Science has been a vital aspect in the growth of mankind. The discoveries in the field over the years have given man new insights about life while inventions have contributed to living life easier. Now, consider a couple of these:-
(a) Music binds mankind.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, long back in the 19th century had called music the "universal
language of mankind" and now, there's scientific proof that he was right!
Academic researchers drawn from McGill University, Technische Universitat Berlin and
l'Universite de Montreal travelled to the Congo to study how an isolated group - the Mbenzele
Pygmies live without radio, television and electricity - responded to music. They've come to
the conclusion that music can emotionally affect different groups in precisely the same manner!
They compared the results with the way a group of Canadians from Montreal responded to the
same, largely classical, western music and that created by the Pygmies. Earlier, the Africans of
the Congolese rain forest were treated to music from Wagner to Star Wars!!
The participants in the study would mark the end of each clip with an emoticon expressing how
the music made them feel from a range of calm to excited. There were also tests with biosensors
to check heartbeats and sweat on the palms, the breathing rate and little sensors to measure
changes in the smiling and frowning muscles.
(b) The star's age.
Astronomers have been able to accurately estimate the age of a celestial star from how fast it
is spinning. The team of astronomers had measured the spin speeds of stars that are more than
a billion years old and they matched their predictions. They add that, just like the humans the
stars, too, slow down as they age!
The scientists of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have set themselves a goal to construct a clock that can measure accurate and precise ages of stars from their spins.
Tailpiece.
Exciting times, indeed!
(a) Music binds mankind.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, long back in the 19th century had called music the "universal
language of mankind" and now, there's scientific proof that he was right!
Academic researchers drawn from McGill University, Technische Universitat Berlin and
l'Universite de Montreal travelled to the Congo to study how an isolated group - the Mbenzele
Pygmies live without radio, television and electricity - responded to music. They've come to
the conclusion that music can emotionally affect different groups in precisely the same manner!
They compared the results with the way a group of Canadians from Montreal responded to the
same, largely classical, western music and that created by the Pygmies. Earlier, the Africans of
the Congolese rain forest were treated to music from Wagner to Star Wars!!
The participants in the study would mark the end of each clip with an emoticon expressing how
the music made them feel from a range of calm to excited. There were also tests with biosensors
to check heartbeats and sweat on the palms, the breathing rate and little sensors to measure
changes in the smiling and frowning muscles.
(b) The star's age.
Astronomers have been able to accurately estimate the age of a celestial star from how fast it
is spinning. The team of astronomers had measured the spin speeds of stars that are more than
a billion years old and they matched their predictions. They add that, just like the humans the
stars, too, slow down as they age!
The scientists of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have set themselves a goal to construct a clock that can measure accurate and precise ages of stars from their spins.
Tailpiece.
Exciting times, indeed!
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