Today, Tufts University announced that Loring Tu, a professor in the Department of Mathematics, has made a substantial gift to name the Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) in honor of his late grandfather, Tsungming Tu, who was a world-renowned doctor and expert on pharmacology, toxicology, and medical education. Going forward, the SEC will be known as the Tsungming Tu Complex (TTC).

Today, Tufts University announced that Loring Tu, a professor in the Department of Mathematics, has made a substantial gift to name the Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) in honor of his late grandfather, Tsungming Tu, who was a world-renowned doctor and expert on pharmacology, toxicology, and medical education. Going forward, the SEC will be known as the Tsungming Tu Complex (TTC).

The Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL) has named two Florida State University faculty members part of its 2024 class of "Rising Stars."

NSF Science Now: Episode 65

The National Science Foundation: Creating knowledge to transform our future

In case you missed the March for Science, last month?  I have the report!  Not that I went, no. Science enthusiasts all, my household was planning on going—  But then my younger teen daughter got felled by "bacteria"—  Possibly brought on by a dubious "pizza day" at her science magnet.

So I spent that Saturday at home, taking care of her— But we streamed the Washington DC and other marches, live on CNN!  So here is my report!

Let's quickly review the main points.  Worldwide, there were 600-plus cities participating, with high levels of enthusiasm.  The March for Science's stated mission was to be a positive, non-partisan march for scientists and scientific principles.  That alone is such a wonderful, counterintuitive idea.  Much humor and wit was seen.

As I did not get to go, and make my own hilarious sign—?  To honor the spirit of the occasion I would like to share two favorite jokes.

First: How do you tell the difference between an introverted and an extroverted mathematician? 
For the whole time the introverted mathematician is talking to you, he looks down at his shoes.  When the extroverted mathematician talks to you, the whole time he looks down at your shoes.  Ba-dum-bum.

I know I used the pronoun "he" in that joke—  As if to imply all left-brained people are male.  But no!  So here's the saying from when I attended Caltech—  Way back in the '80s—  And the male to female ratio was 7 to 1.  "Caltech: where the odds are good, but the good are odd."

Now to some of the funny—and sometimes punny—March for Science signs:

"If you're not the solution, you're the precipitate!"

That was next to: "Protest Cosine, Protest Sine."  Get it?  Protest. . . Sine?  Puns are hard on the radio.  So let's finish with the more "meta": "What do we want?  Evidence based research!  When do we want it?  After peer review!"  

Of course, there were less than non-partisan messages, too.  Just reporting here?  There were signs with the phrases "Black Hole" and "Absolute Zero" ghosted over our president's recognizeable silhouette.  The live feed from San Francisco brought: "Trump believes there's no global warming, as nothing is hotter than Ivanka."

That one made me snort, but I had to quickly tell my daughter, "that is totally inappropriate."
We decided a good sign was: "Mitosis, Not Division."

And a cute one on a dog that everyone can agree on.  "Support Labs."  Labs. 

Next week: Science is Love!

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

 
So, my 15 year old science magnet daughter and I experienced last month's exciting March for Science—!  From home, as she was temporarily felled by some bacteria.  Consuming an unscientific "cure" of chocolate pudding—?  We watched the march on CNN.

Now, the news changes so quickly you may not remember that just one month ago—?  There were shock waves due to proposed massive federal budget cuts—  Not just to climate change research, but to—surely the more non-controversial —National Institutes of Health.  I mean, health?  Who's anti-health?  Even MacDonald's is serving apple slices now, and kale!

The march was a mix of passion and fun. There were lots of great signs, including one with the classic line: If you're not the solution, you're the precipitate! Marchers came dressed as Einstein, dinosaurs, polar bears.

Then again—  And admittedly, at home, we were wearing bathrobes rather than labcoats—? A couple of humble notes.

 Some of the speakers in DC were less scientists than YouTube science explainers.  And pure research scientists—not to mention philosophers—might question some of the applause lines.  And I quote: "Science is inherently political!"  "Science is objective, but it is not neutral!"  What?  Then some of the marchers chanted back, with a decided New Age lilt: "Science is hope!"  "Science is our planet!"  "Peace, love, science!"  

I heard myself grousing to my daughter: "Sure.  It's like 'Nature.'  To some, 'Nature' is a beautiful flower.  But 'Nature' is also Stage 5 hurricanes and poison frogs who eat their own offspring.  And—and pitcher plants!  Have you seen pitcher plants?" 

