News of the day-ish
Should a single essay in an unfamiliar style count more towards college admission than a student's entire academic and extracurricular history? "In fact, [the most selective US] colleges give more weight to the essay than grade-point average. Let me restate that: one writing assignment is more critical to a high school senior’s chances of getting into many top colleges than his or her average grades from four years of high school."
Advice from a doctor on how to lower your medical costs (advice mostly only applicable to those in the US, of course).
Misuse of handicapped parking tags angers those who truly need them; due to lax enforcement, no one really knows how widespread the problem is.
The US accounting industry is far better at helping its employees maintain a happy work-life balance -- because it pays. "Sharon Allen, Deloitte’s chairwoman, said her firm’s flexibility policies saved more than $45 million a year by reducing turnover."
As airlines are pulling their data from travel sites, it's getting harder to compare fares online, but not impossible.
Cape Wind has all its permits -- now it just needs more committed buyers for its power to finance construction.
Arizona has ruled Tuscon's high-school Mexican-American studies program illegal. "The Arizona law warns school districts that they stand to lose 10 percent of their state education funds if their ethnic-studies programs are found not to comply with new state standards. Programs that promote the overthrow of the United States government are explicitly banned, and that includes the suggestion that portions of the Southwest that were once part of Mexico should be returned to that country. Also prohibited is any promotion of resentment toward a race. Programs that are primarily for one race or that advocate ethnic solidarity instead of individuality are also outlawed."
A (video) interview with Trent Reznor about doing the score for The Social Network, which he initially turned down (haven't watched this yet myself, but the summary makes it sound interesting).
New research suggests that oxytocin, the "hormone of love", might actually be the "hormone of cliques". "In another set of experiments the Dutch students were given standard moral dilemmas in which a choice must be made about whether to help a person onto an overloaded lifeboat, thereby drowning the five already there, or saving five people in the path of a train by throwing a bystander onto the tracks. ... Subjects who had taken oxytocin were far more likely to sacrifice the Muhammads than the Maartens."
A fascinating profile of Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk. "He wrapped athletic bandages carefully around both of his feet: for the next 70 minutes on stage, he would dance so hard that he would be sick to his stomach afterward, like a marathon runner. The intensity with which he dances occasionally makes his feet bleed. He can’t stop his feet pounding, his head bobbing. Before he found the right kind of table, adjusted to the proper height, he got dark bruises on both thighs from crashing against it in his trance."
Childhood fevers are not as scary as many parents believe. "Many parents...believed that untreated fevers might rise to critical levels and that even moderate and low-grade fevers could have serious neurological effects (that is, as parents we tend to suspect that our children’s brains may melt). ... In fact, fever does not harm the brain or the body, though it does increase the need for fluids. And even untreated, fevers rarely rise higher than 104 or 105 degrees."
Advice from a doctor on how to lower your medical costs (advice mostly only applicable to those in the US, of course).
Misuse of handicapped parking tags angers those who truly need them; due to lax enforcement, no one really knows how widespread the problem is.
The US accounting industry is far better at helping its employees maintain a happy work-life balance -- because it pays. "Sharon Allen, Deloitte’s chairwoman, said her firm’s flexibility policies saved more than $45 million a year by reducing turnover."
As airlines are pulling their data from travel sites, it's getting harder to compare fares online, but not impossible.
Cape Wind has all its permits -- now it just needs more committed buyers for its power to finance construction.
Arizona has ruled Tuscon's high-school Mexican-American studies program illegal. "The Arizona law warns school districts that they stand to lose 10 percent of their state education funds if their ethnic-studies programs are found not to comply with new state standards. Programs that promote the overthrow of the United States government are explicitly banned, and that includes the suggestion that portions of the Southwest that were once part of Mexico should be returned to that country. Also prohibited is any promotion of resentment toward a race. Programs that are primarily for one race or that advocate ethnic solidarity instead of individuality are also outlawed."
A (video) interview with Trent Reznor about doing the score for The Social Network, which he initially turned down (haven't watched this yet myself, but the summary makes it sound interesting).
New research suggests that oxytocin, the "hormone of love", might actually be the "hormone of cliques". "In another set of experiments the Dutch students were given standard moral dilemmas in which a choice must be made about whether to help a person onto an overloaded lifeboat, thereby drowning the five already there, or saving five people in the path of a train by throwing a bystander onto the tracks. ... Subjects who had taken oxytocin were far more likely to sacrifice the Muhammads than the Maartens."
A fascinating profile of Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk. "He wrapped athletic bandages carefully around both of his feet: for the next 70 minutes on stage, he would dance so hard that he would be sick to his stomach afterward, like a marathon runner. The intensity with which he dances occasionally makes his feet bleed. He can’t stop his feet pounding, his head bobbing. Before he found the right kind of table, adjusted to the proper height, he got dark bruises on both thighs from crashing against it in his trance."
Childhood fevers are not as scary as many parents believe. "Many parents...believed that untreated fevers might rise to critical levels and that even moderate and low-grade fevers could have serious neurological effects (that is, as parents we tend to suspect that our children’s brains may melt). ... In fact, fever does not harm the brain or the body, though it does increase the need for fluids. And even untreated, fevers rarely rise higher than 104 or 105 degrees."