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5 Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Brain

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5 Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Brain

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There are obvious reasons to be aware and cautious about the extent and frequency of one's own social media use, but is there a positive side to this story? Of course! It's all in how social media is used and how we can make it work for good.

Need more convincing? Look no further!

But, be aware. The problem of social media addiction is very real, and if you think you have a problem, it is important to recognize it and ask for help. Social media sites are wildly popular for a reason, because they employ strategies to keep people coming back for more. Don't fall for the tactics!

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5 Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Brain

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There are obvious reasons to be aware and cautious about the extent and frequency of one's own social media use, but is there a positive side to this story? Of course! It's all in how social media is used and how we can make it work for good. Need more convincing?

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Why is Mount Everest so tall? - Michele Koppes

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Why is Mount Everest so tall? - Michele Koppes

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Why is Mount Everest so tall? - Michele Koppes

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At 8,850 meters above sea level, Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, has the highest altitude on the planet. But how did this towering formation get so tall? Michele Koppes peers deep into our planet's crust, where continental plates collide, to find the answer.

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Einstein's Theory of General Relativity 

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Einstein's Theory of General Relativity 

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How are spacetime, dark matter and gravity related? In celebration of the centennial of Einstein's theory of general relativity, this video breaks it down. The source video for this lesson was created by Jamie Lochhead, Eoin Duffy and Anaïs Rassat.

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How did Hitler rise to power? - Alex Gendler and Anthony Hazard

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How did Hitler rise to power? - Alex Gendler and Anthony Hazard

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There were several key dates in Hitler's political rise to power. First and foremost, the way World War I ended had a huge influence on these events. The German government surrendered without being militarily defeated. This caused a great deal of frustration and anger amongst the German people. Hitler exploited this to the fullest extent, and used it to discredit and criticize the new Weimar Republic that was created thereafter. The Great Depression was another key event in the story of how Hitler was able to rise to political power in Germany. He continued feeding the German people lies of government economic conspiracies, and banking corruption (which he alleged were caused by Jews within the country).

While this lesson focuses on Hitler's rhetoric and exploitation of Germany's fears in his campaign for power, more information on his life before politics can be found here. For more information on his background, childhood, and rise to power, see Hitler's Boyhood and political views.

It is also interesting to consider the international contemporary perspective on Hitler's ascension - see British media perspectives on Hitler's Rise, key events and dates for his ascension to the top of German politics. Also, this BBC video is included for visual learners. This is a documentary that takes people through the reasons why the German people grew to think of Hitler as the savior of the country. Propaganda played a core role in convincing the German people that democracy and freedom was making the country weak and powerless.

For a useful resource for younger learners curious about the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany, please see Nathaniel Harriss 2004 picture book The Rise of Hitler.

For older readers, Henry Ashby Turner Jr.'s book Hitler's Thirty Days to Power: January 1933 book explains how government officials and business leaders made certain behind closed doors that Hitler would become chancellor of Germany. These officials underestimated Hitler, and thought he could be used as a government puppet to increase their own power and further their own agendas.

A number of the sound effects for this video were sourced from Free Sound. Special thanks to: Robinhood76, Cell31_Sound_Productions, unchaz, RT759

Full credits for this video:
Directed by Owen Gent and Hugh Cowling
Produced by Owen Gent and Hugh Cowling
Designed by Owen Gent and Hugh Cowling
Art Directed by Owen Gent and Hugh Cowing
Storyboard Art by Owen Gent and Hugh Cowling
Illustration by Owen Gent
Animated by Hugh Cowling
Edited by Hugh Cowling
Composited by Hugh Cowling
Sound Design by Hugh Cowling
Composed by Hugh Cowling

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How did Hitler rise to power? - Alex Gendler and Anthony Hazard

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Decades after the fall of the Third Reich, it feels impossible to understand how Adolf Hitler, the tyrant who orchestrated one of the largest genocides in human history, could ever have risen to power in a democratic country. So how did it happen, and could it happen again?

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Imagine you're on a game show and you can choose between two prizes: a diamond ... or a bottle of water. It's an easy choice - the diamonds are more valuable. But if given the same choice when you were dehydrated in the desert, after wandering for days, would you choose differently?

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Could we survive prolonged space travel? - Lisa Nip

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Could we survive prolonged space travel? - Lisa Nip

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Could we survive prolonged space travel? - Lisa Nip

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Prolonged space travel plays a severe toll on the human body: microgravity impairs muscle and bone growth, and high doses of radiation cause irreversible mutations. As we seriously consider the human species becoming space-faring, a big question stands: even if we do break free from Earth's orbit, can we adapt to the extreme environments of space?

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Are food preservatives bad for you? - Eleanor Nelsen

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Are food preservatives bad for you? - Eleanor Nelsen

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Are food preservatives bad for you? - Eleanor Nelsen

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Food doesn't last. In days, sometimes hours, bread goes moldy, apple slices turn brown, and bacteria multiply in mayonnaise. But you can find all of these foods out on the shelf at the grocery store - hopefully unspoiled -- thanks to preservatives. But what exactly are preservatives?

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The neuroscience of imagination - Andrey Vyshedskiy

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The neuroscience of imagination - Andrey Vyshedskiy

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The neuroscience of imagination - Andrey Vyshedskiy

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Imagine, for a second, a duck teaching a French class. A ping-pong match in orbit around a black hole. A dolphin balancing a pineapple. You probably haven't actually seen any of these things. But you could imagine them instantly. How does your brain produce an image of something you've never seen?

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What’s so great about the Great Lakes? - Cheri Dobbs and Jennifer Gabrys 

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What’s so great about the Great Lakes? - Cheri Dobbs and Jennifer Gabrys 

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What's so great about the Great Lakes? - Cheri Dobbs and Jennifer Gabrys

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The North American Great Lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior - are so big that they border 8 states and contain 23 quadrillion liters of water. They span forest, grassland, and wetland habitats, supporting a region that's home to 3,500 species. But how did such a vast and unique geological feature come to be?

