July 6, 2024
Mohenjo
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Photons are odd little beasts.
They can act like waves. They can act like particles. They are teeny tiny messengers of force. They are carriers of energy.
But most of all, they’re light. When you think of light, you’re thinking of photons. So literally, when you look around you and see, well, anything, your eyes are detecting photons that are emitted by objects like your computer screen or a lamp, photons emitted by those sources that are reflected off other objects, or an absence of photons—a result of something absorbing or blocking them as they travel through space. Because of this, nearly everything we know about objects in deep space is because of light.
Another thing photons are is weird—very, very weird.
In many ways, they behave like waves, similar to those on the beach or in your bathtub when you splash around, with crests and troughs. The distance between crests is called the wavelength, and the amplitude of a wave—its strength, effectively—is the difference in height between the trough and a crest. In a sound wave, that’s related to the volume of the sound. And in light, it’s related to the light’s intensity.
In other ways, photons act like subatomic particles, which can have momentum, spin, and more. It’s very difficult to wrap your head around the idea that light can be a wave and a particle, even at the same time, but quantum mechanics is exceptionally bizarre that way (which is a big reason it took so long to be accepted by scientists as a good model of reality). These properties, however, define light, and they in turn tell us a lot about the objects that emit or reflect it.
For light, the most fundamental property is the wavelength. That describes how much energy the light has, with shorter wavelength waves having more energy than ones with longer wavelengths. More colloquially, we see this difference in wavelength (or energy) as color. When you see something as violet, for example, you’re seeing light coming from that object with a shorter wavelength. Blue has a slightly longer wavelength, green longer again, then yellow, orange, and finally red, with the longest we see. We can measure the wavelengths of these colors of visible light to determine the range our eyes can detect, and it goes very roughly from 380 nanometers (nm) for violet to about 750 nm for red. (One nanometer is a billionth of a meter.)
An aside: the frequency of light is another fundamental property and is a measure of how frequently the crests pass an observer. It’s equal to the inverse of the wavelength; in other words, the longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency, and vice versa. Scientists use both, usually picking one or the other in their calculations, depending on what makes the math easier or more intuitive.
Our eyes have evolved cells called cones in our retinas that are sensitive to different wavelengths of light. There are three kinds: one detects a small range of wavelengths centered on red, and the others detect ranges centered on green and blue. As light hits those cells, they send signals to the brain, which combines them to create the colors we see.
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KTSDesign/Science Photo Library/Alamy Stock Photo
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July 6, 2024
Mohenjo
Business, Food For Thought, Human Interest, Political, Science, Technical
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There’s an old saying (of questionable validity) that you don’t know what love is until you have a baby. It’s too often used as a way to lord one’s hard-won parenting knowledge over the uninitiated. And while it’s true that when my daughter was born, I felt like I was drowning in my love for her, the full weight of this saying revealed itself only after we got home: You don’t know what love is until you’ve had a friend leave hot dinners on your porch for weeks. You don’t know what love is until your mom drops everything to stay for a month, cooking and cleaning and caring for your new family. You don’t know what love is until a stranger in the neighborhood sees you out with a newborn wrapped up against your chest, asks your address, and leaves a huge batch of homemade soup on your front stoop. You don’t know what love is until people emerge from the woodwork and go out of their way to soften your landing into parenthood.
A month after my daughter was born, my husband had to go out of town for the first time. I was terrified. A friend of mine left her own baby at home and drove two hours to my house, bearing snacks and drinks and the easy confidence of a mom with nearly a year of experience under her belt. She walked laps around my living room, rocking my daughter as she wailed, and I looked on in awe. And then she asked if she could clean my bathroom — my disgusting, neglected bathroom, with a month of unspeakable grime caked under the toilet rim and pale pink mildew ringing the sink drain. You don’t know what love is until your friend has driven four hours round trip just to pull on rubber gloves and scrub your toilet bowl.
Ahead, here are 12 more stories from the trenches of new parenthood, on the large and small ways we take care of one another.
