Wyoming's new science benchmarks are similar to the Next Generation Science Standards.

Massachusetts is the fifth state to join the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority created through the Every Student Succeeds Act, which allows states to experiment with new forms of testing.

Building science lessons around phenomena that students know equally and can see in their own lives is making the subject more relevant and interesting.

The Tennessee department of education is proposing unsually comprehensive legislation that will require all current and new K-3 teachers, and those who train them, to know evidence-based reading instruction.

Building science lessons around phenomena that students know equally and can see in their own lives is making the subject more relevant and interesting.

A small group of science teachers in Missouri is using the coronavirus as a teachable moment that's aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards.

Luke Clark
Nov 6, 2013; 33:17617-17623
Symposium and Mini-Symposium

Mahsa Altafi
Oct 23, 2024; 44:e0518242024-e0518242024
Systems/Circuits

Tessa E.S. Charlesworth
Sep 11, 2019; 39:7228-7243
Viewpoints

Evdokia Menelaou
Aug 8, 2012; 32:10925-10939
BehavioralSystemsCognitive

Daniel Levenstein
Feb 15, 2023; 43:1074-1088
Viewpoints

Vertebrate nervous systems use the axon initial segment (AIS) to initiate action potentials and maintain neuronal polarity. The microtubule-associated protein tripartite motif containing 46 (TRIM46) was reported to regulate axon specification, AIS assembly, and neuronal polarity through the bundling, or fasciculation, of microtubules in the proximal axon. However, these claims are based on TRIM46 knockdown in cultured neurons. To investigate TRIM46 function in vivo, we examined male and female TRIM46 knock-out mice. Contrary to previous reports, we find that TRIM46 is dispensable for axon specification and AIS formation. TRIM46 knock-out mice are viable, have normal behavior, and have normal brain structure. Thus, TRIM46 is not required for AIS formation, axon specification, or nervous system function. However, we confirm that TRIM46 is required for microtubule fasciculation. We also show TRIM46 enrichment in the first ~100 μm of axon occurs independently of ankyrinG (AnkG) in vivo, although AnkG is required to restrict TRIM46 only to the AIS. Our results highlight the need for further investigation of the mechanisms by which the AIS and microtubules interact to shape neuronal structure and function.

Sleep is known to drive the consolidation of motor memories. During nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, the close temporal proximity between slow oscillations (SOs) and spindles ("nesting" of SO-spindles) is known to be essential for consolidation, likely because it is closely associated with the reactivation of awake task activity. Interestingly, recent work has found that spindles can occur in temporal clusters or "trains." However, it remains unclear how spindle trains are related to the nesting phenomenon. Here, we hypothesized that spindle trains are more likely when SOs co-occur in the prefrontal and motor cortex. We conducted simultaneous neural recordings in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and primary motor cortex (M1) of male rats training on the reach-to-grasp motor task. We found that intracortically recorded M1 spindles are organized into distinct temporal clusters. Notably, the occurrence of temporally precise SOs between mPFC and M1 was a strong predictor of spindle trains. Moreover, reactivation of awake task patterns is much more persistent during spindle trains in comparison with that during isolated spindles. Together, our work suggests that the precise coupling of SOs across mPFC and M1 may be a potential driver of spindle trains and persistent reactivation of motor memory during NREM sleep.

Neural circuits supporting innate behaviors, such as feeding, exploration, and social interaction, intermingle in the lateral hypothalamus (LH). Although previous studies have shown that individual LH neurons change their firing relative to the baseline during one or more behaviors, the firing rate dynamics of LH populations within behavioral episodes and the coordination of behavior-related LH populations remain largely unknown. Here, using unsupervised graph-based clustering of LH neurons firing rate dynamics in freely behaving male mice, we identified distinct populations of cells whose activity corresponds to feeding, specific times during feeding bouts, or other innate behaviors—social interaction and novel object exploration. Feeding-related cells fired together with a higher probability during slow and fast gamma oscillations (30–60 and 60–90 Hz) than during nonrhythmic epochs. In contrast, the cofiring of neurons signaling other behaviors than feeding was overall similar between slow gamma and nonrhythmic epochs but increased during fast gamma oscillations. These results reveal a neural organization of ethological hierarchies in the LH and point to behavior-specific motivational systems, the dysfunction of which may contribute to mental disorders.

Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is currently seeking applications from experts to join the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) of its Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems [...]

