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Here's an exciting first which hopefully indicates a promising trend: This year women outnumber men in UC Berkeley's introductory computer science course. The fieldĀ is vastly dominated by men, and the Berkeley course seems to be an exception, according to Tech Crunch. The difference is small--106 women to 104 men; yet the potential reasons why there is this rare lead provides invaluable insight into how to attract more women to computer science.
Overall, the number of women in the STEM world has been down since 1991. What is Berkeley doing right? Professor Dan Garcia, who taught the class last spring, attributes the increase to significantly more team-based project learning and increased opportunities for students to become teaching assistants. Tech Crunch provides interesting data on computer science's gender gap overall. And Maria Konnikova for Big Think breaks down different approaches for understanding the gender gap in education and the workplace.
Image credit: Seattle Municipal Archives/Flickr
Should you defend the free speech rights of neo-Nazis?
Former president of the ACLU Nadine Strossen discusses whether our society should always defend free speech rights, even for groups who would oppose such rights.
- Former ACLU president Nadine Strossen understands that protecting free speech rights isn't always a straightforward proposition.
- In this video, Strossen describes the reasoning behind why the ACLU defended the free speech rights of neo-Nazis in Skokie, Illinois, 1977.
- The opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views of the Charles Koch Foundation, which encourages the expression of diverse viewpoints within a culture of civil discourse and mutual respect.
Moon mission 2.0: What humanity will learn by going back to the Moon
Going back to the moon will give us fresh insights about the creation of our solar system.
- July 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the moon landing ā Apollo 11.
- Today, we have a strong scientific case for returning to the moon: the original rock samples that we took from the moon revolutionized our view of how Earth and the solar system formed. We could now glean even more insights with fresh, nonchemically-altered samples.
- NASA plans to send humans to a crater in the South Pole of the moon because it's safer there, and would allow for better communications with people back on Earth.
NASA releases stunning image of ISS crossing in front of the sun
Strangely, the sun showed no sunspots at the time the photo was taken.
- The photo shows the International Space Station as it orbits the Earth, as it does every 90 minutes.
- The photo is remarkable because it offers a glimpse of the star at a time when there were no sunspots.
- In November, astronauts aboard the ISS plan to grow EspaƱola chili pepper plants.
U.S. Air Force warns UFO enthusiasts against storming Area 51
Jokesters and serious Area 51 raiders would be met with military force.
- Facebook joke event to "raid Area 51" has already gained 1,000,000 "going" attendees.
- The U.S. Air Force has issued an official warning to potential "raiders."
- If anyone actually tries to storm an American military base, the use of deadly force is authorized.
