Defensive Teaching and the Emphasis on Coverage When I was an undergraduate at the University of Texas, all students were required to take two courses in US history. The courses were US History Before the Civil War and US History Since the Civil Wa...

My latest essay for The Teaching Professor, "Defensive Teaching and the Emphasis on Coverage" Subscription required:
www.teachingprofessor.com/topics/stude...

Prosecutors called her a danger to herself and others. Then she tried to kidnap a toddler. Noemi Guzman suffered from severe mental illness for years before she was killed by police. The criminal justice and medical systems could not help her.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Fluoride in drinking water has no effect on IQ or brain function, long-term study shows The new research is the first to measure community water fluoridation exposure during childhood in the U.S. and any potential impact on cognition up to age 80.

Tests of intelligence and brain function were the same whether or not people drank fluoridated water growing up, a highly anticipated, long-term study finds.

So sorry for your loss, Ben.

A sad cautionary tale about AI and cognitive biases.

Move Over, Cigarettes: Vapes Now the Leading Nicotine Danger for Kids MONDAY, April 6, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For decades, cigarettes in American homes were the bane of child health experts. But as their use has plummeted, a

www.healthday.com/health-news/...

More teens are getting hooked on gambling. Parents say it often goes undetected The explosion of online gambling and sports betting, as well as the advertising behind it, is attracting a growing number of young people, most of them boys.

The explosion of online gambling and sports betting, as well as the advertising behind it, is attracting a growing number of young people, most of them boys. n.pr/4tu8hgQ

(PDF) The Allure and Risks of Cramming for Exams PDF | Cramming is an alluring but risky study strategy. Let me explain. By the time students get to college, they probably have a lot of experience... | Find, read and cite all the research you need o...

My essay for The Teaching Professor, "The Allure and Risks of Cramming for Exams" now freely available on
@researchgate.bsky.social
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

(PDF) Mutually Satisfied Mediocrity: When Indifferent Teachers Meet Indifferent Students PDF | There is an elusive win-win in teaching in which both teachers and students truly enjoy a class together. The teachers find pleasure and... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Res...

My essay for The Teaching Professor, "Mutually Satisfied Mediocrity: When Indifferent Teachers Meet Indifferent Students" now freely available on @ResearchGate www.researchgate.net/publication/...

These tiny fish climb waterfall cliffs for 10 hours Try doing that yourself.

www.popsci.com/environment/...

New York promised to center phonics in reading instruction, but new course for teachers sidelines science of reading A New York State course intended to help educators use phonics and the science of reading effectively doesn’t do so and could impede students’ progress, literacy experts say.

The main teachers' union in NY state took on the job of educating in-service teachers in the science of reading. They blew it. hechingerreport.org/new-york-ten...

The audience shapes the information content of the honey bee waggle dance | PNAS The honey bee waggle dance, which encodes food location, is often thought to involve only one-way information transfer from dancers to signal recei...

Social facilitation in bees: The audience shapes the information content of the honey bee waggle dance | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Watch sperm whale headbutt another for no apparent reason Researchers have captured extraordinary footage of sperm whales randomly headbutting each other, confirming anecdotal reports from mariners and whalers in the 18th and 19th centuries.

www.livescience.com/animals/whal...

Urban blue tits use discarded cigarette butts to protect their nests, study suggests Discarded litter not only makes our streets and neighborhoods look untidy, but it can also pose a significant risk to wildlife. However, in a surprising development, a study published in the journal A...

phys.org/news/2026-03...

AI is changing the style and substance of human writing, study finds Teams from Google and leading universities found that large-language models change the voice, tone and intended meaning of human authors.

Teams from Google and leading universities find that large-language models change the voice, tone and intended meaning of human authors.

Dopamine takes a hit: how neuroscience is rethinking the ‘feel-good’ chemical www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The Allure and Risks of Cramming for Exams Cramming can be effective, but only for short-term learning and only if the material is easily understandable.

My latest essay for The Teaching Professor, "The Allure and Risks of Cramming for Exams". Subscription required.
www.teachingprofessor.com/topics/stude...

A wildflower survived a historic megadrought. Scientists now think they know how | CNN Wild scarlet monkeyflowers in California survived a historic drought by relying on a rapid evolution, marking the first time the process has been observed in the wild.

www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/s...

15-Year Study Shows Sharp Rise in Depression Among U.S. College Students WEDNESDAY, March 11, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For nearly two decades, the mental health of American college students has been on a downward slide. A massive

www.healthday.com/health-news/...

We Finally Know How Bumblebee Queens Can Survive Underwater For Days The discovery that bumblebee queens could shake it off and emerge unscathed after more than a week submerged in water stunned scientists back in 2024.

www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-k...

Wasps and frogs evolved identical pain toxins without sharing ancestry Some wasps and frogs evolved similar chemicals that cause pain in predators, even though the species are not closely related.

Wasps and frogs evolved identical pain toxins without sharing ancestry: www.earth.com/news/wasps-a...

Glad it is helpful for working with struggling students.

If you teach statistics, this is a nice real-world example of a cumulative frequency graph: Measles is 'worse than expected' in Utah, officials say www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/cdc-...

The tuned cortex: Convergent expertise-related structural and functional remodeling across the adult lifespan Neuroplasticity is a defining property of the brain. Structural and functional brain changes arise soon after learning and are particularly evident following years of practice that underpin expert per...

Bird watching and brain development. www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...

Deep-sea fish break the mold with novel visual system For more than a century, biology textbooks have stated that vision among vertebrates - people included - is built from two clearly defined cell types: rods for processing dim light and cones for brigh...

Rods, cones, and that third option: www.reuters.com/science/deep...

Mutually Satisfied Mediocrity: When Indifferent Teachers Meet Indifferent Students There is an elusive win-win in teaching in which both teachers and students truly enjoy a class together. The teachers find pleasure and satisfaction in educating students, and the students are fully ...

My latest essay for The Teaching Professor: "Mutually Satisfied Mediocrity: When Indifferent Teachers Meet Indifferent Students" Subscription required. www.teachingprofessor.com/topics/stude...

Opinion | What a Baby’s Laugh Actually Tells Us A kid’s first joke reveals a complex mind.

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

“Laughter and humor are fundamental to how babies learn about and participate in the world,” the developmental psychologist Gina Mireault writes.

Memories of childhood trauma may shift depending on current relationships Most people think memory is like a video recording, but new research suggests otherwise. A study shows that young adults remember their childhoods differently depending on how well they get along with their parents right now.

Memories of childhood trauma may shift depending on current relationships

(PDF) The Last of the Statistical Curmudgeons PDF | Students with a deep understanding of what the statistics mean, how they are computed, and how they might be misunderstood or misused will have a... | Find, read and cite all the research you ne...

My essay, "The Last of the Statistical Curmudgeons" for
The Teaching Professor now freely available on
ResearchGate The Last of the Statistical Curmudgeons. www.researchgate.net/publication/...