Travel
Setting a Record for the Longest Single Spaceflight in History by a Woman, NASA astronaut Christina Koch Completes 328-Day Mission in Space
Koch’s first journey into space became a 328-day mission in which she orbited Earth 5,248 times, a journey of 139 million miles, roughly the equivalent of 291 trips to the Moon and back. She conducted and supported more than 210 investigations during Expeditions 59, 60, and 61, including as a research subject volunteer to provide scientists the opportunity to observe effects of long-duration spaceflight on a woman as the agency plans to return to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration of Mars. more »
Ferida Wolff's Backyard's Weather Puzzles: A Strange Time of Year Here; Jigsaw Puzzles As Cognitive Enrichment
Ferida Wolff writes: "Sometimes there is ice on the morning windshield and by afternoon jackets aren’t needed. Snow may be predicted but we haven’t seen a snowstorm yet. One day the wind was so aggressive that it moved things sideways. Another day was so foggy that it was hard to see beyond a few feet. The weather has been puzzling for a while now." And another source: "Solving jigsaw puzzles is a low-cost, intrinsically motivating, cognitive leisure activity, which can be executed alone or with others and without the need to operate a digital device." more »
Horse, Horse, Tiger, Tiger; It's the Tone of the Character That Makes the Word
Ferida Wolff writes: In America, we accept many different pronunciations and still understand what is meant; it is the word itself that conveys its meaning. In China, it is the tone of the character that makes the word and, depending upon which is used, the meaning changes. The character ma, for instance, can mean you are calling your mother, asking a question, naming a horse, or saying something offensive. So, armed with our new linguistic knowledge, we headed off on our own into the shops that lined Nanjing Road, a major shopping area in Shanghai. more »
Grab That Museum Pass! Could Arts Engagement Have Protective Associations With Survival?
"Could arts engagement have protective associations with survival? We analysed the longitudinal relation between receptive arts engagement and mortality across a 14 year follow-up period in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 50 and older. Risk of dying at any point during the follow-up period among people who engaged with cultural activities on an infrequent basis (once or twice a year) was 14% lower than in those with no engagement; for those who engaged on a frequent basis (every few months or more), the risk was 31% lower." more »