News and Issues

A handful of states have passed piecemeal measures to support families owning heirs' property, but the law-writing group is urging legislatures to adopt its draft bill. The proposal would allow a co-owner to buy out another who wants to push the property to sale and establish a thorough review process for courts to determine whether the property should be sold or divided among the owners. It also would require courts to order open market sales to ensure properties are not sold below market value.  more »

Alice Bowman has learned a lot about making the most of the daily twists and turns of the missions she manages. One of the most important lessons translates easily to daily life: "You just can't overreact when things happen, you have to stay calm," says Bowman. The dozens of women who are powering New Horizons to a history-making July 14 flyby of Pluto look forward to the day when the conversation about gender becomes irrelevant. more »

Take a forest stroll at the National Reserve System's Sagehen Creek Field Station, and you will encounter an Invisible Barn. The structure's edges fade into the open air, until angled glimpses of tree trunks reveal a roof or wall. Surprise, then amusement tickle your brain as it wrestles with the sight of a building disappearing into the forest. more »

25 Years of Hubble Space Telescope; finding and using health statistics has become requisite for a number of careers; biographies of women who have made contributions to fields as diverse as chemistry, primatology, biophysics, and astronomy; distinctive literary titles with expert book lovers from around the country; retracted papers in a wide variety of fields, some due to fraud, others just to mistakes in experiments or the publishing process; "Start Your Family Research" section; 1940s knitting patterns and other interesting sites. more »