Gaming is Good!

Many people wonder if playing video games makes us lazy or violent. We have begun to focus on the brighter side of gaming, the advantages. An increasing number of studies done by universities have found that video gaming can improve things like decision making, perception, creativity, hand-eye coordination and vision! Usually people can focus on four things at a time, but one study found that experienced gamers could focus on six different things at once.

Like learning to read or playing the piano, video games can challenge the brain and actually change its physical shape. Passing a level or winning the game is a reward. It gives you the feeling of accomplishment. All the concentration put into it and the reward of success strengthens the brain.

Violent video games are not necessarily the best idea. Indiana University found that they can mess with your emotional control. However, according to cognitive neuroscientists Daphne Baverlier and psychologist Linda Jackson, violent games don’t seem to have a very different effect on people than any other type of video game.

One study found that gamers who play action-based games are able to make 25% faster decisions and it does not affect their accuracy. Another study, that went on for three years and tested almost five hundred middle school students, found that the children who played computer games got better scores on their standardized tests for creativity.

Researchers are trying to find ways to make learning games as exciting as video games. Wouldn’t it be cool if your homework was to game?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203458604577263273943183932.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Is Ice Cream Addictive?

High calorie foods such as ice cream may affect the brain similarly to drugs. Kyle Burger and Eric Stice from Oregon Research Institute tested 151 healthy adolescence to find out if this is true. They found that the adolescences that ate lots of ice cream for two weeks, didn’t like milkshakes as much so the more you eat, the more you have to eat for your brain to realize it’s yummy.

 Ice cream’s effect on the brain is not similar to any other unhealthy foods. Kyle Burger concluded that ice cream is not addicting but that ice cream and drugs seem to have the same effect on the reward center of the brain. Ice cream does not affect your tolerance, withdrawal or loss of control like drugs may.

This certainly won’t stop me from eating some mint chocolate chip! I think it is something we simply enjoy. I will wait until it is proven until I make any life changing choices like giving up ice cream

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ice-cream-addicting-oregon-study-suggests-brain-reactions/story?id=15786564

Russian Scientists Revive Flower

Some seeds were found in permafrost along the Kolyma River in Russia. Russian scientists took some material from them and were successful in growing a flowering plant named silene stenophylla. It existed 30,000 years ago, a time when saber-tooth tigers and wooly mammoths lived. These seeds were preserved under multiple layers of ice. The scientists grew the seeds and now the plant has produced seeds of its own. With our technology and knowledge we have brought a dead species back to life.

We know we can revive plants… we could probably bring extinct animals back to life. All we need is some tissue. Russian, Japanese and American scientists have set a new goal. We hope that in the next six years we will produce a baby mammoth!

It is truly amazing what we can accomplish. A concern that comes to mind is the food chain’s stability. Introducing a species back into the world could be dangerous. Or it could be fine. The idea of cloning almost sounds a bit demoralizing. What do you think?

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/21/life-resurrected-from-prehistoric-seeds/?hpt=hp_c2

15 Year-old Girl Almost Starved to Death

A couple, living in Madison, Wisconsin, has been accused of starving their fifteen year-old daughter. A man named Mike Vega was walking by reported that he saw a girl who looked about eight and had scrapes and scars all over her. He called 911 and while the ambulance came the girl told him that her step-mother had thrown her down the stairs. She had climbed out the window in search of help. Investigators found evidence that the girl was kept in the basement, with no access to food or a bathroom. When the police found her she weighed seventy pounds.

The girl may have been locked in the basement for years.

The parents have been arrested and the girl is receiving medical care.

I do not understand how a human could be so heartless.

One Google Experience

As you probably have noticed, Google has announced that it is changing its privacy policy and terms of service. The page that explains the changes is very short and easy to read. Basically, it states that:

~Instead of having different privacy policies for every service Google offers, Google has one short, easy policy and the new Terms of Service takes up half as much space on an internet page than the current one.

~Google will integrate its search engine, Google+, your calendar, alerts, contacts, docs, Gmail, iGoogle, product search, Profile, reader, Talk, tasks, your web history, and your YouTube account. 

~From the Dashboard, we will be able to change all the settings of all these applications from one page.

Google is trying to create a simple, smooth internet experience. These changes will be applied on the first of March.

