How to Make Learning Science More Fun

Many countries worldwide have registered the growing trend for students to choose humanities over sciences both at a school and university level. There is a common misconception that humanities are "easier" to pass. Today's most wanted jobs are also mostly related to the humanities - media, PR, politics, business.

Make pupils and students want to study sciences by injecting a touch of creativity in your lesson plans.

Science and related subjects such as Biology, Physics, and Chemistry can be among the most exciting to learn and teach at school. That's provided you bust some age-old stereotypes, and are willing to try new things.

Most people associate science classes with being plonked on a chair wearing a white lab coat, being paired up with your number one enemy, and having to carry out rat dissections, mixing potions, and causing the occasional explosion.

Recently, the award-winning comedy series "Community College" featured yet another laughable experiment that most people have had to endure at far too late a stage in their education - growing a yam in a jar. This may be a great activity for children at a kindergarten and primary level, but certainly won't impress older students so be warned. It's time to get creative!

Science projects should be so much more than just putting two drops of one liquid into another and waiting to see the reaction, with one lab partner doing all the work and the other taking notes. In the 21st century, science projects and experiments have so much scope to be really captivating, hands-on experiences, building and creating structures and fully functional devices such as solar cookers and fruit batteries. These are fantastic ways of teaching children and teenagers about how the world has changed, and increasing their awareness of sustainable resources such as solar energy.

Many of these activities are best done or can only be done outdoors so the spring and early autumn months are best. Try to plan the syllabus accordingly.

Fortunately, with a bit of creativity, and the increasing availability of the internet, many science projects can also be carried out indoors.

Teaching resource websites provide interactive activities like building your own star, testing air resistance, and designing your own seismographs. These can be done both outdoors and indoors so are perfect for chillier times of year.

A noticeably enthusiastic teacher is much more likely to get kids interested in learning science. Practical activities will be fun for everyone, and informative.

It's Time For Change In Our Political Process: Political Suggestions For An Enlightened Voter

I think it's time for change in our nation's political process. There has to be a better way of electing our nations leaders.

The election rhetoric has hardly begun and the petty wrangling, the distortions, the blatant use of fear, and the unwillingness to address the critical issues facing our nation is already beginning. Once again we seem to be sliding into the darkness and shadows of our unevolved human nature.

I am frankly embarrassed at the lack of substance and self-focused narcissism present in the political wrangling. We are turning into a country led by politicians who are too often immature, uneducated, lacking in vision, and unable to provide true leadership.

Leadership requires seeing the problems clearly, dealing with them head on, and the ability to envision a better future; a vision that offers solutions focused on the greater good; solutions that offer real hope.

It's common knowledge that the world is facing some very serious challenges; challenges that are going to require leadership capable of courage and clear thinking.

This is the United States of America. We should be modeling global solutions to the problems facing our world; solutions that bring hope and the possibility of a better life to everyone on the planet. That is the responsibility of true global leadership.

As an American, I find myself once again embarrassed by the primitive emotional tone present in the political dialogues. The Law of Attraction is clear: we manifest into the world our internal feelings and emotions. Instead of offering thoughtful solutions, our political process is too often openly condoning and encouraging emotional conflict and violence.

I think we can do better. Our Stonyhill community is only a small part of the voting population, but we can make a difference; we can model a more enlightened form of thinking.

I would encourage all of us to embrace one or more of the ideas listed below, and be willing to talk about these ideas to our friends, colleagues, family members and our neighbors.

#1: Keep Religion Out Of Our Nation's Political Process
When interpreted through the lens of conservative fundamentalism, all religions advocate a regressive first century, mythic, scientifically illiterate worldview consciousness that should not direct or dictate the political process of any modern, 21st century nation. America is a democracy, not a religious theocracy.

The founding fathers of our country intentionally kept religion out of our political process. They knew from experience that when the religious ideology of any particular faith presumes to speak with authority or impose its religious beliefs or ideologies on those who do not hold those same religious views, it only breeds division, bigotry, hatred, repression, and violence; a very dangerous way to determine social and economic policy for a nation or the world; especially in the 21st century.

