Category: Education (Page 3 of 3)

The brilliant mind of glamorous actress Hedy Lamarr

2023-05-26 / Downshift

“Give the world the best you have, and you will be kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got, anyway.”

~ Hedy Lamarr

The actress Hedy Lamarr captivated audiences during the 1930s and 1940s in films like “Algiers” and “Ziegfeld Girl,” and became known as an iconic beauty. “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story,” a new documentary, showcases her overlooked achievements in technology, including her work on an invention that helped form the basis for Wi-Fi.

During WWII, the screen starlet wanted to help the Allies. So, she invented a secret communication system. The military used it a little. But in the 1960s, they finally caught up to Hedy’s invention and began using it for cellular, Wi-Fi, and GPS signals.

Michael J. Fox interviewed by CBC’s Harry Forestell, who is also living with Parkinson’s

2023-05-25 / Downshift

Michael J. Fox is proud to be the face of Parkison’s, but it hasn’t always been that way. The actor-turned-activist met in New York with CBC’s Harry Forestell, who is also living with Parkinson’s, to talk about learning to accept the disease and opening up about his fight in the new documentary,

Mexico to announce work visa program for Central American migrants

2023-05-23 / Downshift

Reuters » Mexico will issue one-year work visas to welders, iron workers, engineers, and Central American migrants from other professions to work on public infrastructure projects, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said.

MIT students give world-renowned longtime mathematics professor Gilbert Strang, a standing ovation after his last lecture

2023-05-23 / Downshift

Boston.com »

“With 61 years on the faculty in the math department, Gil Strang has been the longest serving faculty member in the history of the department,” professor Michel X. Goemans, head of the MIT Department of Mathematics, said in a statement. “He has had a tremendous impact on the teaching of mathematics to tens of thousands of students at MIT through his lectures, to countless of students at other academic institutions through his textbooks, and to millions of people all over the globe through his online lectures and digital media.”

Grandson who accompanied his 93-year-old Grandma to visit all 63 US National Parks described the adventure as “the greatest privilege”

2023-05-21 / Downshift

Good News Network »

While Brad said their national park adventure has ended, their travels will not. They plan to take it internationally, visiting Kenya on a National Geographic-organized expedition as the first stop on a mission to touch all seven continents, and maybe, if Joy keeps her enthusiasm, outer space as well.

Test scores for eighth graders fell to the lowest levels on record

2023-05-03 / Downshift

NPR »

Scores in U.S. history and civics for eighth-graders are down across the U.S., according to recent results from the assessment known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” This year’s history scores are the lowest recorded since the assessment began in 1994, and the new data mark the first-ever drop in civics.

Elsewhere » NY Times / Wall Street Journal

Books Unbanned » Your right to read what you want, discover yourself, and form your own opinions

2023-04-28 / Downshift

Both the Seattle Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library have made their complete e-book and audiobook catalogs available to teens and young adults anywhere in the US.

Seattle Public Library »

Teens and young adults ages 13 to 26 living anywhere in the U.S. can access our entire collection of e-books and audiobooks.

Brooklyn Public Library »

Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is launching a new campaign today, titled Books UnBanned, to help teens combat the negative impact of increased censorship and book bans in libraries across the country. For a limited time, young adults ages 13 to 21 nationwide, will be able to apply for a free eCard from BPL, unlocking access to the library’s extensive collection of eBooks.

18th century London firefighters really did not let buildings burn

2023-03-19 / Downshift

19 remarkable bookstores to visit in Canada

2022-12-11 / Downshift

Vanessa Chiasson provides us with a “small sample of the incredible shops that are hard at work supporting local authors, hosting wonderful events, preserving heritage, giving cats a home, and setting the hearts of book lovers aflutter across the country.”

They include »

Abraxas Books And Gifts » Denman Island, British Columbia
Bookmark » Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Huckleberry Books » Cranbrook, BC
Mac’s Fireweed Books » Whitehorse, Yukon
Maktaba Bookstore » Old Montréal, Quebec
McNally Robinson » Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Venus Envy » Halifax, Nova Scotia
Yellowknife Book Cellar » Yellowknife, Northwest Territories