Cancering — A new way of looking at Cancer

Proteomics 9s the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions. (Wikipedia) Danny Hillis “explains, genomics shows us a list of the ingredients of the body — while proteomics shows us what those ingredients produce. Understanding what’s going on in your body at the protein level may lead to a new understanding of how cancer happens.” (TED)

Danny Hillis is Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Applied Minds, a research and development company creating a range of new products and services in software, entertainment, electronics, biotechnology and mechanical design.

The TechnoSpirit Sim

The “Begonia Gardens” region on ReactionGrid is the public presence of a virtual worlds project using OpenSim involving students and teachers from a K-12 Independent School in Australia.  They also have a private grid called “Begonia Island” for use by their students and teachers.  You can learn more about their project on http://begoniaisland.edublogs.org and follow them on twitter at http://twitter.com/begoniaisland.

One of the very cool things they are doing is using a visual progamming language called  “Scratch” (http://scratch.mit.edu)  combined with Opensim to create simple 3d programmable objects.  More info at http://begoniaisland.edublogs.org/2011/02/27/using-scratch-4-opensim/

American Craft Beer Week

Support your local brewery.

Howard’s Garden

I just finished the “Mind Amplifiers” course given by Howard Rheingold. I have followed Howard for a very long time. I was a lucker on the Well, at the very beginnings of the Internet.

I love his garden, if I owned a home, my garden would look like this.

Civil Rights simulation in Second Life

“Graduate students in the communications media program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania are using Second Life to bring milestones in history to life in a three-dimensional virtual world.”

Reliving history: Virtual world lets IUP students participate in critical civil rights battles

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11040/1123965-51.stm#ixzz1DldOSJwI

They created simulations of several key events in the history of the civil rights movement and the battle against racial segregation and oppression — the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., a Mississippi freedom school, the 1963 March on Washington and the confrontation between marchers and police during the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery.

Genetic Lab in Second Life

Dr Paul Rudman, Research Associate at University of Leicester, Andrew
Jinman, PIVOTE Product Manager, Daden Limited will demo SWIFT
(Second World Immersive Future Teaching) at the University of Leicester,
a Higher Education Academy-funded research project investigating the
potential of virtual worlds to support the teaching of genetics laboratory
skills.

10 Brainpowered Wonders in The King’s Speech

From Brain Leaders and Learners

This is something we should all look at for designing learning at any age.

1. Trust builds the kind of chemical and electrical circuitry that sparks confidence and intelligence.

2. Dopamine enables confident speech, prevents stammering and adds an ability to risk failure.

3. Music focuses the brain in ways that conquer difficult challenges in innovative ways.

4. Kinesthetic intelligence moves you beyond what linguistic and intrapersonal intelligence lacks

5. Brainpower remaps skills in healthy parts of the brain, by bypassing stagnant or broken parts.

6. Working memory integrates novel facts to generate renewed skills.

7. Humor relaxes the brain and often opens new opportunities for the brain to engage.

8. Interpersonal intelligence engages others best in curious, equitable, and caring situations.

9. Amygdalas tame whenever people add strategies that calm.

10. Failure rocks brainpower into top success, when people find the support to win.

The Art of Video Game Storytelling

Storytelling should also be use in teaching and learning. We can learn from game design and improve Instructional Design.

Veteran Civilian Dialogue in Second Life

3D Avatar School

Claus Nehmzow talks about games in learning. WOW, Second Life and “Learning in 3D” He has combined many of the new technologies of games and virtual worlds into 3D Avatar School.