Robot Cane Device For The Blind Being Tested

by Kevin Burton    Researchers are testing what they believe will be a revolutionary robotic mobility device for the blind.    This is not your father’s cane. The device, called “Glide,” was demonstrated Saturday at the sixth annual Robot Block Party, a celebration of robotics, held in Boston.    “The device incorporates robotics, sensors, and …

How Many Fantasy Teams Are Too Many?

by Kevin Burton    If having one fantasy football team is great fun (which it is), wouldn’t having more than one team be even more fun?    That is the question I asked last year, in my second year as a fantasy manager. I answered it in the affirmative. Yes indeed, great big ridiculous fun! …

Volvo’s Unselfish Act Saved Millions Of Lives

by Douglas Bell Forbes Magazine    Volvo proudly proclaims that: “few people have saved as many lives as Nils Bohlin.” And they are right.     Nils Bohlin  is the little-known Volvo engineer who invented the V-type three-point safety belt in 1959, and saw his innovation through to universal adoption across the motor industry. His new …

Good News From the Math Classroom

by Kevin Burton    Today on Page 7 we do the math.    I found two math-related stories on the Good News Network. The first shows that students did better in math when music is incorporated into the lessons.    “A new study explored the causal role that music engagement has on student achievement in …

Long Live Caffeine, Death To Bugs

by Kevin Burton    I am late to the great caffeine-vs-decaf debate. But if we take caffeine from our coffee, let’s certainly not throw it out altogether.    Why not?  Because caffeine is a natural insecticide, according to the New York Times and others.    Yesterday I mentioned that I am considering switching to decaf …

Blind Women Helping Detect Breast Cancer

   In a bare room in a remote government-run primary health center in Vapi, a city in the south-west Indian state of Gujarat, Meenakshi Gupta holds a diagram of a woman’s breast with five Braille-marked orientation tapes pasted on it. Speaking to the woman sitting on the bed, she says: “I’ll paste these skin-friendly tapes on your …

Church Attendance Declining In United States

by Kevin Burton    Church attendance is down, way down, in the USA, reports the British newspaper The Guardian, citing two main reasons.    The worldwide Covid pandemic is the first, understandable reason. For a while there, few people were going anywhere. The second reason is more troubling: Americans are giving up on Christianity.     …

My Bilingual Doubletalk In Mexico

by Kevin Burton    My career as an English as a Second Language teacher came to an abrupt early end one night under the streetlights outside a small taco shop in Puebla.    To tell you how and why that happened, I first turn to BBC writer Nicole Chang, who recently wrote about what speaking …

Belgian Pigs Get Their Groove On

by Kevin Burton    Animal lovers, music lovers, rejoice and unite!    Scientists in Belgium are investigating a farmer’s claim that different styles of music affect the behavior of his pigs.    “Piet Paesmans first noticed the phenomenon when his son started singing a tune in the barn during a sluggish insemination session his sows …

Important Research On Cows Peeing

by Kevin Burton    Did you know cows can be potty trained?    It’s not April first, please keep reading.    This I would have never believed had I not heard it from the BBC. And I would have never read this had I not signed up for their newsletter.    By all means kids, …