Nowadays GPS devices can help people find their way around, but drivers do still get lost. Temple psychologist Nora Newcombe says you can learn how to become better at getting from point A to point B. She says that spatial learning influences our ability to do math, science — and to find our way around. Using "spatial language" — i.e., words like "behind, above, on top" — with kids as they play helps to teach them how to navigate the world. But, no matter how well your parents did on this front, Newcombe says you can still improve your spatial skills as an adult.

Researchers at Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education have tested the use of smart phones and social media in a weight loss program geared toward students. Participants were broken into three groups; those who visited a private Facebook page; those who visited the page and received text messages; and those who received no additional support. The group that received the text messages and visited Facebook lost the most weight.

To five teenagers from Philadelphia high schools, Harriton High looked like something from a movie, a school from a world very far away from theirs. The city students — participants in an after-school program run by Temple's University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia (UCCP) — had come to the Lower Merion school to meet some of their suburban peers. They wanted to talk about how they might begin to work together on issues of leadership and community service. Next time, the Harriton students will visit Philadelphia. Down the road, a formal partnership is possible.