The chants continued:  "Health is science!  Safety is science!  Clean water is science!  I yell at the TV: "PS: Nuclear missiles from North Korea?  SCIENCE!"

There were also heartfelt pleas from the stage for more "K-12 hands-on STEM-based learning."  I sympathize. I marched for that when my daughters were in elementary school.  Of course we want our children to be turned on to science—  To the classroom volcanos comically exploding with baking soda. To the wonders of milk carton pea plants, sunny farms of ladybugs.

But eventually, inexorably, comes The Ugly.  The multiplication tables, long division, algebra, trig, then calculus, if a career in science is really being pursued.  I just heard about a senior I know, an exceptional—and well-rounded—student.  He has a 4.5 GPA and almost-perfect SAT's, nosebleed-high!  But he has been shut out by all the UC's he applied to, including his third choice, UC San Diego.  Mwah!  SCIENCE!

Still, quibbles aside, science is the future.  We applaud all, and must forge on. Chocolate pudding recommended.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Tiny arthropods that live in the pores of our faces

City bacteria versus country bacteria when it comes to drugs

A flash session on the expo floor Tuesday at Safety 2017 focused on the science behind flame-resistant clothing. Speaker Scott P. Francis told attendees to beware of simple terms. He said for flame-resistant, arc flash PPE, words like 88/12, inherent, certified do not tell you anything about specific fabric or fabric manufacture. It’s important to know what fabric your garment is made from and who makes the fabric, Francis said. “Fabrics perform very different so you should know the specifics on protection, comfort and value.”

Cameron Neylon, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory gives a plenary talk on how Web Based Tools are Enabling Open Research Practice. Communication of data, results, and models is at the centre of research science. Yet while our understanding of our surroundings across a wide range of research disciplines has been transformed in the last 20 - 50 years the means of that communication remains trapped within the now centuries old convention of the published research paper (and the traditional stand and deliver presentation). In the initial phase of the development of the World Wide Web publishing practises remained fundamentally the same with the printed page being transferred online but remaining in fundamentally the same format. The advent of user-centred Web-based tools for information gathering, publishing, social networking, and collaborative working has challenged traditional models of publishing and archival. These tools have an enormous potential to make scientific communication more effective, timely and comprehensive. Examples of such approaches include tools for sharing of data and technique protocols via wikis, image, and video sharing sites, collaborative authoring of research papers using online office suites and discussion of the published literature, research practise, and the life challenges associated with a research career through blogs. The availability of these tools is also associated with a growing interest in some sectors of the academic research community in adopting more 'open' approaches to research practice. The logical extreme of this 'Web 2.0' based open approach is to make the researcher's laboratory notebook freely available online or even to carry out the preparation of a research grant in public. While examples of the application of these approaches in academic research are currently limited they nonetheless raise serious questions about the future of both the traditional format of research publication and of peer review in its current form. Responses to the advocacy of 'Open Science' therefore, understandably, run the gamut from fanatical support, through amused tolerance, to derision and, in some cases, extreme hostility. In this talk I will discuss examples of Web-based and Open Science practices, including the experience of adopting these approaches within my research group, the state and usefulness of tools available to support these approaches, and the current position and future prospects of the Open Science community more generally.

An additional round of veski innovation fellowships – a prestigious Victorian program to attract outstanding global leaders in science and research to Victoria – is actively seeking applications from outstanding women in science and research.

The International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC) will take place in May 2019, and will see approximately 1,000 delegates visit Melbourne to discuss, collaborate and present on the latest scientific achievements in particle acceleration. Melbourne’s winning bid was presented in Korea, and was a direct result of collaboration between the Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) and the Australian Synchrotron, a particle acceleration research facility located in Melbourne.

The Feynman Prize for Nanotechnology was awarded last month to Dr Amanda Barnard. Often referred to as the Nobel Prize of nanoscience, the prize’s importance is remarkable in that it recognises prodigious talent in the sector and is a reliable predictor of scientific discoveries with a very high translational impact on industry.

ILS Bermuda added a science-focused session to Convergence 2024, developed with BIOS and ASU, featuring an address by Peter Schlosser and panels on science and innovation in the ILS industry. A spokesperson said, “ILS Bermuda is excited to announce the addition of a special afternoon of innovative science-focused content to its Convergence 2024 agenda. Scheduled […]

Online conversations about Ozempic and similar medications are full of misinformation — and echo decades of flawed teachings on weight management.

