Matilda's Lab Newsletter #34
This week, we go artsy with Disney, learn about the memory forming power of music and the power of balance for immunity. We have a proven way to improve your welbeing and possible life on Mercury?
The holiday continues…
What we’ve been up to
Last week we had only just arrived in Las Vegas, now we are on our final full day before we fly back home; and what a busy week it has been!
Las Vegas may not have been firing on all cylinders as the city recovered from the F1 grand Prix the previous weekend. There were no Bellagio fountains or Mirage volcano (as we heard last week), but there was no lack of things to enjoy. We took Matilda to see the Blue Man Group, who are wonderful and funny. The whole family went to see some medieval jousting at the Tournament of Kings, which was all themed up for Christmas.
Upon leaving Las Vegas, we were able to reveal a surprise to the kids that we had been keeping for a while. We’re going to Disneyland!
I won’t give you a full itinerary of what we did, because we did a lot, over the 3 days that we had; but I will focus on some highlights.
I would recommend anyone going to any Disney park do some research beforehand because there is a lot going on and lot’s of people there are regulars. Despite my research there were surprises, the best being that they do drawing classes with official Disney artists. Matilda and I learnt how to draw Sully from Monsters Inc. and Sisu from Raya and the Last Dragon. It was wonderful to get some tips from a real expert. There are also Disney art stores where Disney arts sit, drawing artworks which then go up for sale. Matilda had a chat to an artist for a good while who gave her some tips for developing as an artist. This was a highlight for me because this wasn’t just run of the mill theme park stuff. This are things that help you on a personal level and that you take it with you long after you leave.
Nathaniel, in truth, is a bit young for the trip. 3 is the worst age to do this stuff. They’re old enough for you to pay full whack, but too young to really appreciate what is going on. However, he loved what her could do: which included flying the Millennium Falcon on the Smuggler’s Run ride. Meeting characters was supposed to be another good one for him, but he kept on getting very shy every time we met someone, including his absolute favourite; Spiderman. The one breakthrough that we had was when he ran up to get a hug from Black Panther, which is gave one of my favourite pictures from the trip.
New Blog content
No, I’m on holiday!
From the Archive
No, I’m properly on holiday.
Science News
I have been looking at news stories. Jet lag has got me up early in the mornings and Disney have wifi and long queues:
It’s well known that music can manipulate our emotions but now it’s been found that music can help us to create memories. Looks like I’m on the right track with these science songs.
In another blow to those in advertising, it turns out that you don’t want to boost your immune system. A balanced immune system works much better than a boosted one. It’s almost like billions of years of evolution actually created something that works. Who’d have thought?
This is one for those who take comfort from knowing that things could be worse. It’s been found that some mosquitos specifically target frogs nostrils, as they have lots of blood and very thin skin.
Excersice is clearly linked to good wellbeing, but not everyone can do strenuous exercise. A new study has found that visiting new places has a positive effect on your overall wellbeing. So whether you are exercising or not, it’s still good to get out and about.
The list of potential locations for life in the solar system has grown again. The latest contender? Life could be hiding underground, beneath Mercury’s salt glaciers.
I’ve not mentioned them for a while but BBC science social media is still breaking the biggest science stories of all, like Swindon bin collections undergo biggest change for 15 years.
Kicking back
Fun time…
It looks like it shouldn’t work, but it does.
“You’ll never get that home” they said. I sure showed them.
That’s it for this week.
Please feel free to get in contact with any questions, suggestions or comments either via Substack or at matildaslab@gmail.com.
Please share this with anyone who you think will appreciate it. And remember to share with me any cool sciencey stuff that you find to make sure that I can pack this newsletter with best new science content each week.
Until next time, remember that one person’s old news is another’s revelation; so explore. Sometimes it’s not about being the first up the hill. The view’s still going to be breath-taking, no matter how many people have seen it before you.
Your drawing classes with the Disney artists sound awesome!