Tag Archives: Science

Report Captures Picture of Global Opportunity Divide for Largest Youth Population in History

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2012Technologyafrica, brazil, britain works, cape town, eastern daylight time, employment, global, imagine cup, international youth foundation, iyf, iyf program, jobs, mexican youths, Microsoft, monica njau, naadiya moosajee, nairobi, ngos, opportunity for action, planet, sawomeng, Science, South Africa, sub-saharan, Technology, Thailand, the atlantic, william reese, youths echo

*Youths echo findings from International Youth Foundation report, which urges actions to help young people succeed.*

REDMOND, Wash. — March 27, 2012 — The numbers are staggering: Our planet has the largest youth population ever, with more than 1 billion people aged 15 to 24, and the figure is racing to 1.5 billion by 2035, according to “Opportunity for Action,” a new report being released today from the International Youth Foundation (IYF). The report shows that while some youths are succeeding, millions of others are not because they don’t have access to the necessary education, skills and opportunities.

Microsoft commissioned the “Opportunity for Action” report to bring attention to the urgency of the global youth opportunity divide — the gap between those who have access to a good education and the technology, skills and connections to be successful, and those who do not. No region of the world escapes the unsettling picture captured by the report. In Brazil, approximately 40 percent of firms have difficulty finding qualified staff to fill job vacancies due to low-quality education. In Asia, 70 percent of working youths are engaged in the agricultural sector, where jobs are seasonal and offer no protections or access to safety nets. And in sub-Saharan Africa, youths are grossly under-employed, leaving 72 percent of young people living on less than two dollars per day. (more…)

Political Leaders Play Key Role in How Worried Americans Are By Climate Change

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2012Environment, Politicsacademy awards, afghanistan, Al Gore, american clean energy, americans, an inconvenient truth, anti environmental voting, climate change, climate change threat, climate threat, congress, democrats, environmental magazines, extreme weather, factor, gdp, gross domestic product, Iraq, j craig jenkins, jason carmichael, John McCain, Media, movie, new york times, political battle, political leader, Politics, price of oil, republican senators, republicans, robert brulle, Science, threat, threat index, unemployment rate, war deaths

COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than extreme weather events and the work of scientists, it is national political leaders who influence how much Americans worry about the threat of climate change, new research finds.

In a study of public opinion from 2002 to 2010, researchers found that public belief that climate change was a threat peaked in 2006-2007 when Democrats and Republicans in Congress showed the most agreement on the issue. (more…)

From Cancer Research to Energy Storage, Berkeley Lab Scientist Takes on Big Challenges

By Guest PostFebruary 3, 2012Scienceclean energy, CO2, energy, Environment, fossil fuel, hydrogen storage system, India, intel corporation, liquefied hydrogen, magnesium metal, metal hydride, molecular foundry, nanoparticle, optical spectroscopy, phase transition, plasmonic structures, rising star, rizia bardhan, Science, volumetric density

*Rizia Bardhan, a postdoc at the Molecular Foundry, selected to Forbes’ ’30 under 30′ list*

On a typical day, Rizia Bardhan walks through the doors of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Molecular Foundry and immerses herself in the tricky business of tweaking optical spectroscopy equipment to study phase transitions in metal hydrides.

It’s fair to say that what she does is difficult to grasp. Why she does it is easy: “I want to help solve big problems. That’s why I’m here,” she says. (more…)

MSU Researchers Show How New Viruses Evolve, And in Some Cases, Become Deadly

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 2012Sciencebacteria, beacon, beneficial mutation, bird flu, devin dobias, e coli bacterium, evolve, jeff barrick, justin meyer, lambda, michigan state university, mutation, natural selection, Netherlands, new virus, ompf protein, ribbon diagram, richard lenski, ryan quick, Science, survival of the fittest, united states, virus evolution

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In the current issue of Science, researchers at Michigan State University demonstrate how a new virus evolves, which sheds light on how easy it can be for diseases to gain dangerous mutations.

