Each year the Society for Science & The Public awards Research Report Badges to students entering the Intel Science Talent Search whose reports demonstrate a high degree of research and are exceptionally well written. The reports, Bellmore-Merrick Central District science teachers say, could have been produced by graduate, rather than high school, science students. Two Calhoun High School seniors –– Nicole Fegan and Paulina Fein –– recently received word that they have been awarded Research Report Badges for their papers submitted to the Intel contest last fall. more

A Valley Stream Central High School senior was awarded the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search Research Report Badge last week, an award presented to students who present an “exceptionally well-written college-level report covering their own research.” more

The MacArthur girls basketball program hosted the first-ever Kim Klein Memorial Tournament in December. The four-team competition honored the memory of Kim Klein, a Generals supporter and a proud mother. Klein died from breast cancer last year after battling the disease four separate times. more

Katherine Ratner thought the measurement system used to categorize hurricanes –– called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale –– was inadequate. So the Calhoun High School senior, 17, set out to create a new system, one that better reflected the size and strength of these monster storms. more

On April 20, 2010, an oil tank in the Gulf of Mexico ruptured, and millions of gallons of oil began to spill into the gulf, creating one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The … more

Senior Rachel Mashal, the class of 2016 salutatorian, put fruit flies on a restricted diet to determine whether lower food intake would ward off drug addiction — specifically caffeine addiction — while also extending life. (As it turned out, it did both.) Meanwhile, classmate Sarah Moussavi took on one of neuroscience’s most perplexing, and intriguing, questions: How certain are humans in their own decision-making? To reach a conclusion, she conducted a computer-controlled experiment at the NYU Center for Neural Science. more

Kennedy High School junior Claire Kelly spent three weeks last summer at the University of Chicago, delving deep into the human brain, examining the connection between impulsivity and drug addiction. Senior Rachel Mashal, the class of 2016 salutatorian, put fruit flies on a restricted diet to determine whether lower food intake would ward off drug addiction — specifically caffeine addiction — while also extending life. (As it turn out, it did both.) And senior Alexis Tillman hung out on lonely street corners (with either her mom or dad nearby) for weeks, filming homeless panhandlers to determine what, precisely, might persuade charitable passersby to give them loose change or even a dollar or two. more

Rebecca, 56, of Hewlett, said that when she told her children, who are all in their 20s, that she decided to seek a divorce a year and a half ago, their reaction was, “What took you so long?” more

When Bellmorite Czarissa Moreno was 17 months old, her parents, Cysette and Felix Moreno, noticed strange behavior from the toddler. Although Czarissa was teething, she seemed unusually irritable. more

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of all the Republican crazy talk. Summer’s long over. The Iowa Caucuses are Feb. 1. It’s time for the GOP to . . . more