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., Nov. 13, 2024 — Today at its inaugural IBM Quantum Developer Conference, IBM announced quantum hardware and software advancements to execute complex algorithms on IBM quantum computers […]

The post IBM’s Latest Quantum Tech Pushes Boundaries Toward Quantum Advantage in Science appeared first on HPCwire.

TOKYO, Nov. 13, 2024 — NEC Corporation has received an order for a next-generation supercomputer system from Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), under the National Research […]

The post NEC Secures Order for Advanced Supercomputer to Drive Fusion Science Research at Japan’s National Institutes appeared first on HPCwire.

In 1833, hundreds of thousands of shooting stars inspired songs, prophecies and a crowdsourced research paper on the origins of meteors

Meteorite contains evidence of liquid water on Mars 742 million years ago  Science Daily

A spokesperson said the company's move was "part of our efforts to align resources with our long-term strategic goals."

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security and its disaster agency has said people aren’t driving temperature increases and declined to accept federal climate money for disaster preparedness as governor of South Dakota

Kenji Nojima, Kōji Yusa join cast as Dr. Xeno, Stanley Snyder

Operational revenues for the quarter were up 7.42 per cent at ₹1737 crore over corresponding previous year’s ₹1617 crore

Bringué, M; Komaromi, L. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 9068, 2023, 9 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/332300
<a href="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/gid_332300.jpg"><img src="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/gid_332300.jpg" title="Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 9068, 2023, 9 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/332300" height="150" border="1" /></a>

Deblonde, C; Campbell, J E; Chow, W; Cocking, R B; Huntley, D H; Parent, M; Rice, J M; Robertson, L; Smith, I R; Weatherston, A; Zawadzka, K. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8236, version 2.5.1, 2024, 9 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/332530
<a href="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/gid_332530.jpg"><img src="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/gid_332530.jpg" title="Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8236, version 2.5.1, 2024, 9 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/332530" height="150" border="1" /></a>

Pioneering research has pinpointed key vacuolar transporters in citrus fruits that regulate taste by balancing citric acid and sugar levels. This discovery illuminates the genetic pathways controlling flavor, laying the groundwork for cultivating citrus varieties with optimized sweetness and acidity--a promising development for both consumers and the agricultural sector.

No, I cannot. Because I am now deaf. ~Not-So-Handy Andy

What Has He Learned To Help Earth Grow

The topic of emotional intelligence (EQ) continues to dominate leadership conversations. Rightly so. However, in a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article that highlighted research by Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis (experts on the topic), EQ is only the beginning.

Whereas EQ has an emphasis on individual psychology, there is a more relationship-based version called social intelligence. Social Intelligence, as defined by Goleman and Boyatizis, is a set of interpersonal competencies built on specific neural circuits and responses that inspire others to be effective. In other words, based on neuroscience and biology, there are certain leadership behaviors that elicit positive emotional responses in your team members.

complete article

by Jon Rappoport www.nomorefakenews.com The medical system kills 225,000 people a year. (Starfield, JAMA, July 26, 2000, "Is US health really the best in the world?") "In principle, gene therapy is a medical miracle waiting to happen ... after 17 years of trying, scientists are still struggling to make gene therapy work. Complications include rejection of DNA carriers ... [and] new genes end up where they shouldn't, or behave unpredictably." ("Gene Therapy: Is Death and Acceptable Risk?", Wired, Brandon Keim, August 30, 2007) MARCH 28, 2012 - In discussing Matrix Science, I'm reminded of Philip Dick's sensational novel, Lies, Inc. It proposes an invention that can teleport humans light-years to a planet where a better way of life exists. The author then spends the rest of the book deconstructing this utopian legend and revealing the truth and the titanic power-grab that sit behind it. Then there is HG Well's 1933 classic novel, The Shape of Things to Come, in which a world exhausted by war and economic collapse turns to a Global State as the only possible solution, after all other solutions have historically failed. This new ruling authority is based on Science. All religions are crushed. Education is designed to teach every child how to become a genius/global citizen. Eventually, the State withers away and is of course replaced by a spontaneous Utopia. Science/technology: the final all-encompassing answer. A significant aspect of Matrix propaganda revolves around myths about how human behavior can be transformed. Transformed through advances in biology and chemistry. Populations are being trained to expect these momentous changes. A major selling point: no effort is required. Just ingest this tablet. Accept this new gene. All will be done for you by experts. Technocrats will design the future so you will fit into it happily. The technocratic wing of Globalism has clout. It promises management of the planet through science, and who can argue with science? Central Planning will ensure proper benefits for all. My late friend and colleague, hypnotherapist Jack True, once told me in an interview:...

