TikTok and Sony Pictures Entertainment Team Up on a Promotional Campaign for the Feature Film "Escape Room"

TikTok, the world's leading short form video platform, and Sony Pictures Entertainment have teamed up on a promotional campaign based on the Columbia Pictures hit psychological thriller, Escape Room, as the film continues its international rollout.

For this campaign, Sony Pictures recreated elaborate escape rooms from the film, including the "shrinking room" and the "ice room." The promotional partnership officially kicked off last week in Madrid, Spain, where Sony Pictures and TikTok co-hosted a "Creator Event" for 30 leading influencers from over 17 countries, as well as TikTok's "creators" from eight countries: UK, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, Malaysia and Spain.

Sony Pictures recreated elaborate escape rooms from the film, including the "shrinking room" and the "ice room"

Both groups participated in escape room challenges and recorded their experiences generating over 75+ pieces of content. TikTok's "creators" included the exceptional magician @magicsingh, comedian Karol Konk @karolkonk and the talented makeup artist and body painter @vickybanham, who all shared their experiences with their fans and on the Official Escape Room Movie TikTok page.

The event ended with massive scavenger hunt, exploring Madrid's prominent landmarks, solving puzzles and photographing and sampling local Spanish tapas. The prize for the winning team was a special fan screening of the film in their local markets.

Sony Pictures recreated elaborate escape rooms from the film, including the "shrinking room" and the "ice room"

TikTok's collaboration with Sony Pictures is their largest, international promotional partnership with a Hollywood studio to date.

⏩ TikTok users can now follow the creators and the Escape Room official page @escaperoommovie to experience the excitement of the much-anticipated hit film. 

Escape Room

Escape Room is a psychological thriller about six strangers who find themselves in circumstances beyond their control and must use their wits to find the clues or die. Directed by Adam Robitel, the screenplay is by Bragi Schut and Maria Melnik and the story by Bragi Schut. The film is produced by Neal H. Moritz and Ori Marmur. Rebecca Rivo serves as executive producer. The film stars Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine, Nik Dodani and with Yorick van Wageningen.

"TikTok's community interests and demographic are perfectly in line with Escape Room's audience and we are thrilled to team up with Sony Pictures. This collaboration allows us to offer a unique experience to some of our fabulous "creators" but, most importantly, to create exciting and engaging content for our global community," said Stefan Heinrich, Head of Global Marketing at TikTok.

"An innovative and immersive thriller like Escape Room makes for a perfect collaboration with global innovators like TikTok. With Sony Pictures Spain creating the live experience in Madrid, based on the movie, the TikTok creators were able to generate their own fun and shareable UGC for their followers and spread their excitement about the film," said Sal Ladestro, Executive Vice President of International Marketing for Sony Pictures Releasing International.

⏩ Escape Room debuts in U.K. cinemas on the 1st of February and it's the latest of Sony Pictures' successful genre film releases, which also include the Insidious franchise and Searching.

SOURCE: TikTok

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UNICEF: Nearly 3,000 Children Crossed From Guatemala To Mexico Since Mid-January

Paloma Escudero, UNICEF Director of Communication, visits migrant families waiting at the Mexico-Guatemala border to apply for a humanitarian visas in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on January 29, 2019. © UNICEF/UN0277464/Bindra (CNW Group/UNICEF Canada)

More than 12,000 people, including 3,000 children, have crossed from Tecun Uman, Guatemala, to Tapachula, Mexico, since January 17, UNICEF said today. It is critical to uphold special protection for these children, particularly those among them traveling alone, the children's agency said. 

"The Mexican government and people have been mostly welcoming towards the thousands of children and families crossing the border every day," said Paloma Escudero, UNICEF Director of Communication at the end of a two-day visit to Tapachula. "Whether these children stay in Mexico or head further up north, it is crucial that they remain with their families, that they are kept out of detention centres and that their best interests are protected throughout the journey."

According to government statistics, more than 30,000 children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador were temporarily held in detention centres in 2018.

