Mental · Social

Visit 1,400 museums for free on Sept. 25, Museum Day – LATimes

Beth Kelley

I’m so excited about this year because a) I don’t work that day, and b) I finally live in a big city where I have access to more than just the local children’s museum! Museums are a great source of knowledge, art, culture, science, and history in one weather-protected, thought-provoking building. Hooray!!

Here’s how it works: Go to the Smithsonian Magazine website, peruse the list of participating museums and pick one to visit — preferably one you’ve never been to. Then register to download and print out a ticket that provides free admission for two to the museum that you chose; you’ll need this for entry. Each ticket is good for only one museum, and only one ticket is allowed per household.

Visit 1,400 museums for free on Sept. 25, Museum Day – Travel – LATimes.com.

technology

Technology Review: Subway Trains to Generate Power for the Grid

Beth Kelley

Hooray for recycling and reusing resources, especially electricity! The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), in Philadelphia, PA, is installing a battery to collect all the energy that the subway cars put out during their daily commutes.

A massive battery installed at one of the authority’s substations will store electricity generated by the braking systems on trains (as the trains slow down the wheels drive generators). The battery will help trains accelerate, cutting power consumption, and will also provide extra power that can be sold back to the regional power grid. The pilot project, which involves one of 38 substations in the transit system, is expected to bring in $500,000 a year. This figure would multiply if the batteries are installed at other substations.

What a great idea! It keeps power-production local, and is a creative use of resources. And it saves money. Read more at Technology Review: Subway Trains to Generate Power for the Grid.

Uncategorized

Moving on to a new blog

Beth Kelley

Dear Friends,

I’ve decided that while this blog served a purpose for many years, my interests have tilted somewhat in another direction, and while I will always be an anthropologist and am still curious about the interaction between brain and body, culture and individual, and what happens when all four collide, I have found myself drawn more to exploring creativity, environmental enrichment, and similar elements in the human experience.

Plus, the only people who respond tend to be Chinese spammers.

Therefore, I will now be blogging about culture, science, and other aspects on mentalflowers.wordpress.com. Feel free to follow me there if you are a real person (or a friendly robot), as it is updated much more regularly. I have also been collecting instances where art and science collide at artofscience.wordpress.com for a couple of years now, so feel free to see what I’ve stalked up over there.

Thank you.

-B

Mental · Social

Revenge of the Introvert | Psychology Today

Beth Kelley

I spent the morning reading Revenge of the Introvert in Psychology Today. This is an interesting article that talks about how prevalent introversion actually is in humans when given psychology tests, and why accepting one’s intraverted tendencies is okay.

From the creative side of things, the author Laurie Helgoe points out how mentally draining it is for introverts to force themselves to be more outgoing and social, and in fact they are better at problem solving and creativity when they have a chance to sit in a quiet corner (or go running, sit on the bus with their headphones plugged in) and contemplate.

What I found interesting also, from a social science aspect, was when Helgoe pointed out that while American culture strongly encourages extraverted behavior, other cultures like in Finland and East Asia value introversion.

As Helgoe states “…if every other person is an introvert, why doesn’t the cultural tone reflect that?”

Indeed.

But overall the article provides a great message of why introversion is a good thing (really, truly) and how all us introverts can thrive in an extraverted culture.

Headphones, anyone?

read more at Revenge of the Introvert | Psychology Today.

Nature

10 Easy Steps for Becoming a Radical Homemaker by Shannon Hayes

Beth Kelley
A small vegetable garden in May outside of Aus...
Image via Wikipedia

So often people want an easy answer about how to make their lives better, and help the environment, and in some ways it is easy, but just having a grocery list of “stuff to do to make the environment better” seems shallow and sort of missing the point. So I’m pleased that Shannon Hayes was reluctant to provide us with an easy out; From 10 Easy Steps for Becoming a Radical Homemaker by Shannon Hayes:

I didn’t see a to-do list as a viable route to a dramatic shift in thinking, beliefs, and behaviors. But since the objective of such a list was smoother discussion and communication of Radical Homemaking ideas with the public, I did it.

