Modern education kills creativity

Sir Ken Robinson tells us how efforts to train children to respond predictably and protect them from experiencing the world causes an inhibition of their instinctual creativity. The modern approach to education is boring and badly misses the mark on its attempt to educate. In a misguided effort to be "progressive", the educational system has forgotten the basics that worked so well for centuries. It has fallen off track and fails to provide our youth with what is most important for their growth.

No wonder home schooling is increasingly popular. You can go much farther and it is interesting, with ideas alive and open to being explored. In contrast, modern educational systems tell students what to think and then test them on their ability to repeat dogma. This removes not only critical thinking skills but also creativity.

It just doesn't make sense to bore curious youth with subpar material of no interest. Give them something interesting and let them run with it. Intellect has natural structure and has done just fine for centuries. We don't need new age educators justifying their failed experimentations on our children. Let's go back to something that has a long history of working. Repeating failed experiments and expecting a different result is insanity.

First person video from remote controlled airplane

In the professional market, we've worked on things like this for almost a decade only to see the amateurs come up with better results at lower cost. It's inspirational but also proof that there are many ways to skin the cat.

Mathematicians explain traffic jams

The team developed a mathematical model to show the impact of unexpected events such as a lorry pulling out of its lane on a dual carriageway. Their model revealed that slowing down below a critical speed when reacting to such an event, a driver would force the car behind to slow down further and the next car back to reduce its speed further still.

The result of this is that several miles back, cars would finally grind to a halt, with drivers oblivious to the reason for their delay. The model predicts that this is a very typical scenario on a busy highway (above 15 vehicles per km). The jam moves backwards through the traffic creating a so-called ‘backward travelling wave’, which drivers may encounter many miles upstream, several minutes after it was triggered.

Dr Gábor Orosz of the University of Exeter said: “As many of us prepare to travel long distances to see family and friends over Christmas, we’re likely to experience the frustration of getting stuck in a traffic jam that seems to have no cause. Our model shows that overreaction of a single driver can have enormous impact on the rest of the traffic, leading to massive delays.”

Drivers and policy-makers have not previously known why jams like this occur, though many have put it down to the sheer volume of traffic. While this clearly plays a part in this new theory, the main issue is around the smoothness of traffic flow. According to the model, heavy traffic will not automatically lead to congestion but can be smooth-flowing. This model takes into account the time-delay in drivers’ reactions, which lead to drivers braking more heavily than would have been necessary had they identified and reacted to a problem ahead a second earlier.

Dr Orosz continued: “When you tap your brake, the traffic may come to a full stand-still several miles behind you. It really matters how hard you brake - a slight braking from a driver who has identified a problem early will allow the traffic flow to remain smooth. Heavier braking, usually caused by a driver reacting late to a problem, can affect traffic flow for many miles.”

http://www.physorg.com/news117283969.html

Great stunt flying

Stunt pilot Jurgis Kairys shows how to fly upside down under a bridge. Talk about precision!

Virtual display fighter pilot displays

Futuristic new helmets will enable fighter pilots to see through the fuselage of their aircraft. The headwear being developed for the hi-tech F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will display computerized symbols to help the pilot to navigate and use his weapons. A Ministry of Defense spokesman said: "It even will superimpose infra-red imagery on to the visor to allow the pilot to look through the cockpit floor at night and see the world below – like something out of Terminator. This is absolutely the cutting edge of technology."

Wingsuit flying

I've spent many years working with the aerodynamics of small planes but the wingsuit caught me by surprise and is very intruiging for the conditions under which it is optimal. It must be a great rush to fly so freely.

The Future of Image Technology

Image navigation, categorization, framing, motion, and collaboration all become as easy as text.