Why video games may be good for you

Here's something I struggle with, my kids and video games..... This article over at BBC Future is very interesting and suggests that virtual violence triggering aggressive thought and anti-social behaviour is only a very small part of the story.


"A growing body of research is showing the flip side, though – video games can help people see better, learn more quickly, develop greater mental focus, become more spatially aware, estimate more accurately, and multitask more effectively. Some video games can even make young people more empathetic, helpful and sharing. As public debate on the subject is often highly emotive and polarised, and as more and more of us are becoming gamers, researchers say it is important to move beyond the generalisations that characterise much of the discussion."

Why the world is awesome in 60 facts

BBC Future posted this great video.

Adam Tomaszewski

Amazing macro photography of insects by Adam Tomaszewski. Compelling and disturbing at the same time.

Happy Friday

A little blast from the past............. enjoy.

(From the best Doctor Who...ever, in my humble opinion.)

The Secret to Finland's Success With Schools, Moms, Kids—and Everything

Very interesting article over at The Atlantic about Finland how it compares to America. Well worth reading.

"..........One advantage Finland did have, however, was enlightened policies towards gender. The country focused on beefing up child and maternal care in large part because women were at the core of Finland's independence and nation-building efforts at the turn of the 20th century. Finnish women were the second in the world to get the vote in 1906, and they were heavily represented in the country's first parliament.

Ellen Marakowitz, a lecturer at Columbia University who studies Finland, argues that because women helped form modern Finland, things like maternity leave and child benefits naturally shaped its welfare structure decades later.

"You have a state system that was built on issues concerning Finnish citizens, both men and women, rather than women's rights," she said. "Government was created in this equal footing for men and women.""

London's largest living wall

This is a fantastic project by Gary Grant of Green Roof Consultancy.

To promote sustainable drainage systems and combat flooding, this hotel has installed 10,000 plants recommended to attract wildlife such as bees, butterflies and birds to the urban environment and it has been designed in an attempt to reduce local environmental issues such as surface flooding and air pollution. It will be irrigated by harvested rainwater caught on the roof.

Via Dezeen.

Rogan Brown

Stunning nature-inspired paper cut art by Rogan Brown. He quotes William Blake on his website.

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity...and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of a man of Imagination, Nature is Imagination itself."