Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Playing in dirt is good for kids, navigate maze faster than control group


Smarter, less anxious: study; Outdoor learning experiences and school gardens help students relax and learn better, researchers suggest

Parents, here's another reason for your kids to play outdoors in the dirt: It might make them smarter.

And, as a side benefit, dirt appears to be a natural anti-anxiety drug, but without the side effects.

Mice exposed to a bacterium found in soil navigated a maze twice as fast, and with less anxiety, as control mice, in studies presented yesterday at the 110th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.

The researchers say we've become so urbanized we risk losing a connection with an organism in nature that may actually be beneficial to humans.

Dr. Dorothy Matthews became intrigued by Mycobacterium vaccae - a natural soil microbe - in 2007, when British scientists published a study showing that when mice were injected with a heat-killed version of the organism, it stimulated neurons in the brainstem to start producing serotonin.

"Serotonin is a molecule that has a number of different effects, but one of them is modulating mood and decreasing anxiety," says Matthews, an associate professor of biology at The Sage Colleges in Troy, NY.

Serotonin also plays a role in learning. "If you're nervous, if you're frightened, you just can't think straight," Matthews said. She wondered, could M. vaccae have an effect on learning in mice?

The bacteria-exposed mice consistently ran the maze twice as fast as non-exposed mice. They also showed fewer anxiety behaviours - less freezing, wall-climbing, stopping and grooming, returning to the start, or defecation.

After the bacteria were removed, the mice started running the mazes slower than they did when they were ingesting the bacteria. "They experienced a kind of serotonin withdrawal," Matthews said. They were still faster than the controls, on average, an effect that lasted for another month of testing.

Matthews says people are exposed to M. vaccae just by virtue of being outdoors. "It's only been the last 100 years or so that we've become more urbanized and are eating our foods in a different way."

We no longer eat foods that we grow or gather ourselves, she says - foods that haven't been "washed multiple times, and dunked in hot water, or processed or grown with pesticides."

Making time in school curriculums for children to learn outdoors might decrease their anxiety and improve their ability to learn new tasks, she says.

"There's a movement now in some schools to actually have gardens that are part of the school experience."

Maze cartoons for publication, by Yonatan Frimer, Maze Designer

For immediate release -

May 24th, 2010 -

The link below contains 5 (five) editorial cartoons

http://teamofmonkeys.com/press

This week, the cartoon topics are:
* Obama's poor poll ratings.
* Financial reform effect on jobs.
* Gulf oil spill effect on oil's business environment.
* Obama administration's modus operandi.
* Times square bomber causes over-reaction.

Again, you can access these cartoons at http://teamofmonkeys.com/press

Hope you've enjoyed this weeks cartoons. More to follow next week! If you need a cartoonist at your paper, look no further, Yonatan Frimer is available for freelance, contact details below.


Contact: Yonatan Frimer
Phone: +972-545-683-040
email: yfrimer@yahoo.com
website:http://teamofmonkeys.com
URL for this weeks cartoons: http://teamofmonkeys.com/press

All Yonatan Frimer cartoons are also mazes. you are permitted to print or publish on-line in any of your publications:


***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Released Monday, May 24th, 2010

You may print or publish any of these cartoons.

  • Each of these cartoons is also a maze, entrance/exits marked by arrows.
  • Links to printable version and the solutions are under each cartoon.
  • Please attribute to Yonatan Frimer and RSL.
  • Yonatan Frimer is available for hire as a freelance cartoonist, fore more info click here.



Maze Cartoon Obama sleeping and ignoring the polls:Obama President Polls Maze Cartoon
Editorial cartoon maze of President Obama sleeping as a hot cup of coffee marked "Polls" is next to him and a caption that reads, "Wake up and smell the....." Created by Yonatan Frimer.
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the solution to the maze.






Maze Cartoon of your job on drugs, I mean financial reform:This is your brain on financial reform
Editorial Cartoon maze poking fun at the 1987 commercial "This is your brain on drugs" by making the egg "jobs" and the frying pan is financial reform. Any questions? Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the solution to the maze.






Maze Cartoon Oil Growing on Trees:
Oil growing on trees getting harmed by BP oil disaster, by Yonatan Frimer maze cartoon, political maze
Editorial cartoon maze of a tree that grows oil, and a hard hat worker tells a suit that "This kind of tree won't survive if that oil slick damages the environment" Created by Yonatan Frimer.
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the solution to the maze.






Maze Cartoon of all of Obama's eggs in the wrong basket:
All the eggs in the wrong basket
Editorial Cartoon maze on the Obama Administration's modus operandi of putting all their eggs in the "Campaign Promises" basket and none in the "Strategic Decision" basket. Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the solution to the maze.


****Advertisement: Check out some cool maze art ****


Maze Cartoon of a ticking bum in Times Square:
Ticking bum in times square - maze cartoon
Editorial cartoon maze of a cop calling off an alarm because it's just a "Ticking bum" not a ticking bomb. Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the solution to the maze.



*Full Stop*

To contact the artist, Yonatan Frimer, please email yfrimer@yahoo.com
To order prints-on-demand of these cartoons and other mazes for your offices, please click here.

Home Page
Contact

More Cartoons:
Cartoons for publication (April A)
Cartoons for publication (April B)
Cartoons for publication (May A)
Cartoons for publication (May B)
Cartoons for publication (May B)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

2010 was a good year to be a Cameron, by Yonatan Frimer

Editorial Cartoon Maze: 2010, Year to be a CameronJames and David Cameron maze cartoon

Cartoon maze editorial both David Cameron, the new prime minister of England and of James Cameron, who produced and directed Avatar, a movie that has broken many records for generating the most revenue. 2010 sure is a good year if your last name is Cameron.
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution

Want more maze cartoons like this? Check out these sites:
Team Of Monkeys Maze Cartoons
Political Maze on Comic Sherpa, by Yonatan Frimer
Maze art on ink blot mazes, by Yonatan Frimer

Maze cartoon's topics in the news:

David Cameron is new British Prime Minister Hasan Suroor


YOUNG TEAM AT HELM:
Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron (left)

LONDON: Britain's first post-war coalition government, with Conservative leader David Cameron as Prime Minister and his Liberal Democrat counterpart Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister, took office on Wednesday, promising to give the country a “historic new direction” as the sun set on the 13-year Labour rule with Gordon Brown's dramatic resignation on Tuesday.

There was relief in...(Read more)


"Avatar" Could Become Highest-Selling DVD Ever


Avatar Could Become Highest-Selling DVD Ever
In less than three weeks, James Cameron's "Avatar" has become the best-selling title ever in a comparable period, with almost 20 million copies sold worldwide. The film has also sold 6.2 million Blu-ray units, which...(Read more)





Want more maze cartoons like this? Check out these sites:
Team Of Monkeys Maze Cartoons
Political Maze on Comic Sherpa, by Yonatan Frimer
Maze art on ink blot mazes, by Yonatan Frimer

some other popular maze cartoons

editorial maze comic about arnold schwarzenegger and the new electric hummermaze of obama changecartoon maze pope vatican
economy of greece maze cartoonmaze cartoon new start treaty by Yonatan Frimer


ipad by bill gates microsoft

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Cartoon Maze Einstein's Theory of World War 4 by Yonatan Frimer

Einstein's Theory of Warmaze cartoon new start treaty by Yonatan Frimer
Editorial Cartoon Maze on Einstein's Theory that World War 4 will be fought with sticks. In the foreground an HTV-2 rocket flies off, a weapon that is intended to replace the atomic bomb.
Click here for the maze in larger, printable format
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution

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