Although Mexico is increasingly implementing measures to safeguard children's rights while in transit or seeking asylum in the country, challenges persist. At the Tapachula migration station, which holds close to 1,000 men, women and children, Escudero spoke with mothers and young women kept at the station while their asylum claims or deportation orders are processed.

"Although people staying in the centre have access to food, health and recreational services, the conditions are inadequate," Escudero said. "I saw mothers and small children sleeping on the floor in the hallways. Many told me that they were unsure what would happen to them next or when they might be allowed to leave."

The new Mexican Government has officially committed to end detention of all child migrants and is presently working to fulfill this new policy. UNICEF and other organizations are closely supporting these efforts by helping develop alternatives to detention.

"Many of these children and young people are trading the trauma of violence and poverty back home for the trauma of displacement and uncertainty while on the move," Escudero said. "The hope of a better, safer future that keeps them going is getting further and further out of reach." 

In Mexico, UNICEF continues to work with the Government and its partners to ensure that migrant children receive the support and services they need and that their rights are upheld. Through its teams in Tapachula, UNICEF is giving direct support to children arriving at the migration office in Ciudad Hidalgo, providing them with information about their migratory options. The children's agency is also providing direct technical assistance to the Social Welfare Agency and Child Protection Authorities to ensure unaccompanied children are duly processed and receive appropriate care.

UNICEF is advocating with its Government partners to build on the country's existing successful programmes for children on the move, keeping the best interests of the child above all other considerations.

"UNICEF has been working with the government to identify and implement alternative solutions, including humanitarian visas, open shelters and day centres, that can keep families and children safe and protected while their claims are being processed," Escudero said. "We look forward to seeing more of these programmes along the Mexico migration route. After all, migration is not a crime and should not be treated as such."

SOURCE: UNICEF Canada

'The Wizard of Oz' 80th Anniversary Screenings Break $1M at the Box Office

'The Wizard of Oz'

"The Wizard of Oz," the inimitable 1939 musical-fantasy, grossed over $1 million at the domestic box office on Sunday – the first day of a limited 80th anniversary re-release – setting a new record for Fathom Events as the highest-grossing single-day classic film presentation in the company's history.

"The Wizard of Oz" was No. 8 at the domestic box office on Sunday with just two showtimes in nearly 700 cinemas nationwide. The 80th anniversary presentation of "The Wizard of Oz" also had the highest per-screen average of any film in wide release that day. The Warner Bros. feature is the first film in Fathom Events' yearlong 2019 TCM Big Screen Classics series, which is presented in partnership with Turner Classic Movies.

⏩ Two encore screenings – one on Tuesday, January 29, and one on Wednesday, January 30 – were previously scheduled, and Fathom Events and TCM today announced two additional encore dates due to audience demand: Sunday, February 3, at 1:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, February 5, at 7:00 p.m. (all local times).

"There is no movie quite like 'The Wizard of Oz,' and the response to its anniversary presentation has been genuinely overwhelming," said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events. "It's the perfect way for multiple generations of fans to experience movie magic together, and also an incredible start to our 2019 TCM Big Screen Classics series."

"Audience response to the screening of 'The Wizard of Oz' is a direct reflection of why we partner with Fathom Events on the TCM Big Classics Series," said Genevieve McGillicuddy, Vice President of Enterprises and Strategic Partnerships, TCM. "This series brings film lovers of all ages together to experience the magic of the movies on the big screen and allows TCM to be the ultimate gathering point for fans of classic cinema."

'The Wizard of Oz' - Dorothy

A partnership between Fathom Events and TCM that began with a handful of films in 2012 has grown into an increasingly popular annual series. Throughout 2019, TCM Big Screen Classics will present 14 unforgettable movie milestones, including "To Kill a Mockingbird" (March), "Field of Dreams" (April), "Lawrence of Arabia" (September) and "Alien" (October), among others. 

Each film plays for just two or three days and is accompanied by insightful new commentary from TCM Primetime host Ben Mankiewicz, presented before and after the film.

