One thing that blocks people from achieving success is procrastination. Many people push things back regardless of their situation, and cause themselves more trouble than they already had. Procrastination is a very common mistake people make, but what causes us to do it? No person would intentionally make themselves worse off but procrastination is a sure way to so. All people have experienced themselves putting things off to the last minute at one time or another but some are always doing so. What makes someone continuously hurt themselves and decrease their chance of success. While most people will have the consciousness to properly prior plan, others don’t.

Nearly 20% of people have considered themselves to be chronic procrastinators. There is many reasons for someone to procrastinate, but there is also reasons these people consistently do it. The reason for procrastination is actually psychologic and in every human’s mind. The feeling and thought of doing something unpleasant is something everyone knows, but affects people differently. Procrastinators are not born, they learn to use excuses to put off doing things they need to. Procrastinators can be a product of being around other procrastinators. In this article https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200507/why-we-procrastinate written by Hara Marano, she explains many of these factors. There are 3 main types of procrastinators all different in small ways, but for the same reason. One type are people who feel a rush and excitement of having little time to do something. This reason occurs for a smaller amount of people, but some feel they work better under pressure of being rushed when in reality nobody does. Another type are people who can’t decide whether or not they want to do something and push it back to the last minute to eventually do the task, or not do it at all. The last type of procrastinators I believe is the most common. These type of procrastinators are afraid of failing and not being up to par with their task. They use this as a way to have an excuse to fail, having their excuse for failing to be a lack of effort instead of a lack of ability. All reasons come back to the underlying fact that people don’t enjoying doing unpleasant things. Furthermore, procrastinators put things off to the last minute consequently hurting themselves, it is not a permanent disability but with proper practice anyone can learn to not procrastinate.

While studying for my econ test this week I was forced to remember countess formulas and concepts. After hours of looking at my study guide i couldn’t help but think how great it would be if i had a photographic memory. Imagine being able to look and the sheet for seconds maybe minutes and having it all there in your mind, it’s as if you were cheating on the test from having the guide right in front of you. Is this something i could teach myself or is it something you’re born with, or is it even real to begin with? I have only heard of photographic memories in books and movies never have I met someone with that great capability.

Mental health issues like anxiety or depression can affect student’s schoolwork, and can be identified with screenings by the MSU Counseling Center. The Center will be hosting free screening at different locations around campus on Thursday. Lauren Wood/The State News

Photographic memory, scientifically  called eidetic imagery is very real. While few people possess it, it is possible to take a “picture” in your mind. Of all the cases where people have shown signs of having eidetic imagery they are mostly children. For unknown reasons children can have photographic memory rather than adults. In a study done where they showed someone a picture for a few seconds and removed it, they claim to still see the picture. There is many factors about eidetic imagery that are unknown, but it is believed to have something to do with the way your brain processes images. Nearly 2 to 10 percent of children have shown signs of eidetic imagery making it very uncommon. Eidetic imagery is said to fade with age but some adults claim they still possess it. Even with a photographic memory these people still do not completely memorize every piece of information they are given. It is reported that these people replace some pieces of the picture they saw with other parts of the picture, or even entirely different information. To some extent the you can teach yourself to remember things in a photographic manner, but not entirely gain the skill. Gauging if someone has eidetic memory can be difficult because there is not obvious and physical ways to tell besides the picture test. The most effective way to test it by picture study, I believe they will eventually be able to look into your brain and tell if you have the ability, but as of now all we can do is wait.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-such-a-thing-as/

Way back in my day when I was in high school, about 7 months ago i saw the popularity of electronic cigarettes sky rocket. A brand new e cigarette store opened that sells nothing but e cigarettes and it blew up. I felt like every guy and some girls even had a e cigarette and some point in time. I think everyone could agree they are less harmful the real cigarettes but by how much? They advertise them as flavors cool designs lights and buttons just to attract kids. Yes these kids aren’t smoking cigarettes but now they are “vaping” e cigarettes. E cigarettes are not regulated by the government so there really could be anything in them, what is it doing to our bodies? I did some detailed research and I believe i found the best answers.

E cigarettes are supposedly meant to lean people off smoking real cigarettes so they are helpful in that sense but not many others. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/296572.php This article describes the parts of e cigarettes and the liquid used in them. To my surprise and I’m sure a lot of others, there is many chemicals found in the juice. The chemicals have links to lung cancer, making it questionable why you would move from a orginal real cigarette to a e cigarette. Found in the article this state was said  “Our results demonstrate that overall, electronic cigarettes seem to be less harmful than regular cigarettes, but their elevated content of toxic metals such as nickel and chromium do raise concerns,” says Prof. Sioutas, coauthor of the study. Inhaling aanything besides air into your lungs should be concerning to anyone. There is proof that e cigarettes are better for you than cigarettes but that does not justify that they are safe. With many studies done some preach how they are safe and some not. http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/dangers-e-cigarette-vapors-updated-research/ this article has many interesting facts about e cigarettes too. Regardless of what science proves people wil push aside the facts and do as they please. E cigarettes are not safe, safer than real cigarettes but only to an extent.

