Science & Society
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Science & Society
One of the best ways for kids to learn science: by doing it
A biodegradable Band-Aid. A low-cost, ultrasonic guide to parallel parking. A reinvention of the toilet. These were among the nearly 1,400 science fair projects on display at the 2014 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Science News’ parent organization, the Society for Science & the Public, has run the annual event since 1950.
- Science & Society
Top 10 things everybody should know about science
Much of scientific knowledge can be condensed into a few basic principles that every educated person should know.
- Health & Medicine
Massachusetts insurance mandate lowers death rate
Since “Romneycare” was phased in, mortality fell by 2.9 percent.
- Science & Society
Polls don’t identify the real science education problem
Concerns that Americans do poorly when quizzed on factual scientific knowledge don’t address deeper issues of scientific understanding.
- Science & Society
Anti-leukemia vaccine reported hope of future
Fifty years ago, Science News Letter reported on the promise of a vaccine to prevent leukemia. No preventive vaccine has come to pass, but leukemia vaccines as treatments has yielded promising results.
- Science & Society
Students retain information better with pens than laptops
Compared with typing on a laptop, writing notes by hand may lead to deeper understanding of lecture material.
- Quantum Physics
Shor’s code-breaking algorithm inspired reflections on quantum information
Twenty years ago, physicists met in Santa Fe to explore the ramifications of quantum information.
- Tech
To do: Exhibits to explore this May in D.C. and New York
Events include a celebration of science and original watercolor paintings from John James Audubon.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum experts discuss the measurement problem: A transcript from 1994
A fairly complete transcript of a discussion about quantum physics on May 19, 1994, the last day of a workshop in Santa Fe, N.M., evolves into a more general discussion of the interpretation of quantum mechanics and the quantum measurement problem.
- Quantum Physics
Robert Redford film foretold Shor’s quantum computing bombshell
Twenty years ago, Peter Shor showed how quantum computers could break secret codes, turning the movie Sneakers from fiction to fact.
- Health & Medicine
Surgery museum holds wonders for the brave
Anatomical displays sit alongside art depicting medical history at the International Museum of Surgical Science.
- Science & Society
Millions of working mamas
It has been a long time since millions of American women working outside the home was big sociological news. Women are now 47 percent of the U.S. workforce.
