New York Times: Even as the US economy fell into a recession in 2008, the cost of attending college kept rising. Although US output has recovered somewhat, unemployment remains near 10%, which means that newly graduated students face mounting burdens of college debt. As the New York Times‘s Tamar Lewin reports, the financial pressure on some students is likely to become worse if proposed cuts in Pell grants for low-income students become part of the US budget. In general, borrowing to pay for college remains a good investment. However, the prospect of having to pay off $100 000 or so in loans when jobs are hard to come by could dissuade low-income students from going to college.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
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