A Department of Education study found from 2009 to 2010, black students were 3 1/2 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than white ones. Though the reasons are unclear, many argue harsher punishments push many black and Latino students out of schools and into the criminal justice system.
Chances are, you've fallen victim to earworms — pesky songs or melodies that get stuck in your head and just won't get out.
Research suggests that there are psychological reasons why some songs are more likely to stick, including memory triggers, emotional states, and even stress. Some researchers hope to better understand why this happens and figure out what, if anything, music memory can teach psychologists about how to treat patients dealing with memory loss.
Reporting in Nature, researchers write they have deciphered the genetic code of the gorilla, the last of the great apes to have its genome sequenced. Study co-author Aylwyn Scally discusses what the data reveal about the evolution of humans and other apes.
Between the resident emu and the newborn goats, Harvard's Concord Field Station, located in Bedford, Mass., has a menagerie feel. The lab researches how different animals move--which requires lots of animals, and gadgets to facilitate and document their motion.
Reporting in the Astrophysical Journal, scientists write of a massive collision between two galaxy clusters. By studying the cosmic remnants of that smashup, they say leftover dark matter isn't behaving as current theory predicts. Astrophysicist Andisheh Mahdavi discusses this dark matter mystery.
It's been an unusually warm winter in some parts of the country, with springtime temperatures and very little snow. How is nature responding? Purdue entomologist Tom Turpin and horticulturalist Kristin Schleiter of the New York Botanical Garden discuss how an early spring affects flower buds, beetles and bees.
When you crunch into a potato chip or take a spoonful of chocolate mousse what you experience is more than just the taste of the food. In her book Taste What You're Missing, Barb Stuckey discusses why truly experiencing food involves all five senses and offers tips on how to get more enjoyment from your next meal.
Reporting in Cell Metabolism, researchers write that when people who lead relatively sedentary lives worked out the DNA in their muscle fibers changed almost immediately. Scientists also found caffeine had the same effect on isolated rodent muscles. Study co-author Juleen Zierath discusses the DNA modifications.
The New Horizons Mission blasted off toward Pluto in 2006; it's on course to arrive in Pluto's neighborhood in 2015. Mission leader Alan Stern discusses the journey of the spacecraft, and why he thinks Pluto is still a planet. Plus, the mission to get Pluto on a commemorative stamp.
After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, some law enforcement agencies adapted crime mapping tactics into what is known as ethnic mapping. Some Muslims welcome ethnic mapping as a useful approach to preventing terrorism. Others say the surveillance amounts to domestic spying and racial profiling.
