15 Websites That Will Boost Your Brainpower (June 2020)

15 Websites That Will Boost Your Brainpower (June 2020) 15 Websites That Will Boost Your Brainpower in 2020 Image Source: iStockThere is ongoing debate on whether gadgets such as puzzles, and most lately fidget spinners  and other other executive  toys actually help to boost your brainpower and increase your intelligence levels. Sometimes, there is nothing like good old-fashioned reading and regular instruction from experts. This has become a much simpler matter in the on-line era, and here, we look at 15 websites that make it their mission to boost your brainpower. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 1. TED TalksThe  TED Talks mission statement ticks all the boxes here at AGENT HQ. Its “a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less)”. There are no  fees, and all  you have to do is free up a quarter of an hour. In the worst case, schedule it for bedtime reading/viewing. Youll learn something new, or have something that you thought you knew already turned on its head.2. Brainpickings.orgProdigious  writer Maria P opova’s free Brain Pickings site is a labour of love fueled by hundreds of hours of research. Popova has written for Wired, The Atlantic, The New York Times and Harvards Nieman Journalism Lab. Brain Pickings is a reservoir of learning, covering literature, science, art, history and general knowledge. Its impossible not to learn something new, even from a cursory glance. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 3. LyndaOne  of the most popular online video learning services, Lynda has over 3,000 courses viewable on your computer or mobile device. There is a free trial, and a fee scale offering access to thousands of hours of video tutorials on business skills and other skillsets, taught by recognised industry experts.4. LearnistViewed  as a Pinterest for education, Learnist crowd-sources knowledge on particular subjects, allowing users to collect online resources and create ‘Learnboards’ about particular subjects. The site has intuitive functionality and is a fantast ic ‘fit’ for the mobile learner. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 5. DataCampWith  data skills becoming increasingly sought after, DataCamp is where you can work with experts to learn data manipulation, data visualization, programming languages and more. The site contains free introductory instruction in the R programming language, and the full range of DataCamp courses is  available for a monthly or annual fee.6. ALISONAdvanced  Learning Interactive Systems ON-line, or ALISON, uses a mix of advertising and sponsored programs from partners and publishers to enable studentsâ€"the company claims to have a million registered learners across almost 200 countriesâ€"take courses free of charge. Its another great doorway into learning across categories such as business, IT, languages, health, finance and personal development. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 7. edXPCMag.com lauds edX as “the wunderkind of academics” for courses “supplied by s ome of the worlds most prestigious institutions” and a several million-strong “learning community” of students. EdX prides itself on being the only leading Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider that is nonprofit and open source. It has more than 90 global partners, including leading universities, nonprofits, and institutions, and students. There are hundreds of courses, and the catalogue is growing as edX pursues its mission to increase access to high quality education for everyone, everywhere.8. InvestopediaA one-stop shop for experienced investors or newcomers, the tutorials section of Investopedia alone is a comprehensive guide to the world of finance, organised alphabetically and by category. The video section is also impressive, while investment newcomers will love the free Stock Simulator, where you get to put your trading skills to the test using US$100,000 in virtual cash. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 9. Project GutenbergThe  worlds oldest d igital library, founded in 1971, Project Gutenberg is a voluntary effort to digitize and archive public domain books, and make them freely available in open formats for almost any computer or device. The website offers over 50,000 free e-books  for  download or online reading, as well as  listings, articles and information on how people can get involved in this ongoing project.10. Guides.coDefinitely  not for dummies, says the homepage of Guides, an  â€œinteractive, up-to-date, and extremely useful” collection of free and paid-for How-To guides. With guides for life, guides for work, and guides for small business, you cant go wrong here. The site is attractive and informative and the guides well designed and accessible. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 11. QuoraIf you  have one of those questions that you just cant get the answer to, why not refer it to Quora? An  aggregation of questions and answers on various topics, Quora can be used for an  unfiltered immers ion in  a mind-bending diversity of subject matter; or a personalised ‘feed’ based on the  people and topics  youre most interested in. You can also  collaborate by upvoting favourite answers, and suggesting edits to other users answers.12. SkillshareJoin  a community of a million students on Skillshare and access short, bite-sized lessons of under an hour. Free membership enables you to enroll for free classes, post class projects and discussions, while the reasonable rates for paid content offers full access to almost 3,000 courses, on- or off-line. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 13. DuoLingoLearn  a language for free: thats the promise offered by DuoLingo, and they say they  can  prove  it works. Lessons are  underpinned by gamificationâ€"each lesson offers a variety of speaking, listening, translation, and multiple choice challenges. Its an ‘anytime, anywhere’ proposition, great for  break-times and commutes, and is available for iOS, Android and Win dows Phone also.14. Brain PumpYou  can get  something new every day, in short bursts, with the videos on Brain Pump, which are organised into topics including science, technology, maths, nature, business, game design, and many more. If youre not interested in the video ‘fed’ to you, click to the next one. Sign-up enables you to ‘star’ videos for viewing later. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 15. Mental FlossAnother  engaging resource of interesting trivia, factoids, short articles, videos, listicles, quizzes, the trouble with Mental Floss  is knowing when to quit! Even something like the Amazing Fact Generator, which provides a brief random fact at the click of a button, is brilliant for getting the creative juices flowing when inspiration is flagging. The first two AGENT saw today were: 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321, followed by the revelation that after Bill Clinton won the US Presidency in 1993, the  third telephone call he receive dâ€"after the official congrats from his opponents George Bush Sr and Dan Quayleâ€"was from actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg.