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Relationships More Important than Genetic Ties When Deciding Who Cares for Aging Family Members, MU Researchers Say

By Guest PostOctober 22, 2011Scienceamerica, americans, divorce and remarriage, elderly population, genetic ties, hypothetical caregiving scenarios, Japan, kyoto, lawrence ganong, marilyn coleman, pew research report, university of missouri

*Divorce and remarriage affect beliefs about who should care for elder relatives*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – America’s elderly population will nearly double by 2050, according to a Pew Research report. As baby boomers enter retirement, concern exists as to who will care for them as they age. Traditionally, children have accepted the caregiving responsibilities, but those caregiving roles are becoming blurred as more families are affected by divorce and remarriage than in previous decades. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that relationship quality trumps genetic ties when determining caregiving obligations.

Lawrence Ganong, a professor and co-chair in the MU Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human Environmental Sciences (HES), studied how divorce and remarriage affect beliefs about who should care for aging relatives. He found that relationship quality, a history of mutual help, and resource availability influence decisions about who cares for parents and stepparents. (more…)

There Are No Clear Lines When It Comes To Homeland Security, Says Napolitano

By Guest PostOctober 8, 2011Politicsamerica, amsterdam, canadian airspace, Christmas day, cyber security, cyberspace, detroit, ghana, homeland security and national security, international in nature, jackson institute of global affairs, janet napolitano, nation, nigeria to amsterdam, nigerian citizen, northwest airlines flight, not easy to draw red lines, secretary of defense, secretary of homeland security, terrorism, underwear bomber, united kingdom, united nations, united states, yemen

Protecting the nation from terrorism, breaches in cyber security and other threats inside its borders is such a massive undertaking it is “not easy to draw red lines” that can chart individual or departmental responsibilities, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said during a campus visit on Oct. 6.

In a talk hosted by the Jackson Institute of Global Affairs, Napolitano used the example of the so-called “Underwear Bomber” — a suspected terrorist who attempted to blow up (using explosives hidden in his underwear) a Northwest Airlines flight between Amsterdam and Detroit on Christmas Day 2009 — to illustrate the partnerships that are required to ensure the nation’s safety. Her talk in the Law School’s Levinson Auditorium highlighted the importance of international partnerships in that mission. (more…)

The Next Generation of Ice Cream: One Bite, Two Flavors

By Guest PostSeptember 11, 2011Scienceamerica, caramel, chewing gum, chocolate, elizabeth fenner, experimental ice cream, flavor release, frozen desserts, gastric activity, ice cream, ingolf gruen, micro encapsulation, microwave cooking, national ice cream retailers association, neapolitan, nut, probiotic bacteria, strawberry, Technology, vanilla, vanilla flavor

*MU researchers develop “flavor release” ice cream with two distinct flavors*

COLUMBIA, Mo. — As the spoon slides into your mouth, you feel the freshness of the ice cream cool your mouth with a rich vanilla flavor. Yet, as you dig your spoon in for more, the vanilla changes, ever so slightly at first, but then to a distinct second flavor as you begin to taste cherry just before you swallow that first bite. The two-flavor, or “flavor release,” ice cream is an experimental ice cream that is being tested by researchers at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

Using a process known as “micro-encapsulation,” Elizabeth Fenner, a food science graduate student, and Ingolf Gruen, associate professor and chair of food sciences, developed the ice cream that starts as one flavor and — after immediately breaking down inside the mouth — releases a second flavor. (more…)

‘America’s Deadliest War Also is Most Memorialized’

By Guest PostJune 23, 2011Culture, Politics150th anniversary, america, battlefields, boulder county courthouse, civil war, civil war sites, fort sumter, gettysburg, kenneth foote, ku klux klan, nathan bedford forrest, north and south, northern forces, pearl street, salem, slavery, south carolina militiamen, united states, university of colorado boulder, vicksburg

As the nation recognizes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s start, public interest has been rekindled in the war and the numerous memorials and monuments marking historic figures, sites and battlegrounds in states around the country.