Care Packages For The Big Kids
My daughter, our third child, was born with a rare genetic disorder, which we didn’t know until she was about 8 days old. She was in the NICU for about six weeks. So on top of normal postpartum stuff, I had a C-section for the first time, and I had to leave her in the hospital when I was discharged. It was just a perfect storm of emotions. We were living in Texas at the time, far away from our families. It was still Covid, so we were on our own. I would wake up, spend a day at the hospital, and come home. I was barely getting through the day. I definitely felt like I was neglecting my older two children.
The week before Easter, one of my best friends in Boston sent a kit for the kids to make Easter cookies. It was pre-made sugar cookies, icing, and decorations and stuff. It was just one of those little things that I normally would have done with them that I just didn’t have the bandwidth for. A lot of times when you have a baby, so much of it is about the baby. But recognizing that there were other people affected by everything that was going on, and our whole family unit — that meant a lot. Especially for me. It was nice to have something that was so simple, but they enjoyed it so much, and it was already all set, so I could actually sit down with them and just open it up and do it.
— Claire, 36, North Carolina, mom of three, ages 8, 6, and 3
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12 parents of all ages look back on the postpartum gestures they’ll never forget.
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July 5, 2024
Mohenjo
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Electroencephalography, or EEG, was invented 100 years ago. In the years since the invention of this device to monitor brain electricity, it has had an incredible impact on how scientists study the human brain.
Since its first use, the EEG has shaped researchers’ understanding of cognition, from perception to memory. It has also been important for diagnosing and guiding treatment of multiple brain disorders, including epilepsy.
I am a cognitive neuroscientist who uses EEG to study how people remember events from their past. The EEG’s 100-year anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on this discovery’s significance in neuroscience and medicine.
On July 6, 1924, psychiatrist Hans Berger performed the first EEG recording on a human, a 17-year-old boy undergoing neurosurgery. At the time, Berger and other researchers were performing electrical recordings on the brains of animals.
What set Berger apart was his obsession with finding the physical basis of what he called psychic energy, or mental effort, in people. Through a series of experiments spanning his early career, Berger measured brain volume and temperature to study changes in mental processes such as intellectual work, attention, and desire.
He then turned to recording electrical activity. Though he recorded the first traces of EEG in the human brain in 1924, he did not publish the results until 1929. Those five intervening years were a tortuous phase of self-doubt about the source of the EEG signal in the brain and refining the experimental setup. Berger recorded hundreds of EEGs on multiple subjects, including his own children, with both experimental successes and setbacks.
Finally convinced of his results, he published a series of papers in the journal Archiv für Psychiatrie and had hopes of winning a Nobel Prize. Unfortunately, the research community doubted his results, and years passed before anyone else started using EEG in their own research.
Berger was eventually nominated for a Nobel Prize in 1940. But Nobels were not awarded that year in any category due to World War II and Germany’s occupation of Norway.
When many neurons are active at the same time, they produce an electrical signal strong enough to spread instantaneously through the conductive tissue of the brain, skull and scalp. EEG electrodes placed on the head can record these electrical signals.
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Human brain waves from electroencephalography or EEG.Undefined/Getty Images
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July 5, 2024
Mohenjo
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There’s no denying that PBS Kids, the home of Daniel Tiger, was once the gold standard for children’s programming. Unfortunately, many of their shows now feel recycled or like they’re spoon-feeding their audience. For example, they’ve turned Elmo and Cookie Monster into transforming robots. A parent can’t help but wonder if they’re more interested in selling toys than entertaining kids. Apple TV+ has quickly (and quietly) been overtaking PBS’ throne in quality programming for kids, bringing considerable value to this parent’s dwindling streaming budget. Several creatives behind Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood have their own programs on the streaming service, and the shows are targeted toward specific age groups, not just preschoolers.
After playing 30 Rock‘s Kenneth Parcell with “aw-shucks” aplomb, Jack McBrayer practically seemed destined to host a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood-type show. Here, he plays a version of himself, who also happens to be the kindest resident of Clover Grove, and spreads his fondness for others around his colorful hometown. Behind the scenes, McBrayer co-created this musical show (with songs by pop group OK Go) with Angela C. Santomero, the mind behind Blue’s Clues and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. According to my oldest son, this program is strictly for preschoolers, as he doesn’t enjoy the show as much as his younger brother does.
