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How did you get so intelligent?
You may have heard people say that hard work is more important than the intelligence you are born with. Recently, researchers noted changes in the brains of individuals immediately after they were told this.
Hans Schroder led a study at Michigan State University. Mr. Schroder is a student at the university. As he noted, whether or not what people were told was true, “giving people messages that encourage learning and motivation may promote more efficient performance.”
In the study, two groups read different stories about intelligence. One story said intelligence levels are a product of our genetic material and cannot be changed. The researchers called this, the “fixed mindset.” The other story discussed how difficult living environments probably made individuals like Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein highly intelligent. Researchers called this the “growth mindset.”
Later, the researchers tested the groups’ members on what they had just read. Mr. Schroeder and his team watched their brain activity as they answered questions about the main subjects in the story.
The researchers say they found that small messages about our abilities can have a big effect on our beliefs about what we are able to do.
The people who read that intelligence comes from genes worked to answer the questions correctly. But their test results did not improve on later exams.
But the opposite was true among those who read that intelligence can come from hard work. They showed what the researchers called a more efficient brain response after they were told their answer was wrong. This suggests they thought they could give the correct answer on the next test. And the more these individuals thought about their mistakes, the faster they answered the questions on the next test.
The researchers say the study showed that those who had a growth mindset made efforts to improve and adapt. They say even a small amount of time spent on changing the mindset, or beliefs, of individuals can affect how their brain operates. In their words, “messages about how much our abilities can change affect learning, achievement, and performance.”
Q1. Do you think hard work is more important than the intelligence you are born with?
Q2. What do you think of intelligence tests? Do you think they are accurate?
Q3. Do you think that we can create artificial intelligence?
Q4. If scientists could put a chip in your head that would make you twice as intelligent, would you have the surgery done?
Q5. Does intelligence make people more attractive?
Q6. What can you do to increase your intelligence?
Q7. What is the most intelligent animal?
Too loud
The World Health organisation has warned more than a billion kids are at risk of hearing loss because they listen to music too loudly. The worrying trend has come about primarily due to the rise in portable music device and headphone use. But how can headphones and an mp3 player do so much damage? We travel past the eardrum and into the cochlear to find out what really happens when you crank up the volume.
We all love music. But some of us love it a bit too much. And that can be a big problem for our hearing. In fact the World Health Organisation is now warning that 1.1 billion people aged between 12 and 35 need to turn the volume down or risk permanent hearing damage.
But how can fun, loud music be a problem? Well, first we need to take a look at how our ears work. Sounds are made up of tiny vibrations in the air. Kind of like ripples in water they travel away from where the noise is coming from. Once those vibrations reach your ear they're funnelled to your ear drum, across some delicate little bones, and through to your inner ear.
There tiny hairs can distinguish different sounds and turn them into electrical signals for the brain to process. That all happens super fast and it lets us hear heaps of stuff.
The strength of sounds are measured in something called decibels. A whisper is about 30 decibels, and it's tricky for our ears to pick up anything softer than that. Normal conversations are about 60 decibels, listening to the radio is about 75, and heavy traffic hits about 85.
But if we go beyond that mark of 85 decibels then there can be some problems. And sounds this strong are what the World Health Organisation says we should be worried about. They recommend only listening to something 100 decibels or more for less than 15 minutes a day!
But there are loads of things in our lives that are louder than that. A motorcycle can be about 100 decibels, and a chainsaw can be 110. But we're also choosing to go to more noisy events like concerts, which can be as loud as 130 decibels!
If you have to spend a lot of time around really noisy things like that it's recommended you use earplugs or earmuffs. If you don't, then those fragile parts of your ear could be damaged. But there's another big hidden danger to your hearing - these things.
We think of earphones as being pretty harmless because you can barely hear them when they're away from your ear. But when you put them on the sound has a shorter distance to travel and nowhere else to go. So at top volume they're the equivalent of about 110 decibels, which is the same as holding a chainsaw!
So how can we all keep our hearing in good shape? Well, if you can hear the music from earphones when they're at arms length they're way too loud, and if you're listening to lots of loud music you should unplug more often.
If we don't, those blaring tunes could stop us from hearing anything at all.
Q.
1. How much time and when do you listen to music a day?
2. Do you prefer to listen to music loudly?
If so, Did you have hearing loss because of loud music?
3. Can you concentrate on other things when you are listening to music?
4. Which feature is important for you when you choose music,
the lyrics of the song or the melody?
5. What musicians did you like when you were young? What about now?
Is your preference of music changed compare to before?
Solar flight
A new invention is currently attempting to set a world record that could change how we travel the globe. It's called the Solar Impulse 2 and it's a plane that uses the power of the sun to take to the skies. Carl found out more about it
CARL SMITH, REPORTING: Throughout history people have always wanted to fly. The first attempts, were a bit clumsy. But then in 1903 the Wright brothers invented and built the first successful airplane.
After that, people pushed the boundaries, travelling further, faster, higher and, after a few more errors, we've even figured out how to do it in little more than a suit!
But now something new is taking to the skies.
Many are saying this marks a new dawn for airflight.
The electric motors start, the propellers turn, and Solar Impulse 2 is airborne.
“The round the world flight attempt has begun.”
With a total flight time of about 25 days, spread over five months, this plane will travel all the way around the world using only solar power. Flying so far without a drop of jet fuel has never been done before, and getting to this point has taken years of trials and testing.
PICCARD: Now the adventure has started.
The plane has to fly for long periods, so it's got more than 17,000 solar panels on its wings to keep it going! The plane even has to fly during the night when there's no sun, so it also has four batteries that are charged through the day.
Solar Impulse 2 has a wingspan of 72 metres, which is about as big as a Jumbo Jet. For a plane it's also incredibly light - it weighs 2.3 tonnes, or about 2 small cars. This flight is a test run to prove if solar is up to the task.
But over time the technology could be dramatically improved. So eventually we might see more planes flying cargo or passengers around the earth without a drop of fuel, which is good news for the environment and for airlines.
But for now the solar plane is still much more expensive than other planes, and it can't carry anyone else just yet.
There's only room for these guys, who'll be sharing the job of piloting it.
It won't be the most comfortable trip ever. All up they'll spend 25 days in a cockpit that's about the size of a wardrobe. But they say that's a small price to pay, because they're hopeful that if everything does go to plan the plane will help kick-start a solar revolution. And it doesn't hurt that these sun chasers could find themselves written into the history books along the way.
Q.
1. Have you heard of solar flight?
What would be the positive and negative effects of solar flight?
2. What would the future flight look like? How do you think it would be changed? Imagine~
3. Do you believe faster-than-light travel is possible?
4. Would you like to have a robot as a pilot?
5. If it is possible to go anywhere in the world, Where would you go?
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