Staying in Touch: A project called The Social Fabric will show you on your phone whether you are keeping in touch enough, or whether you are a bad friend, according to an article in Wired.

Still Underfunded: Of course, that would be schools. And while we're on education, another study shows that TV harms academic performance... not exactly surprising, but the article is interesting.

Update on Trans-USA Challenge!: I just spoke to Scott, who is in Madison, Wisconsin, and about 56 hours into the trip. He sounded pretty energetic, despite the precarious sleep situation, and was happy to report that they are ahead of schedule! They were apparently inspired by the notary in Deadhorse, Alaska, who said they couldn't possibly make it.
In response to a question from one of my co-workers on how they relieve themselves, Scott informed that they do have a funnel system with them for that purpose, but have not had to use it thus far, they have been stopping every 8 hours which has sufficed up to this point. I hope that remains the case. Scott was also surprised when I told him that he's already making headlines (in case you didn't read about his trip before, you can see the article here.) I'll keep you posted on their progress!