Further Findings

It seems that the only time astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin took a break from finding new planets and bigger black holes during the fall 2011 semester was when university geologists edged in with evidence of a lake under the surface of Saturn’s moon, Europa.

As busy as those researchers were, the semester also brought discoveries in green energy, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, concealed handguns and the relationship between children’s happiness and their parents.

Here’s a look at
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Psychology undergraduate Martinique Jones has conducted research in Houston schools.

We put the spotlight on several undergraduates who conduct research to mark Research Week, which was April 11-15.

Check out their stories on the Know Web site.

Martinique Jones
Major: Psychology
Research Topic: The African American Dream: A Progressive Discussion of Academic Achievement in African American Students

Margaret Sanders
Major: Plan II and Psychology
Research Topic: The Effect of Categorization on Judgments of Paintings

Zachary Garber
Major: Government
Research Topic: William Lauder’s Impact on the History of Barbados

Jose Ybarra
Major: Human Biology
Research Topic:
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The Research Alert, the e-newsletter for the university’s research community, has entered the 21st with a new look.

Now in html format, the Research Alert e-mail is brighter, cleaner and easier to read and includes photos and other images.

The weekly Research Alert notifies researchers of funding opportunities in the sciences, arts and humanities. The newsletter is put together and published by the Office of the Vice President for Research.

The Research Alert also has news about awards made to UT Austin researchers,
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Penguin fossil found in Peru showed surprising evidence of feathers and their colors.

During the fall semester of 2010, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin revealed:

An ancient penguin with surprising colors

Honey bees with a failure to communicate

Criminal virus spreaders using evolutionary forensics

An electron switch between molecules with cool battery potential

That as biological clock ticks down, libido rises

A dinosaur who thrived when its competition died

Ways the earth moves

That’s not all.

A team of students launched two satellites, which they built, into
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Top patent officials from around the world gave an Austin audience insight into current intellectual property issues. They were James Pooley, deputy director of the World Intellectual Property Organization; Jerry Kappos, director of the United States Patent Office; and Lee Soowon, director of the Korean Intellectual Property Office. They talked with Richard Miller, chief commercialization officer of The University of Texas at Austin. Photo by Marsha Miller.

Patent protection has gone global, according to David Kappos, the director of the United
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Janet Walkow, , director of the College of Pharmacy Drug Dynamics Institute, will work with the Dell Pediatric Research Institute.

Some University of Texas at Austin researchers are moving into brand new laboratories at the Dell Pediatric Research Center with the expressed aim of turning research into treatments for childhood health problems.

Nancy Neff, who handles public affairs for the College of Pharmacy and the Schools of Social Work and Nursing, talked to several of those researchers about their work in anticipation of
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Stan Watowich, World Community Grid user

The World Community Grid (WCG) now has a half-million users dedicating the unused power of their personal computers—and bigger computers, in some cases—to solving pressing scientific questions.

A story on the Web site of the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), which donates cycles from one of its high-performance computers to the WCG, looks at the WCG and how it works.

The story highlights the research of Stan Watowich, an associate professor of Biochemistry at The University of Texas Medical Branch.

His
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The research consortium known as MCC died a long time ago, though it was the spark that fueled Austin’s rise as a technology center. Now the last visible reminders of the company are being removed.

The name of the company’s former headquarters building is being changed from the MCC building to the West Pickle Research building. It’s at 3525 W. Braker Lane, across MoPac Boulevard from the main Pickle Research Campus.

The new name reflects the building’s ownership by The University of
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Michael Starbird

As part of Further Findings’ Getting Started series, Michael Starbird, a mathematics professor at The University of Texas at Austin, explains how he got involved with numbers.

“I was brought up in southern California and my father taught mathematics, physics and astronomy at a community college and he would bring mathematical and physics problems to the dinner table,” he said. “My brother and I talked about them.

“Mathematics was just a part of daily life. In fact, I often look back
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New posters were recently installed in the display windows on the first floor of the Main Building on The University of Texas at Austin campus.

They focus on four University of Texas at Austin researchers who made significant discoveries and brought new understanding to long-standing questions in their fields.

They are Hermann J. Muller, Linda Schele, Esmond Snell and Americo Paredes.

The poster with this post is about Schele, who studied the Mayan civilization of Central America.

Take a walk though the Main Building to
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