Corona Diary Week 5 Distance Learning

WHY IS THERE A PLACEBO EFFECT? + LESSONS FOR THE WEEK + PLAYLIST

WHY IS THERE A PLACEBO EFFECT?

OUCH!

Did you ever accidentally cut yourself, but not realize it until later? Strange that it didn't hurt when it happened, isn't it? It turns out that your brain has its own pain killers that are released during emergency situations or when you are very focused on something. A friend of mine once told me that his brother was in a motorcycle accident - he was badly hurt lying on the pavement, but he picked himself up, walked back to his bike, stood it up and put down the kickstand, and then collapsed to the ground.

The odd fact is that prescription pain killers work because they mimic the chemicals you already have in your brain. This is just one of the mechanisms behind the placebo effect.

So many aspects of life seem to be controlled by what's going on in your mind: your experience of ailment, hurt and disease is no exception. Scientific research has shown that the placebo effect is very variable and can be affected by your expections, your cultural background, your mood - even the color of the placebo pill!

The placebo effect can't cure a broken leg, but it can help to manage the symptoms that can be the most debilitating thing about a disease. It shouldn't be a surprise that evolution has selected for such a thing, and especially that it would be connected to your psychology. What an evolutionary advantage it would be to be able to manage health issues merely by believing that you can!

So how do we know that pain killers and other medications for symptoms actually work and aren't just the placebo effect? The answer next time.

CP LESSONS

	Lesson 1: Collisions & Impulse Impulse is a way of getting a handle on collisions and what makes them dangerous. First, there is a basic video on Impulse. Then, there is the first part of a video on collisions put together by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Those are the folks who crash test cars and give them safety ratings. Watch the videos and answer the questions below. Send me a pic of your answers and I'll let you know how you did. Questions on Impulse
	Lesson 2: Safe Vehicle Design Safe vehicle design involves using the physics of impulse to protect the occupants of a vehicle during a collision. The first video is the rest of the Insurance Institute video. It shows the three elements of safe vehicles design. It contains vital information to help you do the Crash Project in the next lesson. In the optional second video, I talk about how unsafe older cars are. Although larger heavier vehicles do have some advantages in a crash, older cars had few or none of the safety features that are now required. You also get to see a head-to-head collision between a new car and a classic car to see the difference!
	Lesson 3: Crash Project! Purpose: To reduce crash forces in a model vehicle. Materials: 3 DVD or video game cases (or a single cardboard box of similar size) Tape Paper Cell Phone/Laptop Camera Ramp Something to prop up the ramp Passenger (Lego block, iPhone charger block, or cell phone) In the video, Mr. Restad demonstrates the crash test project. Full Instructions If you do not have the materials, you may do this alternative virtual crash project: Worksheet Link to the Crash Sim

HONORS LESSONS

	Lesson 1: Collisions & Impulse Impulse is a way of getting a handle on collisions and what makes them dangerous. First, there is a basic video on Impulse. Then, there is the first part of a video on collisions put together by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Those are the folks who crash test cars and give them safety ratings. (The video starts at about the 12 second mark.) Watch the videos and answer the questions below. Send me a pic of your answers and I'll let you know how you did. Questions on Impulse
	Lesson 2: Impulse & Change in Momentum Taking another step on the road to trying to quantify collisions. Take a look at the video and try the worksheet below. Send me a pic of your answers and I'll let you know how you did. Impulse & Change in Momentum worksheet
	Lesson 3: Crash Project! The first video is the rest of the Insurance Institute video. It shows the three elements of safe vehicles design and contains vital information to help you do the Crash Project. In the second video, Mr. Restad gives information about the Crash Project. Purpose: To reduce crash forces in a model vehicle. Materials: 3 DVD or video game cases (or a single cardboard box of similar size) Tape Paper Cell Phone/Laptop Camera Ramp Something to prop up the ramp Passenger (Lego block, iPhone charger block, or cell phone) Full Instructions If you do not have the materials, you may do this alternative virtual crash project: Worksheet Link to the Crash Sim
	(Optional) Older Cars & DU Problems In the video, I talk about how unsafe older cars are. Although larger heavier vehicles do have some advantages in a crash, older cars had few or none of the safety features that are now required. You also get to see a head-to-head collision between a new car and a classic car to see the difference! Here are some trickier problems if you want to go for the DU this week. Choose any two: DU Problems

THE PLAYLIST

Corona Week 5 Playlist Some exceptions (see below).

