Posts Tagged ‘ science ’

Reasons Women Leave Their Engineering Jobs

220px-We_Can_Do_It!

Women who leave engineering jobs after obtaining the necessary degree are significantly more likely to leave the field because of an uncomfortable work climate than because of family reasons, according to a study being undertaken at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) – A full report is available at studyofwork.com. The study shows nearly half of women in the survey who left an engineering career indicated they did so because of negative working conditions, too much travel, lack of advancement or low salary.  This is the first systematic study of the engineering field’s retention of women, says Fouad. She and co-author...

Read more »

It’s Official! Team Confirms Sunflower Domesticated in US

US Sunflower

New genetic evidence presented by a team led by Indiana University biology doctoral graduate Benjamin Blackman confirms the eastern United States as the single geographic domestication site of modern sunflowers. Co-authors on the findings published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesinclude Blackman’s advisor, IU Distinguished Professor of Biology Loren H. Rieseberg, and four others from Rieseberg’s lab, as well as collaborators from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and the University of Cincinnati. Through a comprehensive examination of the geographic diversity in three recently identified early domestication genes of Helianthus annuus, the researchers also reported finding no DNA...

Read more »

A Renewable Twist on Fossil Fuels – Out of Thin Air

UD chemist Joel Rosenthal (seated) and postdoctoral researcher Piyal Ariyananda work in Rosenthal's lab in the UD Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Pulling valuable fuels out of thin air? It sounds like magic, but Joel Rosenthal, a chemist at the University of Delaware, is working to transform carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, into gas for your car and clean-energy future fuels. Such a feat could help reduce the rising CO2 levels implicated in global warming and also offer a new method of renewable energy production. Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), a consortium of 98 Ph.D.-granting universities, of which UD is a member, has selected Rosenthal to receive the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award to pursue...

Read more »

Fact Sheet :: Asteroid Threat to Earth

Fact Sheet :: Asteroid Threat to Earth

Secure World Foundation (SWF) has released a new fact sheet: Protecting Earth from Near Earth Objects. Since the discovery of the Chicxulub crater and its likely association with a mass extinction event — some 65million years ago — scientists have uncovered increasing evidence that celestial objects have a history of impacting the Earth and affecting its inhabitants. Over the past decade a growing amount of research has begun to identify the types of objects that pose threats to Earth and potential mitigation strategies. As a free service, SWF calls your attention to this new fact sheet that details: What...

Read more »

Manhattanhenge

Twice a year, the sunset lines up with New York City’s street grid — making for spectacular views. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, identified the cosmic event over a decade ago and coined it Manhattanhenge. Last weekend was the first Manhattanhenge of 2009 — we watched the sun from 42nd street, along with about 50 other astronomical enthusiasts. Basically, sunset over New Jersey.

Read more »