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By: Bill Wellock | Published: September 20, 2022 | 8:42 am | SHARE: Meteorologists predict current La Niña conditions will persist this year through a third consecutive winter, a situation that usually brings a more active late hurricane season, followed by a dry and warm fall and winter across Florida.La Niña is the popular name for a phase of what meteorologists call the “El Niño-Southern Oscillation,” or ENSO, a recurring pattern of relatively warmer and cooler surface-water temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.

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By: Kathleen Haughney | Published: September 19, 2022 | 4:01 pm | SHARE: Mexico is dealing with the fallout of a powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred near the Pacific coast on the anniversary of two previous tremors. Earthquakes occurred on Sept. 19 in both 1985 and 2017 in Mexico, killing thousands of people.Florida State University Professor of Geology James Tull is available to speak with reporters about the effects of the earthquake and the geology behind this catastrophic event.

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A lack of relatable messaging around HIV diagnoses and prevention could be a reason infection rates aren’t falling among young adults, despite dramatic decreases among all other demographics. With a $4.9 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Florida State University behavioral scientist Sylvie Naar hopes to change that.

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To help meet the growing demand for cybersecurity experts, the National Science Foundation’s CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program has awarded Florida State University a $4.2 million grant to support students pursuing careers in cybersecurity. This is the second round of funding the Department of Computer Science has received to operate this program.

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Millions of children are diagnosed each year with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. When untreated, or undertreated, children with ADHD face challenges focusing, managing time, and practicing self-control, and these difficulties can persist into adulthood.

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By: Mark Blackwell Thomas | Published: September 12, 2022 | 4:13 pm | SHARE: A study by a Florida State University researcher finds that temperatures in forest canopies are higher than previous estimates, threatening forests’ vital role in mitigating global warming. Stephanie Pau, an associate professor in the Department of Geography, was part of a team whose study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Engineers and technicians from the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory were recognized with a 2022 R&D 100 Award for the design and construction of the 32 tesla (T) Superconducting Magnet. The R&D 100 recognizes revolutionary ideas in science and technology, and the 32T magnet is the world’s most powerful all-superconducting magnet.

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FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Professor Theo Siegrist will research materials that could improve the performance of superconductors thanks to a grant of nearly $500,000 from the National Science Foundation.

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By: Kelsey Klopfenstein | Published: August 24, 2022 | 5:19 pm | SHARE: Lara Perez-Felkner, an associate professor in the College of Education at Florida State University, is available to discuss President Joe Biden’s announcement Wednesday that he will forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for many borrowers and will cancel up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants.

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: August 24, 2022 | 9:01 am | SHARE: Across the country, students are starting a new school year. For many students, their return to math class comes with anxiety and frustration.But it doesn’t have to be that way.Florida State University Associate Professor Robert C. Schoen studies how to improve mathematics teaching and learning at the elementary and secondary school levels.

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Florida State University researchers have developed a promising strategy for producing therapeutic particles in stem cells, work that could help patients with neurological diseases such as stroke or multiple sclerosis.The technique developed by researchers from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and FSU College of Medicine combines three-dimensional growing platforms with a wave motion.

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West of St. Petersburg in the Gulf of Mexico is an area called the West Florida Shelf. It’s a marine desert, cut off from many of the elements that are essential for life. But in this nutrient-deficient region, some forms of phytoplankton — microscopic plants that float through the water — are thriving and supporting other forms of life.

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In a new study published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, business owners experienced personal growth and engagement in their businesses when they increasingly saw stress as enhancing instead of debilitating. The study also indicated that business owners experienced stronger benefits of this stress-is-enhancing mindset when they believed their business might have been at risk and needed to close.

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Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, a Lawton Distinguished Professor at Florida State University and the founder of New York-based dance company Urban Bush Women, has been awarded the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize — one of the most prestigious awards in the American arts.Zollar will receive a cash award of approximately $250,000 for her groundbreaking work as a dancer and choreographer and her contributions to social change.

