Leonid meteor shower is building to a peak

The peak of the Leonids is likely to be before sunup on November 17, 2020. But people already catching some Leonids. Keep an eye out this weekend. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/leonid-meteors-before-dawn-november-17…

Diverse Representation: Learner Impacts and Strategies in Online Courses

By: Ji Su Lee and Eli Fogle, Coursera Teaching and Learning team Many learners are new to online learning. It can be an isolating environment without the in-person opportunities to connect with the instructor and other learners.  Creating an environment where learners can succeed includes many factors, and key among them is for students to […]
The post Diverse Representation: Learner Impacts…

Microsoft: Make 11-Year-Olds ‘Future Ready’ With Minecraft Python Hour of Code

theodp writes: The upcoming “Hack the Classroom: STEM Edition,” Microsoft explains, “is a [3-day] free virtual event series designed for K-12 educators, parents, and guardians. The sessions will feature resources and tutorials to help educators support students in learning future-ready skills. These lessons can be easily incorporated into classroom curriculum while preparing for this year’s Hour of Code event — a…

Shot To Prevent HIV Works Better Than Daily Pill in Women

A single shot given every two months has proved to be more effective than a daily pill at preventing H.I.V. in women, researchers reported on Monday, an advance that medical experts hailed as groundbreaking in the fight against the deadly virus that causes AIDS. From a report: The finding that the long-acting drug would prevent H.I.V. in six doses taken over…

These Drones Will Plant 40,000 Trees in a Month. By 2028, They’ll Have Planted 1 Billion

Earlier this month, on land north of Toronto that previously burned in a wildfire, drones hovered over fields and fired seed pods into the ground, planting native pine and spruce trees to help restore habitat for birds. From a report: Flash Forest, the Canadian startup behind the project, plans to use its technology to plant 40,000 trees in the area this…

Kids can watch colorful crystals grow with this NatGeo kit, on sale for Prime Day

Get up to 20% off National Geographic STEM science kits, including a crystal growing kit, a glowing marble run and more. Source: https://www.livescience.com/news/kids-can-watch-colorful-crystals-grow-with-this-natgeo-kit-on-sale-for-prime-day

Xbox Game Streaming Will Land on iOS in 2021 Using Web Workaround

Project xCloud, the Microsoft game-streaming service that comes packed as a bonus in certain Xbox Game Pass subscription plans, may finally have a path to working on Apple’s range of iOS devices — well after a public row between the tech giants that put the possibility into question. From a report: The news comes from a report by Business Insider, which…

Robinhood Users Say Accounts Were Looted, No One to Call

An anonymous reader shares a report: It took Soraya Bagheri a day to learn that 450 shares of Moderna had been liquidated in her Robinhood account and that $10,000 in withdrawals were pending. But after alerting the online brokerage to what she believed was a theft in progress, she received a frustrating email. The firm wrote it would investigate and respond…

Bright fireball widely seen over northeastern Mexico

A fireball is an especially bright meteor from space. It can start out icy and burn up entirely in our atmosphere, or rocky … in which case a meteorite sometimes falls to Earth’s surface. This bright fireball blazed over northeastern Mexico on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/video-photos-bright-fireball-northeastern-mexico…

A minuscule spacecraft joins a pilot’s epic journey to fly from pole to pole

On November 16, 2019, pilot and author Robert DeLaurentis took off on an ambitious adventure. Setting out from San Diego county’s Gillespie Field, he banked toward Grand Prairie, Texas on the first leg of a pole to pole expedition. At each stop along the way he planned to talk about STEM education, aviation safety and technology, all with the intention of…