Latest news with #YaleUniversity
Time of India
a day ago
- Health
- Time of India
The first five years in school: Why they matter more than you think
The early years of school often pass by in a blur of tiny uniforms, lunchboxes, and morning chaos. For many, it's a phase filled with adorable drawings, learning ABCs, and forming the first friendships. But behind these sweet beginnings lies something much deeper, something that shapes not just academic paths but the very architecture of a child's brain. These foundational years in school quietly set the tone for a lifetime of learning, social interaction, and emotional resilience. The science behind it might surprise many. Here's what happens during these first five years, and why they hold more weight than most give them credit for. Not just learning letters, but wiring the brain It is often believed that preschool and early primary classes are simply about learning numbers, shapes, and basic vocabulary. That's only the surface. What's really happening is a massive neurological buildout. According to Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child , more than 1 million new neural connections form every second in a young child's brain during early childhood. These early experiences, especially structured ones like school, help decide which of these connections get strengthened and which ones fade away. Structured schooling doesn't just teach facts. It teaches how to think, how to wait for a turn, how to listen, how to question, and how to collaborate. These are the true lessons that help build lifelong cognitive and social abilities. Emotional muscles begin to strengthen "Kids are too young to understand emotions or build social intelligence in early school." These early school years are when emotional regulation begins to truly take root. Inside classrooms, children face real challenges, like handling disagreements with classmates or adapting to routine and authority. Each of these is a small but powerful emotional exercise. Researchers from Yale University's Child Study Centre found that social-emotional learning (SEL) programs in early education significantly improved emotional understanding and even reduced behavioural issues. Children who get the chance to regularly express and manage emotions in a safe, consistent school environment are more likely to develop empathy, confidence, and resilience as they grow. Language skills today, communication power tomorrow There's often an assumption that real language mastery begins once children can read and write fluently. But the groundwork begins much earlier, and it's more critical than it seems. In these early years, exposure to structured storytelling, classroom discussions, and group reading sessions helps strengthen something deeper than vocabulary: the ability to make sense of the world. A study revealed that children who had access to rich early language environments showed faster and more efficient brain responses when processing language. These early language skills have been linked to better critical thinking, stronger memory, and even improved mental health in later years. Patterns of confidence begin early There's a common belief that self-confidence naturally comes with age. But the early years of schooling quietly lay down this foundation, sometimes for life. When small wins are celebrated, like correctly writing a name or tying shoelaces without help, the child's internal belief system starts to form. This belief often becomes the inner voice that echoes during tougher academic years ahead. Early positive school experiences directly influenced how children perceived their own competence well into adolescence. What's truly touching is how even a small word of encouragement or a teacher's supportive gesture during these years can become a cherished memory that fuels inner strength later on. School becomes the first window to the larger world Home teaches love and values, but school introduces the first idea of community. In these first five years, school becomes the place where children learn that the world is made up of people who are different, yet worthy of respect. From group projects to art class discussions, each interaction opens up the worldview, helping children understand fairness, teamwork, diversity, and rules. Inclusive and stimulating early education settings significantly improve tolerance, reduce biases, and create long-term positive attitudes towards others. This is the beginning of raising kind, open-minded humans who know how to exist not just for themselves, but with others.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
What's at the center of a black hole? Scientists have a sobering answer
They're the boogeymen of science fiction, a paradox of science and quite possibly a key to understanding the universe. Scientists have been scrambling to understand the mysterious forces of black holes for decades, but so far it seems they've found more existential questions than answers. We know a black hole is so heavy that its gravity creates a kind of divot in the geometry of the universe, said Priyamvada Natarajan, a theoretical astrophysicist at Yale University. "A black hole is so concentrated that it causes a little deep puncture in space/time. At the end of the puncture you have a thing called a singularity where all known laws of nature break down. Nothing that we know of exists at that point." Nova explosion 'star' over Ohio? Why NASA is excited about T Coronae Borealis Understanding what science knows about black holes involves mysterious little red dots, the formation of galaxies, and spaghettification (the unpleasant thought experiment about what would happen to a person unlucky enough to be sucked into a black hole). First, the good news: Black holes aren't out to get us. They aren't whizzing around the universe looking for galaxies, suns and planets to devour. "They don't just sneak up to you in a dark alley," said Lloyd Knox, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Davis. But our understanding of the very fundamentals of the universe has been transformed over the past decade by new telescopes and sensors that are letting scientists see more black holes and at every stage of their lives. What to know about observatory: James Webb Space Telescope marks 