College-wide featured stories
From wood waste to diesel fuel
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Mechanical engineering professor David Kittelson’s latest project is to develop an efficient, clean, potentially carbon-neutral substitute for diesel fuel known as DME.
Doing clean energy right
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In researching new energy technologies, the U doesn’t go it alone.
Harnessing the power of proteins: Mark Distefano
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Distinguished McKnight University Professor Mark Distefano combines chemistry and biology to defeat cancer cells, create methods for “green” chemical synthesis, and more.
Students begin construction on solar house for fall competition
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After nearly a year and a half of planning, the University of Minnesota team has begun construction of a completely solar-powered house that will compete against 19 other universities this October in the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.
Physics professor Bob Pepin recalls his roles in NASA's moon landings
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After their flight from Houston landed in the Twin Cities one day in August 1969, two University of Minnesota professors had to stay in the rear of the plane until a couple of policemen came to escort them off.
Fast times in physics
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Physics professor Marvin Marshak is part of the MINOS experiment to study neutrinos and compare their speed to the speed of light.
Solving mantle mysteries: Research reveals more about planetary origins
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Marc Hirschmann, professor of earth sciences, was named a Distinguished McKnight University Professor this year. His research involves designing ingenious experiments that promise to reveal more about planetary origins and continuing transformations about the formation of planets and the very old days on Earth.
A cell's violent dance
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U professors Carl Flink and David Odde have discovered that skilled dancers can test a scientist’s model of a cell’s inner life more quickly than a computer can.
Cosmic behemoth had central heating-and lighting
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University of Minnesota astrophysicist Claudia Scarlata and two colleagues have found how a blob of hydrogen gas 11.5 billion years old and 300,000 light-years across, known as LAB-1, shines by the light of galaxies embedded in it.
Cacophony may curb carp
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Researchers at the St. Anthony Falls Lab have developed noisy bubble barrier that holds potential for slowing the spread of carp in Minnesota lakes.