Song	Artist	Year	Comments
Bird's Lament	Moondog & London Saxophonic	1997	Imagine a tall blind man in a long beard dressed as a viking with horned helmet & spear on the streets of New York City in the 1940s and 50s, busking for money. That was Moondog. Many thought he was homeless, but he was not - he just preferred to perform on the streets. His music is an interesting mix of jazz, classical and what sounds like movie music. He was influential for modern composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Here's more info.
Subdivisions	Rush	1982	Hard to believe that all that sound is coming from a three-piece band. Yes I know there are overdubs, but I don't think there's that many on this song. The lyrics are about conformism, written by the recently deceased Neil Peart.
Satellite	Luscious Jackson	1992	The only popular song I heard from Luscious Jackson at the time was "Naked Eyes" which I didn't much like. But I recently discovered some really good ones on their album Searching for Manny which I thought were nicely bluesy with bit of grunge/punk attitude.
Time (Clock of the Heart)	Boy George	1982	Not a huge fan of Boy George's music, but I really like this one.
Blow Out	Radiohead	1993	Everyone was listening to "Creep" off of their first album. I thought this song was better. I love a beautiful melodic tune that starts to slip into chaos, but then comes back.
Her Majesty's Socialist Request	RJD2	2013	Sounds like a marching band to me.
Building Steam with a Grain of Salt	DJ Shadow	1996	Somehow I missed this album when it first came out: Endtroducing... Apparently, it was the first album composed completely of samples. Good album.
Witches Promise	Jethro Tull	1970	I always visualize pennants streaming in the wind at some sort of medieval fair when I hear the opening flutes.
She's Gone	Tindersticks	1995	I love the unusual instrumentation and the baritone voice. So often in pop and rock, you only hear tenors.
Alone Again (Or)	The Damned	1986	The Damned's take on the Arthur Lee & Love song.
Ceremony	New Order	1981	The version of this song on Spotify is not the same as the one on the actual album.. It sounds like a demo or live version. I recommend the version on disk 1 of their double CD Substance.
The Tourist	Radiohead	1997	From what I think is Radiohead's best album, OK Computer. Certainly one of my top albums of all time. They ask me where the hell I'm going at a 1000 feet per second Hey man, slow down, slow down Idiot! slow down Good advice in a too busy world.
Pipeline	The Chantays	1962	Excellent early surf music.
Paraffin Brain	The Nightingales	1982	Found this on a compilation CD: Ambition: The Best of Cherry Red Records v1 & 2.
Jungle Love	Steve Miller Band	1977	The whistly stuff reminds me of R2D2 from Star Wars. Considering that the song came out a few months after the movie, I wonder if it's not a coincidence.
Atomic	Blondie	1980	Great Blondie song that you don't hear all that often. There's a strange intro on the Spotify version that I've never heard before.
Out of Time	Rolling Stones	1966	I like the version with strings on the album Metamorphosis better than the version with marimba that you sometimes hear.
The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)	Greg Kihn Band	1981	Great opening guitar riff.
Suite #2 Badinerie	J.S. Bach		Amazing little tune.
Dry the Rain	The Beta Band	1998	I usually skip to 3:30 for the best part of the song. First heard it in the movie High Fidelity.
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)	Talking Heads	1983
She Blinded Me with Science	Thomas Dolby	1982	This song certainly made it out of the 80s in a big way, probably thanks to the video getting heavy airplay on MTV. I think it's a good song, though.
Ashes to Ashes	David Bowie	1980
Human	The Human League	1986
Turn to Stone	ELO	1977