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Tuesday, June 12 2018

  • Scientists find ‘patterns in the noise’ that could help make more accurate crop performance predictions

    Scientists have identified patterns in how and when sorghum plants flower that could help plant breeders and growers predict other important traits in a wide range of environments and geographic regions. The research team created an index based on photothermal time, a crucial phase in a plant’s development when it processes the environmental cues of sunlight and temperature. The research looked at sorghum, but the scientists believe the same method could be applied to a range of plants, including other crops.

  • Eisman receives NEH fellowship for research on East German contemporary artist

    Art historian April Eisman, an Iowa State University associate professor of art and visual culture, has received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to spend the 2018-2019 academic year doing research in Germany on artist Angela Hampel, one of former East Germany's most successful and outspoken artists.

  • Iowa State ranked among top 100 worldwide universities granted U.S. utility patents

    Iowa State University ranks No. 83 in the world in the number of patents granted in the United States last year, according to a list released this week by the National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association.

  • ISU student project wins at national Hospitality Design Awards competition

    A team of recent Iowa State University College of Design graduates won the student category at the 14th HD Awards competition, a national competition sponsored by Hospitality Design magazine that recognizes outstanding design projects in 23 categories related to the hospitality industry. The winning project was “Arrowhead Resort” by Taylor Bryan and Holland Shodeen, both 2017 ISU graduates in interior design. 

  • Forging art, science at Iowa Lakeside Lab artist residency program

    This summer, seven artists are working at the Iowa Lakeside Lab Artist-in-Residence program. Artists from across the country and from all fields immerse themselves in the Okoboji region’s natural beauty and inspire artwork in their individual disciplines. The residency program is led by Alex Braidwood, assistant professor of graphic design at Iowa State University.

  • Tax hurts investment in medical device research and development

    New Iowa State University research shows companies cut funding for research and development in response to a tax imposed on medical devices as part of the Affordable Care Act. The study found the tax reduced R&D investment by $34 million and also negatively affected sales revenue, gross margins and earnings. 

  • Physicists use terahertz flashes to uncover new state of matter hidden by superconductivity

    A research team led by Jigang Wang of Iowa State and the Ames Laboratory has developed a new quantum switching scheme that gives them access to new and hidden states of matter. If researchers can learn to control the hidden state, further stabilize it and determine whether it's suitable for quantum logic operations, it could allow researchers to use it for quantum computing and other practical functions. The journal Nature Materials has just published a paper about the discovery.

  • Cyclone Racing’s formula team upgrades aero, drivetrain in race for podium position

    Cyclone Racing's Formula SAE team is ready to put its latest racing car to the test. The mini open-wheel machine hits the Formula North circuit this week for a shakedown competition. Then it's back on track at Formula SAE Lincoln in late June for more racing. Will all of this year's innovations -- comprehensive aero package, lighter differential, shorter chassis, stiffer suspension, better paddle shifting -- add up to high performance? We'll have an answer soon.

  • Plant scientists use big data to map stress responses in corn

    Recently published research from Iowa State University plant scientists maps the stress response detected by the endoplasmic reticulum, an organelle in cells of corn seedlings. The study shows how cells transition from adaptation to death when faced with persistent stress and could help plant breeders develop stress-resistant crop varieties.

  • CYstarters mentors offer support, push for new startups

    Clayton Mooney credits the success of startup company KinoSol in part to a piece of advice from a CYstarters mentor. Mooney says it pushed him and his partners to improve their product. CYstarters mentors provide guidance and a level of accountability to ensure the startups – all at different levels of development – progress and stay on track.

  • Turtle and bird genomes provide tantalizing clues to dinosaur genomics, according to ISU scientist

    Comparing how the chromosomes of modern-day birds and turtles are structured can help scientists figure out how dinosaur genomes might have looked. An Iowa State University scientist contributed to an international research team that recently published its findings reaching back through 260 million years of genomics.

  • Cyclone Power Pullers hope new tractor configuration will help to carry the load in engineering competition

    The quarter-scale tractor ISU students will enter into a competition in a few weeks draws a stark contrast to the club’s efforts in previous years. Changes to the competition’s rules allowed the ISU team to build a segmented tractor that team members hope will allow for greater maneuverability.

  • Iowa State students develop plans for crowded cemeteries, a looming issue for communities across the nation

    An Iowa State University researcher brought his unique work to the classroom, studying the land-use implications of cemeteries and burial. This semester, his students researched and planned various options for the city of Perry, which – like many communities across the United States – is facing space constraints in its cemetery.

  • Cyclone Space Mining launches new concept for NASA’s Robotic Mining Competition

    Cyclone Space Mining returns to NASA's Kennedy Space Center May 14-18 with new ideas about mining, collecting and unloading simulated Martian soil. Team members have designed and built a bigger, heftier machine with the goal of digging deeper into the hard soil so they can scoop up more of the gravel that represents subsurface Martian ice.

  • Motivation to move may start with being mindful

    A meditation and stress reduction program may be as effective at getting people to move more as structured exercise programs, according to a new study led by an Iowa State University researcher. Jacob Meyer, an assistant professor of kinesiology, also is part of another study that found resistance training reduces symptoms of depression.