Category: science in the news

science in the news

Facts about the controversial prime minister in ‘The Crown’

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More than 30 years since she was last in power, Margaret Thatcher remains a divisive figure in Britain. Some see the prime minister as having saved the country from economic decline, while others believe she destroyed the livelihoods of millions of workers. But none can deny that Thatcher became a legend in her own lifetime. 



Margaret Thatcher talking on a cell phone: October 1985: British prime minister Margaret Thatcher looking pensive at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool.

© Provided by Live Science
October 1985: British prime minister Margaret Thatcher looking pensive at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool.

Related: Read a FREE issue of All About History magazine

Early years

Born Margaret Roberts on Oct. 13, 1925, Thatcher had a humble but comfortable upbringing, living with her family in an apartment above her parents’ grocery store in Grantham, Lincolnshire. In addition to being a grocer, Thatcher’s father, Alfred Roberts, was also a preacher and a local politician, having held a seat on the local town council for several years and serving

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science in the news

The 5 Roles That Every Data Science Team Must Hire

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Building a data science product is quite like constructing your home. Using this analogy let’s look at the five roles and skills that the best data science teams hire for.

The CEO of a large financial services firm was a big supporter of advanced analytics. He decided to get his organization started on the path towards data science.

How did the organization plan this journey? By recruiting data scientists, of course! They hired 1000 data scientists, each at an average cost of $250,000 a year. Data scientists are hard to come by, so the CEO was very proud of this achievement.

Several months and millions of dollars later, the business benefits were not there. And upon further investigation, the organization found that these ‘experts’ were not data scientists at all! 

McKinsey reports that neither this firm’s CEO nor the human resources group understood

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science in the news

Former St. Louis woman who spent time in foster care named Rhodes Scholar | Joe’s St. Louis

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A former St. Louisan — who bounced between foster homes and often slept on couches at the homes of friends — has been named a 2021 Rhodes Scholar.

Mackenzie Fierceton, 23, a 2016 graduate of the Whitfield School in Creve Coeur, is one of just 32 U.S. college students awarded a four-year scholarship for graduate studies at the University of Oxford in England.
Mackenzie Fierceton

Mackenzie Fierceton, Rhodes Scholar. (Photo by Jane Dmochowski)


Fierceton earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2018 from the University of Pennsylvania. She now is a graduate student at Penn and should earn a master’s degree in social work in 2021.

Fierceton said her foster homes were in several STL municipalities, including Manchester, Clayton and Creve Coeur.

Though she has not returned to St. Louis often, she has made several trips to visit a sister and the foster family from her senior year.

Support

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science in the news

Trust The Science, But Celebrate The Business Of Covid-19 Vaccines

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Written with Mahka Moeen

When it comes to fighting a pandemic like Covid-19, most people trust the science. They have less confidence in business to do the right thing. Industry leaders score high in competence on the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer, but low on ethics.

Companies racing to deliver vaccines might have to confront that perception in the coming weeks. Even if they solve all the associated challenges in record time, public appreciation for their work might not climb.

Many people simply won’t notice. They read news reports of research teams developing vaccines at Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, and they applaud the power of science. Then they wait for supplies to show up at their local clinics. 

Nobody doubts this will happen. The worst-case scenario would be rationing during the initial months, which might cause jostling for position at the front of the line. Yet no one imagines

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science in the news

Lunar mission is latest milestone in China’s space ambitions

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WENCHANG, China (AP) – China’s latest trip to the moon is another milestone in the Asian powerhouse’s slow but steady ascent to the stars.

China became the third country to put a person into orbit a generation ago and the first to land on the far side of the moon in 2019. Future ambitions include a permanent space station and putting people back on the moon more than 50 years after the U.S. did.

But even before the latest lunar mission lifted off before dawn Tuesday, a top program official maintained that China isn’t competing with anyone.

“China will set its development goals in the space industry based on its own considerations of science and engineering technology,” Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center at the China National Space Administration, told reporters hours before the Chang’e 5 mission was launched.

“We do not place rivals

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science in the news

Covid-19 vaccines may hurt. CDC’s ACIP says people need to know this upfront

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The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met to discuss whether to recommend use of any Covid-19 vaccine that the US Food and Drug Administration might authorize.

Volunteers in vaccine trials have reported they frequently feel flu-like effects after getting vaccinated, and members of the ACIP — as well as liaison representatives who take part in the discussion — said that could affect people’s willingness to get vaccinated in the first place, or to get the second dose of the two-vaccine regimen.

