Epic Pumpkin Decomposition Timelapse

I’ve always been fascinated by the time-lapses of rotting fruit. I’m not sure exactly why either. Many of them are fairly basic. The said fruit slowly shivles up. Nothing fancy.

That’s why when I decided to do this pumpkin time-lapse, I wanted to make it a bit cooler. That’s why I took my pumpkin, sat it outside and put three cameras on it. I covered the entire setup from the rain, and then let the cameras go. Here is the resulting 8 week time-lapse.

You might notice that it didn’t seem like it was 8 weeks. Where were all the days? Truth be told, it was really distracting to have the days flickering through, so I cut out the day portions in the time-lapses and only used the night time sections. That’s why the pumpkin tends to bounce occasionally.

Smart Education: Gamification and game based learning

Game-based learning is growing popular among students of all age groups: from preschool to higher education. Children can expand their vocabulary when playing Scrabble. Elementary school students learn the basics of the banking system when playing Monopoly. In this article, the readers will find eight meaningful reasons to include game-based learning in the curriculum.                   

Games are engaging

Research done through a game is exciting. Students do not feel as if the teachers force them to learn. Sometimes, undergraduate students find it boring to write academic papers. In this case, they may resort to a professional writer service to write my essay. It is a perfect option to find an expert who knows how to handle your task efficiently and effortlessly. 

The difference between game-based learning and gamification consists in the following. The former suggests using games in the educational process. The latter implies partly turning this process into a game: the participants earn bonus points and prizes, achieve statuses, and so on. Both approaches appeal to the students’ emotions and trigger their curiosity.

Teachers can assess the progress of each student

Participants can not remain passive when playing a game. They need to make decisions and discuss their plans with other members of their team. They compile winning strategies and analyze the results of the previous stages. 

If compared to exam results, games serve as a more reliable indicator of a person’s skills and competencies. At an exam, one can cheat or use cribs. When observing a game, the teacher better understands each participant’s strong and weak sides. 

With games, it is easier to explain complicated theories

Below are just a few examples of applying this principle to the process of studies:          

  • Examples of politically incorrect language can be explained through a game. The participants gain or lose scores for using certain words and expressions.
  • Students can start a game where they form teams or compete for assets individually. This will help them to understand the distribution of economic resources.
  • Students can imitate multilateral political negotiations to understand how the United Nations function.
  • A match of fantasy football helps the participants to realize the contribution of each individual to the success of the whole team.

Nearly any sphere of knowledge can benefit from switching to gamification. Consequently, students feel motivated, their attendance and performance improve. They find it easier to identify their vocation and spheres of interest. 

Teachers can either invent simple games from scratch or order customized software. They can adapt the existing games and tools to the needs and demands of their audience. 

Software developers invest large budgets and hire top professionals to deliver innovative solutions. In the next few years, the EdTech (educational technologies) industry will be flourishing. Games will account for a large part of it.

Games develop creative and critical thinking

When a professor explains a new topic to the audience, they are supposed to take the information for granted. But most successful business ideas for college students are based on controversy rather than obedience and require the ability to see ordinary things from an unexpected angle. Games encourage students to experiment and doubt dogmas. 

Individuals who master critical thinking in the earlier stages of their life succeed faster in business. They are more likely to make important scientific discoveries.          

Game-based learning is compatible with remote education

Even though the remote education format is evolving, it is still subject to certain flaws:         

  • Students lack personal contact with the teacher and do not feel involved enough.
  • When people study from home, they hear too many noises. Family members are talking, smartphones are ringing, pets are asking for attention. The surrounding environment distracts them and does not allow them to fully concentrate on the lesson.
  • The teacher can not judge by the students’ faces, whether they understand the subject or require a more detailed explanation.

Gamification solves the first two problems and arouses the students’ interest in learning. Most games imply a frequent exchange of information. Teachers receive immediate feedback on one’s strong points and knowledge gaps.  

Games allow lecturers to combine theory with practice

Young professionals absorb valuable theory from lectures. But after graduation, they find it difficult to apply this knowledge to real life. 

Others might face this problem even earlier. Scholarships for students are distributed between those who can prove their ability to bridge the gap between theory and practice. 