As i looked around at my bland white dorm walls wondering what to write about i thought about when Andrew talked about academic performance between males and females. It is a fact and has been true for many years that girls perform better in school. What reasons can we attribute that too? Typically females are better all around students in comparison to males, men have been proving this for decades now. As a male myself it makes me wonder if girls are just superior in academics or is it the mindset of females that set them apart. I believe there are many factors that cause the differential between genders, but which are the most pivotal?

By looking at grades you would assume girls are smarter than guys, but you have to look much deeper to see the truth. Grades do not necessarily determine how smart someone is, but it does show who has more effort. Girls as we all know mature and hit puberty much earlier than males, between 2-3 years. Being more mature does have a large factors do to with the entire debate if one gender is smarter than the other. When you were in 3d grade do you think you could have taken your calculus 250 class? Disregarding the fact that you may not have known the prior curriculum, your 3rd grade self would not have comprehended a lot of concepts. As your body matures you become more capable of problem solving and understanding ideas. This factor only fights for males during younger ages, so we aren’t proving anything yets males. What about in high school and college why do females still take the win in academics? This article says some interesting things to add to the debate https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/girls-are-more-intelligent-boys-men-are-more-intelligent. Women are typically more responsible than males, hence why a male 16-25 car insurance is much higher. Is it that women see the importance of school and apply themselves more then men, could be. To answer the question if females are smarter than males, there is many studies that show they are not. But women always have and I believe always will succeed in academics compared to males.   

One of my previous blog posts I discussed the controversial topic of marijuana in today’s society. Many people today are either very pro marijuana or extremely against it, that is not the topic I am writing to discuss. My question is whether marijuana is bad for you or not, and if it does hurt you in what ways, and whether it is equally as harmful as alcohol. Alcohol obviously is legal in all states in our country and all around the world, unlike marijuana. We do know alcohol is harmful to the human body in many ways but marijuana is used for medical reasons and is praised by some people to be a natural substance with only healing effects. For that reason alone it makes it me wonder why it is not legal in all states throughout the United States.

Marijuana

In a study reported on http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/behind-the-smoke-screen.html they say some very interesting things to add to the debate of whether marijuana is bad for you or not. They reported a study done based on 129 college students some being marijuana users and some not. One of the results reported were how marijuana can affect your memory and “critical skills related to attention”. This article says how marijuana can impact your memory for days or even weeks after using the drug. This seems hard to believe for me personally, I would infer that either it impacts your memory skills for a short period of time like hours or days, or permanently. The initial “high” feeling from using the drug lasts only a few hours and I would believe that the negative effects do also and if not, they last forever. In one of the experiments they had heavy marijuana users recall words from a list, and they acquired data that they did not perform well until they stopped using marijuana for up to 4 weeks. This experiment seems well set up and I do believe the results if the experiment was run correctly. In another article http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/it-s-background.html they dicuss alcohol vs marijuana specifically. A very important statement they said is how marijuana has over 400 chemicals in it, while alcohol has one, ethanol. Now this fact may be true but it doesn’t completely and thoroughly answer the question which is worse. THC, the main chemical in marijuana, stays in your system for weeks and up to months depending on the extent of use of the drug. Ethanol in alcohol only stays in your system for hours and then is flushed out by your body. If I was to set up and experiment to try to answer these extremely difficult questions, I would combine them into one study and kill two birds with one stone. I would gather many people to have a large group of test subjects, some who are heavy marijuana user some who are alcoholics and some who don’t use either. I would test all the subjects on memory skills reaction time and things of that nature, possibly even physical fitness tests. After gathering the data you would see which group of people tend to do worse or better and see if it correlates to which group they are in, marijuana users, alcohol drinkers or neither. There is a high possibility of different variables conflicting with the results, but with a large subject group and a properly set up study you should see a correlation between groups and how they do on the tests. This experiment just like any other done would not indefinitely solve the questions but would provide solid evidence for the discussion.

Me being the type of person who sleeps until 1 pm if not bothered, has me questioning my habits. Does oversleeping hurt you, and at what point is it considered to much sleep? Personally i can sleep for almost 11 hours some days when my schedule allows it. How is this affecting my body?