A healthy religion, and it's spiritual teachings, should manifest values based on love, compassion, mutuality, diversity, tolerance, and inclusiveness; "not" on the social ethics and morality of ancient ethno-centric cultures that passed into the fog of history thousands of years ago.

We need leadership with the vision to lead us into the future, not a regressive return to first century primitive values and ethics.

#2: The Refusal To Embrace Reality Has Created The Challenges We Face
The problems that are facing us were essentially created by our collective unwillingness to address and embrace reality. Science may provide some insights on how to externally solve or cope with problems such as global warming or global hunger, but real solutions to the challenges facing our world, and our nation, will emerge only when we are able to embrace reality and change the way we think internally. Blaming any one person or political party as having created the problems that face us is simply an unacceptable form of ignorance.

Our collective scientific wisdom is telling us global warming is a major problem. Our homophobia against gay marriage is a religious denial of scientific knowledge. We are headed toward a global population of 9 billion people; 9 billion people who will aspire to achieve a middleclass life style. Yet environmental scientists are warning our planet can sustainably support a middleclass standard of living for roughly one billion people. In other words, we are already 6 billion people beyond sustainability. Ignoring reality is a form of ignorance that we can no longer tolerate.

Our collective wisdom is telling us we are running out of inexpensive energy sources. Our collective scientific wisdom is clear. Our human species is directly responsible for the extinction of other living species on our planet at a rate not seen in over 65 million years. We are running out of fresh water. Children are dying of starvation and lack of medical care. This list could continue, but I'm sure you get the point. We are ignoring the evidence. We are ignoring reality.

We are a great nation because we have embraced the collective wisdom of hundreds of years of verifiable modern scientific discovery. When we collectively allow our politicians and special interest groups to introduce doubts about scientific evidence; evidence that warns we are clearly headed toward biological, ecological and social crisis, we are embracing a form of collective ignorance that makes absolutely no sense.

We are in a dangerous, collective denial of reality when we refuse to acknowledge that "unlimited economic expansion" is a fairytale myth currently embraced by every government on the planet.

#3: Our Grandchildren's Future Will Depend On How Well We Support And Evolve The Individual and Collective Consciousness Of Our Species Today
We need politicians capable of national leadership. We need spiritually enlightened leadership; leadership focused on both our future as a nation, and our future as a species.

I would encourage members of the Stonyhill community to think about adopting some or all of items contained in the Voter Guidelines listed below. Our primary power is the power of our collective voice, and the collective power of our individual vote. It's time to speak clearly about the future we want to create for future generations; a future that makes possible the unlimited creative potential available to all of us as we lean into that future. Together, we can make a difference.

If these ideas make sense to you, pass them along.

Guidelines For Enlightened 21st Century Voters: Political Leadership Your Grandchildren Will Be Thankful You Voted For

I will vote only for those politicians who:

