Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on The Conversation.
Globally, the U.S. is at risk of declining economic competitiveness due to its continuing lower levels of educational attainment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
The U.S. currently ranks 44th according to the quality of its mathematics and science education.
A “leaky STEM pipeline” – in which factors such as lower expectations, discrimination, and a lack of interest make it less likely that racial or ethnic minorities, women or those from low-income families will pursue STEM careers – makes many adults less likely to be employed in these types of positions.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Centre Daily Times as an installment of the paper’s Focus on Research column. Focus on Research highlights research projects and topics being explored across all disciplines at Penn State. Each column features the work of a different researcher.
Foreign Asset and Account Reporting has seen a lot press lately on the issues arising from the U.S. requirements to report ownership of foreign bank accounts, securities accounts and a series of other foreign assets. Some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and companies have been caught up in the Panama Papers incident — the release last week of data from the world’s fourth largest offshore law firm.
S. Shyam Sundar is Distinguished Professor and founding director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory in Penn State’s College of Communications. His research investigates the social and psychological impacts of human interaction with the websites and social media.
More recently, Sundar has turned his attention to the emerging complexities of the human-robotic relationship. He and his graduate students are exploring questions about what people really want from robots, and what they fear the most about them. When it comes to cozying up to robots in our homes and lives, what makes us comfortable? And what gives us the creeps? Tune in and find out. Please email series producer Melissa Beattie-Moss at mbmoss@psu.edu with ideas, comments and questions.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Centre Daily Times as an installment of the paper’s Focus on Research column. Focus on Research highlights research projects and topics being explored across all disciplines at Penn State. Each column features the work of a different researcher.
Spring is here! If you’re a gardener like me, you’re counting the days until the tulips appear. If you’re a golfer, you may be counting down to the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga., while organizing your gear for a trip out to the local golf course.
Hoping to improve your game this year? If so, Nike is there for you with “peak performance engineered into every polo, designed to bring out the best in every golfer.” And that’s just a shirt — imagine what one of their golf clubs might do for your game. Continue reading Focus on research: The placebo power of brands→
Have you ever thought about taking data points and creating music with them? This is exactly what Mark Ballora does.
Ballora, a Penn State associate professor of music technology, translates data into music — also known as data sonification. He does this in part to emphasize that data may be interpreted aurally as well as visually.
As described in an earlier post this week, Ballora sonified Penn State Polar Center director Eric Post’s research on phenology and caribou and muskox populations. Phenology is the study of the timing of seasonal events — such as the onset of spring flowering or the arrival of migratory birds. Continue reading Listening to data→
