Science

The Mississippi Department of Education gave contracts to a single abstinence education company before the curriculum was approved for schools. Critics say the funds provided districts with a strong financial incentive to select “Choosing the Best,” leading the company to hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits. “Choosing the Best” has no evidence that it changes student behavior.

Critics say, the state will spend millions and get minimal results.

The Mississippi Department of Education sex ed committee made mistakes while reviewing programs. If scoring had been accurate, four programs that were approved for Mississippi schools would not have made the cut.

75% of districts are teaching programs without a proven track record. Critics say authorities are handicapping sex education efforts. 

Republican heavyweights may be calling the shots on a new statewide school grading system.

A new collaborative seeks to deepen the ties between Mississippi’s four research universities and three national research laboratories.

The National Institute for Undersea Science & Technology at the University of Mississippi is leading a three-year research project on the impact of the BP oil spill.

The concrete matting protects the levees and prevents erosion.

A new study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology reports with free birth control, six of 1,000 teenage girls gave birth, compared to the national rate of 34 births per 1,000. The teen birth rate in Mississippi is 55 girls per 1,000. The study was done in St. Louis.

The National Institutes of Health set a Dec. 31 deadline for oil spill workers and volunteers to enroll in The Gulf Study.  The project is the largest study ever done on the possible health impacts of an oil spill. So far 29,000 people have enrolled, with 12 percent from Mississippi.

Nature did it first - put marsh grass and sea oats along the coasatline to keep it from eroding. Now Mississipppi State scientists are rebuilding dunes in Biloxi using Nature's own solution.

The Sierra Club wants Mississippi Power to drop the lignite from its Kemper County plant.  The utility says lignite will provide critical fuel diversity and save customers money in the long run. Harrision County Chancery Court Judge Jim Persons is reviewing the case.

As Isaac bears down on the Gulf Coast, residents are urged to be alert to changing conditions. Isaac is expected to become a hurricane as it moves across the warm waters of the Gulf.

While BP was ramping up to clean-up tarballs from the oil spill, BP workers discovered tiles with asbestos on Horn Island. Then there's the mustard gas.

BP has had limited access for clean-up of Gulf Islands National Seashore since March because of nesting season. Now, BP is doubling work crews to clean up tar balls still washing ahsore from the 2010 oil spill.