Academics

Is sleep-learning via sensory input possible?

By Paul Katula •
Sleep-learning studies are difficult for a variety of reasons, but a group in Israel thinks they have shown that sleep-learning is possible—not through speaking to people while they're sleeping, but through getting them to tie the sense of smell to the sense of hearing.

Florida schools grapple with Common Core standards

By Paul Katula •
Teachers in Florida and in 45 states are struggling to revise lesson plans as the new Common Core State Standards go into effect. In some states, like Florida, the transition is gradual, while other states drop their old standards cold turkey.

Biochemist, former Miss Massachusetts, has a TV show

By Paul Katula •
In a push to get kids excited about STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), a biochemist started an organization, which is now producing TV segments for Comcast in Boston. Fun to watch! GREAT science!

Butterflies move north in warming climate

By Paul Katula •
Data from an amateur group of naturalists enabled a study about butterfly populations in a warming Massachusetts climate. Amateur data is becoming increasingly valuable to scientists as the need for data often surpasses its availability.

Quantum computer figures out that 15 = 3 × 5

By Press Release •
Prime factorization of large numbers makes online purchases with a credit card more secure. But physicists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, might have found a way to beat it. The issue now is time.

Nat’l Assoc. of Basketball Coaches files amicus brief in affirmative action case

By Press Release •
The National Association of Basketball Coaches has filed an amicus ("friend of the Court") brief with the US Supreme Court in the case of a white girl who was denied admission to the University of Texas, Austin, but says she was more qualified than many of the African-American students who were admitted, because the university uses race as one of the factors in deciding admission.

NSF awards $19 mil in environmental ed grants

By Paul Katula •
The National Science Foundation awarded six organizations some very big grants in order to make education about climate change more effective in our schools. One grant recipient from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science noted that the subject was controversial, and he's right.

Environmental literacy summit in Allegany County

By Paul Katula •
A summit at a beautiful site in Allegany County, Md., brought more than 160 educators together to share ideas about teaching environmental literacy from every school system in Maryland. A time to learn and love the outdoors.