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Newsmakers in the College of Science

Newsmakers 2012

The College of Science is well known for its faculty experts and researchers, many of whom are recognized around the world as some of the best in their field. Below is a sampling of our recent newsmakers:

The Washington Post

4/26/2012
At Virginia Tech, computers take over teaching math
The Virginia Tech Math Emporium is a repurposed department store in a strip mall that is a 15-minute walk or short drive away from campus. The 60,000-square-foot facility is open 24 hours a day and houses 537 computers.

Delaware Online

4/26/2012
In this classroom, computers teach most of the math
There are no professors in Virginia Tech's largest classroom, only a sea of computers and red plastic cups. In the Math Emporium, the computer is king, and instructors are reduced to roving guides.

eCampus News

4/24/2012
At Virginia Tech, computers help solve a math class problem
There are no professors in Virginia Tech’s largest classroom, only a sea of computers and red plastic cups, reports the Washington Post. In the Math Emporium, the computer is king, and instructors are reduced to roving guides.

The Telegraph - Online

4/23/2012
The 'Wal-Mart of intro math' approach finds success of Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech has built an "emporium" for introductory math that uses computer-aided learning to make the whole process cheaper, and possibly more effective.

The Washington Post

4/22/2012

But Virginia Tech students pass introductory math courses at a higher rate now than 15 years ago, when the Emporium was built. And research has found the teaching model trims per-student expense by more than one-third, vital savings for public institutions with dwindling state support.

The Roanoke Times

4/15/2012
Tech scientists bite backat malaria mosquitos
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2010, an estimated 216 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide - 655,000 people died and 91 percent of those who died lived in Africa. Ineffective sprays will only increase these numbers. This is why former Virginia Tech entomologist and toxicologist Jeff Bloomquist and three current Virginia Tech scientists - chemist Paul Carlier, molecular biologist Eric Wong and entomologist Sally Paulson - have developed a new spray that kills the flying malaria carriers.

Astrobiology Magazine

4/14/2012

Tracking Back Animal Evolution

Unusually preserved fossils discovered by Virginia Tech, Nanjing Institute researchers shed new light on how macroscopic, complex life evolved and lived 550 million years ago.  ... Shuhai Xiao, geoscientist from Virginia Tech, with Bing Shen, a Virginia Tech graduate student...

International Herald Tribune

4/12/2012
Iranian President Says Oil Embargo Won't Hurt
Others said Iran's inability to sell oil still loomed as a domestic crisis. Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, a professor of economics at Virginia Tech, estimated that the European oil embargo and other sanctions endangered perhaps 50 percent of Iran's oil exports, which could cut more than $30 billion in annual earnings.

The New York Times

4/11/2012
Iranian President Says Oil Embargo Won't Hurt
Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, an economist at Virginia Tech, estimated that the European oil embargo and other sanctions endangered perhaps 50 percent of Iran's oil exports, which could cut more $30 billion in annual earnings.

Astrobiology Magazine

3/31/2012
Hatching the First Animal
Who laid the first egg? Thousands of 600 million years old embryo microfossils have been found in China that may be among the first animals. It is a case of preserving the seemingly unpreserveable. In 1998, Shuhai Xiao and colleagues reported finding thousands of 600 million year old embryo microfossils in the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, a fossil site near Weng'an, South China.

The Roanoke Times

03/26/2012
Targeting the ebb at Mountain Lake
In the launch of the latest experiment, researchers including Virginia Tech Geological Sciences master’s student Luke Joyce, along with engineering geologists Skip Watts and George Stephenson from Radford University, put the green tracer dye into the lake in mid-January. They applied a pound above each of four drain holes, boring through ice to access the water.

The Daily Progress

03/25/2012
Top-paid faculty members at Virginia colleges
Average salary calculated for peer ranking: $83,794 Sample of peer group: Boston University, Drexel, Florida State, Ohio State, New York University VIRGINIA TECH Top-paid faculty members* P. Read Montague, Carilion Research Institute, $387,60.