Frog and Toad
Every streaming service has a children’s series based on a book. Netflix has Captain Underpants, and Prime Video has If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and each show translates its source material to the screen with varying degrees of success. Apple TV+ has Frog and Toad, which captures what made Arnold Lobel’s award-winning series so delightful to read, from the color palette of its illustrations to its contagious positivity. The show moves at the same pace as your preschooler, so their senses aren’t overloaded, and its core themes about communication and embracing differences are slipped in subtly. Both my sons love it. Don’t be surprised if this becomes the next kids’ show you watch without your kids
Older kids
Stillwater
From each hair on the titular panda’s face to the blades of grass that move with the breeze, Stillwater is far too beautiful for children’s television animation. Even its sound design is soothing, which is on purpose, given the show’s premise. Each episode deals with a problem that one of Stillwater’s child neighbors brings to them. Rather than letting their emotions take over, he supports them in finding a solution by taking a deep breath and looking at the problem from a different perspective, offering a way to navigate complicated feelings so viewers can work on becoming more self-aware humans. Surprisingly, my kids love this show, particularly the beautiful fables Stillwater tells his young neighbors to get his point across.
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Credit: AppleTV
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July 4, 2024
Mohenjo
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Be Safe
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July 4, 2024
Mohenjo
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Perhaps the biggest difference Lissa O’Rourke has noticed among her preschoolers in St. Augustine, Fla., has been their inability to regulate their emotions: “It was knocking over chairs, it was throwing things, it was hitting their peers, hitting their teachers.”
Data from schools underscores what early childhood professionals have noticed.
Children who just finished second grade, who were as young as 3 or 4 when the pandemic began, remain behind children the same age prepandemic, particularly in math, according to the new Curriculum Associates data. Of particular concern, the students who are the furthest behind are making the least progress catching up.
The youngest students’ performance is “in stark contrast” to older elementary school children, who have caught up much more, the researchers said. The new analysis examined testing data from about four million children, with cohorts before and after the pandemic.
Data from Cincinnati Public Schools is another example: Just 28 percent of kindergarten students began this school year prepared, down from 36 percent before the pandemic, according to research from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
How did this happen?
One explanation for young children’s struggles, childhood development experts say, is parental stress during the pandemic.
A baby who is exposed to more stress will show more activation on brain imaging scans in “the parts of that baby’s brain that focus on fear and focus on aggression,” said Rahil D. Briggs, a child psychologist with Zero to Three, a nonprofit that focuses on early childhood. That leaves less energy for parts of the brain focused on language, exploration, and learning, she said.
During lockdowns, children also spent less time overhearing adult interactions that exposed them to new language, like at the grocery store or the library. And they spent less time playing with other children.
Kelsey Schnur, 32, of Sharpsville, Pa., pulled her daughter, Finley, from child care during the pandemic. Finley, then a toddler, colored, did puzzles, and read books at home.
But when she finally enrolled in preschool, she struggled to adjust, her mother said. She was diagnosed with separation anxiety and selective mutism.
“It was very eye-opening to see,” said Ms. Schnur, who works in early childhood education. “They can have all of the education experiences and knowledge, but that socialization is so key.”
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Preschoolers do not have the same fine motor skills as they did prepandemic, Ms. Frederick said. Aaron Hardin for The New York Times
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July 4, 2024
Mohenjo
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If you’re in the wellness community looking to live a longer, healthier life, you’ve probably noticed the love-hate relationship health experts have with coffee.
Does coffee…
- Protect you from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease?
- Lower your type 2 diabetes risk?
- Keep your liver safe from cirrhosis and even cancer?
- Boost your metabolism and athletic performance?
Yes, we have mounting research on it.
- Does it also increase stress hormone levels?
- Contribute to anxiety and sleep problems, especially if you drink too much?
- Is it addictive, and does it cause withdrawal?
Also yes. At least, the WHO no longer considers coffee a carcinogen (until 2016, it did.)
For most people, moderate coffee consumption will bring more benefits than risks. But, there are better and worse ways to have your coffee. Let’s talk about turning your morning cup of joe into a health ritual.
It only takes 30 seconds and a few small tweaks— I’ll show you how.