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Florida State University President Richard McCullough announced Tuesday that Stacey Patterson will serve as the university’s next vice president for research. Patterson, a microbiologist, has served as the vice president for research, outreach and economic development in the University of Tennessee system and as president of the UT Research Foundation since 2017.

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A team of Florida State University College of Medicine researchers has found a link between a specific protein in the brain and increased vulnerability to neurodegeneration for individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: July 13, 2022 | 3:50 pm | SHARE: Extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States. It can kill through heat exhaustion or heat stroke, as well as by contributing to deaths from heart attacks, stroke, kidney failure and other diseases. Vulnerable populations, such as older adults, infants, outdoor workers and others, are at increased risk.

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In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, a team of researchers created a model that describes the spread and speed of tornado-like vortex tubes in superfluids. This work expands on a previous study that reported experimental results obtained in superfluid helium-4 within a narrow temperature range.

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Florida State University physics Professor Laura Reina is a member of the CERN Large Hadron Collider Higgs Working Group. Reina was recently featured in Science News, and she is available to speak to media organizations about the discovery of the Higgs boson particle, what it means for our understanding of physics and where research is headed.

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A team of Florida State University researchers has uncovered a way to use low-energy light to manipulate photopolymers or plastic films — a finding that has implications for a wide range of technologies that use light as an energy source to create shape-shifting structures.

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By: Pete Reinwald | Published: June 24, 2022 | 2:31 pm | SHARE: Deana Rohlinger, a Florida State University professor of sociology and an expert on political participation and social movements, said she expects mass protests stemming from Friday’s news that the U.S. Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that gave women a right to choose an abortion before fetal viability.

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The Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics (FCTM) named Robert Schoen, an associate professor at the Learning Systems Institute (LSI), the Kenneth P. Kidd Mathematics Educator of the Year.

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A team of U.S. and Chinese scientists mapping oil pollution across the Earth’s oceans has found that more than 90% of chronic oil slicks come from human sources, a much higher proportion than previously estimated. Their research, published in Science, is a major update from previous investigations into marine oil pollution, which estimated that about half came from human sources and half from natural sources.

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June 16 is World Sea Turtle Day, an occasion to consider the role these creatures play in the marine ecosystem. Florida State University Associate Professor Mariana Fuentes researches sea turtles and looks for ways to help turtles and humans coexist. She answered five questions about her work and how science can help inform public policy.

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: June 6, 2022 | 12:19 pm | SHARE: The United Nations marks June 8 as World Oceans Day, an opportunity to celebrate the ocean and how it supports life on Earth.As director of Florida State University’s Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS), Eric Chassignet leads investigations into the physical processes that govern the ocean and its interactions with the atmosphere.

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Using strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy, faculty members with the Learning Systems Institute (LSI) at Florida State University will develop a school-based intervention for second- and third-graders with math anxiety. A three-year $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will fund the work.

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Improved ceramics manufacturing, breakthrough medical screening tests and a more convenient way to detect nuclear particles earned funding from the latest round of a Florida State University program that helps researchers bring their work to the marketplace.

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Researchers at Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS), in collaboration with Colorado-based Advanced Conductor Technologies, have demonstrated a new, ready-to-use superconducting cable system — an improvement to superconductor technology that drives the development of technologies such as all-electric ships or airplanes.

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Florida A&M University and Florida State University announced today the appointment of Suvranu De as the next dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. His first day is July 15.De is the J. Erik Jonsson ’22 Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he serves as head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering and director of the Center for Modeling, Simulation, and Imaging in Medicine.

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: May 23, 2022 | 4:38 pm | SHARE: Prescribed burns are an important tool for limiting the harmful effects of wildfires, but they require planning and proper conditions.The U.S. Forest Service recently announced a pause in the use of prescribed fire on National Forest System lands while the agency conducts a review of protocols and practices.