The Daily Progress

03/25/2012
Virginia lags in faculty pay
P. Read Montague is a Virginia Tech neuroscientist who peers into people’s brains to study what’s behind the decisions they make. Perhaps you caught him last month on NBC’s “Today” show talking about why women don’t speak up in meetings.Such studies make Montague a nationally known researcher — and the top-paid professor on Tech’s teaching and research faculty.

NewScientist

03/21/2012
First ever neutrino comms link opens
Just as neutrinos lose their faster-than-light status (see "Superfast neutrino claim takes a beating"), these subatomic particles have found a new role in a communication system that could send messages directly through the Earth. Patrick Huber, a physicist at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, has suggested using neutrinos to communicate with nuclear submarines.

ScienceNews

03/19/2012
Better hydrogen storage process unveiled
The dream of using hydrogen gas as a clean fuel, on a large scale, just got a little bit closer. Chemists have developed a new molecule that can drive chemical reactions to store and release hydrogen under mild temperatures and pressures. The work “is an advance that will direct research in the future,” says Amanda Morris, a chemist at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. She adds that the hydrogen packing and unpacking reactions described in the study could have potentially useful applications in making hydrogen-fueled cars.

Canberra Times

03/19/2012
Take a memo: meetings drain your brain
Research from Virginia Tech in the US confirms what many of us have sussed out long ago. Meetings do in fact lower the intelligent quotient - or IQ - of the participants.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

03/18/2012
For higher learning, a call for higher pay
P. Read Montague is a Virginia Tech neuroscientist who peers into people's brains to study what's behind the decisions they make.

Technology Review - Online

03/15/2012
How Neutrinos Could Revolutionize Communications with Submarines
Now a new analysis suggests that submariners may have been too quick to dismiss neutrinos. Patrick Huber, a physicist at Virginia Tech, says that neutrino communication could offer data rates of up to 100 bits per second at any depth. That's three orders of magnitude better than ELF communication.

Product Design & Development

03/12/2012
A Big Discovery in the Study of Neutrinos
"This is the first time that any experiment has been able to definitively say that this mixing angle, theta one-three, is not zero," said Jonathan Link, associate professor of physics and director of Virginia Tech's Center for Neutrino Physics, home of the university's Daya Bay experiment team.

The Economic Times Online Edition

03/02/2012
Rethinking collaboration
The most recent research finding on this topic came from the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in the US. They used brain imaging to show that working in a group brought down the IQ of several people.

The Daily Telegraph

03/01/2012
Attending meetings lowers IQ, makes you stupid – scientific research
Meetings make people stupid because they impair their ability to think for themselves, scientists have found. Researchers at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research institute in the US said people's performance dropped when they were judged against their peers.

The Roanoke Times

02/29/2012
Virginia Tech event to focus on female scientists’ challenges and successes
An event on the unique struggles of female scientists will be held at Virginia Tech on March 12 and 13. A Showcase of Female Scientists will give insight and advice on the balance female scientists’ work to maintain between work and their personal lives

The Daily Telegraph 

02/28/2012
Attending meetings lowers IQ: research
Researchers at the Virginia Tech Crilion Research institute in the US said people's performance dropped when they were judged against their peers. Read Montague, who led the study, said: "You may joke about how committee meetings make you feel brain-dead."

The Free Lance-Star - Online 

02/25/2012
Geologists learning more about quake
James R. Martin II, an earthquake expert and professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, says researchers were hindered by a lack of seismic instruments in Central Virginia at the time of the quake.

HealthCanal.com

02/22/2012
Study targets middle schoolers who have excessive worry and who are tough to manage
The Child Study Center at Virginia Tech is seeking middle-school-age children and their families to participate in a new research project. The study is designed to help children who have excessive worry and who are difficult to manage.

Astrobiology Magazine

02/19/2012
Mars Flash Flood
Formations on the surface of Mars indicated incidents of rapid release of water from the planet's interior. The finding may indicate the presence of subsurface reserves of liquid water, which could represent a habitat for life.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

02/16/2012
Virginia Tech gets $705,000 for "bird stress" study
A pair of researchers have been awarded $705,000 in a grant by the National Science Foundation, a federally funded organization.

