TED Tuesday: String theory November 24, 2009

Physicist Brian Greene explains superstring theory, the idea that minscule strands of energy vibrating in 11 dimensions create every particle and force in the universe.

9 types of intelligence November 5, 2009

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When we talk about someone intelligent, we usually mean it in a way that the person has done well in studies, academics or some such intellectual faculty. Would you call someone who has great sense of direction and never needs a GPS, intelligent? Would you call someone with a great ear for music and composition, intelligent? Or how about a hiker with incredible stamina? I’m sure most of you would go, “What? No! These things have got nothing to do with intelligence.” Well, think again. 

Melissa Breyer writes in Care2‘s ‘Healthy and green living’ section about 9 types of intelligence. Dr. Howard Gardner is the Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has developed the theory of multiple intelligences, going beyond the IQ test to discover the many ways humans are smart. He identified intelligent abilities including language, music, spatial reference, kinesthesia, naturalistic, and possibly existential intelligence.

Once you read this article and Dr. Gardner’s theory (and may be even more depending on how interested you get) I am sure you’re way of judging someone as ‘not intelligent’ will change. I also think knowing that we possess different kind of intelligences which are not necessarily reflected on our marksheets is important. So many people would realise that they have at least one, if not more, kind of intelligence in them. You would think yourself much more worthy than you did till now. And more importantly, I hope, you will stop making your kids slog insane hours to get that A grade in academic subjects. And would appriciate their A grade in sports equally.

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TED Tuesday: Stats are boring, visuals are NOT October 13, 2009

Artist Chris Jordan shows us an arresting view of what Western culture looks like. His supersized images picture some almost unimaginable statistics — like the astonishing number of paper cups we use every single day.

TED Tuesday: Origami using maths September 29, 2009

Robert Lang is a pioneer of the newest kind of origami — using math and engineering principles to fold mind-blowingly intricate designs that are beautiful and, sometimes, very useful.

TED Tuesday: Shedding light on Dark matter July 28, 2009

Physicist Patricia Burchat sheds light on two basic ingredients of our universe: dark matter and dark energy. Comprising 96% of the universe between them, they can’t be directly measured, but their influence is immense.