A 16-year-old German high school student has written a paper that purports to have solved two mysteries that were beyond the intellect of the great Isaac Newton.
Shouryya Ray, an Indian-born student who won second prize this month in the math and informatics category for Germany's Jugend Forscht student science competition created formulas to answer the following questions that have puzzled scientists for centuries:
How do you account for air resistance in calculating the trajectory of ball thrown out at an angle?
Precisely how does a ball thrown against the wall rebound?
Because Ray's paper was a school-based project and was submitted for a contest, it is not subject to the publication process and peer review that professional work typically goes through. That has led some experts in the field to reserve jugement of the work until they've seen it for themselves.
However, everyone who has commented about Ray's paper has said it is an achievement that very few high schoolers could duplicate.

I believe that words, communication, literature and the arts, can promote peace, tolerance and harmony, and bring about a change.” — Ada Aharoni
The biggest challenge for humanity in the years ahead just might be coming to grips with the idea that we are all in this together – we are living in a world that’s...
During 2018, why not resolve to reach all learners in the classroom, despite where they fall in terms of academic ability?
Included in that resolution might be the goal to further challenge gifted students—a promise to help them learn something new everyday day, to provide enrichment and opportunities to develop their abilities, and not simply ask them to do more work or tutor classmates.
If you’re already challenging the gifted, I congratulate you! But you still might find...
I often dream about what I would change in education if I could wave a magic wand. I try to work towards those changes in the real world--but dreaming, I guess, is easier.
I think imagining how we might better serve students is an important first step. Closing our eyes and asking ourselves: What kind of education would I like to see for students and my own children? Then, letting the answers emerge.
Here are some of my “answers” (in no particular order):
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“Music is the 100% best medicine for sadness and it helps people find more faith in life. And while feeling sad is a very natural thing, for me as a singer, music is the best healer.” — Awa Sangho
Mali-born New York based singer-songwriter Awa Sangho, who will perform at BAM this month, is a rising star on the...
I promised to follow up my last blog about demographics with a start to the process of writing your narrative. This is the heart and soul of your application.
Before you start, read the rules or application forms you have received from potential funding sources you've identified. Read them twice. With a federal grant, read them four times. You want to know about formatting, spacing, font (sometimes), number of pages, etc. You'll want to know if you can include an appendix beyond the...
Okay, there's no way around it, there are parts of the grant application process that are just plain boring. Last time, I finished a discussion about federal and state grants with a promise to discuss the narrative writing process for prospective grant seekers. Grant writers probably develop writer's block more often than any other writing niche, so it helps to have it all compartmentalized and routine. In our resources section, you'll find a sample of a "demographics" page for a grant...