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The mathematics of sidewalk illusions - Fumiko Futamura 

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The mathematics of sidewalk illusions - Fumiko Futamura 

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The mathematics of sidewalk illusions - Fumiko Futamura

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Have you ever come across an oddly stretched image on the sidewalk, only to find that it looks remarkably realistic if you stand in exactly the right spot? These sidewalk illusions employ a technique called anamorphosis - a special case of perspective art where artists represent 3D views on 2D surfaces.

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How Braille was invented | Moments of Vision 9 - Jessica Oreck 

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How Braille was invented | Moments of Vision 9 - Jessica Oreck 

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How Braille was invented | Moments of Vision 9 - Jessica Oreck

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Today, Braille is the universally accepted system of writing for the blind, translated into almost every language in almost every country across the globe. But it didn't actually start out as a tool for the blind. Jessica Oreck details the surprising wartime origins of Braille.

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Why do animals have such different lifespans? - Joao Pedro de Magalhaes 

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Why do animals have such different lifespans? - Joao Pedro de Magalhaes 

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Why do animals have such different lifespans? - Joao Pedro de Magalhaes

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For the microscopic lab worm C. elegans, life equates to just a few short weeks on Earth. The bowhead whale, on the other hand, can live over two hundred years. Why are these lifespans so different? And what does it really mean to 'age' anyway?

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How does your body process medicine? - Céline Valéry

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How does your body process medicine? - Céline Valéry

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How does your body process medicine? - Céline Valéry

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Have you ever wondered what happens to a painkiller, like ibuprofen, after you swallow it? Medicine that slides down your throat can help treat a headache, a sore back, or a throbbing sprained ankle. But how does it get where it needs to go in the first place?

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The physics of playing guitar - Oscar Fernando Perez 

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The physics of playing guitar - Oscar Fernando Perez 

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The physics of playing guitar - Oscar Fernando Perez

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Guitar masters like Jimi Hendrix are capable of bending the physics of waves to their wills, plucking melody from inspiration and vibration. But how do wood, metal, and plastic translate into rhythm, melody, and music? Oscar Fernando Perez details the physics of playing the guitar, from first pluck to that final shredding chord.

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How science fiction can help predict the future - Roey Tzezana

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How science fiction can help predict the future - Roey Tzezana

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What exactly is futurist? Want to know more? Visit the World Future Society.

Want to learn more about the history of science fiction? Visit Tom Lombardo's Center for Future Consciousness: a place for science fiction lovers to learn about the history of the field. Take some time and peruse the website. The Library has great resources from both the web and print.

Interested in reading a blog about science fiction and the future cycle times? Check out Roey Tzezana's Curating the Future blog post that explains how science fiction enables us to look further into the future by expanding our future thinking.

Intel's The Tomorrow Project: creating anthologies of science fiction stories that teach us specifically about certain futures. The anthologies are open for reading by all! What an opportunity. Take advantage of this and spend some time looking through the site, find something of interest and sit back and read it!

Do you think science fiction can be used as a way to study the future? This book by futurist Brian David Johnson: Science Fiction Prototyping might just be what you have been looking for.

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How science fiction can help predict the future - Roey Tzezana

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Would you like to know what's in our future? What's going to happen to humanity tomorrow, next year, or even a millennium from now? Well, you're not alone. Everyone from governments to military to industry leaders do as well, and they all employ people - called 'futurists' - who attempt to forecast the future.

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How playing an instrument benefits your brain - Anita Collins 

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How playing an instrument benefits your brain - Anita Collins 

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The connections between brain research and music have been ongoing for the past two decades, but there are actually a lot of different areas within the research, and it is easy to confuse them.

Firstly there is the area of music and the brain, which is about how we process music in our brains. Daniel Levitin wrote a great book called This is Your Brain on Music ( http://daniellevitin.com/publicpage/books/this-is-your-brain-on-music/) which is all about how we process music.

Then there is the area of music therapy and the brain, which is about how we can use music to assist people who have had brain injuries, physical trauma or have been born with a disability, to improve their physical and cognitive function. It is also being used extensively with people who are suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Oliver Sacks wrote a great book called Musicophillia ( http://musicophilia.com) and Norman Doige has a book on brain plasticity called The Brain that Changes itself ( http://www.normandoidge.com/normandoidge.com/MAIN.html) that talks about the power of music therapy.

Then there is the area of music education and the brain, which is about how music learning can impact on general brain development in children and adults. In the research it is called music training and is generally understood to be the formal and sequential learning of music, through playing music as well as appreciating and listening to it. There are a number of research institutes that are working in this part of the field, the Dana Foundation ( http://www.dana.org), the BRAMS Institute ( http://www.brams.org/en/) and the Music, Mind and Wellbeing Institute ( http://cmmw.unimelb.edu.au).

Keeping up with the research is tricky if you are not a neuroscientists. Here is a resource that can keep you up to date with the research, and here is a list of the references that were used to support the writing of the script for this lesson.

Research into the nature of how the corpus callosum impacts on the brains functions, and how learning a musical instrument impacts on this, is ongoing. Recently, neuroscientists have dug deeper and found that changes in the corpus callosum may be dependent on the type of musical training a musician does and could be localized to the anterior corpus callosum. This area has shown an increase in bi-manual coordination (where the brain coordinates simultaneous multiple movements like using a knife and fork). Here is some of the latest research.

Sometimes it is hard to explain all of this research to someone else so here is a short video you can share with parents, teachers and students about how music education can enhance brain development.

Learning to sing or play a musical instrument can help disadvantaged children improve their reading skills, US research suggests.

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How playing an instrument benefits your brain - Anita Collins

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When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.

