Science And Technology

The state's first attempt at a HOPE scholarship program has fallen short of its predicted enrollment.About 700 high school seniors -- well below the expected 2,000 -- have qualified for grants aimed at encouraging students to major in science and technology."

Ice, salt and rigorous shaking can turn an ounce of nondairy creamer into a frozen treat. "It's simple, sweet and a little silly," Garrett Seidman, a junior at the Hannah More School in Reisterstown, said as he sampled a dab of ice-solid French vanilla cream. "But I like it. " Ice cream making was among the demonstrations during the second annual Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Fair, held last week at the private school for children with autism and other emotional and learning disabilities.

Concerned about girls' lagging achievement in science, math and technology, Maryland educators are increasingly turning to summer programs to combat the gender gap. Single-sex programs are popping up in schools and on college campuses across the state, focusing on hands-on instruction in subjects that traditionally have had a tough time attracting girls. "Summer is a great opportunity for us to work with the girls and focus on science," says Lynn C. Cole, an associate professor at Towson University and director of its Institute for Gifted Children.

It didn't take long to discover that a balloon wasn't going to work. After breaking first one egg in a hot-air balloon like contraption, then another attempting to stuff it into a balloon filled with cotton balls, friends Sarah Krammer, 12, Lucy Yezulinas, 12, Jessica Lang, 13, and Megan Jones, 12, nixed that idea completely. "It exploded," Sarah, 12, said, of the egg inside the balloon. "It got a little sticky. " Several eggs later, the team of seventh graders from St. John Catholic School in Westminster created a contraption that successfully protected a large egg from cracking upon a drop of 4 meters.

Tyrone Taborn was reminded how difficult it is to keep young students interested in math and science when his 11-year-old daughter announced one day that she no longer liked math. Courtney has since regained her interest, but Taborn worries that too many other youngsters, particularly African-Americans, aren't taking the science and math classes that can prepare them for careers in engineering and technology. "It's our responsibility to make sure we're stakeholders in the well-being of the next generation," Taborn said.

At a pace lively enough for the MTV generation, a syndicated television show blends images, narration and music into stories -- not of entertainers, but of top scientists, engineers, astronauts, all minorities.On a magazine's glossy cover, a 40-something biker of Hispanic descent sits astride his Harley, a hobby, it turns out, he supports as senior vice president of the world's fifth largest computer maker.In a packed convention center each year, college and high school students and children who might never have met an engineer mingle with black and Hispanic executives in the upper echelons of science and technology.

Gov. Martin O'Malley will meet with the mayor of Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday to announce an agreement to increase the business relationship between the two places, his office said this afternoon. O'Malley and Oh Se-hoon will sign a memorandum of understanding that will outline efforts to increase investment and trade opportunities between Maryland and Seoul. The two places are particularly interested in increasing investments in science and technology development, O'Malley's office said.

Minutes before their motorized robot made of Legos was to be judged in a competition, the students from Cecil Elementary School ran into a big problem. The front-loader plow that enabled the robot to push objects over a tabletop course had disappeared, temporarily removed, then nowhere to be found amid a high school cafeteria overflowing with Lego pieces. The timing could hardly have been worse. But it proved a temporary setback for the Cecil fourth- and fifth-graders, among 10 teams of elementary and middle school students competing Saturday at Digital Harbor High School in an opening round of FIRST Lego League of Maryland's annual competition.

Few mutual fund groups have been hotter during this up market than the diverse bunch known as science and technology funds.They may be richly valued -- their average total return since the October 1990 stock market low is 62.7 percent, vs. 42.8 percent for the average general equity fund, according to Lipper Analytical Services. Still, they could be worth a look if:* You're interested in an aggressive equity fund that could outperform the broad market, as reflected by the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

After a stormy period of downsizing and consolidation that rumbled through the defense industry in Maryland eight years ago, real estate and economic development executives fretted over who would occupy the volumes of office space vacated by defense firms slashing operations near Baltimore-Washington International Airport.The answer is upstart high-tech ventures looking for an affordable place to grow, such as the company founded by David Manyak, a former Merrill Lynch biotechnology analyst.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of seeing a robot you've created take its first step. At least that's what Joey Skura, a rising senior at Liberty High School, thinks. "When it first moves, everyone watching it just goes crazy cheering," Skura said with growing excitement. "When it keeps walking, …it's a great feeling. " As a member of Liberty High School's First Robotics team, the RoboLions, Skura and his fellow teammates captured the top trophy at the Battle o' Baltimore Championship, held Aug. 13 at Woodlawn High School inBaltimore County.

