EAST LANSING, Mich. — A national study led by a Michigan State University economist suggests Catholic schools are not superior to public schools after all.
Math scores for Catholic students dropped between kindergarten and eighth grade, while math scores for public school students increased slightly. In addition, Catholic students saw no significant increase in reading scores or better behavioral outcomes between kindergarten and eighth grade.
Most of the universe's heavy elements, including the iron central to life itself, formed early in cosmic history and spread throughout the universe, according to a new study of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster using Japan's Suzaku satellite.
Between 2009 and 2011, researchers from the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), jointly run by Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, used Suzaku's unique capabilities to map the distribution of iron throughout the Perseus Galaxy Cluster.
Oysters begin their lives as tiny drifters, but when they mature they settle on reefs. New research from North Carolina State University shows that the sounds of the reef may attract the young oysters, helping them locate their permanent home.
New evidence that iron is spread evenly between the galaxies in one of the largest galaxy clusters in the universe supports the theory that the universe underwent a turbulent and violent youth more than 10 billion years ago. That explosive period was responsible for seeding the cosmos with iron and other heavy elements that are critical to life itself.
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- In August, MIT researchers identified an exoplanet with an extremely brief orbital period: The team found that Kepler 78b, a small, intensely hot planet 400 light-years from Earth, circles its star in just 8.5 hours — lightning-quick, compared with our own planet's leisurely 365-day orbit. From starlight data gathered by the Kepler Space Telescope, the scientists also determined that the exoplanet is about 1.2 times Earth's size — making Kepler 78b one of the smallest exoplanets ever measured.
Kepler-78b is a planet that shouldn't exist. This scorching lava world circles its star every eight and a half hours at a distance of less than one million miles - one of the tightest known orbits. According to current theories of planet formation, it couldn't have formed so close to its star, nor could it have moved there.
"This planet is a complete mystery," says astronomer David Latham of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "We don't know how it formed or how it got to where it is today. What we do know is that it's not going to last forever."
NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites captured visible and infrared data on intensifying Tropical Storm Krosa as it heads for a landfall in the northern Philippines. Krosa is known as "Vinta" in the Philippines.
Several warnings have been issued by PAGASA for areas of the Philippines. Signal No. 2 is in effect for area in Luzon. Signal 2 means winds of 37.2 to 62 mph/60 to 100 kph are likely in at least 24 hours. Areas under Signal 2 include: Cagayan, the Calayan group of islands, the Babuyan group of islands, Isabela, Kalinga, Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra and Mt. Province.
Satellite data shows that the lower level circulation of Raymond decoupled from the middle layer of the storm. When a Tropical Depression decouples, it means the layers of circulation in the atmosphere are no longer "stacked" on top of each other. NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared data on Raymond that showed the strongest storms, associated with a mid-level circulation center, had broken away from the center.
Scientists testing the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment have reported promising scientific and technological results today.
They have set up the experiment to identify the nature of dark matter, an invisible substance that physicists believe is all around us, making up most of the matter in the universe, but that barely has any effect on our every-day lives.
The sun emitted a significant solar flare – its fourth X-class flare since Oct. 23, 2013 -- peaking at 5:54 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2013. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This disrupts the radio signals for as long as the flare is ongoing, anywhere from minutes to hours.
Researchers have taken the first step towards a radical new architecture for the internet, which they claim will transform the way in which information is shared online, and make it faster and safer to use.
The prototype, which has been developed as part of an EU-funded project called "Pursuit", is being put forward as a proof-of concept model for overhauling the existing structure of the internet's IP layer, through which isolated networks are connected, or "internetworked".
Researchers have discovered the eyes of Arctic reindeer change colour through the seasons from gold to blue, adapting to extreme changes of light levels in their environment and helping detect predators.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) funded team from UCL (University College London), and the University of Tromsø, Norway, showed that the colour change helps reindeer to see better in the continuous daylight of summer and continuous darkness of Arctic winters, by changing the sensitivity of the retina to light.
In middle-income countries such as China, interventions that have a psychological or social component (often referred to as psychosocial interventions) delivered by health workers who are not mental health specialists could help women during the perinatal period*, according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine.
Satellite data showed some recent convective activity within Tropical Storm Raymond on Oct. 28 but southwesterly wind shear and cooler ocean temperatures are predicted by the National Hurricane Center to weaken the tropical storm to a remnant low on Wednesday October 30, 2013.
NASA infrared imagery revealed that bands of thunderstorms have been wrapping into the center of newborn Tropical Depression 29W, indicating it's organizing and strengthening in the Philippine Sea.
The Philippine Sea is located within the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It's located east and north of the Philippines and covers about 2 million square miles (5 million square kilometers).