Recent research shows some pretty shocking things are ‘mysteriously’ wandering into our nation’s water supply. But it’s not the lake monsters you have to worry about. It’s the water pollution and chemicals that are inundating the ecosystem.

Let’s start with the most interesting one – cocaine. Apparently, there are acceptable levels of ‘free floating’ cocaine within the atmosphere which eventually come back down and end up within the water table. Just when you thought science was boring. Trace amounts of cocaine were one of the relatively innocuous ingredients. Not surprisingly, the list gets much more alarming.

Endocrine-disrupting compounds, personal care products, pharmaceutical agents, endocrine-active compounds, Bisphenol A, and the insect repellent DEET are among some of the pollutants listed in recent surveys conducted in the Great Lakes and Minnesota (the state of 10,000 lakes). Logic would dictate that the lakes located near the larger urban areas would have a higher prevalence of water pollution. Instead, elevated levels of alarming agents were found in the majority of lakes. In order to make sense of how disturbing this is, let’s take a look at a few of these water pollutants and their potential for harm.

Endocrine-disrupting compounds and endocrine-active compounds have the potential to alter or impair vital processes within your body. The endocrine system regulates sleep, hydration balance, temperature, metabolism, immune response, and reproduction. In what world should those compounds be allowed in the lakes? Not this one. It will be difficult to stay alive with mutations in all of those categories.  This action is not limited to human beings. All the other organisms within the ecosystem are also affected by this sort of water pollution. That means that the fresh fish you catch and eat is not quite as healthy as you think.

Then there is Bisphenol A, which is suspected to cause cancer, increase the risk of heart attack, affect hormone levels, and cause changes in behavior and brain function. Don’t forget, this risk extends not only to adults, but also to children, infants, and potentially fetuses.

DEET was a widely used insect repellent for decades. The side effects of DEET include rash, seizures, twitching, and confusion and brain cell death. It specifically kills neurons in your brain. It is difficult to understand how these menacing chemicals ‘accidentally’ get into the majority of the lakes. Something is suspect.

The waterways are being laced with toxic chemicals along with agents that specifically alter neurological or endocrine processes. If no one is confessing, then it is necessary to consider what parties might profit from you not knowing (or caring) about it. Our taxes pay for sewage treatment and water processing. So how is it that all the chemical waste, personal products and toxic agents end up contaminating countless lakes? Who isn’t doing their job?

Next in the line of culprits we have big business, which is not known for its scruples and is quick to pay off, cover up, and deny, deny, deny. Why care about dumping or toxicity laws when you can simply afford to pay a fee? The odds are that illegally dumping chemicals has been going on for decades. It is impossible to catch everyone responsible for such water pollution, because being unethical in business is nothing new. Anything for the almighty buck it seems. Suspicions were raised involving the endorsement and then restriction of DEET by governmental regulation agencies. Big business is big money, and big money holds big swaying power when it comes to regulation.

It seems a safe assertion that humanity has an affinity for polluting the world. The unsavory collective practices of the past have finally caught up with us.  The real question is, will we ever learn from past mistakes and start to change?

It doesn’t take long to realize that the continuous accumulation of these nefarious substances puts everyone at risk.  Perhaps there is a diffusion of responsibility. Apparently, everyone thinks that someone else will deal with the consequences.

Big Business Is Poisoning America’s Water Supply - Indyposted -

The Case

The truth of this assertion is no more evident than when one thinks back to the beginnings of any new relationship. Things usually work incredibly well within the first few weeks of meeting one another, before the expectations and demands kick in. It’s tempting to think that what changes this over time is that you get to know the person better as time goes on; things get boring, and their true colors come out the more time you spend with them. Sometimes, people even say “we’ve grown apart” or “he’s just changed”.

The truth is this that people don’t change that much. Rather, the rules of the relationship do.

This tends to make both people miserable, but few ever recognize it.

Think back to when there were no “be home at a certain time” rules or “it’s so annoying that you (don’t do the dishes, spend so much money, leave clothes in the dryer, etc.)” – reflections of unmet expectations. Think back to when the pressures about the prospect of staying together forever were incredibly low. New lovers generally take one exciting, butterflies-in-their-stomachs, day at a time. As a result, they spend more time respecting and admiring each other than tearing one another down. At the same time, they’re evaluating if that other person is right for them. Nice things are done as a result of gratitude, desire, and respect as opposed to obligation.

As time goes on something tends to shift, and it doesn’t make either partner feel good. Feelings of resentment, hurt, anger, sadness, and frustration threaten to take over when it seems one person isn’t filling the role that other thinks he or she “should.” Ideas about what a partner should do and the resulting disappointment about what they actually do slowly move in. This is almost imperceptible at first, but whenever fights arise, this single dynamic is usually at the root of them.

The Cause

The cause of this is simple. People stop admiring and trying to make one another happy with the tenacity that young lovers do. It’s completely reversible, but most don’t realize it until it’s too late. Thankfully, it’s easily solvable if you’re willing to change your mindset. Doing so may save the relationship with the person you love the most. In fact, it could do more than that. It could create the most freeing, fun, supportive partnership you can imagine.

There are a number of key areas where this dynamic can play out, and all deserve attending to. One is with finances – who makes the most, how money is shared, who pays the bills, what the household will buy. Another is with time. Habits (like smoking, overdrinking, etc.) and disciplining children are also sources of conflict. All of these reflect a lack of respect on at least one party’s part. As such, they are the most likely to improve when couples adopt a different mindset towards rules and expectations in the relationship.

The Cure

Letting go of expectations is the first step towards achieving a happy, no-rules bond. It always has to be accompanied by one thing – an open and honest conversation about what makes each partner happy and secure, or upset and confused. It also comes with the understanding that each person has boundaries and has a right to what’s best for them. This conversation needs to happen despite how obvious it may seem. Couples often find that, even though they think they’re communicating, the messages aren’t received the way they intend.

A non-confrontational and collaborative tone is really important when having this conversation, so it makes sense to begin by acknowledging the things the partners love about each other. If couples are committed to serving one another and building a life together, they should say this as well. From there, it’s time to change mindsets. Instead of attempting to control the behavior of the other through guilt, demands, or passive aggression, it’s time to completely let go. An example could look like this:

“I feel really sick when you smoke in the house because I’m allergic to the fumes. I also don’t feel comfortable with the idea of second-hand smoke since it’s so deadly. I don’t want to live in a situation like that, and my health and future come first in my life. If you don’t think you’ll be able to stop smoking inside, I would really like to get a high quality air filter and request that we at least keep the bedroom smoke free. If we aren’t able to do that, I am going to need to make other living arrangements for myself so that I can stay healthy.”

If this issue is not important enough to end the relationship over, then the partner with the allergy will have to just let go and allow their partner to do what they will. If it is important enough, then they need to do what’s best for them. This can be done in an understanding and loving way. This isn’t manipulative, and it’s not an attempt to control. There’s no resentment because no one loses. If a partner is committed to making the other happy, he or she will attempt to do so if they knows it’s important. This could mean some hard work or behavior change, but it will be from a place of desire rather than obligation. The relationship will undoubtedly improve under these conditions.

If the other partner isn’t committed to that, then the partner with the allergy has to make a decision about whether to stay in or end the relationship. If he or she decides to stay, they do so with the knowledge that they are choosing to be in a relationship where this particular factor won’t change and that they’ll have no right to complain about it. If they leave, they do so with the knowledge that the relationship would have likely been full of upsets due to very different, though not necessarily wrong, mindsets. Going in different directions, if this is so, is best for everyone. This is far better than making a rule about smoking and getting upset and resentful every time it is broken. Undoubtedly, more instances like this would arise in the future and they would not be much fun.

The idea seems uncomfortable at first, but when couples ditch the mindset of rules and obligations and instead focus on their own boundaries and their partner’s desires, everyone wins.

Happy Couples Don’t Have Rules - Indyposted -

Microsoft recently revealed its latest console to the world in a press event streamed on every major gaming site. The console, dubbed the XboxOne, was shown as a multipurpose device meant to synergize home entertainment. Developers and Executives introduced each feature, demonstrating how the console would allow gamers to voice command their systems and move seamlessly between games, Google, television, and the latest web content. The system boasts many new features as well as impressive technical specs. However, many in the gaming community are unimpressed.

The consensus around Twitter and many gaming blogs is that Microsoft is missing the mark completely. The XboxOne shows off many fancy bells and whistles, but ultimately these features mean nothing to the core Xbox audience. Studies have shown that the Xbox is typically the platform of hardcore gamers, rather than that of casual game enthusiasts who might find more use in these features. Many are questioning the point of the all-in-one interactivity in an era when similar functionality already exists in a typical smart TV. However, the real problem cited by most gamers is the fact that Microsoft plans on charging for these ‘additional’ features through Xbox Live. That’s right – the Xbox Live service will still charge users to access features they’ve already purchased, such as Netflix and Hulu Plus.

