Tags: Nature

digital image of planetary disk, with blue, red, and space in black
New research challenges long-standing paradigm on planet formation

Two theories of planet formation have long-dominated astronomy - the first theory, “core accretion,” posits that planets grow slowly from particles of dust ultimately forming pebbles, then boulders, which coalesce to form planets over tens of millions of years.  The second theory – “gravitational instability,” in which planets form quickly from direct collapse of gas and dust, requiring hundreds to thousands of years instead – received new…

photo of wooded walking path, day
Noted and Quoted, February 2021

From winter storms and the polar vortex to volcanoes, COVID romance and insect couple longevity, Franklin College faculty expertise was present across global media during February. A sample: Is Texas really a serious rival in Silicon Valley? Stephen Mihm, associate professor of history, writing in the ExBulletin Research finds link between CO2, big volcano eruptions – research by assistant professor of geology Mattia Pistone reported…

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Kudos, Nov-Dec. 2019

Students and alumni lead the kudos as we count down to the end of 2019. Congratulations all: Herb Girls Athens, a two-woman team, won the 2018-19 FABricate competition with its signature product, a healthy coffee additive called Rally Coffee. The FABricate competition is designed to empower students to turn their great ideas into working businesses. Eileen Schaffer, an agribusiness master’s degree student, and …

photo of woman painting letters on exterior brick wall
Kudos, October 2019

Fantastic news about faculty, staff and students inside and beyond the classroom over the last month: Distinguished Research Professor of Geography Andy Herod was recently re-appointed by Governor Kemp to the State's Complete Count Committee for the 2020 Census, by Executive Order in September. Herod had previously been appointed to the Committee by Governor Deal Barbara McCaskill, Professor of English and Associate Academic…

photo green algae
Study provides framework for 1 billion years of green plant evolution

Gene sequences for more than 1,100 plant species have been released by an international consortium of nearly 200 plant scientists, the culmination of a nine-year research project. The One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes Initiative (1KP) is a global collaboration to examine the diversification of plant species, genes and genomes across the more than 1 billion-year history of green plants dating back to the ancestors of flowering…

satellite map of three rivers converging on a green background
Plant physiology and river flooding

Earth system scientists have identified another culprit (other than rain) that causes a river to overflow its banks: leafy plants. In a study published today in Nature Climate Change, the UCI researchers describe the emerging role of ecophysiology in riparian flooding. As an adaptation to an overabundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees, plants and grasses constrict their stomatal pores to regulate the amount of…

color figure illustration of land, sea and sky, with labels
Experts warn of connections between microorganisms and climate change

As scientists improve their understanding of the impacts of microorganisms on the broad systems and that keep global biological cycles in balance, responses to a changing climate by microbes on land and sea across the Earth have become key indicators. Now, more than 30 microbiologists from 9 countries have issued a warning to humanity – they are calling for the world to stop ignoring an ‘unseen majority’ in Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystem…

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Alumni Johnson and Schneider Leave No Trace

The UGA Graduate School magazine profiles alumni Jessie Johnson, who received an MA in Sociology (2005) and Matthew Schneider, who earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy (2010), intrepid adventurers who share a mindful approach to living: Johnson and Schneider have no permanent address, no “home” per se, but live on the road and camp in public campgrounds or sometimes on private land. They are one of four pairs of Leave No Trace…

circular graphic with species labeled
New comparative study on DNA modifications across the fungal tree of life

DNA activity can change without changing the sequence of the DNA segment itself. Gene activation and inactivation can be the basis for how species produce unique individuals. Some processes that change gene activity are well understood in the context of model species. However, scientists are still grappling with how some processes, like DNA methylation, change gene activity in many diverse organisms. Broader theories applicable to all species…

collage with map, graphic and fresco
The American South, Fibonacci and the origins of money

A title that would make an extraordinary single article [or film], but this triumvirate of stories in the media over the weekend featuring Franklin College faculty provides a handy illustration of the breadth of arts and science scholarship. Professor emeritus of history James Cobb in TIME magazine: During the 1950s and ‘60s, New York-based publications like TIME, Newsweekor Harper’s regularly devoted special issues or…

warrior water graphic
Understanding the Calusa

On the heels of Christopher Columbus' initial ventures into the New World, word traveled quickly among the indigenous peoples of present-day Florida and the Caribbean. Of those, the Calusa, began a protracted battle with the Spaniards that lasted centuries. The work of archeology professor Victor Thompson to understand the world and the ways of the Calusa is uncovering fascinating new artifacts and details: Thompson stands behind the steering…
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