Archive for 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
The twin satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) constantly beam information back to Earth.
(See the full story on the University of Texas at Austin Web site).
The data arrives in scientists’ computers as screens full of numbers. The scientists transform the bit and bytes into images to help them, other researchers and policymakers better understand the information.
The principal investigator of the GRACE misson is Byron Tapley, director of the Center for Space Research and professor in the Cockrell School of
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Tags: antartica, Earth, GRACE, gravity, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, images, nasa, water
By Tim Green
Published at 11:00 AM |
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Thursday, September 22, 2011
There are more than 1.2 million cases of skin cancer in the United States each year.
Biomedical engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a device that could reduce the need for biopsies that are performed to determine whether a growth is cancerous.
James Tunnell and his student researchers developed a pen-sized, light-based device for detecting skin cancers.
For every melanoma found, doctors perform approximately 50 biopsies. As a result, healthcare providers spend billions of dollars per year taking
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Tags: biopsy, cancer, DermDX, diagnosis, imaging, melanoma
By Tim Green
Published at 8:00 AM |
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011
In recent years, automobiles have become quieter and more comfortable.
For that you can thank an engineering professor at The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Jeffrey Bennighof, professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics in the Cockrell School of Engineering, developed software that manufacturers have used to reduce noise and vibration.
The Automated Multilevel Substructuring (AMLS) software enables fast and accurate prediction of car vibrations over a wide frequency range on inexpensive computers. Analyses are done in hours on
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By Tim Green
Published at 11:00 AM |
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Monday, August 29, 2011
Two of The University of Texas at Austin’s significant inventions were highlighted for the Technology Transfer and Research Committee of the University of Texas Systems Board of Regents at an Aug. 24, 2011 meeting.
Richard Miller, chief commercialization officer at The University of Texas at Austin.
Both inventions bring significant benefits to society and revenue to the university, said Richard Miller, the chief commercialization officer of The University of Texas at Austin.
One invention has provided manufacturers with safe, reliable and rechargeable batteries
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Tags: batteries, commercialization, Goodenough, Hydro-Quebec, invention, lithium-ion, McGiinity, oxycontin, Pharmacy, polymer, rechargeable, Richard Miller
By Tim Green
Published at 1:00 PM |
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Thursday, August 18, 2011
Alfred W. Crosby, emeritus professor of history, geography and American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin, coined the term, “Columbian Exchange.” The term describes the reverberations throughout the New World and Old World after Columbus opened the door between them.
The concept came up recenty up with the publication of “1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created,” by Charles Mann. Mann drew on Crosby’s research in “1493″ and his previous book, “1491: New Revelations of the Americans Before Columbus.”
To
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Tags: 1491, 1493, Americas, Columbian Exchange, Old World
By Tim Green
Published at 9:12 AM |
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Thursday, July 21, 2011
In the Getting Started series, Further Findings highlights the paths some researchers at The University of Texas at Austin took to the laboratory, the library, the field—wherever they do their work.
This post originated on the College of Liberal Arts Web site. It was written by Katherine Thayer.

The inspiration for Luis Cárcamo-Huechante’s current research project lies in a moment from his childhood in Tralcao, a rural village in southern Chile, in the 1970’s.
“I used to listen to the radio after 8
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Tags: indigenous, language, Mapuche, Portuguese, South America, Spanish
By Tim Green
Published at 1:00 PM |
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Thursday, July 14, 2011
Computer simulations “provide patients with a realistic picture of what they would look like after their surgery and are constrained by what is actually surgically possible,” said biomedical engineer Mia Markey. Photo by Melissa Mixon.
This story was first published on the Cockrell School of Engineering Web site. It was written by Melissa Mixon.
Faculty and students at the Cockrell School of Engineering are developing ways for cancer patients and children born with facial deformities to make more informed decisions about which
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Tags: cancer, imaging, reconstructive surgery
By Tim Green
Published at 2:00 PM |
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Monday, July 11, 2011
For a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, spending time crunching numbers is leading to technologies that could save lives.
Thomas Hughes is developing three dimensional models of blood flow of individual patients.
Dr. Thomas Hughes and his colleagues have pioneered patient-specific 3-D models of blood flow through the heart and blood vessels that could help guide best practices for cardiologists.
Rather than relying on earlier computer models — where simple two-dimensional geometry shared little resemblance to actual anatomy —
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Tags: Aerospace engineering, blood flow, computer, heart, medical, model
By Tim Green
Published at 11:00 AM |
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Thursday, June 30, 2011
A wet pond at Central Market in Austin, Texas. City of Austin photo.
This story is from Texas Enterprise at the McCombs School of Business. It was written by Matt Turner.
The cityscape of the future will be much greener and more useful, if landscape ecologists have their way. Even business properties in tomorrow’s deliberately planned urban landscape will use nature’s full potential to provide elegant solutions for a host of urban problems — among them energy waste, excess carbon, the heat-island effect,
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Tags: cityscape, ecology, ecosystem, green building, Landscape, LEEDS
By Tim Green
Published at 11:53 AM |
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Monday, June 13, 2011
In the Getting Started series, Further Findings highlights the paths some researchers at The University of Texas at Austin took to the laboratory, the library, the field—wherever they do their work.
Archaeologist Cynthia Shelmerdine examining artifacts in Iklaina, Greece. A fourth-grade class sparked her lifelong study of ancient Greece.
Cynthia Shelmerdine met the Greeks in fourth grade and was enchanted with their myths and imagination. That seed, planted in elementary school, led to her life’s work.
Shelmerdine is a renowned scholar of Bronze
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By Tim Green
Published at 9:00 AM |
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