3rd anniversary "Our understanding of the role black holes play, that they are an essential part of the formation of galaxies, is new," said Natarajan. Here what cosmic secrets are being revealed: The original understanding of how black holes formed was that when a sufficiently large sun (about 10 times or more massive than our Sun) reached the end of its life, it could explode into a supernova that then collapses back into a black hole. The matter can collapse down into something only a few miles across, becoming so dense that its gravity is strong enough that nothing, not even light, can escape. This is what is called a stellar mass black hole. But in the past two decades, new types of black holes have been seen and astronomers are beginning to understand how they form. Called supermassive black holes, they have been found at the center of pretty much every galaxy and are a hundred thousand to billion times the mass of our Sun. But how did they form? "The original idea was that small black holes formed and then they grew," said Natarajan. "But then there's a timing crunch to explain the monsters seen in the early universe. Even if they're gobbling down stellar gas, did they have the time to get so big? That was an open question even 20 years ago." In 2017, she theorized that these supermassive black holes from the early beginnings of the universe happened when galactic gas clouds collapsed directly in on themselves, skipping the star stage entirely and going straight from gas to a massive black hole seed, with a head start, that could then grow. "Then guess what? In 2023 the James Webb telescope found these objects," she said. "This is what a scientist lives for, to make a prediction and see it proven." Because they have such massive gravity, black holes gobble up stellar gases and anything else that gets too close to them. But it's not an endless process that ends up with the entire universe being sucked into them. People sometimes worry that black holes are these huge vacuum cleaners that draw in everything in sight. "It's not like a whirlpool dragging everything into it," said Knox. Black holes are really like any other concentration of mass, whether it's a sun or a planet. They have their own gravitational pull but it isn't infinite. "If you're far enough away, you'd just feel the gravitational force, just the way you'd feel it from a planet," said Brenna Mockler, a post-doctoral fellow at the Carnegie Observatories at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Pasadena, California. All matter causes a dip or pothole in space/time, said Natarajan. A black hole is so heavy that its gravity creates a kind of divot in the geometry of the universe. "The bigger the mass, the bigger the pothole," she said. Where that puncture leads is unknown. "It's an open question," said Natarajan. "We don't think it could be another universe, because we don't know where in our universe it could go. But we don't know." So what if a human being fell into a black hole? Astrophysicists have a word for it – spaghettification. "If you were to fall head first into a black hole, the difference in gravity between your head and your toes would be so intense that you'd be stretched out and spaghettified," Natarajan said. There's no fear that our own Sun will become a black hole, said Knox. It's not big enough. "Lower mass stars burn through their hydrogen to make helium and then they'll start burning helium into carbon. And then at some point it ends up just pushing itself all apart," he said. "Our Sun will eventually expand and envelop the Earth and destroy it – but that's in 5 billion years, so you have some time to get ready. But it won't become a black hole." NASA's super powerful James Webb Space Telescope began its scientific mission in 2022 and almost immediately picked up something that so far no one can explain: small red objects that appear to be abundant in the cosmos. Dubbed "little red dots," these objects have perplexed astronomers. They could be very, very dense, highly star-forming galaxies. "Or they could be highly accreting supermassive black holes from the very early universe," said Mockler, who is an incoming professor at the University of California, Davis. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is a black hole? Scientists scramble to untangle cosmic mystery
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
What's at the center of a black hole? Scientists have a sobering answer.
They're the boogeymen of science fiction, a paradox of science and quite possibly a key to understanding the universe. Scientists have been scrambling to understand the mysterious forces of black holes for decades, but so far it seems they've found more existential questions than answers. We know a black hole is so heavy that its gravity creates a kind of divot in the geometry of the universe, said Priyamvada Natarajan, a theoretical astrophysicist at Yale University. "A black hole is so concentrated that it causes a little deep puncture in space/time. At the end of the puncture you have a thing called a singularity where all known laws of nature break down. Nothing that we know of exists at that point." Understanding what science knows about black holes involves mysterious little red dots, the formation of galaxies, and spaghettification (the unpleasant thought experiment about what would happen to a person unlucky enough to be sucked into a black hole). First, the good news: Black holes aren't out to get us. They aren't whizzing around the universe looking for galaxies, suns and planets to devour. "They don't just sneak up to you in a dark alley," said Lloyd Knox, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Davis. But our understanding of the very fundamentals of the universe has been transformed over the past decade by new telescopes and sensors that are letting scientists see more black holes and at every stage of their lives. "Our understanding of the role black holes play, that they are an essential part of the formation of galaxies, is new," said Natarajan. Here what cosmic secrets are being revealed: The original understanding of how black holes formed was that when a sufficiently large sun (about 10 times or more massive than our Sun) reached the end of its life, it could explode into a supernova