Science & Technology

Engineering professor partners with childhood friend to invest in elementary education for Tunisia

Published: October 29, 2018 | 10:21 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Tarek Abichou spent his summer working on a service project with TUNISIA-AID, organizing and stocking an elementary school library in Zarzis, a small town in Tunisia.

Whether engineering a fix for septic problems in coastal areas or building libraries and playgrounds for children, Tarek Abichou has always been passionate about helping his home country of Tunisia. Abichou, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, spent his summer on a community service project with TUNISIA-AID, organizing […]

FSU research investigates ‘smart’ highway signs to prevent wrong-way driving crashes

Published: October 29, 2018 | 9:00 am | Posted in: News, Science & Technology

FSU's research team evaluated high-tech countermeasures for wrong-way driving. (Photo: Florida Department of Transportation)

Innovative traffic safety research from Florida State University, incorporating a fascinating mix of engineering and psychology, is being deployed on highways to save lives by targeting a deadly problem: wrong-way driving crashes. The statistics are alarming. Nationwide, wrong-way crashes kill about 350 people a year and injure thousands more, according to the National Highway Traffic […]

Why is Wakulla Springs’ water turning brown? FSU researchers may have the answer

Published: October 24, 2018 | 1:41 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

The world's largest and deepest freshwater spring is experiencing an unwelcome change.

North Florida’s Wakulla Springs is experiencing an unwelcome change: Its famously crystal waters are turning brown. After extensive study, researchers at Florida State University think they might know why. In a paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, a team of scientists from FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science (EOAS) explains […]

WeatherSTEM launches first international station at FSU-Panama

Published: October 23, 2018 | 10:05 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

Florida State University-Panama is now home to the first international installation of WeatherSTEM, a weather tracker that sends out hyperlocal alerts and tracks data at a specific location. The WeatherSTEM station was installed earlier this month at the Panama campus with the help of WeatherSTEM CEO Ed Mansouri and FSU Vice President for Research Gary K. Ostrander. FSU-Panama is an international branch campus […]

FSU students to present Collegiate Blockchain Conference

Published: October 17, 2018 | 3:51 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Panels to explore Blockchain technology, cryptocurrency

Florida State University students have organized the first Collegiate Blockchain Conference at the university to explore cryptocurrency and the associated technology known as Blockchain. “Seemingly every notable corporation is exploring Blockchain in some capacity; however, there is a drastic shortage of talent,” said Derek Strauss, founder of FSU’s Cryptocurrency Club and co-founder of the conference. […]

Engineering researchers receive $500,000 NSF grant to study hurricane evacuation

Published: October 16, 2018 | 9:50 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

Hurricane tracks can be erratic. Sometimes storms change directions, they wobble, or move in an unpredictable path that can pose unique challenges for evacuees. Now, two FAMU-FSU College of Engineering faculty members have received a $500,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop several models that address how the uncertainty of a hurricane track can affect […]

Scorpion census: FSU researchers update global record of medically significant scorpions

Published: October 8, 2018 | 10:24 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

The deathstalker scorpion, pictured here, produces a toxin that has been used to treat and operate on brain tumors.

Scorpions can be found at every corner of the globe and on six of the seven continents, from the southern tip of South America to the arid expanse of the Sahara Desert. That makes any rigorous accounting of the world’s venomous scorpions — and their various effects on human beings — an extremely tall task. […]

FSU researcher: Family of rodents may explain how some groups of animals become so diverse

Published: October 3, 2018 | 2:39 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Researchers examined how rodents of the Sigmodontinae family branched out into 400 species across South America. (Peter Meserve and Mammal Images Library of the American Society of Mammalogists.)

How did a single species of rodent invade South America and then quickly branch off into 350 new species? The answer is simple — the rodents were able to move quickly across the continent unencumbered by geographic boundaries that can’t be easily crossed such as an ocean. FSU Professor of Biological Science Scott Steppan and […]

The Conversation: Physics professor Todd Adams explains Nobel winners’ work

Published: October 3, 2018 | 10:49 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

The Nobel Prize for physics was awarded Tuesday to three scientists – including the first woman to win the prize in 55 years. The scientists were recognized for the invention of optical tweezers and a method for creating powerful lasers. Professor of Physics Todd Adams of Florida State University writes for The Conversation how these tools […]

FSU hurricane hunter studies storms where they happen — 10,000 feet up

Published: October 1, 2018 | 12:36 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

FSU postdoctoral researcher Heather Holbach poses in front of a NOAA WP-3D research plane, which is specially outfitted for hurricane hunting.

When powerful hurricanes emerge from the churn of ocean and atmospheric flux to menace coastal communities, officials will often urge vulnerable populations to gather their valuables and take flight. But for some daring scientists, the idea of “taking flight” in the face of a looming hurricane means something entirely different. Heather Holbach, a postdoctoral researcher […]

Blue light special: FSU researcher finds new chemical clusters emit highly efficient light

Published: October 1, 2018 | 12:10 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Biwu Ma, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry

A Florida State University research team has discovered that a unique organic-inorganic compound containing zero-dimensional molecular clusters emits a highly efficient blue light. The new discovery is reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Biwu Ma has been working with an emerging class of functional materials that […]

MagLab nets $4.2M NSF grant to launch next-generation superconducting magnets

Published: September 25, 2018 | 4:14 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

An insulated magnet coil built using the high-temperature superconductor REBCO, or rare earth barium copper oxide. Photo by Stephen Bilenky/National MagLab.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $4.2 million to the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory to launch a research and development effort for the next generation of high-field superconducting magnets. Headquartered at Florida State University in Tallahassee, the National MagLab is already home to a dozen world-record magnets. Every year, more than 1,800 scientists […]