Engaging locally in water quality planning
| by Erin Trouba
To address pollution concerns in the Chesapeake Bay, communities throughout the watershed have been engaging stakeholders in an effort to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads, which are responsible for harmful algal blooms and turbid waters.
Mechanical engineering researcher Amrita Basak awarded NSF CAREER
| psu.edu
Amrita Basak, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, earned a five-year, $598,650 U.S. National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award for a project titled “Understanding Processing-Structure-Property Relationships in Co-Axial Wire-Feed, Powder-Feed Laser Directed Energy Deposition.”
Backyard insect inspires invisibility devices, next gen tech
| psu.edu
Leafhoppers, a common backyard insect, secrete and coat themselves in tiny mysterious particles that could provide both the inspiration and the instructions for next-generation technology, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. In a first, the team precisely replicated the complex geometry of these particles, called brochosomes, and elucidated a better understanding of how they absorb both visible and ultraviolet light.
Engineering science and mechanics researcher Andrea Argüelles awarded NSF CAREER
| psu.edu
Andrea Argüelles, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics in the Penn State College of Engineering, earned a five-year, $696,010 U.S. National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award for a project titled, “Advancing ceramic processing science through acoustic characterization.”
Virtual reality better than video for evoking fear, spurring climate action
| psu.edu
Experiencing worst-case climate scenarios in virtual reality may better motivate people to support environmental policies, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers.
Penn State Radiation Science & Engineering Center receives new neutron science device
| onwardstate.com
The device was a donation from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, a research institution in Germany.
Environmentalists renew fight to limit use of neonicotinoids in CT
| ctinsider.com
It would take more that a decade before environmentalists such as Rachel Carson sounded the alarm on the damage that DDT was doing to the natural world and more years until the U.S. banned it in 1972. This article quotes John Tooker, professor of entomology.
Calling researchers: Join Penn State's NSF I-Corps April cohort
| psu.edu
Penn State’s U.S. National Science Foundation I-Corps Short Course is accepting applications for its virtual April cohort. Participants must apply and complete a self-guided I-Corps prep mini-course by Friday, April 12.
Scientists may have just caught 7 exotic 'ghost particles' as they pierced through Earth
| space.com
Devices buried deep within the south pole detected highly elusive tau neutrinos blasted toward Earth by powerful astrophysical events. This article features Penn State research and quotes Doug Cowen, professor of physics.
St. Tammany's ditches are fouled with untreated sewage. The mosquitoes are loving it.
| nola.com
All the sewage in the drainage ditches makes it so that the St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District can't kill mosquitoes faster than they can reproduce, according to a new study. This article quotes Jason Rasgon, Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Endowed Chair in Disease Epidemiology and Biotechnology.
Improved life satisfaction may decrease illegal forest use in protected areas
| psu.edu
Improved life satisfaction reduces livelihood-based illegal forest use whereas traditional cultural practices increase illegal forest use for livelihood needs, according to research led by Edwin Sabuhoro, assistant professor of recreation, park and tourism management at Penn State.
Survey Research Center adds MetricWire to TRACE Portfolio
| psu.edu
Penn State's Survey Research Center recently acquired an enterprise-level MetricWire license to enhance its research capabilities and remain at the forefront of mobile data collection methodologies.