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"Think the school you chose for your child is good? Better than that academic straggler just down the road? Think again. A new study is raising questions about the information parents commonly use to chose a school for their children, especially in provinces like Alberta and British Columbia, where families commonly shop around for an education."

"Today's math curriculum is teaching students to expect -- and excel at -- paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them. At TEDxNYED, Dan Meyer shows classroom-tested math exercises that prompt students to stop and think."

"A survey of about 600 scientists published this week found that a majority think it's time to consider conservation triage - focusing resources on animals that can realistically be saved, and giving up on the rest. Those that fall into the too-expensive-to-save category, it has been suggested, might include the panda and the tiger."

"They think they are of a kind never before discovered. The well-preserved organisms from the Ordovician period, which began about 495m years ago, lived in what is now the town of Llandrindod Wells, which was partially under water. Scientists believe they shed new light on how ocean communities have evolved."

Single photons are the smallest quantities of light and, despite having no mass, have many properties in common with particles. In fact, physicists often think of photons as particles -- particles that sometimes behave like waves. Physicists sometimes describe all particles as waves -- even those with mass, such as electrons and protons -- in order to better understand certain aspects of their behavior.

"Mr Hawking thinks that, rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact. He explained: "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet." "

"Think of the ocean as our global savings account -- and right now, we're only making withdrawals, not deposits. Enric Sala shows how we can replenish our account through no-take marine reserves, with powerful ecological and economic benefits."

William Li presents a new way to think about cancer treatment: angiogenesis, targeting the blood vessels that feed a tumor. The crucial first (and best) step: Eating cancer-fighting foods that beat cancer at its own game.

"Greetings citizen scientists, budding biohackers, and backyard explorers! We think you'll find the Make: Science Room a fun and useful resource. We hope you'll use it as your DIY science classroom, virtual laboratory, and a place to share your projects, hacks, and laboratory tips with other amateur scientists. Your Make: Science Room host is Robert Bruce Thompson, author of Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture. (Make: Books, 2008) and Illustrated Guide to Forensics Investigations: Uncover Evidence in Your Home, Lab, or Basement (not yet published). We'll be drawing material from these titles first, but will soon branch out into biology, astrononmy, Earth sciences, and other disciplines."

Plugging gadgets into a socket in the wall, or loading them with batteries - or maybe even unfurling a solar panel - is how most of us think of getting electricity. But what about plugging them into your body?

Building a trebuchet from scratch and finding the best proportions, weights, angles etc by trial and error certainly works ..well, that's how the Grey Co's first machines were done... but if you could model the rock-throwing beasts mathematically then think of the work and possibly wasted effort you could save.