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Ohio State UniversityAs one of the nation's
largest public universities, Ohio State University offers a massive
educational and research asset to the nation. With 55,043 students
enrolled on the main A major research university, this year Ohio State had more than $426 million in research awards, and placed fifth in the country in industrially supported research. In the last five years, the university has increased its research funding by a phenomenal 80 percent. With more than 40
multidisciplinary research centers on campus, scholars at OSU
are making discoveries and contributions to knowledge in almost
every field imaginable. The For more information about research at Ohio State University, check out: |
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Ohio State Genome Map Reveals Many Additional Probable Genes A team of genetics researchers produced a third map of the human genome, this one containing twice the number of genes proposed by two earlier maps and providing annotations that explain the function of all 66,000 genes. Last year, teams of researchers from Celera Genomics, a private biotechnology firm, and counterparts from the Human Genome Project, the federally funded effort to map the genome, published their findings in the prestigious journals Science and Nature respectively. This new map appeared on the website of the journal Genome Biology. Both earlier reports proposed that the human genome consists of some 35,000 genes, far less than the estimate of 100,000 to 120,000 genes which researchers had long predicted. . . . read more |
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| African Ice Core Analysis Reveals Catastrophic Droughts, Shrinking Ice Fields, Civilization Shifts |
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A detailed analysis of six cores retrieved from the rapidly shrinking ice fields atop Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro shows that those tropical glaciers began to form about 11,700 years ago. The cores also yielded remarkable evidence of three catastrophic droughts that plagued the tropics 8,300, 5,200 and 4,000 years ago. Lastly, the analysis also supports Ohio State University researchers' prediction that these unique bodies of ice will disappear in the next two decades, the victims of global warming. These findings appeared in the journal Science. . . . read more |
| Genetically Modified Crops May Pass Helpful Traits To Weeds, Study Finds |
| For the first time, researchers have shown that a gene artificially inserted into crop plants to fend off pests can migrate to weeds in a natural environment and make the weeds stronger. Scientists studied genetically engineered sunflowers - those modified with a gene that produces a chemical toxic to certain insects - to see what happened when these foreign genes, called transgenes, were inadvertently passed along to weedy relatives. "This is the first example of what might happen if a beneficial transgene accidentally spread to a wild population and then proliferated in subsequent generations," researchers said. . . . read more |
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| Among The Mayas, Writers For Defeated Kings Met A Cruel Fate |
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New research
sheds light on the cruel fate that awaited official scribes for
Maya kings who had been conquered by rivals.These scribes - the
rough equivalent of today's publicrelations writers - would have their fingers broken and then be executed after their kings were defeated in battle."The conquering Mayas were not interested as much in the executions as they were in this seemingly bizarre practice of destroying the scribes' fingers," said researchers."By breaking the fingers of scribes, what they were really doing was muting the ability of scribes to write politically powerful texts for their defeated king." . . . read more |
| Largest Fossil Cockroach Found; Site Preserves Incredible Detail |
 Geologists
at Ohio State University have found the largest-ever complete
fossil of a cockroach, one that lived 55 million years before
the first dinosaurs.The cockroach, along with hundreds of other
fossil plants and animals from a coalmine in eastern Ohio, could
help scientists better understand the diversity of ancient life
and how the Earth's climate has changed throughout history. The
roach lived 300 million years ago, during what geologists call
the Carboniferous period. Ohio was a giant tropical swamp then,
but this particular site was unusual. "Normally, we can
only hope to find fossils of shell and bones, because they have
minerals in them that increase their chances for preservation,"
the researchers said, "but something unusual about the chemistry
of this ancient site preserved organisms without shell or bones
with incredible detail." . . . read
more |
| Sunny Days At The Stock Exchange Give Lift To Market, Study Says |
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When the sun is shining on Wall Street, it does more than put the brokers in a good mood - it also gives a lift to the stock market. A new study has found that morning sunshine at the sites of 26 leading stock exchanges around the world - including the New York Stock Exchange - is linked to positive market returns that day. The results showed that the daily difference in expected market returns between a completely overcast day and a sunny day is nine basis points (0.088 percent), or an annualized excess return of 24.8 percent. "There's a great deal of evidence from psychology that sunshine helps put people in a good mood, and people in good moods make more optimistic choices and judgments," the researcher said. . . . read more |
