I love etymology – or the origin of words … Why do we say ‘OK’? It started as an inside joke but blew up when it hit the mainstream. You may be surprised to learn that the universally recognized term for neutral affirmation, “OK,” has humble linguistic roots. It all started as a cheesy inside joke amongst Boston hipsters. Back in the 1830s, it... The post Where did the term “OK” come from? appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/n46G2HQ
0 Comments
By Hope Reese for the NY Times Memory decline is not inevitable with aging, Dr. Restak argues in the book. Instead, he points to 10 “sins,” or “stumbling blocks that can lead to lost or distorted memories.” Seven were first described by the psychologist and memory specialist Daniel Lawrence Schacter — “sins of omission,” such as absent-mindedness, and “sins of... The post A Neurologist’s Tips to Protect Your Memory appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/v7uL1NE By Daniel T. Willingham for the NY Times Picture your preschooler’s teacher pulling you aside at pickup time to say that your child was “not taking responsibility” for learning the alphabet. You’d be puzzled and probably angry. It’s not up to a 4-year-old to make sure he learns the alphabet. That’s the teacher’s job. But as your child gets older,... The post There Are Better Ways to Study That Will Last You a Lifetime appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/qU7etj4 By Erik Ofgang for Tech and Learning New research has found that students who take notes outperform students who photograph slides during an online lecture. “We consistently found that note-takers remembered more information from the lectures than photo-takers or no-note-takers,” says Dr. Sarah Shi Hui Wong, an instructor at the National University of Singapore, and the lead author of the paper.... The post Taking Notes vs. Photographing Slides appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/O1YgnEz From Eric Barker, author of “Plays Well with Others“ We just don’t take humor that seriously. Yeah, it makes us happier, but its effects are much, much more profound than you might guess. People who use humor to cope with stress have better immune systems, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, experience less pain during dental work and live longer. Surgery patients who watched... The post This Is The Most Fun Way To Make Your Life Awesome appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/qxjWtOh “The measuring rod, the unit of information, is something called a bit (for binary digit). It is an answer – either yes or no- to an unambiguous question…The information content of the human brain expressed in bits is probably comparable to the total number of connections among the neurons- about a hundred trillion, 10^14 bits. If written out in English,... The post Carl Sagan’s wonderful thoughts on books and libraries appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/kn2GREM By David Wallace-Wells for the NY Times How long a person can expect to live is one of the most fundamentally revealing facts about a country, and here, in the richest country in the world, the answer is not just bleak but increasingly so. Americans are now dying younger on average than they used to, breaking from all global and... The post Why Are So Many of America’s Children Dying Young? appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/YOlReF6 A great read! “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” See more here. The post Happy July 4th! appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/sACjS49 “Your word: privet,” said pronouncer Paul Hopkins at the New Mexico State Spelling Bee on Saturday. “Huh?” asked 11-year-old speller Eren Zeynalov, in response. Eren, a fifth grader at Manzano Day School, was one of the state’s 25 best spellers competing in the state bee hosted at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. He went on to spell “privet”... The post ‘Millet’ for the win: State spelling bee finalists go 29 rounds head-to-head appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/vhcGwUb By Isabella Paoletto for the NY Times. Emily Smith, 19, likes to keep Post-it notes scattered throughout her bedroom with important reminders. Generally, the notes are readable, but if she hurries, letters can morph together in a barely legible script. She was recently going through her stack of important reminders when she found a note she had written at least... The post What Killed Penmanship? appeared first on Reading Kingdom Blog. via Reading Kingdom Blog https://ift.tt/GmfZoVr |