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Links to teacher's guide for October articles Eating with your eyes: The Chemistry of Food Colorings Tooth Decay: A Delicate Balance Probiotics: Good bactria good health Dirt? Who needs it? How hydroponics is poised to change the world Light in the cellar of the sea

11 video Hank brings us the story of Gregor Mendel, the Austrian monk who, with the help of a garden full of pea plants, discovered the fundamental properties of inheritance and paved the way for modern genetics. He also gives us the dirt on a scientific scandal that has followed Mendel beyond the grave.

President Obama approved a bill on Monday banning soaps, toothpastes, and bodywashes that contain a harmful ingredient. That ingredient is microbeads - tiny, nearly impossible-to-dissolve plastic particles that enter water streams by the billions. The beads are typically found in cleansing products because they can be used as tiny scrubbers, helping to wipe away oil and dirt from the skin or teeth. A recent study found as many as 1.7 million of the tiny particles per square kilometer in the Great Lakes region's Lake Erie, where much of our trash ends up.