SOURCE: Fathom Events

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Lessons From 'Spider-Man': How Video Games Could Change College Science Education

The new ‘Spider-Man’ video game isn’t just fun and games – it’s also science. (Marvel / Insomniac Games)

Like many people over the holidays, I spent some time – maybe too much – playing one of the most popular and best reviewed video games of 2018: “Spider-Man.”

While I thought I’d be taking a break from chemistry research, I found myself web-swinging through virtual research missions all over New York City. I collected samples of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Hell’s Kitchen, studied vehicle emissions in Chinatown and determined the chemical composition of atmospheric particulate matter in Midtown.

“Spider-Man” has many of these eco-friendly research missions. But what I found most encouraging is that the game also includes tools that can potentially teach advanced concepts in chemistry and physics. These tools include adjusting the wavelength and amplitude of radio waves, rewiring circuits to meet target voltages, and what will be examined here, using absorption spectroscopy to identify unknown chemicals.

Believe it or not, the millions of people playing “Spider-Man” have been unwittingly introduced to principles of quantum mechanics. There is a lot of veiled science to this aspect of the video game. Perhaps more importantly – as a chemistry researcher and university lecturer – I believe the game represents an interesting opportunity to teach science in a fun and engaging way in higher education.

Spectroscopy and ‘Spider-Man’

To better understand the scientific technique that players simulate in “Spider-Man,” it helps to have a short primer on what absorption spectroscopy is.

The interaction of light with matter is the most powerful means scientists have to understand what matter is made of. When matter does not interact with light, we are quite literally left in the dark. This problem is made obvious in the still unknown composition of dark matter that constitutes the vast majority of matter in the universe.

Using light to study ordinary matter like atoms and molecules is a broad field of science known as spectroscopy. It is an important part of university courses in chemistry and physics. There are currently many different types of spectroscopy. However, the underlying concepts are almost entirely the same as the original version that began in the 17th century when Isaac Newton first dispersed sunlight with a prism.

As famously illustrated on Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album cover, dispersing the white light of the sun with a prism reveals its continuous color spectrum extending from violet (higher energy, shorter wavelength) to red (lower energy, longer wavelength). However, if this is done carefully, you would find that this continuous spectrum is patterned with intermittent dark bands.

While the origin of these dark bands was not fully understood until the 20th century, scientists now know that they are due to absorption of specific wavelengths of light by atoms and molecules present in the sun. In fact, this kind of spectroscopy led to the discovery of helium in the solar spectrum before it was identified on Earth. This is why it derives its name from the Greek “helios” meaning sun.

So what causes this phenomenon? Atoms and molecules have a set of energy levels that depend on how their electrons are arranged. The absorption of light – which remember is energy – can cause the electrons to rearrange into these different levels. The catch is that the energy – or wavelength – of light must exactly match the energy difference between two electron arrangements in an atom or molecule for absorption to occur. This set of energies is unique for each chemical and leads to a distinct absorption spectrum much like a fingerprint from which it can be identified.

In “Spider-Man,” the player identifies unknown substances using simplified versions of these spectra.

Spectrum of Unknown Molecule from Research Mission.

The goal is to match the pattern in the spectrum using the fragment inventory provided to give the absorption spectrum of the unknown substance. Unfortunately for chemists everywhere, determining the chemical structure of an unknown molecule is much more complicated.

Still, there is a significant amount of science conveyed in the video game version of what a spectroscopist would call assigning this spectrum. Only slight modifications and additional explanation could make these parts of the game an excellent way to teach these concepts to undergraduate science students. But are video games ever used in higher education?

Video games in higher education

Video games for teaching more elementary skills like arithmetic or spelling are common. Similarly, colleges and universities are increasingly infusing video games into their coursework.

In a recent publication in the journal Nature Chemistry, researchers presented a modified version of the video game “Minecraft” called “PolyCraft World.” In this game, the player learns polymer chemistry by crafting materials in the game. Preliminary results showed that students learned real chemistry through the game even though they weren’t doing it for grades or getting regular classroom instruction.

