Notes and Neurons

Bobby McFerrin and the power of pentatonic scale at the 2009 World Science Festival. 


#mademesmile :)


(via swissmiss)

Old New York

Did you see the pictures that were recently published from New York from about 100 years ago?

I found them in the website of Corriere della Sera. There are some that are truly beautiful...

Update: My friend Rodrigo just posted this link from The Atlantic in which they have many more pics of the same collection. I particularly those that show when they were constructing the bridges that link Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens. It still amazes me! I could see them over and over... :)

A.A. - lista del súper

Mi prima con su hija de 3 años:

En el super... Va mi hija con su carrito y yo con el mío y me dice mi chiquita con gran preocupación: Mami, hacen falta cervezas!!!

 

A.A. - 2 princesas

Mi prima con su hija de 3 años (13 de Abril):

Source: tumblrphotographyxox.tumblr.com via Robyn on Pinterest

Jugando con mi hija en la alberca con las Barbies sirenas: 

Ella: tu eres mi príncipe y yo soy tu princesa! 

Yo: No, mejor que las dos éramos princesas solteras, sin príncipes... 

Se me queda viendo mi hija con una cara de indignación y con un tono de señora molesta por el precio de las cosas, me contesta: NO Mami!!!! Todas debemos de tener un príncipeeee!!!! 

Yo: A si? Y quién es tu príncipe mi amor? 

Ella: Mi PAPITOOOO!!!!!!

¡¡Lo máximo!!

How to focus in the age of distraction

A friend posted this on facebook today.

Isn't it awesome ? It's all the good advice I've read/received here and there in a nice diagram :))

You can check out more cool diagrams and mindmaps at Learning Fundamentals, an Aussie webpage that publish cool techniques that help students learn in an enjoyable way. Rad!

How exercise could make you smarter

According to an article in the NYT, after running experiments with mice for months studies have concluded that physical exercise could give humans brainpower that thinking does not. Why?

Source: letsmakeahealthiertomorrow.tumblr.com via j jump jennifer on Pinterest

The brain, like all muscles and organs, is a tissue, and its function declines with underuse and age. Beginning in our late 20s, most of us will lose about 1 percent annually of the volume of the hippocampus, a key portion of the brain related to memory and certain types of learning.
Exercise though seems to slow or reverse the brain’s physical decay, much as it does with muscles. [...]

Even more heartening, scientists found that exercise jump-starts neurogenesis. Mice and rats that ran for a few weeks generally had about twice as many new neurons in their hippocampi as sedentary animals. Their brains, like other muscles, were bulking up.

But here is where it gets interesting: the brain cells that are a product of exercise are nimbler than those created by cognitive tasks. In other words, it is true that if you learn new things (say a new language), you reverse the aging process of your brain, but those neurons are fired only when you practice that language. Instead, the neurons you get from exercise can multitask (at least for mice)!

I wonder if this applies only to aerobic exercise; the article mentions that which type of exercise is the one is  "another intriguing issue". It is prove, though, that it does not have to be exhausting; research shoes that going out for long walks regularly has worked for the elderly (I can include my grandma as a personal observation here).

And I was thinking of skipping the gym today... hmm...

Humans of New York

Brandon Staton studied History at the University of Georgia. After losing his trading job, he moved to New York City and started taking pictures of strangers. He has taken pictures of over 3,000 people and written 50 stories. He put all this together on his website Humans of New York.

Here is a very small sample. The website is worth a periodic visit!

Would you dare to take pictures of strangers in the street? I would love to, but I am too shy...

 

Philosophical Theories in Basic Shapes

London based graphic designer Genis Carrera has created a series of posters that depict philosophical theories with basic shapes. Just. Beautiful.

(via swissmiss)

 

A 14 años de la muerte de Octavio Paz

Un amigo puso este poema de Octavio Paz en el facebook.

Entre lo que veo y digo,entre lo que digo y callo,entre lo que callo y sueño,entre lo que sueño y olvido,la poesía.Se deslizaentre el sí y el no:dicelo que callo,callalo que digo,sueñalo que olvido.No es un decir:es un hacer.Es un hacerque es un decir.La poesíase dice y se oye:es real.Y apenas digoes real,se disipa.¿Así es más real?

No soy fan de la poesía, o a lo mejor sólo tengo que darle otra oportunidad...