Banded mongoose study reveals how its environment influences the spread of infectious disease
(Virginia Tech) A new study led by Kathleen Alexander explores the ways that landscapes can influence animal behavior, fostering dynamics that either encourage or limit the spread of infectious diseases. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - March 12, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Virginia Tech, University of Virginia work to safeguard US tomato industry
(Virginia Tech) Virginia Tech entomologist Muni Muniappan has warned of Tuta absoluta's likely arrival into the United States since he began monitoring the pest's spread throughout Africa in 2012. Thanks to a joint grant from the US Department of Agriculture, Muniappan's team and collaborators will be able to model the pest's entry into the United States -- protecting the country's billion-dollar tomato industry -- before irreparable damage is caused. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - March 4, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
New book on tracking, monitoring disease outbreaks, including COVID-19
(Virginia Tech) Ron Fricker, a Virginia Tech professor, wrote a book titled 'Monitoring the Health of Populations by Tracking Disease Outbreaks: Saving Humanity from the Next Plague.' (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - February 26, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Research projects to reduce the impact of carbon emissions on climate
(Virginia Tech) With separate grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Cheng Chen, an assistant professor of mining and minerals engineering in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, is working on new ways to reduce the impacts of global climate change through carbon sequestration. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - February 26, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
NSF CAREER award to measure air pollution with bicycle sensors
(Virginia Tech) Hankey, an assistant professor in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, is the first faculty member from SPIA to receive a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Thanks to the $500,000 award, Hankey's five-year project will measure pollution using various sensors and engage the public by tracking their pollution intake using a smartphone app. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - February 14, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Understanding forest-water interactions and their impact on New Zealand's water quality
(Virginia Tech) Forest systems, a crucial resource for fresh water around the world, are under increasing pressure from global change factors like climate change, population growth, and land management decisions. To meet future demands for clean water, scientists need a clear understanding of the dynamics of water and nutrients in forest systems. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - February 10, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Developing DNA extraction technology to combat illegal timber trade
(Virginia Tech) Illegal timber trade is a global industry estimated to account for $50 billion to $150 billion each year. It's a contributing factor to deforestation, which results in increased carbon dioxide emissions, soil erosion, and loss of biological diversity among plants and animals in forest habitats. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - February 7, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Nanoparticles produced from burning coal result in damage to mice lungs
(Virginia Tech) Titanium oxide found in coal smog and ash can cause lung damage in mice after a single exposure, with long-term damage occurring in just six weeks. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - February 5, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Weather radar records drastic drop in mayfly populations
(University of Oklahoma) Researchers at the University of Oklahoma, the University of Notre Dame and Virginia Tech applied radar technology -- the same used for meteorology -- to quantify the number of mayflies that emerged annually from two different bodies of water: the Upper Mississippi River and the Western Lake Erie Basin. Their goal was to characterize the size of these swarms using the same technique a meteorologist would use to quantify the amount of precipitation that may fall from a cloud. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - February 3, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Fonts in campaign communications have liberal or conservative leanings
(Virginia Tech) 'This research is of interest to anyone who cares about political communications, and the results have clear implications for political campaign professionals,' said Haenschen. 'When you're choosing a candidate's visual identity, you need to consider how people perceive that font.' (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - January 24, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Study provides the first data on concussion risk in youth football
(Virginia Tech) 'These are the first biomechanical data characterizing concussion risk in kids,' said Steve Rowson, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and mechanics and the director of the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab. 'Children aren't just scaled-down adults: Differences in anatomy and physiology, like head-neck proportions and brain development, contribute to differences in tolerance to head impact. These results can lead to data-driven interventions to reduce risk in youth sports.' (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - January 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Scientists shed light on surprising visual development patterns
(Virginia Tech) Neuroscientists reveal a surprising clue about how this intricate visual processing system forms during early brain development. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - January 20, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
More federal funding needed to increase Americans' active transportation habits
(Virginia Tech) 'In general, women will only cycle if they think the entire ride will be safe,' said Buehler. 'If they perceive that there will be any danger at all along the way they will resist.' (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - January 14, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
ASU and Virginia Tech researchers unlock mysteries of grasshopper response to gravity
(Arizona State University) How do insects control the effects of gravity when they climb a tree or hang upside-down waiting for prey? They don't have closed circulatory systems that restrict fluid flow to certain parts of the body. ASU and Virginia Tech researchers discovered how insects adjust their cardiovascular and respiratory activity in response to gravity. When they change orientation, they respond to gravity just like humans, and they show many of the same physiological responses. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - January 13, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Researchers develop predictive tools to tackle childhood diarrheal disease outbreaks in Botswana
(Virginia Tech) Virginia Tech professor Kathleen Alexander and her research team discovered a critical link between environmental dynamics and human health. With this knowledge, researchers will have the capacity to begin to predict when diarrheal disease outbreaks will reoccur. Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - January 7, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