In the popular game “Kerbal Space Program,” the player builds their own space program by successfully launching rockets into orbit. The game was not originally intended for educational purposes but implements rigorous orbital mechanics in its physics calculations. It is so accurate that NASA joined the game’s developers to create new missions, and it now has a teaching-ready standalone game that could be used directly in university physics courses.

A unique approach has been taken with the biochemistry-based game “FoldIt.” This game serves as both an educational as well as a citizen science platform. In the game, players manipulate the structures of real proteins to search for the “best” or lowest energy structures. Results published in the journal Nature showed that the player’s search methods can be successfully combined with computer-based algorithms to solve actual scientific problems.

The use of video games in higher education is a real possibility and could even have a promising future in higher education given the advantages of delivering educational content through a video game format. These advantages include things such as remote access, personalized student progress and immediate feedback. However, creating an engaging video game from scratch is challenging, costly and time-consuming. As indicated by the creators of “PolyCraft World,” finding existing games to modify for educational purposes – like the research missions in “Spider-Man” – could be the best way forward.

About Today's Contributor:

Aaron W. Harrison, Teaching and Research Fellow, Chapman University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

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New Mary Tyler Moore Biography Published to Coincide with Second Anniversary of Her Passing

New biography on Mary Tyler Moore

Two years ago – January 25, 2017 – the world lost Mary Tyler Moore at age 80. Unknown by many today, Moore was one of the most celebrated actresses of her day, receiving over a dozen major awards, and an equal amount of additional award nominations. Among these, Moore won two Emmys and a Golden Globe Award for her role as Laura Petrie in the 1960s sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, and three Emmys, plus a second Golden Globe, as Mary Richards in her 1970s series The Mary Tyler Moore Show. 

In 1980, Moore surprised many critics and fans by turning away from comedy and challenging herself with a stark dramatic role in the Robert Redford-directed drama, Ordinary People. For her performance, she won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Oscar. Moore also won an Emmy for another dramatic turn, in the 1993 TV movie Stolen Babies. 

However, of greater importance than the awards Moore received are the two iconic characters she played on television, which have had a lasting impression on millions of people.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show, premiering in September 1970, made Moore a symbol and role model for the Women's Movement. Her portrayal of an independent working single woman challenged traditional female roles in television. 

Former First Lady Michelle Obama said about the character, "She wasn't married; she wasn't looking to get married; at no point did the series end in a happy ending with her finding a husband – which seemed to be the course you had to take as a woman."

A decade before, Moore's role as Laura Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show confronted conventional wives and moms as seen on television with the warm chemistry between her and Van Dyke. 

Moore said, "We brought romance to [TV] comedy, and, yes, Rob and Laura had sex!"

While celebrating Moore's life and career, noted author Herbie J Pilota explores in great depth Moore's personal and professional struggles. Pilato narrates the many TV and film productions, stage plays, and personal appearances that spanned the actresses 50-plus-year-career, but equally delineates as never before Moore's issues with childhood sexual abuse; alcoholism; diabetes; cosmetic surgery; and her near-obsessive fight for animal rights. Also examined in candid detail are Moore's troubled personal relationships with parents and spouses, as well as the tragic deaths of her son, her brother, and sister; and difficulties with a few of her co-stars, such as Rose Marie (from The Dick Van Dyke Show).

In covering the gamut of Moore's personal and professional life, Pilato's new biography features exclusive interviews with many of the actress's co-stars, including Ed Asner, Gavin MacLeod, Larry Matthews, and the late Carol Channing, plus recollections from several writer/producers who worked on many of Moore's television productions. Among these is television journalist and breast-cancer survivor Betty Rollin, whom Moore portrayed in the groundbreaking 1978 TV biopic, First You Cry.

Despite the many personal challenges throughout her life, MARY: THE MARY TYLER MOORE STORY documents how the multiple award-winning actress achieved a level of stardom and lasting admiration experienced by few – a fitting reminder of how Moore's Mary Richards could "turn the world on with her smile."

