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U.S. Students Need New Way of Learning Science

By Guest PostApril 7, 2012Educationamerican students, atoms, cells, conservation of mass and energy, digital organisms, energy, forces, genomics, k 12 school, michigan state university, next generation, prom se, radiation, research project, Science, science standard, scientific fact, simon billinge, stephen pruitt, student assessment, synthetic biology, systems change, united states, variation, william schmidt

EAST LANSING, Mich. — American students need a dramatically new approach to improve how they learn science, says a noted group of scientists and educators led by Michigan State University professor William Schmidt.

After six years of work, the group has proposed a solution. The 8+1 Science concept calls for a radical overhaul in K-12 schools that moves away from memorizing scientific facts and focuses on helping students understand eight fundamental science concepts. The “plus one” is the importance of inquiry, the practice of asking why things happen around us – and a fundamental part of science. (more…)

UCLA Study Identifies Genes Linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

By Guest PostApril 7, 2012Healthafghanistan, alan steinberg, american, armen goenjian, danger, david walling, devon schmidt, disorder, DNA, ernest noble, flashbacks, gene, hyper alert, Iraq, julia bailey, natural disaster, post traumatic, ptsd, ptsd symptom, rape, stress disorder, symptoms, tph1, tph2, uma dandekar, variant, war, war veteran

Why do some people experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while others who suffered the same ordeal do not? A new UCLA study may shed light on the answer.

UCLA scientists have linked two genes involved in serotonin production to a higher risk of developing PTSD. Published in the April 3 online edition of the Journal of Affective Disorders, the findings suggest that susceptibility to PTSD is inherited, pointing to new ways of screening for and treating the disorder. (more…)

12-Mile-High Martian Dust Devil Caught in Act

By Guest PostApril 6, 2012Scienceamazonis planitia, dust devil, earth, hirise camera, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian dust devil, martian surface, meteorite impact, NASA, northern mars, northern summer solstice, plume, red planet, tucson, university of arizona

A Martian dust devil roughly 12 miles high (20 kilometers) was captured whirling its way along the Amazonis Planitia region of Northern Mars on March 14. It was imaged by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Despite its height, the plume is little more than three-quarters of a football field wide (70 yards, or 70 meters).

Dust devils occur on Earth as well as on Mars. They are spinning columns of air, made visible by the dust they pull off the ground. Unlike a tornado, a dust devil typically forms on a clear day when the ground is heated by the sun, warming the air just above the ground. As heated air near the surface rises quickly through a small pocket of cooler air above it, the air may begin to rotate, if conditions are just right. (more…)

Sampling the Pacific for Signs of Fukushima

By Guest PostApril 6, 2012Environmentcrippled reactors, radiation in ocean, radioactive materials, seafloor sediments, signs of fukushima

An international research team is reporting the results of a research cruise they organized to study the amount, spread, and impacts of radiation released into the ocean from the tsunami-crippled reactors in Fukushima, Japan. The group of 17 researchers and technicians from eight institutions spent 15 days at sea in June 2011 studying ocean currents, and sampling water and marine organisms up to the edge of the exclusion zone around the reactors. (more…)

Sexual Objectification of Female Artists in Music Videos Exists Regardless of Race, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostApril 6, 2012Entertainment, Mediafemale artists, misogynistic messages, music video, popular culture, sexual objectification, sexuality

*Music videos could play an influential role in young viewers’ development*

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Popular music videos have been criticized as having misogynistic messages and images. While more female music artists have gained visibility and created successful “brands” in recent years, critics argue that many of these artists are pushing the boundaries of acceptable norms with regard to race, gender and sexuality in popular culture. (more…)

Oxygen in Tumours Predicts Prostate Cancer Recurrence

By Guest PostApril 5, 2012Healthgenetic signature, hypoxia in tumors, oxygen in tumours, oxygen level, prostate cancer, radiation therapy

TORONTO, ON — Low oxygen levels in tumors can be used to predict cancer recurrence in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer even before they receive radiation therapy. (more…)

Free iPad App from IBM and Eames Office, Reinvents Iconic ’60s-Era Infographic on History of Math

By Guest PostApril 5, 2012Technology1964, ancient greeks, charles, chid apte, computer, eames demetrios, ibm, ibm mathematics, ipad app, jeopardy, los angeles, minds, minds of mathematics, modern mathematics, new york, peep show, ray eames, vintage, watson, world fair

*Vintage Timeline Designed by Charles and Ray Eames Continues to Inspire Interest in Math and Science*

ARMONK, N.Y. – 05 Apr 2012: To celebrate the history of math and its impact on the world, IBM has released Minds of Modern Mathematics, an iPad app that re-imagines a classic 50-foot infographic on the history of math created by husband-and-wife design team Charles and Ray Eames and displayed at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City.

The app, which can be downloaded from the iPad App Store, is an interactive vintage-meets-digital experience for students, teachers, and tech fans that illustrates how mathematics has advanced art, science, music and architecture. It reinvents the massive timeline on the history of math from 1000 AD to 1960 that was part of Mathematica: A World of Numbers…and Beyond, IBM’s milestone World’s Fair exhibit. (more…)

Many Young People Would Rather Surf the Web than Drive a Car

By Guest PostApril 5, 2012General, Technologyage, bernie degroat, brandon schoettle, canada, driver, environmental consequences, finland, function, Germany, great britain, information highway, internet users, Israel, Japan, latvia, license, michael sivak, norway, people, poland, societal wealth, south korea, spain, Sweden, switzerland, teenager, the netherlands, traffic injury, travel, united states, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— More young adults today would rather hit the information highway than the open highway, say University of Michigan researchers.

In a new study in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention, Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle of the U-M Transportation Research Institute found that having a higher proportion of Internet users was associated with lower licensure rates among young persons.

And this is just not in the United States; it’s happening in other countries, too. (more…)

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