You would think that Microsoft would have ditched this business model altogether due to the fact that Sony, its biggest competitor, does not charge for similar services and has actually absorbed part of the original Xbox market precisely because of this fact. And while many Xbox loyalists were previously able to circumvent the Live service in the past by simply opting to forgo an online experience, this will no longer be an option with XboxOne. By making Xbox Live an integral part of the system’s interconnectivity with other devices, Microsoft is essentially forcing the service down gamer’s throats. While some don’t see the issue, many are outraged that they are still being forced to purchase an online subscription on top of what they pay for their personal WiFi, Cable and other entertainment expenses, when every other console on the market provides their online services for free.

In the end, the event was considered lackluster by many gamers, both fans and naysayers alike. While more game announcements were promised for the fast approaching “E3,” Microsoft failed to impress with what little they did show. The new Forza game looks beautiful and shows the capabilities of the new system, but did little to excite the Xbox community as a whole. And although Call of Duty: Ghosts ended the event in style, it is neither exclusive to the XboxOne nor a surprise to the community. The only true surprise of the event was the announcement of director Steven Spielberg’s involvement in an upcoming live-action Halo series. However, while this came as exciting news to many Halo fans, it had little to do with the system itself.

Other forums and fans have expressed their concern over the voice command and movement recognition features. Many in the core gaming community passed over the first generation Kinect entirely. Unfortunately with the XboxOne, a new form of Kinect is integral to the system. Many don’t see the point of this and believe the features that come along with this piece of hardware will see little use. If Siri has taught the consumer anything, it’s that voice recognition software is far from perfect, and many believe the XboxOne will not be an exception to this rule. The general consensus of the gaming community is that this event was underwhelming and that the XboxOne has a long way to go to impress at E3.

Xbox Reveal Fails to Impress Fans - Indyposted -

According to the data, released last week by school officials, nearly 16,000 high school students in seven math courses did not pass their finals, a number which represents the majority of the roughly 30,000 students taking the exams.

The figures split the failure rates down by course, as well. According to the report, 62% of high school students taking the county’s geometry final and 57% taking the county’s Algebra 2 exam failed. Additionally, 30 to 36% of students taking the same courses at the honors level failed their exams.

The data also highlighted the discrepancies in academic achievement between high schools in the area. Only 20% of students at Whitman High School failed the Algebra 2 exam, whereas 97% of students at Wheaton High School failed the test. Additionally, nearly 80% of honors pre-calculus students at Einstein High School failed the final, compared to only 1% at Wootton High School, which enrolls twice as many students in the course.

According to a statement from Superintendent Joshua Starr, the data does not “tell the whole story” of how students in Montgomery County are performing in math classes. For example, while only 39% of students passed the Algebra 1 final exam in January 2013, 81% of students passed the class as a whole. Other data corroborates this—in geometry, the countywide failure on the final exam came to 62%, but only 16% of students countywide failed the course. In Algebra 2, 57% of students countywide failed the final exam, while only 12% failed the course.

“So, failure on the final exam does not mean failure in the class,” he said.

According to Brearn Wright, an educator who worked as an Instructional Resource Teacher in the Montgomery County School District from 2001 to 2005, this could be part of the problem. According to Wright, some students may choose not to put a lot of time—or any—into studying for the test, which counts for 25% of the final grade, if they know that it will not have an impact on their final grade in the course.

Starr noted that student performance on the mathematics portion of the SAT has improved in the last five years, increasing from 549 (out of 800) in 2008 to 561 in 2012. Additionally, the Washington Post reported in November 2012 that student performance on Advanced Placement exams was high in Montgomery County, with nearly 75% of high school students in the county earning a college-acceptable score of 3 or higher in 2012, nearly 18% higher than the national average and 14% higher than Maryland’s average.

However, discrepancies in test scores between the high schools in the county are cause for concern, says Brearn Wright. Wheaton and Point Branch had over 80% failure rates for the geometry exams, whereas Walt Whitman High School had a failure rate of 25% and Winston Churchill High School had a failure rate of only 17%. The inconsistencies and overall high rate of failure raises questions about the teaching policies in the county, and whether or not students are being properly taught and prepared for the final exams, said Wright.

