Focus: Hidden - Florida

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Led by Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry Tim Cross and his team at the Florida State University-based National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, scientists delved into the complexities of exactly how the flu virus works and why it’s so effective at making people so sick. With a better understanding of how it works, researchers will now be able to turn their attention to creating more effective prescription drugs to fight the flu.

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Anyone involved in gardening or agriculture and gardening-related industries and education can “come home” to Gainesville as the University of Florida introduces Agriculture and Gardening Day for Homecoming weekend.

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Most of what we know about Mayan civilization relates to kings, queens and their elaborate temples. To understand what life was like for the 99 percent, one researcher turned to ancient animal bones stored at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

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“I have learned so much about plants and keeping them alive: My tomato plant is full of fruit, I’m growing an orange tree as we speak and I have two thriving banana plants,” said Kendall Stacey, a freshman in psychology and the student who received the 40,000th plant from Professor David Clark. “He’s a really amazing teacher. I will definitely be growing more plants, and I’ve come to be able to recognize and identify plants that I see around campus."

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"The fact that we found these two with little effort suggests there are a lot more new and undescribed fungal species that we walk over all the time."

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Considerable research suggests that when women act assertively and self-promote in the workplace, they are commonly penalized by others.

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Florida Atlantic University, the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) and the Max Planck Society based in Germany, have signed an innovative agreement to facilitate a research and education program that will recruit promising scientists to MPFI and FAU.

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Researchers find that permafrost organic material is so biodegradable that as soon as it thaws, the carbon is almost immediately consumed by single-cell organisms called microbes and then released back into the air as carbon dioxide, feeding the global climate cycle. Their findings are laid out in an article published today by the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

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Dr. Nancy Klimas Receives Award from Nova Southeastern University

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The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN), Inc. has published revised Competencies in Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing.

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FSU's internationally recognized experts are available to provide commentary on Hurricane Patricia.

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The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) has introduced Managing Diabetes in the Workplace – A Year of Education and Resources to support occupational and environmental health nurses with the latest evidence-based education for day-to-day prevention and management of diabetes in the workplace.

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A type of bacteria plucked from the bottom of the ocean could be put to work neutralizing large amounts of industrial carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, a group of University of Florida researchers has found.

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With a $1.28 million, four-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control, the Florida State University College of Social Work and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) School of Social Work will evaluate new online suicide screening and prevention tools aimed at decreasing suicide rates among middle-age men.

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Ron O’Connor takes a hands-on approach to helping at University of Florida/IFAS Extension events, mentoring up and coming agriculture students, taking photographs and even securing grants for many projects.

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For hundreds of millions of people around the world, chewing betel nut produces a cheap, quick high but also raises the risk of addiction and oral cancer. Now, new findings by a University of Florida Health researcher reveal how the nut’s psychoactive chemical works in the brain and suggest that an addiction treatment may already exist.

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STEM jobs are growing faster than any other U.S. sector. Technology companies alone will need to fill more than 650,000 new jobs by 2018.

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The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) will be honoring Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, Ph.D., professor in the School of Social Work at Florida Atlantic University, on Friday, Oct. 23 in Washington, D.C., at its upcoming 60th Anniversary Conference’s Pioneer Induction Ceremony.

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According to the African Stuttering Research Center, there is just one therapist for every 37,483 people who stutter in Africa. Florida Atlantic University is the first to provide free tele-therapy for patients who stutter in Africa.

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A new UNF statewide poll of Democratic primary likely voters reveals that if the primary were held today, the majority of respondents (54.6 percent) would vote for Hillary Clinton.

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Through the University of Florida Marion County Extension’s second annual STEM program, students will visit nine stations at the Extension office to understand what goes into producing the food they eat.

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Nearly 100 fossil species pulled from a flooded cave in the Bahamas reveal a true story of persistence against all odds — at least until the time humans stepped foot on the islands.

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A new University of North Florida statewide poll of Republican primary likely voters reveals that if the Republican primary were held today, Donald Trump would garner the most votes with 21.7 percent. The poll shows Ben Carson closing in with 19.3 percent, while Marco Rubio comes in third with 14.9 percent and Jeb Bush at a distant fourth with 9 percent of the vote.

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FAU's Tech Runway has selected its third Venture Vintage class of startup companies to participate in the business accelerator program. The four companies will receive a $25,000 non-equity grant, participate in a 16-week intensive boot camp, and will be provided collaborative workspace for one year.

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Farmers markets have been growing in popularity throughout the last decade as consumers discover the benefits of buying farm-fresh food directly from small-scale, local growers. However, increasing popularity has also raised food safety concerns for produce sold at those markets.

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An app developed by scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences may save homeowners about 30 percent on water usage, which translates into lower utility bills, new research shows. The finding is significant for homeowner money savings and water conservation. Urban turf irrigation accounts for 30 percent to 70 percent of residential per capita water use, according to a 2007 UF/IFAS study.

