Bob CollinsIf you’ve been trying to solve the Riemann hypothesis — and, really, who hasn’t? — you can stop now. A Scottish mathematician claims to have done it. It’s a 160-year-old math problem. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Education
Nearly 30,000 people have applied to have their student loans forgiven under a government program that rewards those who work in public service for at least 10 years while keeping their payments for their loans up to date.
Only 96 actually had their loans forgiven, CNBC reports today. Read more →
Texas holds a lot of sway in the education of kids far outside the state, so if your young child in the future has no idea who Dwight Eisenhower is, blame Texas, where education officials Thursday cut several historical figures from the curriculum. Read more →
Minnesota is near the top of another national survey, but this one probably isn’t brag-worthy. It’s ninth on the list of debt incurred by people attending college. Read more →
If you’re a big fan of consistency, happy Constitution Day, the day every year when we find out Americans are no smarter than they were a year ago when they proved — again — they haven’t got a clue about the document they’re quick to cite when asserting their presumed rights. Read more →
Bill Trethewey, who wants to be a firefighter someday, had his own way of marking the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Read more →
If ever there was a slam-dunk case in which the 4th Amendment was clearly violated, it was the mass arrest and handcuffing of a group of middle school girls in San Bernardino, Calif., in 2013. For some reason the school board has continued to defend it and the sheriff’s deputy. Today, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals smacked it down again, just as a lower court had. Read more →
The world would be a better place if so many people weren’t so angry.
So an angry Wisconsin man’s idea makes a lot of sense, even though it probably doesn’t have a prayer: require an anger management class at some point in school.
Read more →
After every suicide of a high-profile person, the single piece of advice rises to an almost unimaginable decibel: Just ask for help.
That can get you tossed out of college. Read more →
People who didn’t have a complete formal education are often quicker to realize the value of one than those who did. Read more →
Last year on “move-in day,” the new students at the University of Minnesota Duluth had to run the gauntlet of testosterone and alcohol. It wasn’t pretty. Read more →
The declining population of small towns and the growing concern over the safety of children are teaming up to kill football at Pine River-Backus High School. Read more →
Could a non-basketball-playing person make the same shot armed with only the physical calculations to make it?
Science says yes. Read more →
Dmitri Moua, 16, has gotta dance and if it takes a suit against the Minnesota State High School League, so be it, a conservative/libertarian organization says. Read more →
Kimberly Bermudez, who teaches in Chicago, was on a flight to Florida the other day when she and her seatmate got to know each other and he asked her what she does for a living. Read more →