SOURCE: Jacobs/Brown Press 

In 1968, Apollo 8 Realised The 2,000-Year-Old Dream Of A Roman Philosopher

Earth seen from the Moon (NASA)

Half a century of Christmases ago, the NASA space mission Apollo 8 became the first manned craft to leave low Earth orbit, atop the unprecedentedly powerful Saturn V rocket, and head out to circumnavigate another celestial body, making 11 orbits of the moon before its return. The mission is often cast in a supporting role – a sort of warm up for the first moon landing. Yet for me, the voyage of Borman, Lovell and Anders six months before Neil Armstrong’s “small step for a man” will always be the great leap for humankind.

Apollo 8 is the space mission for the humanities, if ever there was one: this was the moment that humanity realised a dream conceived in our cultural imagination over two millennia ago. And like that first imagined journey into space, Apollo 8 also changed our moral perspective on the world forever.

In the first century BC, Roman statesman and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero penned a fictional dream attributed to the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus. The soldier is taken up into the sphere of distant stars to gaze back towards the Earth from the furthest reaches of the cosmos:

And as I surveyed them from this point, all the other heavenly bodies appeared to be glorious and wonderful — now the stars were such as we have never seen from this earth; and such was the magnitude of them all as we have never dreamed; and the least of them all was that planet, which farthest from the heavenly sphere and nearest to our earth, was shining with borrowed light, but the spheres of the stars easily surpassed the earth in magnitude — already the earth itself appeared to me so small, that it grieved me to think of our empire, with which we cover but a point, as it were, of its surface.

Earth-centric

Even for those of us who are familiar with the ancient and medieval Earth-centred cosmology, with its concentric celestial spheres of sun, moon, planets and finally the stars wheeling around us in splendid eternal rotation, this comes as a shock. For the diagrams that illustrate pre-modern accounts of cosmology invariably show the Earth occupying a fair fraction of the entire universe.

The geocentric model. Bartolomeu Velho, 1568 (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris). Wikimedia Commons

Cicero’s text informs us right away that these illustrations are merely schematic, bearing as much relation to the actual imagined scale of the universe as today’s London Tube map does to the real geography of its tunnels. And his Dream of Scipio was by no means an arcane musing lost to history – becoming a major part of the canon for succeeding centuries. The fourth century Roman provincial scholar Macrobius built one of the great and compendious “commentaries” of late antiquity around it, ensuring its place in learning throughout the first millennium AD.

Cicero, and Macrobius after him, make two intrinsically-linked deductions. Today we would say that the first belongs to science, the second to the humanities, but, for ancient writers, knowledge was not so artificially fragmented. In Cicero’s text, Scipio first observes that the Earth recedes from this distance to a small sphere hardly distinguishable from a point. Second, he reflects that what we please to call great power is, on the scale of the cosmos, insignificant. Scipio’s companion remarks:

I see, that you are even now regarding the abode and habitation of mankind. And if this appears to you as insignificant as it really is, you will always look up to these celestial things and you won’t worry about those of men. For what renown among men, or what glory worth the seeking, can you acquire?

The vision of the Earth, hanging small and lowly in the vastness of space, generated an inversion of values for Cicero; a human humility. This also occurred in the case of the three astronauts of Apollo 8.

A change in perspective

There is a vast difference between lunar and Earth orbit – the destination of all earlier space missions. “Space” is not far away. The international space station orbits, as most manned missions, a mere 250 miles above our heads. We could drive that distance in half a day. The Earth fills half the sky from there, as it does for us on the ground.

Apollo 8 crew-members: James Lovell Jr., William Anders, Frank Borman (L-R). NASA

But the moon is 250,000 miles distant. And so Apollo 8, in one firing of the S4B third stage engine to leave Earth orbit, increased the distance from Earth attained by a human being by not one order of magnitude, but three. From the moon, the Earth is a small glistening coin of blue, white and brown in the distant black sky.

