Yet scientists point out that the class of substances lumped together under the plastics postmark is so broad and diverse that to condemn or condone them categorically makes no sense. Moreover, the field is evolving rapidly, as researchers strive to spin plastics from renewable sources like sugar cane and grass clippings in lieu of fossil fuels, and to outfit their creations with the chemical grace to decay once discarded. “We can do a lot of interesting things, but there’s more research that needs to be done,” said James A. Moore, a professor of chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The biggest catch in reaching the new, greener stage of the plastics age, he said, “is that we have to accept that it’s going to cost money.”

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New research on how the last great global greenhouse event chilled down shows that it took three separate cooling events to step down the Earth's temperature around 33 million years ago. The new data comes from a rare conjunction of climate clues, or "proxies," in rocks from an Alabama quarry. As for just what caused the step-wise drop in temperature, that's less certain, although there are some promising candidates. "We know that this is the biggest climate shift in the Cenozoic," said geoscientist Miriam Katz of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

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Mississippi State and the University of Kentucky are among the schools creating teams involving people such as resident advisers, teachers, administrators and campus police to try to identify troubled students. Others, including Virginia Tech, that already used such "care" teams have added another layer to deal with those identified as potentially threatening. "People who have been really depressed and are thinking about hurting themselves, these folks I think are coming to our attention a little bit earlier," said Keith Anderson, staff psychologist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "Because it's been a kind of national awakening, we have a sense of hope people will refer folks before something gets out of control."

Read the AP wire story, which was picked up by more than 50 media outlets, ranging from the Washington Post to the San Francisco Chronicle to MSNBC.com.

Many universities are exploring ways to enhance nuclear reactor safety and efficiency, including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, N.Y. RPI, in partnership with Columbia University, Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory recently received a $3 million grant from the Department of Energy to fund a nuclear reactor research project. Using two "supercomputers" -- each the equivalent of 60,000 to 70,000 desktop PCs -- the team of researchers is trying to create a test for nuclear reactors to pinpoint possible safety concerns. The computers will be used to simulate what might happen inside a reactor in certain situations, identifying potential problems ahead of time, said Michael Podowski, professor of nuclear engineering at RPI. "Safety in any system is based on what may happen under different conditions," Podowski told UPI. "If we can anticipate that, we can design safety measures that account for possible problems" and try to prevent them.

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Read the Rensselaer news release, and watch a video interview with Prof. Podowski. 

RPI's Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies has the specialized equipment to build the three-dimensional picture of the ancient tooth. "How long did the canine take to erupt? Can I calculate this for every tooth in the jaw?" are among the questions Feranec, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the State Museum, hopes he can answer with the high-tech X-rays of the teeth. . . . "We're blessed here with so much stuff that's at the cutting edge," said Chris Bjornsson, director of the center's Microscopy and Imaging Research Core. "This is a very big change from what we usually do." RPI's equipment matches that found at research centers in New York City and Boston.

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Get the right light, and you'll have lots more energy. But that can be a challenge, given the poorly lit offices we sit in and the scant doses of daily sunlight (which contains brain-activating short-wavelength blue light) we get. "Our circadian rhythms are more sensitive to blue light than any other kind," says Mariana Figueiro, assistant professor at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

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Charlie Rose Science Series: The Imperative of Science with Paul Nurse, President of Rockefeller University, Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bruce Alberts, Editor-In-Chief of Science and Lisa Randall of Harvard University.

Watch the video.

A group of computer scientists, mathematicians, and biologists from around the world have developed a computer algorithm that can quickly trace an individual's genetic ancestry with only a small sample of their DNA and without any prior knowledge of their background. . . . "This work was an exciting opportunity to form an interdisciplinary team of computer scientists, mathematicians, and human geneticists," said Petros Drineas, the senior author of the study and assistant professor of computer science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Read the story, which was also covered by Yahoo! News and LiveScience.
Read the Rensselaer news release.

A week from today, the Troy, N.Y., institution will announce Rensselaer Engineering Education Across Cultural Horizons (REACH), an initial collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. . . . “We’re going to grow this program slowly,” said Alan W. Cramb, dean of RPI’s School of Engineering, who estimated that over each of the next six to eight years, 100 additional students would go abroad, starting next year. “It is an expectation that all students will do this, but one has to be realistic,” especially for students with health issues and other potential exceptions, he added. But, for all intents and purposes, going abroad in some form or another will be a requirement — an opt out, not an opt in. 

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Read the article in Inside Rensselaer. 

 The brilliant new strategy for losing weight, sleeping better, and fighting disease: Just get the right dose of light at the right time. . . . First thing upon waking, head for the brightest light available. It's the fastest way to shake off sleepiness. "Without that light boost, your alarm clock might say 7 am, but your body will still feel in the dark," says Mariana G. Figueiro, PhD, an assistant professor at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. For extra alertness, don't wear sunglasses during your morning commute.

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