Idea of the Day - A new idea each day. Some Don't Suck!

Our Latest Posts About: Science

Why Is Math Easier For Chinese Kids?

Monday, July 31, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

There's a reason why Chinese children learn math faster than Americans... it's all in the VOCABULARY!

When you see the number 15... what do you say? If you're an adult, you say "Fifteen", however a child will say "One Five", and that's where the problem starts.

Teaching written numbers to children starts off pretty easy:

1... One, 2... Two, 3... Three, 4... Four, 5... Five, 6... Six, 7... Seven, 8... Eight, 9... Nine.

Kids grasp that pretty easily, but that's where things start to get tricky, because as soon as you get to "Ten", things get pretty tricky. To a child 10 looks like "One Zero", 11 looks like "One One", 12 looks like "One Two"... etc. Our English math vocabulary keep changing through the teens, and they also need words for twenties, thirties, and everyth... [More]

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Lessons From The Marshmallow Test

Wednesday, July 26, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why teaching your children patience is more important than any other skill.

In the 1960s, a Psychologist named Walter Mischel created a test to see how children practice self control. The premise was pretty simple. He took a group of children and and placed them alone in a room with a single marshmallow and instructions that they could eat the marshmallow any time they wanted, but if they were waited 15 minutes, they could eat two. Then hit turned on the cameras and recorded their reactions.

The study was designed to see the kinds of techniques children would use to resist their desire to eat the marshmallow. Although they knew they would get a second marshmallow if they waited the entire 15 minutes, many of the children couldn't resist and ate the marshmallow before the t... [More]

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The Radish and Cookie Test

Monday, June 5, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Can you run out of willpower? Scientists say yes.

A few years ago, a team of scientist led by Roy Baumeister did a study to determine if willpower was something that was finite, or inexhaustible.

They took two groups of people for the study. Both groups were given a plate of radishes and a plate of cookies. The first group was told they could eat all the radishes they wanted, but they were not allowed to eat the cookies. The second group was told they could eat whatever they wanted without limits.

After a while, the groups were given a series of unsolvable math problems and told they could give up whenever they wanted. The group that had no restrictions spent an average of 20 minutes before giving up, but the group that had to use their willpower to keep from eating the... [More]

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Scientific Way to Make People Honest

Sunday, June 4, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Believe it or not, scientists have found a way to make people more honest.

A few years ago, scientists did a study to see the kinds of circumstances that cultivate honest behavior, and surprisingly they actually found a universal trigger for honesty, and it's as simple as making people see themselves in the mirror.

What the scientists did was put a bowl of candy on a table with a sign that said "Take one", then recorded the number of people who were honest and took only one piece of candy verses the number who took more than one.

They repeated the test with a second group of people. This time they made one small change; they placed a mirror next to the bowl so each person had to look themselves in the eye as they took the candy. To their surprise, the percentage of people... [More]

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The EarWorm and ClickBait Connection

Saturday, June 3, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

EarWorms and ClickBait have something in common... Mystery.

There's a reason EarWorms and ClickBait can drive you crazy. Your brain simply can't ignore them. You know the feeling. You're browsing the web and come across a strange photo with a caption that says something like "This 8 Year Old Singer Closes Her Eyes When She Started Singing. Everyone's Jaw Dropped When She Opened Them." or "The Real Reason Brad and Angelina Split Up". In both cases, questions are raised and your mind can't rest until it gets the answer.

That's because the human brain loves to solve problems and answer questions. Unsolved mysteries and unanswered questions will spin around in your heard until you resolve the conflict.

That's exactly what happens when you see ClickBait. You simply can'... [More]

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The World's FUNNIEST JOKE?

Sunday, February 5, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

According to a team of scientists, THIS is the world's FUNNIEST JOKE!

Science has been a lifelong passion of mine, so I read a lot of scientific books and magazines. What fascinates me most is the diversity of subjects that scientists choose to study, including of all things, comedy.

