— Iowa is contending with their own “Evolution Academic Freedom Act“. Is it just me, or does it seem like there are more of these things out there this year?
Some representatives from Iowa’s regent universities are calling for the state Legislature to kill HF 183, “The Evolution Academic Freedom Act,†introduced Feb. 3 by Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll.
A statement released Tuesday includes a petition with more than 200 signatures by faculty opposing HF 183 from Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa, as well as from 17 other Iowa universities, colleges and community colleges, seven primary and secondary schools, and three research organizations.
— Astronaut returns something he had borrowed from Florida school.
The astronaut brought back the orange and blue school flag that he took into space with him during his recent trip. It was designed by K-Kids member student Logan Chute, whom principal Sue Stoops declared to now be “an international space designer.” K-Kids is a middle school service group affiliated with Kiwanis Clubs.
— The ocean researchers at the University of South Florida have a new toy.
“We don’t know as much about the ocean as we should know,” said William Hogarth, dean of USF’s College of Marine Science. But with the state-of-the-art equipment on the WeatherBird II, USF will be closer to understanding red tide, climate change, the increasing acidification of the ocean and other underwater mysteries.
— ARF is one of Florida State University’s best kept secrets. Studying the Antarctic in Florida? Yup!
More than half of the 10,000-square-foot, single story facility – 6,000 square feet, to be precise – is devoted to temperature-sensitive storage compartments containing core samples from Antarctica. Inside the freezer compartment it’s an icy 28 degrees below zero, to simulate the permafrost and dry valleys of Antarctica.
