tag:www.naturalawakenings.com,2005:/categories/other?page=15Other | Natural Awakenings Magazine Page 15Healthy Living Healthy Planet2019-08-28T16:14:36-04:00urn:uuid:af8cb40c-6af5-4ce8-96f8-5db81bb5c30e2019-08-28T16:14:36-04:002019-08-28T16:14:36-04:00Entrance Exam: College Applicants Leverage their Creativity2010-09-02 16:02:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts, now invites prospective students to submit an optional, one-minute personal video to supplement their admissions application. The purpose is to discern the student’s creative side, which they may also display by way of an essay or by creating something using a single 8½-by-11-inch sheet of paper.</p><p> Find videos at <span class="link-external"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/"><strong>www.YouTube.com</strong></a></span>, search Tufts Admissions Video.</p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:26030192-c868-4bcd-8406-519749a8a4042019-08-28T16:14:36-04:002019-08-28T16:14:36-04:00Sound Play: Birds, like humans, sing just because they can.2010-09-02 16:02:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Animal researchers like Gisela Kaplan, Ph.D. and Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D., have determined that birds not only sing to communicate daily needs, many engage in sound play, most often when they’re alone, but sometimes also when humans are present.</p><p>Some species continually improvise their singing with new elements, phrases and sequences, reports Kaplan, a professor at the Research Centre for Neuroscience and Animal Behaviour at the University of New England, Australia. Nightingales and canaries are among the avian virtuosos, reinventing their repertoire in each successive season, while the brown thrasher may hold the record at close to 2,000 song types. Nightingales, she notes, organize their compositions according to rules of construction similar to the way humans use syntax. These birds even create distinctive phrases that identify individuals.</p><p>Kaplan’s own recordings of Australian magpies reveal how the bird’s voice moves across four octaves, varies its phrasing between staccato and legato, and embellishes sequences with vibrato, trills or deep overtones. More, it will close a completed song with a signature phrase, in much the same way that a painter initials a finished canvas.</p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:f9dac96a-aa05-4965-939b-1d17e1ceb5692019-08-28T16:14:37-04:002019-08-28T16:14:37-04:00Go Ahead, Daydream: Turns out it's an essential, beneficial human activity.2010-09-02 16:02:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Scientific interest in daydreaming was kicked off a decade ago, when Marcus Raichle, a neurologist and professor with Washington University in St. Louis, discovered that several parts of the brain become unusually active metabolically when the brain was thought to be idling. His findings further showed that daydreaming is the mind’s default mode... and that’s not a bad thing.</p><p>Today, researchers know that daydream content pretty much maps onto people’s everyday goals, aspirations and apprehensions, rather than being exotic meanderings. For the average person, daydreaming typically represents a kind of mental rehearsal, maintaining the brain in a state of readiness to respond. As pioneering psychologist Jerome Singer pointed out, “You can engage in trial action without any consequences. Such fantasies may fulfill a psychic need.”</p><p>In Psychology Today, author Josie Glausiusz reports that daydreaming seems to be an essential human activity. Daydreams help us generate our sense of self, hone social skills and serve as a font of creativity for those who pay attention to them, all of which make us feel vibrant, aware and engaged with life.</p><p> </p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:1c75e10b-7c01-41c4-b35e-1e22782d17712019-08-28T16:14:44-04:002019-08-28T16:14:44-04:00National Park Art: Artist-in-residence programs at national parks offer unique creative opportunities. 2010-09-02 16:02:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Hundreds of artist-in-residence programs at sites across the country also include those at 29 national parks. The National Park Service offers opportunities for qualifying two-dimensional visual artists, photographers, sculptors, performers, writers, composers and craft artists to live and work in the parks from several weeks to several months of the year.</p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:ccb3691c-3d35-492d-a86e-593b51e765862019-08-28T16:14:42-04:002019-08-28T16:14:42-04:00The Fall Line-up: A Guide to Wildlife Migration2010-09-02 16:01:30 -0400Anonymous<p>Here are some tips for enjoying the passing wildlife this season.<br> </p><p><strong>Birds</strong> — Early morning often provides great views of birds just finished with all-night flights. As the sun starts to rise, some birds that find themselves out over ocean waters or above the Great Lakes will suddenly head for the nearest land. Hundreds of birds can come pouring inland at these times, among them thrushes, warblers, vireos and tanagers. During daylight hours, the skies can be filled with everything from white pelicans to bobolinks. Expect lots of shorebirds, cormorants, terns and gulls at the seaside and hawks, swifts, flickers, jays, swallows and robins overhead almost everywhere.</p><p><strong>Butterflies</strong> — Most people have heard about monarchs and their fall migrations to the mountains of southern Mexico, but lots of other butterflies travel in autumn. Some even head north. Watch in the same places that bird migrants concentrate for American ladies, question marks, red admirals, and the more abundant monarchs—all moving southward. By contrast, cloudless sulphurs may be headed north in the fall, as their southern populations expand, and painted ladies and common buckeyes may be flying north or south.</p><p><strong>Dragonflies</strong> — Dragonfly watching is coming into its own on the North American nature scene. Several books have appeared to help folks tell these handsome creatures apart. A small number of dragonfly species migrate in substantial numbers during the fall. Look for the monster green darner in particular and the world’s most cosmopolitan dragonfly, the wandering glider. Others include the black saddlebag and the Carolina saddlebag.