DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF by Maryanne Kane, Journalist
DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF
By Journalists Edward Kane & Maryanne Kane
NEW TECH EXPLORES MOTHERLOAD OF LOST TREASURE - 1708 SHIPWRECK
- The government of Columbia is launching a billion-dollar, high tech mission to retrieve what's called the "Holy Grail" of shipwrecks - the legendary San Jose galleon that sank off Columbia in 1708. Here are some key facts:
- The San Jose shipwreck is believed to hold $20 billion in gold, silver, jewels and more
- Columbia has claimed the site for itself and declared it a "protected archeological area"
- A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) robot sub pinpointed the wreckage 3,100 feet below the Columbian Caribbean Sea several years ago
- Now Columbia is using remote sensors to image the wreck
- They'll also deploy an underwater vessel with sonar-like acoustic positioning technologies and a submersible drone to explore the site and prepare for retrieval
- The galleon was loaded with treasure from the New World & was heading back to the Court of King PhilipV of Spain
- It sunk during a skirmish with the British Navy
- The 62-gun, 3-masted galleon went down on June 8, 1708, with 600 people on board
- The President of Columbia wants the ship recovered by 2026 but a big fight is brewing over ownership involving the governments of Spain, Columbia, a group of Columbian indigenous people & a US company, Glocca Morra, that claims to have found the wreck 1st; WHOI is not involved in the ownership dispute
- This is the most valuable shipwreck in history discovered so far and highly advanced technologies are being deployed to explore it.
NEW SCIENCE: LEARNING TO PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT BUILDS BRAIN POWER
- New scientific research demonstrates that children who learn how to play a musical instrument gain enhanced cognition. Here are some key facts:
- This new research was just reported by neuroscientists in Chile
- It involved 40 children aged 10 to 13 years old
- The group that received musical training - like learning to play the piano - have enhanced cognitive abilities
- Specifically, they develop better memory and enhanced attention - both essential for learning and academic performance
- The scientists at Chile's UDP noted changes in the kids' brain waves from learning to play an instrument: the alpha & theta waves in the brain
- Also, the study suggests musical training increases the brain's capacity to selectively attend to, focus on and process important information while shutting out unimportant information
- So, if you love playing an instrument for the sheer fun and beauty of it, turns out it's a very beneficial exercise for building your brain power and especially valuable for kids and their cognitive development.
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