The James Logan Courier

By Les Blumenthal
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

WASHINGTON — In Washington state, oysters in some areas haven't reproduced for four years, and preliminary evidence suggests that the increasing acidity of the ocean could be the cause. In the Gulf of Mexico, falling oxygen levels in the water have forced shrimp to migrate elsewhere.

Though two marine-derived drugs, one for treating cancer and the other for pain control, are on the market and 25 others are under development, the fungus growing on seaweed, bacteria in deep sea mud and sea fans that could produce life-saving medicines are under assault from changing ocean conditions.

By Etan Horowitz
The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)

ORLANDO, Fla. — Students who have trouble staying awake in history class now have a new way to learn about the Civil War and other topics: an interactive video game where they try to stop a band of evildoers from changing the past.

The game, called "Conspiracy Code," was jointly developed by The Florida Virtual School and 360Ed, an Orlando company that makes education video games and software. The game officially launched Monday, although the two companies have been testing it with students and teachers since February.

From wikipedia:
Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) was an early American industrialist popularly known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" because he brought British textile technology to America. A native of England, he was apprenticed as an engineer and in 1789 violated a British emigration law that prohibited the spread of British manufacturing technology to other nations. When he left for New York, he had memorized the plans for the mill and offered to sell his knowledge to American industrialists. He then gave it to Moses Brown, who used the plan, and made major profit. He soon found work in Rhode Island replicating British factory equipment for a textile mill, and earned the owner's backing to design and build the first water powered mill in the United States.

Slater established tenant farms and towns around his textile mills such as Slatersville, Rhode Island. Due to his technical knowledge from Britain, he became a full partner and eventually went into business for himself and grew wealthy. By the end of Slater's life he owned thirteen spinning mills.

Learn more about Samuel Slater and Slater's Mill, free from the University of California's College of Natural Resources website.