When it comes to human organs, none is quite so mysterious as the brain. For centuries, humans have had numerous misconceptions and misunderstandings about how the organ works, grows, and shapes our ability to learn and develop. While we still have a long way to go before we truly unravel all the mysteries the brain has to offer, scientists have been making some major breakthroughs that have gone a long way in explaining both how the brain functions and how we use it to organize, recall, and acquire new information. Here, we list just a few of the biggest and most impactful of these breakthroughs that have contributed to our understanding of the science of learning.

1. More information doesn’t mean more learning.

   
   The brain is equipped to tackle a pretty hefty load of information and sensory input, but there is a point at which the brain becomes overwhelmed, an effect scientists call cognitive overload. While our brains do appreciate new and novel information, as we’ll discuss later, when there is too much of it we become overwhelmed as our minds simply can’t divide our attention between all the different elements vying for it. This term has become a major talking point in criticisms of multi-tasking and in the modern information-saturated online sphere, but the discovery of this cognitive phenomenon also has major implications for education. In order to reduce mental noise, teachers have had to take new approaches to presenting material, using techniques like chunking, focusing on past experiences, and eliminating non-essential elements to help students remember a large body of information.

2. The brain is a highly dynamic organ.

   
   Until the past few decades, people believed that the connections between the neurons in your brain were fixed by the time you were a teenager, and perhaps even earlier. One of the biggest breakthroughs in understanding the science of learning happened when scientists began to realize that this just wasn’t the case. In fact, the brain’s wiring can change at any age and it can grow new neurons and adapt to new situations, though the rate at which this happens does slow with age. This phenomenon is called neuroplasticity, and it has had major ramifications in our understanding of how the brain works and how we can use that understanding to improve learning outcomes.

3. Emotion influences the ability to learn.

   
   The ability to learn, retain, and use information isn’t just based on our raw IQs. Over the past few decades it has become increasingly clear that how we feel and our overall emotional state can have a major impact on how well we can learn new things. Educational situations where students feel stressed, shamed, or just uncomfortable can actually make it more difficult for them to learn, increasing negative emotions and sparking a vicious cycle that may leave some children reluctant to attend class. Research is revealing why, as the emotional part of the brain, the limbic system has the ability to open up or shut off access to learning and memory. When under stress or anxiety, the brain blocks access to higher processing and stops forming new connections, making it difficult or impossible to learn. It may seem like common sense that classrooms should be welcoming, non-stressful environments, but different students have different triggers for negative emotional states, making it key for educators to watch for signs that indicate this in students.

4. Mistakes are an essential part of learning.

   
   Failure is a dirty word in most aspects of modern American society, but when it comes to the science of learning, research shows that they’re essential. A recent study found that students performed better in school and felt more confident when they were told that failure was a normal part of learning, bolstering a growing body of research that suggests much of the same. Much like it takes multiple tries to get the hang of riding a bike or completing an acrobatic feat, it can also take multiple tries to master an academic task. Neuroscience research suggests that the best way to learn something new isn’t to focus on mistakes but instead to concentrate on how to do a task correctly. Focusing on the error only reinforces the existing incorrect neural pathway, and will increase the chance that the mistake will be made again. A new pathway has to be built, which means abandoning the old one and letting go of that mistake. This idea has formed the basis for a growing debate about education in American schools, which many believe doesn’t allow children to embrace creativity and problem solving as they are too focused on memorization and test scores.

5. The brain needs novelty.

   
   Turns out boredom really can kill you, or at least your will to pay attention and learn. Repetition may have its place in learning, but what the brain really craves is novelty. Researchers have found that novelty causes the dopamine system in the brain to become activated, sending the chemical throughout the brain. While we often regard dopamine as the “feel good” chemical, scientists have shown that it actually plays a much bigger role, encouraging feelings of motivation and prompting the brain to learn about these new and novel stimuli. This breakthrough has led to some major changes in how we think about learning, and has motivated many schools to embrace learning methods that cater to our brains’ need for new and different experiences.

6. There are no learning styles.

   
   What kind of learner are you? Chances are good that at some point during your educational career someone labeled you as a particular type of learner, either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. This idea that there are distinct types of learners who learn best with certain assortment of stimuli has been showing up in education and brain science for decades, but recent studies have shown that this idea really doesn’t hold much water. Students may have preferences for how they learn, but when put to the test, students were found to have equivalent levels of learning regardless of how information is presented. Attention to the individual talents, preferences, and abilities of students, which helps to cater to the emotional and social needs of students and improves their ability to learn, is more important than styles (of which there have been 71 different models over the past few decades).

