One-third of all the food crops consumed in the U.S. are pollinated by bees, making them a crucial part of the ecology. However, development, new pesticides and new diseases are thinning the honey bee populations, leading to what Temple Ambler adjunct apiculture professor Vincent Aloyo called a “pollinator shortage.” “The value of bees isn’t the honey, but the pollination that they provide,” Aloyo said.

The good news is that optimism among small business owners has risen for six months in a row. The bad news is that it is still slightly lower than it was a year ago. For those who see opportunity, low costs make it a good time to grow, said Bill Dunkelberg, a professor of economics at Temple, in his weekly column.

Temple photojournalism student Ian Van Kuyk has been charged with obstruction, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in a case described as "a miscarriage of justice" by the National Press Photographers Association. Andrew Mendelson, chair of journalism at Temple, said the student's arrest could have a chilling effect on free speech. "This is not just about journalists. This is about all citizens."

Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov is known as much for his fanciful pronouncements about how our "solar system is so humongous big" as he is for his prowess on the ice. Olia Prokopenko, a Russian instructor at Temple, analyzed some of his most unusual statements to the press. Her call? He's misunderstood. "I think Russian humor is closer in its dryness to British than to American," she said.

Medical advances have made it increasingly common for older Americans such as Dick Cheney to receive heart transplants. Experts disagree over using age as a determiner for organ transplants. “I’m not sure we have the right to age discriminate,” said Alfred Bove, a cardiologist at Temple. “If we can offer Cheney ten years of life, and we think the heart is limiting his life expectancy, we don’t feel we have the right to refuse him because of his age.”

The slow death of vibrant coral in the Gulf of Mexico can now be definitely linked to BP’s oil spill according to a recent study. Scientists who studied the Gulf’s coral communities found damage nearly seven miles away. “It was like a graveyard of corals,” said Temple biologist Erik Cordes, one of the study’s authors. Cordes was one of the researchers who went down to the site in the Alvin research submarine.