Microwaving popcorn never quite turns out right. Inevitably, some kernels remain unpopped while others burn. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory were experiencing a similar phenomenon with their ion source, the device that feeds singly ionized atoms into the particle accelerators that supply beams to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the…
UPTON, NY — The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has awarded the Technical Communities Globalization Medal to Upendra S. Rohatgi, a senior mechanical engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory. He received the award for work helping to steer scientists formerly engaged in designing weapons of mass destruction toward more…
Minnesota has reached the tail end of a moderate flu season — welcome relief after 2012-13, one of the deadliest flu outbreaks in years. The state has recorded 1,484 hospitalizations from influenza so far this year, compared to more than 3,000 last year, according to the Minnesota Department of Health’s weekly update. No one under…
State health officials have confirmed a case of measles in a 19-month-old Hennepin County child, prompting them to notify other Twin Cities families that they could be at risk amid an unusual measles outbreak that is crisscrossing the country. The case is the first in Minnesota so far this year. Nationally, 129 cases and 13…
All Vice President for Research Tim Mulcahy can do is watch, wait and hope for good news. With time running out for Congress and President Barack Obama to reach a compromise before looming automatic tax increases and spending cuts send the federal budget over a fiscal cliff, Mulcahy says the University of Minnesota’s research budget…
Minorities across the country are exposed to more of a dangerous air pollutant than whites, resulting in thousands of preventable deaths due to heart disease, according to a University of Minnesota study. The study, published Tuesday in the journal PLOS ONE, found that nonwhites are exposed to 38 percent more nitrogen dioxide, one of six…
Karen Ray has been caring for people her whole life — four children, 12 grandchildren, a husband — but when her mother was formally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease two years ago, she needed some extra help. Ray, 60, started attending a monthly support group where she could talk to other caregivers and get advice on…
For people trying to eat right and get more exercise, some gentle nagging can go a long way. Just ask Pat Rolloff of New Ulm, Minn. After her mom died last May, Rolloff’s doctor recommended that she try a program called HeartBeat Connections, which would hook her up with a health coach to help her…
The Minnesota Department of Health would regain broad authority to test and store blood samples from newborn babies under legislation that has pitted medical privacy activists against advocates of public health and medical research. The bill, which has passed key committees in the House and Senate, would reverse the direction of recent court rulings, allowing…
When the gas chromatograph spectrophotometer broke late last summer, it was Grant Wallace’s job to fix it. The instrument, which the University of Minnesota graduate student is using to measure the tiny products of pesticide reactions, is more than 10 years old, and its manufacturer no longer offers repair services. With the help of a…
Rebecca Harrington 