Learning
A Scout Report: ABT (Ballet), Bunraku, Nate Silver, Cuba in Revolution and The Search for Extraterrestial Life
The Great Debate features a video of a public debate between renowned SETI scientist, Dan Werthimer, and skeptic, Geoff Marcy. Each side presents evidence for why we should - or shouldn't - believe that there really are other advanced civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy..."As we search for a universal language to communicate with civilizations beyond Earth, where should we start? Math? Pictures? Something else?" ... The American Ballet Theatre was founded in New York in 1939 by a group of dancers, choreographers, and producers enthralled with the magnetic Russian-born ballet master, Mikhail Mordkin...538 is a punchy online magazine that dissects sports, politics, economics, science, and other topics using a numbers-crunching lens more »
A Scientific Mystery: A Region of the Brain Identified, Fought Over and Rediscovered
Results from a brain-imaging study led scientists into a medical mystery going back to 1881, involving a disputed brain pathway discovered by one scientist and ignored by others. The team rediscovered the pathway's original publication in texts in the basement of Stanford's Lane Medical Library and traced the structure's contentious scientific history. more »
Gender Gaps in Test Scores and Grades: Women Fare as Well or Better Than Male Counterparts In Smaller Classes
Gender gaps in test scores and grades have been documented across a range of educational settings — in science, collegiate outcomes, and law and business schools. Research shows that Socratic and adversarial teaching styles — common to traditional law school instruction — may pose disadvantages for female students, who tend to participate less frequently than males in larger classes. more »
Calm The Dog! Lightning Expected to Increase by 50 Percent With Global Warming
More lightning strikes mean more human injuries; estimates of people struck each year range from the hundreds to nearly a thousand, with scores of deaths. But another significant impact of increased lightning strikes would be more wildfires, since half of all fires — and often the hardest to fight — are ignited by lightning. more »