Science and Technology

Researchers at the University at Buffalo have developed the first approach that achieves both high-bandwidth efficiency and fast recovery speeds in protecting mission-critical computer connections against high-speed network failures.

A novel method of computing and modeling turbulent reacting flows developed by University at Buffalo researchers produces results equivalent to those generated by expensive supercomputers and is anywhere from 30 to 100 times less expensive to use.

The beautiful patterns on butterfly wings are emerging as exceptional model systems that may reveal much about how the shapes, sizes and colors of specific organisms have evolved, a type of study called morphological evolution, according a paper featured on the cover of the March issue of Trends in Ecology and Evolution that is co-authored by Antonia Monteiro, Ph.D., University at Buffalo assistant professor of biological sciences.

In response to concerns that the American health-care system offers almost no palliative care for terminally ill children, psychologist James Donnelly, Ph.D., of the University at Buffalo, is conducting an assessment of the palliative-care needs of terminally ill children and their parents. The needs assessment will be conducted, in part, through brainstorming sessions over the World Wide Web between palliative-care workers, medical personnel and patients' families.

A small piece of protein from one end of a larger molecule found in human saliva has been shown in laboratory tests to have potent antimicrobial activity against several types of bacteria and fungi, some of which are resistant to current drugs. If these findings hold up in animal and human trials, the peptide could form the basis for promising new drugs for treating a wide range of infections.

Douglas D. Osheroff, the 1996 Nobel laureate in physics, will deliver the 2002 Moti Lal Rustgi Memorial Lecture at 4:30 p.m. on March 15 in Room 225 of the Natural Sciences Complex on the North Campus.

Paschalis Alexandridis, Ph.D., a faculty member in the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences who uses molecules and particles as "LEGOs" to develop advanced materials at the nano-scale that end up in products ranging from paints to contact lenses has been chosen to receive the prestigious 2002 Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award.

Technologies ranging from mathematical modeling, geologic simulation and geographic information science to scientific computing and virtual reality are being combined by University at Buffalo researchers for the first time to provide the most accurate information on geologic dangers to scientists, civil-defense authorities and citizens who live in the shadow of volcanoes.

A team of University at Buffalo researchers reports in the current issue of Nature the first observation of a phenomenon called stimulated emission by direct three-photon excitation, which occurs when three photons of lower energy are simultaneously absorbed to reach a higher energy state.

A team of University at Buffalo researchers that has been at the forefront of quantifying and predicting the complex effects of drugs, now has found in animal studies that there is a "severe" tolerance to steroids that occurs soon after their initial use that blunts the effects of the drugs.