university of delaware – Page 10 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Plastic Pollution

By Guest PostMay 2, 2012Environmentalgae, bacteria, dylan meyer, environmental group, factor, giora proskurowski, historical weather data, kara lavendar law, liver function, mathematical model, model, north atlantic expedition, ocean, pacific garbage patch, plastic marine debris, plastic particles, plastic pollution, pollutant, recipe, skye moret ferguson, teresa messmore, tobias kukulka, university of delaware, university of washington, wind

Wind pushes plastics deeper into oceans, driving trash estimates up

Decades of research into how much plastic litters the sea may have only skimmed the surface. A new study reveals that wind drives confetti-sized pieces of plastic debris deeper underwater than previously believed, more than doubling earlier estimates of the pollutant’s presence in oceans.

“In windy conditions the traditional approach to measuring plastic marine debris captures only a small fraction of plastic pieces,” said Tobias Kukulka, assistant professor of physical ocean science and engineering in the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. “Our study helps to better understand how much plastic there is and where, as well as the complexity of the ocean dynamics at work.” (more…)

Inspired by Insects

By Guest PostApril 25, 2012Sciencebioactive hydrogel matrices, biomimetic, cell adhesion, cicadas, degradation, elastic, frequency, gel, grasshopper, hmscs, human mesenchymal stem cells, kristi kiick, microsecond, multipotent cells, phonation, polypeptide hydrogel, protein, radio wave, regenerative power, resilin, speak, susan thibeault, timothy mcculloch, tissue, torsional wave apparatus, united states, university of delaware, vibratory stimulation, vocal folds, voice problem, words, xinqiao jia

For treatment of vocal fold disorders, UD researchers look to insect protein

A one-inch long grasshopper can leap a distance of about 20 inches. Cicadas can produce sound at about the same frequency as radio waves. Fleas measuring only millimeters can jump an astonishing 100 times their height in microseconds. How do they do it? They make use of a naturally occurring protein called resilin.

Resilin is a protein in the composite structures found in the leg and wing joints, and sound producing organs of insects. Highly elastic, it responds to exceptionally high rates of speed and demonstrates unmatched resilience after being stretched or deformed. (more…)

Cosmic Ray Mystery

By Guest PostApril 19, 2012Scienceactive galaxies, Antarctica, array of detector, australia, bakhtiyar ruzybayev, barbados, belgium, black hole, canada, charged particle, chris elliott, cosmic ray, cosmic ray protons, data, density of radiation, detector, earth, energy, fermi satellites, fireballs, francis halzen, gamma ray bursts, Germany, ghostly nature, glacial ice, grbs, greg sullivan, icecube, icetop, james roth, Japan, katie shirey, NASA, national science foundation, neutrinos, new zealand, nsf, production, proton, pyramid of giza, south pole, Sweden, swift, switzerland, telescope, thomas gaisser, universe, university of delaware, university of wisconsin, US

Massive detector homes in on cosmic ray production

IceCube, an international collaboration involving University of Delaware scientists, is shedding new light on cosmic ray production.

Although cosmic rays were discovered 100 years ago, their origin remains one of the most enduring mysteries in physics. Now, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a massive detector in Antarctica, is homing in on how the highest energy cosmic rays are produced. (more…)

Saluting YouTube

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2012Entertainment, Technologydame edna, dana herbert, delaware salutes youtube, james j weber, joyce hill stoner, musicals, plays, ron whittington, scott mason, showmanship, university of delaware, wilmington, YouTube

Professor creates mini-musical celebrating video website

Joyce Hill Stoner, the Edward F. and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Material Culture in the University of Delaware’s Department of Art Conservation, is an internationally respected scholar and paintings conservator who has a flair for showmanship as well.

Her latest entertainment production, an eight-minute musical in which the state of Delaware salutes YouTube, now is posted on that site for the world to see. Live for just a couple of days, the video already has attracted thousands of viewers. (more…)

Graphene and DNA

By Guest PostMarch 24, 2012Scienceatom, branislav nikolic, carbon atom, cees dekker, device concept, dna detection, dna sequencing, electron beam, electronic current, genetic sequencing, grapheme, graphite, honeycomb pattern, jene golovchenko, kamal saha, marija drndic, nanodevice, nanopores, nanoribbon, nobel prize, quantum, university of delaware, university of pennsylvania, wonder material

‘Wonder material’ may hold key to fast, inexpensive genetic sequencing

Look at the tip of that old pencil in your desk drawer, and what you’ll see are layers of graphite that are thousands of atoms thick. Use the pencil to draw a line on a piece of paper, and the mark you’ll see on the page is made up of hundreds of one-atom layers.

But when scientists found a way—using, essentially, a piece of ordinary sticky tape—to peel off a layer of graphite that was just a single atom thick, they called the two-dimensional material graphene and, in 2010, won the Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery. (more…)

Wind Energy

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2012Environmentalison bates, ccp, coast, delaware, environmental impact, human activity, jeremy firestone, kateryna samoteskul, marine ecosystem, marine mammal, maryland, nature conservation, new jersey, ocean, offshore wind farms, sea turtle migrations, spatial planning, teresa messmore, university of delaware

UD study assesses ocean use off Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey coasts

The Center for Carbon-Free Power Integration (CCPI) at the University of Delaware has issued a new report about ocean use off the coast of Delaware and parts of Maryland and New Jersey. The study addresses viable places to locate offshore wind farms, taking into account biological, ecological and other considerations. The report includes feedback from interested groups who attended a November 2011 workshop, as well as input from experts.

“This report demonstrates that the ocean is already active with ecological and human activity,” lead-author Alison Bates said. “It shows what government regulators ought to consider in planning for offshore wind development and the beginning of a way forward for offshore wind developers and existing users to accommodate one another.” (more…)

History of Sexuality

By Guest PostMarch 6, 2012Cultureamerica, clinical treatment, gay man, happiness, heterosexual marriage, homosexuality, liberal protestant, mid twentieth century, norman vincent peale, prayer, psychiatry, rebecca davis, religious history, same sex, sexuality, university of delaware

UD prof honored for research on sexuality, religion in American history

Rebecca Davis, assistant professor of history at the University of Delaware, has received a Religious History Award from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Religious Archives Network for her essay titled “‘My Homosexuality Is Getting Worse Every Day’: Norman Vincent Peale, Psychiatry, and the Liberal Protestant Response to Same-Sex Desires in Mid-Twentieth-Century America.”

Norman Vincent Peale, to whom the title refers, was famous for his self-help book The Power of Positive Thinking. As a renowned Protestant minister, he encouraged people to heal themselves through prayer and believed heterosexual marriage was essential to personal happiness. (more…)

Distorted Art

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2012Culturealuminum, art, art in distortion, black ribbon, clouds roll by, conceptual, cord, david meyer, distorted, ephemeral, flour sculpture, greater reston arts center, imagery, leah frankel, moonscape, personal discovery, photograph, suzi fox, topographic map, university of delaware, virginia

*UD art professor creates sculptures from baking flour, aluminum*

There’s a quality to David Meyer’s art that’s both conceptual and ephemeral, sort of like watching the clouds roll by.

You see with your mind, not your eyes. And even then, as with clouds, shapes move. Things change.

There’s art in distortion. (more…)

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