NSTA WebNews Digest

Science News: General Science

Mathematics. Trust me. It's important in your life

1/24/2013 - ABC Science
Who uses calculus? You do. Every day. Dr Ron Sandland celebrates the International Year of the Mathematics of Planet Earth.

Science Confirms the Obvious: Literature is Good for Your Brain

9/28/2012 - PopSci
Reading might make you smarter, but it also gives your brain a cognitive workout that it doesn't otherwise get.

Olympic Extremes: The Winning Formulas for London 2012

7/30/2012 - NewScientist
One-Hundreth of a second. That could be the difference between an athlete representing their country in this year's Olympic Games in London and one staying at home. Even finer margins can separate medal-winners from also-rans.

Learning and Remembering Linked to Holding Material in Hands, New Research Shows

9/28/2011 - ScienceDaily
New research from the University of Notre Dame shows that people's ability to learn and remember information depends on what they do with their hands while they are learning.

Bill Gates Urges Young Scientists to Consider the "Needs of the Poorest"

6/28/2011 - Scientific American
Microsoft founder Bill Gates thrilled a crowd of 566 young researchers from 77 countries gathered in Lindau, Germany, on June 26 for the opening ceremony of the 61st Meeting of Nobel Laureates, and he wasted no time in telling them what to do.

News in Brief: Molecules/Matter and Energy

5/23/2011 - ScienceNews
Finding materials harder than diamond, plus spintronic devices, wrinkle physics, and more in this week's news.

For Kids: Roll, Robot, Roll

5/19/2011 - ScienceNews
Caterpillars inspire researchers to build a robot that rolls to safety.

Do We Want to Be Supersize Humans?

5/16/2011 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
If humans become taller, bigger, and longer-living, will that always represent progress? What are the limits?

The Strangest Numbers in String Theory

5/4/2011 - Scientific American
A forgotten number system invented in the 19th century may provide the simplest explanation for why our universe could have 10 dimensions.

Decoding Human Genes Is Goal of New Open-Source Encyclopedia

4/26/2011 - ScienceDaily
A massive database cataloging the human genome's functional elements—including genes, RNA transcripts, and other products—is being made available as an open resource to the scientific community, classrooms, science writers, and the public, thanks to an international team of researchers.

News in Brief: Body & Brain

4/1/2011 - ScienceNews
Thank your mom for your big brain, plus contagious itching and phobia therapy in this week’s news.

New View of How Humans Moved Away from Apes

3/11/2011 - The New York Times
Anthropologists studying living hunter-gatherers have radically revised their view of how early human societies were structured, a shift that yields new insights into how humans evolved away from apes.

Scholars Say Causes of Stuttering Are Multiple and Interconnected

3/2/2011 - Education Week
While an award-winning film is drawing attention to stuttering, experts say research is just beginning to shed light on the disorder's complicated causes.

Professor Unravels Mysteries of Medicine

2/22/2011 - Voice of America News
In free lectures to the community, John Cohen strives to make technical language understandable.

Jeopardy! Elementary for Supercomputer Watson

2/16/2011 - Vancouver Sun
IBM's quiz-busting supercomputer Watson has a commanding lead after the first game of a two-game Jeopardy! contest against virtuosos Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

Numbers Need Language to Make Sense in Our Minds

2/9/2011 - Discover
How we talk about numbers plays a big role in how we think about numbers—that much is clear. But this week, new research makes the case that language is not a key part of thinking about numbers, but the key part, overriding other influences like cultural ones.

How Testing Improves Memory

10/15/2010 - ScienceNews
By creating associations, quizzes improve recall much more effectively than just reviewing notes.

Life Expectancy in U.S. Hits New High

12/17/2009 - HealthDay
Average life expectancy in the United States has reached almost 78 years, a record high, federal health officials said Wednesday.

Home Flu Cures: Bad Medicine?

11/3/2009 - The Wall Street Journal
Heard the one about the raw onion? With concerns over the H1N1 flu rising and supplies of vaccine running scarce, it's no surprise that alternative remedies are circulating on the web.

Social Status as a Teen Predicts Health as an Adult

9/29/2009 - Healthday.com
New Swedish research suggests that social standing as a teenager has long-term health consequences.

Watching TV: Even Worse for Kids Than You Think

8/6/2009 - Time
Researchers in the U.S. and Spain collaborated on the study of 111 children ages 3 to 8 and found that of all the forms of inactivity they examined, television-viewing was the worst. It was linked to significantly higher blood pressure in children.

Survey Shows Gap Between Scientists and the Public

7/10/2009 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
When it comes to climate change, the teaching of evolution, and the state of the nation's research enterprise, there is a large gap between what scientists think and the views of ordinary Americans, a new survey has found.

Longer Life Linked to Specific Foods in Mediterranean Diet

6/25/2009 - ScienceDaily
Some food groups in the Mediterranean diet are more important than others in promoting health and longer life according to new research published on the British Medical Journal website.

China Relocates Last Pandas from Quake-Hit Habitat

4/27/2009 - Yahoo! News
China has moved the last batch of pandas still living in a world-famous preserve badly damaged in last year's devastating earthquake to a nearby facility, state television reported Sunday.

Kids Who Lack Self-Control More Prone to Obesity Later

4/8/2009 - Time
In two papers published this week, scientists found that preschool-age children who had trouble with self-control and the ability to delay gratification gained more weight by the time they were preteens than those who were better at regulating their behavior.

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