According to Starr, several actions are being taken to address the high rate of failure. A mathematics work group, established in 2009, spent two years reviewing the county’s mathematics program and recommended several curriculum overhauls which are currently being implemented. Additionally, Starr said he is establishing two groups to address the failures, one consisting of administrators and teachers and one consisting of parents. The first group will address the more immediate issues of the problem, including offering help to students who did not perform well on the tests, while the second group will provide “ongoing insight and feedback” on the county’s mathematic program, including regularly reviewing the county’s policies and teaching practices.

Brearn Wright: Montgomery County Public Schools Still Ranking Nationally

Despite the clearly poor performance in math final exams by the majority of students in Montgomery County high schools, several of the schools were included in the rankings of the top 2,0000 high schools in the country compiled by Newsweek and its sister website TheDailyBeast.com, released this month. According to Newsweek, the rankings are based on several factors, including graduation rate, college acceptance rate, AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student, average SAT/ACT scores, average AP/IP/ACE scores, and percent of students enrolled in at least one AP/IB/ACE course.

According to Wright, the high schools that placed the highest in the rankings were also the schools that faired the best in exam results. Among them are Winston Churchill High School and Walt Whitman High School, which are ranked 97 and 137, respectively. These two schools, which reported significantly lower failure rates in geometry and Algebra 2 than other schools in the district, ranked even higher in the high school rankings released by U.S. News and World Reports, with Winston Churchill ranking at 52, and Walt Whitman at 59. However, points out Brearn Wright, Wheaton High School, where 97% of students failed the Algebra 2 exam, is ranked 1032 in the country by U.S. News; in their rankings, U.S. News reported that an average of 88% of students at Wheaton High School is “proficient” in algebra.

Brearn Wright received his Master of Education in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University. He has over 15 years of experience as an educator, and has served as a social studies teacher, an assistant principal and a principal. From 2001 to 2005 he worked as an Instructional Resource Teacher in the Montgomery County Public School district.

Montgomery County Students Failing Math Finals, Brearn Wright Comments - Indyposted -

One of the areas where structural engineering has really evolved in the past few years is in the design and upkeep of bridges. Monitoring a bridge’s structure can be costly, typically using wires that are attached to sensors throughout the bridge’s entire build. But according to Phys.org, a newer and cheaper wireless system might be the way of the future.

The wired control systems have one major flaw that makes the cost of using them almost not worth it: during natural disasters and accidents, the wires for the systems tend to break when they are needed the most, rendering them useless. The worry of the system failing is greatly negated when wireless systems are brought into play. The wireless systems can be more resilient to damage during earthquakes or hurricanes and still provide data to the people monitoring the structure.

Professors from Washington University in St. Louis, Purdue University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have teamed up to develop a new system they call Wireless Cyber-Physical Simulator. It combines realistic simulations of structures and wireless networks, and they believe it is a promising attempt at getting real-time measurements from wireless sensors during natural disasters.

The professor heading the research, Chenyang Lu, says sophisticated mathematical models have been used to simulate many different scenarios to test the capacity of the wireless networks. The first case study done was Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in Cape Girardeau, which spans the Mississippi River. About 14,000 cars pass over the 1,150-foot bridge each day. The bridge is a great place for the case study since it lies in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is the most active seismic area east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States.

The bridge does not have wireless sensors, so the professors used wireless traces of a similar bridge in Japan. Other simulations included various building types. The hope is that once all the research is done, there can be thousands of dollars saved when it comes to the costs of maintaining these structures. Matthew Roblez said they should also go a long way in helping to save lives. Since the wireless communications will continue to transmit through natural disasters, engineers will have a better idea of why these structures fail and can work with that information to build safer buildings, bridges and roads for everyone in the United States. This will save millions of dollars when it comes to repairing damaged buildings but also tons of man hours and taxpayer dollars that go into the research of what happened after a natural disaster. As long as the wireless systems work, a lot of that information will be available almost immediately.

Matthew Roblez Explains Building Rehabilitation

There are strides made in new technology on a daily basis. These days, something is usually out of date once it passes the concept stage and actually goes into production. While structural engineering codes and regulations are not updated as frequently, buildings typically need little changes here and there to make them safer for the long haul.

When buildings are old and need to be updated, there is often a debate over whether the building should undergo renovation or whether it should be knocked down and redone. There is a lot that goes into this thought process, Matthew Roblez explains. In some situations it can actually be cheaper to knock a building down and start from the beginning, but that is typically not the case.

