The Expat Life

14 June 12

36 A’s or a 4.0 GPA won’t make you a genius

“What Pakistan needs is not just an upgrade in the educational curriculum but a revamp of the teaching method used. Innovation and evaluation should be encouraged amongst teachers and students, so the system can ensure that they are producing intellectuals and not just numbers.

The O’ and A’ level system is only producing a generation of youth embroiled in a rat race to secure the maximum number of A’s. Their study then revolves around achieving this objective. Studying past papers, rote learning prepared answers or indulging in strenuous out-of-class tutoring all have become an indicator of what is now defined as ‘intelligent’.

Evaluation is equally absurd at the university level where a relative grading system puts students in competition with each other. This drive for grades not only kills the learning component of education but also forces students to cheat on exams – one of the major problems I have noticed at the universities at which I teach.”

-Hussain Nadim

24 November 11

Comments | 497 notes

“ People cited violation of the First Amendment when a New Jersey schoolteacher asserted that evolution and the Big Bang are not scientific and that Noah’s ark carried dinosaurs. This case is not about the need to separate church and state; it’s about the need to separate ignorant, scientifically illiterate people from the ranks of teachers.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (via cwnl)

(Source: dostthouquotethme)

3 November 11

Comments | 1,921 notes

“ Science is the key to our future, and if you don’t believe in science, then you’re holding everybody back. And it’s fine if you as an adult want to run around pretending or claiming that you don’t believe in evolution, but if we educate a generation of people who don’t believe in science, that’s a recipe for disaster. We talk about the Internet. That comes from science. Weather forecasting. That comes from science. The main idea in all of biology is evolution. To not teach it to our young people is wrong.

— Bill Nye (via cwnl)

(Source: ikenbot)

30 October 11

Comments | 108 notes

world-shaker:

How students write.

5 October 11

Comments | 17 notes

lotsoloot:

Indian Students to Study with Inexpensive Tablets

Aakash means “sky” and it’s the name of a new tablet being offered to students in India. However, the price isn’t sky high. At only $35 each, the Indian government is expected to buy eight to 10 million units of the device by March 31, 2012. Will the general public find them helpful as well?

More info here.

Nice! Way to go, India.

(Source: lotsoloot.com)

4 October 11

Comments | 808 notes

world-shaker:

jtotheizzoe:

Schrödinger’s Cat illustrated by minutephysics.

Simply THE best explanation of this quantum physics problem I’ve seen. “Our curiosity killed the cat.”

Minutephysics is quickly becoming one of my favorite YouTube channels.

I love minutephysics.

3 October 11

Comments | 1,560 notes

Pulsars
Ever look up at a clear night sky and notice some of the stars blink a bit more than others? They dwindle and fade in and out at different rates, almost making the skies look like sparkling water. What you are looking at most of the time is actual stars that are making their way to the end of their life. The moment prior to their eventual death
But to understand what a Pulsar is you need to Understand what Neutron stars are as well. Neutron stars are one of the possible ends for a star. They result from massive stars which have mass greater than 4 to 8 times that of our Sun. After these stars have finished burning their nuclear fuel, they undergo a supernova explosion. This explosion blows off the outer layers of a star into a beautiful supernova remnant. The central region of the star collapses under gravity. It collapses so much that protons and electrons combine to form neutrons. Hence the name “neutron star”.
Simply put, pulsars are rotating neutron stars. And pulsars appear to pulse because they rotate, Like shown in the figures below & above.

Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that have jets of particles moving almost at the speed of light streaming out above their magnetic poles. These jets produce very powerful beams of light. In addition, since stars variate in energy output, every single pulsar in the night sky is unique and has it’s own “pulsating” beacon. Kind of the same way species here on Earth have variations of the beating heart.
Information Via: NASA

Pulsars

Ever look up at a clear night sky and notice some of the stars blink a bit more than others? They dwindle and fade in and out at different rates, almost making the skies look like sparkling water. What you are looking at most of the time is actual stars that are making their way to the end of their life. The moment prior to their eventual death

But to understand what a Pulsar is you need to Understand what Neutron stars are as well. Neutron stars are one of the possible ends for a star. They result from massive stars which have mass greater than 4 to 8 times that of our Sun. After these stars have finished burning their nuclear fuel, they undergo a supernova explosion. This explosion blows off the outer layers of a star into a beautiful supernova remnant. The central region of the star collapses under gravity. It collapses so much that protons and electrons combine to form neutrons. Hence the name “neutron star”.

Simply put, pulsars are rotating neutron stars. And pulsars appear to pulse because they rotate, Like shown in the figures below & above.

Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that have jets of particles moving almost at the speed of light streaming out above their magnetic poles. These jets produce very powerful beams of light. In addition, since stars variate in energy output, every single pulsar in the night sky is unique and has it’s own “pulsating” beacon. Kind of the same way species here on Earth have variations of the beating heart.

Information Via: NASA

(Source: ikenbot)

15 September 11

Comments | 4,988 notes

5 September 11

Comments | 120 notes

jtotheizzoe:

James Lu Dunbar has a new children’s book out called It’s Alive that takes you on an illustrated journey through the origin of life on Earth.

It’s available to view online (free legal download available!) or you can buy a copy for $15.95 in case, you know, you want to give one to every adult in America to read.

I mean kid. Definitely ~~adult~~ kid.

This is beautiful.

(Source: jtotheizzoe)

18 June 10

Comments

Ignorance.

WordNet Search 3.0 says:

Ignorance, the lack of knowledge or education.

Wikipedia says:

Ignorance is where someone or something is uninformed. This should not be confused with being unintelligent, as one’s level of intelligence and level of education or general awareness are not the same.

These are just dictionary definitions of the word “ignorance”. However, if you want to see the real thing in action, come to any country located in the Eastern part of the world; or rather, any country with a muslim majority.

This is quite confusing for me. I admit, even though I’m not a practicing muslim at all, and I have quite a lot of doubts about religion in general, I still know the religion well enough. Seven years of attending sunday school has taught me quite a lot about the religion, and I have to say that I’m not unimpressed.

The bombings, the killings, the ignorance.. These were not originally meant to be part of the religion of Islam. Or were they? I’ll be honest. Its hard to write something positive about this matter, these people, this religion. Having been exposed too all this over here, my doubts have been confirmed.

I’ll just leave you with this: If you were raised in a western country, the east is not a place for you to stay.

Themed by Hunson. Originally by Josh