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7-Month-Old Babies Can ‘Read Minds’
 Babies as young as 7 months old may be able to take into account the thoughts and beliefs of other people, a younger age than previously demonstrated. 7-month-olds have little experience with conversation, which has long been thought to play a key role in acquiring this capacity. As a result, this study is thought to be significant in building new theories about how this capacity develops. In the study, a Smurf-like character watches a ball roll through a number of scenes. Infants looked longer at those scenes where the character left too soon to see the ball’s final position. Because babies are thought to look longer at unexpected situations or events, the researchers interpret this to mean that they were surprised at the unexpected outcome because of processing the character’s viewpoint, not just their own. Despite some controversy about study design, if the results are confirmed by future studies, this would indicate that infants are sensitive to social information and to what others see. Read More >>
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Visit the MET From Your Desk
 Google has taken its 360-degree Street View cameras into some of the most famous and acclaimed galleries, opening the world’s art collection to the internet. From the Tate Britain in London to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, you can now browse 385 rooms in 17 galleries, and see more than 1,000 works by 486 artists. Zoom in close enough, and you can see individual brushstrokes, hairline cracks in the canvas and microscopic details that are almost invisible to the naked eye. Read More >>
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How Meditation May Change the Brain
 “Over the holidays, my husband went on a silent meditation retreat. He said the experience was so transformational that he has committed to meditating for two hours daily, one hour in the morning and one in the evening. He’s running an experiment to determine whether and how meditation actually improves the quality of his life,” one NY Times contributor writes. Scientists say that meditators like her husband may be benefiting from changes in their brains. The researchers report that those who meditated for about 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had measurable changes in gray-matter density in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. Read More >>
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Baby Reunited with Doctor Who Saved Her
 In her thoughts and prayers over the past year, Nadine Devilme has thanked God countless times for saving her baby after Haiti’s earthquake. She’s also wanted to thank the doctor who treated Jenny Alexis after the 2-month-old spent four days alone, crushed in the rubble with nothing to drink. There was one problem: Devilme never knew the doctor’s name, never knew exactly whom to thank for treating her daughter’s fractured skull and crushed chest and then arranging for her to be airlifted to a hospital in Miami. Meanwhile, the physician who saved Jenny has spent the past year wondering how the baby was doing… Read More >>
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Southern Masked Weaver
 They call it home. The delicate orb that sits on the tree branch, a woven tangle of grass and twigs all strategically placed. It’s small and inconspicuous enough that you’d probably miss it walking by. Luckily, one photographer didn’t. “It was a priceless opportunity to watch these amazing builders constructing their homes from the very beginning till the end, from the first framework made of a few grass leaves till the very last stalk…” Read More >>
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Removing Stigma One Idli At A Time
 A small idli shop in south Tamil Nadu, India, is the talk of the town. At daybreak, people crowd around to buy idlis and dosas from two women who are HIV positive. Despite the stigma of HIV/AIDS in their town, the customers are aware of their condition and continue to patronize their shop. With community support, Vijayarani and Sumathy have overcome the devastating news, “look as healthy as any woman in our village and we have a successful business.” Read More >>
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Generous Vegetable Seller
 After the morning hustle, a lone lamp shines on a vegetable stall. With head bowed, Chen Shu-Chu is the first to arrive in the market and the last to leave. She earns marginal profits. Yet, her frugality has allowed her to donate NT$10 million (about 350,000 US $) towards various charitable causes, including schools, orphanages and poor children. The generosity of a woman with such a humble income has placed her under international spotlight, named an outstanding philanthropist by Forbes and among 2010’s top 100 most influential people by Time Magazine. Despite all the attention, she reminds us, “I have done nothing extraordinary. Everyone who wants to can do it. There are many other charitable people; we just don’t know about them.” Chen adds, “I don’t place great importance on money. When I donate to help others, I feel at peace, I’m happy, and I can sleep well at night.” Read More >>
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In This Issue
Also This Week
Wisdom Reading
iJourney.org excerpts of wise words: Believers in Small Graces, by Kent Nerbern
Inspiring Video
KarmaTube.org video with be-the-change actions: The Power of Vulnerability
Kindness Story
HelpOthers.org story submitted by readers: Coffee, Diners and Smile Cards
Community
 
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Government officials shut down the streets. As everyone silently stood in line to pay the final respects, the magic of Ishwar-kaka was evident — the richest men in the country stood next to human-waste scavengers next to powerful politicians next to reknowned Gandhians next to vegetable sellers next to his next-door neighbors next to kids who had merely read about him. A humble man who built over 200,000 toilets and helped launched 118 organizations that would elevate the work of sanitation across India. Wise men say that you die the way you have lived. For a vast cross section of society, Ishwar Patel was a hero. [ 
In the race to build computers that can think like humans, the proving ground is the Turing Test-an annual battle between the world’s most advanced artificial-intelligence programs and ordinary people. The objective? To find out whether a computer can act “more human” than a person. In his own quest to beat the machines, the author discovers that the march of technology isn’t just changing how we live, it’s raising new questions about what it means to be human. [ 
“I have bought a few little gifts from ebay: tiny fridge magnets, friendship bracelets and dried lavender to make potpourri – and have stored them away in a big ‘gift’ bag. I’ve also bought some envelopes, glue and cards and I’ve made some smiley faces. When I read about someone who is lonely or facing illness or is need of a little cheer for any other reason: I make a card, write an encouraging note, stick on the smiley and send them some little gifts from the ‘gift’ bag. Some people are so happy when they receive them. It really does make a difference. I will have to find one hour a week extra work so I can make up the money. But it will be worth it, it makes me feel so happy. to spread a little cheer.” — twinkle