Games come as the most intuitive solution of linking abstract knowledge with hands-on experience. The participants do not need to think of how to apply a certain theory to the process. They just follow the rules and analyze the gameplay.

When people study in good mood, they achieve better results

Conservative parents might be afraid that gamification makes lessons less informative. They remember their own learning experience that took place decades ago. They associate studies with challenges, enforcement, and constraints.  

But when students enjoy positive emotions, they absorb new data much better. When they have fun in the classroom, they remember new information for a much longer time. An informal atmosphere does not contradict productive learning. 

Psychological comfort and a stress-free environment contribute to better performance and higher achievements.

Through games, students get team-leading and team-building skills

These skills might seem secondary when one is still at school. Yet when young specialists start to look for their first job, they find out that many employers value high one’s ability to work in a team. 

Some students want to go on with their education and start choosing among the best colleges to get an MBA. They discover that these institutions expect from their applicants the ability to manage a team. 

But how can a student get these skills when studying for a Bachelor’s degree? Gamification and taking part in extracurricular activities is the best way out.    


Gamification and game-based learning play an important part in the educational process. The essence of this approach lies in explaining complicated concepts through games. This method has proved its efficiency among students of all age groups. The demand for it will grow in the next few years in all areas of knowledge.

The influence of online dating on human relationships in the modern world

Online dating has become far more prominent in recent years. The technology that facilitates interactions between people from different parts of the world has made it simple for people to match, date, meet, and more. Haley and I here actually met 13 years ago on Myspace, before many dating sites were in existence. Even though this form of romantic connection continues to grow, is it too much of a good thing? Here is what we know about the influence of dating on relationships. 

Why is online dating so popular in the modern world – from Brazil to Mexico?

From Brazil to Mexico, online dating is a popular means through which people connect for romantic purposes. In these places, in particular, online connections are often forged as a way to maintain privacy during the dating process. The cultures in much of Central and South America are family-oriented, and some people prefer to date online so as to avoid the complications that come with bringing a romantic partner to their home. That being said, other people crave the simple connectivity offered by online dates. These factors, along with cheaper dating, better control, and local searches, make virtual dates attractive. 

Is dating sites influence choosing a partner?

Users of dating sites pay attention to a large number of factors that help in choosing the right partner: from status to attractiveness. It must be chosen a right place for it. If you like Latina-girls, it must be a relevant resource citasconlatinas, that help to choose a more temperamental girl. Dating sites often help you sort by the relevant characteristics that you want in a partner. Some sites are better at this than others, though. Find the service that lets you seek someone according to their profession, looks, culture, religion, or other criteria to get the best results. 

Could it destroy the institution of the family: true or false?

Online dating naysayers have maligned the tool since its inception, claiming (among other things) that these dates will destroy the institution of the family. Studies have found that roughly 22% of all dates that happened online resulted in a marriage proposal. That fact alone seems to deny the claims that online dating is destroying families. Nobody is going to claim that online dating is perfect. The anonymity of the sites emboldens people to act in strange, threatening ways sometimes. However, hundreds of thousands of people have met online, been married, and had children. In fact, some researchers say the relatively high success rate of online dating relationships is a result of the purposeful dating in which people engage. They know the type of person they want to meet and the results they want. Online dating is engaged in with more certainty than meeting by accident. In short, no evidence supports the notion that online dates could destroy the family unit. 

With online dating, life moved in the Internet

Much of life can now happen on the Internet. As people have discovered as a result of COVID-19, it’s possible to find work, love, hobbies, and other forms of connection online. Many of these outcomes were only pioneered as a result of companies that wanted to provide people with the ability to date. Video recording software, cameras, facial recognition, high-speed Internet— online dating sites have been on the cutting edge of technology and helped other facets of life move to the digital realm. 


Online dating remains a very popular choice for people seeking romantic connections. This method offers privacy, directness, and efficiency to busy people who want to find love without it taking up too much time. While there are opponents to this method of meeting romantic partners, the science supports its efficacy and eschews the concept that online dates can harm the family structure.

