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Tag: College News Faculty

Haitian women adorned in vivid colors hold candles and instruments

Vodou and Valency

UF Haitian Creole specialist Ben Hebblethwaite unearths African and Haitian history from the mythology of Vodou songs and rituals.

man stands in tree-fringed plaza

Faculty Profile — Keith Choe, Biology

Keith Choe, associate professor of biology, studies mutations in C. elegans with the goal of understanding how cells respond to environmental stress and how this information could one day stave off aging and disease.

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A Most Excellent Evening

On April 21, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences launched an awards program to recognize the achievements and dedication of alumni, faculty, students, and staff in Emerson Alumni Hall.

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Newsworthy

UF physicists and astrophysicists are making waves.

The X-Labs

A new science paradigm for an interdisciplinary world.

The artist's rendering (left) of GRB 050709 depicts a gamma-ray burst that was discovered on 9 July, 2005 by NASA's High-Energy Transient Explorer. The burst radiated an enormous amount of energy in gamma-rays for half a second, then faded away. Three days later, Chandra's detection of the X-ray afterglow (inset) established its position with high accuracy. A Hubble Space Telescope image showed that the burst occurred in the outskirts of a spiral galaxy. This location is outside the star-forming regions of the galaxy and evidence that the burst was not produced by the explosion of an extremely massive star. The most likely explanation for the burst is that it was produced by a collision of two neutron stars, or a neutron star and a black hole.

Solving Cosmic Puzzles

Neutron stars are dead stars collapsed into the densest form of matter known to humans, with a teaspoon of neutron star matter weighing a billion tons, and their collision creates a swath of galactic debris. Decades ago, stargazing scientists formed plans to detect signals from this debris. Now, in the new era of aptly named “multi-messenger astronomy,” two international projects have achieved this goal: On August 17 of this year, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)’s two U.S.-based interferometers and the Virgo Collaboration’s Italy-based interferometer detected for the first time gravitational waves — ripples in space-time traveling at the speed of light — from the collision and subsequent merger of two neutron stars. The detection occurred just three days after yet another “chirp” from colliding black holes.

illustration of neurons interacting

A Route to Recovery

UF psychologist Lori Knackstedt studies an antibiotic that may cure cocaine addiction. Lori Knackstedt, professor of psychology, is seven years deep into research that’s yielded some surprising results: in cocaine-addicted rats, an antibiotic reduces their drug-seeking behavior and may prevent relapse. The drug Ceftriaxone appears to increase reuptake of glutamate, a neurotransmitter that regulates dopamine, […]

red eyed frog sitting on flower

From K–T to Kermit

Among UF’s renowned team of extinction experts is David Blackburn, whose appreciation for frogs has led to his work on a groundbreaking new study. A paper published in July in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that although frogs have been around for longer than dinosaurs, most of the world’s 6,700-plus living species of frogs evolved after a mass extinction 66 million years ago made way for new biodiversity.

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The Sound of Silence

Victoria Emma Pagán of UF Classics publishes new book about Roman historian Tacitus.

pair of two black holes

Third Time’s a Charm

LIGO detects third set of gravitational waves from colliding black holes. UF physicists have played a key role in these detections.

illustration of person looking through giant magnifying glass at a globe

Conservation Clues

Extinction detective Bob Holt tracks down the likely culprit behind ecological crises.

illustration of silhouetted figure against hand with DNA emblems

More than Skin Deep

Racism is real and stress is not just all in your head.

collage of faces of different ethnicities

Biased? Who? Me?

Professor of Psychology and Executive Director of Project Implicit Kate Ratliff says many people do not recognize their own bias.

closeup of mosquito sucking blood

Global Issues — Bug Zappers

Liberal Arts and Sciences investigators at UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute are here to rid the world of dangerous microbes, wielding state-of-the-art technology with their scientific toolkits of electronic tracking, computer analysis, and petri dishes!

small boat on river with sunrise behind

Personal Essay — Rivers, Roads, and Gunmen

Two researchers search for the elusive logging frontier in the Amazonian wilds.

boat departs on river past other boats docked

Professor of Anthropology Receives ACLS Fellowship

Professor of Anthropology Richard Kernaghan receives an ACLS fellowship for new book project.

pair of two black holes

LIGO Director David Reitze Honored

On April 20, 2017, David Reitze, UF professor of physics and current director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Waves Observatory (LIGO) at Caltech, will be recognized by the National Academy of Sciences for his leadership at LIGO, which has detected two chirps of gravitational waves from colliding black holes. The discovery is significant because it demonstrates that the fabric of space-time is rippled by enormous outputs of energy, as Albert Einstein predicted in 1916. Learn more about gravitational waves and their detection, below.

blue and green Rorschach image

You May Recycle, But You’re Still Not Cool

UF researchers conduct first implicit bias research on environmentalist attitudes and behaviors.

ferrofluid with nanomagnets

Professor of Chemistry Wins SEC Faculty Achievement Award

The Iron Man of UF has won again. Professor of Chemistry George Christou, known for his research in nano-magnets, has received the SEC Faculty Achievement Award for his accomplishments. The Southeastern Conference, an athletic association comprising 14 academic institutions, has honored one faculty member from each institution for the past six years. This year, they […]

illustration of dengue virus

Most dengue infections transmitted in or near home

Study findings could aid in interrupting transmission chains and reducing severe illness The majority of dengue virus infections appear to happen very close to home and are transmitted from the same family of mosquitoes, suggests new research led by the University of Florida and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings, published […]