Why Your Child Won’t Be a Scientist (and What You Can Do About It)

Credit: niu.edu

Research shows low numbers of youth who are engaged in the sciences and the need for increased attention to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. With the release of a report from the Department of Commerce announcing that STEM jobs grew at three times the rate of non-STEM jobs, and offer higher pay, the fact that there is such a low interest in STEM is an interesting conundrum. If STEM careers are high-paying, and more available, why aren’t we creating more scientists?

According to an urban education expert, here are five major reasons for why youth are not likely to have careers in the STEM disciplines, and what we can do about it:

1) We have instilled the phrase “I’m not good at math or science” into a new generation.
2) Science is taught in a way that is opposite to what it truly is.
3) Science has lost the “cool factor” and kids have no “science heroes.”
4) We don’t focus on current issues in the discipline.
5) Good grades in science will not make you a scientist.
Read the full article here.

Video Gamers Quickly Defeat Biochemical Puzzle That Scientists Couldn’t Solve for Years

Credit: FoldIt

Researchers at the University of Washington have successfully leveraged the power of gamers to solve a biochemical puzzle: the structure of a complex protein related to the development of AIDS. By playing an online game called Foldit, teams of average citizens were able to make a breakthrough discovery in how this protein was shaped even though scientists had stumbled over the question for more than a decade.

Read more on Singularity Hub.

Single Molecule is Tiniest Electric Motor Ever

Photo by NewScientist

For the first time, an electric motor has been made from a single molecule. At 1 nanometre long, that makes the organic compound the smallest electric motor ever.

Its creators plan to submit their design to Guinness World Records, but the teeny motor could also have practical applications, such as pushing fluid through narrow pipes in “lab-on-a-chip” devices.
Read full story here.

Scientists Find Building Blocks of Life in Meteorite

In what appears to be seriously big news from a team of NASA-funded researchers, scientists have found evidence that some building blocks of DNA–including two of the four nucleobases that make up our genetic code–found in meteorites were created in space, lending credence to the idea that life is not homegrown but was seeded here by asteroids, meteorites, or comets sometime in Earth’s early lifetime.

Scientists have been extracting fragments of DNA from meteorites for decades now, but there was never really hard proof that those pieces of biological molecules were native to the extraterrestrial object rather than terrestrial contamination that occurred when the object slammed into Earth. So while the idea of DNA riding aboard extraterrestrial objects has been floated before, this is the first time we’ve been presented real evidence backing that notion.

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Scientists Find Evidence of Flowing Water on Martian Land

Scientists have found evidence of flowing salt water on mars, which has again sparked the debate of possible alien life on the red planet. The images that were sent from NASA’s orbiter show briny salt water falling from rocky slopes.

“NASA’s Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form … and it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

Massive Solar Storms Could Disrupt Worldwide Satellite Communication

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has recently predicted that a massive solar storm could create global disruptions in power grids, satellite communication, airline communication and even in GPS systems.

With Solar activity expected to peak at around 2013, the sun is entering a very active time, and these solar flares previously described will be common in the next couple of years. Read more here