1. fully embrace the concepts listed in Idea #1 and Idea #2 above,
2. openly embrace the ethics of compassion and care for every person under his or her political care.
3. refuse to use immature all-or-nothing, black-and-white thinking that turn those who disagree with them into an enemy.
4. use middlepath thinking to intentionally look for the truths found on both sides of every issue.
5. embrace compromise and hold the welfare of the country to be more important than the a) welfare of their own political party, or b) their own ideological beliefs.
6. refuses to intentionally distort the truth or in any way lie to voters. Politicians are asking our vote to make them leaders. Leaders should have the ability and ethical responsibility to verify their "facts". White lies, or any intentional, misleading distortion of the facts is still a lie. We don't condone it in our children and we shouldn't condone it in our politicians. We need leaders who manifest and model high ethical standards.
7. refuse to put his or her ideological "beliefs" above the welfare of our nation or the world. We are all in this thing called life together. Our success, at the expense of others, will eventually destroy not only our nation, it might very well destroy our world.
8. refuse to use or imply bigotry, racism, homophobia of any kind in their bid for political office....overtly or subtly.
9. refuse to inflame or openly encourage voter anger, fear, or prejudice; or in any way encourage violence, hatred, or name calling as a way to get votes. Prejudice against others, regardless of their race, ethnic background, nationality, or religion is a primitive thought process grounded in ignorance. We need leaders that reflect an enlightened high standard of care and ethics for all human beings.
10. refuse to support financial deregulation, tax policy inequality, or support the greed of the few at the expense of the majority. We are all part of what makes our nation what it is. Unless all of us are valued, successful, and able to live our dreams, our nation will fall.
11. refuse to support or encourage, in any way, the growing gap between those who have and those who don't. Dismantling our middleclass is the most dangerous thing we can do for the economic well-being of our children and future generations. The "gap" between the extremely wealthy and the poor has eventually led to the downfall of every nation or empire in human history.
12. embrace the collective verifiable wisdom of our world's scientists. Change is the engine of creation. Change is what creates the future. Evolution is accepted by every credible scientist in the world. Rejection of evolution is a religious "belief". The direction of evolution is toward increased life, consciousness, complexity, diversity, and systemic cooperation. A nation that ignores these evolutionary realities will not survive in the 21st century.
13. openly support and encourage equality for women in all aspects of our culture......religious, political, and economic.
14. refuse to put the needs of any one person, group, political party, corporation, or organization over the needs of all Americans, or the needs of our country. We need enlightened leadership, not self-serving bureaucrats.

Art and Science

What is the basic motivation for art and science? To understand the basic motivation for art and science we need to nurture the balance of the masculine and feminine principles in all of us. A balance in the nature is achieved when there is a balance of the feminine and masculine principles deep within us as well as in the external universe. This balance of energies is the perquisite for creative and generative change in the internal and external universe.

We can increase the use of the creative as well as the logical part of our brain equally by manifesting deep within us the feminine and the masculine principles of nature. The feminine principle will open up the awareness of universal love, compassion, nurturing and healing through our super conscious mind where as the masculine principle will initiate creative & generative action through the subconscious and conscious mind. Thus the willful and determined action emancipating from the subconscious and conscious mind will be under the guidance and overall control of the feminine principle and the super conscious mind.

Art and science: Awareness of the self

Balancing the feminine and the masculine will lead to an increased awareness of the self and the environment around us. This profound awareness of what we are, who we are will give genesis to artistic and scientific creativity for a new world order based on unification, generation, creation and forward movement rather than a world which is based on reductionism, unabashed individualism and consumption of natural resources leading to destruction and turmoil all around. Therefore we need to appreciate the fact that art and science need the expression of the creative as well as the logical part of the mind represented by the feminine and the masculine respectively.

Art and science: Misconceptions about science

Some people have great misconception about art and science especially science. They believe that science means a logical way of explaining things within the existent rules and theories. But people fail to understand that science is all about creative intuition substantiated by logical conclusion. Without creative intuition no laws of science can be ever postulated, no inventions and discoveries can be ever made.

Even the greatest of scientific thinkers have explained that the inspiration for their path breaking scientific contributions have come from creative intuition which was then substantiated by logical conclusion. The creative intuition comes from the feminine principle which helps us to look at the larger picture of nature encompassing universal love and compassion.

On the other hand the masculine principle is responsible for putting things into action which were thought based on the creative intuition. The masculine principle helps to deduct a logical conclusion to a thought based on creative intuition.

Art and science: Opening up the mysteries of nature

We can open up the mysteries of nature by scientific thinking based on a balance between the feminine and masculine principles of nature. The feminine principle helps us to think creatively with universal love, compassion, nurturing and healing. The masculine principle initiates creative and generative action with an extraordinary amount of will power, grit and determination. By manifesting a balance of feminine and masculine in us, we become in sync with nature and inherit the abilities to unearth the mysteries of nature for progression and development of humanity.

