The College Board is making more changes to the SAT exam. Students will no longer be required to write an essay, they won’t be penalized for guessing and the top score will once again be 1600. So-called SAT words will also be dropped. The changes will be implemented in 2016. The Washington Post says the changes are designed to eliminate the tricks of the test.

The Washington Post says despite his huge impact around the world, Pope Francis has failed to have much of an impact on the number of Americans attending mass, converting to Catholicism or donating to Catholic charities. A recent Pew poll found 40 percent of U.S. Catholics say they pray more often, 21 percent read the Bible more and 26 percent say they’re more excited about their faith.

Quizzes and games are becoming a huge draw for news websites. The New York Times says Time Magazine’s recent How much time do you spend on Facebook quiz led to the site’s highest Internet traffic day ever. Slate.com’s Adele Dazeem name generator, poking fun at John Travolta’s mispronunciation of Idina Menzel at the Oscars was Slate’s most viewed article in its 18-year history.

Students and school staff in tornado-devastated Moore, Oklahoma are getting some extra protection against more extreme weather. The Oklahoman says a group is donating 34,000 skating helmets. Doctors say skating helmets offer strong protection in the event of a tornado since most tornado-related deaths are the result of head injuries.

The Charlotte Observer has some good advice for men looking to organize their closets. You’ll need to assess your wardrobe and eliminate items you don’t wear. Most people wear 20 percent of their clothing 80 percent of the time. Saving items you think will come back in style is a bad idea. When paisley does come back into style, the width of the tie is going to be different.

For all the talk of the polar vortex this winter, few have stopped to consider the plight of the grave digger. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says cemetery workers have had to bust out the big guns to break through the frozen ground this winter. Workers use jackhammers to outline the grave, and special “frost teeth” on the backhoe that digs the grave.

When a jet from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was forced to abort a takeoff after hitting what the crew believed to be a bird - Lindsey Garven, the wildlife manager at MacDill Air Force Base set out to look for the bird. The only thing she found was a fish. DNA tests confirmed the plane had hit the fish, a nine-inch sheepshead. The Tampa Tribune says Garven believes a juvenile bald eagle snacking on the fish dropped it on the jet.

If you’re expecting a letter or package from someone in Orange County, California, you may be out of luck. A big rig crash involving a U.S. Postal Service truck led to a fire that destroyed 120,000 letters and large envelopes. The Postal Service says there’s really no way to know which letters were on board. But the Postal Service will offer documentation of the fire to anyone hit with late fees as a result of their payments being destroyed.

Believe it or not - Disney animation struggled so much with the transition to computer-generated filmmaking that there was actually talk of shutting the unit down. So it was extra sweet for Disney when the company took home two Oscars for Frozen on the same day the film topped the $1 billion mark at the global box office. Pixar and DreamWorks Animation had won all 13 previous Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature.

Atkins and Paleo diet disciples, take note: The Washington Post details a study that found adults who ate a diet high in protein in middle age were four times more likely to die of cancer than those who ate a diet with moderate amounts of protein. But while eating too much protein in middle age could be bad for you, researchers say it benefits people over 65, as it combats muscle and weight loss.

Your backyard swingset is getting modernized. The Wall Street Journal says more and more parents are turning to customized playsets made to blend in with the backyard and grow as the child grows. Built-in halfpipes, rock walls and ziplines are all making their way to residential playsets. Some are being designed to mimic a home’s architectural features.

Think it’s tough to get a toddler to hold still for the doctor? How about a 383 lb. gorilla? The Detroit Free Press talks to veterinarians at the Detroit Zoo about how they manage to get their gorillas to sit still for ultrasounds of their hearts. Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer of apes in captivity. Vets say if the animals don’t want to cooperate, the bottom line is, “you don’t argue with a gorilla.”

95-Year-Old Joe Bell has become a viral sensation. The World War II veteran was wearing his full uniform while cheering on runners taking part in a race that benefits fallen Army Ranger Pat Tillman. One by one, runners left the course to shake Bell’s hand. By Tuesday evening, the video captured by a San Jose Mercury News reporter had been viewed and shared more than a million times. VIDEO

The New York Daily News has a graphic as part of its Ukraine coverage that shows how overmatched Ukraine is when it comes to military power. Russian troops outnumber Ukrainian troops 8 to 1. Russia has more than 3,000 warplanes to Ukraine’s 27 and nearly a thousand attack helicopters to just 4 for Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal examines whether it’s better to go without shoes in your home. While your shoes do track dirt and bacteria, the chances of catching anything harmful off the floor are low. Families with crawling babies may want to consider going without shoes at home. For everyone else, as long as people wipe their feet at the door, shoes should be fine.

