STEM

Eight years ago, I first began to write and speak about the future full-time. Then, as always, I was asked about what accurate forecasts I had made. This told me that my legitimacy (to some degree) would be based upon this. I started to make forecasts. The second thing I realized was that most people Continue Reading →

The Kentucky Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would count computer programming classes toward fulfilling foreign-language requirements in public schools. The goal is to enhance programming skills, enabling more Kentucky students to land high-paying jobs in the growing computer industry, said Sen. David Givens, the bill’s sponsor. “Those opportunities are there,” the Greensburg Republican said, Continue Reading →

Jellyfish are popular attractions at aquariums, with their see-through bodies and floating lifestyle. Keeping hungry jellyfish fed, however, can be a challenge. Fish and shrimp-based protein sources can be expensive, inconvenient, and may ultimately be unsustainable. That’s why P. Zelda Montoya and Barrett L. Christie, two aquarists from the Dallas Zoo and Children’s Aquarium, decided Continue Reading →

Rosetta, the first spacecraft built to orbit a comet and land a probe on these icy nomads, is now waking up after more than two years of slumber, and videos filmed as part of an international competition will help greet the spacecraft after it awakens. Comets are some of the most primitive building blocks of Continue Reading →

Google is testing out a contact lens product that is designed to help measure glucose levels in tears in an attempt to manage a patient’s diabetes. An outcome from the company’s Google[x] department, the prototypes are capable of generating a reading once per second. Google is also in talks with the US Food and Drug Continue Reading →

A clear, bandage-like sensor could eventually make everything from fabrics to our fingers smart. Dr. Yong Zhu and a team of North Carolina State University researchers created an ultra-thin, flexible sensor that could be used in clothing, on the body, any in other ordinary objects to track things like strain, pressure, human touch, and bioelectronic Continue Reading →

Middle and High School astronomy courses rely on visualization, particularly when it comes to seeing the “images” in constellations and orbital trajectories. This five app bunch is perfect for students who want to more clearly see the planets and stars, as well as learn the history, present and future of space programs. Gravity App ($7.99 iPad) Continue Reading →

What better way to celebrate the next batch of competitors for the Scripps National Spelling Bee than with mobile applications and games designed to prepare Elementary to Middle School students for spelling quizzes and tests? These apps (most vetted by educational experts) can help students spell, expand their vocabularies and use words in the correct context. Continue Reading →

Botanists have been busy trying to iron out the pesky needle drop from Christmas trees for years by crossing different species of fir. But now, scientists are getting involved—and the results could mean that your next tree looks or smells completely different. Not content with the rate of progress that horticulturists make—after all, it can Continue Reading →

Researchers have weighed a planet orbiting a distant star by measuring the starlight passing through its atmosphere. The technique could accelerate the hunt for Earth-like worlds. Knowing the mass of an extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is an important step in determining whether it is rocky, and thus potentially home to life. To find that mass, Continue Reading →