Apparently, a bunch of scientists not only studied the possible biological origins of comedy and laughter, including why some animals share the ability to laugh, some of them even decided to look for the "World's Funniest Joke".

The result, is the joke you'll see in today's YouTube video. In the interest of science, I'm sure they spent a lot of time doing research using objective criteria, and while I did find the joke pretty funny, the big question remains... Is this the world's funniest jok... [More]

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Which Came First... Chicken or Egg?

Thursday, November 3, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

To me, the answer is pretty simple. The egg came first.

Which came first... Chicken or Egg? I don't know why there is so much debate over this question. Even if you aren't a scientist, there is only one logical answer. The egg.

To keep things simple, here are the important facts:

1. ALL chickens come from eggs.

That's it. That's all the proof you should need. What more do you need?

I'm sure right some of you are saying "Okay, Sparky... where did the egg come from?"

Simple. It came from something that WASN'T a chicken. Odds are it was similar to a chicken, but it wasn't a chicken. Somewhere along the way, another bird that was similar to a chicken laid a mutant egg that resulted in a chicken and when that (first) chicken mated, it produced another egg w... [More]

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A Rolling Lightning Rod.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Ben Franklin saved countless lives when he invented the Lightning Rod.

Before Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod, very few people understood what lightning was. He not only realized it was a form of electricity, but he understood that lightning was a form of energy that could be controlled by redirecting it to the ground.

The most innovative part of his idea was that his Lightning Rods gave the electricity a direct path to the ground, rather than shooting through the buildings they protected. As long as the rod provided a better path to the ground than the structure itself, the building would be safe from the effects of the blast.

While running through a thunderstorm today, I wondered why there still isn't a device that uses Ben Franklin's ideas to protect p

... [More]

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The Best Demonstration of How Sunscreens Work

Sunday, March 8, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

If you have any doubt about the effectiveness of sunscreens, you MUST watch this video. It could save your life.

As somebody with olive skin, I have to admit, I rarely use sunscreen, mainly because I rarely get sunburn. However, after watching this video, I have to wonder about how my skin has held up over the years. Sunscreen does a lot more than protect your skin from sunburn. It protects you skin from aging too quickly and most of all, from skin cancer.

It's hard to imagine a better demonstration of exactly how sunscreen protects your skin from UV radiation. When we apply it, it seems invisible, so it's hard to visualize that it's actually doing anything.

To me, the most compelling part of the video is a demonstration of how a baby's skin starts off nearly perfect,... [More]

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WiFi Toilets? - The Internet Of Things. It's TRULY, the next BIG thing.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

The Internet Of Things is Coming... are you ready?

Another big revolution in technology is just taking shape. To say this is the next BIG thing is an understatement. Today's technology is just building blocks for things to come. It's that BIG.

What is the "Internet of Things"?

Take a dozen ordinary objects in your room, then imagine what they would be like if they were somehow connected to the Internet. That's the Internet of Things.

Why the heck should all my stuff be on the Interwebs?

Good question. My answer... WHY NOT?

The longer answer... because it takes good things, and makes them great.

Here's a quick history. Some of you may be familiar with the way devices currently connect to the Internet, using an "IP Address". When... [More]

Continue...WiFi Toilets? - The Internet Of Things. It's TRULY, the next BIG thing....

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Digital String on Your Finger... To Remind You You Left Something Behind...

Use Social Media to Listen To Your Customers, or They'll find Somebody Who Does.

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* Note: The ideas on "Idea of the Day" were posted without any formal research into existing inventions.

In some cases, patents may already exist for these ideas, in other cases, there may not be any existing patents and you are free to develop and explore the viability of developing and patenting the ideas.

The authors make no claim that any of the ideas are safe, practical, or suitable for any particular purpose. You are responsible for the results of trying, developing, patenting or using any of the ideas on this site.

For some people, our ideas are just an interesting read, but our goal is to encourage you to take action. If you see an idea that you like, do something with it... Take action.

- Joe

Idea Of The Day. A new Idea Each Day. Some Don't Suck.