I came up with the simplest things I could imagine—like committing to hanging laundry out to dry, dedicating a portion of the lawn to a vegetable garden, making an effort to get to know neighbors to enable greater cooperation and reduce resource consumption.

Thank you, Shannon Hayes, for making such a list. While it may seem shallow, providing a list like this is a way for us easy-answer people to dive in and expand from there.

read the 10 Easy Steps for Becoming a Radical Homemaker by Shannon Hayes.

Mental

Discovering the Virtues of a Wandering Mind – NYTimes.com

Beth Kelley

via Findings – Discovering the Virtues of a Wandering Mind – NYTimes.com.

“Researchers [that] have been analyzing those stray thoughts, they’ve found daydreaming to be remarkably common — and often quite useful. A wandering mind can protect you from immediate perils and keep you on course toward long-term goals. Sometimes daydreaming is counterproductive, but sometimes it fosters creativity and helps you solve problems.”

more at Findings – Discovering the Virtues of a Wandering Mind – NYTimes.com.

Mental · Social

New Nicaraguan sign language shows how language affects thought | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine

Beth Kelley

A cool look at language and how it shapes our thoughts in the article “New Nicaraguan sign language shows how language affects thought | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine.”

NSL has been a goldmine for scientists, providing an unparalleled opportunity to study the emergence of a new language. And in a new study led by Jennie Pyers from Wellesley College, it even tells us how language shapes our thought.By studying children who learned NSL at various stages of its development, Pyers has shown that the vocabulary they pick up affects the way they think. Specifically, those who learned NSL before it developed specific gestures for left and right perform more poorly on a spatial awareness test than children who grew up knowing how to sign those terms.

more…

architecture · Nature · Social · technology

Nine of the World’s Most Promising Carbon-Neutral Communities | Popular Science

Beth Kelley

Looking for some last minute destinations for Labor Day weekend here in the U.S.? Why not choose a destination that is carbon neutral? Although the plane ticket to get there would cancel out a lot of their hard work. From the article in Popular Science:

In the global race to reduce carbon emissions, these eco-minded communities, from Kansas to the Maldives, lead the pack. Here’s how they’re making their carbon footprints disappear.

See the nine at Nine of the World’s Most Promising Carbon-Neutral Communities | Popular Science.

Mental

Could Living in a Mentally Enriching Environment Change Your Genes?: Scientific American

Beth Kelley

For me this is one of those “well, duh!” studies, but I suppose people hadn’t previously realized just how strong the effect could be.

From the 2009 article…

“Not only does the environment an animal is reared in have marked effects on its ability to learn and remember, but also that these effects are inherited. The study suggests that we are not the mere sum of our genes: what we do can make a difference.”

read the full article at Could Living in a Mentally Enriching Environment Change Your Genes?: Scientific American.

Social · technology

Walk in Workshops | Science Gallery

Beth Kelley

The Science Gallery in Dublin provides a space to explore science, technology, and art in its multiple facets.

In June, they ran workshops “a selection of walk in workshops and a chance to test out the speed and accuracy of a penalty kick, thanks to the institute of Physics.”

Different programs included:

Bristlebot
Make a simple vibrating robot with a scrubbing brush and a small motor.

DNA Extraction
It might sound painful but all we need is a little bit of your saliva for you to actually be able to see a small amount of your very own DNA.

LED Wrist Band
Turn up in techno style at the festival season this year with this simple LED wrist band, a simple circuit using a 3 V  battery and an LED

Origami Bucky Ball
Explore the unusual construction of a Bucky Ball through the art of origami. With the simple building blocks you can build Bucky Balls out a variety of materials.

BeetleBot
A slightly more complicated robot, the BristleBot appears like it has some expensive sensory equipment enabling it to reverse away from a barrier. Find out it’s secret at this make and take.

Find out about more of their programs via Walk in Workshops | Science Gallery.