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Category Archives: Just fun

More Aspen!

Best part of hiking the park trails in town is all the “hidden” art along the paths. Plus, on a Monday, almost nobody was on the trails! It is easy to meditate in Aspen. One kind soul did wander by so I could ask him to take my picture. He was one of the few [...]

Posted 26 September 2011 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) °

Aspen!

These shoes once trod upon Machu Picchu, but this weekend they surmounted Ajax Mountain in Aspen. (They were made from recycled tires, so who knows where else they have been). Unsurprisingly, I was the only one clad completely in black hiking the tyro trail Sunday afternoon; dressed for texture and not color this morning. The [...]

Posted 25 September 2011 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) °

Active Learning

[by me for the Dana Foundation blog. See more great stuff there!] Despite falling SAT scores and employers reporting that high-school grads can’t run the cash register, researchers, educators, and parents each have some pieces of the puzzle of how children learn best. But somehow, all these experts don’t always share what they know. Consider [...]

Posted 19 September 2011 † nickyp § Brain science § Playing ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Kitty adorableness

For some reason (holiday weekend?) I’ve been seeing a flood of adorable-kitty videos. And I learned a new phrase, “interrupting cats” (along with “interrupting dads,” etc.). Cat hug Interrupting cat 1 Interrupting Cat 2 (wait for it)

Posted 31 May 2011 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) °

Everybody’s an editor

Cleo offers some guidance on my mind-map for the next story.

Posted 25 April 2011 † nickyp § Thinking § Writing ‡ Comments (0) °

Stealing Trust: Marylanders Speak Out

The video my husband produced for the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, about victims of financial fraud, opens two weeks from today, May 4 at 7 pm at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore ($8, $3 members). Come one, come all! Or watch more parts of it on MCRC’s YouTube channel. UPDATE: Shows added: June 14 at [...]

Posted 20 April 2011 † nickyp § Thinking ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Life is learning

Life is Learning | HHMI iPad app Promo from Small Mammal on Vimeo. Neuroscience Nobelist (and Dana Alliance vice-chairman) Eric Kandel has a sense of humor, too.

Posted 19 April 2011 † nickyp § Brain science ‡ Comments (0) °

National Poetry Month

In honor of National Poetry month and the people who die in our country’s many wars, here’s one of my favorite poems, from the book MORE POEMS, by A.E. Houseman: XXXVI Here dead lie we because we did not choose To live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is [...]

Posted 02 April 2011 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , ,

Brain Awareness Week, March 14-20, 2011

Brain Awareness Week is a big deal at my work, the Dana Foundation, since we helped start it 16 years ago. We send out thousands of brain-facts booklets and erasers shaped like brains to schoolchildren across the globe, and support partners and groups that offer lectures, lab tours, brain “bees,” exhibits, and other fun for [...]

Posted 13 March 2011 † nickyp § Brain science ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Mind over Machine

Check out my post for Dana Foundation from the AAAS conference in Washington, DC, last week. Here’s an excerpt: Scientists are developing ways to translate thoughts to the actions of machines. A lot of scientists—during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) this past week, I could have spent [...]

Posted 23 February 2011 † nickyp § Brain science ‡ Comments (0) °