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How to make your writing funnier - Cheri Steinkellner

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How to make your writing funnier - Cheri Steinkellner

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How to make your writing funnier - Cheri Steinkellner

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Did you ever notice how many jokes start with "Did you ever notice?" And what's the deal with "What's the deal?" There's a lot of funny to be found simply by noticing the ordinary, everyday things you don't ordinarily notice every day.

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The poet who painted with his words - Geneviève Emy 

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The poet who painted with his words - Geneviève Emy 

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The poet who painted with his words - Geneviève Emy

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Among the great poets of literary history, certain names like Homer, Shakespeare and Whitman are instantly recognizable. However, there's an early 20th century great poet whose name you may not know: Guillaume Apollinaire. Geneviève Emy shows how during Apollinaire's short lifetime he created poetry that combined text and image in a way that seemingly predicted a artistic revolution to come.

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The evolution of the book - Julie Dreyfuss 

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The evolution of the book - Julie Dreyfuss 

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The evolution of the book - Julie Dreyfuss

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What makes a book a book? Is it just anything that stores and communicates information? Or does it have to do with paper, binding, font, ink, its weight in your hands, the smell of the pages?

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Development of English drama - Mindy Ploeckelmann 

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Development of English drama - Mindy Ploeckelmann 

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Development of English drama - Mindy Ploeckelmann

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When presented with the problem of hoards of illiterate commoners, English clergymen in the 11th century created plays to spread word about the Bible. Eventually, the plays moved out of the church and into the streets. Mindy Ploeckelmann tracks the development of English drama from mystery plays to morality plays and, eventually, to Shakespeare.

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Did Shakespeare write his plays? - Natalya St. Clair and Aaron Williams 

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Did Shakespeare write his plays? - Natalya St. Clair and Aaron Williams 

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Our discussion of Shakespeare's identity draws from a few sources. A great reference is Slate's episode, How Mathematicians Determine Authorship. Most claims in the video are based on a study by Craig and Kinney, Shakespeare, Computers, and the Mystery of Authorship.

What makes Shakespeare's prose so easy to memorize? Could it be the patterns found in Shakespeare's text? Check out David Freeman and Gregory Taylor's TED-Ed Original to learn more about "Why Shakespeare Loved Iambic Pentameter." These kinds of patterns made it easy for actors to memorize Shakespeare's verse. More about rhythm and mathematics can be viewed at A-rhythm-etic by Clayton Cameron. You can't help but count along with him! Try it.

Because of the transition from print media to digital media, stylometry has recently grown as a topic of interest for researchers. Some examples of tools used for visualizing words include Wordle and Poll Everywhere. Take some time and try them out, and create your own Wordle.

Learn more about stylometry by reading: " What's In a Word-list?" Do you think your writing could be identified by a word-list? How might stylometry be used in forensics? Can authors hide their identity anymore? Read this article from the Smithsonian and see what you think: How Did Computers Uncover J.K. Rowling's Pseudonym? Then listen to Science Friday to learn more about how this mystery was uncovered.

Interested in linguistics? Noam Chomsky challenged linguists with this phrase, " colorless green ideas sleep furiously." What about this phrase is so interesting and perplexing? Read about it and see what you think.

Natalya and Aaron would like to thank those who contributed to feedback for this piece, including Wendy Cho, Richard Lederer, Katerina Popova, and Rusanda Soltan.

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Did Shakespeare write his plays? - Natalya St. Clair and Aaron Williams

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Some people question whether Shakespeare really wrote the works that bear his name - or whether he even existed at all. Could it be true that the greatest writer in the English language was as fictional as his plays? Natalya St. Clair and Aaron Williams show how a linguistic tool called stylometry might shed light on the answer.

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How to write descriptively - Nalo Hopkinson 

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How to write descriptively - Nalo Hopkinson 

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Can reading fiction actually build morality and help you grow as an individual? This article from the Boston Globe, " Why fiction is good for you," might just answer that question. Ohio State also weighs in on the discussion with this report, " Losing Yourself" in A Fictional Character Can Affect Your Real Life." Have you ever lost yourself in a book, unable to pull yourself away from it? Which one? Think about what the author did that made the book so special.

Find yourself so immersed in those electronic devices that you fail to read books anymore? Read this article from the New York Times and see what neuroscience has to say. Been a little crabby and not yourself? Pick up some fiction! Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer, might just snap you out of the doldrums! Get to the library or your bookshelf, find a nice comfy spot and get reading! Let a book cast a spell on you!

Why is it so important that children have books to read? Fiction books are especially essential for the development of empathy for others. Scientific American discusses this here: Novel Finding: Reading Literary Fiction Improves Empathy. Want to get smarter? Watch this video and find out how fiction can help: How Fiction Makes Our Brains Better. Finally, take a look at the, Top Ten Reasons to Read Fiction.

This TED-Ed lesson: How fiction can change reality discusses how popular fiction can spark public dialogue and affect culture. Want some more hints on writing fiction? Another TED-Ed lesson might just help: How to build a fictional world.

(Educator headshot by David Findlay, 2011)

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How to write descriptively - Nalo Hopkinson

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The point of fiction is to cast a spell, a momentary illusion that you are living in the world of the story. But as a writer, how do you suck your readers into your stories in this way? Nalo Hopkinson shares some tips for how to use language to make your fiction really come alive.

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The pleasure of poetic pattern - David Silverstein

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The pleasure of poetic pattern - David Silverstein

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The pleasure of poetic pattern - David Silverstein

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Humans are creatures of rhythm and repetition. From our breath to our gait: rhythm is central to our experience, and often brings us pleasure. We can find pleasure in the rhythm of a song, or even the rows of an orchard. Of course, too much repetition can also backfire.

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What makes a poem … a poem? - Melissa Kovacs

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What makes a poem … a poem? - Melissa Kovacs

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What makes a poem ... a poem? - Melissa Kovacs

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What exactly makes a poem ... a poem? Poets themselves have struggled with this question, often using metaphors to approximate a definition. Is a poem a little machine? A firework? An echo? A dream? Melissa Kovacs shares three recognizable characteristics of most poetry.

