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Tetris, as many of you probably know, can be completely addictive. There’s just something about stacking all those shapes in nice even rows. And in recent years, we’ve been told that researchers think Tetris may be more than just an excellent time-killer. Well, now there’s a new study from Oxford University that shows Tetris may help reduce trauma. From the BBC: “Volunteers were exposed to distressing images, with some given the game to play 30 minutes later, the PLoS One journal reported. Players had fewer “flashbacks”, perhaps because it helped disrupt the laying down of memories, said the scientists. It is hoped the study could aid the development of new strategies for minimising the impact of trauma.” In this week’s WTP, We’ll hear more from Dr. Emily Holmes, one of the researchers who worked on the study.

Also in this episode, we’ll take a look at one of the latest ways the open-source mapping and texting platform, Ushahidi, is being used. In Cairo, Harassmap is using it to document cases of sexual harassment of Egyptian women.

Then, we’ll hear about about another mapping project called Facts on the Ground, a web and iPhone app that will give you the latest information on Israeli settlement activity collected by Americans for Peace Now.

And we’ll end the podcast with one of our favorite topics: the use of technology in classroom learning. This time, we travel to South Africa to hear about how cell phones are being used to help local students. Here’s the promised video:

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