Random Thoughts

Finally, Conquering the High Blood Pressure!

2007-03-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Background
After about 10 years of taking high blood pressure medicine, finally, I feel that I will be able to go medicine free. Let us say, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I like to share this information with every one so that you can also try along similar lines (however please consult the doctor before you take anyone's advice). It is indeed a great personal achievement for me.

Ten years back, I used to feel dizzy and doctor warned me categorically that I had to take medicine to lower the blood pressure. He prescribed me Ramipril 5 mg (known as Altace in US and Cardace in India), but in time that did not effect me and it was increased to 10 mg (the maximum dosage). Even with this dose it was important to watch my nutrition, do exercise and sleep well. If I did not have good night sleep, my BP would shoot up in spite that I have take medicine.

Now with this regimen that is mentioned below, my blood pressure has come to normal. I have gradually reduced the dose and for past few days I am not taking the medicine. My last measured BP is 136/71

Regimen that worked!
If I were to highlight the factors that helped me reduce the BP, they are as follows:

Exercise with perspiration - I jog 2-3 miles (without pause) at least 5 days a week which takes about 30-40 minutes. Then I do light weight (2.5Kg), till I feel tired so that my muscles are relaxed. I mentioned perspiration because if you live in cold countries, you may not see the benefit by running outdoors where you may not perspire.
Nutritional food - No pizza or juice or restaurant foold. Mostly homemade food which may contain light oily food. It is a real tragedy of our times that we do not get time to cook food from raw ingredients and all the restaurants serve unhealthy food.
Less food, especially for dinner- Literally my bench mark is: I am always slightly hungry. One should have a balance. If one is too hungry, your work will be impacted and you will tend to get frustrated and have a big meal later.
Fasting - I fast two times a week. In the fast I eat only fruit and tea (that contains milk), but have normal dinner. I usually also jog during fasting day. Fasting also help in controlling craving for the food for the rest of the week.
Proper sleep - At least six hours of continuous sleep. However, even when my sleep is less, it did not seem to impact much!

This has been the magic combination that has cracked the puzzle and brought my blood pressure to normal. It may sound excruciating regimen, but it is tolerable. The rewards are great.

At the hindsight, from evolution standpoint, it is closest to imitation of the natural habitat that our bodies are shaped for, through eons of Darwin's selection. Imagine as farmer thousands of years ago - they must have at least worked many hours of day covering at least few miles; had food with low taste, so they ate just what the body desired; When the season was bad, they had to go hungry; and since there was no light or mental work stress, they slept well. Also read my article on ideal nutrition that has reasoning along similar lines.

Doubts
There are always doubts if this is a permanent cure. After all, I had seen in the past that any regimen I adopted, I get the initial benefit. But with time the body gets used to it and I get the high blood pressure again. So one might think this is also a passing phase before my body gets used to this regime.

There are two reasons for doubt:

It has been only one month that my BP is in normal range. I should watch for about 8 months before I could be more confident.
For past 3 months I am not in any project so I do not have any work stress. Very soon,
I will be in Australia for my next consulting engagement and I am keeping my finger crossed.

Well, let us see. I will post about my status six months from now.

How this Miracle Happened:
Thought some of you may like to know, how things changed...

My blood pressure was alright with medication for number of years. It was important that I ate nutritional food and did reasonable exercise. However, any time I slept less or had work stress or had nice dinner, my BP will shoot up for next few days. My body was so sensitive.

However, a month back in India, there was an Hindu festival called Shiva Ratri (Lord Shiva's night), where one takes fast for the whole day - (having tea and fruits if you have low will power). Once I had undertaken the fast as a teenager. I decided to do it again partly as as challenge with my past and partly for God. Wow! For next three day my blood pressure went below the normal range! It seemed as if I never had High Blood pressure. That's how I realized fasting is one of the key in my regimen.

Earlier, I always thought exercise and good nutrition are the main factors to reducing BP and I thought it could be gradually achieved (against doctor's belief that some of us are predisposed to High BP that cannot be cured.). I never expected that fasting would suddenly produce the affect I was looking for a long time. I had a feeling that this was the final piece of the puzzle that solved the problem.

I will tell you, India is really incredible place! The extremities of ideas and the tenacity of the environment that one is exposed by being here is truly amazing. I would have never figured this piece of puzzle by reading science, health news or being in any other country.