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How did Dracula become the world's most famous vampire? - Stanley Stepanic 

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How did Dracula become the world's most famous vampire? - Stanley Stepanic 

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How did Dracula become the world's most famous vampire? - Stanley Stepanic

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Over a hundred years after his creator was laid to rest, Dracula lives on as the most famous vampire in history. But this Transylvanian noble - neither the first fictional vampire, nor the most popular of his time - may have remained buried in obscurity if not for a twist of fate.

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Learn about the universe (that's everything, right?)

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Learn about the universe (that's everything, right?)

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Learn about the universe (that's everything, right?)

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The universe: is it everything, things we can see, or things that have existed and will one day exist? Or, perhaps it's all of the above. Whatever your conviction, the universe is here to stay...or is it?

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Obesity is an escalating global epidemic. It substantially raises the probability of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and cancer. But what is the distinction between being overweight and being obese? And how does a person become obese? Mia Nacamulli explores obesity.

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Why are human bodies asymmetrical? - Leo Q. Wan

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Why are human bodies asymmetrical? - Leo Q. Wan

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Why are human bodies asymmetrical? - Leo Q. Wan

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Symmetry is everywhere in nature. And we usually associate it with beauty: a perfectly shaped leaf or a butterfly with intricate patterns mirrored on each wing. But it turns out that asymmetry is pretty important, too — and more common than you might think. Leo Q. Wan takes us in…

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What would happen if you didn’t sleep? - Claudia Aguirre 

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What would happen if you didn’t sleep? - Claudia Aguirre 

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In the video, we mentioned that the drive to sleep is triggered by internal and external cues. Internally, our awake brain receives accumulating signals that it is time to shut down (sleep pressure) and externally, environmental cues from daylight works with our biological clock to keep us synced into day/night cycles. What are some factors that contribute to throwing off our circadian rhythm and our sleep-inducing signals? Staying up late, waking up too early, having artificial light ( cell phones) at night, are all factors that throw off our biological clock. Caffeine and other stimulants can delay the signals reaching our brain, telling us it's time to sleep.

For ideas about how to remedy those sleepless nights, visit the Sleep Disorders Center at UCLA and find out more about circadian rhythms and what disturbs them. Like to sleep with the light on? Maybe it's not such a good idea. Find out by reading Scientific American's article: Why Is Blue Light before Bedtime Bad for Sleep?

Teenagers are especially vulnerable to sleep deprivation. Visit this site and find out what some side effects are and what can be done to alleviate sleepless nights!

For more on sleep, take a look at this TED Ed lesson on the topic: The benefits of a good night's sleep by Shai Marcu. Then, go to the TED Talk playlist: Talks to inspire you to get a good night's sleep! Now get to bed, sleep tight, and catch some zzzzzzz's!

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What would happen if you didn't sleep? - Claudia Aguirre

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In the United States, it's estimated that 30 percent of adults and 66 percent of adolescents are regularly sleep-deprived. This isn't just a minor inconvenience: staying awake can cause serious bodily harm. Claudia Aguirre shows what happens to your body and brain when you skip sleep.

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Is it bad to hold your pee? - Heba Shaheed 

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Is it bad to hold your pee? - Heba Shaheed 

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Healthy bladder habits are important for the function of our urinary system and for overall health. It is important to use good toilet habits, going to empty the bladder about 4-8 times per day and no more than twice per night. Try not to get into the habit of going to empty the bladder "just in case." The aim is to go to empty the bladder when it is full and you need to go, but not allowing it to get to the point of "bursting" or feeling the urge is uncontrollable. Take your time emptying the bladder, rather than rushing, or straining to push out the urine. If you rush, and do not take the time to empty the bladder fully, this could lead to a bladder infection.
It is important to sit on the toilet seat. Many people hover due to fear of germs and unclean toilets, however the hovering position does not allow the pelvic floor muscles to relax completely. In order to empty your bladder safely, completely and healthily, the pelvic floor muscles need to completely relax down, and this is only possible if there is adequate support, with the bottom on the toilet seat and the feet firm on the floor. It's also crucial to stay adequately hydrated. Ideally a person should be drinking between 6 - 8 cups of fluid per day. This includes water, tea, juice, soup, etc.

A common issue that can arise if the urinary system is unhealthy includes urinary incontinence, which is accidental leakage from your bladder, even if it is just a few drops. This leakage could be due to weakness or poor coordination of the pelvic floor muscles supporting the bladder from underneath or it could be because of increased pressure from a cough, sneeze, laugh, jump, run, lift or sports. This is known as stress urinary incontinence.

Another issue could be overactive bladder, which is when a person has urgency, or is "bursting to go" and not making it in time and losing a bit of urine. Overactive bladder can present with frequency, which is going to empty the bladder more than 8 times per day, and nocturia, which is waking up from sleep to empty the bladder.

Sometimes, due to a habit of holding onto the bladder for long times, the muscles in the pelvic floor can become overactive. Symptoms of an overactive pelvic floor include: hesitancy, which is when it takes a few moments for the urine stream to begin, a slow or thin flow, where sometimes you may feel the need to strain to pass urine, a feeling that the bladder has not completely emptied when passing urine, or a flow that starts and stops rather than being continuous. People who have an overactive pelvic floor can also complain of recurrent urinary tract infections.

In addition to healthy bladder habits, the role of the pelvic floor muscles is significant. Within your pelvis, there exists a sling of muscles that support the pelvic organs including the bladder, the bowel and, in females, the uterus. These are your pelvic floor muscles, and they are shaped like a hammock or a bowl that span across the base of your pelvis and also surround the urethra. The pelvic floor muscles attach to the front of the pelvis at the pubic bone - or pubis. They attach to the side of the pelvis at the hip bones - or ischium. And they attach to the back of the pelvis at the tailbone - or coccyx. The pelvic floor muscles are important for bladder function because they completely surround your urethra and help keep the urethra closed until you are ready to pass urine. The external urethral sphincter forms part of the pelvic floor muscles.