“As a practicing physician, I have got to be sure my patients will come back for the second dose. We really have got to make patients aware that this is not going to be a walk in the park,” Dr. Sandra Fryhofer of the Emory University School of Medicine, representing the American Medical Association, told the meeting.

“They are going to know they got a vaccine. They are … Read More

science in the news

Uber Partners with Rosetta Stone to Include Language Learning in Popular Uber Rewards Program | Money

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“Rosetta Stone” is a registered trademark or trademark of Rosetta Stone Ltd. in the United States and other countries.

About Cambium Learning Group, Inc. Cambium Learning® Group believes every student has great potential, teachers are mission-critical, and data, instruction and practice work together to drive performance. With a portfolio of award-winning brands, Cambium Learning Group’s digital and blended curriculum and professional learning solutions drive proficiency, equity, and other learning outcomes in classrooms everywhere. Brands include Learning A-Z® (online differentiated instruction for K-6 school reading, writing and science), ExploreLearning® (online interactive math and science simulations, a math fact fluency solution, and a K-2 science solution), Voyager Sopris Learning® (blended solutions that accelerate struggling learners to achieve in literacy and math and professional learning for teachers), Cambium Assessment (innovative state- and district-level assessment solutions), and VKidz Learning (online PreK-12 homeschool curriculum and programs for literacy and math). Cambium completed the acquisition of

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science in the news

Former STLer who spent time in foster care named Rhodes Scholar | Joe’s St. Louis

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A former St. Louisan — who bounced between foster homes and often slept on couches at the homes of friends — has been named a 2021 Rhodes Scholar.

Mackenzie Fierceton, 23, a 2016 graduate of the Whitfield School in Creve Coeur, is one of just 32 U.S. college students awarded a four-year scholarship for graduate studies at the University of Oxford in England.
Mackenzie Fierceton

Mackenzie Fierceton, Rhodes Scholar. (Photo by Jane Dmochowski)


Fierceton earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2018 from the University of Pennsylvania. She now is a graduate student at Penn and should earn a master’s degree in social work in 2021.

Fierceton said her foster homes were in several STL municipalities, including Manchester, Clayton and Creve Coeur.

Though she has not returned to St. Louis often, she has made several trips to visit a sister and the foster family from her senior year.

Most-read

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science in the news

400 Years After the ‘First Thanksgiving,’ the Tribe Who Fed the Pilgrims Continues to Fight for Their Land Amid Another Epidemic

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When Paula Peters was in second grade in Philadelphia in the mid-1960s, listening to a teacher talk about Plymouth colony and the Mayflower, a student asked what happened to the Native Americans who helped the Pilgrims settle, the Wampanoag. The teacher said they were all dead.



a person standing next to a body of water: Weetoomoo Carey, 8, left, and Jackolynn Carey, 5, Wampanoag Nipmucs from Mashpee, look across to the Mayflower replica anchored near Plymouth Rock on Nov. 26, 1991. They were with a group of Native Americans gathered for a day of mourning in response to the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving

© Suzanne Kreiter—The Boston Globe/Getty Images
Weetoomoo Carey, 8, left, and Jackolynn Carey, 5, Wampanoag Nipmucs from Mashpee, look across to the Mayflower replica anchored near Plymouth Rock on Nov. 26, 1991. They were with a group of Native Americans gathered for a day of mourning in response to the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving

“When she mentioned we’re all dead, that was devastating,” Peters, 61, recalled to TIME. “I raised my hand, and I said no that’s not true, I’m a Wampanoag, and I’m still here. I didn’t know enough then as a second grader that I could challenge her, but I think that I’ve challenged

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science in the news

Biden names Kerry as U.S. climate envoy, emphasizing diplomacy’s role in the issue

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By Timothy Gardner, Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Joe Biden named former Secretary of State John Kerry as special climate envoy, his transition team said on Monday, a sign that Biden is putting the issue at the center of his foreign policy.

FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks by video feed during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention as participants from across the country are hosted over video links from the originally planned site of the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. August 18, 2020. 2020 Democratic National Convention/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Kerry, whose appointment does not require U.S. Senate confirmation, will have a seat on the National Security Council in the White House, the transition team said, marking the first time an official in that body will be dedicated to the climate issue.

Biden has pledged to reverse course on climate from President Donald Trump,

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