DOE Announces $264 Million for Basic Research in Support of Energy Earthshots™

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $264 million in funding for 29 projects to develop solutions for the scientific challenges underlying DOE’s Energy Earthshots™ Initiative to advance clean energy technologies within the decade. The funding will support 11 new Energy Earthshot Research Centers led by DOE National Laboratories and 18 university research teams addressing one or more of the Energy Earthshots™ that are focused on six different areas, including industrial decarbonization, carbon storage, and offshore wind. The Department launched the Energy Earthshots Initiative to spur decarbonization efforts that will help the United States meet President Biden’s ambitious climate and clean energy goals, including a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

Point-of-Care Biosensor Rapidly Detects Oral Cancer

Since oral cancer occurs in one of the most accessible sites in the body, it can be easily treated if detected promptly. In Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, researchers report a breakthrough hand-held biosensor that enables quick and accurate detection of oral cancer. The group’s biosensor consists of a sensor strip, similar to a glucose strip, and a circuit board (a hand-held terminal like a glucometer) for detection.

The ultimate campus move-in challenge: Rehoming the University of Florida’s iconic bat colony

The university is home to the world’s largest occupied bat houses, a trio of raised structures located on campus across from Lake Alice on Museum Road. Together, two of these houses shelter an estimated 500,000 bats — possibly the biggest bat colony east of the Mississippi River. Crowds gather regularly to watch the twilight spectacle of bats streaming from the houses to hunt insects under the cover of darkness. Now, with the oldest and most densely occupied bat house dilapidated beyond repair, UF staff will attempt to woo its residents into the newest bat barn, which has remained devoid of bats since its construction in 2017.

University of Florida launches innovative online courses on AI in medicine

The University of Florida’s College of Medicine is launching an innovative series of interactive online courses to teach medical students and clinicians how artificial intelligence can improve medicine. The three courses are virtual and interactive, making extensive use of animations and videos. The courses were initially conceived for medical students but Tighe envisions them eventually also being used by medical residents and fellows, faculty and other practicing physicians.

Study shows how new fathers respond to “Dadvertising”

The nurturing ad elicited more positive feelings, perceptions of the dad and attitudes toward ad and brand. However, the researchers were surprised that results also showed that higher levels of anxiety around fatherhood produced fewer positive emotions in response to the dadvertisement and produced greater perceptions that the dad in the ad was weak.

University of Florida Professors Constance Shehan and Christine Wegner are available to comment on the impact of Title IX in higher education and sports on the act’s 50th anniversary.

Title IX: 50 years later “I was actually an undergrad in 1972 at Penn State,” said Constance Shehan, a professor emerita in the Sociology and Criminology & Law Department at the University of Florida. “At that time, the ratio of…

UF, UF Health announce gift and new $75 million initiative to expand Norman Fixel Institute

The University of Florida and UF Health on Tuesday, Sept. 14, announced an additional $25 million gift from the Lauren and Lee Fixel Family Foundation aimed at improving the lives of patients across the globe through the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health. The new investment will spur growth in the areas of national and international telemedicine, Alzheimer’s disease clinical research, mental health, traumatic brain injury and ALS and will help cultivate the next generation of expert researchers tackling these challenging diseases.

Butterfly Effect Can Double Travel of Virus-Laden Droplets

In Physics of Fluids, investigators from the University of Florida and Lebanese American University carried out detailed computer simulations to test a mathematical theory they developed previously. They found nearly identical exhalations could spread in different directions when miniscule initial variations are substantially amplified by turbulence. This is the so-called butterfly effect.

Accent Perception Depends on Backgrounds of Speaker, Listener

Visual cues can change listeners’ perception of others’ accents, and people’s past exposure to varied speech can also impact their perception of accents. Ethan Kutlu will discuss his team’s work testing the impact that visual input and linguistic diversity has on listeners’ perceived accentedness judgments in two different locations: Gainesville, Florida, and Montreal, Canada. The session will take place Dec. 9 as part of the 179th ASA Meeting.

Adjusting to a Changed World

In our series, The ECS Community Adapts and Advances, Mark Orazem recounts how he made good use of a sabbatical year that didn’t turn out to be anything like he expected. Currently Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida (UF), he was officially on leave for the 2019-2020 academic year. He is returning to a very different environment than he left a year ago.

UF Open House Invites Community to Engage with Science

The University of Florida Tropical Research and Education Center is in the heart of the tropical and subtropical fruit and vegetable industries, and the ornamental plant industry. For 90 years it has served as an agricultural research unit of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). On December 4, an open house invites community and media to engage with the science.

Florida Chapter of ISA Infuses UF/IFAS Arboriculture Research with $320K in Grants

Scientists located in Fort Lauderdale and Gainesville at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are conducting research into specific diseases depleting tree canopies throughout the state. The Florida Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) has announced it is awarding grants in the amount of $320,000 to two scientists for their continued research designed to save the tree canopy.