that then collapses back into a black hole. The matter can collapse down into something only a few miles across, becoming so dense that its gravity is strong enough that nothing, not even light, can escape. This is what is called a stellar mass black hole. But in the past two decades, new types of black holes have been seen and astronomers are beginning to understand how they form. Called supermassive black holes, they have been found at the center of pretty much every galaxy and are a hundred thousand to billion times the mass of our Sun. But how did they form? "The original idea was that small black holes formed and then they grew," said Natarajan. "But then there's a timing crunch to explain the monsters seen in the early universe. Even if they're gobbling down stellar gas, did they have the time to get so big? That was an open question even 20 years ago." In 2017, she theorized that these supermassive black holes from the early beginnings of the universe happened when galactic gas clouds collapsed directly in on themselves, skipping the star stage entirely and going straight from gas to a massive black hole seed, with a head start, that could then grow. "Then guess what? In 2023 the James Webb telescope found these objects," she said. "This is what a scientist lives for, to make a prediction and see it proven." Because they have such massive gravity, black holes gobble up stellar gases and anything else that gets too close to them. But it's not an endless process that ends up with the entire universe being sucked into them. People sometimes worry that black holes are these huge vacuum cleaners that draw in everything in sight. "It's not like a whirlpool dragging everything into it," said Knox. Black holes are really like any other concentration of mass, whether it's a sun or a planet. They have their own gravitational pull but it isn't infinite. "If you're far enough away, you'd just feel the gravitational force, just the way you'd feel it from a planet," said Brenna Mockler, a post-doctoral fellow at the Carnegie Observatories at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Pasadena, California. All matter causes a dip or pothole in space/time, said Natarajan. A black hole is so heavy that its gravity creates a kind of divot in the geometry of the universe. "The bigger the mass, the bigger the pothole," she said. "At the end of the puncture you have a thing called a singularity where all known laws of nature break down. Nothing that we know of exists at that point." Where that puncture leads is unknown. "It's an open question," said Natarajan. "We don't think it could be another universe, because we don't know where in our universe it could go. But we don't know." So what if a human being fell into a black hole? Astrophysicists have a word for it – spaghettification. "If you were to fall into head first into a black hole, the different in gravity between your head and your toes would be so intense that you'd be stretched out and spaghettified," Natarajan said. There's no fear that our own Sun will become a black hole, said Knox. It's not big enough. "Lower mass stars burn through their hydrogen to make helium and then they'll start burning helium into carbon. And then at some point it ends up just pushing itself all apart," he said. "Our Sun will eventually expand and envelop the Earth and destroy it – but that's in 5 billion years, so you have some time to get ready. But it won't become a black hole." NASA's super powerful James Webb Space Telescope began its scientific mission in 2022 and almost immediately picked up something that so far no one can explain: small red objects that appear to be abundant in the cosmos. Dubbed "little red dots," these objects have perplexed astronomers. They could be very, very dense, highly star-forming galaxies. "Or they could be highly accreting supermassive black holes from the very early universe," said Mockler, who is an incoming professor at the University of California, Davis. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is a black hole? Scientists scramble to untangle cosmic mystery
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Yale University Art Gallery brings 18th century artist George Romney into the 21st century
The Yale University Art Gallery makes a clever move in their 'Romney: Brilliant Contrasts in Georgian England' exhibit by providing a brilliant contrast with modern American painting in the same style. The largest and most prominent piece in the exhibit, which runs through Oct. 19, is not by its main subject, 18th century artist George Romney. It is 'Portrait of Lynette Yiaom-Boakye, Jacob Morland of Capplethwaite' by a present-day painter (and 2001 Yale School of Art graduate) Kehinde Wiley, who is known for rethinking classical portraiture by introducing contemporary Black people into a domain dominated for centuries by rich white men. Wiley directly references Romney's 'Jacob Morland of Capplethwaite' by his subject, a self-aware woman wearing glasses and a plaid skirt hold a hunting rifle. The painting provides a sharp juxtaposition to Romney's more conventional subject matter. The rest of the exhibit, meanwhile, shows the creative sides of Romney that don't need to be countered or challenged, including his extraordinary drawings of the deplorable conditions in British prisons, inspired by his visits there with reformer John Howard; his lively illustrations of Bible stories and Shakespeare plays; his stunning 'Study of a Clouded Moonlit Sky'; and other works which, if you didn't know Romney died in 1802, you would swear had to have been created a century or so later. His work — with the exceptions of those frilly portraits which are purposefully downplayed here — is vibrant, loose, raw and modernistic. The Yale University Art Gallery arranges them vividly and adds some musical instruments to the display to enhance that weird vibrating drone you get from looking at some of these eerie drawings. The Yale University Art Gallery is at 1111 Chapel St. in downtown New Haven. Visiting hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with hours extended until 8 p.m. on Thursdays.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Science
- USA Today
What's at the center of a black hole? Scientists have a sobering answer.
