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Reading and math scores for New York students in grades three through eight showed extraordinary gains across the state since last year, with particularly striking leaps in the large urban areas, including New York City. The gains were apparent for nearly every grade tested in both subjects, in some cases with double-digit increases in the percentage of students performing at grade level or above, according to the scores on the annual statewide exams released by education officials on Monday. The improvements were so substantial that several education experts expressed skepticism, noting that large gains were posted even by cities like...

Online civics test at the link for any interested.

The Copernican principle states that the Earth is not the center of the universe, and that, as observers, we don’t occupy a special place. First stated by Copernicus in the 16th century, today the idea is wholly accepted by scientists, and is an assumed concept in many astronomical theories.However, as physicists Robert Caldwell of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Albert Stebbins of Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, point out, the Copernican principle has never been confirmed as a whole. In a recent paper published in Physical Review Letters called “A Test of the Copernican Principle,” the two researchers...

<p>Why are our owners so obsessed with finding out how intelligent we are? All they need to know is that we got it going on upstairs. How else to explain us living in their homes, eating their food and having them pick up our feces? And all of that without us paying them a dime.</p>

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- Federal researchers say they've developed a human identification test that's faster and possibly cheaper than DNA testing. It would be a handy new weapon in the arsenal for detectives, forensic experts and the military, though no one expects it to replace DNA analysis - and its promoters say it is not intended to. The new method analyzes antibodies. Each person has a unique antibody bar code that can be gleaned from blood, saliva or other bodily fluids. Antibodies are proteins used by the body to fend off viruses or perform routine physiological housekeeping. "DNA is...

The Detroit Police Department has suspended all firearms investigations conducted by its crime lab and ordered it to undergo an independent audit.

When the dust finally settled, Army officials sought to put the best face on a sandstorm test that humbled Colt Defense's vaunted M4 carbine. The tests were conducted at an Army laboratory in Maryland last fall. Ten M4s and 10 copies each of three other carbines - the SCAR from Belgium's FN Herstal, and the HK416 and the XM8 from Germany's Heckler & Koch - were coated in heavy layers of talcum-fine dust to simulate a sandstorm. Tens of thousands of rounds were fired through the rifles. The M4s malfunctioned 882 times. Bullets that didn't feed through the rifles properly...

One Egyptian was killed and two wounded when a US military ship about to cross the Suez Canal opened fire on barges of hawkers that approached their boat on Monday, a security source told AFP. The ship, Global Patriot, was preparing to travel from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean when a group of Egyptians seeking to sell merchandise approached the boat on small barges, the source said. Americans on board told the barges to stop and opened fire when they continued to approach.

*Estimations based on averages taken from advertised male and female private escort sites

Skin test shows if you're late or early riser By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 10:01pm GMT 28/01/2008 A simple skin test could reveal if someone who hates getting up is lazy, or whether their body clock is badly out of step with that of other people. In recent years, scientists have found that genes can influence a person's preference for rising extremely early, when they are known as "a lark", or late in the day, "an owl". Now a simple skin test to diagnose people with these genes has been devised which, in the longer term, could help...

Thinking about next year's election ... already made up your mind? still deciding? Try this fascinating website! This is a simple, non committal, eleven question quiz for you to take regarding the presidential candidates - all of them The subject of the quiz is the Presidential Candidates - very interesting analytical tool This quiz Takes about 1-2 minutes. Having trouble deciding who to vote for in 2008? This quiz will compare your answers with "ALL" candidates - Republican, Democrat, Other and what they support. From your answers the candidates will be scored and placed in an order that best reflects...

POLK CITY, Fla. — The Republican presidential contest entered a new phase on Sunday as the campaigns descended on Florida for the first primary in which all the candidates are participating full force, using as their stage a state famous for divisive election battles. Four major candidates — Senator John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mike Huckabee — all have a claim to different segments of the Republican electorate in this culturally and geographically diverse state. And in a rare moment of political consensus, all of the campaigns see the primary in Florida, the fourth most populous state...

CLICK HERE to take a 25 question test to see which of the major party candidates most closely matches your political philosophy and preferences. Clicking the link will open to a new window.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force successfully flight tested its first Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN)-built Standard Missile-3. The SM-3 Block IA missile engaged and destroyed a medium-range ballistic missile target more than 60 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Personnel at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai launched the ballistic missile target while the crew of the Japanese destroyer JS KONGO (DDG-173) fired the intercepting missile. "Today's intercept truly paves the way for Japan to deploy a sea-based ballistic missile defense system," said Ed Miyashiro, Raytheon Missile Systems vice president. "The U.S. has gained an important ally that can...

