Rappler's latest stories on Science Solitaire
[Science Solitaire] Pandemic friendships forever (PFFs)
If '150' is the working number of friendships for humans, how did your concentric circle of '150' change before the pandemic and now?
[Science Solitaire] How do kids know what's 'real?'
'Kids are smarter than we give them credit for'
[Science Solitaire] Do masks hide what we feel?
'A sea of masked faces all around the world have become the iconic image of this time. What does this mean in terms of our ability to read each other’s thoughts and feelings?'
[Science Solitaire] The mother of all temperature checks
'We made this mess, and if we want to still be around this planet, we fix it'
[Science Solitaire] Time to rethink the power of crowds
Here are just some ways we can turn the crowd to work for a better normal
[Science Solitaire] Avatars and the performing arts
'What if your favorite performing artist showed up in your house through some abracadabra of digital technology? How will that change the quality of your day?'
[Science Solitaire] Quarantine passions
'If you lost your job because of the pandemic, did you lose your passion too?'
[Science Solitaire] The wisdom in the wait
'Time can run out on us but what it cannot do is fill it for us. What if we intentionally live out wisdom in the wait so that we can have an even better normal?'
[Science Solitaire] Don't forget these things when learning through a screen
'[We have to] help young people realize that the screen is their slave – a tool – and not their master'
[SCIENCE SOLITAIRE] You co-create the next normal: Part 1
'The next normal is not a magical tomorrow that is independent of our actions today or in the past'
[SCIENCE SOLITAIRE] How long is life? A meter and 60 days
'Our human nature will not banish our sense of touch despite what we have experienced during the pandemic. We will find new ways to feel each other.'
How the old 'normal' caused the pandemic
'Our lives are too small, our minds so closed, our interests so shallow, our existing social and political ideologies too narrow, to recognize that we invited this non-living thing into our lives, into our normal'
What science tells us about COVID-19
This virus is new, and science is doing a parallel course of getting to know it while fighting it. Which is a very tricky thing.
Keeping it together in pandemic times
Here is a curated list of actions that could prevent, solve, or manage those inner crises or conflicts that can arise because you cannot go anywhere
How do you make sense of all this confusing coronavirus information?
'You do not need a PhD to understand what the scientists are saying and also what they are NOT saying'
Save (or grow) yourself, others, and the planet by staying at home
Here are some of the things that will transform the way you view being forced to stay at home
And now we focus on distractions
'Before we even know we are being distracted by something, another distraction comes along'
If you can save only a few things, save someone’s childhood
Traumatic childhood experiences, especially in pre-school, can stunt children’s brains in ways that would be most difficult to overcome
How old are your body parts?
When you tell someone who is stressing you that they are responsible for your hair prematurely turning grey or white, you can say you have scientific backing
The love formula that says 5:1 = forever
What if there was a formula to predict with about 90% accuracy whether your relationship will continue or break up?
Music for self-control?
Self-control is as scarce as face masks during panic mode. But can music help?
How operas can be make-overs for your soul
'Learning music is like having your own personal Big Bang – you do not explode and expand into a space but rather, you make the space as you grow'
The germs among us
'Panicking is a normal reaction to the discovery of a virus, but we have to try harder as the general public to respond'
What does it mean to regret? How do we get over our regrets?
For instance, why is it so difficult for us to understand that Prince Harry and Meghan, just like majority of couples on the planet, just want to make something out of their own lives?
What the 'predictive text' feature in Gmail says about our brains
Should we allow Gmail to finish our sentences?
Why you will most likely fail at your New Year's resolution
If it's a person who triggers bad habits, maybe you can try avoiding that person starting this year
These will make you hope and (hopefully) act
Science writer Maria Isabel Garcia shares her 'hope finds' – a list of actions that will hopefully lift up our spirits and move us to act
10 haikus for the planet we failed
Our dying planet, remembered in Japanese poetry
The fight of our lives
We cannot lie down in the face of the overwhelming climate crisis because science can pull us up with the mental muscle that can reinvigorate the resistance
If real estate developers cared for our mental health
We have evolved with and in nature and thus need more than just Instagrammable brushes with it in order to live
How art could help solve social and political conflicts
Art could inspire that sense of awe that moves us to step into the world – the real world with a more robust inner life
Your beloved could be your analgesic
The lines between our emotional and physiological states are as blurred in our biology as in our experiences
Selfies to solve world problems (really)
What if we can make selfies more meaningful – if not for the one posting it, then for others who would probably not even see your selfie online?
Should news always be negative?
In terms of the fundamental wiring of human brains, science knows why we pay more attention to negative news
The failed search for the normal brain
We thrive as humans because we are diverse. None of us is normal.
Science says that when it comes to sex, it's really complicated
Nothing human is ever simple. Complexity is the weight of our worth.
Heartbroken? Science says you should take a sick leave
We have to acknowledge that we are not machines – that we break, and when we do, they strike a blow to our organs too, such as our hearts
Food is no free lunch
If we knew more about more kinds of foods and their impact, then we could make better individual and community judgments as well as national policies that will affect our food security
The trouble with YOLO
Time will always move regardless of what we do. But this tyranny of the present is cutting us off from the future we want.
How can you read her emotions without looking at her face?
Emotions do not stay still. They move in multilateral paths and, at times, they even run.
Google could be your twin moron if you do not make it your slave
Heavy multitasking really disrupts attention, and attention is essential to sustain a path towards a goal
Wear this and upgrade your brain
I feel that we should first seriously think about the possible costs of another wave of technology, this time targeting the human brain itself
The era of mental conversations has begun
What is the latest happening on the ground with ordinary mortals who are doing science to try to read people's minds?
The unexpected perks of giving advice
We seek advice because we want to hear from other people and find possible solutions to our problems, or new ways of looking at challenges. But what does it do to the one who gives the advice?
When we have to ask what value art gives, we should all die a little
Whether you are creating the art or beholding it, art changes you – by rejoicing, awakening, rethinking, or healing
How first notes could rescue your first days
Music is not an insertion in our lives but a fundamental wiring that, once awakened, will help shape the humans that we are
Forests to rescue a planet on fire
We cannot grow more oceans but we can grow more forests. A return to the forests should now capture human imagination.