So it was that, as their spacecraft emerged from the far side of its satellite, and they saw the Earth slowly rise over the bleak and barren horizon, the crew grabbed all cameras to hand and shot the now iconic “Earthrise” pictures that are arguably the great cultural legacy of the Apollo program. Intoning the first verses from the Book of Genesis as their Christmas message to Earth – “… and the Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep…” – was their way of sharing the new questions that this perspective urges. As Lovell put it in an interview this year:

But suddenly, when you get out there and see the Earth as it really is, and when you realise that the Earth is only one of nine planets and it’s a mere speck in the Milky Way galaxy, and it’s lost to oblivion in the universe — I mean, we’re a nothing as far as the universe goes, or even our galaxy. So, you have to say, ‘Gee, how did I get here? Why am I here?’

The 20th century realisation of Scipio’s first century BC vision also energised the early stirrings of the environmental movement. When we have seen the fragility and unique compactness of our home in the universe, we know that we have one duty of care, and just one chance.

Space is the destiny of our imagination, and always has been, but Earth is our precious dwelling place. Cicero’s Dream, as well as its realisation in 1968, remind the world, fresh from the Poland climate talks, that what we do with our dreams today will affect generations to come.

About Today's Contributor:

Tom McLeish, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Department of Physics, University of York

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

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Air Pollution May Be Making Us Less Intelligent

Long-term exposure to air pollution was linked to cognitive decline in elderly people. (Tao55/ Shutterstock)

Not only is air pollution bad for our lungs and heart, it turns out it could actually be making us less intelligent, too. A recent study found that in elderly people living in China, long-term exposure to air pollution may hinder cognitive performance (things like our ability to pay attention, to recall past knowledge and generate new information) in verbal and maths tests. As people age, the link between air pollution and their mental decline becomes stronger. The study also found men and less educated people were especially at risk, though the reason why is currently unknown.

We already have compelling evidence that air pollution – especially the tiniest, invisible particulates in pollution – damages the brain in both humans and animals. Traffic pollution is associated with dementia, delinquent behaviour in adolescents, and stunted brain development in children who attend highly polluted schools.

⏩ Read more: London air pollution is restricting children's lung development – new research

In animals, mice exposed to urban air pollution for four months showed reduced brain function and inflammatory responses in major brain regions. This meant the brain tissues changed in response to the harmful stimuli produced by the pollution.

We don’t yet know which aspects of the air pollution particulate “cocktail” (such as the size, number or composition of particles) contribute most to reported brain deterioration. However, there’s evidence that nanoscale pollution particles might be one cause.

These particles are around 2,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, and can be moved around the body via the bloodstream after being inhaled. They may even reach the brain directly through the olfactory nerves that give the brain information about smell. This would let the particles bypass the blood-brain barrier, which normally protects the brain from harmful things circulating in the bloodstream.

Postmortem brain samples from people exposed to high levels of air pollution while living in Mexico City and Manchester, UK, displayed the typical signs of Alzheimer’s disease. These included clumps of abnormal protein fragments (plaques) between nerve cells, inflammation, and an abundance of metal-rich nanoparticles (including iron, copper, nickel, platinum, and cobalt) in the brain.

Automobiles are a major cause of the world’s air pollution. (Tao55/ Shutterstock)

The metal-rich nanoparticles found in these brain samples are similar to those found everywhere in urban air pollution, which form from burning oil and other fuel, and wear in engines and brakes. These toxic nanoparticles are often associated with other hazardous compounds, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons that occur naturally in fossil fuels, and can cause kidney and liver damage, and cancer.

Repeatedly inhaling nanoparticles found in air pollution may have a number of negative effects on the brain, including chronic inflammation of the brain’s nerve cells. When we inhale air pollution, it may activate the brain’s immune cells, the microglia. Breathing air pollution may constantly activate the killing response in immune cells, which can allow dangerous molecules, known as reactive oxygen species, to form more often. High levels of these molecules could cause cell damage and cell death.

The presence of iron found in air pollution may speed up this process. Iron-rich (magnetite) nanoparticles are directly associated with plaques in the brain. Magnetite nanoparticles can also increase the toxicity of the abnormal proteins found at the centre of the plaques. Postmortem analysis of brains from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease patients shows that microglial activation is common in these neurodegenerative diseases.