Impact of online flirting on self-esteem

Flirting is a fun segue into romance for some and a witty game for others. Heck, that’s how Haley and I met – via Myspace nearly 15 years ago. It’s something that many people use as a way to bolster their personal feelings and find someone that’s right for you. As such, it’s important to look at the impact that flirting has upon self-esteem in the present day. Take a look at the science that goes into flirting, and you might find it’s time for you to try it out for yourself! 

1. Brings a positive emotion

The entire concept almost goes without saying—flirting can put you in a good mood. The science behind this isn’t too hard to understand. When you are flirting with someone, your body is preparing for romance. You’ll often experience a release of oxytocin and dopamine, both of which will make you feel happy and make you receptive to love. 

2. Flirting in online chat rooms is fun and safe

Another thing to consider about flirting is that doing it online is both safe and fun compared with doing it in-person. The biggest negative issue that can emerge when you are flirting with someone sitting across from you is finding out they aren’t interested in flirting. Moreover, you could discover that your partner isn’t single, and that can put a kibosh on the whole night. From the perspective of women, engaging in romance online is safer, too. There is no physical threat from people that take words the wrong way or try to read into the relationship too much and get pushy. Online flirting is secure and private. 

3. Flirting is good for women’s health

An interesting facet of flirting as it pertains to women is that it’s good for their health. Some studies have shown that online dating is a great way to get your blood flowing and increase your adrenaline output in situations. Good flirting also makes people feel good! When someone is in a good mood from a bout of flirting, they become less likely to allow stress from their daily life to seep into and poison their mindset. While too few studies have yet been performed to confirm the idea, some scientists suppose that flirting can help boost the immune system through the production of extra white blood cells. 

4. It increases self-esteem and helps to deal with loneliness

The last reason that online flirting is such a good thing for women is that it can help boost their self-esteem. People tend to base their self-esteem on their success toward meeting their goals in life along with the desire that others have to be around them. Flirting helps in both of these ways by making people realize that they can be successful in the way of finding a romantic partner. That is a major goal for a lot of people, and it’s one that can be hard to meet. Also, flirting is great for building self-esteem because it is the most direct way of expressing interest and desire between two people. When someone is flirting with you, that means they at least have an attraction to you. That alone is enough to lift people from the doldrums of their life and make them consider themselves in a new light. It’s a way to chat with people and to feel wanted; it’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning. 


Online flirting has positive effects on health, psychological wellbeing, and building relationships. But you should choose the right place for it, so beyondthecharter prepared list of dating sites where easier to feel the benefits of online flirting on yourself. Use these places as an area where you can start to lay the groundwork for obtaining the benefits that we have mentioned throughout this article.

What You Can Do with a Biology Degree

If you have always enjoyed science, the idea of earning a biology degree may sound appealing. You may wonder before investing the time and money into higher education, what type of job you can secure after graduation. Many people who are considering medical school earn an undergraduate degree in this field, but that isn’t the only field where you can find work.

Finances are typically a concern when you head to college. Don’t let these issues hold you back from pursuing your education. Private student loans allow you to borrow what you need to earn your degree and the repayment terms are affordable. When looking at ways to finance your education, you can use a student loan calculator to estimate how much your monthly payments will be when taking out a loan through a private lender. Once you have your financing figured out, you are ready to start your studies. Of the many different fields that benefit from those who earn this degree, here are some of the selections.

Medical

This is the field many people think of when they think of a traditional science-based study program. It is a great choice for those interested in attending medical school, becoming a physician assistant, or who are interested in medical research. Expect to study physiology, which is the functions of the body, anatomy, genetics, epidemiology, and immunology.

Evolutionary

This includes more than studying how organisms change over time, it also includes such studies as developmental biology, which is the study of organisms from birth to death, paleontology, biogeography, which studies how organisms have dispersed geographically, and morphology, or the study of an organism’s structure and form for classification purposes.

Environmental

This is the study of the natural world and how the various organisms and elements relate to each other. This field includes ecology, biochemistry, bioclimatology, or the study of how organisms are affected by climate change, and aerobiology, which is the study of organic particles that exist in the air.

Botany

Botany is the study of plant life and includes cellular biology, cytology, or the study of how living cells interact with nature, microbiology, and histology, or the study of cellular tissue on the microscopic level. Once you have decided on a field of study you find interesting, you may wonder what type of job you may find with your degree. A biological technician works in a lab, performing research, or carrying out studies. These jobs are available with non-profits, pharmaceutical companies, and the government. 

