News Service
Tuesday, June 18
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Iowa State researchers studying slow-release fertilizer to feed crops, improve water quality
A research project looking for ways to add value to biochar may have found an unexpected application for the black power that's a co-product of thermochemically converting biomass to a liquid bio-oil. The researchers have found biochar could be a slow-release fertilizer that delivers nutrients to crops while keeping those nutrients from washing away in the rain or leaching into groundwater. More uses for biochar could make thermochemical biofuel production a more economically attractive technology.
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Antioxidant puts up fight, but loses battle against toxic protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease
New research may explain why an antioxidant that protects the brain is also associated with deterioration in areas susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease. The antioxidant, superoxide dismutase or SOD1, improves cognition, but an Iowa State University research team found SOD1’s protective benefits dramatically weaken when levels of tau proteins – a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease – increase.
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Iowa State's Geetu Tuteja selected for Pew Scholars Biomedical Research Program
Geetu Tuteja, assistant professor in Iowa State's department of genetics, development and cell biology, has been selected to join the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. She is the first Iowa State researcher to receive this honor. Tuteja is one of 22 promising scientists nationwide selected by the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts to receive a four-year, $300,000 grant to conduct biomedical research aimed at advancing human health.
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New economic study shows combination of SNAP and WIC improves food security
Forty million Americans, including 6.5 million children, are food insecure. Given the extent of food insecurity, a team of Iowa State University economists developed a methodology to analyze potential redundancies between two food assistance programs -- SNAP and WIC. Their research shows that participating in both programs compared to SNAP alone increases food security by at least 2 percentage points and potentially as much as 24 percentage points.
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Iowa’s wet spring conforms with climate trends outlined in major 2018 assessment
Wet and cool weather throughout May delayed planting and slowed the emergence of crops, according to an ISU agronomist. The weather falls in line with trends outlined in last year’s National Climate Assessment, and slow emergence could remain a problem throughout the 2019 growing season.
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ISU experts look at long-term impact of tariffs on supply chain, consumers
Businesses are preparing for the long-term impacts of the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. Consumers may not recognize the complexity and level of disruption created to points along the supply chain, but they are paying for it, say experts in Iowa State University’s Ivy College of Business. Cost is just one the consequences they expect to see in the fallout from the tariffs.
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Not all teens turn to social media when they’re lonely
Technology is so pervasive it may seem as if teens spend more time on social networking sites than in real conversations with friends. New research challenges that assumption and finds some teens, especially when they feel lonely, prefer face-to-face interactions over social media.
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Iowa State climbs in ranking of top 100 worldwide universities granted U.S. utility patents
Iowa State is tied for 69th in the world in the number of patents granted in the United States last year, according to a list released June 4 by the National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association. The Iowa State University Research Foundation was granted 34 patents in 2018. ISU was ranked No. 83 in the previous year's ranking.
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ISU students design proposals for new educational center in Iowa Judicial Building
As the Iowa Judicial Branch Building shifts from physical to digital files, Iowa State University students have designed proposals to turn the soon-to-be-vacant space into an experiential learning center for the public.
Change Agent: Debra Marquart
The path Debra Marquart followed to becoming a writer was far from ordinary. And yet, it is hard to imagine how the Iowa State University Distinguished Professor of English could have taken any other route and achieved as much. With all she has accomplished as a singer, songwriter and author, Marquart is starting a new role as Iowa's Poet Laureate.