Science and Technology

Jo Freudenheim, Ph.D., professor of social and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo, is leading a project that will map the early-childhood residences of a group of women, the proximity of their homes to sites that may have been environmentally hazardous, and compare this data to the women with and without breast cancer to see if there is an association.

An extremely enthusiastic response by University at Buffalo faculty to the year-old, high-performance computing facilities in the Center for Computational Research (CCR) has prompted the center to double the capacity of its most powerful machine, a 64-processor SGI Origin2000 supercomputer. By acquiring 64 additional processors and a high-speed interconnect, the CCR now has a 128-processor Origin2000 supercomputer.

Industry and academic experts from around the world will gather at the University at Buffalo on April 27-29 to investigate how a new wave of computer technologies is revolutionizing the way the world conducts business.

When they first arrive on campus, college freshmen are deluged with orientation packets and publications. But after the first few weeks, that deluge dries up, often leaving students' questions unanswered. The University at Buffalo has figured out how to keep information flowing to freshmen -- but not flooding them -- through the development of MyUB, an online portal for freshmen that actually grows with the student.

It won't be apparent to passengers landing on today's (Thursday, Jan. 6) inaugural flight at Istanbul's brand new international airport, but the roof of the massive terminal building features a unique approach to seismically modernizing the structure following last summer's devastating quake.

With an assist from the National Science Foundation, an assistant professor of media study at the University at Buffalo is launching a unique software game that addresses the lack of computer educational activities oriented toward girls, particularly those from underrepresented groups.

Just because a volcano isn't erupting doesn't mean it poses no danger. In papers being presented today (Tuesday, Dec. 14) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, University at Buffalo volcanologists show how, in some cases, soft spots on volcanoes that simply collapse from the side may trigger mudflows that potentially can be more devastating than eruptions.

At this moment, computers across the University at Buffalo campus are analyzing signals from the sky that could be indicators of alien intelligence.

For the University at Buffalo Department of Geology, "hands-on" in a lab apparently isn't hands-on enough. That's why excavators are drilling four, 50-foot wells on the North (Amherst) Campus so that students can learn about hydrogeology -- the study of how water and other liquids, such as pollutants, move through the shallow subsurface -- up close and personal.

The University at Buffalo has established a new, multidisciplinary institute to conduct research designed to harness the power of light in a broad spectrum of applications and potential products, ranging from telecommunications to cancer therapy.