UB in the News

An article on Smart Planet reports researchers speaking today at the Geological Society of America meeting will be raising another concern to the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing: uranium contamination. The article notes that geologists from UB scanned shale surfaces taken from Pennsylvania and Western New York to create a chemical map of the rock, revealing that its uranium and hydrocarbons were located together. The article quotes Tracy Banks, assistant professor of geology. Articles on Greenwire and Gant Daily also interview Banks on the issue.

C-Span and C-Span 2 are airing coverage of last week's visit to UB by William Dudley, the 10th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, who discussed "How Goes the Recovery? Challenges for the Nation, the Region and the Fed." Coverage also includes presentation by the president of Delta Sigma Pi, a UB professional business fraternity, of a commemorative presidential coin featuring U.S. President Millard Fillmore, founder of UB who served as the university's first chancellor in 1846, and a commemorative pen.

An article on NewsMedical.Net reports researchers at UB have developed a novel technology using quantum dots that is expected to have major implications for research and treatment of tuberculosis, as well as other inflammatory lung diseases. Articles also appear on Health Canal, PhysOrg, Science Blog and Science Daily.

An article distributed by the Associated Press reports on an installation in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture," the first major museum exhibit to show how sexual orientation and gender identity have shaped American art. The installation is co-curated by Jonathan Katz, associate professor of visual studies and director of the department's new doctoral program. The article appeared in news outlets around the country, including the San Diego Union Tribune, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, Salon, The Washington Post and the Buffalo News.

An article on TMCnet reports two new projects by media architect and researcher Mark Shepard are using technology to cultivate a sense of community and connect us with the world around us.

An article on the Huffington Post reports UB researchers have found that "fracking," a process of extracting natural gas, also causes uranium that is naturally trapped inside Marcellus shale to be released, and quotes Tracy Bank, assistant professor of geology. Articles also appeared on the Natural Resources Defense Council staff blog Switchboard, Pollution Online, Oil and Gas Online, Water Online and EcoFactory.

An article on the Wall Street Journal's Real Time Economics blog reports on research conducted by Satheeshkumar Seenivasan, a doctoral candidate in the School of Management, that found that when people pay for food with credit or debit cards, they are more likely to buy unhealthy foods.

James Gardner, professor of law and an election law expert, is quoted in an article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that looks at steps a political candidate must take to have his or her name removed from the ballot. "You don't want candidates to be able to freely withdraw from the ballot after they've been nominated because the potential for deal-making at the expense of the electorate seems high," he said.

An article distributed by UPI reports plans to tap one of the largest sources of natural gas in the U.S. could release naturally trapped uranium into the environment, and quotes Tracy Bank, assistant professor of geology. Science Business, Science Centric, Science Daily, Science Blog and Environmental News Service also ran stories.

An article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune's On Weather blog about the unseasonable warm temperatures Minnesota is experiencing reports the NOAA just released a summary of summer conditions in the Arctic region and that the warming that occurred 4,000 to 6,000 years ago was substantial, but according to UB anthropologist Ezra Zubrow, "This was a slower change, about one-third the rate we face today….It took a thousand years for the earth to warm as much as it has over the past 300 years – roughly the time spanned since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution."