News Archive
Wednesday, November 1 2006
News
Alum will be on space shuttle next June
When NASA launches the space shuttle Endeavour in June 2007, its crew will include the first Iowa State alum to become an astronaut. Clayton C. Anderson, who earned his master's degree in aerospace engineering at ISU in 1983, will travel to the International Space Station where he will spend up to four months.
ISU professor studies gender differences in investment behavior
Tahira Hira, ISU executive assistant to the president and a professor of consumer economics, joined with a colleague to produce a report for NASD -- the world's largest private sector securities regulator -- titled "Gender Differences in Investment Behavior."
Summit to generate recommendations for keeping Iowa a leader in biorenewables
"A Call to Action Summit: Ensuring Iowa's Leadership in the Bioeconomy" will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, in Iowa State University's Scheman Building. Registration is required and there is a $25 fee.
Memorial Union schedules ceremony to honor ISU's fallen in Iraq
Iowa State's Memorial Union has scheduled a ceremony for 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, to honor the university's two Iraq casualties. The pre-Veterans Day ceremony will begin in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, then move to Gold Star Hall. A reception for the families will follow the ceremony. The public is invited.
Reiman Gardens wins tourism awards
Reiman Gardens earned three awards from the Iowa Tourism Office conference, the most of any Iowa attraction.
Iowa State researchers improving plastics made from corn and soy proteins
Iowa State University researchers are using ultrasonics to break up and disperse nanoclays that can reinforce biorenewable and biodegradable plastics made from corn and soy proteins.
Divorce increases chronic stress, later illness in women according to ISU study
Researchers from Iowa State's Institute for Social and Behavioral Research found in a study of 416 rural Iowa women that divorce increased chronic stress and produced greater physical illness over a 10-year span.
Video of biorenewable resources meeting
The Oct. 23 "town hall" meeting to discuss ISU efforts and opportunities in the area of biorenewables and renewable fuels is available online. Led by ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, the meeting featured numerous ISU experts in biorewables and drew nearly 400 participants.
Researchers to study ethanol expansion effects
ISU researchers will evaluate the costs and benefits of ethanol expansion to rural communities as part of a $676,722 biofuels research grant.
ISU team develops kitchen cabinets that assist persons with disabilities, aging adults
A research team from Iowa State developed "Kwik-change Kabinets" -- modular cabinet units with adjustable cabinet and kitchen countertop components. The universal-design of the units allows adjustments to be made to fit any person's height in as little as 10 minutes with a simple screwdriver.
Webcast, mini-conference on ethanol Nov. 13
Experts will offer a variety of perspectives on the corn-based ethanol industry in Iowa in a statewide webcast and mini-conference Nov. 13. The conference is sponsored by the ISU economics department.
Engler will explore critical landscapes in Presidential Lecture Nov. 6
There's more to landscape architecture than moving dirt and planting flowers, says Mira Engler. The Iowa State University landscape architecture professor will discuss her ideas on critical design and present examples of her work during the fall Presidential University Lecture. "Critical Landscapes: From Pork Barrels to Otherworldly Dumps and Gardens," will be at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union.
Visualization Challenge
This graphic explaining the chemistry of a potential catalyst took honorable mention honors in the 2006 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science. Matt Heying, Changwon Suh, Krishna Rajan and James Oliver of Iowa State University and Simone Seig and Wilhelm Maier of the Universitat des Saarlandes created the graphic.
In the news
Divorced women have poorer health
The Associated Press, MSNBC, USA Today and others
Women who divorce may lose some of their good health, according to a study at Iowa State University.
Viral videos as the new attack ads
CNBC
YouTube can carry candidates' messages, or record their lesser moments for posterity. University Professor of Political Science Steffen Schmidt discusses YouTube's effect in next week's election in CNBC's "On the Money."
Nothing 2 LOL about
The Associated Press
Text messaging has advantages and drawbacks, but the technology has a "power we have not earned and don't yet know how to use," says Michael Bugeja, director of ISU's Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.
Yield of dreams
Successful Farming
Pat Schnable and the Plant Sciences Institute are featured in Successful Farming magazine's October cover story, "Yield of dreams," about groundbreaking crop technology in the works. Research by Schnable and others to sequence the corn genome is key. It will enable scientists to speed development of varieties with desired traits, like drought resistence and cold tolerance, so that agricultural productivity can keep pace with increasing demand for food and fuel.