The world’s biggest dump is the ocean and most of the trash that ends up there is non-biodegradable plastic. And because of ocean currents, most of it washes up in one small part of the world: a tiny island in the Pacific ocean. Plastic trash in the ocean may be leaching toxic chemicals that affect the entire food chain, including the fish we eat. Matt Brown of US Fish and Wildlife says, “The thing that’s most worrisome about the plastic is its tenaciousness, its durability. It’s not going to go away in my lifetime or my children’s lifetimes. The plastic washing up on the beach today?if people don’t take it away it’ll still be here when my grandchildren walk these beaches.”
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New research has found that gifted black students often underachieve in school because of the stress on them to “act black,” which may be one reason for the achievement gap between black and white students in US schools.

Researcher Donna Ford says, “Part of the achievement gap, particularly for gifted black students, is due to the poor image these students have of themselves as learners.” She set out to discover how their social attitudes may be affecting their achievement, with regard to what?s known as “acting black” and “acting white.”
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Sunspots are returning, just as predicted. But they’re not acting as they were expected to. Is this a good thing for global warming?On January 24, a reverse polarity sunspot appeared in the sun’s northern hemisphere. Such a sunspot usually marks the beginning of a new solar max. But the new spot was followed by a period of solar silence?no sunspots until last week. But these aren’t spots of the type that should be associated with the new solar cycle. Instead, they’re of the type associated with cycle 23, the last one. So, what’s going on?
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