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Florida State University College of Medicine researchers Angelina R. Sutin and Antonio Terracciano have found that people who report being subjected to weight discrimination also have a greater risk of dying. Not because they may be overweight, but because of the apparent effects of the discrimination.

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When growers, Extension agents and scientists gather for the Nov. 4 Florida Ag Expo in Balm, Florida, they’ll celebrate two anniversaries: the 90th year of the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center and the 10th year of the expo. Over the past 10 years that the center has been at Balm, growers have come to depend on UF/IFAS researchers to assist them with their daily challenges of farming.

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Because sea turtles don’t have an X or Y chromosome, their sex is defined during development by the incubation environment. Warmer conditions produce females and cooler conditions produce males. The shift in climate is shifting turtles as well, because as the temperature of their nests change so do their reproduction patterns.

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Get ready to see the latest on a new breed of cattle, courtesy of research by scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The Ona White Angus was developed over two decades of cross-breeding various phenotypes, said John Arthington, director of the UF/IFAS Range Cattle Research and Education Center.

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UF/IFASis hosting a workshop from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 16, at the Anna Maria Public Library to help residents understand the precautions they can take to reduce coyote encounters.

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University of Florida researchers say new research can help grain handlers and grain inspectors find key locations for pathogens and pests along rail routes in the United States and Australia.

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The rapid extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago gave rise to a stunning variety of bird species over the next few million years, according to Florida State University researchers.

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In a new analysis in the journal BioScience, UF/IFAS researchers evaluated how wheat moved along rail networks in the United States and Australia. Through their analysis, researchers identified U.S. states that are particularly important for sampling and managing insect and fungal problems as they move through the networks, said Karen Garrett, a UF/IFAS plant pathology professor and senior author of the study. The new knowledge could help make the food supply safer and save farmers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

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New research by a Florida State University psychology professors delves into how children build their vocabularies and what words are easiest for them to learn.

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Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have developed a novel mathematical method inspired by Darwinian evolution to use current antibiotics to eliminate or reduce the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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Peter A. Kanetsky, Ph.D., M.P.H., chair and program leader of Cancer Epidemiology at the Moffitt Cancer Center, has been elected as the new president for the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO).

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Making it easier for residents to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and increase Florida farmer’s profits is the win-win result of a partnership between the University of Florida/IFAS Extension Sumter County Office and the Sumter County Farmer’s Market.

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The UF Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences has created the Nature Coast Biological Station, to be housed in Cedar Key. The station is a site to help enhance conservation and improve management of natural resources up and down the Gulf Coast — from Hernando to Wakulla County

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For decades, whenever farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area needed help figuring out what fertilizers to use in their fields, they turned to the University of Florida’s Everglades Research and Education Center for soil testing and lab work. This month, an expansion and improvements are being unveiled.

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Most robotic parts used today are rigid, have a limited range of motion and don’t really look lifelike. Inspired by both nature and biology, a scientist from FAU has designed a novel robotic finger that looks, feels and works like the real thing. Using shape memory alloy, a 3D CAD model of a human finger, a 3D printer and a unique thermal training technique, this robotic finger could ultimately be adapted for use as a prosthetic device, such as on a prosthetic hand.

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William Thatcher, an active emeritus UF/IFAS faculty member, is considered one of the world’s leading experts in animal reproduction. He played a key role in establishing links between the intake of fatty acids by dairy cows and their effects on improving reproduction.

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Curricula resources are available to freely download at http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education.

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Many people live in subdivisions with storm water ponds, which collect water from the neighborhood and help keep pollutants such as fertilizers, pesticides and pet waste from getting into the broader environment. Now, UF/IFAS researchers and Extension faculty have devised strategies to help homeowners limit their pollution contribution.

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Epidemics of dengue are linked to high temperatures brought by the El Niño weather phenomenon, a University of Florida scientist working with an international team of researchers has found.

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FAU and Boca Raton Regional Hospital have partnered on a unique project to eliminate barriers between healthcare disciplines and build crucial communication and teambuilding skills to support collaboration.

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The next time a storm tears up your yard, let an expert assess the damage to any trees. A study from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences shows that homeowners perceive the risk of a damaged tree differently than trained professionals.

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Astronomers have long turned their telescopes, be they on satellites in space or observatories on Earth, to the wide swaths of interstellar medium to get a look at the formation and birth of stars. However, the images produced over the last 50 years look more like weather maps showing storm systems instead of glittering bursts of light that the untrained observer might expect of a “star map.” That is, until now.

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Sandra Wilson came to Gainesville after 15 years as an environmental horticulture faculty member at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center. Wilson was ready for her next career step. Not only had she taught many courses and published more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles while moving up the faculty ranks, she had taken leadership courses.

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University of Florida Agricultural Economist Fritz Roka and his team from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are leading training programs all over the state, beginning Oct. 7, to help farm labor contractors, crew leaders, drivers and office staff become better at managing crews of farm workers and keeping them safe.