First, the good news: Black holes aren't out to get us. But they do hold unfathomable mysteries. They're the boogeymen of science fiction, a paradox of science and quite possibly a key to understanding the universe. Scientists have been scrambling to understand the mysterious forces of black holes for decades, but so far it seems they've found more existential questions than answers. We know a black hole is so heavy that its gravity creates a kind of divot in the geometry of the universe, said Priyamvada Natarajan, a theoretical astrophysicist at Yale University. "A black hole is so concentrated that it causes a little deep puncture in space/time. At the end of the puncture you have a thing called a singularity where all known laws of nature break down. Nothing that we know of exists at that point." Understanding what science knows about black holes involves mysterious little red dots, the formation of galaxies, and spaghettification (the unpleasant thought experiment about what would happen to a person unlucky enough to be sucked into a black hole). First, the good news: Black holes aren't out to get us. They aren't whizzing around the universe looking for galaxies, suns and planets to devour. "They don't just sneak up to you in a dark alley," said Lloyd Knox, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Davis. But our understanding of the very fundamentals of the universe has been transformed over the past decade by new telescopes and sensors that are letting scientists see more black holes and at every stage of their lives. "Our understanding of the role black holes play, that they are an essential part of the formation of galaxies, is new," said Natarajan. Here what cosmic secrets are being revealed: A new kind of black hole and a newly proven theory The original understanding of how black holes formed was that when a sufficiently large sun (about 10 times or more massive than our Sun) reached the end of its life, it could explode into a supernova that then collapses back into a black hole. The matter can collapse down into something only a few miles across, becoming so dense that its gravity is strong enough that nothing, not even light, can escape. This is what is called a stellar mass black hole. But in the past two decades, new types of black holes have been seen and astronomers are beginning to understand how they form. Called supermassive black holes, they have been found at the center of pretty much every galaxy and are a hundred thousand to billion times the mass of our Sun. But how did they form? "The original idea was that small black holes formed and then they grew," said Natarajan. "But then there's a timing crunch to explain the monsters seen in the early universe. Even if they're gobbling down stellar gas, did they have the time to get so big? That was an open question even 20 years ago." In 2017, she theorized that these supermassive black holes from the early beginnings of the universe happened when galactic gas clouds collapsed directly in on themselves, skipping the star stage entirely and going straight from gas to a massive black hole seed, with a head start, that could then grow. "Then guess what? In 2023 the James Webb telescope found these objects," she said. "This is what a scientist lives for, to make a prediction and see it proven." Black holes don't suck everything into them Because they have such massive gravity, black holes gobble up stellar gases and anything else that gets too close to them. But it's not an endless process that ends up with the entire universe being sucked into them. People sometimes worry that black holes are these huge vacuum cleaners that draw in everything in sight. "It's not like a whirlpool dragging everything into it," said Knox. Black holes are really like any other concentration of mass, whether it's a sun or a planet. They have their own gravitational pull but it isn't infinite. "If you're far enough away, you'd just feel the gravitational force, just the way you'd feel it from a planet," said Brenna Mockler, a post-doctoral fellow at the Carnegie Observatories at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Pasadena, California. If you fell into a black hole, you'd be 'spaghettified' All matter causes a dip or pothole in space/time, said Natarajan. A black hole is so heavy that its gravity creates a kind of divot in the geometry of the universe. "The bigger the mass, the bigger the pothole," she said. "At the end of the puncture you have a thing called a singularity where all known laws of nature break down. Nothing that we know of exists at that point." Where that puncture leads is unknown. "It's an open question," said Natarajan. "We don't think it could be another universe, because we don't know where in our universe it could go. But we don't know." So what if a human being fell into a black hole? Astrophysicists have a word for it – spaghettification. "If you were to fall into head first into a black hole, the different in gravity between your head and your toes would be so intense that you'd be stretched out and spaghettified," Natarajan said. Our Sun will never become a black hole There's no fear that our own Sun will become a black hole, said Knox. It's not big enough. "Lower mass stars burn through their hydrogen to make helium and then they'll start burning helium into carbon. And then at some point it ends up just pushing itself all apart," he said. "Our Sun will eventually expand and envelop the Earth and destroy it – but that's in 5 billion years, so you have some time to get ready. But it won't become a black hole." A still unanswered mystery – 'little red dots' NASA's super powerful James Webb Space Telescope began its scientific mission in 2022 and almost immediately picked up something that so far no one can explain: small red objects that appear to be abundant in the cosmos. Dubbed "little red dots," these objects have perplexed astronomers. They could be very, very dense, highly star-forming galaxies. "Or they could be highly accreting supermassive black holes from the very early universe," said Mockler, who is an incoming professor at the University of California, Davis.