WSLS 10

02/16/2012
Virginia Tech gets $705,000 for "bird stress" study
Virginia Tech biologists recently received a $705,000 National Science Foundation grant to study how these birds respond to stress as well as the behaviors that stress produces.

ScienceDaily

02/13/2012
Creativity: Anyone Can Learn to Be More Inventive, Expert Says
McCaffrey, a post doctoral research fellow at the Center for e-Design at UMass Amherst and Virginia Tech, recently won a two-year, $170,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to turn his technique into software with a user-friendly graphical interface. Initial users will likely be engineers.

BioPortfolio

02/12/2012
Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring and Surface Plasmon Resonance Studies of Carboxymethyl Cellulose Adsorption onto Regenerated Cellulose Surfaces.
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech , Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States.

Helium

02/10/2012
Study: Business meetings can make you stupid
"Research led by scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute found that small-group dynamics - such as jury deliberations, collective bargaining sessions, and cocktail parties - can alter the expression of IQ in some susceptible people."

Innovations Report 

02/10/2012
Anyone Can Learn to Be More Inventive, Says UMass Amherst Psychology Researcher Who Studies Problem Solving
His findings appear now in an early online issue of Psychological Science. McCaffrey, a post doctoral research fellow at the Center for e-Design at UMass Amherst and Virginia Tech, recently won a two-year, $170,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to turn his technique into software with a user-friendly graphical interface.

Taiwan News Online 

02/10/2012
India explores economic opportunities in Iran despite Western Sanctions Plan
“Iran will barter oil for food, oil for cars,” said Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, an economist at Virginia Tech University. “They will find ways.”

WWBT-TV - Online

02/08/2012
Experts recommend earthquake insurance for Central Virginia
"The Central Virginia zone is pretty dag gone regular in what it's been doing," said Virginia Tech seismologist Dr. Martin Chapman. The university had three of the few scientists' stations that recorded this quake.

HealthCanal.com

02/07/2012
New technology allows scientists to watch cancer cells in action at unprecedented resolution
Deborah Kelly, an assistant professor in the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has now developed a novel technology platform to peer closely into the world of cells and molecules within a native, liquid environment.

MSNBC.com - Washington DC Bureau

02/07/2012
Meetings can make you, uh, stupid
"You may joke about how committee meetings make you feel brain dead, but our findings suggest that they may make you act brain dead as well," says study co-author Read Montague, director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

The Wall Street Journal - Ideas Market

02/03/2012
Being Ranked Can Reduce IQ
A new study underscores the degree to which cognition is shaped by social environment -- and, indeed, that cognitive and social processing can't be disentangled, say its authors lead by Read Montague, of Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

American Psychological Association

02/02/2012
New registry seeks to understand addiction recovery through 'crowdsourcing'
Scientists interested in addiction and recovery now have a way to harness the power of the Internet, thanks to the newly launched National Quit and Recovery Registry.  "We're hoping that, by being in contact with people who have quit an addiction for a year or more, we will be better able to inform the treatment process," says Warren Bickel, PhD, who runs the site and directs the Advanced Recovery Research Center of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

R&D Magazine - Online 

02/02/2012
Flow-chip holder lets researchers see cells in native environment
Deborah Kelly, an assistant professor in the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has now developed a novel technology platform to peer closely into the world of cells and molecules within a native, liquid environment.

Physorg.com

02/01/2012
New technology allows scientists to watch cancer cells in action at unprecedented resolution
Deborah Kelly, an assistant professor in the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has now developed a novel technology platform to peer closely into the world of cells and molecules within a native, liquid environment.

Astrobiology Magazine

01/27/2012
Tracking Back Animal Evolution
Unusually preserved fossils discovered by Virginia Tech, Nanjing Institute researchers shed new light on how macroscopic, complex life evolved and lived 550 million years ago.

