Science and Technology

University at Buffalo faculty -- including earthquake engineering, disaster, trauma and communication experts -- are available to discuss the tragic earthquake in Haiti. A listing of the experts and their commentary is available at http://newstips.buffalo.edu.

A 3-D virtual clay sculpting software package that came on the market this week was developed out of research conducted by University at Buffalo mechanical engineers who wanted to speed up computational design of complex, organic shapes.

University at Buffalo biophysicists have found a protein in tarantula venom that shows promise as a potential therapy for muscular dystrophy (MD). They have formed a start-up biotech company in Buffalo -- Rose Pharmaceuticals -- to advance the drug to clinical trials.

The secret to the flight of the hummingbird and other tiny birds and insects lies in the looping, swirling flow of air, called a vortex, that their flapping wings create. These aerodynamically unconventional flows are the inspiration behind new research by a University at Buffalo scientist who hopes to understand the nature of the three-dimensional vortex formation process so that it can be optimized.

In a groundbreaking new book, "The Neural Imagination" (2009, University of Texas Press), Irving Massey, PhD, explores the relevance of neuroscience to the study of the arts. Subtitled "Aesthetic and Neuroscientific Approaches to the Arts," the book is concerned with the emergence and significance of neuroaesthetics, an alliance born of the recent and rapid convergence of art and technology.

The University at Buffalo's Transportation Systems Laboratory is only a year old, but already its researchers are helping enhance the mobility of travelers in Western New York and southern Ontario.

A new residence hall that embodies the principles of the University at Buffalo's comprehensive physical plan, "Building UB," is being constructed on the university's North Campus.

A year ago, the small house at 139 Howell St. in Buffalo's Black Rock neighborhood stood vacant, just one more derelict property up for auction. The two-story structure was crumbling. It languished as an eyesore, its fate uncertain. Where others saw blight, four University at Buffalo architecture students saw opportunity.

Kim Dai of New York City, a freshman architecture student at the University at Buffalo, has received a scholarship from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to join more that 25,000 sustainable design and construction professionals at the USGBC International Conference and Expo in Phoenix Nov. 11-13.

New funding for an innovative University at Buffalo program that trains Zimbabwe's clinician scientists and translational pharmacologists will bring additional health care professionals and researchers to Buffalo to be trained to fight the war on AIDS in Zimbabwe.