Do you think this idea sounds promising? Or will it be another irritating change to what we are accustomed to?

Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service

Google Dashboard

Japan's Economic Decline

By selling their products all over the world, Japan has become one of the richest countries in the world. They have been successful in exporting goods, despite their struggle against earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear crisis in 2011. But these situations have caused a setback for Japan’s thriving economy.

For the last thirty one years, Japan has exported more than it has imported. That changed this year, due to the recent natural disasters. Japan is in need of more imports to help rebuild and value of yen is rising. Japan’s working population dropped by three million people between 1990 and 2007.

Japan is working to revive the strength of their economy and repair the damage caused by the earthquake and the tsunami.

According to aneki.com Japan is currently the third richest country.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/29/zakaria-the-end-of-an-era-in-japan/

The Future of Books

With new technology, we have the capability to read stories on kindles, the internet, and even our smartphones. By purchasing eBooks, or electronic books, instead of the traditional page-turner, we save money and trees. It takes less effort to convert a book to an electronic copy one time than to print four hundred pages for every one person who wants a copy. People have grown accustomed to new, easy, and convenient ways to do things. So, swapping a book with a digital version sounds like a good idea and I see a lot of potential for future technology.

Personally, I prefer holding an actual book in my hand and flipping the pages with my fingers. I like feeling accomplished, after reading the very last page of the heavy book. I like the smell of a new book. I like letting the pages fly under my thumb all in a few seconds. I really don’t know if I’ll ever want to give up any of that but saving trees is an excelent reason to change.

John Biggs timeline predication of the future of books:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/27/the-future-of-books-a-dystopian-timeline/\

Smartphones are Stressful!

When I heard that smartphones were stressful I totally agreed. When I misplace mine, I go crazy pacing around the house, searching. I cannot rest until I find it. When I don’t have it with me, I feel like I’m missing an important part of me. It’s almost like I am missing half my brain. I keep so many things on its memory. I have pictures, all my apps, and contacts on it and if all that was lost or in different hands… I am pretty sure would not be able to sleep. With it I can use my GPS and a flashlight. If I need to remember something I just put it in my notepad app. Without its familiar buzz in my back pocket or it charging on my bedside table at night I would freak out.

British psychologists have found that while smartphones can keep us connected and are very helpful, they have made us addicts. When we hear a ring or a buzz we immediately check our phones. Most mornings, the first thing I do is check my phone and see if I got any messages. But it’s almost natural. I check it before I fall asleep too, just in case. These physiologists discovered a relationship between how often we check our phones and our stress levels. They did an experiment that confirmed that people’s stress levels and blood pressure rises dramatically when we are away from the internet. Our phones can be incredibly stressful because they contain everything.

Once you upgrade to the reliable convenience of the well accustomed smartphone it is hard to turn back. My htc Evo is so helpful to me and aids me in a lot of the things I do. If I hear a word I can look it up on the internet. If I hear a song and want to know who sings it I can just use Shazaam to find out. For every awesome application and every gadget, there is the worry that comes with it. With the new ability to check email on your phone, comes worry you might miss an important or life changing email. Without my notepad app in my pocket I am afraid I will forget important things.

One thing that makes me crazy about having this piece of technology is that there are all the entertaining games I can play. A simple thing like Smurf Village keeps my mind on when my crops are going to be ready or what I should plant next instead of significant things. An even bigger annoyance is that my seven year old brother is constantly asking me if he can play on my phone. Most of the time I say no because without knowing exactly where it is and what is happening on it I find it hard to focus. I have to keep my mind busy with repetitive activities like folding and putting away my clothes or straightening up my room.

We need to stop staring at our glowing screens and focus more on real life. My Smartphone takes me away from laundry and dishes I could be doing as well as socializing with my family, sometimes. Realizing this, I feel a strong desire to put down the phone and start living. I want to break out of this but, could I live without my phone for a week? Could you take a break?

I dare you to try it. Put your phone on airplane mode (this mode disables all internet capabilities) or turn it off. Just for a day. See if it makes a difference in how stressed you feel and how much you accomplish. 

For John Briggs opinion:http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/17/calmate-put-down-your-smartphone-to-feel-better/

For Amy Reiter’s take on this:http://thestir.cafemom.com/healthy_living/131527/6_ways_smartphones_stress_us