Science

The last seven days of news from the region's life-sciences industry was a mix of messages involving expansion, succession, relocation, contraction, and conclusion. Iroko Pharmaceuticals L.L.C. cemented its reputation as a company to watch Wednesday when it celebrated the opening of its new offices at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia. Begun by veterans of the region's Big Pharma companies, Iroko has grown over the last five years to employ about 60 and could triple the number working in its new 56,412-square-foot building over the next few years.

New Jersey is partnering with a foundation to recruit and train as many as 100 new math and science teachers to spend three years in high-need schools across the state, including ones in Camden and Pemberton Borough. The initiative, announced Friday by Gov. Christie, will cost $9 million, all of it donated. Teaching recruits will have backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math - the so-called STEM subjects - and will be trained in a model created by the Princeton-based Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation emphasizing teacher preparation and retention.

Jack J. Rudnick, 86, of Devon, a science and math whiz who worked as an aerospace engineer for more than 30 years, died of congestive heart failure at his home Sunday, Nov. 18. Born in Philadelphia and raised in the Wynnefield section, Mr. Rudnick graduated in 1942 from Overbrook High School and earned a bachelor's degree in science from the University of Pennsylvania by age 19. In 1946, Mr. Rudnick completed a master's degree in science and engineering...

Sam Wang spent Tuesday evening at an election-night party near his South Jersey home. But unlike other guests, he didn't find much suspense in the flashing red and blue maps or the continually shifting numbers from around the country. That's because he pretty much knew what to expect beforehand. A Princeton University neuroscientist, the 45-year-old Wang doubles every four years as an election forecaster. His success this year, with that of some better-known counterparts, offers evidence for a proposition that seems to drive pundits and political pros crazy: that computer models and a technique called meta-analysis can essentially turn the art of predicting votes into a science.

On Saturday and Sunday, enjoy a weekend of living history and experience the American Revolution as Fort Mifflin and the Olde Fort Mifflin Historical Society celebrate the 235th anniversary of the Siege and Bombardment. Guests can go on a kid-friendly scavenger hunt and speak to actors portraying soldiers to find items such as an argyle stocking, a slow match, cocoa nibs, and more. Learn about 18th-century weapons and how soldiers prepared meals in open-hearth demonstrations. Join the Continental Army, participate in a musket drill, then reenergize with a sample of American Heritage chocolate.

Korah Lovelace converted a penalty kick with 20 minutes left to lift Science Leadership Academy over host Philadelphia Academy Charter, 4-2, on Wednesday afternoon in the Public League Class AA girls' soccer final. Lovelace's goal put the Rockets ahead, 3-2, and was followed 10 minutes later with a goal from sophomore Alyssa Winner. Sasha Sapp had four saves to seal the win. Haley Keller and Miranda O'Connell scored for Philadelphia Academy. It was the first league title for Science Leadership.

By J. Marshall Shepherd and John Knox In the waning weeks of the North American hurricane season - a time when a superstorm is not expected to cause widespread damage to the East Coast of the United States - Hurricane Sandy is a grim reminder of the menace of extreme weather events. With the lowest central pressure of the 2012 hurricane season, Sandy may have caused up to $20 billion in damages, making it one of the costliest superstorms in history. Sandy interacted with a weather system moving toward it from the east, posing difficult challenges for forecasters and nearly unprecedented weather conditions for the region.

In their song "Human," the Killers ask: "Are we human, or are we dancer?" The singer intones, "My sign is vital, my hands are cold. " On Thursday night at Christ Church Neighborhood House, Meredith Rainey and Marcel Williams Foster put that question to the test in Carbon Dance Theatre's Science per Forms . It's a wonderful title for a piece that explores humanity's contest between body and machine, and the question of which drives which. The 45-minute work had multiple collaborators: Nine science, technology, architecture, and design wonks from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania associated with IK Studio and the Hactory (yes, a haven for hackers)

It was a crisp autumn morning, and W.B. Saul High was buzzing. And mooing. And barking, and baa-ing. Swinging a gate closed to keep brown jersey cow Tinker safe in her pen, Saul senior Marcus Bonaparte motioned to the farm fields, greenhouse, orchard, and school buildings on the 150 acres around him - all in the middle of urban Philadelphia. "There's no other place like this," Bonaparte said of the Roxborough school, set on busy Henry Avenue with cars whizzing by. True. At no other city school are there two farmers on staff.

The Secret Anarchy of Science By Michael Brooks Overlook. 320 pp. $26.95. Reviewed by John Timpane Science reporting and writing suffer the same malady we've had for years with business writing, or writing about the Internet. Almost everyone who writes about it is either a salesperson, pitching like heck for the home team; a current or former practitioner; or a cheerleader. So you never get a straight deal. With science, it's hard not to cheerlead. Its successes, in technology, engineering, and medicine, are spectacular and world-transforming.