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By: Pete Reinwald | Published: May 13, 2022 | 2:27 pm | SHARE: Florida State University pediatrician Mary Norton said she has seen parents pour their last amount of formula into a bottle and tell her, “I have nothing else for my baby.” Indeed, families in Tallahassee and throughout Florida are feeling the effects of a national shortage of baby formula that continues to alarm health care workers, government officials and especially parents of infants.

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Researchers with the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering’s Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center are investigating better ways to predict where road-clogging debris will be most severe after tropical cyclones.

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A Florida State University faculty member has been named a 2022 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist by the European Geosciences Union (EGU). Richard Bono, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, received the award in the EGU’s Earth magnetism and rock physics division.

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A team of FSU researchers investigated the formation and spread of brown spots on bananas, a striking case of biological pattern formation. In research published in Physical Biology, the team described how the spots appear during a two-day window, rapidly expand, but then mysteriously stall, leaving a sharp distinction between spots of brown and the still-yellow peel.

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In a new study, Florida State University researchers explore the challenges of recruiting and retaining older adults to participate in research.

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A researcher in Florida State University’s Program in Neuroscience has received a $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate how the brain encodes information about food and how this information affects an individual’s overall eating habits and food choices.

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: May 2, 2022 | 4:03 pm | SHARE: Florida State University faculty are leaders in the study of hurricanes and the effects of these destructive storms.Their scholarship has led to research on infrastructure challenges, evacuation routes, sustainable tools and mental health challenges for those affected by hurricanes.

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A Florida State University cosmologist has been selected to co-lead a Department of Energy and National Science Foundation project investigating the faint leftover radiation from the Big Bang known as the cosmic microwave background, or CMB.FSU Associate Professor of Physics Kevin Huffenberger and University of Chicago Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Jeff McMahon will serve as co-spokespersons for the so-called CMB-S4 science collaboration, a project to provide insight into the most energetic processes in the universe and probe physics from the universe to subatomic particles.

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A team led by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in close collaboration with FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Wei Guo, has announced the creation of a new qubit platform that shows great promise to be developed into future quantum computers. Their work is published in Nature.

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By: Kathleen Haughney | Published: May 2, 2022 | 9:52 am | SHARE: All eyes are on Churchill Downs this week as the horse racing industry prepares for the 148th Kentucky Derby.Associate Professor of History Katherine Mooney is available to provide expert commentary to reporters covering the event. Mooney is the author of “Race Horse Men,” which examines the generations of Black men who built the racing industry and who were ultimately driven from their jobs with the rise of Jim Crow laws.

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Florida State University College of Medicine Professor Mohamed Kabbaj has been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the effects of acute social isolation and partner separation.

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: April 26, 2022 | 12:39 pm | SHARE: Reported antisemitic incidents in the United States reached their highest level ever in 2021, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported.ADL noted 2,717 incidents last year, a 34% increase from 2020. It is the highest number since the organization began tracking incidents in 1979.

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: April 15, 2022 | 11:02 am | SHARE: Earth Day marks a time to consider the environmental challenges facing humanity, including our changing climate. Through the efforts of scientists around the planet, the understanding of those changes is constantly being refined.A wealth of our knowledge about how the climate works is due to the interest of the U.

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Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering are improving 3D printing technology by teaching machines to learn from each other.In a new study published in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, researchers showed how data from one printer can be used by other machines to improve efficiency and quality.

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The National Institutes of Health is funding a $1.8 million project led by a researcher at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering that will use artificially grown, simplified mini-organs to create medicine that targets brain cells damaged by stroke. The research team will use stem cells to create miniature organs that resemble human brains.

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Florida State University researchers have identified a new pathway in the brain that plays an important role in our response to fear. Scientists have long considered the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure in the center of the brain, to be the “center of fear” and believed it to be largely responsible for how an individual responds to frightening circumstances or perceives threats.