Catherine Gibson, author of “Through Sophie’s Eyes,” about a girl who loves to dance, will read at Simsbury Public Library, Saturday, May 1st at 11 a.m. for grades K through 6. Information: 860-658-7663.
The girls from Simsbury (Conn.) High School dominated, winning three varsity races.
The U.S. Foreign Service Institute teaches foreign languages to government diplomats and personnel for duties abroad—and its courses are available online, for free. Which means you can access audio, texts, and tests in 41 different languages.
The FSI Language Courses web site isn’t actually maintained by the U.S. government itself, but the materials developed before 1989 are within the public domain (whether all of these materials came before then is not clear). Some languages contain more materials—for instance, the three texts on Sinhala isn’t going to beat the giant course on French anytime soon. For the most part, most major languages have student texts in PDF format, and audio in MP3 format which you can later put onto your music player. The courses also feature tests to see how well you’ve covered the material. In some cases, “headstart” courses for certain regions in the world are also available.
The only major language not covered is English, which makes sense. The site is a little reminiscent of old-school language learning, but the resources are ridiculously extensive.
Carnegie Mellon University Professor, Jesse Schell, dives into a world of game development which will emerge from the popular “Facebook Games” era.
Games are invading the real world — and the runaway popularity of Farmville and Guitar Hero is just the beginning, says Jesse Schell. At the DICE Summit, he makes a startling prediction: a future where 1-ups and experience points break “out of the box” and into every part of our daily lives.
Pollen goes unnoticed by most of us, except when hay fever strikes. But microscopes reveal it comes in stunning colors and shapes — and travels remarkably well. Jonathan Drori gives an up-close glimpse of these fascinating flecks of plant courtship.
We are in the midst of a renaissance in the biological sciences, which is spurring the growth of brand new fields like functional and comparative genomics. These new fields are revealing novel insights into evolutionary biology, medicine, developmental biology and many other areas, transforming the way scientists look at life.
watch full program on fora.tv
Written and presented by Desmond Morris (1997). Will boys always be boys and girls always be girls? Will we ever really understand each other? You may be shocked by your conclusions. Prepare yourself for an intimate, erotic examination of physical differences between the sexes, from body fat to brain power. See Turkish men demonstrate their suitability as mates by wrestling in olive oil. Celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where women bare their breasts to entice men to reward them with strings of beads. Observe women who flaunt their femininity as exotic dancers, and female body builders who develop their muscles to the point of masculinity. Examine brain scans that show that men and women even think differently about the same problems. ‘Different But Equal’ explores whether the amazing differences between men and women are based on biology or history.
Part 1/6 – Different But Equal
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8307598817089464838
Part 2/6 – The Language Of The Sexes
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7929239502246828110
Part 3/6 – Patterns Of Love
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7270647912233252835
Part 4/6 – Passages Of Life
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2752309082554657749
Part 5/6 – The Maternal Dilemma
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1704388423217050897#
Part 6/6 – The Gender Wars
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3143464717170650938
Sirena Huang started taking violin lessons at age 4 and made her professional solo debut at 9 with the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. She has won top prizes in numerous international competitions, delighting audiences worldwide with her virtuosity and charm.
Why you should listen to her:
Only 11 years old when she performed at TED, Sirena Huang is still technically a child. But as anyone who sees her perform can attest, she has a musician’s soul that transcends her years. “Her musical imagination is boundless,” said Juilliard dean Stephen Clapp, who described her as “a musical artist with qualities of maturity far beyond her age.”
What’s most striking in her performance style is the way she combines technical ability with emotional force and nuance. Her fiercely virtuoso performances are profoundly moving, even via podcast. “Amazed,” “delighted” and “spellbound” are the words bloggers often use after watching her play.
