Iconic Albany economist Hugh Johnson and the treasurer of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have joined a key advisory committee for the state pension fund. Walé Adeosun is now chairman of that committee. Adeosun is treasurer and chief investment officer at Rensselaer, in Troy.
Read the story, which was also covered by Pensions and Investments, The Hudson Valley Press, and The Albany Times Union.
05/26/2009
Invention Awards: Eco-Friendly Insulation Made From Mushrooms
Popular Science
Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre want to line the walls of your home with mushrooms. The young entrepreneurs have created a strong, low-cost biomaterial that could replace the expensive, environmentally harmful Styrofoam and plastics used in wall insulation, as well as in packaging and a host of other products. Wind-turbine blades and auto-body panels aren't out of the realm of possibility, either.
Bayer and McIntyre's work with mushrooms has come a long way since they first met as mechanical-engineering students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. When the two set out to make biodegradable and renewable insulation, they started testing different varieties of mushrooms grown in Tupperware. Many prototypes later, lab tests confirmed their early hunch about the unusual properties of the mushroom-derived insulation. Mixed-in seed husks, for example, helped the mycelia withstand a blowtorch. And besides being cheaper and eco-friendlier than petroleum-derived products, Greensulate can grow at room temperature and in the dark, doesn't require expensive manufacturing equipment built to withstand industrial conditions, and can easily be tailored to different levels of strength and flexibility.
Read the story, which was also covered by Earth911
05/24/2009
Technology taking kids away from nature
Times of India
While technological advancements have proved to be a boon to kids in many facets, the interaction is purportedly taking them away from the real nature, says a researcher. According to Nathan G. Freier, assistant professor of HCI in the Department of Language, Literature, and Communication, with a joint appointment in Information Technology, at Rensselaer, through past centuries, technologies have offered enormous benefits to children.
Read the story, which was also covered by several online publications including, World News, Smash Hits, Newstrack India, and SINDH Today, among others.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
5/20/2009
Scientists Prepare for Next H1N1 Mutation
eMaxHealth.com
Scientists are thinking ahead about H1N1 swine flu, mutation that could prove to be resistant to antiviral drugs. Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute propose an entirely new way to combat H1N1 swine flu by targeting both the H and N components of the virus in preparation for the next mutation of H1N1 swine flu.
Read the story, which was also covered by Science Daily and PharmTechTalk.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
5/19/2009
Wolfram Alpha: A new kind of search engine
Los Angeles Times
The online 'computational knowledge engine' calculates answers, unlike Google, which searches for information that already exists. Does that mean artificial intelligence? Not quite yet, said James Hendler, a professor of computer science at New York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "Computers are getting very good at the sort of powerful learning that comes from recognizing patterns in very large sets of data," he said. "But they still haven't gotten at all good at figuring out the very general, intuitive, complex things that make us human."
Read the story.
05/19/2009
Celery evolving, growing up
Albany Times Union
A lot has changed at Celery LLC since the company was created five years ago by a pair of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduates who figured out how to turn a fax machine into an e-mail device for people who don't use computers. Although the company declined to reveal exact sales or customer figures, Grabowski said Celery now has thousands of users, mostly from word-of-mouth business.
Read the story.
5/16/2009
RPI opens downtown Troy dorm
Albany Times Union
Businesses expect to benefit from the 300 students living downtown in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's new dorm this fall.
Read the story.
Read th Rensselaer news release.
5/15/09
A River (Slowly) Reclaimed
New York Times DOT EARTH Blog
On Thursday, I sought out the best argument for dredging in an interview with Richard Bopp, an associate professor of environmental geochemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who has studied the PCB question for many years (and who avidly fishes in the upper Hudson for smallmouth bass — catch and release only of course).
He said the trend in the fish samples is a distraction, given that research has clearly shown that a few spots contribute the brunt of the PCB’s to the upper Hudson and downriver.
Read the story.
5/12/09
MIT Announces Clean Energy Grand Prize Winner
Information Week
Troy Research Corporation (RPI), a winner in theEnergy Efficiency & Infrastructure Category for deep ultraviolet solid state lighting and LED-based disinfectants, and was among the semifinalist for the Clean Energy prize given by MIT.
Read the story.
5/12/09
RPI keeps the arts alive in Troy
The Troy Record
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute donated 55 instruments to three area elementary schools to revive a strings orchestra program that was cut due to financial reasons in 1969.
Read the story and another in The Record and also the Albany Times Union.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
5/8/09
One Step Closer: Novel Opioid Receptor Compound From Rensselaer in Phase I Clinical Trials
Insciences Organisation - Basel, Switzerland
For more than 10 years, Mark Wentland professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, led a Rensselaer team in the discovery of a family of novel opioid receptor compounds with the potential to treat nervous system disorders and addiction. The family of compounds was licensed to Alkermes Inc., and the company identified a lead product candidate from the library. Clinical trials with the candidate, known as ALKS 33, began in December 2008. Wentland said the “eureka moment” occurred with the realization that an opioid drug that his group discovered had triggered significant, long-acting activity in the targeted area. This breakthrough held unusual promise for treating reward disorders and a number of diseases because of its long-lasting effect in animal tests.
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
5/5/2009
Focusing with water and sound waves
CNET Asia
Using liquid as lenses to be employed in imaging equipment is not a new idea. Such concepts were conceived several years ago, although it has yet to be made commercial. This hasn't stopped researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from taking this notion a step further by incorporating sound waves to manipulate water droplets to obtain a clear image.
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