If you find once you enjoy talking about what you have learned as much as studying it, you may be interested in working as a health communications specialist. You will educate communities about public health issues and may work for a healthcare facility or government agency. Another career that requires excellent people skills while allowing you to use your communication skills is working in pharmaceutical or medical product sales. You need to understand the technical language used to market your product as well as have excellent interpersonal skills.

How to Process Luffas and Make Sponges – No Matter the Age

Luffa sponges are one of the easiest sponges to create because they come from the inside of a gourd that can be easily grown in almost any climate. Technically the luffa “sponge” is from the xylem fibers inside of three different species in the genus Luffa – smooth luffa, angled luffa and wild luffa. Much of what we buy in the store is from the smooth luffa (or sometimes spelled loofah). In this short ecofact, Haley shows you how to process a luffa to create a beautiful sponge.

How Data Science Impacts Sports Betting

Sports betting seems to be very popular in the recent period when people look for regular entertainment and fun. If you are one of the casual bettors, you probably spend a lot of money on your favorite activity and enjoy it on a regular basis. Most gamblers base their decisions on pure luck rather than logic and reasoning.  They are simply misled by the opportunity to take profit, so they keep placing regular wagers. 

Even if you have already tried some strategies, gambling success and profits are away most of the time. No matter of your problem, you should start considering data science and making logical gambling choices.

More about Data Science

Before making any explanations, we need to define data science. Data science is one of the widely known scientific fields that use specific methods to solve a certain problem. According to data science, sports betting is selecting some numbers and following them in a certain pattern. Data science can provide gamblers with better winning chances or turn the odds to their advantage.

Gambling is mainly based on numbers and certain calculations. It leads to the conclusion that players with the most information will have the best chances to make money from the casino or betting house. If you have scrolled down through the internet, you might noticed different data websites. These sites are here to provide people with basic information and support them in predicting the outcome of a certain match.

You can also check Luckynj for more gambling related data and start earning on a regular basis.

What about Betting Limitations

Most gambling providers will promote the theory of luck. They will convince players that they can win only if they have luck. No one would speak about the methods and logic of data science. In some cases, you can face the situation that the house puts some conditions or limitations on your account. They may see you having regular success with a certain system and making regular winnings. It can cause some limitations to your account, leading you to a restricted amount of bets. 

By following the player’s behavior, the gambling providers want to prevent people from making regular winnings. In addition to it, they want to prevent customers from spreading the same system and making ongoing winnings. At the end of the day, no gambling house will allow players to have a regular advantage.

Are Gambling Companies Apply Data Science

Apart from gamblers who use data science to make certain decisions, you should also know that companies use data science for their purposes. Gambling companies were among the first to use science in the practice. They use science to ensure that odds are not utilized in the wrong way or exploited.

When a certain event occurs, you should consider many things. First, you should learn more about the performance of the team, including the skills or talent of the players. In addition to it, you should also consider extra information such as form, injuries in the team, previous matches of the same team, and more. These numbers can be applied in practice and provide bookmakers with relevant information. 

How Data Science Can Help Gamblers

Data science can support gamblers in numerous ways. Through the basic techniques, customers can use science to analyze, filter, and gather relevant data and get adequate solutions. Bettors can use basic methods to collect data from previous sports events and related odds. Thanks to all this information, gamblers can make decisions in the future and become more successful when predicting the outcome of a certain match.

If you are looking to put the gambling techniques to the next level, you should also consider additional methods for making the most out of the betting experience. Skills like Python and similar could help you in the future, bringing even more winnings to bettors.

Conclusion

As you can see, revolutionary achievements in technology bring regular opportunities for growth. The same works for gambling, which has many common things with data science and meets both gamblers and house needs. For these reasons, you should base your decisions on the scientific information and earn steady cash.

 

Playing These Games Can Help You Learn Better

Around 50% of the world’s population plays video games. When you also factor in the number of people that play the traditional card, puzzle, and board games, the percentage rises even higher. There are plenty of reasons for playing games, but the main ones are that they’re fun, they tell compelling stories, and they’re a great way to bond with friends. 