A building’s historical value can play into the argument of whether it is worth remodeling or restarting. Take a Preston bus station and parking lot in Britain. The building has a unique appearance that historians wish to preserve for the area and believe the building should be retrofitted by structural engineers and architects. While many people in the area agree the building’s architecture is unique and puts a stamp on the area, refurbishing and retrofitting the building would cost somewhere between £17M and £23M while knocking the building and rebuilding it would cost somewhere between £10M to £15M. It has been recommended for destruction twice since 2000, but culture minister Ed Vaizey has struck the recommendations down both times and plans on doing it again.

One study taken a few years back reports that it can cost anywhere from 12 percent less to as much as 9 percent more to retrofit a building instead of knocking it down, so it really does depend on the circumstances. Matthew Roblez is a big proponent of preserving the original architecture of a building, though, and sees structural engineering moving in that direction. With most cities containing landmark buildings that will eventually need to be updated or rebuilt, there will be more money lost in the economic impact a rebuilding project in a busy metropolitan area than spending a little extra to retrofit a building.

While anyone with a graduate degree in structural engineering can design a new steel floor for a building, the real challenge and need for expertise comes into play when retrofitting a building that has been in use for decades. Original schematics are usually lost at that point, so the structural engineer has to put in a lot of work to figure out what will fit best and why. This is what makes structural engineers as important as they are, Matthew Roblez says. It is not just about designing the latest and greatest structures, but also about the art of saving an important and meaningful building while making it safer for use in the years to come.

Matthew Roblez is a board certified and licensed structural engineer and is the part owner and principal of McNeil Engineering. He works as a structural engineer and knows firsthand the importance of good design.

Matthew Roblez: Structural Engineering Saves Lives - Indyposted -

The philosophy behind this hypocrisy revolves around the fact that old cars pollute and are ruining our environment, and hybrid vehicles are so much cleaner. I’m calling bull on this, and I will show you why.

Unless you want to line the already thickly-lined pockets of car manufacturers, do yourself a favor and save some money by keeping your old car. You don’t have to feel guilty because, despite what you’ve been told, keeping your old car really isn’t so bad for the environment after all.

To be fair, hybrid vehicles aren’t all bad. Compared to older gasoline-powered cars, they do produce lower emissions when driven. But that’s about all the good there is to say about hybrids. Sure, you could say they get great gas mileage, but you will see later in this article that older cars can match and sometimes even top hybrids in the mpg department. Now let’s look at the bad.

The reduced operating emissions don’t make up for the carbon energy used to manufacture a hybrid vehicle. It takes more energy to manufacture a hybrid than a Hummer. It takes about 113 million BTUs to manufacture a hybrid vehicle, which is equivalent to 1,000 gallons of gas. So, you would have to drive almost 50,000 miles before the car breaks even on the manufacturing energy expenditures. Compare this with your old car, which you’ve probably already driven enough to make up for the manufacturing costs.

Another issue is the lifespan of hybrid vehicles, which simply do not last as long as cars with gasoline engines. In fact, hybrids last about half as long as traditional vehicles. Hybrids are estimated to get about 100,000 miles before they die, whereas a gasoline-powered car gets at least double that. Buy the right car — think old Mercedes or Volvo — and you can far exceed those numbers. Considering the energy expended in manufacturing and the vehicle lifespan, a hybrid will only give you 50,000 miles of reduced emissions.

Before you go and say that hybrids get more miles per gallon, take a look at some of the smaller older cars on the market. Many of them get almost as good as, if not just as good as, gas mileage as newer hybrid vehicles. An old diesel Volkswagen Rabbit from the 1980s gets close to 50 miles per gallon.

Lastly, junking an old car isn’t exactly environmentally friendly. Sure, some of the parts are recycled and used as parts for other cars. After junked cars are picked clean for usable parts, the remains of the vehicle are squished and shredded, which releases foam, lead, cadmium, mercury, chrome, PCBs phthalates, PBDEs and other toxins into the environment. In fact, the salvage car industry generates two billion pounds of waste a year. Junking that car isn’t so environmentally friendly after all, now is it?

Keeping all of this in mind, you should be able to have a clear conscience when driving your old car, and it will save you some money while you’re at it. Next time a Prius or other hybrid vehicle pulls up next to you on the road, stuffed with a snooty driver giving you a nasty look for driving an old clunker, you can laugh at their foolishness. They bought into the scam of junking old cars and helped make rich car manufacturers even richer, and they have to pay higher car insurance rates too. You, on the other hand, are saving the environment and have some extra cash to go shopping at Whole Foods.

