Curated News: Scientific Meetings

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Injuries, birth defects or surgery to remove a tumor can create large gaps in bone. And when they occur in the head, face or jaw, these defects can dramatically alter a person’s appearance. Researchers will report at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society that they have developed a “self-fitting” material that expands with warm salt water to precisely fill bone defects, and also acts as a scaffold for bone growth.

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A new technique transforming stinky, air-polluting landfill gas could produce the sweet smell of success as it leads to development of a fuel cell generating clean electricity for homes, offices and hospitals, researchers say. The advance would convert methane gas into hydrogen, an efficient, clean form of energy. Their report was part of the 248th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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Some 2,500 scientists and experts from around the world will gather next month in Montreal for the largest international meeting of the year devoted to crystallography -- a discipline that draws researchers from fields as far flung as genomics and geology who help solve problems as diverse as designing new manufacturing processes to creating life-saving drugs. Journalists are invited to attend this meeting, the 23rd Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), which will be held August 5-12, 2014 in Montreal, Canada. To request free press registration, please contact Jason Socrates Bardi at 240-535-4954 or [email protected]

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New research at the University of Adelaide has opened the way for the development of new lines of barley with resistance to powdery mildew.

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Journalists registering for the American Chemical Society’s (ACS’) 248th National Meeting & Exposition this summer will have an abundance of material to mine for their news stories. Nearly 12,000 presentations are planned on a broad range of topics from health to the environment. The meeting, one of the largest scientific conferences of the year, will be held August 10-14 in San Francisco.

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University of Washington researchers have developed visual tools to help self-trackers understand their daily activity patterns over a longer period and in more detail. They found people had an easier time meeting personal fitness and activity goals when they could see their data presented in a broader, more visual way.

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Developmental psychologist Daphne Maurer has spent more than four decades studying the complexities of the human mind. As the director of the Visual Development Lab at McMaster University and president of the International Society on Infant Studies, Maurer will present her life’s work at the Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies in Berlin July 4th.

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University of Washington computer scientists have shown that crowdsourcing can be a quick and effective way to teach a robot how to complete tasks.

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Sugar has been a part of the human diet since sugarcane was domesticated in 8000 B.C., but today myths and misunderstandings about sugar and the role it plays in health abound. In the media, sugar has been linked to obesity, toxicity, addiction, and fatty liver disease, among a host of other health outcomes, but with little, no or poor research to back up such claims, according to a June 24 panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans.

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New technologies may help food manufacturers more broadly utilize the many healthful benefits of oats and barley in a greater range of food products, according to a June 24 panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans.

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As the human population grows, it is critical that the drain on the planet’s resources be lessened by decreasing consumption of animal protein. According to two panel discussions on June 23 and 24 at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans, insects are a promising, economically viable alternative source of high quality protein that leave a substantially smaller environmental footprint.

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Many small and medium produce growers in the United States neither have the funding nor the expertise to optimally sanitize post-harvest operations to prevent the spread of potentially dangerous pathogens, according to a panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans.

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Caffeine, which was extensively researched for possible links to birth defects in animals and cardiovascular disease in humans over 30 years ago and then exonerated, has become the focus of renewed concerns as caffeine-containing energy drinks have surged in popularity. However, according to a June 23rd panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans, a rich database of health evidence exists confirming the safety of caffeine for consumers at current levels of exposure. What isn’t known, however, is how caffeine might interact with the myriad of other ingredients found in many energy drinks.

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Millennials, the generation after Generation X, born in the 1980s and 1990s, form their own demographic group, with their own unique tastes. According to a June 23rd panel at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans, industry must keep up with Millennials high-speed, digital-age expectations, if they’re going to gain and keep them as customers.

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Food scientists are working to block, mask and/or distract from bitter tastes in foods to make them more palatable to consumers, many of whom are genetically sensitive to bitter tastes, according to a new presentation at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans.

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More than 50 percent of consumers are interested in products with reduced levels of salt and sugar, and yet new products in the United States are more likely to tout low- or no-fat attributes, according to a June 23 panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans.

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How do you feed a six-person crew on a three-year mission to Mars? Food scientists are working on this and other challenges related to creating and optimizing food for astronauts, soldiers, pilots and other individuals working and living in extreme environments, according to a June 23 panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans.

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At Sunday morning’s opening general session of the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo®, IFT President-Elect Mary Ellen Camire and President-Elect designate Colin Dennis announced and presented three companies with the 2014 IFT Food Expo Innovation Awards. The winners are Arla Foods Ingredients, PerkinElmer, Inc., and Solazyme, Inc.

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Date labeling variations on food products contribute to confusion and misunderstanding in the marketplace regarding how the dates on labels relate to food quality and safety, according to a scientific review paper in the July issue of Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. This confusion and misunderstanding along with different regulatory date labeling frameworks, may detract from limited regulatory resources, cause financial loss, and contribute to significant food waste.

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The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is proud to introduce a new video in the “Day in the Life of a Food Scientist” series that shows what it’s like to be a food scientist at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). In the video, Cory Bryant, PhD, CFS International Public Health and Trade Manager, FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition talks about his job helping to ensure food safety in a global environment.