Stuff YOU Should Know
An Historic Election Last week’s election headlines were dominated by the election of a new U.S. president, Joe Biden, and the first woman and first woman of color to serve as vice president, Kamala Harris. But the 2020 election made history for other reasons as well. In Wisconsin, Francesca Hong won her race in the […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! Originally established in 1968 by Rep. Edward R. Roybal and President Lyndon Johnson, this time was created to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Hispanics. Back then, it was called Hispanic Heritage Week. Now, it lasts a full month: from September 15 to October 15. September 15 […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
An Incomplete Count? The U.S. Census happens once every ten years. But what is the Census, and why is it so important? The Census is a complete count of every person living in the United States (and its territories). The information is used to determine funding for public services, such as schools and fire departments. […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Biden’s Childcare Plan Did you go to private childcare when you were younger? Do you have younger siblings that attend daycare, summer camp, or some other care program that your parents pay for? If so, you are not alone. Many working parents rely on these services daily. But the expense of childcare makes it a […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
#NoCoronaSummerSlide It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the negative news about COVID-19 lately. That’s why it’s especially important to learn about amazing people who view the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to make their communities better places. Chrishawndra Matthews is one of these special people. She has taken it upon herself to combat […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Aunt Jemima Logo to Change A few months ago, btw brought you the story of the Land O’Lakes butter company’s decision to change its logo. The butter logo featured a young Native American woman in a feathered headdress, which many people felt was an offensive racial stereotype. Now, following George Floyd’s death and the protests […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Reconsidering Facial Recognition Technology Imagine that you are accused by law enforcement of a crime you didn’t commit. Imagine that the reason for your arrest is that you were misidentified by flawed facial recognition technology. Following the protests surrounding George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Democrats in Congress have been considering widespread police reform. One of […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
New Gene Therapy Trials Underway Do you think scientists should be allowed to modify the genetic material of human beings? What if you had a serious or life-threatening disease that could possibly be helped if scientists could modify your genes? You may have heard of CRISPR last year, when a Chinese scientist used this gene-editing […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Trump Appoints New Ambassador Saudi Arabia has been in the news a lot lately because of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. So far in his term, the president has not appointed a U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. But on November 13, after nearly two […]
The Science of Victory
This week’s story update on the Election Central Web site take a look at the growing number of scientists who are entering the political realm. Scientists and the regulators in the federal government often seem to be at odds with each other. President Trump, for example, has questioned the dangers of climate change and has appointed […]