Mice with brain-machine interfaces help scientists understand "intentional control"

Scientists watch as mice mouse around an onscreen maze.

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  • Brain-machine interfaces allow humans—and mice—to interact with onscreen objects.
  • Such interfaces may gain wide applications as they become more capable.
  • Scientists want to better understand how they work, and are exploring how mice operate them.
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How do lie detectors work?

Experts explain how lie detectors work, what happens in the brain when we tell lies and how accurate polygraph tests are.

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  • In a 2002 study, 60 percent of people were found to lie at least once during a 10-minute conversation, with most people telling an average of two or three lies. The polygraph, invented in the early 1920s, detects physiological responses to lying (such as elevated heart and respiratory rates as well as spikes in blood pressure.
  • Three main areas of the brain are stimulated during deception: the frontal lobe, the limbic system, and the temporal lobe.
  • According to the American Polygraph Association, the estimated accuracy of a polygraph can be up to 87 percent.
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Is it COVID-19 or anxiety? Here's how to tell the difference

Examining the differences between anxiety and COVID-19 symptoms and discussing the possibility of IAD (illness anxiety disorder) during a global pandemic.

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  • Anxiety can cause symptoms that may mimic (or have you worried about) coronavirus symptoms.
  • There are several symptoms of anxiety that are also symptoms of COVID-19, however, there are also key differences in the symptoms of both.
  • IAD (illness anxiety disorder) may also lead to some confusion about symptoms. The World Health Organization offers guidelines for when to seek medical attention.
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Equity made Estonia an educational front runner

Estonia has combined a belief in learning with equal-access technology to create one of world's best education systems.

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  • Estonia became a top performer in the most recent PISA, a worldwide study of 15-year-old students' capabilities in math, reading, and science.
  • PISA data showed that Estonia has done remarkably well in reducing the gap between a student's socioeconomic background and their access to quality education.
  • The country's push toward providing equal-access to learning technology is a modern example of the culture's dedication to equity in education.
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Changing the way we grade students could trigger a wave of innovation

How students apply what they've learned is more important than a letter or number grade.

  • Schools are places where learning happens, but how much of what students learn there matters? "Almost all of our learning happens through experience and very little of it actually happens in these kinds of organized, contrived, constrained environments," argues Will Richardson, co-founder of The Big Questions Institute and one of the world's leading edupreneurs.
  • There is a shift starting, Richardson says, in terms of how we look at grading and assessments and how they have traditionally dictated students' futures. Consortiums like Mastery.com are pushing back on the idea that what students know can be reflected in numbers and letter grades.
  • One of the crucial steps in changing how things are done is first changing the narratives. Students should be assessed on how they can apply what they've learned, not scored based on what they know.
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