⏩ Read more: Your exposure to air pollution could be much higher than your neighbour's – here's why

The latest study of the link between air pollution and declining intelligence, alongside the evidence we already have for the link between air pollution and dementia, makes the case for cutting down air pollution even more compelling. A combination of changes to vehicle technology, regulation and policy could provide a practical way to reduce the health burden of air pollution globally.

However, there are some things we can do to protect ourselves. Driving less and walking or cycling more can reduce pollution. If you have to use a car, driving smoothly without fierce acceleration or braking, and avoiding travel during rush hours, can reduce emissions. Keeping windows closed and recirculating air in the car might help to reduce pollution exposure during traffic jams as well.

Reducing vehicle use by walking or cycling instead could have a major impact on air pollution levels. (Nick Starichenko/ Shutterstock)

But young children are among the most vulnerable because their brains are still developing. Many schools are located close to major roads, so substantially reducing air pollution is necessary. Planting specific tree species that are good at capturing particulates along roads or around schools could help.

Indoor pollution can also cause health problems, so ventilation is needed while cooking. Open fires (both indoors and outdoors) are a significant source of particulate pollution, with woodburning stoves producing a large percentage of outdoor air pollution in the winter. Using dry, well-seasoned wood, and an efficient ecodesign-rated stove is essential if you don’t want to pollute the atmosphere around your home. If you live in a naturally-ventilated house next to a busy road, using living spaces at the back of the house or upstairs will reduce your pollution exposure daily.

Finally, what’s good for your heart is good for your brain. Keeping your brain active and stimulated, eating a good diet rich in antioxidants, and keeping fit and active can all build up resilience. But as we don’t yet know exactly the mechanisms by which pollution causes damage to our brains – and how, if possible, their effects might be reversed – the best way we can protect ourselves is to reduce or avoid pollution exposure as much as possible.

About Today's Contributor:

Barbara Maher, Professor, Environmental science, Lancaster University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

PicsArt Unveils Most Uploaded, Edited & Socially Shared Celebrities of 2018 [Infographic]

"Year in Review"

PicsArt, the world's largest creative platform with more than 100 million monthly active users and influencers, today announced the release of its inaugural "Year in Review" infographic featuring the most uploaded, edited, and socially shared celebrities trending on social media in 2018!

With more than half a billion images, stickers, and user-generated content uploaded and shared to its platform every month, PicsArt looked at the top 10 most-uploaded and edited celebrities trending in 2018 for the following categories: Actors and Actresses, Music Artists, Models, and Celebrity Tributes (in honor of those who have passed). 

The top 10 lists were developed based off insights from PicsArt's user upload and edit trend data between January 1, 2018-December 1, 2018. 

A few highlights include: 

• A Star Was Born Indeed - No surprise here! Lady Gaga made the top five in the Actors category for her buzzworthy performance in A Star is Born. She joins the list with veterans Angelina Joliecoming in at #8, and Scarlett Johansson rounding off the list at #10.
• Grande's Got Game - As the hardest working woman in pop, it's no surprise that tiny and mighty Ariana Grande wins the #1 top music artist spot. Grande supersedes pop artist sensations Shawn Mendes and Taylor Swift which captured the #2 and #3 spots respectively.
• Kardashian vs Jenner - Kim Kardashian may be the Queen of likes on Instagram, but sister Kendall Jenner is ranked #1 for being the most edited and socially shared model on social media this year.
• From Comic Superhero to The King of Pop - Stan Lee and Michael Jackson may be gone, but their stream of fan tributes are alive and strong on social media this year.

⏩ See PicsArt 2018 Year in Review Recap here. ⏪

The Infographic:

PicsArt 2018 Year in Review - Infographic

"PicsArt has thousands of fandoms and interest groups spotlighting everything from celebrities and models to bands and brands, comic book heroes, and more," said Hovhannes Avoyan, founder and CEO of PicsArt. "Pulling our top trending celebrities by year end is a fun way to see which celebrities had stronger fandoms and creative enthusiasts. It'll be exciting to see what 2019 has in store and who will prevail!"

