Tag Archives: delaware

Sandy’s Underwater Sandscapes

UD researchers studying ‘fingerprint’ left on seafloor by Hurricane Sandy

Beneath the 20-foot waves that crested off Delaware’s coast during Hurricane Sandy, thrashing waters reshaped the floor of the ocean, churning up fine sand and digging deep ripples into the seabed. Fish, crustaceans and other marine life were blasted with sand as the storm sculpted new surfaces underwater.

UD scientists cued up their instruments to document the offshore conditions before, during and after Sandy’s arrival to scrutinize the differences and better predict the environmental impact of future storms. (more…)

Read More

Technology in the Classroom

Teaching future educators how to read and write in a new way

Rachel Karchmer-Klein, an associate professor in the University of Delaware’s School of Education, is teaching future educators to read and write multimodal texts, which includes everything from literature on a Kindle or iPad to information on a website.

“With traditional texts we teach students to read left to right, top to bottom, but electronic text is different because it contains multiple modes,” Karchmer-Klein explained. (more…)

Read More

Improving Batteries

UD doctoral student studies ways to improve lithium battery performance

Lithium batteries are used in many devices such as cell phones, computers and cameras, among others.

University of Delaware doctoral student Wei-Fan Kuan is investigating ways to improve membranes used in lithium batteries by capitalizing on the innate properties of block copolymers.

It is work that he believes will become increasingly important as the components in electronic devices continue to get smaller. (more…)

Read More

Exploring Energy Poverty

Doctoral student studies energy poverty in Ghana, Africa

In the United States, electricity is a creature comfort many citizens take for granted. Yet for more than a billion people across the globe, particularly in developing regions, electrification is the exception, not the norm.

Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is the least electrified region in the world. It has the lowest generation capacity behind eastern South Asia and few programs that provide access to modern forms of energy. (more…)

Read More

China and the Internet

Internet bringing change to Chinese society, China Forum speaker says

The Internet is affecting every facet of Chinese life and shaping public opinion, according to Sanjiu Yan, the guest speaker at the inaugural China Forum, held Friday, Oct. 26, at the University of Delaware.

Yan, a former journalist who is now the dean of the College of Communication at East China Normal University in Shanghai, presented the first talk in the China Forum, a new monthly lecture series hosted by the Confucius Institute at UD. (more…)

Read More

PTSD Consortium

Researchers seek better ways to diagnose, treat disorder

Tania Roth studies what happens to the brain when stress occurs early in life, seeking to pinpoint how those kinds of bad experiences can cause molecular changes to DNA.

Now, by participating in a national consortium of researchers, the assistant professor of psychology at the University of Delaware is hoping to use her expertise to contribute to a better understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). (more…)

Read More

Hungry Black Hole

Astronomers poised for galactic chow-down

The super-massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy has a healthy appetite, frequently snacking on asteroids and comets. Now, a cloud of gas and dust called G2 is on a dangerous course to become its next meal.

Even though Sagittarius A* (pronounced “Sagittarius A-star”) hasn’t been easy to see through the cosmic dust, sitting 25,000 light years away at galaxy central, scientists know it is a black hole — and a hungry one at that. Its weight has been estimated to be more than that of 4 million suns. (more…)

Read More

‘Earth Perfect?’

Professor’s new book examines nature, utopia and the garden

“the result of humanity’s attempt to carve out an ideal place in nature, thereby fashioning a ‘perfect’ earth” — is the subject of a new book, co-authored and edited by the University of Delaware’s Annette Giesecke.

Earth Perfect? Nature, Utopia, and the Garden is a lushly illustrated, 303-page volume that brings together essays from writers and experts across disciplines to study the relationship — historical, present and future — between humanity and the garden. (more…)

Read More