First off, after researching this topic i found that the amount of sleep is completely dependent upon the individual. If you are a highly active person you can sleep longer than someone who is not. Oversleeping is actually a medical disorder called hypersomnia. Oversleeping has many side effects that most people don’t know. It can cause depression, anxiety, obesity and things like heart pain and headaches. With all these side effects why isn’t it why isn’t it more known that oversleeping is bad? Small percentages less that a quarter percent of oversleeping people are effected by at least one of these things. it is said that up 9 hours or above is considered too much sleep for most people. To truly find out if this hypothesis are correct we should conduct and experiment. Find people like myself who tend to sleep for more than 9 hours. Have these people take a survey on if they are experiencing any of these symptoms. Also, you should find people who don’t over sleep and have them oversleep. If these people begin to experience any of the said side effects of their new sleeping habits you could infer that it was the sleeping that caused it. This experiment would not prove the hypothesis, but it would agree with the hypothesis.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/physical-side-effects-oversleeping?page=2

Me being the type of person who sleeps until 1 pm if not bothered, has me questioning my habits. Does oversleeping hurt you, and at what point is it considered to much sleep? Personally i can sleep for almost 11 hours some days when my schedule allows it. How is this affecting my body?

First off, after researching this topic i found that the amount of sleep is completely dependent upon the individual. If you are a highly active person you can sleep longer than someone who is not. Oversleeping is actually a medical disorder called hypersomnia. Oversleeping has many side effects that most people don’t know. It can cause depression, anxiety, obesity and things like heart pain and headaches. With all these side effects why isn’t it why isn’t it more known that oversleeping is bad? Small percentages less that a quarter percent of oversleeping people are effected by at least one of these things. it is said that up 9 hours or above is considered too much sleep for most people. To truly find out if this hypothesis are correct we should conduct and experiment. Find people like myself who tend to sleep for more than 9 hours. Have these people take a survey on if they are experiencing any of these symptoms. Also, you should find people who don’t over sleep and have them oversleep. If these people begin to experience any of the said side effects of their new sleeping habits you could infer that it was the sleeping that caused it. This experiment would not prove the hypothesis, but it would agree with the hypothesis.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/physical-side-effects-oversleeping?page=2

A very controversial topic in today’s world is if marijuana should be legalized or not. There is many explanations for whether it should or should not be legalized. Some say that it kills brain cells while other preach its natural grown herb and is good for you. Many people in the United States use marijuana even if it’s legal in their state or not, making it the controversial topic that it is.

Marijuana is said to have many harmful effects, but many disagree. A study was done in New Zealand that convinced many people to believe marijuana kills brain cells. The study was done with a subject group of 1000 people, and they followed the subjects from age 13 to 38. This was a good factor in the experiment to accurately receive information. At the age of 13 and 38 they conducted IQ tests and compared the results. The findings were that the chronic marijuana users did worse on their second IQ test, implying the marijuana hurts brain functions. However, there is little proof that marijuana has ingredients in it that hurt the brain cells, implying that there could be other reasons for the findings in this study in New Zealand. Reverse causation could possibly imply here, it could be said people who are declining in their IQ test it is the reason they find the need to smoke marijuana, unlikely, but possible. To further help this study i believe that we should conduct an observational experiment, having many similar people maybe all from the same college, implying they have similar IQs say how often they use marijuana. Then have all the people take an IQ test, and compare to see if the outcome agrees with the hypothesis or not. The subject group should be very large, especially if the experiment conducted is observational. With a large subject group you will accurately be able to determine if there is a correlation between smoking marijuana and a decline in IQ test. If this observational experiment was done and correlation was there it would not completely prove the question, but it would support its results greatly.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/blog/does-marijuana-kill-brain-cells

Everyone has heard the term “muscle memory” but do your muscles actually remember things? According to many studies they say muscles do, but not in the way your brain remembers things. If you have ever been into weightlifting and bodybuilding you have probably noticed your body gain muscle and mass. For example, if you took a long break from working out your body loses its strength you previously had and took months to acquire, but when you start again you regain it back much quicker than before. There is reasons for this that you would not think from the phrase “muscle memory”.

Things such as pitching a baseball or throwing a football people say the more you do the more your muscles remember the action, but this not entirely the truth. Yes the more you practice a motion are activity you will become better but it is not from your muscle’s own memory. Repetition triggers memory in your brain causing your body to perform the task at the intensity and form at which you did previously, hence the “memory” in muscle memory. It works in the same fashion as doing math problems, your memory is used too and has learned the activity or problem and is better at doing it. I believe that with repetition you are likely to become better at anything, but even more so with physical activity. A experiment should be done with randomized subjects who have not done a specific activity before and have them do the rigorous physical activity and score them on their performance. Furthermore the subjects should then do the activity consistently, then be put on a break from it. After weeks of not doing this they should be tested on not the same activity but one much like it and see if they score better than they did weeks before. If they score better you could conclude that from the practice and repetition, they have gained some memory of the motion and proving that the concept of muscle memory is in fact true.

http://angrytrainerfitness.com/2012/01/ask-alfonso-is-muscle-memory-real/

http://www.muscleforlife.com/muscle-memory/

Just like many other students cramming in blogs and wondering what to write about this question came to me quite easily. Is listening music while writing this post helping me or hurting me? I’ve always been told music while you study does not help but it does make it slightly more enjoyable for me. Would a silent room help me retain information while i study or would it hurt, or do nothing? From personal experience I believe certain types of music can help as long as it is playing at a reasonable volume to keep your head clear.

