illiteracy

(Newser) - Good thing you're reading this—it might help keep dementia at bay. A new Columbia University study finds that illiterate people are nearly three times as likely to suffer from dementia, CNN reports. Scientists reached this conclusion after visiting 983 people over age 65 in the Washington Heights area...

(Newser) - If you could be reading this in another language, good news: You may have an extra weapon against dementia. A study in India suggests that being bilingual delays three kinds of dementia by 4.5 years on average, NBC News reports. "Being bilingual is a particularly efficient and effective...

(Newser) - Good news, students of Hempstead Public Schools: You won't be wading through F. Scott Fitzgerald's version of that Leo DiCaprio movie this fine summer vacation. Rather, you'll be searching endlessly for a tome called The Great Gypsy—at least according to the district's summer reading list,...

(Newser) - The people behind One Laptop Per Child wanted to see if illiterate children who don't have access to school could benefit from a tablet computer, so they dropped off a few Motorola Xooms in remote, isolated Ethiopian villages, reports the MIT Technology Review . The tablets were preloaded with educational...