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News for faculty and staff

January 26, 2009

RESEARCH NEWS, SPECIAL REPORTS

Gene's past could improve the future of rice

**Image of the rice genome**

In an effort to improve rice varieties, a Purdue researcher was part of a team that traced the evolutionary history of domesticated rice by using a process that focuses on one gene.

Scott A. Jackson, a professor of agronomy, said studying the gene that decides how many shoots will form on a rice plant allows researchers to better understand how the gene evolved over time through natural selection and human interaction. Understanding the variations could allow scientists to place genes from wild rice species into domesticated rice to create varieties with more branching, increased plant size or other favorable characteristics. More

CAMPUS

BGR seeks students to serve as team leaders

Boiler Gold Rush is looking for students who want to share their enthusiasm about Purdue to apply for a team leader position. More

Science Olympiad to draw hundreds of high school students

**2007 Science Olympiad**

More than 250 middle and high school students from throughout Indiana will test their scientific knowledge in the Science Olympiad regional competition at Purdue on Feb. 21.

The free event, sponsored by the College of Science and the Science Olympiad Club, will take place throughout campus. More

PEOPLE

Appointments, honors and activities

Here is a list of recent appointments and honors for faculty and staff. More

CALENDAR AND EVENTS

Events this week

Here is a list of events happening Jan.26-Feb. 1 at the West Lafayette campus. More

Black Cultural Center schedules Cleveland tour

Purdue's Black Cultural Center is sponsoring the "Soul Tour of Cleveland" on March 6-7. The tour will examine African-American history and heritage in Cleveland. More

Historian to talk about how photography can promote equality

Purdue will present "Visual Democracy: How Dorothea Lange Used Photography to Promote Equality" at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Krannert Auditorium. More

PURDUE IN THE NEWS

US Army working on 'exploding marmalade' missile tech

The Register, UK, Science Daily, R and D Magazine, RedOrbit.com, Times of India (College of Engineering, College of Agriculture) -- US military-funded rocket scientists at Purdue University have turned to food boffins and agricultural engineers for help in their effort to produce exploding marmalade, intended to fuel radical new missiles and spacecraft of the future. More

Nano-tetherball biosensor precisely detects glucose

Small Times, UPI, NanotechNow, RedOrbit, TMCNet.Com (College of Engineering, College of Agriculture, Discovery Park) -- Purdue University researchers have created a precise biosensor for detecting blood glucose and potentially many other biological molecules by using hollow structures called single-wall carbon nanotubes anchored to gold-coated "nanocubes." More

Cells skirt reality and supersize on Fringe: Hollywood fact vs fiction

Popular Mechanics (College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences) -- Should you be scared of a spiny slug growing in your stomach? Parasites were back on Fringe, after making a factually-challenged appearance in an earlier episode. In last night's episode, "Bound," Boston College professor Stewart Kinberg reaches the high point of a lecture about the microbial world, ruminating on how millions and millions of microorganisms like viruses and bacteria feed on us every day. Like many remarks in Fringe, the professor's words turn out to be prophetic -- he suddenly begins to struggle to speak, then breaks into a fit of choking and falls to the ground. The teacher's assistant tries CPR to revive him, but in vain. And a moment later, the professor's killer makes its appearance. As the scenario unfolds, a scientist finds one giant cell -- the virus that causes the common cold. That, says a Purdue expert, is unrealistic. More

Stretchable electrodes are developed

United Press International, Small Times, Redorbit.com, Science Daily, Technology Review (College of Engineering, Discovery Park) -- U.S. engineers say they've created stretchable electrodes to study how cells react to stresses caused by heart attacks, brain injuries and diseases.

Purdue University and Stanford University researchers said their devices are made by injecting a liquid alloy consisting of indium and gallium into thin microchannels between two sheets of a plastic polymer. Cell cultures are then grown on top of the new "stretchable cell culture platform." More

Purdue Calumet holding own amid dire state of economy

Gary Post-Tribune, Times of Northwest Indiana, WJOB-Radio (Office of the President) -- Despite the current dire state of the economy, Purdue University Calumet is holding its own, the university's president said during her annual campus visit Tuesday. More

More Purdue in the News.

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