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14 March
New Science Blog That Appeals To SmartPhone Generation
The Role Of Science In Popular Culture
by
SoftwareGuru
The problem with education is exams.
When you're forced to learn anything it takes all the fun out of
it. Our natural curiosity is subverted and resentment can set
in.
We ask ourselves, 'Why are we learning this?'
The answer parents and teachers give us is that it will give us
a better future.
While that may be true, setting young students on the path of
equating self-worth with their bank balance and self-importance
by their job title is not the best way for society to advance.
Search engines have given us access to knowledge but where will
the wisdom come from?
In a recent interview with Cambridge Student Newspaper,
Varsity.co.uk, comedian Stuart Lee muses, "What possible
financial value is there in being a poet? The mark of a
civilised culture is whether it places a value on knowledge and
culture for their own sake, and the Government are saying they
don't."
The idea of knowledge for its own sake is exactly what suffers
as a result of constant exams.
Leaving the arts aside, when a core subject like Science becomes
stressful for students then what chance does it have of becoming
a lifelong learning adventure?
For Science, rekindling the desire to learn after our school
days remains a difficult task.
It's easy to name the best music blogs online, there's just so
many of them that really stand out from the crowd – Drowned in
Sound, TwentyFourBit, and Popjustice to name a few.
It's the same with sports blogs, with Backpage Football, Caught
Offside, and Zonal Marking leading the way.
But what about science blogs?
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The Twenty-First
Floor
Especially nowadays when television shows from the likes of
Professor Brian Cox are getting so much exposure.
Has there ever been a blog that was clever, funny, and
insightful, all while talking about science topics?
Well, now there is. Step forward, The Twenty-First Floor.
Regularly updated with a very accessible layout, the
Twenty-First Floor is essential reading for anyone who just
wants to know more.
Well-written and immaculately referenced, it's something which
will appeal to the everyman.
It's not populated with convoluted science terms, and you'll
find yourself clicking through to other links just to find out
more.
Science isn't just the stuff you find in textbooks. It can be so
much more interesting than that.
It's not merely something you learn by rote to pass an exam or
get yourself to college.
It's about how everything works, and can be extremely
interesting.
Especially when you're in the hands of the Twenty First Floor
crew.
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Online Discussion
With Wonders of the Solar
System being watched by millions, and the Observer's excellent
Discovery section in its New Review supplement, there's more
science in popular culture than ever before.
And with this blog, you now have something to visit that's far
more informative and interesting than looking at Wikipedia's
List of Paradoxes article.
If you want to contribute to the discussion, there's a wonderful
forum, which even contains a sub-forum for off-topic banter.
One of the recent popular topics in there was the
Galileo-inspired subject of “Sunday Roasts”. Scientists are
people too, you know?
If that's not enough, and you feel you really have something to
say, they also accept reader submissions, so you can write your
own ground-breaking article!
The Twenty First Floor deserves to be boomarked as it's
essential daily reading.
Even after you leave school, you should still continue learning,
and when something is as accessible and as readable as this
blog, then you've no reason not to pay it a visit every now and
then.
Who knows, you may learn something that you can casually slip
into conversation to make you look like a genius in front of
your mates.
If you've already visited the Software4Students Facebook page,
why not say hello to the 21st Floor team on
Facebook and
Twitter?
Maybe they'll consider publishing an article if you have
something interesting to say.
The
21st Floor Science blog deserves a wider audience, check it
out now.
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Posted by
admin
at
12:09
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New Science Blog That Appeals To SmartPhone Generation