What’s the best music to work out to? Music that fits the cadence of your activity. Research shows that music with a beat that matches the tempo of your running, cycling or weightlifting will make you work harder. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune says there are websites that will help you determine the tempo of your favorite music to see if it fits your activity.

Wingtips on aircraft are becoming more and more popular for good reason. They save money. Lots of it. The Chicago Tribune says even though they cost up to a million dollars per aircraft to install, the 8 foot tall wing extensions pay for themselves in a few years. One set of winglets on a United plane saves 45,000 gallons of fuel - or the amount you’d put in a car over 72 years.

These guys ARE your father’s sportscasters. And maybe your grandfather’s too. USA Today says some of the most popular sportscasters are in their 70s. Guys like Dick Vitale, Brent Musburger, Verne Lundquist and Marv Albert are a hit, even among young sports fans. Long gone is the mandatory retirement age that forced broadcasters like Walter Cronkite off the air.

When it comes to moving goods efficiently, the Washington Post says trains will always be better than trucks. Steel wheels and steel tracks give trains a huge advantage, reducing friction. A train’s aerodynamics and engine efficiency are better too. It’s also easier to make advances in train technology since a small number of companies dominate American rail freight.

The New York Times introduces us to 18-year-old Kayla Montgomery, one of the fastest young distance runners in the country. Kayla has multiple sclerosis. The disease blocks nerve signals from her legs to her brain, so she cannot feel pain. The disease also causes her legs to go numb, but as soon as she stops running, she loses control and falls, collapsing after every race.

Start the presses. IBT Media, a small digital publisher that bought Newsweek last year is bringing the magazine back to newsstands Friday. The company plans to print 70,000 copies and sell them for $7.99 each. One analyst says politicians and celebrities like seeing themselves on the cover of a magazine.

The Washington Post’s Will Englund breaks down the conflict in Ukraine - saying it stems from a lack of national identity as the country is split between those who lean toward Europe and those who favor Russian influence. Both Russia and Europe have shown keen interest in Ukraine, despite its problems, resulting in today’s crisis.

Despite all the advances in technology, the humble business card has yet to fade into oblivion. The Wall Street Journal says actor Damon Wayans is among those pushing an alternative to traditional business cards. He’s developing an app that will allow users to swap information through their phones. But while he drums up interest in the unfinished app, Wayans hands out - you guessed it - business cards.

Lupita Nyong’o may be a newcomer to Hollywood, but she certainly knows what she’s doing on the red carpet. The Washington Post says Nyong’o, who won Best Supporting Actress for “12 Years a Slave,” continued her run of impressive red carpet looks with an ice blue, custom Prada gown. Jennifer Lawrence earned praise for her red, Christian Dior gown.

Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar night selfie with some of the biggest names in Hollywood has been retweeted almost 2.5 million times. The New York Post says that makes it the most retweeted tweet ever, beating out President Obama’s “Four More Years” tweet from the night he was re-elected. All the retweets disrupted Twitter for about 20 minutes last night.

“12 Years a Slave” won the Best Picture Oscar, beating out “Gravity” in what the Los Angeles Times describes as one of the closest races ever. Steve McQueen becomes the first black director to make a Best Picture winner. As expected, Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for her role in “Blue Jasmine” and Matthew McConaughey was named Best Actor for “Dallas Buyers Club.”

Researchers have long held that breast-fed babies have an academic edge over their formula-fed peers. But a new study from Brigham Young University says it’s not the breast milk that is behind that advantage. Mothers who breast feed were found to be more likely to read to their children and to respond to their emotional cues. Those techniques, the researchers say, can lead to a 2 to 3 month cognitive development boost by the time the child is 4 years old.

The San Francisco Chronicle says Tesla Motors is looking to power more than just cars. The upstart company wants to build batteries capable of powering homes or businesses. Tesla executives believe the company can become a leader in low-cost energy storage.

The Los Angeles Times has a front page story about the chauffeurs who get Hollywood’s elite to the Academy Awards. It’s a complicated effort as more than a thousand limos and SUVs must make their way through heavy security to get the stars to the show. So where do all those cars go during the show? The Hollywood Bowl, where one driver says they feed everyone; one burger, one fry, one soda.

The term global warming may seem like a joke to many people in the U.S. this winter, but as the Chicago Tribune points out, the average global temperature in January was the fourth highest since record keeping began in the 1880s. While many of us were dealing with bitter cold, parts of South America and Africa were hit with record warmth. One climate scientist explains that global warming is a symptom of climate change but it’s not the symptom most of us see. She describes the symptom we see as “weather weirding.”