small talk

Screen scare

No one likes being pulled up for watching TV, right? And surely your parents have told you an umpteen number of times that watching TV affects your performance in school. You may not have paid any heed to it, but it’s true. A new study by Pediatrics, co-authored by Iman Sharif and James D. Sargent of Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York, says children who watch TV or play videogames at night and go to school the day after, fare badly in school. But then again, it’s difficult to give up on it altogether. So here’s what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. They say, children should watch no more than two hours a day of “quality TV” and that TV be kept out of children’s bedrooms. Television viewing during the weekends should be kept at a maximum of four hours each day. Surely that should suffice.

flying high

Bird on the wire

There’s a new bird on the horizon. At a time, when environmentalists are fretting over how rare birds are getting depleted, a colourful new bird has been discovered in the Yarigues mountain range in northern Columbia. The bright yellow and red crowned Yarigues Brush-Finch was named after the indigenous tribe that once inhabited the mountainous area where it was discovered. Now that should make bird lovers smile.