After further investigation on whether it helps or hurts your brain learn the results seem very logical. According to various studies it all depends on your personal capabilities and habits. There is a such thing called the “Mozart Effect”. This is theorized that Mozart’s music helps do mental tasks such as school work and studying. Also studies have shown music that isn’t Mozart can help studying. Music in general can change a person’s emotions, so depending on the type of music this can put you in different states of mind. A certain type of music can help you study and is dependant on the individual. Music with little lyrics and words in it is theorized to help with things such as writing essays or memorization, while music with lyrics can cause confusion in the order you memorize something.

I do believe that it is dependant on the individual and the task on whether music helps or hurts. To extend this study to find more information I think an experiment should be done that has a students memorize something without music, then a similar task with music. This experiment should be randomized between gender and age to find solid evidence. Also, the experiment should include different genres of music to see which is most effective for learning. Reverse causation in this experiment would not apply here, but possibly the music you personally choose to listen to could cause reverse causation, such as the music you listen too is the cause of your study habits. With all those variables controlled this study would have very strong evidence to whether music truly does help, or hurt.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/27/music-may-harm-your-studying-study-says/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281386/

http://www.uloop.com/news/view.php/149570/Do-Or-Dont-Studying-While-Listening-To

Just like any other day in state college, today when I was walking to class ducking cars and dodgeing people I thought about how many cars drive through the streets. But myself being a person who loves cars, I thought why doesn’t everyone have an electric car? It is 2015 why isn’t there more people saving money and saving the environment by using electric cars. There are so many practical reasons to use electric cars yet people have not moved towards it, yes also including myself. While there is negatives to using electric cars, the positives make you forget all about it.

It’s the year 2015 why is there not a electric car charging station for every gas station you see? That’s the big question I was interested in and wanted to find a answer. While normal gasoline powered cars have served us well for decades, times are changing and so should our transportation. After further researching and learning more from what I already knew about electric vehicles, I see no debate for not owning one.

Electric cars have so many positive features to them that make it almost impossible to see why you don’t have one. Completely electric vehicles don’t cause less emissions than regular gas powered vehicles, studies have shown they cause none at all. These cars cause no environmental damage at all, and if saving the planet we live on doesn’t convince you enough, maybe saving your own money will. Electric cars don’t use gas, obviously, so those gas prices that are through the roof are no longer a problem. A simple charge just like your iphone and you’re good to go. Those pesky maintenance charges you get from your mechanic, practically cut in half. With no exhaust system there’s no need for oil changes, just change your tires when they wear out and your back on the road. Unfortunately, that is where the major positives to electric cars stop. Electric cars do in fact have a lower mileage range per full charge in comparison to a full tank of gas. Also, it is not as simple as filling up the tank and heading back on your way, batteries take time to charge making it a complication for commuters doing many miles a day. Charging stations in parking lots does seem like an easy fix to this problem but that cost huge amounts of money to have accessible to the public. The price point for electric cars compared to gasoline powered cars is also a setback for the electric car movement. With the amount of technology in these machines it is fairly expensive to accommodate the electric engine and the luxuries of a vehicle people demand. But with these problems the solution is time and research for inventing methods to create all these things for a fraction of the price. I still believe everyone should own a electric car whether it’s a basic model with simple features or high end vehicle with all the luxuries, you should own one for daily use to help save the planet we all have to live on now and for years to come. My recommendation for sparking the electric car movement would be to first make more affordable cars and charging stations then put them all around the world.

http://www.plugincars.com/electric-cars-pros-and-cons-

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCMi1q8Ou_ccCFcE0Pgod29wGkg&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTesla_Model_S&psig=AFQjCNEUGV2Oh9apRPT7nr0wmKe5lL6XfA&ust=1442555059253018

My name is Rob Buckley I’m from Mahopac New York about 4 hours away from state college. I am currently  a freshman majoring in communications but also have interest in business, but who knows where my Penn State experience will take me. I chose this science course because I do enjoy science but not high level science classes, and i think this course will fit me perfectly. Aside from business and communications i enjoy sports and love my teams from back home in New York. I am a huge New York Rangers and Knicks fan and have been to Madison Square Garden for both teams too many times to count.

From this course I hope to to grasp a better understanding of basic science and how it effects the world and people. Being a communications major and not necessarily needing this course, i am happy i took it and look forward to seeing what its all about.