Natural Disasters

Structural engineers at the University at Buffalo are conducting some of the most comprehensive experiments ever attempted to develop methods of evaluating and designing steel buildings so that they will be less vulnerable to collapse during strong earthquakes.

Whether it's springtime flooding, an infectious disease outbreak or a volcanic eruption, small or rural communities affected by natural disasters often suffer additional hardship because of their size, say organizers of "Natural Disasters in Small Communities: How Can We Help?" a conference to be held by the University at Buffalo on March 29 and 30.

A powerful air sterilization technology developed at the University at Buffalo has killed every biological agent with which it has been challenged, including airborne spores, viruses and bacteria in independent tests conducted for the U.S. Department of Defense.

How prepared is New York for another terrorist attack or major disaster? That's the question a group of researchers and disaster-response experts will discuss at a two-day conference addressing ways to protect New York City and New York State.

In the spring of 2006, a paper published in a scientific journal by researchers at the University at Buffalo and two scientific institutions in Italy reported that approximately 4,000 years ago during the Bronze Age, Vesuvius produced an eruption that devastated the area now occupied by metropolitan Naples.

Long lines of passengers have an effect on the speed with which airport security screeners do certain aspects of their jobs, according to a study by researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo. The study's findings demonstrate empirically for the first time that security screeners do speed up when lines are long, but only when inspecting laptop computers.

In its initial public demonstration, the world's first seismic testing apparatus for nonstructural components performed exactly as designed last Friday at the University at Buffalo and MCEER, providing engineers with the first realistic, experimental method of simulating and evaluating how earthquakes damage building equipment, contents and components.

A new testing facility at the University at Buffalo and MCEER is the world's first test apparatus specifically designed to subject costly equipment and mechanical systems in hospitals and other important structures to the precise floor vibrations that they experience during the strongest earthquakes.

University at Buffalo researchers studying the response to the 2006 "October Surprise" storm have concluded that the effective coordination of emergency services played a critical role in decision making during the crisis.

Are you a terrorist? Airport screeners, customs agents, police officers and members of the military who silently pose that question to people every day, may soon have much more than intuition to depend on to determine the answer, thanks to computer and behavioral scientists at the University at Buffalo.