These muscles need to be strong and coordinating well so it is important for people to do regular pelvic floor exercises to keep these muscles healthy. These muscles coordinate with the breathing muscle - the diaphragm. The best way to do pelvic floor exercises is to begin by breathing into the diaphragm and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles down. As you breathe out the pelvic floor muscles should squeeze and lift up. As you breathe in the pelvic floor muscles should relax down again. This is the natural movement of the pelvic floor muscles with the diaphragm. Sometimes these pelvic floor muscles can lift on the breath in - which leads to urinary incontinence, and sometimes these pelvic floor muscles can be too tight because they don't relax down properly. The health of the pelvic floor is crucial to the health of the urinary system, because the external urethral sphincter form part of the pelvic floor muscles.

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Is it bad to hold your pee? - Heba Shaheed

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Humans should urinate at least four to six times a day, but occasionally, the pressures of modern life force us to clench and hold it in. How bad is this habit, and how long can our bodies withstand it? Heba Shaheed takes us inside the bladder to find out.

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How playing sports benefits your body ... and your brain - Leah Lagos and Jaspal Ricky Singh

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How playing sports benefits your body ... and your brain - Leah Lagos and Jaspal Ricky Singh

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How playing sports benefits your body ... and your brain - Leah Lagos and Jaspal Ricky Singh

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The victory of the underdog. The last minute penalty shot that wins the tournament. The training montage. Many people love to glorify victory on the field, cheer for teams, and play sports. But should we be obsessed with sports? Are sports as good for us as we make them out to be, or are they just a fun and entertaining pastime? Leah Lagos and Jaspal Ricky Singh show what science has to say on the matter.

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How does your body know what time it is? - Marco A. Sotomayor

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How does your body know what time it is? - Marco A. Sotomayor

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How does your body know what time it is? - Marco A. Sotomayor

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Being able to sense time helps us do everything from waking and sleeping to knowing precisely when to catch a ball that's hurtling towards us. And we owe all these abilities to an interconnected system of timekeepers in our brains. But how do they work? Marco A.

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Dreams are mysterious, and since the time of the Ancient Mesopotamians, human beings have been recording their dreams and trying to figure out what, if anything, they mean.

A large percentage of scientists actually believe that dreams are just random images generated from our brains for no reason at all, serving no purpose whatsoever. But there have been prominent doctors and scientists in many fields and from different areas of expertise who would wholeheartedly disagree. Each theory of dreaming that you just heard about is backed by academic and scientific research and study conducted by some of these doctors and scientists.

Since there's no better place to get more in-depth knowledge about each of these theories than directly from their sources, you should check out these links to learn more:

1. We Dream to Fullfill our Wishes: Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
2. We Dream to Remember: Memory, Sleep and Dreaming: Experience Consolidation by Erin J. Wamsley and Robert Stickgold
3. We Dream to Forget: The reverse learning theory of dreaming, by Francis Crick and Graeme Mitchison
4. We Dream to Keep our Brains Working: The Continual Activation Theory of Dreaming by Jie Zhang
5. We Dream to Rehearse: Dreaming and Consciousness: Testing the Threat Simulation Theory of the Function of Dreaming by Antti Revonsuo and Katja Valli
6. We Dream to Heal: Overnight Therapy? The Role of Sleep in Emotional Brain Processing by Els van der Helm and Matthew P. Walker
7. We Dream to Solve Problems: The "Committee of Sleep": A Study of Dream Incubation for Problem Solving by Deirdre Barrett

We all have good dreams and bad dreams, and depending on many other factors like your age and your diet and the stressors in your life at any given time. You may also occasionally experience nightmares. Though most of us associate the feeling of fear with our nightmares, other primary feelings like sadness, confusion, anger, guilt and disgust tend to be prevalent in our nightmares as well. The most common themes in nightmares tend to revolve around physical aggression, interpersonal conflicts and situations where the dreamer feels failure and helplessness. Dr. Antonio Zadra from the University of Montreal's Dream and Nightmare Laboratory shares some of the fascinating work they've done in a short interview with Science World here.

For most people, dreaming can happen anytime they are asleep, though we experience dreams most often while we are in the sleep onset and REM sleep stages of our sleep cycle. We usually have 4 to 6 dreams per night, but the majority of us forget most of them as soon as we wake up. Though you can't choose which dreams you'd like to remember, many people believe that your ability to recall more of your dreams in better detail will improve with the use of a dream journal. Also, there are several sources online that can help you interpret and analyze your dreams once you've recalled them ( dream dictionaries are one popular tool to do this).

While many of us would be happy to simply remember more about our dreams, there are people who not only remember their dreams, but gain enough consciousness while they are asleep and dreaming that they know they are experiencing a dream while it happens. This phenomenon is called lucid dreaming and though the reality of it isn't exactly like Christopher Nolan's film Inception (which was in fact, at least partially inspired by his own ability to lucid dream) many researchers today are looking at lucid dreaming for its potential to positively impact the lives of dreamers everywhere. Tim Post speaks about The Emerging Science of Lucid Dreaming it in his excellent TEDx talk here.

Like we said at the beginning of this lesson, dreaming is mysterious. But its mysteriousness is one of the reasons that dreams are so intriguing and such a popular field of study today. There is plethora scientific, academic and popular information and media out there and some excellent sources. Take a look at these links! Nova: What are Dreams, Dream Interpretations- BBC, RadioLab Dreams Podcast they just might wake you up to the amazing world of dreaming.

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In the 3rd millennium BCE, Mesopotamian kings recorded and interpreted their dreams on wax tablets. In the years since, we haven't paused in our quest to understand why we dream. And while we still don't have any definitive answers, we have some theories. Amy Adkins reveals the top seven reasons why we might dream.

