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What you can learn from your kid
Parents teaching kids

Babies and their parents are actually changing each other in a multitude of ways.

First, BBC News reported that by offering kids vegetables from an early age, toddlers are unlikely to have negative attitudes.
A new study by the University of Leeds found that when kids are offered vegetables at “before the age of 2,” they are likely to be open to trying new kinds of veggies, BBC reported.

“The study also dispelled the popular myth that vegetable tastes need to be masked in order for children to eat them,” according to BBC.

So, that’s cool. Your kid will be OK with eating veggies. But there’s something that parents, and even students, can learn from babies.

A school in Washington, D.C., for example, is bringing babies into the classroom to teach students about empathy, The Washington Post reported.

“I think it’s really changed people in our class,” said student Vivian Dougherty to The Post. “It’s really made people nicer.”
A baby changing the emotions and lifestyle of a person isn’t unheard of. The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday that a man’s brain can change when taking care of a baby. While women are often developing skills to help raise a kid, men, too, can learn a lot of these crafts.

“Parenting a small child requires the forethought of a crisis planner, the reflexes of a professional goalkeeper, the energy of a cheerleader and the empathy of a therapist,” wrote Melissa Healy for The L.A. Times. “[A] new study finds that the more he cares for his offspring, the more a father's brain looks and behaves like that of a mother engaged in the everyday care of a child.”

But babies can learn and gain a lot from their dads, too.

Dads who work around the house — doing laundry and completing general housework — actually have a tremendous impact on their daughters, wrote Andy Hinds for The Daily Beast.

In fact, many daughters of house-working dads tend to be more ambitious when it comes to finding a career, Hinds wrote.
“What my daughters see me doing most of the time — the part they can wrap their heads around — is childcare and housework,” he wrote. “According to research from the University of British Columbia, the effect of seeing me thus occupied should be empowering to them in terms of their career aspirations.”

Hinds wrote that this recent study should be a notification for parents to embrace their kids’ career aspirations. It doesn’t matter what they learn from Mom or Dad, but just that they are doing what they want to do, Hinds wrote.
“So if my daughters want to be teachers or stay-at-home moms (or carpenters), I will be delighted that they followed in my meandering footsteps,” he wrote. “But if they want to bring the values that we share as a family into their jobs as CEOs or military commanders, I will be equally proud.”

Email: hscribner@deseretdigital.com
Twitter: @herbscribner

Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.