James Fodor’s The Science of Everything on Spotify is like having a friendly science teacher right in your earbuds. Each episode delves into an array of captivating subjects spanning the realms of both natural and social sciences, from how our bodies work, the origins of life and exploring social phenomena like human behaviour and cultural evolution. Fodor breaks down complex topics into easy-to-understand explanations, making science fun and accessible for everyone. His passion for the subject shines through, keeping listeners engaged and eager to learn more. Whether you’re a science buff or just curious about the world around you, The Science of Everything is the perfect podcast to expand your knowledge and spark your curiosity.

The post The Science of Everything appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Whenever you click on a Wikipedia page to find some information, you have Jimmy Donal Wales to thank! He is the founder of Wikipedia, a free Internet-based knowledge bank which operates under an open-source management style. It is the fifth most popular website in the world behind Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, and ahead of Amazon, Apple and eBay.

Jimmy Wales was born on 8 August 1966 in Alabama, U.S.A. His father was a grocery store manager, and his mother and grandmother ran a small private school in the tradition of the one-room schoolhouse, where Jimmy and his three siblings received their early education. As a child, Jimmy enjoyed reading. When he was three, his mother bought him a World Book Encyclopedia. When he grew up, he earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in finance from Auburn University and the University of Alabama respectively. He enrolled himself for a Ph.D. programme, but never completed the doctoral dissertation.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post Jimmy Wales: Founder of Wikipedia, the World’s Largest Repository of Knowledge appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Brian Acton was an American computer programmer and internet entrepreneur, whom no one wanted to hire in the mid-2009. Despite a dozen years of experience at Yahoo and Apple Computer, he got turned down by two of the internet’s most upcoming companies at that time, namely, Twitter and Facebook. When he could not find any company that would hire him, he teamed up with Jan Koum, and built the application WhatsApp that has dominated cloud-based messaging and is the most virally used social media in the world. Eventually Whatsapp was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for about $19 billion in cash and stock, making Acton’s net worth around $3.8 billion.

Like Brian Acton, you too can bounce back if you have met with failures in life. Some of you might make the mistake of thinking that you cannot succeed to do something, simply because you failed at it once before. The fact is that failures are part of life and learning. As the proverb tells us “Failures are the stepping stones to success.” Hence never give up when you have to deal with hard struggles in life. Dr Navniit Gandhi in the cover story of this issue explains in six simple steps, how to break the shackles of exam phobia. She suggests several success mantras to help you stay better motivated, focused and appear for your exams with greater confidence. Follow the tips she has given which will definitely help you keep cool and perform better in your exams. Remember also that it is very important to write legibly and highlight the important points, the headings and the sub-headings while writing the exams.

“Just as food eaten without appetite is a tedious nourishment, so does study without zeal damage the memory by not assimilating what it absorbs”, said Leonardo da Vinci. Do not study because you have to. But study because knowledge will empower you, study because no one can take away the knowledge from you, study because it is your asset in life. Above all, study because it will give you confidence and help you snap your fetters and succeed in life.

The post Breaking your fetters appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Knowledge is power (K-Power) and more desirable than wealth when it is applied in the right place, at the right time and in the right manner. Knowledge and experience expand as you journey through life and keep you empowered and growing. This empowerment happens when you make use of the knowledge and experience you have gained over the years.

Alvin Toffler, an American futurist, says, “Knowledge is intangible yet it is the most important property today. It can be used by many people simultaneously to create wealth and to produce still more knowledge. And unlike factories and fields, knowledge is inexhaustible.” Learning is a lifelong process which enriches your life. Knowledge expands your horizon, develops your intellect, enhances your health and wealth, and enriches your social and family relationships.

“Learn everything you can, anything you can and from anyone you can. There will always come a time when you will be grateful you did,” says Sarah Caldwell, the famous American opera conductor. Reading and listening enhance your knowledge. Those who have good books as their companions will have wisdom as their mentor. If you are a willing learner everyone with whom you associate will teach you some lessons for life. Developing all-round knowledge and at the same time acquiring specialized knowledge and skills along with hard work and perseverance will facilitate in realizing your wildest dreams.

When you stop learning, you stop growing. If you do not want to learn, no one can help you and if you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. So continue learning, deepen your knowledge and keep growing.

The post Enhance your K-Power appeared first on The Teenager Today.

We are in the 21^st century. Just saying that brings a kind of mystique and excitement even today, as it did, when we made the great leap from the 20^th century into this one — a feeling of exhilaration as though we have crossed some barrier into a ‘brighter age’.

This ‘brighter age’ has a lot of expectations associated with it, dreams for the future, hopes for success — both individual, national and global. Today, the main factor of production is ‘knowledge’, the main enabler is ‘technology’; information is freely available via the internet. This has brought with it great unpredictability in terms of our future as well because the nature of jobs is rapidly changing with the use of technology, and if one skill is useful today, it may no longer be useful tomorrow.

Given these rapid changes, the focus on technology, and most importantly knowledge, only one thing to ensure that we are not left behind is the ability to learn.

Learning has always been a part of our lives, since the dawn of humanity — we can learn anytime, anywhere, whether we go to school or not! However, it is only since the last 200 years or so that we have started going to ‘school’ in order ‘to learn’. This suggests two things — that learning cannot happen anywhere other than school, and that only what is covered in school is to be learnt. We know that this is not true. However, it makes what happens in school extremely important, because we spend a good six hours of our day there!

Kaavya loved school when she was in Class 1. Teachers used to make them draw, paint, write, make things, sing songs, dance… but now, it is all about sitting and listening to the teacher, writing and cramming from the textbook, and loads of homework. So, what can be done to make Kaavya more engaged?

Converting Information or Content into Knowledge
A lot of the class time involves working with information or content — either from the textbook, or from notes. Moreover, we are required to reproduce the words of the textbook during exams. When learners do not engage with the subject matter, it is easily forgotten.

Engaging with subject matter only occurs when learners are active. The first thing is to relate what we learn to our lives, to what is happening in the real world, and to other subjects. For example, learning about equations in Math should be related to real world situations such as when a vendor weighing vegetables stops adding vegetables when the scale balances. Another way is to encourage the famous ‘why’ question, as well as ‘how can I…’ and discuss the ways in which the information can be used, thereby converting it into knowledge.

Read the full article by subscribing to the print magazine or the digital edition.

The post Learning in the 21st century appeared first on The Teenager Today.