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

On March 10, 1933, a major earthquake caught the Los Angeles area by surprise. The devastation was of sufficient scale to spur scientific interest in earthquakes—and how to predict them.

Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Ronald Drever | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winners for Physical Sciences In February, physicists announced the first-ever detection of gravitational waves—a phenomenon Albert Einstein predicted back in 1915. The faint reverberation, from two merging black holes 1.3 billion light-years ago, registered in the two giant detectors that make up the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO. It took decades for LIGO’s founders—Weiss, of MIT, and Thorne and Drever, of Cal Tech—to amass the necessary funding and brainpower. Barish, a particle physicist at CalTech, became LIGO’s director and expanded its work to include more than 1,000 researchers worldwide. Their revolutionary achievement opens the way for a new understanding of the universe, perhaps even a glimpse of the Big Bang. Read more about their work: http://smithmag.co/FZBFeP | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

From their jaw-dropping hunting abilities to their unique physicality, owls are truly captivating creatures. Join us as we delve into the world of these mysterious birds of prey. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Producer: Nicki Marko Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

After five people perished on a controversial submersible dive to the wreckage of the Titanic in June, we got to thinking about what genuine undersea exploration looks like. In this episode, we speak with Tony Perrottet, who profiled the late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush for Smithsonian magazine in 2019, about our ancient fascination with exploring hostile environments. Then we’re joined by Susan Casey, who has written four best-selling books about the ocean and its creatures, the newest of which is The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean. Susan tells us why understanding the ocean is key to humanity’s survival, and how, while serious research and shipwreck tourism may have some overlap, they remain two very different things. Read Tony Perrottet’s June 2019 (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/worlds-first-deep-diving-submarine-plans-tourists-see-titanic-180972179/) Smithsonian (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/worlds-first-deep-diving-submarine-plans-tourists-see-titanic-180972179/) profile (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/worlds-first-deep-diving-submarine-plans-tourists-see-titanic-180972179/) of Stockton Rush. Learn more about Tony and his work at his site (http://tonyperrottet.com/) . Read an excerpt from Susan Casey’s new book, The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/inside-the-nerve-racking-dive-to-an-active-submarine-volcano-180982687/) . Learn more about Susan and her work at her site (https://susancasey.com/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz (contains elements by Madelgarius (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Titan_(mod%C3%A9lisation_sketchup_-_twilight_render_-_Gimp).jpg) , via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0) Music by APM Music.

Ancient Greeks were endlessly fascinated by Egyptian culture, and especially the Egyptian Gods whom they saw as versions of their own. So much so that they ended up adopting Egyptian culture and customs as their own.

Archaeologists uncover an exciting find: a tomb that predates most of the others in the area by around 2,000 years. Inside, is a series of perfectly preserved inscriptions on a panel known as a "false door’."

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Some of the brightest minds in the world gathered at Smithsonian's "The Future is Here" conference to discuss the great triumphs and future innovations in science and technology http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ideas-innovations/The-Future-is-Here.html

The annual award ceremony featured costumes, songs and paper airplanes as scientists recognized comedic research across ten disciplines

A new study identified the tiny pollutants in the olfactory bulbs of eight cadavers, suggesting microplastics can travel through the nose to the brain

To boost the iconic queen conch's population, researchers are relocating the heat-stressed creatures to cooler, deeper waters to help them find mates

Researchers say that the iconic painting's swirling sky lines up with Kolmogorov's theory of turbulence, suggesting that the artist was a careful observer of the world around him

Called the Australasian narrow-nosed spookfish, the cryptic species lives deep in the ocean off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia

Using sound recordings, the team identified the largest known population of the night parrot, a secretive species known as the "Holy Grail of birdwatching"

The discovery has implications for human health, since the microbes included some that were still viable, some that could be infectious to humans and others that carried drug-resistant genes

New research has revealed that the mysterious white substance found alongside three ancient mummies was once a soft cheese called kefir

The brain diagram, called a connectome, could revolutionize researchers' understanding of the human brain, which has many parallels with a fruit fly's

The new findings bring storm researchers one step closer to solving the mystery of how lightning forms

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, tiny molecules that play a crucial role in how cells develop, paving the way for new treatments for diseases

John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton shared the award for their work on artificial neural networks and machine learning

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper revealed how amino acids shape protein structure, a finding that could aid in drug discovery

Each of the 11 dolphins sampled exhaled at least one suspected particle of microplastic, which researchers say “highlights how extensive environmental microplastic pollution is”