Why Your Old Car Is Better Than A Hybrid - Indyposted -

In the last century alone, sea levels have risen approximately seven inches. Climate scientists predict those levels will rise an additional 20 to 39 inches over this century, due to melting polar ice caps and warmer ocean temperatures.

Hurricane Katrina roared through New Orleans in August 2005, causing more than 1,800 casualties and an estimated $108 billion worth of damage throughout its path. Built below sea level, New Orleans was particularly vulnerable to weather damage. Despite the elaborate levee systems and other flood-control measures, Katrina’s storm surge caused 53 breaches in the levee system, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans.

More than six years later, New Orleans has still not fully recovered. Many areas of the city are currently uninhabitable, yet a massive rebuilding effort has restored much of the damaged property.

But why? Hurricanes as big as, or bigger than, Katrina, are going to become more and more frequent as climate change increases sea levels and causes more violent weather, and it’s only a matter of time until New Orleans is under water again.

Those who choose to scoff at this claim and turn a blind eye to the very real effects of climate change need look no further than Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged New York City in October 2012. The storm caused 147 direct fatalities and more than $75 billion in damages along its path. The strength of Sandy was increased by the unusually warm ocean surface temperatures – five degrees above the average – which was allegedly caused by climate change. Sandy was also influenced by the jet stream’s altered path due to melting Arctic ice. Sea levels around New York have also increased by almost a foot in the past century, a fact that compounded with Sandy’s storm surge and led to increased flooding in the metropolitan area. Climate scientists have stated that storms like Sandy and its devastating effects will become the new norm on the East coast in the coming years.

New York and New Jersey are currently rebuilding the damaged areas despite the increasing future risks posed by violent storms. Although some have called for a discussion about how to address climate change’s effects on coastal cities, the old-standing method of rebuilding in risky areas continues to dominate popular opinion.

Despite this reality, people and the government are reluctant to acknowledge that living along the coast no longer makes sense. Our forefathers get a free pass because back then, before our species wreaked havoc on our planet, settling along the coast was rational and even intelligent. The decision-makers of today have no excuse. The evidence is available and solid, yet it is ignored. Instead of continuing our current losing battle of trying to rebuild and fight against these types of extreme, climate-change-driven weather phenomenon, we need to realize it’s a lost cause and our money and resources should be spent relocating to smarter geographic areas.

Climate scientists can yell till they are blue in the face instructing people to shift populations away from the sea, but stagnant governments and climate-change deniers continue to block the efforts of the sensible few who know coastal cities can no longer safely exist.

Sea walls and other far-reaching ideas to hold back the oceans are not practical and only serve to provide false hope to coastal populations. Until we get serious about climate change, we will continue to face fatalities, extreme financial costs, and damage to buildings and property due to these violent storms.

Rebuilding Coastal Cities Is Stupid: Climate Change Will Have the Last Laugh - Indyposted -

The study called for a 37-color palette, which allowed individuals to make precise color decisions when they were prompted. The palette consisted of different shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and other vibrant colors. Nearly 100 men and women participated in the study, which considered both United States citizens and citizens of Guadalajara, Mexico. The participants listened to 18 classical pieces that ranged from composers like Mozart, Johannes Brahms, and Johann Sebastian Bach. The songs were also varied in their tempo, as some songs were quite upbeat and fast while others were slow and steady. The researchers played a song for the participants and then asked them to identify five specific colors that they felt best matched the music. Navneet Tyagi notes that the study sheds light on our brain’s emotional response to music.

Out of the 37 choices on the color palette, the participants consistently picked more bright and warm colors when they heard upbeat tones. The participants were more apt to choose a dark or dull color when heard more somber tones. The results suggest that when people hear music and begin to associate colors with those sounds, they are using a scale that also defines emotions. In other words, when a piece of music makes a person feel sad or tearful, they associate that feeling with dark colors to match their mood. The researchers also asked participants to choose facial expressions that matched some of the music pieces. After the participant listened to a piece of music, they were shown a series of happy and angry expressions. In a similar fashion, the participants chose happy faces to pair with upbeat music. Navneet Tyagi notes that it is interesting that the music that was more somber and slow was associated with sad-looking faces. Regardless of gender or nationality, the participants had the same emotional responses.