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What is Alzheimer's disease? - Ivan Seah Yu Jun

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What is Alzheimer's disease? - Ivan Seah Yu Jun

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What is Alzheimer's disease? - Ivan Seah Yu Jun

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Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting over 40 million people worldwide. And though it was discovered over a century ago, scientists are still grappling for a cure. Ivan Seah Yu Jun describes how Alzheimer's affects the brain, shedding light on the different stages of this complicated, destructive disease.

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How sugar affects the brain - Nicole Avena

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How sugar affects the brain - Nicole Avena

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Dr. Avena's website has links to new research and articles about the effects of sugar on the brain and behavior, and how this can influence body weight.
Want to learn more about the adverse effects of sugar? Read Food Junkie, Dr. Avena's blog on Psychology Today. Here is one post that is particularly relevant:
Sugar Cravings: How sugar cravings sabotage your health, hormone balance & weight loss, by Dr. Nicole Avena and Dr. Sara Gottfried.
Watch this video from The National on how food manufactures have tweaked products to increase the addictive nature of processed foods.
For an in-depth presentation on the research surrounding sugar overconsumption, watch Dr. Nicole Avena speak at the Obesity Action Coalition on current data and how too much sugar can be particularly detrimental to our society as a whole.
Click this link to a short video and article by Everyday Health on a study showing how milkshakes high in carbohydrates enhances the brain reward system and increases eating.
Learn more specific information by checking out Natural Reward Pathways Exist in the Brain. Be sure to go through "The Reward Pathway Reinforces Behavior" tutorial on this page to see how foods high in sugar affect the reward pathways.

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How sugar affects the brain - Nicole Avena

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When you eat something loaded with sugar, your taste buds, your gut and your brain all take notice. This activation of your reward system is not unlike how bodies process addictive substances such as alcohol or nicotine -- an overload of sugar spikes dopamine levels and leaves you craving more.

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Just How Small Is an Atom? - Jonathan Bergmann

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Just How Small Is an Atom? - Jonathan Bergmann

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Search past wonders or check out a new wonder each day.

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Search past wonders or check out a new wonder each day.

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What is a multiple?

How do multiples get used in everyday life?

How can you determine a number's multiples?

Find it out

Who was Mary Anning?

What did Mary Anning discover?

What is Jurassic Coast?

Find it out

Have you ever tasted an Arab taco?

When was the Arab taco invented?

What is shawarma?

Find it out

How are currency exchange rates determined?

What was the gold standard?

Which type of currency exchange rate system does the U.S. use?

Find it out
Which of the following is usually NOT a factor in determining currency exchange rates?

Test your knowledge

How can I use Wonderopolis?

What are the parts of a Wonder?

How do writers make a Wonder?

Find it out

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Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease | Wonderopolis

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Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease

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Adam Spencer: Why I fell in love with monster prime numbers 

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Adam Spencer: Why I fell in love with monster prime numbers 

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Adam Spencer: Why I fell in love with monster prime numbers

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They're millions of digits long, and it takes an army of mathematicians and machines to hunt them down -- what's not to love about monster primes? Adam Spencer, comedian and lifelong math geek, shares his passion for these odd numbers, and for the mysterious magic of math.

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The unexpected math behind Van Gogh's "Starry Night" - Natalya St. Clair 

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The unexpected math behind Van Gogh's "Starry Night" - Natalya St. Clair 

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A few lesson plans exist for teaching visual arts and self-similarity (objects that have the same pattern) that could be used after showing this lesson. has some free lesson plans for students in grades 4 through 8. High school students can learn recursion algorithms to create the Koch curve using Scratch for free. Educational technologist Dylan Ryder has also written about creating fractals. A beautiful app worth checking out is Starry Night Interactive App by media artist Petros Vrellis. Download it to your tablet and create your own version of Starry Night. Finally, don't forget to check out TED-Ed's original The Case of the Missing Fractals. Can you solve the case?

Really interested in mathematics? If you live in the New York-area, visit the Museum of Modern Math for more on math and visual arts.

Turbulence, unlike painting, is mostly a time-dependent phenomenon, and after some time, breaks statistical self-similarity that Kolmogorov predicted in the 1960s. To learn more about Kolmogorov's predictions, Terry Tao provides a great overview of Kolmogorov's power laws for turbulence.

In fluid mechanics, since we can't often solve the equation for flow patterns, we develop a system of scaling between the physical properties. This is called dimensional analysis. Want to find out more about the five-thirds law that the video references? Scroll through this website and learn

There are a few articles that outline patterns of turbulence in Van Gogh's Starry Night. by Philip Ball (p. 164-178) provides an excellent overview of the concept for a broad audience. Nature featured this article: Van Gogh painted perfect turbulence. Discover Magazine in 2006 featured another article on this topic called A Turbulent Mind. Learn how accurate Van Gogh's turbulence was in his paintings. Finally, this article entitled: Troubled Mind and Perfect Turbulence, gives a great description of several of Van Gogh's paintings. It also discusses how the impact of the painting on the viewer was measured using the concept of luminosity.

Acknowledgements
Natalya St. Clair would like to thank those who helped contribute their feedback to the script of this piece at Countryside School, Harvey Mudd College, , and University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, and, including Chris Antonsen, Arthur Benjamin, Andrew Bernoff, , Likith Govindaiah, Jon Jacobsen, Carolyn Meldgin, Aaron Williams, and her students and colleagues.

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The unexpected math behind Van Gogh's "Starry Night" - Natalya St. Clair

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Physicist Werner Heisenberg said, "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." As difficult as turbulence is to understand mathematically, we can use art to depict the way it looks.

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The best stats you've ever seen - Hans Rosling

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The best stats you've ever seen - Hans Rosling

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The best stats you've ever seen - Hans Rosling

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You've never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world."