The scientists showed for the first time how the virus called “Lambda” evolved to find a new way to attack host cells, an innovation that took four mutations to accomplish. This virus infects bacteria, in particular the common E. coli bacterium. Lambda isn’t dangerous to humans, but this research demonstrated how viruses evolve complex and potentially deadly new traits, said Justin Meyer, MSU graduate student, who co-authored the paper with Richard Lenski, MSU Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. (more…)

With ‘Google Earth’ for Mars, Explore the Red Planet from Home

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2011Science, Technologyanaglyph image file, arizona, bradford castalia, crater on mars, data mapper, desktop, geologic feature, gigabyte size, hirise, hirise imagery, hiview, image file format, images, jpeg2000, layered deposits, local storage space, martian landscape, mesas, monument valley, orbit around mars, oval mesa, photoshop, pictures are beautiful, red planet, rodney heyd, Science, shelley littin, software tool, statistics tool, surface of mars, terabytes, university of arizona, utah, waves

A new software tool developed by the HiRISE team in the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Lab allows members of the public to download high-resolution images of the Martian landscape almost instantaneously and explore the surface of the Red Planet from their own desktops.

Imagine zooming in over the surface of Mars, sweeping over sand dunes and circling around the rims of craters – all from your home desktop.

With HiView, the image-viewing tool recently released by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, team at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab, you can do just that. (more…)

Workers more Satisfied, Productive with Flexible Hours

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2011Culture, Generalalford young, american academy of political, college of literature, demands of personal and family life, flexible hours, handle crises, higher worker satisfaction, lawrence root, production if the company, school of social work, Science, short-term family commitments, short-term flexibility, social science, university of michigan, worker satisfaction and production

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Employers can expect higher worker satisfaction and production if the company offers flexible hours that allow employees to handle crises and short-term family commitments, a new University of Michigan study indicates.

When the demands of personal and family life come up against rigid company policies, workers often feel compelled to maneuver around these formal rules.

Lawrence Root, a professor at the School of Social Work, and the Alford Young, Jr. chair of the Department of Sociology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, examined how Midwest factory workers created opportunities for short-term flexibility at their jobs. (more…)

Microsoft Selects the Nation’s Top Educators at the U.S. Innovative Education Forum

By Guest PostAugust 1, 2011Education, Technology2011 us innovative education forum, acte, alabama, alaska, andrew ko, anthony sablan, association for career and technical education, california, ccsso, colin horack, council for chief state school officers, educators, engineering and math, florida, ief, jason arthur, kelli etheredge, louis zulli jr, melanie wiscount, michigan, Microsoft, microsoft corp., partners in learning global forum, Pennsylvania, Science, south carolina, stem learning, Technology, Washington

*Outstanding educators using technology are recognized for their contribution and impact in teaching.*

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 1, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. today announced 11 educators from Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington who have been selected as winners of the 2011 U.S. Innovative Education Forum (IEF). The IEF is an event recognizing innovative teachers and school leaders who creatively and effectively use technology in their curriculum to help improve the way kids learn while increasing student success. Out of the thousands that applied, 100 educators from 25 states were selected for a spot to compete on Microsoft’s corporate campus in Redmond. IEF participants also voted on their peers in the Educator’s Choice category and selected a winning project. The winning educators will represent the U.S. and advance to compete against educators from around the world at the Partners in Learning Global Forum, Nov. 6–11, 2011 in Washington, D.C. (more…)

New Report Summarizes Key Themes in American Doctoral Education

By Guest PostDecember 5, 2010Culture, Educationamerican system of doctoral education, doctoral education system, doctorate recipients, engineering, mathematics, microsoft excel, pdf, portable document format, Science, sed, stem, stem pipeline, subra suresh, survey of earned doctorates, Technology, united states, universities, us universities

*Summary report, “Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities: 2009” is available online*

A new report recently released by the National Science Foundation, titled “Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2009,” presents a statistical overview of the U.S. doctoral education system in snapshots and long-term trends.

It notes the American system of doctoral education is widely considered the world’s best, as evidenced by the large number of international students who choose to pursue a doctorate at U.S. universities. But this status is subject to the many factors that shape U.S. doctoral education. (more…)