Science and Technology

Communication researchers at four major universities have found that if you receive a lot of email, habitually respond to a good portion of it, maintain a lot of online relationships and conduct a large number of transactions online, you are more susceptible to email phishing expeditions than those who limit their online activity.

Experts in the design of the bathroom, cybernetics in architecture and the spatial dimensions of aging will be among speakers at "Before and Beyond: Architecture and the User," a two-day symposium at the University at Buffalo's School of Architecture and Planning. The event, which features presenters from the U.S., Canada and Europe, is free and open to the public. Panels will take place on April 6 and 7 at 301 Crosby Hall on UB's South Campus. Directions and a complete schedule are online at http://tinyurl.com/beforeandbeyondUB.

Western New York companies have the opportunity to improve their operations and achieve measurable gains by hosting students enrolled in the University at Buffalo's Six Sigma Black Belt Student Certification program in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Alan H. Lockwood, MD, professor of neurology and nuclear medicine in the University at Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences calls the Japanese Health Ministry's advice not to give tap water to infants "prudent." Lockwood, a board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, can discuss human health effects of radiation. Six weeks after the Chernobyl accident, he examined survivors at a Moscow hospital.

The outcome of Haiti's March 20 presidential election will determine much of the country's political future, but this week, more than 250 Haitian architects and engineers will take the future of Haiti's reconstruction into their own hands when they attend the third UniQ-UB/MCEER Earthquake Engineering Seminar in Port-au-Prince.

Bracket fanatics beware: University at Buffalo researcher Alex Nikolaev, an expert in statistical analysis, has found the odds do not favor NCAA basketball teams seeded No. 1 in the big tournament -- at least not taken as a group.

The design of next-generation nuclear power plants and other critical energy facilities will undoubtedly be influenced by the Japanese tsunami and its devastating effects on Japan's nuclear reactors, says Michael C. Constantinou, PhD, professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering at the University at Buffalo.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast of northern Japan and the tsunami it triggered demonstrate the need for an integrated approach to preparing for, mitigating and responding to extreme events, say researchers at the University at Buffalo, MCEER and the UB Center for GeoHazards Studies, who spoke to media in a briefing Friday on UB's North Campus. Video commentary from UB faculty experts is available here: http://bit.ly/eeUn1S

Scientists and engineers at the University at Buffalo and UB's MCEER (Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research) will be available to discuss with media the powerful magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck the northern coast of Japan and has triggered tsunamis and evacuations throughout half the world.

In a new study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, University at Buffalo researcher Michael A. Stefanone, PhD, and colleagues found that females who base their self worth on their appearance tend to share more photos online and maintain larger networks on online social networking sites.