Medical discoveries need a very high amount of the feminine principle because here we are trying to directly understand and work on the mysteries of nature in the form of living cells, tissues, organs and the whole living systems. Here an attitude of universal love, compassion, nurturing and healing is required for success. Women have a natural disposition towards the medical sciences because of the feminine that manifest in them so naturally.

Art and science: The Artistic expressions

Coming to the artistic developments again there is a balance of the feminine and the masculine that is required. Here the manifestation of the feminine and the masculine principle is highly necessary to create an original artistic expression in terms of writing, painting, singing, dancing etc. Here the feminine principle allows us to dream and visualize and to become creative and generative where as the masculine principle leads to the expression of the creative and generative thoughts in terms of actions like writing, painting, singing, dancing etc. These artistic expressions latter become part of the cultural expressions of the human civilization and they become the great strength for the forward movement of human existence in sync with the nature. In simple words, life becomes a celebration.

Life would not have been possible without artistic expressions. Artistic expressions allow human beings to dream, to visualize and to connect with the larger universe and see the manifestations of the larger universe. Today's artistic expressions can become tomorrow's scientific, social, cultural, religious and political revolutions.

Therefore to bring about original scientific & artistic expressions, awakening the feminine is very-very important. Just by working with the masculine principle exclusively we will be never able to become generative, creative and constructive in nature.

Was Andrzej Lobaczewki Correct About Pure Evil and Political Ponerology - No, I'll Explain

Not too long ago, I wrote an article on the nature of Good and Evil in human society, and then later wrote a book review on Political Ponerology, which is basically the pseudo-science of pathological leaders, those who lack any conscience whatsoever. In these articles I completely dismissed this work and more so, those who promote such notions against the powers that be in order to stir up conspiracy theorists and claim foul play.

Indeed, there are far too many folks out there who prey on the weak and put forth such manuscripts, claiming they know the secret to some deep-dark group conspiring to rule over humanity. It appears the author of "Political Ponerology - The Science of the Nature of Evil," has been carefully adjusted to serve the political will of an individual who has an axe to grind - a political axe indeed.

Anyway the work pretends to be accumulated research of Stalin and Hitler's regimes, and then relates such evil leaders to present day political figures. The work is a political hit piece in every regard, and I suppose it plays well to those who believe in such things, perhaps due to their religious persuasion, cynical political views, or their inability to accept their own mistakes and thus blame others, especially political figures.

It is a dangerous book, as it might coax a low-IQ or mentally deranged person to do something evil, right after they convince themselves they were stopping evil, and thus, on a noble mission of some type. It's the type of book I'd expect an assassin to own, the uni-bomber, or John Hinkley Jr. Now then, after 27-years of observing folks go out of their way to take away other's rights, I've noted (mind you this is in the real world - not pseudo-science lacking any empirical evidence like this book) - that those who have been psychologically damaged are much more dangerous than others.

Indeed, I believe that Andrzej Lobaczewki was a damaged soul, and the editor of that book for some reason felt a kinship, perhaps also damaged material. The concept of Political Ponerology and 4% of the population being of no conscience is invalid as science, as there is no evidence or verifiable data to back it up.

In fact, I do not even believe that, that which was presented as evidence is even close to reality. So, to answer your question; NO, political ponerology is basically non-sense, but it might get the editor and book publisher PR team on Coast-to-Coast Am late night conspiracy theorist talk show one day! Ha ha ha. Please consider all this.

Wanted Heroes - Fire Science Technology

This particular degree can be used by firefighters, fire inspectors, hazardous materials specialists and arson investigators. One who chooses this path in life is well aware that each calendar day will be overflowing with enough activity that a day in the workplace will always fail to be unexciting.

Champion Required

Fire science technology is a step towards saving lives. Lives, land, belongings, natural worlds and neighborhoods will be saved by the FS professionals. Their education and preparation includes that of fire deterrence, emergency health service, hazardous material response, disaster management, and search and rescue. These individuals are habitually the earliest encounters to a crisis location. FS professionals occupy a vital position in the escalating needs of homeland protection and disaster awareness and find their remuneration in the support they grant to society.

