Great Apps for Kids

It is an educational app based on a physical game that aims to build character through play. Kids can play solo or with up to 6 players. They can read the directions or turn on the sound to have them narrated. The free game includes six card packs that target curiosity, adaptability, and other character skills through entertaining tasks. The prompts(提示)on the cards encourage kids to express themselves.

It is a lightly educational game that uses comparisons to create questions that players answer for points. The app puts together the size, weight, and more of buildings, animals, and other objects to create clues. Along with the Quiz game mode, there’s also a Compare mode in which players read mix-and-match comparisons.

It is a free cooperative game for two to eight players that requires a separate device for each player. It works best when everyone is on the same Wi-Fi connection and in the same room. Kids will need to be confident readers as there are a number of made-up words that need to quickly be read aloud or recognized on screen. It also tends to get loud, so it’s best played where it won’t bother others.

This expensive but very cool GPS app makes it possible for the whole family to go geocaching, a high-tech treasure hunt game. Geocaches can be hidden in rough terrain and public locations. Since you are going to locations that are known by and will attract others, this app creates some dangers of exposure to strangers. While this game might be okay for older teens by themselves, a better route would be to always play this game with friends.

My relationship with books began at a very young age; my parents constantly read to me and I quickly grew fond of all kinds of stories. My reading adventures existed beyond the four walls of my room though, most importantly during the Centerville Public Library’s story hour. Once I aged out of the story hour and picked up reading abilities of my own, my parents were constantly taking me to the library to pick out any book I desired. This was when my love for library books caught fire.

I’ve always enjoyed trips to libraries. Being able to borrow a book from a library knowing that so many other eyes have interacted with it just makes the experience more exciting.

E-books started gaining popularity after 2010, and as someone accepting of change, I decided to try them out. I believe the first and last e-book I read was The Maze Runner. This great book was ruined by the head and eye aches my NOOK gave me if I stared at it for too long. This ultimately ruined my interest in ever reading digitally again.

I love reading because it gives me time to disconnect and wander away from the constant impacts of screens and media. So, reading an e-book would completely ruin the disconnection from screen time that I try so hard to achieve. Reading from an e-book does not allow you the satisfaction of leafing through pages, and makes the term “page-turner” meaningless.

There is hardly anything that is both free and full of value, so being able to knock out both of these birds with one trip to the library is a true blessing.

For these reasons, I believe that any hardcover book, particularly those coming from a library, should always have advantages over an e-book. Library books are an art form that I will never allow to die!

A new analysis of photographs from the International Space Station has identified a shift in the kind of lighting technologies that European countries are using at night to brighten streets and buildings. Researchers have found that the old warm high-pressure street lights are rapidly being replaced by cooler LED lights. The University of Exeter study claimed that “this phenomenon is widely increasing the risk of harmful effects to ecosystems”.

LED lighting was promoted as being intended to reduce emissions, but its usage has raised energy consumption. One explanation of this is that the increase in power efficiency and the associated decrease in economic cost have driven increased demand for lighting, therefore, any efficiency gains have been balanced out by increased consumption of light.

The study also claimed that previous research into the effects of light pollution have underestimated the impacts of blue light radiation. Chief among the health consequences of blue light is its ability to reduce the production of melatonin (褪黑素) that regulates sleep patterns in humans and other organisms. Scientific studies have warned that increased exposure to artificial blue light can worsen people’s sleeping habits.

The increase in blue light radiation in Europe has also reduced the visibility of stars in the night sky, which may have impacts on people’s sense of nature. Blue light can also alter the behavioral patterns of animals including bats and moths, as it can change their movements towards or away from light sources.

David Smith, of the conservation charity Buglife, said, “Light pollution can dramatically impact animals. We should consider light from a wider biological perspective than that of just humans and focus on better quality lighting that is harmonious with our natural world. Better quality and lower levels of lighting would help save energy, and lower financial costs, while also making our environment safer for living beings. Authorities can dim (使昏暗) the lights during night hours, and change the bandwidths (带宽值) of their LED bulbs to produce less harmful blue light.”

The first appointment this month was for high fever, the second for red eyes and now your child has a cough. With limited time off at your job, there’s no way you are taking him to the clinic again this month. You decide Dr. Google will work as you enter symptom into your search box. You’re not alone!

While online self-diagnosis (自我诊断) resources seem like savers in our moments of confusing illness, healthcare professionals see dangers in this practice.

For some, it’s a simple math equation: Symptoms + Internet search = You’re probably dying. “People read about the worst possible situation on Google when they look up their symptoms. This can contribute to great stress,” says Dana Corriel, a Primary Care Physician at Highland Medical. “It’s human nature to worry about the worst possible outcomes.”

Besides, Corriel warns of health blogs written by people unqualified to be giving advice. “Often, the information is too general,” Corriel explains. “Each person has a different family history, different risk factors and a varying social history, all of which contribute to the decision-making process a physician goes through when deciding on a proper diagnosis.”

“While an inaccurate diagnosis can be stressful, the greater risk is that patients take the next step in attempting to treat,” says Nicole Prause, a psychologist and researcher at Liberos. “This can lead to unjustified expense at the least and dangerous effects at worst.” Prause also sees the financial burden of unnecessary testing with the amount at 20- and 30-year-olds now requesting MRIs because they have headaches. The undue stress damages your emotional well-being, and it’s expensive for the patient, the insurance company and the medical provider.

Even after understanding the dangers of self-diagnosis, you can’t get past the convenience of using the Internet. It’s important to know that doctors do not intend to prohibit their patients from playing an active role in healthcare. The key is to be careful of the risks, involved with self-diagnosis and to be able to identify sources of information with an attitude of doubt.