 SOURCE: PicsArt

Screen Legend Shirley MacLaine to Receive Career Achievement Honor at AARP The Magazine's Annual Movies for Grownups Awards

Shirley MacLaine (Image via Variety)

Shirley MacLaine will receive AARP The Magazine's 2018 Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award, the publication announced today. MacLaine will be honored at the 18th annual Movies for Grownups Awards ceremony on Feb. 4, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California.

The AARP Movies for Grownups multimedia franchise was established in 2002 to celebrate and encourage filmmaking with unique appeal to movie lovers with a grownup state of mind — and recognize the inspiring artists who make them.

MacLaine's remarkable career comprises more than 50 feature films highlighted by an Academy Award win and six nominations, seven Golden Globe Awards — including the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement — and six Emmy Award nominations. She is also an international bestselling author with 15 titles to her name.

"The award means a lot to me personally because AARP was there when I began," said Shirley MacLaine. "Many thanks to AARP for bestowing this award."

MacLaine will receive Movies for Grownups' highest honor at the awards ceremony, hosted by AARP The Magazine, where 2018's best films and filmmakers, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and more, will also receive honors.

MacLaine joins a prestigious list of previous AARP Movies for Grownups Career Achievement honorees, including Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Sharon Stone, Robert Redford and Robert De Niro.

"We are delighted to give this award to Shirley MacLaine, a remarkable performer and a true original, who has charmed and entertained us decade after decade," said Myrna Blyth, Senior Vice President and Editorial Director for AARP Media.

• The Movies for Grownups Awards will be broadcast for the second consecutive year on PBS. Co-produced by the Great Performances series, the Awards premiere Friday, February 15 at 9 p.m. on PBS, (check local listings), and will stream the following day on pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps. 

"Great Performances has long celebrated the talents of artists from numerous disciplines," said Great Performances Executive Producer David Horn. "By showcasing the talents of the accomplished professionals both on screen and behind the scenes in the year's great movies, Great Performances and The Movies for Grownups Awards can shine a spotlight on important art and artists for public media audiences."

Shirley MacLaine (image via AARP)

About Shirley MacLaine:

She made her professional debut dancing in a Broadway revival of Oklahoma! in the 1950s. Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry, marked her film debut, earning her a Golden Globe Award for "New Star of the Year – Actress" in 1955. 

MacLaine then starred in Some Came Running (1958), which led to her first Academy award nomination and an additional Golden Globe nomination. 

Her career continued to flourish with Oscar nominations for her work in The Children's Hour, The Apartment and Irma La Douce.  

Shirley MacLaine with Jack Lemmon in 1960's 'The Apartment'

In 1975, MacLaine received her fourth Oscar nomination, this time for Best Documentary as a producer and star of The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir.  Two years later, she was nominated for her starring role in The Turning Point.  

In 1983, MacLaine won an Academy Award for her landmark performance in Terms of Endearment.  She continued to receive recognition for her work and won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Madame Sousatzka.  

MacLaine was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Golden Globe Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1998. 

MacLaine's additional credits include notable films such as Steel Magnolias, Postcards from the Edge, In Her Shoes, and Rumor Has It…. Television credits include the telefilms These Old Broads, Carolina and Salem Witch Trials. She also starred in the CBS miniseries The Battle of Mary Kay and in PBS' Downton Abbey.

MacLaine also is an author of ten international bestsellers, including Sage-ing While Age-ing and the New York Times bestseller, I'm Over All That: And Other Confessions.  Her most recent book What If... A Lifetime of Questions, Speculations, Reasonable Guesses, and a Few Things I Know for Sure, was featured on Oprah's "Super Soul Sunday."  

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About AARP The Magazine's Movies For Grownups Awards' Philanthropic Goals:

The annual Movies for Grownups Awards raises funds for AARP Foundation, AARP's affiliated charity, which helps struggling people 50-plus around the country transform their lives through programs, services and vigorous legal advocacy. The Foundation works to increase economic opportunity and social connections to prevent and reduce senior poverty.

About AARP:

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. 

SOURCE: AARP

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