As a champion, one must be courageous, patient, and stanch. FS technology requires excellent judgment and impeccable decision making under extreme circumstances. The need for psychological attentiveness, resolution and teamwork is an unquestionable demand in this field.

Agenda Report

This Technology is an AAS (Associate of Applied Science) degree. The program is designed to achieve the requirements of safety and defense recruits. If one is interested in the field of fire science, courses are offered through the conventional classroom, as well as for autonomous study and internet based classes.

Experienced fire service personnel are capable of earning credits for their already established experience, education and training. All he or she would have to do is complete a few concentrated courses to complete their AAS.

Fire science technology is a highly esteemed profession. As an FS professional, one is capable of taking on such titles as Arson Investigator, Industrial Hazardous Materials Coordinator, Industrial Safety Officer, Public Education Specialist, Fire fighter, and Inspector with plenty of opportunity to advance in their field.

A Major in Fearlessness

A fire science major cultivates the understanding, proficiency and aptitude required for direction in fire defense. It involves disaster planning and the organization of fire safety services, adjoining all sections of arson administration.
It imparts a perception essential for fire deterrence, emergency dispensation, controller and arson investigation. The syllabus will embrace diagnostic methods to fire defense and examination, staff administration, catastrophe and protection development, hazardous materials regulation, fire safety composition and structure, political makeup and fire proliferation.

Tendency of Science: To Unify the Religion and Prove the Existence of God and the Spirit

The gap between science and religion occurred in the late Middle Ages, with the historical movement called the Renaissance and its ideal rationalist Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a general movement - that is, a philosophical movement, political, social, economic and cultural - which advocated the use of reason as the best way to achieve freedom, autonomy and emancipation.

As always, the movement of the reaction force, over time, distort and manipulate history to justify their goals and ideas.

In classical antiquity, although Greece was the cradle of rationalism, of its thinkers had linked to some deep mystical currents, like the Orphic, Pythagorean, Neoplatonic, and institutions mysteries of Dionysus, Eleusis and Samothrace. There was also a great fascination of the Greeks by the Egyptian mysteries. These ancient cultures had a long tradition of priests doctors and scientists, with no separation between science and religion.

However, it was in Greece that brought the first attempts to create a purely scientific knowledge, regardless of the myths and religion, and generated a long series of independent thinkers rationalists.

With Christianity, has widened the gap between science and religion, even though it has recorded the existence of religious dedicated to science as Roger Bacon and Albertus Magnus.

The Inquisition was the extreme and pathological reached by intolerance and religious persecution. Thousands of people have been sacrificed at the stake for heresy or suspicion of heresy. The medieval religiosity reached such points of affirmation of faith and curtailment of freedom of thought and choice, which caused an uproar and a quest for the opposite extreme: the negation of all values of faith and spirituality, seeking in classical Greek philosophers and artists Roman inspiration for new forms of thought and expression. The man became, then, the reference center of the world, removing God from his throne (theocentrism), replacing them with reason.

This whole atmosphere of bigotry that has proliferated in the Middle Ages was the breeding ground for the opposite reaction to freedom of thought and expression, making it inevitable separation between science and philosophy of one hand and religion on the other, that actually occurred from the sixteenth century. This separation was a major cause of alienation and confusion of our time.

In the nineteenth century, all educated people tended to materialism, while the simple souls and emotional religiosity tended to extreme and thoughtless. The advent of Spiritualism - opened this century - of theosophy, Christian Science and other mystical rationalist movement was a first attempt to unite science and religion into a unified knowledge.

As can be seen, the first attempt of unification of religions from the ground. Not exactly the religions, but of alternative religions or "philosophies" of life in which there was greater freedom of thought and expression. The official religions had become powerful, authoritarian and inflexible, no longer serving as a vehicle suitable for the expression "eternal truths". The renovation was necessary.

