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US government policy works: Kids are eating more fruit at schools
The US government manages to encourage schoolchildren to eat in a healthier way. Research shows that kids eat more fruit at school, and throw away less food. Childhood obesity is a major problem, and the government introduced guidelines for school meals in 2012: more vegetables, more fruit, fewer Read More...
Tree with 3D-printed leaves captures energy from sun and wind
What would nature do? Scientists at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland were curious about it, and created a tree with leaves of ultrathin 3D-printed solar cells. The leaves do not only store solar energy, but they also harvest kinetic energy from wind and temperature changes in the Read More...
Supporting mindfulness with neuroscience and technology
Inspiring story in Fast Company of an entrepreneur who used the latest neuroscience to support people with their mindfulness practice. Ariel Garten’s InterAxon created a headband called Muse that in conjunction with an app—Calm—increases focus and reduces stress. Users report that their Read More...
Humans are getting smarter
Global IQs are rising, an average of 20 points in the last 50 years. While there is some debate about the relevancy of IQ tests—they don’t factor in social constructs that can impact the score—generally they are regarded as accurate measures of intelligence. The IQ scores of most people are Read More...
Red wine and grapes improves memory
The health benefits of wine have been widely reported on. Now adding to that list is that consuming grapes and red wine naturally improves your memory. Scientists have discovered antioxidants in grapes and red wine that—also peanuts—have a positive impact on the hippocampus, the area of the Read More...
High-tech cricket farm of the future
A recent UN report suggests that we need to eat more bugs. They’re better for the environment, and if you can get past the idea of eating them, are actually very nutritious. A new start up based in Silicon Valley, called Tiny Farms, is combining technology with cricket farming, trying to bring Read More...
Making shoes out of old couches
Think of all the couches you’ve sat on in your life, there number probably the hundreds, if not thousands. Every one of those couches is still in the world today, many taking up large amounts of real estate in a landfill. A new company is taking old couches, and repurposing the material to make Read More...
Robots taking your job isn’t a bad thing
‘Robots are taking over’—a headline for the apocalypse, but if they’re only taking over the job sector, is it so bad? Robots are far more precise than humans, and if programmed correctly, are void of human error. Many companies are designing, or have already designed, robots that do tasks Read More...
Breaking meditation’s stereotypes
The benefits of meditation really are countless. Among them is that meditation is the only proven way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. But sadly, those who meditate are often stigmatized as a subset of the population—granola-crunching hippies who are always worried about their chakra. While Read More...
Giant panda population is making a recovery
At the end of 2003 there were 1,596 giant pandas in the wild, their numbers were declining and conservation measures were put in place. Now more than 10 years after that initial count, China’s giant panda population is reported to be making significant progress. In 2013 the giant panda count Read More...