| New Tool Helps Automakers Silence Irritating Whistle Noise |
| Ohio State engineers are helping automakers deliver a quieter ride, by reducing whistle noise in the engine's air intake and exhaust systems. The same technology may also quiet other air circulation systems, improve the accuracy of air flow measurements in general, and prevent vibration-related failures in many engineering applications, including gas pipelines. Researchers designed a pipe adapter that fits into engine's intake ductwork and helps engineers study whistles. In experiments, they were able to reduce the sound of a whistle by as much as 30 decibels, so that the noise was no longer audible inside the passenger compartment of a car. Whistle noise has long been an issue for the auto industry. A car's intake and exhaust system contain a large number of branched pipes. Air streaming through the pipes combined with the acoustic resonances in these branched structures leads to whistles. . . . read more |
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| New Amino Acid Discovered; Fundamental Building Block Of Life |
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Two teams of researchers from Ohio State University have identified the 22nd genetically encoded amino acid, a discovery that is the biological equivalent of physicists finding a new fundamental particle or chemists discovering a new element. Two papers describing the discovery appeared in the journal Science. Prior to this, scientists had believed that there were only 21 natural amino acids -- the key building blocks of proteins. For 30 years after the discovery of the structure of DNA and the unraveling of the genetic code, scientists believed that there were only 20 natural amino acids. Then in 1986, researchers broke that numerical barrier announcing that the 21st had been discovered. Finding a 22nd suggests that even more of these basic biological building blocks may be found using modern genome sequencing techniques. . . . read more [Credits below.] |
Image credits: U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA, http://www.jgi.doe.gov
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New Institute First-Ever To Unite Math, Life Sciences A new $10 million institute will connect mathematics, statistics, and computing research with that in the biological and medical sciences. NSF will fund the nations first Mathematical Biosciences Institute --an interdisciplinary center designed to develop mathematical and statistical models and theories to answer the life sciences ever-growing need for data analysis.. . . more |
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Time Magazine, CNN Name OSU Geologist One Of "America's Best" An Ohio State geologist who last year predicted that within 15 years, massive mountainous ice caps and glaciers around the world would melt because of global warming was named one of America's best scientists by Time magazine and the Cable News Network. Lonnie Thompson, a professor of geological sciences, was one of five U.S. scientists and physicians honored by the national television news media as being tops in their field. The television network announced the honor during the hour-long documentary "CNN Presents: America's Best." Time featured Thompson in the the magazine and he was one of five researchers portrayed by CNN.. . . more |
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OSU Cancer Researchers Win $9.5 Million To Study Immunity A team of scientists in The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) has won a $9.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study various aspects of the immune system and how it might be manipulated to fight cancer more effectively. The Program Project Grant will support dozens of investigators over the next five years as they accumulate data from a broad platform of bench science and translational research aimed at defining rational immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. The grant will support activities across four fully integrated projects, with many aspects of the research already under way. . . . more |
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University To Build New Biomedical Research Tower The new Biomedical Research Tower will be a magnet for scientists involved in groundbreaking research and education. The 10-story tower will include laboratories for researchers in a variety of disciplines, as well as core laboratories for central research functions. Projected to open in 2006, the tower nearly doubles the amount of biomedical research space on campus and provides a centralized facility for educating OSU students. Scientists working in the Biomedical Research Tower will focus much of their efforts on understanding the cellular and molecular biology of disease, and the development of gene-based therapies, which will ultimately lead to improved medical therapeutics. Core labs will be designated for studies in proteomics, genomics, imaging microbial and cellular interactions, biomedical informatics, cell signaling, microscopy, histology and cytometry. Approximately 1,000 people will be working in the tower, including researchers, technologists and clerical support staff. Funding of the $151 million tower cost will come from private donations, bonds and OSU funds. . . . more |