The researchers at UC Berkeley considered music pieces that were played in either a major key scale or a minor key scale for their study. While they gained valuable insight, they hope to study people from all over the world to see if this characterization is a universal skill. The findings insist that the cultural barriers between citizens of Mexico and the United States have no bearing on their music-to-color associations. The findings allowed researched to predict which colors people would pick depending on the song with 95 percent accuracy. These findings will be presented at the International Associate of Colour Conference at the University of Newcastle in the U.K. in a few months. The presentation will include a light show that depicts the music and color convergence for the audience to enjoy. The conference will discuss the neural circuits that register emotions and how they are affected by music.

The researchers are planning to continue these studies on citizens of Turkey where they also want to use a wider range of music pieces. The traditional music of Turkey allows the researchers to employ a wider range of scales that citizens are likely to respond to. As more and more research becomes available, science is upholding the belief that music can truly affect human emotions. In the future, Navneet Tyagi agrees that it would be interesting to study how early in life we make these characterizations. While this study only considered adult participants, researchers hope to study the effects of music on people of all ages.

Navneet Tyagi: Music Therapy Helps Patients 

This study also suggests that human beings may be able to change or alter their own mood by employing musical stimuli. Many music enthusiasts claim that they use music to feel better or to reflect on unhappy thoughts. There are even studies that have helped to fund musical therapy treatment for people all over the world. The American Music Therapy Association has helped to establish the music therapy industry as a legitimized health profession. They have found a therapeutic relationship between music and the emotional, social, and cognitive needs of their patients. The treatment is also highly individualized to the patient to ensure that they receive the greatest personal benefits. This allows medical professionals to target their patient’s personal needs. With such individualized treatment, music therapists boast high success rates and happier patients.

The therapy also works to allow the patients to express themselves in a way that’s easy to communicate. As more and more research insists that depression inhibits health, music therapy is becoming a powerful tool that hospitals are utilizing to combat depression. The research is beneficial to the music therapy community. More and more private insurance companies have begun to recognize music therapy as a valuable treatment resource. According to the American Music Therapy Association, approximately 20% of their music therapists receive third party reimbursement for their treatments.

Medical professionals try to play calming music to help patients relax or fall asleep while they also play more upbeat music to motivate them in treatment. In places like rehabilitation centers or nursing homes, being able to motivate the patients is extremely beneficial. The patients are more responsive to treatment while they can also get the rest that they need each night. Navneet Tyagi agrees that music therapy treatment is valuable, as it improves the patient’s quality of life.

Navneet Tyagi is an academic and neuroscience expert that often offers insight to patients and medical professionals alike. His work has even aided professionals in treating diseases like Lou Gehrig’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Navneet Tyagi: How We Match Music To Colors - Indyposted -

As a former delivery driver, I have my hang-ups about people who order food online. If delivery wasn’t indulgent enough (because let’s face it, unless you’re hosting a lot of people, you’re being so lazy that you’ve overridden the natural instinct to walk the small distance to the kitchen for food), online ordering has allowed hungry folks to never talk to another person before they see their meal. Not everything about the concept of online shopping is bad, but food ordering is something that involves a certain degree of communication to get right. Eliminating the human error from ordering does not make it any better. In fact, with some menus it makes things worse.

Restaurants that participate in GrubHub and other websites like it must constantly update their menu with the service. They also must make sure that every last customizing detail is noted, or confusion sets in. When I worked as a delivery driver for an Asian restaurant during college, my restaurant started using several online food websites. Every order came in as a fax, and confirmation had to happen over the phone. Since customers prepay over the Internet, they had tax already figured out for them. However, sometimes the totals wouldn’t match up between our pricing and GrubHub’s, as they miscalculated how much was added to the total in tax and other small details. It was also game over if the customer selected a dish but didn’t select what type of meat they wanted, as some meats cost more than others and this fact dictated the price.

All of that confusion could be avoided by simply placing a phone call. It’s fine if a person is ordering from a pizza place because it’s not hard to put that order in. Chinese, Thai, and other restaurants that have more complex menu setups do not benefit from this system. What turns into 30 minutes of troubleshooting could have been avoided if the customer made a five-minute call. If something was wrong with their online order, I would have to have called them anyway to figure out the issue.

GrubHub was designed for busy restaurants in urban areas in order to handle high volumes of takeout and delivery orders. It removes a lot of the personal interaction though that allows people to know how long food will take or if they want a special order. Pointing and clicking on an object in cyberspace and expecting exactly what you want is not an exact science. Food has always been more about feel and estimation. In order to keep this around, we need to stop ordering food online.