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What are logarithms and why are they useful? Get the basics on these critical mathematical functions -- and discover why smart use of logarithms can determine whether your eyes turn red at the swimming pool this summer. Lesson by Steve Kelly, animation by TED-Ed.

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Group theory 101: How to play a Rubik’s Cube like a piano - Michael Staff

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Group theory 101: How to play a Rubik’s Cube like a piano - Michael Staff

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Group theory 101: How to play a Rubik's Cube like a piano - Michael Staff

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Mathematics explains the workings of the universe, from particle physics to engineering and economics. Math is even closely related to music, and their common ground has something to do with a Rubik's Cube puzzle. Michael Staff explains how group theory can teach us to play a Rubik's Cube like a piano.

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The beautiful math of coral - Margaret Wertheim

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The beautiful math of coral - Margaret Wertheim

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The beautiful math of coral - Margaret Wertheim

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Science writer Margaret Wertheim re-creates the creatures of the coral reefs using a technique invented by a mathematician -- simultaneously celebrating the amazements of the reef and deep-diving into the hyperbolic underpinnings of coral creation.

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Pixar: The math behind the movies - Tony DeRose

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Pixar: The math behind the movies - Tony DeRose

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Pixar: The math behind the movies - Tony DeRose

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The folks at Pixar are widely known as some of the world’s best storytellers and animators. They are perhaps less recognized as some of the most innovative math whizzes around. Pixar Research Lead Tony DeRose delves into the math behind the animations, explaining how arithmetic, trigonometry and geometry help bring Woody and the rest of your favorite characters to life.

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Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man of math - James Earle 

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Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man of math - James Earle 

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Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man
Numberphile did a great explanation of "Squaring the Circle"
See James Earle's other Lesson. After Rome was destroyed, people were wary of attachment to physical beauty. As Christianity gained traction, Romans instead began to focus on the metaphysical beauty of virtue, and art began to follow suit. James Earle discusses how Medieval paintings of Madonna were affected by this shift.
The Vitruvian Man is a drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1490.It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the architect Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. It is stored in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Italy, and, like most works on paper, is displayed only occasionally.
"We know very little about Leonardo's apprenticeship in Verroccio's workshop, but the short account provided by Vasari confirms that it included architectural and technological design, according to a concept that was being revived on the model of Vitruvius, as reproposed by Alberti. Having had access to Alberti's and Vitruvius' treatises, it is no surprise that Leonardo produced his own version of the Vitruvian man in his notebooks." See Stanford's website devoted to the Vitruvian man.
Check out all the TED-Ed Lessons about visual art.

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Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man of math - James Earle

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What's so special about Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man? With arms outstretched, the man fills the irreconcilable spaces of a circle and a square -- symbolizing the Renaissance-era belief in the mutable nature of humankind. James Earle explains the geometric, religious and philosophical significance of this deceptively simple drawing.

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How does math guide our ships at sea? - George Christoph 

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How does math guide our ships at sea? - George Christoph 

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John Napier was a famous Scottish theologian and mathematician who lived between 1550 and 1617. He spent his entire life seeking knowledge, and working to devise better ways of doing everything from growing crops to performing mathematical calculations. He is best known as the discoverer of logarithms. He was also the inventor of the so-called " Napier's bones". Napier also made common the use of the decimal point in arithmetic and mathematics. http://www.johnnapier.com/

Napier's bones (or Napier's rods) and logarithms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShjoKnSm9ds

Logarithms were introduced by John Napier in the early 17th century as a means to simplify calculations. They were rapidly adopted by navigators, scientists, engineers, and others to perform computations more easily, using slide rules and logarithm tables. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logarithm

A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock

A sextant is an instrument used to measure the angle between any two visible objects. Its primary use is to determine the angle between a celestial object and the horizon which is known as the object's altitude. Making this measurement is known as sighting the object, shooting the object, or taking a sight and it is an essential part of celestial navigation. http://www.mat.uc.pt/~helios/Mestre/Novemb00/H61iflan.htm

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How does math guide our ships at sea? - George Christoph

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John Napier was a famous Scottish theologian and mathematician who lived between 1550 and 1617. He spent his entire life seeking knowledge, and working to devise better ways of doing everything from growing crops to performing mathematical calculations. He is best known as the discoverer of logarithms. He was also the inventor of the so-called " Napier's bones".

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Music and math: The genius of Beethoven - Natalya St. Clair 

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Music and math: The genius of Beethoven - Natalya St. Clair 

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Music and math: The genius of Beethoven - Natalya St. Clair

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How is it that Beethoven, who is celebrated as one of the most significant composers of all time, wrote many of his most beloved songs while going deaf? The answer lies in the math behind his music. Natalya St. Clair employs the "Moonlight Sonata" to illustrate the way Beethoven was able to convey emotion and creativity using the certainty of mathematics.

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The math behind Michael Jordan’s legendary hang time - Andy Peterson and Zack Patterson

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The math behind Michael Jordan’s legendary hang time - Andy Peterson and Zack Patterson

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You can further investigate the mathematics behind hang time on Earth, other bodies in the solar system and maybe even some places a bit more "Looney Tunes" using these Hungry Teacher Lessons: Hang Time, Space Jam and In Sync.

Love the application of Physics to the real world and everyday life? Visit: Real World Physics Problems to find out more! Sport Science also provides a great video on Hang Time with Jordan Farmer! Prepare to be amazed! Science Friday's Physics of Basketball addresses the forces acting on the ball! Watch and become a better basketball player! Hang time, layups, backspin and buoyant force sound enthralling? Galileo Got Game: 5 Things You Didn't Know About The Physics of Basketball offers advice on these topics, short video clips and sketches. Visit the site to find out more! Watch this video and try to predict whether the ball will make it in the hoop. John Fontanella, author of the Physics of Basketball offers his insights into the sport on Talk of the Nation at NPR. Listen to his interview.

