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Breakthroughs in Science

Archive for May, 2009

Welcome!

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Welcome to the Breakthroughs in Science blog! We’re happy to see you here. A quick orientation: on the left-hand side of the page you’ll find categories that may help you zero in on the topics you’re most interested in. We post frequently with the news of the day, so do bookmark and visit often! We’d […]

FrogWatch USA

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHuY4BF50Jk] Andrew Blaustein, Zoology Professor and Director of the Environmental Sciences Graduate Program at OSU, says amphibians are experiencing mass extinctions: Oregon State University zoologist Andrew Blaustein says monitoring amphibians is important because they are especially sensitive to environmental changes. They have no hair or feathers and their eggs have no shells, and they also […]

Oldest example of mutualism found

Friday, May 15th, 2009

OSU’s George Poinar — a researcher and international expert on life forms found in amber — has discovered the oldest example of mutualism ever found.  (Mutualism is a type of symbiotic relationship in which two species help each other… in this case, termites and protozoa.) From Science Daily: The analysis of a termite entombed for […]

Micro-hydro research honors the memory of Edward Rada

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Edward L. Rada was born in Mill City, Oregon in 1916, to Czech immigrant parents.  He left Oregon to serve as a Naval officer in WWII.  He eventually settled in Pasadena, CA, where he earned his doctorate in Economics at University of Southern California.  Edward then joined the faculty at UCLA, retiring in 1986 as […]

Where, oh Where?

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Today’s article on the Cyber Diver News Nework asks the question: Where have all the big fish gone? And gives us the answer (spoiler, sorry!):  In our stomachs. “We have already eaten most of the big fish in the Caribbean according to a new study [by OSU alumnus Dr. Chris Stallings] that links the decline of […]

You Know You’re Putting in an Honest Day’s Work When Your Research Project Shows Up in Popular Mechanics

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Ed Brook has missed more than his fair share of faculty meetings on campus, but he’s off the hook. That’s because he and his team have been off in Greenland, working chain saws and pickaxes to free huge chunks of ice containing gases they study to understand climate change. In this article from Popular Mechanics, […]

Reminder: F.A. Gilfillan Memorial Award Lecture tonight (Monday, May 4)

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Date: May 4, 2009 Austin Auditorium, LaSells Stewart Conference Center Welcome: 7:15-7:30 p.m. Introducing Dr. Peter Clark Dr. Sherman H. Bloomer, Dean, College of Science Lecture, Q&A: 7:30-8:30 p.m. About Dr. Peter Clark: Dr. Peter Clark earned a BS from St. Lawrence University, an MS from the University of Waterloo, and, in 1984, a Ph.D. […]

Breakthrough in Food Safety

Friday, May 1st, 2009

Back in October, we posted about an exciting advance in Microbiology that could revolutionize the food industry, providing solutions to determining food safety and avoiding costly waste. We now have an article in the Spring 2009 issue of Terra to share with you! Until now, there’s been no quick, accurate way to directly test food […]