7. Brains operate on the “use it or lose it” principle.

   
   There’s a reason that you forget how to speak a language or work out a trigonometry problem if you don’t use those skills on a regular basis. Information in the brain that isn’t used is often lost, as neural pathways are weakened over time. Research has found that the brain generates more cells than it needs, with those that receive both chemical and electrical stimuli surviving and the rest dying off. The brain has to receive regular stimulation through a given pathway in the brain to sustain those cells, which is why lifelong learning is so important to brain health. These findings also have implications for vacations in K-12 education as well, as students who don’t get intellectual stimulation over the summer are much more likely to forget important skills in reading and math when they return to class.

8. Learning is social.

   
   While some select individuals may learn well cloistered in a library with a stack of books, the majority of people need a social environment to maximize their learning. Research has found that from infancy on, people learn better through social cues, much more easily recalling and emulating the actions or words of another human. Aside from social cues, socialization has been shown to have other learning benefits. Peer collaboration offers students access to a diverse array of experiences and requires the use of nearly all the body’s senses, which in turn creates greater activation throughout the brain and enhances long-term memory. Group work, especially when it capitalizes on the strengths of its members, may be more beneficial than many realize, both for teachers and their students.

9. Learning is best when innate abilities are capitalized on.

   
   All of us, from the time we are born, possess innate abilities to see and hear patterns, something that psychologists doubted was true for decades but that we now know to be the case. Research suggests that reinforcing those innate capabilities by teaching patterns early on may actually help kids learn more and sharpen their brains. Aside from being able to see and hear patterns, the human mind has a number of innate abilities (the ability to learn a language, for instance) that when capitalized on in the right way, can help make learning any concept, even one that is abstract, much easier. Combining these innate abilities with structured practice, repetition, and training can help make new ideas and concepts “stick” and make more sense.

10. Learning can change brain structure.

    
    Brain structure and function are intertwined, and you can’t improve one without taking the other into consideration. Yet, in years past, most ideas about learning ignored ways that the brain’s structure itself could be modified, instead focusing on brain function or the brain’s output. The reality is that brain function can only be changed through changing brain structure, which is actually less complicated than it sounds. For example, brain cells fired up during both perception and action overlap in people, and lessons that engage both allow students to more easily identify with their teachers and to learn concepts more quickly, as their brain cells are getting twice the attention and workout. In fact, any new information, if used enough, can modify the structure of the brain, something educators and neuroscientists are just starting to fully explore. 

This book contains over 100 science experiments that are geared for grades K to 12. Yes the classic egg in the bottle and the erupting volcano are here, but you'll find many, many more fun and educational projects that are easy to do with ordinary household items.

Five COMPLETE Science Fair Project Guides with immediate online access. Easy projects use materials found in the home. Your search for a project is over!

How do you keep a glass of beer cold the longest? By using science, of course. At least that's what one researcher has turned to, finding the optimal shape of vessel that will keep a poured beer chilled for as long as possible while you drink it.

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Category: Science

Tags: Beer, Physics, Mathematics, Glass, Design Engineering

This program has such merit that I have replaced my other planning tools for this one. For that's what this is - a great planning tool for getting what you want in life. Because Simpleology performs so well for me, I recommend it to you and all my private clients.

Why does time seem to move faster as we age? Psychologists and neuroscientists have explored this fascinating phenomenon—and the results are surprising.

Not everyone experiences sleep and dreams the same way. Why do most of us forget our dreams, while others remember them in vivid detail?

There's a good chance you have never heard of the type of music expression Frederica discusses today around the kitchen table with her son Steve Mathewes and daughter-in-law Jocelyn. Steve is a musicologist and has just come from a "High Zero" music show.

Frederica interviews Daniel Buxhoeveden, an Orthodox scientist who just recently received a Templeton grant to establish an Institute for Science and the Orthodox Church. Please note that Frederica experienced technical difficulties while recording this episode. We apologize in advance for its poor audio quality.

Fr. John shares from Romans 2:12-16.

Michael discusses flaws in the debate of “God or Science” and shows why “God and science” is a more appropriate, and how science can serve as a sacramental means to deepen our faith.

Nathan, Maria, and Andrew discuss the relationship between science and our Orthodox Christian faith.

Metropolitan Gregory joins the Louh's to talk about Faith and Science. His Eminence is a trained scientist as well as an Orthodox bishop. Learn more about Metropolitan Gregory HERE.