STEM

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At 19, She's Inspiring New Generation of Women to Fly

Belgium-British teen Zara Rutherford becomes youngest woman to fly solo around the world

(Newser) - Zara Rutherford just completed a string of firsts. Foremost, the British-Belgian dual citizen, who got her first pilot license in 2020, became the youngest woman to fly around the world solo on Thursday. At just 19, she beat the record held by American Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 when she...

12-Year-Old Plans to Make NASA History
12-Year-Old Plans to
Make NASA History
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Apr 17, 2021 7:00 AM CDT

12-Year-Old Plans to Make NASA History

Alena Wicker's goal is to be the youngest Black girl to ever work for the space agency

(Newser) - When Alena Wicker realized the racial and gender gaps in employment in the STEM fields, she went to work. The Texas 12-year-old told her mother, "I want to create this culture of Brown girls in STEM, because it's this whole gap, and I just want to do something,...

Hate Blind Spots While Driving? This Teen Has a Solution

14-year-old Alaina Gassler created innovative workaround

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania teen has won $25,000 and, perhaps soon, the gratitude of every driver in America with what Mashable calls a "simple but innovative" invention that gets rid of blind spots. A release from the Society for Science & the Public announced that the "girls shine" in...

Why Kareem Abdul-Jabar Is Selling His Trophies, Rings

Proceeds will help with STEM project

(Newser) - Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has decided four of his NBA championship rings and other memorabilia can be put to better use. So rather than continuing to display them at home, he's selling them to the highest bidder, CBS reports. Much of the auction proceeds will go to his Skyhook...

Girl Mocked Over Her Love of Bugs Gets Last Laugh

Sophia Spencer co-authors research paper

(Newser) - Its insights into the use of social media to promote entomology is just one reason a new scientific paper is making headlines. The other is that its co-author is an 8-year-old girl. Sophia Spencer of Canada has long loved creepy-crawlies, especially carrying them around on her shoulder, but her venture...

Girl Scouts Have 23 New Badges, With Science Focus

Biggest new batch in a decade for the group

(Newser) - From tiny Daisies to teen Ambassadors, Girl Scouts may now earn 23 new badges focused on science, technology, engineering, and math. It's the largest addition of new badges in a decade for Girl Scouts of the USA, per the AP . The effort takes a progressive approach to STEM and...

A Sally Ride Lego Figure? Yep, and She's Not Alone

Maia Weinstock's 'Women of NASA' prototype has been given green light

(Newser) - Mathematician Katherine Johnson was one of the women of NASA depicted in the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures, and now she's about to get her own Lego figure. Per MIT News , Johnson and four other women involved with the space agency over the years—Margaret Hamilton (computer scientist), Mae Jemison...

Martin Shkreli Now Praising Kids Who Made Cheap Drug

He makes congratulatory video after belittling their work on Twitter

(Newser) - A bunch of Aussie schoolkids produced a $2-a-pill version of a super-expensive anti-parasitic drug ($750 per dose), and the man behind the latter drug's huge price hike is now praising their efforts, Reuters reports. In a YouTube video directed toward students at Sydney Grammar School, ex-Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin...

Girls Beat Boys in Federal Tech Test

But only 43% of 21,500 students tested as technologically literate

(Newser) - For the first time, a federal test measured tech skills for America's students—and the girls handily beat the boys in nearly every category, per US News & World Report . On the National Assessment of Educational Progress engineering and technology exam, given in 2014 to 21,500 eighth-graders from...

Author: Ditch Mandatory Algebra in Schools

Instead, teach kids basic math skills they'll use in the real world: Andrew Hacker

(Newser) - Something's not adding up, according to what the AP calls a "provocative new book" that pleads the case of getting rid of mandatory algebra in US schools. "One out of 5 young Americans does not graduate from high school … one of the worst records in the...

STEM Shocker: Intel Drops Science Contest

Company has been supporter of prestigious high school competition since 1998

(Newser) - "Wanted: Respected corporation with deep pockets and deep roots in the STEM arena to take over prestigious science and math competition." That's basically the ad the Society for Science and the Public now has to place to replace Intel, which has announced it will no longer sponsor...

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