The side of science, the attempt of unification came in unexpected ways. Freud developed a theory about the human unconscious, on a totally materialistic. His chief disciple, Jung, other than master, developed a complementary theory of the human psyche, based on archetypes, that comes very close to the mystical land. Jung was a great scholar of mandalas, the I Ching and alchemy, having finished his life as an occultist in his house in Switzerland to which he called "the castle".

Among the great scientists of the twentieth century, Einstein and Niels Bohr had remarkable mystical tendencies. Thomas Edison, the greatest inventor of all time, was recorded Theosophist. Einstein, in turn, had claimed that a small science moves away from God, but much science leads us back to God.

At the end of the twentieth century, the physical world famous Fritjoff Capra published two masterpieces, The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point. These works definitely put the new physics (quantum physics) in alignment with spirituality. Many physicists, inspired by such works have become Buddhists, Taoists or adherents of other branches of mysticism.

The various discoveries made by neuroscience, brought with them a current that is indicative of the existence of the spirit in the brain, bringing the assertion that science and religion can go together. Researchers in the area are close to the conclusion that the human brain is a computer. But no computer program and produces the very same as do we need to install a program to make it work and the soul or spirit of the computer has the software that is installed on it. The brain is the same thing, he has no ability to self-management and to work, it is necessary to introduce a force that is the spirit.

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, there were other theories and metaphors for the interpretation of reality, holographic-inspired models and monistic, as the Gaia Hypothesis, the unified field theory and superstring theory. The latest theory, "The Theology of Science" - is written by a Polish researcher. Michael Heller, one of the most respected scientists in the field of cosmology and also one of the most renowned theologians of his country, was a pioneer in formulating a new theory which unites God and science. In their work, the scholar has addressed the question of the origin of the universe on advanced aspects of the general theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and noncommutative geometry. Thanks are also some fundamental tools based on the principal theory of relativity, Albert Einstein. He delved into the mysteries of cosmic conditions, the absence of gravity interferes with the laws of physics, and quantum physics.

All these theories are attempts to establish a bridge between religion and science, creating a new era for humanity, based on the principle that there should be a unified knowledge, corresponding to the unity of life.

No one knows what will be the new religion of humanity, but one can say with absolute certainty, which will eliminate the gap between religion and science, since all jobs precursors moving in this direction.

National Book Festival 2010 Hits the Science and Technology Topics

Recently at September 25, 2010, the 10th National Book festival 2010 took place on the National Mall in Washington DC. Science and Technology books draw the attention of the visitors. Some books written by the famous writers were the hot topic of the entire festival. In the festival some writers gave presentations followed by the question and answer session. This was one of the main attractions of the fair. Each and every author tries to highlight their recent works and try to pinpoint the significant of his/her writings.

Edward O. Wilson, biologist, has published his first fiction book named Anthill. Richard Rhodes, a nuclear weapons historian tried to promote his forth volume of the series the creation and spread of nuclear weapons is another attraction of the festival. In this book history was given from the cold war to the present time. The extension of the nuclear weapon of mass destruction is the main focus in his writings.

Harold Varmus, a Nobel Laureate for his contribution came up with his recent memoir, The Art and Politics of Science. This book discusses about different aspects of politics of science got good attention in the civil society. Those three books and speech of the writers were very much informative and touching for the book lovers.

Henry Petroski who is professor of civil engineering at Duke writes about why things fail. In his recent writings "The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems". In his writings he focused on solving problems using science. Scientific facts in various problem solving issues got attraction of the visitors of the fair. He also tries to distinguish between science and engineering using the linear model. He claims that contemporary policy to science is very much short-sighted.

There are some other scientific topics highlighted in the fair. Allegra Goodman wrote new work "her novel intuition" and Richard Holmes in his book "the age of wonder" tries to discover the scientific discoveries, prominent scientists of the late 18th and early 19th century. These two pieces were much talked books in the festival.

The recent national book festival 2010 can be said the science and technology dominating fair. Various new books about modern science and technology are published and inaugurated in the books fair. Country renowned writers try to bring new books in the festival to attract. So in a nutshell national Book Festival 2010 was seen dominated by the science and technology.