Japan shoots down test missile in space: official by Miwa Suzuki 47 minutes ago Japan said Tuesday that it had successfully shot down a ballistic missile over the Pacific as part of joint efforts with the United States to erect a shield against possible attacks from North Korea. Japan tested the US-developed Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) interceptor from a warship in waters off Hawaii, becoming the first US ally to successfully intercept a target using the system. Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba described the successful test as "extremely significant." "We will continue to strive to increase the system's credibility," he told...

Stalemate at Bali talks on emissions cuts U.S. and European delegates to the Bali conference on climate change remained deadlocked Tuesday on specific targets on emissions cuts. A draft plan put forward by the United Nations, backed by the European Union and some developing countries, calls for talks in the next two years based on 25 to 40 percent cuts below 1990 levels, The New York Times reported. The United States refused to drop its position that India and China also must take steps to cut emissions before targets can be set and some other countries, such as Japan, were...

In his preface to the new 99-page report Dana Gioia, chairman of the endowment, described the data as “simple, consistent and alarming.” Among the findings is that although reading scores among elementary school students have been improving, scores are flat among middle school students and slightly declining among high school seniors. These trends are concurrent with a falloff in daily pleasure reading among young people as they progress from elementary to high school, a drop that appears to continue once they enter college. The data also showed that students who read for fun nearly every day performed better on reading...

OLYMPIA, Washington: A Republican state legislator resigned Wednesday amid revelations that he had sex with a man he met at a pornographic video store while in Spokane on a party retreat. The move comes days after state Rep. Richard Curtis insisted to his local newspaper that he was not gay and that sex was not involved in what he said was an extortion attempt by a man last week.But in police reports, Curtis alleges he was being extorted by a man he had sex with in a Spokane hotel room. The other man contends Curtis reneged on a promise to...

Is Arizona’s AIMS-TerraNova exam tricking parents and policymakers into thinking Arizona students are learning more than they are, or treating them to a pleasant surprise? We invite you to be the judge by reading more about the exam here: http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/AboutUs/ArticleView.aspx?id=1615

In June, the Goldwater Institute released A Test of Credibility. The essence of the argument: Arizona's Terra Nova exam produces unrealistically high scores (above the national average in every subject and grade level), when national tests show Arizona consistently below the national average. Both results can not be true. ADE recently issued a response filled with misconceptions. The Goldwater Institute will soon post a response to the ADE's critique on its website. If you'd like to get to the bottom of this issue in a hurry, however, simply look at Figure 1 below. Figure 1 compares Arizona's performance on the...

Answer the 11 questions below to find out which candidates are most aligned with your views and opinions. You may skip questions if you do not want them factored into the results. This quiz is not meant to pick your candidate for you. It is designed to inform the public of the various stances candidates make. Results are not scientific. Based on a tool developed by Minnesota Public Radio.

http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html I played around with this and answered all the questions the OPPOSITE and I was told my candidate was Dennis Kucinich... Then I went back and answered all the question CORRECTLY and got Duncan Hunter... So I guess Duncan Hunter is the OPOSITE of Dennis Kucinich according to my political thinking.. TRY IT... http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html

#1: Elephants on Acid What happens if you give an elephant LSD? On Friday August 3, 1962, a group of Oklahoma City researchers decided to find out. Warren Thomas, Director of the City Zoo, fired a cartridge-syringe containing 297 milligrams of LSD into Tusko the Elephant's rump. With Thomas were two scientific colleagues from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, Louis Jolyon West and Chester M. Pierce. 297 milligrams is a lot of LSD — about 3000 times the level of a typical human dose. In fact, it remains the largest dose of LSD ever given to a living...

I made a 13 answer quiz online about the war. Follow the link to the other site. Just click the 'do the test' button, and you are on your way. Let me know what you think, and spread it around. I'm doing a case study on it.

The Federal Government has released a draft copy of its new citizenship guidelines, which include a test requiring migrants to answer questions about Australian society and culture. Among the values laid out in the document are tolerance and compassion, freedom of speech and a respect for Australia's British heritage. Migrants will be expected to correctly name Australia's first prime minister and know the year of federation. Those topics are among a list of 200 questions that will not be revealed publicly. The Federal Government says its new citizenship tests could be in use by the end of next month, if...

