RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms

A really inspirational animation of a Sir Ken Robinson presentation on the state of today’s education system and how we can make it better.

I cannot say that I have read the complete collection of these writings, but judging from some of the prominent scholars involved, this new initiative by the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) is definitely worth a serious look. It seems quite interesting. 

Looking to combat widespread ignorance about Iran and US policy towards to Iran, USIP asked both Iranian and Western experts, almost 50 in all, to compile brief yet comprehensive overviews on 62 subjects ranging from Iran’s politics, economy, military, foreign policy, and nuclear program.

Its all available for free online HERE and each section also includes downloadable PDFs. You can also support the project by purchasing the book HERE. 

Hans Rosling - The good news of the decade?

Hans Rosling, the innovative statistician, re-frames 10 years of UN data with his spectacular visuals, lighting up an astonishing- mostly unreported- piece of front page worthy good news: We’re winning the war against child mortality.

ahmedsalman:

An Italian company has put online high-resolution images of masterpieces from the Uffizi gallery in Florence, including works by Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci.

By zooming in with the click of a mouse, the smallest details can appear, including ones that are not typically visible when viewing artworks at the distances required by museums for security.

Mario Resca, an Italian Culture Ministry official who worked on the project, says the images are like looking at a painting “with a giant magnifying glass.”

In Caravaggio’s “Bacchus,” for example, the trace of a tiny self-portrait that the artist painted in the wine jug becomes detectable, as do the wine bubbles on the rim of the jug. In Leonardo’s “Annunciation” computer users can see the brush strokes in the maritime background and the delicate patterns of the cloth underneath the Bible.

The images have a resolution of up to 28 billion pixels, said Vincenzo Mirarchi, CEO of the Haltadefinizione company that digitised the paintings. That’s about 3,000 times stronger than the resolution of an average digital camera.

Continue reading the article here and visit Haltadefinizione here.

(Source: inthenoosphere)

itsfullofstars:

The image above is a screen capture from a breathtaking animated infographic that shows the scale of known Universe, from minimum to maximum.

Turn on your speakers and enjoy!

You’ll freak out.

This is simply awesome. Wow.

(via crookedindifference)

4fr:

An Anis Mojgani quote seemed most appropriate for what I am feeling right now. 

Some of you may already know about me being kicked out of college, for no reason. I didn’t want to go into details, but the way I see it, this is something I want to remember for the rest of my life. Since that’s the whole point of this tumblr. The other reason I am doing this, is for the beautiful concerned souls on tumblr. Really, I am overwhelmed by all your responses. You all are wonderful.

This is really long, so yeah. I don’t even know if I am allowed to talk about this.

Read More

That is some straight up bull****!

Do you mean the government when you say “the big boys”?

I am so sorry to hear that. That is terrible. One person’s actions, no matter how terrible they are, should not reflect upon or impact the life of another person in any way. That is what equality is all about. Your university and the government, in case they are involved, are in violation of many laws. I don’t know the details of any such laws or what the specifics of the policies and laws applied in your case are, but I am pretty sure this is something you can fight and make a big deal out of.

Remember one thing though, you don’t owe anyone any confidentiality. If they made you sign a paper, it is unconstitutional. If they told you to keep it hush hush, they are just trying to cover their own butts. You were wronged in this case and you can fight it.

In situations like this, people usually try to come off as caring and willing to help and in the end helpless, but that is rarely the case. They are just trying to cover the tracks of seniors/policy makers.

If I were you, I would contact a lawyer asap. You may not feel like it, or want to hash it out at all, but what is the guarantee that this will not happen again? Are you supposed to go back to the Middle East and study because you have an Arab background? Or not study at all? Or go to another school because you belong to a race/religion/background that doesn’t fit in with this uni’s standards? Where does it stop? That is some straight up bullshit. I would fight it.

(via saraaq-deactivated20120323)

Jamie Oliver: Teach Every Child About Food

A really great presentation. I really gained a lot more respect for Jamie Oliver while I watched him speak.

Bring on the learning revolution!

Another brilliant presentation by the education expert who claims that schools are destroying creativity. Four years after his first appearance on TED, he delivers a poignant call to arms to radically change our education system.

Schools Kill Creativity

A simply amazing presentation. Highly recommended.

This is the stupidest thing I have read all day. France is really starting to lose it.

Hat tip: Foreign Policy

I just finished watching my second full-length documentary of the day, and my head is about to explode from all the ideas, the questions and the concerns!

All jokes aside though, this documentary is seriously awesome, and in documentary-speak, awesome usually means disturbingly sick, even demented. And this film is no different. It exposes the education system of the United States and shows how deeply flawed it is in how it deals with children. It shows how the school system mirrors the prison system, how kids are being over-medicated, ill-treated and institutionalized to be “normal”. It is an eye-opening piece and it will leave you in shock. You can read my review and get a download link for the film here.

TakePart: Waiting For ‘Superman’

Check this cool animation by Buck which argues the importance of education in America.

Hat tip: N3RDSKI

Universiteite Twente is a scientific university in Netherlands that rebranded last year. Without a doubt, this is one of the most dynamic and ambitious re-brands I have come across. Their brand video encapsulates the essence of their new brand brilliantly. Once you get the concept, Its simplicity becomes astounding and execution seems seamless and precise- in a word, scientific.

via Brand New