Modern games are also designed to give you a strong sense of achievement through “trophies”, “achievements”, and your gamer score that give you something to work towards as you play. This has helped to encourage many gamers to play more. 

But playing games can also help you with your learning. Even if they’re not directly teaching you new skills or topics, they can give your brain a boost that can help you learn new things more easily. 

Here are some games that can teach you a thing or two:

Poker

Poker is enjoyed around the world and is the second most played card game, right after blackjack. While millions of people play poker casually, both online and in-person, many others take it much more seriously. Of these, some become good enough to compete professionally, entering tournaments like the World Series of Poker.

No matter the level that you play poker at, the game offers several cognitive benefits that can help you learn better. To be successful when playing games like Texas hold ’em, you need to great at a couple of things at the same time.

First, you need a strong memory as you must memorize each of the different poker hands and learn which ones are the strongest. You’ll also need to be good at mental arithmetic. Successful poker players make fast calculations in their head about whether the pot odds and their outs. This allows them to decide whether to call or fold. 

Developing such an ability requires a lot of practice as well as a strong understanding of statistics, something that can be very useful in many other areas of life, including learning a STEM subject

Chess

Chess has been played for around 1,500 years. It is another game that’s popular around the world. It’s also enjoyed a spike in interest recently thanks to the Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit. It requires a lot of skill and practice, far more than many other board games.

To succeed in chess, you need to think strategically. You’re not just concerned with what moves you’re making now, but all the moves you’ll be making later in the game. This requires you to either memorize the many set plays or be able to put yourself into your opponent’s shoes and anticipate what they’re going to do next. 

This takes a great deal of talent and even more practice. Even if you’re not going to make it to the Grand Master level, most people can become skilled chess players if they put in enough time. 

Being able to think strategically is useful outside of chess too. Being able to think several steps ahead is useful in work, either to help you better navigate office politics or devise a plan that will make your project successful.

It can also come in handy while driving. Thinking ahead, anticipating the actions of other drivers, and looking at what’s happening beyond the car in front of you can help reduce the likelihood that you’ll be involved in an accident. 

Racing Simulators

Another way you may benefit behind the wheel is from playing driving simulator games like Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo. These games have been designed to replicate real-life physics as much as possible. 

This means that understanding how you apply the accelerator and brake pedals can alter the balance of your car is important if you’re going to succeed. These can be useful on the road or a real-life racetrack.

If you drive a rear-wheel-drive car like a BMW, you’ll benefit from knowing how to apply a car’s power to prevent it from spinning.

Modern race drivers also use simulators to practice driving around circuits before they actually arrive there. Granted, many do this in specialist equipment that is designed to be an almost identical experience to real life, but video games get most of the way there. 

In fact, the GT Academy has helped several video game players earn a race seat in a real GT car over the last decade.

First-Person Shooters

While it may not seem particularly relevant, playing first-person shooters can also be very beneficial. 

First, like many other games, they can help you destress and unwind. Controlling stress is important in helping you to learn and function well at work, so an hour shooting zombies in Call of Duty may be a good addition to a student’s busy revision schedule. 

Second, studies have shown that people who play these types of games can improve their reaction times. 

In an article published in the Computers in Human Behavior journal, researchers from three European countries found that people who played first-person shooters could perform better on a reaction-time test than those that played MMORPG titles. 

This has been backed up by several other studies that have found similar trends among gamers, including one conducted in the United States that found Call of Duty 2 players had 25% faster reactions than players of The Sims 2.

Fast reaction times may be useful in several tasks in life, including playing sports or even just having everyday conversations. 

Overall, playing games is a great way to develop new skills or improve the learning you do elsewhere in life. Not only are they beneficial in these ways, but they’re fun, meaning there is little downside to those playing them. 

How the Internet Helps Preserve Endangered Animals

We live in a world that is home to many wonderful species. Sadly, it’s also a world where many of these amazing creatures are critically endangered, and some even extinct. The Mountain Gorilla and Orang-utan – two of the magnificent Great Apes – are now present in tragically small numbers thanks mainly to man’s devastation of their natural environments for his own use. Of the majestic big cats the Tiger is remarkably close to extinction in the wild and others are also endangered, and the Black Rhinoceros is near extinct too.