A state forensics scientist who said she tested her husband's underwear for DNA to find out if he was having sex with another woman has been fired by the state police. Ann Chamberlain (formerly Ann Gordon) of Okemos testified in a March 7 divorce hearing that she ran the test last September on the underwear of Charles Gordon Jr. Asked by his attorney what she found, she answered, "Another female. It wasn't me."

India Man Fails High School Exams 39 Times The Associated Press JAIPUR, India - A 73-year-old man who failed his 10th grade high school exams for the 39th time vowed Friday to try again next year in the hopes that an education will improve his job and marriage prospects. Shivcharan Jatav, a farmer from the desert state of Rajasthan in western India, had no formal education as a child. He has been trying to pass the exams since 1969, when an army recruiter told him it would improve his chances of being accepted into the military. "Since then I have...

'Give genetic test secrets to insurers' By Nicole Martin Last Updated: 1:58am BST 08/06/2007 The results of genetic tests should be passed on to insurance companies to allow them to assess the health risks of potential customers, a professor of bioethics says today. Prof Soren Holm, from Cardiff University Law School, says that genetic information is no more "sensitive or private" than other information about a person's health, including cholesterol levels and body mass index, which insurers can use to help them to set premiums. His recommendation was immediately rejected by health charities. They said greater openness could lead to...

(LEAD) N. Korea may have fired missiles: S. Korean intelligence official SEOUL, June 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea may have fired one or two short-range missiles Thursday into the waters off its west coast, a South Korean intelligence official said. "We are confirming intelligence that North Korea fired short-range missiles into the West Sea," the official said, on condition of anonymity. "The number of missiles fired today is estimated at one or two." The launch was largely seen as a test-fire, but it's not immediately known what type of a missile the North fired from where or at what time....

MOSCOW - Russia on Tuesday test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple independent warheads, and a top government official said it could penetrate any defense system, a news agency reported. The new missile would modernize Russia's stockpile at a time of rising tensions with the West. The ICBM was fired from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk launch site in northwestern Russia, and its test warhead landed on target about 3,400 miles away on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, a statement from the Russian Strategic Missile Forces said. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia would continue...

YIKES! How did Schleiermacher come out so high!?! Better go back and reread Calvin..... You scored as Karl Barth. The daddy of 20th Century theology. You perceive liberal theology to be a disaster and so you insist that the revelation of Christ, not human experience, should be the starting point for all theology. Karl Barth 100% John Calvin 67% Martin Luther 67% Anselm 47% Jonathan Edwards 33% Friedrich Schleiermacher 33% Augustine 7% Jürgen Moltmann 7% Paul Tillich 0% face='Arial' size='1'>Charles Finney 0% Which theologian are you?created with QuizFarm.com

MUSLIMS are outraged that prospective citizens will have to acknowledge the Judeo-Christian tradition as the basis of Australia's values system. Australia's peak Muslim body said the proposed citizenship question -- revealed in the Herald Sun -- was disturbing and potentially divisive. Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Dr Ameer Ali said the "Abrahamic tradition" or "universal values" would be less divisive ways of describing the nation's moral base. Dr Ali said use of the term Judeo-Christian was the result of "WWII guilt", and before 1945 Australia would have been called only Christian. "That question must be rephrased," he said. Dr...

A DNA mail order kit that checks the sex of an unborn child at just six weeks is under investigation after concerns it will lead to couples terminating unwanted children. The do-it-yourself home test can be ordered over the internet and shipped to Australia for less than $500. But the futuristic "pink or blue" kit has sparked an uproar among ethicists and anti-abortionists, who fear it will be used as a "sex select" tool.

DNA test to identify heart attack risk By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 2:14am BST 04/05/2007 Scientists are to develop a DNA test to determine if someone has an inherited vulnerability to heart attacks, it was disclosed yesterday. Researchers have identified a stretch of DNA as a major risk factor for coronary artery disease and heart attacks. The test will help to identify people at high risk of heart disease, enabling them to change their lifestyles. Heart disease kills more than 200,000 people in the UK each year. The studies, which involved looking at the genetic make-up of about...

Simultaneous Missile Intercepts From USS Lake Erie Make Strong Impression Fri Apr 27, 1:29 PM ET To: NATIONAL EDITORS Contact: Riki Ellison of Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, +1-703-299-0061 BARKING SANDS, Hawaii, April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Riki Ellison, President of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), was at Thursday's missile defense test that produced a successful completion of an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense "hit to kill" intercept flight test conducted jointly with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands. His comments and observations include the following: "At approximately 11:33 a.m. Hawaii...

