Volume III Issue 12
December 2007 |
|
 |
 |
 Earliest
Vision Genes Discovered
 By
peering deep into evolutionary history, scientists have discovered the
origins of photosensitivity in animals: vision genes called opsins that
first appeared in the aquatic animal species Hydra magnipapillata. The
hydras have no eyes or light-receptive organs, but they have the genetic
pathways to be able to sense light.
The biologists -- David
Plachetzki and Todd Oakley of the
University of California at Santa Barbara -- are the first to look
at light receptive genes in cnidarians (corals, jellyfish and sea
anemones), of which hydras are members. Hydras are found in most
freshwater ponds, lakes and streams in temperate and tropical regions,
and are predatory animals that feed on small aquatic invertebrates. The
scientists speculate that hydras use light sensitivity in order to find
prey. The hydras have opsin proteins all over their bodies, but the
proteins are concentrated in the mouth area. "Because we don't find
opsins in earlier branching animals like sponges, we can put a date on
the evolution of light sensitivity in animals," said Plachetzki. "We now
have a time frame for the evolution of animal light sensitivity. We know
its precursors existed roughly 600 million years ago."
 Find out more about careers in
Biology and
Bioengineering...
Nanotech
Dental Implants
 Millennium
Research Group conducted a detailed analysis of the US dental implant
market that revealed that nanotechnology is creating a new buzz in the
dental implant market. More specifically, many prominent dental implant
manufacturers are incorporating nanotechnology into their dental implant
surface designs because the technology is purported to cut healing time
in half.
Nanotechnology describes a
wide range of new technologies utilizing the unique physical properties
of materials and devices with structures on the order of a hundred
nanometers or less. Engineering of materials at these small sizes began
in force as new imaging techniques including electron and atomic force
microscopy finally allowed scientists to observe and measure material
structures on this scale.
Find
out more about careers in
dentistry and bioengineering...
Device
Sees Damage in Concrete Structures
 Engineers at MIT have
developed a new technique for detecting damage in concrete bridges and
piers that could increase the safety of aging infrastructure by allowing
easier, more frequent, onsite inspections that don't interfere with
traffic or service. The technique involves use of a hand-held radar
device that can "see" through the fiberglass-polymer wrapping often used
to strengthen aging concrete columns to detect damage behind the
wrapping not visible to the naked eye. Such damage can occur on the
concrete itself, or to areas where layers of the wrapping have come
loose from one another or even debonded from the concrete. The new
noninvasive technique can be used onsite from a distance of more than 10
meters (30 feet) and requires no dismantling or obstruction of the
infrastructure. It provides immediate, onsite feedback. Called FAR-NDT
(far-field airborne radar nondestructive testing), the technique could
prove especially advantageous for bridges that span rivers or highways,
which can prove inaccessible for other inspection techniques.
Find
out more...
Degree
Profile: Software Engineering
 The
explosive impact of computers and information technology on our everyday
lives has generated a need to design and develop new computer software
systems and to incorporate new technologies into a rapidly growing range
of applications. The tasks performed by computer software engineers
evolve quickly, reflecting new areas of specialization and changes in
technology. To prepare for a career in software engineering, students
complete a four-year undergraduate engineering program. Computer
software engineers apply the principles and techniques of computer
science, engineering, and mathematical analysis to the design,
development, testing, and evaluation of the software and systems that
enable computers to perform their many applications.
 Software
engineers working in applications or systems development analyze users'
needs and design, construct, test, and maintain computer applications
software or systems. Software engineers can be involved in the design
and development of many types of software, including software for
operating systems and network distribution, and compilers, which convert
programs for execution on a computer. In programming, or coding,
software engineers instruct a computer, line by line, how to perform a
function. They also solve technical problems that arise. Software
engineers must possess strong programming skills, but are more concerned
with developing algorithms and analyzing and solving programming
problems than with actually writing code.
Find out more about careers in
Software Engineering...
L'Oréal
Fellowships for Women in Science
 Five
postdoctoral researchers working in the fields of geochemistry,
neuroscience, oceanography, physical chemistry and bioengineering have
been awarded the 2007 L'Oréal USA Fellowships For Women in Science,
administered by AAAS's Education and Human Resources Program and
sponsored by L'Oréal USA.
According to new survey results released by L'Oréal USA at the award
ceremony, 65 percent of adults picture a typical scientist as a man over
the age of 40, and 73 percent say there are too few female role models
in the sciences.
Only 15 percent of teen girls surveyed said they would definitely pursue
a scientific career; only 22 percent of those surveyed thought of
scientists as "cool" or "popular" people. AAAS and L'Oréal USA hope the
five new winners of the Fellowships can help change the public image of
women researchers. The winners each received a $40,000 research award,
double the amount given in the past three years of the Fellowships. This
year's winners are:
Jaime
D. Barnes, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; studying the
geochemistry of volcanic eruptions
Sarah
Clinton, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; studying the roles of
nature and nurture in emotional behavior in rats
Julie
Huber, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts;
studying the microbial ecology of deep-sea vents
Maria
Kirsch, University of California, Irvine; studying how liquids and
vapors interact at the molecular level
Kim
Woodrow, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; studying
biodegradable nanoparticles for drug delivery
Dr.
Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; CEO Sally Ride
Science, was also honored with the L'Oréal USA For Women in Science
Role Model Award for her role in helping to shape the image of women
in science.
Find out more online.
Find
out more about careers in science...
Seeing
Spinning Stars
 Using a suite of four
telescopes, astronomers have captured an image of Altair, one of the
closest stars to our own and a fixture in the summer sky.
While astronomers have recently imaged a few of the enormous, dying,
red-giant stars, this is the first time anyone has seen the surface of a
relatively tiny hydrogen-burning star like our own sun. An international
team of astronomers captured the image using four of the six telescopes
at a facility on Mt. Wilson, CA, operated by the
Center for High Angular
Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) at Georgia State University in Atlanta
with partial support from the National Science Foundation. The CHARA
telescopes were able to make the breakthrough observation because they
were outfitted with a novel system to clean up some of the distortions
from Earth's atmosphere, a technology called the Michigan Infrared
Combiner, developed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Recent advances in fiber optic telecommunication technology made this
new combiner possible. Until now, astronomers could gather tremendous
amounts of data from stars, but could not capture images of what the
stars looked like. Even to the largest telescopes, stars looked like the
points of light we all see when we peer up into the night sky.
Using the telescopes as an interferometer--a multi-telescope system that
combines information from small, distantly spaced telescopes to create a
picture as if taken from one large telescope--the researchers captured
infrared lightwaves as if from a giant telescope 265 meters by 195
meters in dimension. Altair is one of the closest stars, only
about 15 light years away. It spins quickly, (300 kilometers per second
at its equator) that it's shape is distorted.
Find
out more about careers in physics...
Golden
Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit
 The Golden Gate Bridge has long been
considered vulnerable to significant earthquake damage -- with a 65
percent probability of an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6.7
striking the San Francisco region before the year 2030. To protect this
international icon, five structures of the bridge were retrofitted to
withstand an 8.3 Richter scale-magnitude earthquake occurring seven
miles west of the bridge. In recognition of the project's success, the
Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit Phase II, South Approach Structures
Project has been honored with the American Society of Civil Engineers'
2007 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award. The OCEA award
recognizes the project's significant contribution to the civil
engineering profession and its local community. Currently the second
longest suspension bridge in the United States, the Golden Gate Bridge
is visited by millions each year and crossed by 40 million vehicles
annually. Since opening to traffic in 1937, more than 1.7 billion have
crossed the span. 2007 marks the 70th anniversary of the Golden Gate
Bridge.
Find
out more about careers in civil
engineering...
Career Cornerstone News is a publication of the
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center. Click here
to subscribe.
This newsletter may be reproduced in other
non-profit publications with credit and links to
the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
It may also be forwarded to internal
education or non-profit email lists.
|
|