How does the internet help? First, it gives us access to more information and resources than we could ever imagined. A simple search brings us a list of the animals that are on the critically endangered list, and we can then choose to donate to a charity should we wish. Yet there are further ways in which the internet helps in our fight to keep the endangered species alive.

Paperless Commerce and Online Retail

One of the major benefits of the internet and its use in commerce and retail has been a direct effect on recycling and the reduction in use of plastics. With a paperless office, for example, we reduce the number of trees cut down to make paper. An online retail store is a largely paperless enterprise. Online retail not only cuts down on the use of paper, but also on pollution, with the only necessary vehicle being the delivery.

Where plastic is concerned, it’s important to look at the seas and oceans, and the astonishing pollution by non-biodegradable plastics that are in the water. Each year, around 150million tons of plastic us produced for use in single-use items. Plastic carrier bags, cups, straws and more are among the most common. Each year, some 8 million tons of plastic – largely single-use items – ends up in the oceans and seas of the world.

What problems does this cause? Let’s talk about whales. Wonderful, often massive creatures that they are, many species of whale are in decline. The reasons are unrestricted hunting in some parts of the world, and pollution by plastics and other items that may get into the digestive system. Thanks to this pollution, many whales find their natural food – smaller fish and other sea creatures – more difficult to find as their populations decrease. It’s a vicious circle that is difficult to stop.

We can do our bit by moving to paperless office work – cloud storage has made this much easier – by utilizing online retail, and by not using single-use plastic items.

How Online Entertainment Helps

The Yangtze river, 6300km in length, was once home to the Yangtze River Dolphin, which was common in this magnificent waterway. The last example was spotted in 1994 and, in 2006, a team scoured the length of the river without finding a single specimen. The Yangtze River Dolphin has been declared extinct. It joins other animals such as the West African Black Rhino, the beautiful Formosan Clouded Leopard and many others that no longer exist in the wild.

You may be wondering why, after reading such a tragic paragraph, we are about to talk about online entertainment? The simple fact is that life goes on, and among all the hard work and sad news, we need to enjoy ourselves. The internet helps greatly in this as we can read, keep up with friends and family, and – best of all – play games and visit online casinos.

Conclusion

In the above we have shown how the internet is helping with the preservation of endangered species in ways you may not have considered. The more we use online retail, e-commerce and less in the way of paper and plastics, the more we can help keep our wonderful wildlife out of danger. 

5 Facts About the Arapaima

The arapaima or pirarucu is the largest freshwater fish in the world. Here are a few facts that you might not have known about this massive amazon fish. As always, we start each article with the video we made about it:

The Arapaima Facts Background

I spent two summers in the amazon looking for wildlife. I had hopes of seeing a wild arapaima but every time we went out to find one, all we’d ever come back with were Piranha. And as a side note, that’s why I wrote the article about how to survive a piranha attack. In the end I had to go to the Universeum on Gothenburg Sweden to actually see some of the arapaima in their massive freshwater tank.

So, let’s get to a few of the more fun facts about the largest freshwater fish.

1 – Arapaima breath air

These fish live in the murky waters of the amazon and have a modified swim bladder that serves as a type of lung. This means they swallow air from the surface and then use that to absorb the oxygen with. They can use their gills, but not much.

2 – Arapaima are among the largest freshwater fish in the world

The arapaima can grow up to 15′ long and weigh up to 440 lbs. Because of that is considered by most people to be among the largest fish along with the beluga sturgeon, mekong giant catfish, giant freshwater stingray and alligator gar. In some ways, it depends how you measure “largest” but these are some of the biggest in the world.

3 – They are Mouth brooders

There are a bunch of other fish that are mouth brooders – meaning they take in the young and protect them in their mouth until the fish get a bit older.

4 – Arapaima have gastrointestinal tracks that are opposite every other fish

This is an odd science fact but most fish have gastrointestinal tracks that go to the left of the stomach. In some ways, that’s just weird because every other fish that’s not an osteoglossiform fish, have intestines that go to the right of the stomach.

5 – Arapaima are going extinct

Extremely sad, but the arapaima is going extinct. According to this study, they are already extinct in 19 percent of their range and unless people limit their fishing of these massive fish, their continued existence is questionable.

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