HONOLULU - The military shot down a Scud-type missile in this year's second successful test of a new technology meant to knock down ballistic missiles in their final minute of flight, the Missile Defense Agency said Friday. A ship off Kauai fired a target missile before 9 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time Thursday. Three minutes later, soldiers with the U.S. Army's 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade launched an interceptor missile from Kauai that destroyed the target over the Pacific, according to the agency. The military says it already can shoot down missiles in their last stage of flight by using Patriot...

Paratroopers, riggers, jumpmasters will make more than 3,200 test jumps. FORT BELVOIR, Va., March 26, 2007 – The Program Executive Office Soldier is testing a new parachute system that the Army plans to use to replace the system in use since the 1950s. The new parachutes address increased weight requirements and provide additional safety benefits. Beginning in 2008, all T-10 parachutes in the Army inventory for more than 50 years will be replaced with the Advanced Tactical Parachute System T-11. Although the T-10 is a proven system, today's paratroopers face increased requirements beyond the T-10's design. Paratroopers are required to...

How much of your favorite energy drink or soda would it take to kill you? Take this quick test and find out:

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Click the following link and again click the video screen to start the video. It is 4 min. 26 sec. long Click Here for Video

50 questions. Pretty darn tough ones, too! Are you experienced?

Scientists in the United States have come up with a breath test which can detect lung cancer in patients even when it is in the early stages of the disease. By means of a simple colour test which shows up unique chemical changes in the breath of people with lung cancer, the disease was accurately detected in just under three out of four people with the disease.By using a sensor just slightly bigger than a coin, which is relatively cheap and easy to use, unique chemical changes in the breath of people with lung cancer could be seen with...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2007 – Testing for some of the systems slated for the first “spin out” of the Army’s Future Combat Systems program has gone well, except for one minor glitch: the soldiers testing them don’t want to give the prototypes back. The Future Combat Systems Class I unmanned aerial vehicle can be carried in a backpack and provides dismounted soldiers with new capabilities in reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition capability on the battlefield. U.S. Army photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “They won’t give me back my stuff,” joked Army Maj. Gen. Charles A. Cartwright, program...

Which famous leader are you? Click the link and take the test. :)

Report: Iran successfully test fires homemade missiles www.chinaview.cn 2007-01-24 00:20:50 Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis The Zalzal and Fajr-5 missiles were fired by the military units subordinate to the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces. (Xinhua/AFP File Photo)Photo Gallery>>>     TEHRAN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Tuesday successfully test fired two types of homemade missiles during military exercises, the local Fars news agency reported.     The Zalzal and Fajr-5 missiles were fired by the military units subordinate to the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces, Commander of the Revolutionary Guards' missile unit Brigadier General Majeed Ayineh said.     Fajr-5 has a...

China successfully carried out its first test of an antisatellite weapon last week, signaling its resolve to play a major role in military space activities and bringing expressions of concern from Washington and other capitals, the Bush administration said yesterday.

I can't help it....My job made me this way. But..I don't care. NEXT!

Migrants face new 'Britishness' test By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor Last Updated: 2:53am GMT 05/12/2006 Tests in the English language and the British way of life will be compulsory from next year for foreigners wanting to settle here, the Government said yesterday. It will bring long-term immigrants into line with people who seek UK citizenship, who already have to sit the tests. Liam Byrne: migrants must recognise responsibilities Last year 180,000 people were granted settlement to stay. Some go on to seek British nationality but others may choose to retain their own while staying permanently. Liam Byrne, the immigration...

Let us test Darwin, teacher says Science teaching materials deemed "not appropriate" by the government should be allowed in class, Education Secretary Alan Johnson has been urged. Chemistry teacher at Liverpool's Blue Coat School, Nick Cowan, says the packs promoting intelligent design are useful in debating Darwinist evolution. Education officials insist intelligent design is not recognised as science. It argues that evolution cannot explain everything so the Universe must have had an intelligent creator. The packs were sent out to 5,000 secondary schools by a group of academics and clerics known as Truth in Science. The Department for Education and...

N.Z. Students Can Use Txt Speak on Tests WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand's high school students will be able to use "text-speak" - the mobile phone text message language beloved of teenagers - in national exams this year, officials said. Text-speak, a second language for thousands of teens, uses abbreviated words and phrases such as "txt" for "text", "lol" for "laughing out loud" or "lots of love," and "CU" for "see you." The move has already divided students and educators who fear it could damage the English language. New Zealand's Qualifications Authority said Friday that it still strongly...