Closing the Achievement Gap in Math and Science

The latest results from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program show not only improved proficiency among all elementary and middle school students, but also a closing of the achievement gaps between both African-American and Hispanic students and white students in elementary school math, and between African-American and white students in elementary and ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111514&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Top Science and Math Teachers Receive Presidential Award

Excellent teaching in math and science can make a crucial difference to students' mastery of these subjects, and to decisions about future study and careers. Teachers who bring such teaching to their classrooms are being honored by President Bush as winners of the 2007 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).The PAEMST is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House. Each year, state officials are asked to ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111502&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Astronomers Discover New Type of Pulsating White Dwarf Star

University of Texas at Austin astronomers Michael H. Montgomery and Kurtis A. Williams, along with graduate student Steven DeGennaro, have predicted and confirmed the existence of a new type of variable star, with the help of the 2.1-meter Otto Struve Telescope at McDonald Observatory. The discovery is announced in today's issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.This research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Delaware Asteroseismic Research ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111513&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Research Team Is First to Model Photochemical Compass for Bird Navigation

A team of researchers at Arizona State University and the University of Oxford are the first to model a photochemical compass that may simulate how migrating birds use light and Earth's weak magnetic field to navigate. The team reports in the April 30, 2008, online issue of Nature that the photochemical model becomes sensitive to the magnitude and direction of weak magnetic fields similar to Earth's when exposed to light. The research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111509&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Global Warming Affects World's Largest Freshwater Lake

Russian and American scientists have discovered that the rising temperature of the world's largest lake, located in frigid Siberia, shows that this region is responding strongly to global warming.Drawing on 60 years of long-term studies of Russia's Lake Baikal, Stephanie Hampton, an ecologist and deputy director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Marianne Moore, a biologist at Wellesley College in Wellesley, ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111511&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.