If it’s midsummer, it’s time for Shark Week. This annual tradition dishes up plenty of TV footage of big, menacing-looking sharks.

Today we offer an important counterpoint from Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida. Only about a dozen of some 520 known species of shark pose any risk to humans, Naylor writes, and even these don’t target people. Some sharks are even small enough to fit in your hand.

Also today: why so many teens on TV drink, why the government can steal your stuff and what’s inside a fire extinguisher.

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It’s OK, I’m a filter feeder: Whale shark off Indonesia. Marcel Ekkel/Flickr

Shark Week looms, but don’t panic

Gavin Naylor, University of Florida

Media coverage of sharks often exaggerates risks to people, but more than 500 shark species have never been known to attack humans, and there's lots to learn about them.

Education

  • Lead-based paint found in half of all inspected schools

    Marilynne R Wood, University of Toledo

    A federal report reveals that most school districts are failing to inspect their buildings for lead-based paint hazards and, when they do, often fail to tell parents about what they found.

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