Want more about sports, gravity, angular momentum and all things physics? For more on Physics and pro football, visit Scientific American's The Science of NFL Football and NBC Learn! Exploratorium's Sport Science also discusses the Physics of Baseball, Surfing, Skateboarding and Hockey. Finally, visit the New York Times Learning Network for the lesson: Getting Physical: the Physics and Other science Behind the inter Olympic Sports. Be sure to check out all the links provided in this lesson for even more material. If you love sports you will definitely find something of interest.

If you learn equations well enough, you can use them to draw! Here are some examples of combinations of equations, that, when graphed together, produce amusing results. Speaking of entertainment and math, you can use math to predict the trajectory of Super Mario's jump.

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The math behind Michael Jordan's legendary hang time - Andy Peterson and Zack Patterson

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Michael Jordan's legendary slam dunk from the free throw line has been calculated at 0.92 seconds of pure hang time. But how many seconds could Jordan have gotten were he doing the same jump on Mars? Or Jupiter? Andy Peterson and Zack Patterson share the math equation behind hang time.

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A trip through space to calculate distance - Heather Tunnell 

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A trip through space to calculate distance - Heather Tunnell 

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A trip through space to calculate distance - Heather Tunnell

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Imagine two aliens racing across outer space to their moon. Who can we deem the fastest alien? With DIRT -- or the equation Distance = Rate x Time -- we can calculate their rates, using the distance they traveled and the time they took.

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The mathematical secrets of Pascal’s triangle - Wajdi Mohamed Ratemi 

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The mathematical secrets of Pascal’s triangle - Wajdi Mohamed Ratemi 

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The mathematical secrets of Pascal’s triangle - Wajdi Mohamed Ratemi

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Pascal’s triangle, which at first may just look like a neatly arranged stack of numbers, is actually a mathematical treasure trove. But what about it has so intrigued mathematicians the world over? Wajdi Mohamed Ratemi shows how Pascal’s triangle is full of patterns and secrets.

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The mighty mathematics of the lever - Andy Peterson and Zack Patterson 

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The mighty mathematics of the lever - Andy Peterson and Zack Patterson 

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The mighty mathematics of the lever - Andy Peterson and Zack Patterson

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Archimedes once said "Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth." While the idea of a person moving such a huge mass on their own might sound impossible, chances are you've seen this idea in action at your local playground.

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How big is infinity? - Dennis Wildfogel 

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How big is infinity? - Dennis Wildfogel 

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We mentioned that the square root of two is irrational. Prove that this is so. Here are some hints. Start by supposing that the square root of 2 is a fraction. Put that fraction in lowest terms, say, p/q, where p and q have no factors in common. Square both sides and conclude that p must be even. Then conclude that q must be even, violating the assumption that p and q have no factors in common. You can see the proof in detail in the video http://youtu.be/HiWXvSbzdqI. (The video will tell you when to pause to try to deduce the next step yourself before it's shown to you.)
We mentioned that the set of all subsets of an infinite set constitutes a larger infinity than the original set. Prove this. Here are some hints. Start by supposing that there is in fact a match between the given set and the set of all its subsets. Call any element that is matched to a subset that contains that element included; call all other elements omitted. Now consider the subset A of all omitted elements. Show that no element of the original set could possibly be matched to A by considering whether any such element is included or omitted.
You can see the proof in detail in the video http://youtu.be/ms1nboFLMnc. (The video will tell you when to pause to try to deduce the next step yourself before it's shown to you.)
Do a web search on the book 1,2,3,... Infinity by George Gamow. You will find some great testimonials by people saying that the book had a big impact on their lives. It's an easy book to read, it's inexpensive, and it's terrific.
Look for the book Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofsteader. This is a deep, intricate and thought provoking book.
For videos on other math topics, see Dennis Wildfogel's website: http://www.dennisw.com.

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We mentioned that the square root of two is irrational. Prove that this is so. Here are some hints. Start by supposing that the square root of 2 is a fraction. Put that fraction in lowest terms, say, p/q, where p and q have no factors in common.

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Fractals and the art of roughness - Benoit Mandelbrot 

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Fractals and the art of roughness - Benoit Mandelbrot 

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Fractals and the art of roughness - Benoit Mandelbrot

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At TED2010, mathematics legend Benoit Mandelbrot develops a theme he first discussed at TED in 1984 -- the extreme complexity of roughness and the way that fractal math can find order within patterns that seem unknowably complicated.

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An introduction to mathematical theorems - Scott Kennedy 

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An introduction to mathematical theorems - Scott Kennedy 

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Another popular type of proof is a proof by contradiction. This is also known as an indirect proof. Search the internet for explanations and examples of this type of proof. How might this approach be valuable in proving someone is innocent of a crime?
Search the internet for Euclid's Elements and read about the parallel postulate and the controversy surrounding it's improveability.
Read about the millennium problems, and the mathematicians who have won a million dollars. Andrew Wiles proved Fermat's last theorem several years ago. Read about his struggle with this difficult problem. Could you have gone through that?
Research Godel's incompleteness theorem. It basically states that we can NEVER prove EVERYTHING... He proved it!
Scott Kennedy's Classroom http://www.mrkennedymath.doodlekit.com
Scott Kennedy's Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/scottjkennedy28
Introduction to geometric proofs http://www.sophia.org/introduction-to-geometric-proof-tutorial
The Millennium Problems http://www.claymath.org/millennium/
Euclid's Elements http://www.claymath.org/library/historical/euclid/

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An introduction to mathematical theorems - Scott Kennedy

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Euclid of Alexandria revolutionized the way that mathematics is written, presented or thought about, and introduced the concept of mathematical proofs. Discover what it takes to move from a loose theory or idea to a universally convincing proof.

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#TEDEdChat: A Math Class Makeover | Dan Meyer |

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This week's #TEDEdChat is co-hosted by Catherine Casazza (@mscasazzaIA) discussing the need for a math class makeover. Today's math curriculum is teaching students to expect - and excel at - paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them.