Even before COVID-19 setbacks, the Nation’s Report Card scored only one-third of U.S. fourth graders, and one-quarter of eighth graders, as proficient in math. Arizona rates follow close behind. This week, political leaders and education experts met to discuss possible solutions.

In 2022, a fire tore through 40 square miles of the eastern slopes of the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, burning away the trees and grasses that bolster the hills’ resilience against rainwater runoff. Since then, county officials have raced against more rain to control that runoff.

Policy experts say that about 74% of the state’s water goes to agriculture. Now, researchers at the University of Arizona are working with farmers to find new ways, and new crops, that might help conserve.
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For the first time, scientists have extracted and analyzed RNA from an extinct animal preserved at room temperature in a museum collection. The genomic molecules belonged to a Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, that died about 130 years ago.

DIY filtration boxes from an ASU lab help reduce the risk of respiratory particles that carry diseases like COVID or the flu in cooling centers around metro Phoenix, like the First United Methodist Church of Mesa.

Indigenous communities have long been unduly burdened by environmental pollution. Now, the Biden administration has sent nearly $40 million to help tribal communities plug and remediate orphaned oil and gas wells.

The Show spoke with Ese Olumhense, an investigative reporter at the Markup, about Scottsdale-based Axon's idea for stopping school shootings: Taser drones.

Views on artificial-intelligence and machine-learning in medicine alternate between two extremes: They either tout AI as the cure for every ill, or vilify it as a vector for spreading systemic bias. Researchers find themselves managing expectations even as they strive to improve outcomes.

The Show spoke with assistant director of programs at Central Arizona Shelter Services Richard Southee about his studies in trauma-informed care at Arizona State University. The conversation kicks off a new segment called Deep Dive.