How did you learn how to speak your first language? Don’t remember? Don’t worry…you shouldn’t! Theories and research about human language acquisition have been abounding for decades—from B. F. Skinner’s idea that we learn language from operant conditioning to Noam Chomsky’s opposition that language is innate. Now, recent studies suggest that humans are actually born with biases in language structure. A team at [...]
The next time you sit down to watch a movie, close your eyes and listen. Under all the dialogue and music there’s something else—ambient noise. It could be the sounds of distant traffic for a scene set in a penthouse apartment in downtown Manhattan. Or it could be the light chirping of crickets surrounding characters camping in the woods. Now consider this—if those [...]
Imagine standing in a meadow. Grass shoots up from the ground around you, tickling your ankles. In every direction, flowers of brilliant reds, purples, blues, yellows and whites are sprinkled over a blanket of green. The flowers bow with grace as a light breeze passes you. You hear chirping birds, rustling leaves and a low buzz. This buzz is the sound of one [...]
Growing up in a quiet suburban town in Connecticut, transitioning to a college located in the heart of Boston proved to be an abrupt culture shock. Accustomed to secluded trails and vivid autumns, I found myself yearning for wide open spaces. I aimlessly wandered the bustling Boston streets, hoping to find peace of mind somewhere in the midst of all of the intersections. [...]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is always quiet. Even mid-afternoon on a Saturday the crowd was hushed. I stood and looked through the glass at a six-hundred-year-old book. Lines and lines of meticulously hand-painted text covered the pages. I was struck by the sheer amount of work that went into what was before me—and I was only looking [...]
It’s an alarming pattern—large percentages of engineering students either drop out or switch to another major.Studies suggest a variety of reasons why this behavior has emerged, including the difficulty of the coursework, feeling isolated by peers who are pursuing non-STEM degrees, a lack of mentors or role models and inadequate preparation in high school. To combat the number of STEM students they’ve seen [...]
Some of my fondest high school memories involve Lord of the Rings marathons with my Dungeons & Dragons group, so I guess one could say I’m a fantasy fan. Growing up, I frequently read L. Frank Baum’s Oz books (after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, there are several more in the original series, as well as subsequent titles) and Tony Abbott’s Secrets of [...]
The first time I visited one of California’s beautiful redwood parks, I was awed by the massive trees that lined the soft dirt paths of the forest. They towered over me, reaching hundreds of feet into the air, and filled the air with their sweet, woody scent. Of all the places I’ve been to, the California Redwood National and State Parks are among [...]
For Bostonians, the grand, gray structure of the Boston Public Library’s (BPL) Central Branch is an easily recognizable beacon of history and knowledge. In college, I found myself returning often not just to study and riffle through its impressive collection, but also to wander around and wonder at the majesty of the monolithic structure. However, the Central Branch’s Johnson building held much less [...]
New technologies are continuously being developed and brought to market. All the better for the public, right? It depends. For leading mobile phone manufacturers, it is crucial to keep all demographics in mind—particularly those with disabilities. Nearly one in five of the world’s population lives with some kind of recognized disability. My grandma, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, could never operate a mobile [...]