With the final flight of the stalwart space shuttle Atlantis just a few days away, America is beginning an exciting new chapter in human space exploration. This chapter centers on full utilization of the International Space Station, development of multiple, made-in-America capabilities for astronauts and cargo to reach low-Earth orbit, and pursuit of two critical building blocks for our nation's exploration future: a deep space crew vehicle and an evolvable, heavy-lift rocket. Today, we embark on a new knowledge and innovation-driven approach to space science and exploration that will lead us into the new frontiers of deep space.

Gov. Martin O'Malley will meet with the mayor of Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday to announce an agreement to increase the business relationship between the two places, his office said this afternoon. O'Malley and Oh Se-hoon will sign a memorandum of understanding that will outline efforts to increase investment and trade opportunities between Maryland and Seoul. The two places are particularly interested in increasing investments in science and technology development, O'Malley's office said.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore will offer science, technology, engineering and math programs in seven of its elementary schools, including in Anne Arundel and Howard counties, during the coming school year, diocesan officials said Friday. The schools include Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott City, which in 2009 became one of only 13 schools in the diocese to receive the National Blue Ribbon of Excellence award, and St. Jane Frances de Chantal School in Pasadena, which launched an after-school STEM Club for junior high students this year.

Maryland ranks third among the states in the proportion of adults with bachelor's degrees and second in the percentage with advanced degrees. We're No. 2 in the percentage of the work force in professional occupations and No. 1 in management, business and financial occupations. It is no surprise, then, that Maryland's household income is consistently the highest in the nation and its unemployment rate among the lowest. In an increasingly globalized economy, there's a term for that: not good enough.

Minutes before their motorized robot made of Legos was to be judged in a competition, the students from Cecil Elementary School ran into a big problem. The front-loader plow that enabled the robot to push objects over a tabletop course had disappeared, temporarily removed, then nowhere to be found amid a high school cafeteria overflowing with Lego pieces. The timing could hardly have been worse. But it proved a temporary setback for the Cecil fourth- and fifth-graders, among 10 teams of elementary and middle school students competing Saturday at Digital Harbor High School in an opening round of FIRST Lego League of Maryland's annual competition.

The adventure begins in a submarine and includes searching for an ancient shipwreck, identifying species of fish and returning a beached dolphin to its ocean home. Although the challenges are set in ocean depths, students from across Maryland will attempt the missions from dry land with programmable robots they constructed with LEGO bricks. A team from Bel Air - called the Robomaniacs - will defend its state title at the FIRST LEGO League state competition Saturday at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The federal government and the nation's universities should invest $150 million annually to double the number of minorities pursuing science and engineering degrees, says a report released this week from the National Academies. The federal government and the nation's universities should invest $150 million annually to double the number of minorities pursuing science and engineering degrees, says a report released from the National Academies. The report came from a committee chaired by Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The federal government and the nation's universities should invest $150 million annually to double the number of minorities pursuing science and engineering degrees, says a report released this week from the National Academies. The federal government and the nation's universities should invest $150 million annually to double the number of minorities pursuing science and engineering degrees, says a report released from the National Academies. The report came from a committee chaired by Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Shoppers Food & Pharmacy said Tuesday that it plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from Lanham to Bowie in October. The company will move to the new Maryland Science and Technology Center near Routes 50 and 301. The 466-acre business campus that when complete, will include 3 million-square-feet of office space, retail stores, shops and restaurants. Shoppers will be one of the first tenants in the second of two newly constructed office towers. The company will occupy close to 25,000 square feet of office space and 2,520 square feet to be used for the distribution of sales materials to the grocer's stores.