How five U.S. innovations helped improve schools in Finland even as American’s ignore the same reforms

finland schools

Finland has a staggering record of education success.

Pasi Sahlberg, a Finnish educator and scholar, is one of the world’s leading experts on school reform and educational practices. He is the author of the best-selling “Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn About Educational Change in Finland?”and a former director general of Finland’s Center for International Mobility and Cooperation. Sahlberg is now a visiting professor of practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has written a number of important posts for this blog, including “What if Finland’s great teachers taught in U.S. schools,” and “What the U.S. can’t learn from Finland about ed reform.”

 

 

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New York Times has called federal government to repeal marijuana ban

marijuana-legalization

The Times said marijuana should only be available to people over 21 years old.

The New York Times has called for the federal government to repeal its ban on marijuana. They likened the federal law outlawing the drug to the failed prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and ’30s. (Video)

 

 

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‘Micro-colleges’ will educate the workforce of the future: Futurist Thomas Frey

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The world has a shortage of 18 million teachers.

Dell’s Center for Entrepreneurs took to the Rockies, sponsoring an event at the Innovation Pavilion in Centennial, Colorado. Former IBM engineer and noted futurist Thomas Frey addressed a gathering of business leaders, entrepreneurs and community members on an issue he says is increasingly impacting the labor force: With the ever-increasing pace of innovation, traditional colleges and universities are failing to train and retrain workers quickly enough.

 

 

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Mass incarceration may be the greatest social crisis in modern American history

prison

More than 2.4 million people are behind bars in the United States today.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously last week to allow nearly 50,000 nonviolent federal drug offenders to seek lower sentences. The decision of the commission retroactively applied an earlier change in sentencing guidelines to now cover roughly half of those serving federal drug sentences. Both the Department of Justice and prison-reform advocates have endorsed the change. It’s a significant step forward in reversing decades of mass incarceration, though in a global context, still modest.

 

 

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The U.S. government’s secret rulebook for labeling you a terrorist

homeland security

The guidelines state that “the general policy of the U.S. Government is to neither confirm nor deny an individual’s watchlist status.

There has been a substantial expansion of the terrorist watchlist system and it has been quietly approved by the Obama administration. It authorizes a secret process that requires neither “concrete facts” nor “irrefutable evidence” to designate an American or foreigner as a terrorist, according to a key government document obtained by The Intercept.

 

 

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Human Longevity wants to make 100 the new 60 and have healthier people living longer

old-men-and-bike

Human Longevity doesn’t aim to extend human life so much as to help keep people healthy as they get older.

Dr. Robert Hariri, who once worked directing cell therapy operations at Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company is teaming up with Craig Venter, and engineer Dr. Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation. Karen Nelson, who headed the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), will lead the microbiome team. They launched a new company called Human Longevity Inc.

 

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The future of moon exploration

moon base

Bigelow Aerospace plan to build bases on the moon.

One day, a rocket carrying more than a dozen privately built probes touches down on the moon. The robots burst from the vehicle in a race to beam back high-definition video and other data while roving the surface of Earth’s nearest natural satellite. The people of Earth watch a broadcast of the race as the rovers roam (or stall) in the lunar dust. (Videos)

 

 

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New spongelike material converts solar energy into steam

solar sponge

The DLS that consists of a carbon foam supporting an exfoliated graphite layer.

MIT has developed a new material structure that generates steam by soaking up the sun. The structure — a layer of graphite flakes and an underlying carbon foam — is a porous, insulating material structure that floats on water. When sunlight hits the structure’s surface, it creates a hotspot in the graphite, drawing water up through the material’s pores, where it evaporates as steam. The brighter the light, the more steam is generated.

 

 

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Researchers develop new process that raises prospects of 3D printed bone grafts

Broken bone

3D printing could help mend broken bones.

One of the 3D printing health applications of 3D printing discussed the most is the manufacturing of bespoke scaffolds that could be used to mend broken bones. It’s promising, but it  has been held back by the difficulties in printing materials that are strong, flexible and can encourage the regrowth of healthy bone in the same way as current methods, such as bone grafts.

 

 

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
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By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

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