One benefit to not using online ordering is also the fact that it gets people out of their house. It is not mentally engaging if ordering food doesn’t involve some human interaction. It’s a sad day in evolutionary history when delivery drivers have to be smarter than the people ordering their food to guess what someone wants if they don’t specify on their online order. It’s time to go back to talking to people. Delivery driving is a miserable job at times but it’s worse when no one talks anymore. It’s time to break off of the Internet for the small things in everyday life like food delivery.

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Many online shopping organizations offer reward programs, and the value of these programs often rests in how points are accumulated. An article posted by Time explains: “Both credit as well as an increasing number of debit cards now offer merchant-funded rewards program[s]. Check whether any of your cards have an online merchant mall [...] Go to the retailer’s website via the card’s online portal and get a discount. Some programs give you a statement credit rather than money back at checkout, but money is money.”

Bielawski asserts that this is wonderful advice, but explains how his company takes this a bit further to provide members with the rewards they want: “We have a Rewards Mall with over 80,000 products listed, which our members can access to purchase a lot of the things that are on their summer vacation list. We have entertainment, clothing, and more—meaning that our members are able to conveniently locate and quickly buy the products they need to enjoy their summer vacation. The best part, though, is that we allow them to collect Reward Points on purchases made at the gas station and the grocery store, through a registered debit card. So members can accumulate points on other purchases—ones that they will make regardless of their membership in our community—and then they can redeem these points on products in our Rewards Mall.”

Bielawski points to simplicity as one of the reasons why many members value this online shopping community, as it allows them to easily choose and purchase the items they need from the comfort of their own home. But the ability to redeem gas and grocery receipts for rewards is another benefit of the program, as they are not limited to accumulating points on purchases made in the Rewards Mall.

In addition to checking out this online shopping community, Bielawski has provided some other tips for families who are looking to more efficiently and cost-effectively plan for their summer vacation. “Moneyonthego.net is a great place to start when shopping for summer getaways, as we offer such a great rewards program and a wonderful selection of products,” Bielawski states. “But there are other things that parents can do to ensure that their families are ready to enjoy their vacations to the fullest.”

First, Bielawski encourages parents to look over their plans and determine any travel items that they may need. If they will be traveling for several hours by plane or car, it is a good idea to ensure that kids have some form of entertainment to keep them occupied. Tablets and portable video gaming devices are highly popular, as are portable DVD players and MP3 players. Additionally, depending upon the type of transportation families are using, they may bring along card games to encourage family bonding while keeping the kids entertained.

The destination to which families are traveling can also have an impact on the kind of products that parents need to buy before heading out on vacation. For example, those who are opting for a beach getaway might want to invest in beach toys if they have younger kids. Additionally, new swimsuits, sunglasses, hats, and beach towels are wonderful items to purchase ahead of time. For families who are opting for a vacation in the mountains, parents will most likely want to procure jeans, pants, light jackets, hiking boots, and other forms of apparel for the trip.

Most families have a long list of activities that they are looking forward to engaging in once they get to their destination. But no matter how much they are going to be out and about there is certain to be some downtime. Whether kids are staying in a hotel room on the coast or in a cabin by a lake, they will need some form of entertainment. The tablets and video game systems that they bring along for the ride are wonderful, but they may quickly bore of these items. For this reason, parents can bring along board games, movies, and traditional video game consoles to keep kids happy while everyone rests before the next excursion.

Planning for a family vacation is not always easy, particularly for larger families. But the Internet and the online shopping options that it has to offer are fantastic resources for parents who are looking to purchase all the items they need for their getaway without overspending. By joining an online shopping community like Moneyonthego.net, individuals can maximize their savings and procure the items they need at a better value. Additionally, the online catalogues of such retailers are diverse enough to allow individuals to buy a wide range of items in one location, which will save them time.

Moneyonthego.net encourages families to utilize the World Wide Web when preparing for their summer getaway.

Moneyonthego.net is an online, member-based retail community. The company offers its members in excess of 80,000 products in the Rewards Mall catalogue, which only members can access. By providing such a varied product listing, with items ranging from apparel to electronics, the organization allows members to optimize their savings by taking advantage of its rewards program. When members sign up they are granted a $2,500 shopping credit to be used in the Rewards Mall. Additionally, members have the option of registering a debit card and submitting gas and grocery receipts for additional Reward Points. Once they start accumulating points, members can redeem up to 1,000 of them per month on items in the Rewards Mall.

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