</p><p><strong>Mammals</strong> — Mammal watching is not nearly as easy as bird or insect watching. It usually involves some trekking, and they’re not terribly cooperative subjects. Still, the rewards can be considerable. Among the migratory mammals worth watching are some species of bats (hoary, silver-haired and red), which can occasionally be seen flying south during daylight hours along shorelines or even over bodies of water. Marine mammals may be observed from boats or coastal promontories. The large baleen whales are evident in good numbers on their southward migration and delight watchers even from a distance.</p><p>Source: National Wildlife Federation</p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:a7d23383-4a8c-4b6e-bce4-5b697e9965c52019-08-28T16:14:35-04:002019-08-28T16:14:35-04:00Natural Awakenings' Family of Franchises Keeps Growing2010-09-02 16:01:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Natural Awakenings Publishing Corp. (NAPC) recently welcomed a group of new publishers who completed an August training program at the corporate headquarters, in Naples,Florida. The NAPC training staff spent several days with entrepreneurs from Contra Costa, California; Huntsville, Alabama; Middlesex, Massachusetts; Morris County, New Jersey; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; North Dallas, Texas; Lansing, Michigan; and the Hawaiian Islands. Company CEO Sharon Bruckman launched the first edition of Natural Awakenings in 1994 and began franchising it in 1999. The company currently publishes 78 Natural Awakenings magazines throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, with a collective readership exceeding 3 million. According to Sharon Bruckman, NAPC expects to be publishing 88 magazines by the end of the first quarter of 2011. For a list of where Natural Awakenings is publishing or to learn more about franchising opportunities, visit <a href="../../"><strong>www.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com</strong></a>.</p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:cc1c86b4-e494-4fbf-8629-b6b0c0ffaef82019-08-28T16:14:38-04:002019-08-28T16:14:38-04:00Musical Fusion: Classical Forms Meet Latin Rhythms in U.S. Concert Halls2010-09-02 16:01:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Latin rhythms and melodies have been spicing up popular music for years. Now, the infectious influences from every corner of Central and South America are turning up in concert halls, performed by symphony orchestras across the United States. This season’s arrival of Venezuela’s superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic has ignited a love affair with tonalities from south of the U.S. border.</p><p>“Arts organizations that recognize and incorporate Hispanic culture are both at the cutting edge and ensuring their own future,” remarks Carol Reynolds, music history professor at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas. “The incorporation of Latin-based music into the classical world is long overdue.”</p><p>Source: The Christian Science Monitor</p><p> </p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:8a9fd369-8e11-454a-860d-8495132d2e132019-08-28T16:14:27-04:002019-08-28T16:14:27-04:00Getting Enough Bs: Research Connects B Vitamins in Vegetables to Heart Health2010-08-01 03:00:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Summer is the best time to enjoy freshly harvested lettuces, peas, avocados, berries and greens, all good sources of the B vitamins B-6 and folate. Associated benefits include lowered risk of death from stroke and heart disease in women and possible reduced risk of heart failure in men, according to Japanese research reported in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association.</p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:17f4ad0e-07be-4f40-a9ba-faf03765ff6f2019-08-28T16:28:54-04:002019-08-28T16:28:54-04:00Growth in Grace: Spiritual Pilgrimages on the Rise Worldwide2010-06-01 03:00:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Spiritual pilgrimages, religious retreats and other faith-based journeys comprise one of today’s fastest-growing travel markets, according to the World Tourism Organization. The first International Conference on Religious Tourism estimated it to be an $18 billion industry worldwide. A Travel Industry Association of America survey found that one in four travelers said they were currently interested in taking a spiritual vacation, and the interest is spread evenly among all adult age groups.</p><p>Packaged tours embrace everything from formative Christian destinations to sites sacred in Buddhist, Hindu, Islam and other ancient religious traditions. The oldest known pilgrimage site is said to be Mount Kailash, in Tibet, a holy travel destination for about 15,000 years. Those not up to the physical demands of travel can alternatively take advantage of the growing number of DVDs available online and at local libraries that allow individuals to take “armchair” pilgrimages around the world.</p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>urn:uuid:7dd77d69-e4d3-4fa0-b885-3520b68d54c52019-08-28T16:29:01-04:002019-08-28T16:29:01-04:00Wet Hands: California Opens First Ecosystems Immersion Experience2010-06-01 03:00:00 -0400Anonymous<p>Plants, animals and hands-on science populate nearly every inch of the 45,000-square-foot Ecosystems Experience at the California Science Center, in Los Angeles. Highlights among the 11 environment experiences range from walking a 24-foot-long transparent tunnel through a 188,000-gallon display inhabited by a living kelp forest (the rainforests of the sea), to encountering a desert flash flood in a safe splash zone to conducting experiments on a polar ice wall.</p> <p>The Rot Room, which shows how natural cycles depend upon processes of decomposition, courtesy of carnivorous insects, is a huge draw for kids. Other exhibits spotlight river, island, rocky shore and urban ecosystems. An interactive Global Zone, which projects images onto a global map from inside a large sphere, lets visitors discover how the Earth transfers matter and energy through ocean currents, atmospheric circulation and the planet’s carbon and water cycles.</p> <p>“Ecosystems will give our guests an appreciation for how the living world and physical world are interconnected,” says Jeffrey N. Rudolph, president and CEO of the center. “We believe [the experience] will provide guests with the knowledge to become better stewards of the environment.”</p><p> </p> <p>Admission is free; advance online registration is required. Visit <span class="link-external"><a href="http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/">www.CaliforniaScienceCenter.org</a></span> or call 323-724-3623.</p><hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakenings.com">Natural Awakenings National</a></small></p>