Pop culture hooks kids on lessons in Chicago, California

Teachers have found that using pop culture devices, such as songs, videos, and poems, can often help engage students in lessons. Furthermore, teachers have the flexibility to modify those lesson plans as their students need.

Iowa district considers expanding math curriculum

As we push algebra into lower grades, this creates a need at the top of the math curriculum in high schools for instructors who can teach higher math skills, as Waukee Public Schools are now finding out.

Bias detected in pre-election polls

The pre-election polls turned out to be biased a little, and we take a look at how teachers can incorporate some of this information into lessons in statistics and probability as defined in the US Common Core.

MacArthur genius grants, 2012 edition

The MacArthur Foundation announced this year's winners of fellowships, commonly called "genius grants," and the list has a few surprises.

Strange conditions placed on press embargo of research

An embargo imposed on the press by people promoting a study about the harmful effects of genetically modified organisms reveals a hidden agenda to block reporting by free and independent news organizations.

Bacteria have consumed 200k tons of oil in gulf

Researchers have found that at least 200,000 tons of oil and natural gas from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been consumed by naturally-occurring bacteria.

Mars orbiter finds evidence of dry ice snowfalls

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has detected carbon dioxide in clouds above the planet's surface, suggesting that dry ice may have fallen as "snow" to the planet's surface.

Genetic test may be able to predict autism

Researchers in Australia, using US data, say they may have found a way to use a genetic test to predict the possibility that a child will develop autism spectrum disorder.