Go where you wanna go; do what you wanna do...

In the 21st century your parents and teachers tell you that you can be anything you want when you grow up. Well, anything you're willing to put the work into anyway... This was not so in the middle ages.

Medieval children could only look forward to doing the same job as their parents. The majority of people were peasants or serfs, people who were bound to the land. They couldn't move to a new farm or become a blacksmith.

Do your parents do the same job as their parents did? Would like to do the job your parents do? Ask them what they like about their job and whether they think you would be good at a job like that.

Consider whether you'd like to do that job someday. Then be thankful that you have a choice!

So you think the H1N1 flu is bad...

Imagine a time before vaccinations. Imagine a time when physicians didn't know what caused illness. Imagine a time before the FDA tested medicine to make sure it was safe and effective.

In the last half of the 14th century, the plague devastated Western Europe. There was no treatment available except for a primitive form of quarantine which was not very effective. By the beginning of the 15th century, the population is estimated to have been reduced by 30% to 60%.

Look at the people on either side of you in the classroom. If you lived during the middle ages, chances are that one or both of them would succumb to the plague.

Science fiction... or fact?

Do science fiction stories ever come true? The answer may be yes.

In 1979, Arthur C. Clarke wrote a story involving a space elevator. He envisioned a structure tall enough to lift payloads into space without the use of rockets. Obviously an impossible idea, right?

Maybe not. Three teams of engineers will spend this week in the Mojave Desert competing for the $2 million prize NASA is offering for anyone who can build an elevator able to ascend one kilometer up a tether while hauling a heavy payload.

Will they succeed? Maybe. There are problems to work out, but scientists think it will be a reality during our lifetimes.

What impossible dreams do you have? Let me know. I'd love to see if scientists like you all can make them come true!

The fun theory

If things that you needed to do were fun, would you be more inclined to get them done? That's the idea behind the fun theory.

People take the stairs more often if stairs look like piano keys and play a tune as you step on them. People recycle bottles more often if the recycle bin lights up and gives them points.

Can you think of tasks that you could make more fun? There is a contest at http://thefuntheory.com. The winner gets E2,500 -- that's euros, not dollars. Look at the exchange rate and enter to win!