Astrobiology Magazine

01/27/2012
The Avalon Explosion
Scientists have identified a new period in Earth´s history where life experienced an evolutionary explosion. Dubbed the "Avalon Explosion", this period occurred about 33 million years prior to the previously identified "Cambrian Explosion", and sheds further light on the early evolution of animals.

Washington Post

01/27/2012
Study: Working in groups can lower your intelligence, particularly if you're a woman
Two brains aren't always better than one. Neuroscientists have found that working in small groups tends to lower the IQ of some individuals, suggesting that social interactions can (temporarily) suppress intelligence.

Wired Science

01/27/2012
Human Nature and the Neurobiology of Conflict
P. Read Montague of Virginia Tech's Carilion Research Institute administered intelligence tests to people individually and in groups of five in order to test why IQ drops considerably when students work in small groups.

NPR - Online 

01/26/2012
Growing Pressures Prompt Plunge In Iranian Currency
The slide had begun, and dollars quickly became scarce, says Djavad Salehi-Isfahani of Virginia Tech, an expert on Iran's economy.

Nanotechnology Now

01/25/2012
Prepare Students to Make Smart Environmental Decisions Using NSTA?s Welcome to Nanoscience: Interdisciplinary Environmental Explorations
Dr. Michael F. Hochella Jr., Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech is one of several authors of this article introducing the revolutionary fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology to high school students.

BioPortfolio

01/18/2012
The combined influence of trematode parasites and predatory salamanders on wood frog (Rana sylvatica) tadpoles.
Predators can have important impacts on host-parasite dynamics. For many directly transmitted parasites, predators can reduce transmission by removing the most heavily infected individuals from the population.

Hospital Imaging & Radiology Europe - Online

01/16/2012
Molecule tested for imaging of brain tumours
A molecule has been developed which may be effective as both an imaging and therapeutic agent for brain tumours.  A nanoparticle called a functionalised metallofullerene (fMF) served as the basis of this work and was created by study collaborator, Harry Dorn, Chemistry Professor at Virginia Tech.

Web Commentary

01/11/2012
Global Warmists Gone Bonkers?
A lifelong interest in meteorology and climatology spurred his strong interest in science. Bob earned his degree in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, graduating in 1964.

Materials Views

01/10/2012
DNA-Inspired Polymer Design
Timothy E. Long and co-workers (Virginia Tech, Blacksburg) provide a broad overview of established and ongoing work in the area of DNA nucleobase-modified polymer synthesis.

BioPortfolio

01/14/2012
Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute Researcher Receives Young Investigator Grant for Mental Health Research
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release: Cameron Craddock, a postdoctoral researcher with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in Roanoke, has received.

EHS Today - Environmental, Health and Safety - Online

01/14/2012
Safety 2012: Safety Leaders Look Ahead
E. Scott Geller, Ph.D.; senior partner, Safety Performance Solutions; alumni distinguished professor, Virginia Tech: With financial pressure to reduce industrial costs, more cuts in personnel and financial expenditures can be expected in 2012.

It Takes 30

01/05/2012
Faculty positions at Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech is expanding its presence in emerging interdisciplinary programs in nanoscience, neuroscience, systems biology, and computational science. These new faculty positions signify a continued University commitment to the importance of interdisciplinary science to help solve major societal challenges in energy, the environment, and health.

Green Chemistry

01/04/2012
Green Chemistry at Virginia Tech Part II
For my second interview in the Virginia Tech series, I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Richard Turner. Like Dr. Long, he worked in the chemical industry and saw that most of the companies that practice green chemistry do so for regulatory and financial reasons.

Green Chemistry

01/03/2012
Green Chemistry at Virginia Tech Part I
Being a recent graduate of the University of Virginia, it is a little hard for me to write this article on all the innovation and leadership that is happening at Virginia Tech in the field of Green Chemistry I interviewed Dr. Timothy Long. Dr. Long’s dedication to greener chemistry can be seen in both his teaching and in his research. I had the privileged opportunity to discuss his background, career at Tech, and plans for the future.