Next Steps
I am observing myself for next eight months to see if this regimen has really worked. I hope I could write a book as people could learn and feel motivated. However, given the time, currently it is not in my immediate plans. Nevertheless, I plan to write some articles in this blog for motivation and the details that I could not put here.

I would also like research institutions to do study along the similar regimen with controlled groups. I could contribute by reviewing such proposals. I am amenable to critical way of thinking as required for the scientific research (I have doctorate degree in Physics from Rutgers university)

False Friends

2007-02-26T07:05:00.001-08:00

Many times in the life, one must have experienced that you come across a person that develops into friendship and then you discover that you friend tells you something that is clearly a selfish proposition in his favor. You feel embarassed and may not find courage to refuse the person that you call as a friend. Such proposition come as a shock and you wonder how a person whom you may have even given a gift or treated him kindly could ask such a thing.

I have encountered such situation many times. My most recent was I had given a recent-acquainteded friend a Jazz CD to introduce him this wonderful music. To my surprise, I got a thank you e-mail and also was a proposition that he could teach me something that I interested me, for some money! I was embarassed and trying to think the right reply. I remembered the following Abraham Lincoln's quote:
Stand with anybody that stands right,
Stand with him while he is right, and
part with him when he goes wrong

This statement provided me with necessary strength to write back that I cannot mix the relationship as a colleague or friendship with money as it will eventually create a negetive environment. And thus we parted our ways.. Later I realized that it was a good decision and made my mind lighter. If a person can have no shame to propose such a thing, then one must be bold to part with him and not feel embarassed replying in kind -- especially when one is right. I am glad that this incident happened, because I feel confident that I could face more such incidents.
**
When I grew up, I have seen many friends who have gone in the wrong direction and ruined their lives, just because of false friends. Not because they were nieve, but because they were afraid to loose the cool company. This is also call peer pressure. I wished .. they had the courage to part with such false friends as it leads to certain ruin.

To the present generation kids, I may further advice to read about the Abraham Lincoln's life stuggle. It will provide a great motivation. During the civil war, there were times when most of the nation was against Abraham Lincoln .. yet he stood firm in his resolve to save the nation and the great system of democracy. His following quote reflect both his resolve and strength to resist the "peer pressure":
"I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, When I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall atleast have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me"

Help in Learning Spanish

2007-01-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

I am trying to learn Spanish when I can find time. Spanish language is a beautiful, their food is wonderful and they are nice people to interact with.

I have bought some Spanish books and checked some free resources in Internet. However, one cannot indefinitely learn words and simple sentences. Taking yourself at the next level in learning Spanish, I got the following nice idea.

I looked at the web site with Spanish news, translated in English with Google language tools. Then I put the original and translated article side-by-side. I really liked it. Some of the wrong translation can be easily corrected. I have put the links to documents below for everybody's benefit. (After all I got lot of benefit from the Internet resources). I plan to add more of these article in time.

Mongolia - Glorious past uncertain future - word format, pdf format
Mexico - Plan to create jobs - word format, pdf format

Some useful Singapore Information

2006-12-29T15:37:00.000-08:00

MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)

Map of MRT railway line

Going to Singapore Zoo

Get down at Choa Chu Kang (red line MRT)
Go to Bus Interchange next to Choa Chu Kang. Take bus 927. Last stop is at the Zoo
Tickets are priced at s$15 per adult and s$7.50 per child

Going to Malaysia from Singapore via bus

Routes: One can go to Malaysia via two routes - Causeway Link and Second Link. Causeway Link will take you to Johor Bahru in Malaysia. Second Link links Tuas in Singapore with Geyland Patah in Malaysia
Individual travel usually go via Causeway Link. Second Link is not for individual travellers! Only Trucks and Packaged tour Bus ply on this route.
Getting Visa: Get your visa before going to Malaysia. There is no provision yet for visa on arrival via Causeway Link. I have heard that vai Second Link, one can get visa on arrival.
For US no visa is needed. For Indians the visa cost about s$33. For Taiwan, visa cost is s$48 as Malaysia does not recognize Taiwan as a country so they have to issue the travel document.
In Singapore, Malaysia Counsulate has outsourced the visa process to selected Travel Agents. It takes three business days to get visa. I went to Mustafa Air Travel near Farrer Park MRT station to get the visa. The customer service via phone is pretty bad.
Going to Malaysia: From MRT red line, get down at Kranji station. From there take 170 or 160 (going to Johor Bahru).
This will take you to Woodland check point in 5-10 minutes. Every one has to get down to get the immigration formalities done in Singapore side. Take 170 or 160 again to Johor Bahru checkpoint. Every one has to get down to get Malaysia immigration formalities done.
You are in now in Malaysia!

Eye Exercise for Kids

2006-12-20T18:11:00.000-08:00

While parents are very particular about nutrition needs of their kids, there is big oversight for eye exercise. Surprisingly not much importance is given to short-sightedness by doctors or media. After all, a poor eye-sight can be corrected by glasses or contacts.

In this article, I focus on simple 10-minutes eye exercise for kids. Ofcourse every one can do this, but eye exercise is especially important for kids. I also discuss about a product that I incidentally came across in Singapore.

Some Statistics and Facts

Fifty years ago myopia (or short sightedness) was not very prevalent. Today one in every four people have myopia. It is predicted that by 2020, one in three will be shortsighted. (See Myopia on the rise). This is tantamount to having epidemic!
The percentate of children with myopia is higher in countries where the children are subjected to heavy school work loads, watch computer games, or TV.
Any person with glass will tell you, that the short sightedness worsens progresively, till you reach the age of 20-25 years. This is when the body (including the eyes) stops growing.

The above facts indicates two things. One is, eye care should be taken since young age and secondly environment plays a big role in myopia. To counter the environmental effects, one can emphasize on good sitting posture, watch less computer games and TV (especially moving game where intense focus is needed), and some eye exercise. If you are socially vocal, try to introduce eye-exercise in your school curriculum.

Here are some yoga exercise for eyes that I learnt long ago in India. It is definitely soothing for tired eyes. Try it. Only if you feel comfortable, ask your kids to do as an every morning or evening activity.

Eye Exercise Instructions

	Exercise: For half a minute, look into your forehead. Relax: When done, close your eyes for half a minute. Warm your eyes by firstly rubbing your palms and putting it over the closed eyes, gently massaging the eyes.
	Exercise: For half a minute, look into your nose. (People with mongoloid feature can look on their lips) Relax: see above
	Exercise: For half a minute, look into your left shoulder without turning your head. Relax: see above
	Exercise: For half a minute, look into your right shoulder without turning your head. Relax: see above
	Exercise: Start with looking to your nose, gradually move the eyes clockwise till you are back to your nose. Then retrace your eyes in counter-clockwise till you reach your nose again. Do this about 10 times. Relax: see above

Some commonsense rules should be followed such as not to do exercise if there is inflammation or injury to eye. Best consult the doctor, if in doubt.

After writing this article, incidentally, I encountered a Singapore product, EyeRelax, claiming to remove or reduce myopia, lazy eye and even delay presbyopia (long sightedness) that comes to people over forty years of age. I also saw the demo of one of the product and here is the description:

When you peek at the EyeRelax product, as if you are viewing in a microscope, it shows many colored spots stringed together gradually coming-into and going-out of focus at the rate of every five seconds or so (I have both myopia and presbyopia). At any given time it shows only one color, but every cycle that last about 10 seconds, it changes to different color.

The product is quite expensive (about S$600 or US$400). I did not purchase because it is not pressing need for my family and for high price. In my opinion adults could and simulate this with the following exercise described as follows:

Close your one eye and look at letters in a normal book without corrective lens (glasses or contacts). Put the book at right distance so that the letters are in focus. Do not read, just look at the same letters. Gradually move them out of focus till it is very fuzzy. Do this about 25-30 times (should take about 5 minutes). Do the same with other eye. Do once or twice every day. This procedure put pressure on accommodative system of the eye as you move the letters in-focus to out-of-focus.

However, I would recommend purchasing if you have kid with lazy eye or substantially poor eye-sight. If you do not have access to this product. Try to gently convince him/her to do the above exercises mentioned.

The product information can be accessed from www.eyecollege.com . For concerned parents the advertisement of EyeRelax is as follows:

For low myopia, 0-300 degrees, high chance to regain perfect eyesight
For moderate myopia, 300-600, improved eyesight and prevent worsening of myopia
For High myopia, >600, use immediately to prevent worsening. Avoid blindness disease
For adult Long Sightedness, delay presbyopia

Singapore in Pictures

2006-12-07T04:39:00.000-08:00

Twin tower in Chinese Garden	Interior of a mall in Orchard Street
Merlion (half-fish half lion), a symbol of Singapore. On the left is Swissôtel The Stamford, tallest Hotel in Southeast Asia	Singaporeans did not compromise on spaces in spite high population density. Above is front of Marina Square leading to Esplanade
MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is the backbone of transportation. The service is comfortable and precise	Most Malls in Singapore are spacious making the shopping a pleasant experience
White Bengal tiger in Singapore zoo. The experience is quite realistic!	Perhaps Singapore Zoo is one of the best in the world
Kranji War Cemetery & Memorial shows how the British Crown respect their fallen soldiers irrespective of race and religion	Indian National Army memorial near Esplanade. Here the Indian freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose laid the foundation for Indian National Army

Singapore - a beautiful little country

2006-12-03T06:55:00.000-08:00

Singapore is a little country near the equator, wonderfully managed, clean, nice people, good diverse inexpensive food, very safe for kids and women, timely transportation, footpath on every road. In short - it caters to great standard of living.

Inside a MRT station	Chinese vegetarian stall

I found very few people (including Singaporeans) who have praiseworthy words for Singapore. Most of the Singaporeans are of Chinese ethnicity and they seem to identify with China, Indian Singaporeans (mostly tamils) build their own cocoon and are happy in their world, foreigners who come here think more from opportunity angle and want to move on to Western country or go back to home country after having some savings. Nothing wrong, of course, but there are quite a few, who make negative comments about Singapore. This bothers me.

People often compare one-to-one with their own culture. Such comparison is flawed, because in most of the cases they are blind to the negative aspects of their culture. Singapore has it own set of unique features that makes a memorable living experience.

Beside Singapore, I have lived in India, USA and short visit to few more countries. I find Singapore lovely place to live for this phase of my life, where I have kids. Some of them are as follows:

Enriching the Habit of Reading - Being in computer/Internet age. Much of my time at home goes with computers, kids or doing errands. Reading in home is just not the activity I am psychologically prepared for. However, I have taken up reading during my 30 minutes commute to work, which is by bus or train (MRT). I actually look forward to the commuting time! In last six months, I have finished some good books - biograpy of Abraham Lincoln, The Plague Race, and The best American Science Writing. I never had this wonderful reading time in my life. In USA, you drive for work and in India, it is difficult and barely managible.

Inexpensive Food - In Singapore, usually there are food courts in the shopping complex or business center. They sell food that is inexpensive (about US$2.50) and it makes no sense to bring food from home. The food is quite diverse - differnt variety of chinese dishes, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean. If you are less inclined to eat ethnic food, fast food resturants like Mc Donald, Subway and Burger King is also there.

Ethnic food is relatively healthy and less fried. In a sense, it is real homely food. The chinese resturants in USA tend to be highly fried and unhealthy (although more tasty).

Vegeratian Food - In countries other than India, vegetarian food is not easy to come by. Strangely singapore food courts always have one Chinese vegetarian shop. The food is made up of vegetables and tofu. For some dishes, they try to immitate tofu with the taste and looks of chicken, beef, pork. The dish cost like US$1.50! Sometimes I feed bad for them for charging so little. I try to avoid the Indian resturant for health reasons (they use lot of oil)

Having Maid - In Singapore one can hire maids on live-in or scheduled basis. Maids are available for US$300 and are usually from poor coutries like India, Indonesia, Phillipines. Government takes 2/3 of the share and maid gets the rest. Live-in maid take care of all the chores - walking kids to school, preparing food and cleaning the house. Hiring of maids are handled by agents and there is minimum risk.

In India, one cannot trust maid to handle children and one needs to have their grandparents or guardian supervising the maid activities. In USA, one cannot afford the maids. I greatly respect the single parents of USA, usually women, who have to work and rush to pickup their children and take care of the house. I hope their employers are kinder to them as a part of social responsibility.

Exercise - Singapore government has provided sports complex, stadium, water playground, swimming pools. All residential complex has little play area for kids and adults. The swimming cost about US$0.75 per entry, which is quite inexpensive compared to even India. Since the weather is warm throughout the year, I get most of the excercise from jogging on the footpath beside the road and some exercise on the play area. In US, it is necessary to have membership with a gym to get exercise, especially during cold weather.

Some good science links for Kids

2006-12-03T06:36:00.000-08:00

Here are some links for kids that will improve their science

Age: 6 and above, Fun multimedia view of solar system
It highlights major planets of solar system. Especially interesting are the view from moons of the planets with the mother planet in the background. My kids had some good fun with it.

Age: 9 and above, Light Waves, Rainbows, and Cheap Sunglasses
Really good video lecture that was given in front of middle school kids by MIT professor. Unfortunately, you have to have a good broadband connection and cannot download the video. I watched entirely and learnt some new things. However, my kids never watched it becuase of bad broad band bandwidth. I wrote them asking them to release as downloadable video, but did not get any reply. Anyway, I am grateful that they have the lecture for free

Age: 15 and above, Physics for future presidents
Clicking on this link will take you to Google Video site having these 25 one hour lectures from Berkely (University of California) from Professor Richard A. Muller. Absolutely fascinating. I have graduated in Physics and yet I learnt lot of interesting concepts. It is a great period to live in, that one can see lectures from premier university in your home!

I downloaded all of them, converted to AVI or MP4 and burnt into two DVDs and watch it in the TV/DVD. TV watching is much better as family can view along with you and gives more respectability of watching a lecture. Sometimes the sounds are loud, but other than that I will recommend every college going kid and adults to watch!

I have some more great links that I collected last few years and put it in the website. Hope you may also appreciate it.

Kids - some puzzles - 6 - 7 year old

2006-12-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Some simple puzzles from coins that kids will like.

Figure on the left below, shows six coins arranged in the form of triangle. By moving two coins, could you make a triangle upside down (as shown right below)? Kids may not enjoy the puzzle itself, but they will be stimulated to make triangles.

Similarly by having ten coins arranged in the form of triangle (as shown in left below), could you make the triangle upside down by moving three coins?

What is the smallest number of coins needed for 15 coins in the form of triangle (as shown in right below) to make is upside down?

More Good Games:

Here is link for a nice Guessing Number game for kids aged 6 and above. I found this game in Singapore Science Center. If your kid is above 8, ask him/her to find how the number could be guessed. It is based on concept of binary number.

3D Tick Tack Toe: This is another game I found in Singapore Science Center. Indeed, it is lot of fun for the kids and helps their orientation skills! One can create this game in your home by using three throw-away CDs, CD writing pen, some books for support and chess pieces as shown in the picture (once can use backgammon or just different colored coins). On each CD, draw a three inch square with CD writing pen, subdivide the square to nine small squares just as in normal Tick Tack Toe. Buid the setup with CD over each other with the edges put between the books for support as shown. The game is similar to tick tack toe, but now one has to put three pieces in any straight line in 3D - in horizontal plane like usual tick tack toe, horizontally, vertically, diagonally or slanted-ly.
Another good game is 3D Tick Tack Toe, in four planes. This is played against computer and quite challenging even for adult. One good feature is, it notifies you if there is a threat or if you block the threat.

Impending Pandemic - why people show no concern?

2006-11-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

Since last couple of years, I feel unsettled for the fact that people are not thinking much about the impending Pandemic. WHO and leading doctors have given dire warning that it is not the question of if, but when that the avian flu will mutate to Killer Flu that will strike the world. It is estimated that 180-360 million people could die.

Since I live in Singapore and my larger family in Mumbai (India), I am especially concerned. Singapore being a traffic hub for air flights or ships, it is almost certain that the pandemic will come to Singapore. It is also almost certain that it will pass through Mumbai (India). Last pandemic of Spanish Flu in 1918-1919, 20 million (of 40 million world wide) Indians died!

While death is a tragedy in itself, even more horrifying is the panic and fear that will make people kill each other, many of us will abandon their spouse on the slight pretext, numerous parents will abandon their small sick children, many neighbors with slight suspicion will lock the door of the suspect victim from the outside to avoiding spread of contagion. I am not imaging this from thin air, these things have happened in the past epidemics. During the plague of 1665 that hit London, people committed horrifying brutalities during the Plague. In Surat (India), during the Plague of 1994, a time when the disease is well understood, things were no better. Most of the doctors ran away out of the city followed by the mass exodus of general population. The people who were leaving the city were at risk of getting killed by locals where they went. Today the bubonic plague is well understood and is contagious and treatable.

While government of most countries now have good plan for the Killer Flu, they cannot think of all scenarios and it can easily fail. Such top-down approach, while important, is not a fool proof approach. For example, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, even the USA government was largely unprepared and there was anarchy and looting. With killer flu on rampage, one can only imagine the chaos it might create, especially in developing countries.

A ground level approach is also needed. Here are three things that I can think that government should help ordinary citizens do:

Reducing Fear Having knowledge of a disease greatly reduces fear. For example, Bubonic plague does not spread human to human, but mostly by rat-flea-human. A rat that has died for couple of days, could still spread plague because the fleas on the rat are desperate to find another host. Having brief knowledge of the disease can greatly reduce fear. It is a tragedy that the Plague outbreaks can still create fear in people. Killer Flu will not be that easy, as it is contagious and like cold it will spread like wild fire. Still knowledge of the disease will help people take precautions.
Facing Boldly: Running away from the city is not a good idea. As an individual it is perhaps right thing to do to minimize the individual risk. But as a society, if you are the carrier, you will spread to others. In case of pandemic, it is not even practical to leave the city. The border may be closed while fleeing and you may be in no-man's land and suffer a worse fate. The best thing is to show a soldier spirit and behave like a responsible citizen. Nature on it's part will show enough cruelity. Imagine the parents die of Flu, leaving the kids orphaned! This is quite likely, as Flu kills mostly people with strong immunity (age of 20-35 years) than people with poor immunity (small kids or old people). Knowing that in case I am dead, my kids will be taken care of othera, will make me less fearful and willing to help others.

Enough Food Supply: Having a month of food supply in the house is always a good idea. Nower days, canned food, pasta, lentils, rice and even milk is available that can last without refregiration for many years. Keep consuming the old ones and replinishing them so nothing is wasted. Storing in advance is better than hoarding (and depriving others) during the pandemic

The world governments and UN should play more active role in preparing ordinary citizens. Afterall during the height of the cold war, in 1950s, nuclear war drill was a part of an American life's routine and was taken very seriously.

Helping the kids improve

2006-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

Everyone like to see their kids excel better than their parents and I am no exception. My wife and myself always think ways to make the kids busy with something that can be also educational.

With recent holidays coming, we are desperate to find some creative things that kids can do during the day. Some ideas that come to mind are:

Writing Essays - Mind Maps - Recently I purchased the book - Mind Maps for Kids by Tony Buzan, who introduced the idea of Mind Map. The book emphasizes that we do not use the right brain creatively, which are into colors, diagrams, dimensions, day dreaming. Instead, we use left side of brain which is into logic, list and words. So by using diagrams (right-side of brain), one can quickly collect the thoughts, remember things and it can be fun. I am skeptic about the use of color as one usually never remember our dreams in color. However, I take Tony's word for now. Recently I got drawing pads and color pens so that I can teach them to draw Mind Map. Since my kids do lot of drawing due to motivation from my wife, I think the Mind Map will take them to next level! I have not tried the Mind Map on my kids as yet nor I have planned how I am going do as yet.

Structuring the language: Recently a colleague told me about structuring thoughts and found it greatly useful. The idea is: when thinking about any topic to write or speak. Think about the main topic and question How some thing happened, Where some thing happened, When some thing happened, What something, Why some thing happened. Suddenly lot of questions spring up in the mind. The answers to these questions are often easy. Collect these question/answers, rearrange and you have an essay! I have seen people, who can do without writing! This can be used in conjunction with the Mind Maps.

Science Center (in Singapore) - I live in Singapore from where the Science Center is at the walking distance. I think science center is great way to learn things. Lately, I am taking my kids to watch the stars and planets via telescope in the science center. I do not see great impact on the kids as yet. However, in my opinion, these positive affirmations will help kids develop positively. Besides, I spend quality time with kids. In USA, I presume the small science museums are fairly common. Universities that have telescope, usually have free public viewing on weekly or monthly basis.