, a few gods, and a tip to try on your next museum excursion. Here's a closer look at one of those aurochs. Beautiful, right? And well preserved for something from the sixth century B.C. But, as it happens, this auroch doesn't only hail from sixth century B.C. Babyon. It's also a mid-twentieth century creature---one built from old remains, but updated with contemporary (German) skill and creativity. Here, without such ...

Around my house, football is on!  My boys love to watch football from August until February...routing for their favorite players all year long.  This year we are so excited to see the Ravens in the Super Bowl!  We are actively cheering on home town player - Torrey Smith - from Stafford, Virginia where we live.  In honor of the super bowl, I am offering a sale of 15% on my products that costs $5 or more. I hope you will visit my store and pick up something you have been looking for!     Comment: