Richard Alley, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences, Penn State, is a recipient of a $100,000 Heinz Award for being a leader in climate and polar ice studies. The Heinz Awards, now in their 17th year, honor visionaries who have made extraordinary contributions to the environment, a life-long area of commitment for the late U.S. Senator John Heinz. Alley and nine others nationwide are recognized for their significant efforts benefitting the environment. Alley's discovery that the last Ice Age came to an abrupt end over a period of only three years broke open the field of abrupt climate change. (more)
Michael V. Paul, space systems engineer in Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory, has received a $100,000 grant under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program and been named a Fellow of this recently reformed program in NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist. Paul, who leads the Penn State Lunar Lion team -- part of the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition -- receives his grant for "Non-Radioisotope Power Systems for Sunless Solar System Exploration Missions." Several targets of scientific interest in solar system exploration require nonsolar power sources because of permanent shading from craters or clouds, or extreme distances from the sun. (more)
Gypsy moth caterpillars infected with baculovirus forfeit safety and stay in the treetops during the day because a virus gene manipulates their hormones to eat continuously and forego molting, according to entomologists. The caterpillars die where they climb and infect other gypsy moth caterpillars. "Normally, gypsy moth caterpillars are active at night," said Kelli Hoover, professor of entomology, Penn State. "They hide during the day in the soil or bark crevices protected from birds. They climb up the foliage at night to feed." (more)
News-based folklore spread primarily on the web may offer insights into what ordinary Americans think about current events, including 9/11, according to a Penn State researcher. (more)
Children who go through puberty at a faster rate are more likely to act out and to suffer from anxiety and depression, according to a study by researchers at Penn State, Duke University and the University of California, Davis. The results suggest that primary care providers, teachers and parents should look not only at the timing of puberty in relation to kids' behavior problems, but also at the tempo of puberty -- how fast or slow kids go through puberty. (more)
Teacher, pilot, nurse or engineer? Sex hormones strongly influence people's interests, which affect the kinds of occupations they choose, according to psychologists. (more)
Richard B. Alley, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, will be the first recipient of the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication, Climate One at The Commonwealth Club announced Friday, Aug. 26, during the 2011 Stephen H. Schneider Symposium in Boulder, Colo. (more)
The National Science Foundation's Office of Inspector General has completed its review of allegations of research misconduct against Penn State Professor of Meteorology Michael Mann, and has found no direct evidence to support such allegations.
Mann, internationally known for his studies of climate change, was under investigation for allegations of research impropriety that surfaced in 2009 after thousands of stolen e-mails were published online. "Hackers" obtained the e-mails from computer servers at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in England, one of the main repositories of information about climate change. (more)
Tumors that do not respond to chemotherapy are the target of a cancer therapy that prevents the function of two enzymes in mouse tumor cells, according to Pennsylvania medical researchers. (more)
Tracking their dinner may be the best way to help North Atlantic right whales in Cape Cod Bay avoid being hit by recreational and commercial boats, according to a team of researchers who studied the whales for two years. "Auto-detection buoys are making a remarkable attempt at recording the whale sounds to show when whales are in the area," said Susan Parks, assistant professor of acoustics and ecology and senior research associate, Penn State Applied Research Laboratory. "But North Atlantic right whales don't make call sounds when they are eating, so they don't show the whales when they are feeding." (more)
