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Underwater Ecosystem Inundated by Sediment Plume

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2012Environmentelwha klallam tribe, elwha river, elwha river dams, glines canyon dam, juan de fuca, kate kelly, marcia mcnutt, mouth, pre dam state, reg reisenbichler, scuba diver, sediment plume, steve rubin, strait, underwater ecosystem, washington sea grant

Dive Teams Continue Underwater Study at Mouth of Elwha River

PORT ANGELES, Wash. — Scuba-diver scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, with support teams from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and Washington Sea Grant, are returning to the mouth of Washington’s Elwha River this week to explore and catalogue the effect of released sediment on marine life following the nation’s largest dam removal effort.

The underwater survey is taking place downstream of the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams, which are nearing the one-year anniversary of the start of their removal, a gradual process that officials expect to be finished in 2013. The dive survey is helping scientists understand how underwater plant and animal life react and adapt to the downstream effects of dam removal and providing scientists a more detailed and complete picture of the ecological restoration. (more…)

Bird in the Hand

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2012Culture, Generalblue feathers, blue hen, blue hen chicken, delaware, delaware state bird, elena torok, fightin blue hens, gamecocks, jack gelb, john caldwell, kent county, military regiment, paul h sammelwitz, project, radiography, revolutionary war, taxidermy specimen, university, university of delaware, winterthur museum

University art conservation student prepares Blue Hen for display

When University of Delaware Prof. Jack Gelb, Jr., was given a taxidermy specimen of a Blue Hen by a retiring colleague in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, he realized that this particular example of the Delaware state bird was somewhat the worse for wear.

And so Gelb, who is chairperson of the department as well as director of UD’s Avian Bioscience Center, turned to the Department of Art Conservation for expert help.

“This was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn about natural history materials,” said Elena Torok, now a third-year graduate student in the Winterthur-University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. “We happily agreed to work” on the project. (more…)

Global Expansion All About Give And Take, Study Finds

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2012Economy, Politicsahmet kirca, Economy, effect, expansion, global business, global strategy, globalization, leverage, michigan state university, multinationality, synergy, tomas hult

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The key to successful global business expansion is spreading operations across multiple countries, rather than trying to dominate a region or market, according to a new study led by Michigan State University researchers.

In addition, since global expansion is costly for service industries, manufacturing industries will profit most, said Tomas Hult, director of MSU’s International Business Center.

Led by Hult and Ahmet Kirca, associate professor of marketing, the study is the largest ever conducted to examine the effect of multinationality on firm performance, Hult said. It incorporates data from nearly 48,000 firms. (more…)

Entropy Can Lead to Order, Paving The Route to Nanostructures

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2012Scienceaerodynamics, atoms, computer simulation, crystal structure, disorder, drifting particle, entropy, michael engel, nanoparticle, pablo damasceno, particle, Science, shape, sharon glotzer, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Researchers trying to herd tiny particles into useful ordered formations have found an unlikely ally: entropy, a tendency generally described as “disorder.”

Computer simulations by University of Michigan scientists and engineers show that the property can nudge particles to form organized structures. By analyzing the shapes of the particles beforehand, they can even predict what kinds of structures will form.

The findings, published in this week’s edition of Science, help lay the ground rules for making designer materials with wild capabilities such as shape-shifting skins to camouflage a vehicle or optimize its aerodynamics. (more…)

Some Harmful Effects of Light at Night Can Be Reversed, Study Finds

By Guest PostJuly 27, 2012Sciencebrain, chronic exposure, depression, depressive disorder, depressive symptom, drug, hamster, harmful effects, hippocampus, light, light cycle, light dark cycle, night, protein, randy nelson, rodent, siberian hamsters, tnf, tnf inhibitor, tracy bedrosian, tumor necrosis factor, xpro1595, zachary weil

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Chronic exposure to dim light at night can lead to depressive symptoms in rodents – but these negative effects can be reversed simply by returning to a standard light-dark cycle, a new study suggests.

While hamsters exposed to light at night for four weeks showed evidence of depressive symptoms, those symptoms essentially disappeared after about two weeks if they returned to normal lighting conditions.

Even changes in the brain that occurred after hamsters lived with chronic light at night reversed themselves after returning to a more normal light cycle. (more…)

Terrorism and the Olympics By-the-Numbers: Analysis from UMD-based START

By Guest PostJuly 27, 2012Politicsmunich, olympic games, patterns of terrorism, risk of terrorism, terrorism, terrorism in london, terrorist attack

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – History offers a warning, but no clear pattern on the true risk of terrorism at the Olympic Games, concludes a new report by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) based at the University of Maryland. (more…)

Canola Oil Industry Cooking in Michigan

By Guest PostJuly 27, 2012Environmentbiofuel production, canola cooking oil, canola oil, canola oil industry, canola project, food oil, land grant model, michigan

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Canola can now be grown profitably in Michigan, thanks to Michigan State University.

Canola, which has potential as biofuel and cooking oil, is considered a high-value crop with seeds comprised of more than 40 percent oil. When compared to soybeans, which have 18 percent oil, and corn, which yields a mere 4 percent, canola stood out to MSU researchers as a key crop to help boost Michigan’s economy. (more…)

Study Determines Theoretical Energy Benefits and Potential of Algae Fuels

By Guest PostJuly 26, 2012Environment, Sciencealgae, algae fuels, algae pump, algeternal technologies, austin, austin startup, city of austin, colin beal, electricity, electromechanics, energy benefits, energy input, fertilizers, food, green source, michael webber, openalgae, pharmaceuticals, public policy, robert hebner, university of texas, viability of algae

AUSTIN, Texas — It’s theoretically possible to produce about 500 times as much energy from algae fuels as is needed to grow the fuels, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

However, limited by existing technology, the researchers found in a separate study that their algae growing facility is getting out about one-five hundredth as much energy as it currently puts in to grow the fuels.

“The search for cost-effective biofuels is one of the noble endeavors of our time, and these papers shed insight on where the boundaries are in algae research,” said Robert Hebner, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering and director of the Center for Electromechanics. “One of the responsibilities of a top research university is to discover and explain what the boundaries are so we can innovate within those boundaries or create ways to expand them.” (more…)

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