South Carolina militiamen fired the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and over the next four years more than 10,000 military engagements between the North and South took place. In the end more than 600,000 soldiers died. (more…)

Global Warming Will Not Significantly Affect Wind Energy Production

By Guest PostMay 6, 2011Environmentamerica, american energy, antoinette winklerprins, atmospheric science, atmospheric temperatures, chihuahua, climate models, climate variability, durango, eastern new mexico, energy patterns, energy production, global temperatures, great lakes, pryor and barthelmie, rebecca barthelmie, sara pryor, southwestern ohio, tamaulipas, united states, wind, wind energy, wind energy production

*Climate models predict stable wind energy patterns over the United States*

Rising global temperatures will not significantly affect wind energy production in the United States concludes a new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

But warmer temperatures could make wind energy somewhat more plentiful say two Indiana University (IU) Bloomington scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). (more…)

EPA Grants Continue to Protect Beachgoers

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2011Environmentamerica, bacteria levels, beach, beach managers, beaches, beaches environmental assessment and coastal health act, beachgoers, grants, local beach conditions, monitor beach, ocean beaches, peter s silva, protect swimmers, states, territories, tribes, water, water quality

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing almost $10 million in grants to 37 states, territories and tribes to help protect swimmers and beachgoers at America’s beaches. The grants will help local authorities monitor beach water quality and notify the public of conditions that may be unsafe for swimming. The grants have enabled states and territories to more than double the number of beaches they monitor since 2003. This continues EPA’s efforts to help beach managers provide consistent public health protection and up-to-date information about local beach conditions. (more…)

IBM’s “Watson” Computing System to Challenge All Time Greatest Jeopardy! Champions

By Guest PostDecember 14, 2010Technologyamerica, benchmark, brad rutter, computing system, david ferrucci, emmy awards, favorite quiz show, guinness book of world records, harry friedman, ibm, ibm founder, ibm power7, ibm scientists, jeopardy, ken jennings, million dollar masters tournament, sony pictures television, thomas j watson, thomas watson, tournament of champions, ultimate knowledge, ultimate tournament of champions, watson

*Competition Scheduled for February 2011*

ARMONK, N.Y. & CULVER CITY, Calif. – 14 Dec 2010: IBM and America’s Favorite Quiz show® Jeopardy! today announced that an IBM computing system named “Watson” will compete on Jeopardy! against the show’s two most successful and celebrated contestants — Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

The first-ever man vs. machine Jeopardy! competition will air on February 14, 15 and 16, 2011, with two matches being played over three consecutive days. (more…)

Facebook Study Finds Race Trumped by Ethnic, Social, Geographic Origins in Forging Friendships

By Guest PostNovember 1, 20101 commentTechnologyafrican americans, america, american college students, andreas wimmer, ethnic background, Facebook, human behavior, kevin lewis, picture friends, political engagement, popularity, race, racial background, racial discrimination, self-esteem, social networking site, sociologists

Harvard graduate Kevin Lewis (left) and UCLA sociologist Andreas Wimmer are co-authors of a new Facebook study on how college students form friendships. Image credit: Luis Gomez

Race may not be as important as previously thought in determining who buddies up with whom, suggests a new UCLA–Harvard University study of American college students on the social networking site Facebook.

“Sociologists have long maintained that race is the strongest predictor of whether two Americans will socialize,” said Andreas Wimmer, the study’s lead author and a sociologist at UCLA. “But we’ve found that birds of a feather don’t always flock together. Whom you get to know in your everyday life, where you live, and your country of origin or social class can provide stronger grounds for forging friendships than a shared racial background.”

“We’ve been able to show that just because two people of the same racial background are hanging out together, it’s not necessarily because they share the same racial background,” said co-author Kevin Lewis, a Harvard graduate student in sociology. (more…)

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