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Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
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July 3, 2024
Mohenjo
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Things have changed a lot since I was a kid. Science is actually cool now, for example—my kids actually want to learn as much about the world around them as they can, and they can do so in their home with the wide variety of educational kits available to help them learn about geology, physics, paleontology, chemistry, and other branches of study. Not only do these kits give kids a head start in the classroom, but they also impart principles like observing and problem-solving.
If you have an inquisitive kid looking for fun while deepening their understanding of science, here are 10 affordable kits to help them get started.
Engino Stem Toys: Physics Laws
Sure, your kid can build a rocket with a LEGO set, but it takes science to project it into the air. With this six-in-one set, your child can make a working launcher, crash test rig, rubber band car, sharpening wheel, bow and arrow, and an inertia test platform while learning basic physics principles. Reviewers say this STEM kit has easy-to-follow instructions that even elementary school-aged kids can understand.
National Geographic Stunning Science Chemistry Set
We all made model volcanoes for our science fair project, but your kids can take their experiment to the next level with some pop crystals to make it change colors and fizz. That’s just one of the many chemistry-based experiments this kit offers, which also include building a geyser or rocket launcher. The educational instruction booklet also has 30 additional experiments kids can conduct using everyday household items.
KiwiCo Science of Cooking: Ice Cream
What kid doesn’t love ice cream? Now, with this hands-on kit created by the popular educational subscription service, they can make their own while learning the materials and methods involved in creating the cold concoction. The kit also includes an illustrated book explaining the science behind the delicious dessert and features recipes for different flavors and sorbet.
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Credit: Mcimage / Shutterstock com
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July 3, 2024
Mohenjo
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Space should not be a garbage dump. Nevertheless, we have treated the sky as a wrecker’s yard for more than half a century, and the amount of space junk orbiting Earth has skyrocketed in recent years. Now filled with the decaying hulks of defunct rockets and satellites, our polluted orbital environment is becoming more crowded by the day, threatening the growing space economy. It’s time for nations—and the billionaires commoditizing space—to clean up Earth’s near orbit.
The U.S. Air Force tracks more than 25,000 pieces of space junk larger than 10 centimeters—about the size of a bagel—weighing together some 9,000 metric tons. This dangerous trash zips around Earth at speeds of roughly 10 kilometers per second, or more than 22,000 miles per hour. Collisions between millimeter-scale objects too small to track and working satellites are now routine, as are near-miss disasters. One example is a NASA research satellite that almost hit a defunct Russian satellite in February. Orbital debris collisions cost satellite operators an estimated $86 million to $103 million in losses a year, a figure that will grow as each operator and each collision generate more debris.
The threat isn’t just in space. In March, part of a pallet from a discarded International Space Station battery fell to Earth, smashing through the roof of a Florida home. In 2020 an Ivory Coast village recovered a 12-meter-long pipe from space, courtesy of a Chinese rocket that cast off its empty core after launch. And a 2022 Nature Astronomy study puts the odds of space junk killing someone on the ground at 10 percent every decade. Needlessly.
Under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, nations are supposed to be responsible for damages caused by space junk, even if it was originally launched by a private firm. That puts taxpayers, not space-exploring billionaires, on the hook for damages from orbital debris if its origin can be proved and the company shown negligent—a tough proposition for untraceable paint chips. No surprise, this hasn’t worked. The problem is, after decades of discussion, there is still no international treaty that limits space junk or sets standards for negligence. We need one that outlines responsibilities and imposes fines on the companies whose spacecraft debris causes harm.
As long as doing the right thing is voluntary, it may not happen, concluded a 2018 Air Force Association report. The limited action since then tells us the world is way overdue for an agreement on mandatory standards. Few countries or companies currently design rockets for their complete life cycle. They must be forced to store enough fuel and retain the capability for spacecraft to steer safely out of space when their useful life is over. Painful financial and regulatory penalties should afflict spacefaring industries and nations that fail to play by the new rules.
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Martin Gee
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July 2, 2024
Mohenjo
Business, Crime, Food For Thought, Human Interest, Medical, missed News, Political, Science, Technical
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Hmmmmm… Maybe incarcerate Donald till all his cases have been litigated!
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