Figure 1: Child wearing headphones With the holiday season approaching, we can see the power that music has. As holiday music can help brighten up our mood and get ourselves into the spirit of giving, we can think about what else music can do. This curiosity is detailed in the Mozart effect—the belief that babies listening to classical music like Mozart will become smarter. Even though it would be amazing for just listening to music to boost our intelligence, this effect isn’t true and...

by Sucharita Desu Mathematics is defined as the study of numbers and shapes; more commonly, it may be considered the process of calculating using numbers. Overall, we know that it is an academic subject we learn throughout our educational journeys to be able to solve problems. Math can involve many different shapes, symbols, rules and reasonings, numbers, and more! But, how do we come to understand all of this?  To start our discussion, it is important to understand that the process of...

Figure 1: Artistic illustration of the human brain surrounded by geometric shapes and patterns, symbolizing neural connections and the brain’s adaptability through neuroplasticity. For decades, IQ scores have been treated as permanent labels, suggesting that intelligence is a fixed trait determined early in life. Students were often told they had a set capacity for learning, while workplaces relied on test results to define potential. But neuroscience reveals a very different story:...