Experts in the News

The legendary ability of cats to fall back on their paws could one day help humans walk better after a spinal cord injury, according to research done at the Université de Sherbrooke. The knowledge could also help seniors whose sense of balance is more precarious. In collaboration with researchers from Georgia Tech and Drexel, the Sherbrooke researchers wanted to better understand how what science calls a somatosensory return allows a cat to coordinate the movement of its four legs. Boris Prilutsky, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences, collaborated on the research.

An unprecedented wave of minor earthquakes focused near Elgin, a small town in Kershaw County in South Carolina, have local residents struggling to describe what they’re experiencing. For a big chunk of 2022, “Did you feel that?” became almost as common a greeting as “How are you?” across the Midlands. The U.S. Geological Survey refers to the Elgin phenomenon as a “swarm.” It began Dec. 27, 2021, with a magnitude 3.3 earthquake. Since then, upward of 80 earthquakes have been recorded. Zhigang Peng, a professor of geophysics in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, says magma or fluid movement can cause quakes, but scientists haven't found evidence of those with the Elgin swarm.

A recent study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health has indicated that regular COVID-19 boosters may be key in reducing infection. The study found that receiving a booster shot once or twice a year significantly reduces the probability of COVID-19 infection. Despite hopes that the initial COVID-19 vaccination series would be effective at preventing long term infection, short-term studies involving SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies have indicated that antibody protection against infection wanes significantly post-vaccination and even post-booster. Researchers involved in the study include Hayley Hassler, a Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences (QBioS) at Georgia Tech.

2022 was an instrumental year for Zoo Atlanta’s research team, spearheading studies that change the way scientists and wildlife experts understand different species — ranging from mammals to reptiles — and inform best ways to care for and protect the animals. Last year, the team and partners published 16 peer-reviewed papers in total, according to Joseph Mendelson, adjunct professor in the School of Biological Sciences who is also Zoo Atlanta's Director of Research. For one paper, David Hu, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering was part of a study that focused on the mechanics of the skin wrinkles and folds in an elephant's trunk. Other School of Biological Sciences researchers assembled the genome of the critically endangered Guatemalan beaded lizard. Those researchers include former graduate student Carl J. Dyson, doctoral student Aaron Pfennig, Joseph Lachance, associate professor; Joseph Mendelson, and Michael Goodisman, professor. 

A recent study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health has indicated that regular COVID-19 boosters may be key in reducing infection. The study found that receiving a booster shot once or twice a year significantly reduces the probability of COVID-19 infection. Despite hopes that the initial COVID-19 vaccination series would be effective at preventing long term infection, short-term studies involving SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies have indicated that antibody protection against infection wanes significantly post-vaccination and even post-booster. Researchers involved in the study include Hayley Hassler, a Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences (QBioS) at Georgia Tech.

Pushing a shovel through snow, planting an umbrella on the beach, wading through a ball pit, and driving over gravel all have one thing in common: They all are exercises in intrusion, with an intruding object exerting some force to move through a soft and granular material. Predicting what it takes to push through sand, gravel, or other soft media can help engineers drive a rover over Martian soil, anchor a ship in rough seas, and walk a robot through sand and mud. But modeling the forces involved in such processes is a huge computational challenge that often takes days to weeks to solve. Now, engineers at the Massachusette Institute of Technology and Georgia Tech have found a faster and simpler way to model intrusion through any soft, flowable material. Daniel Goldman, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics, joined MIT researchers for this project. 

Governor Brian P. Kemp, in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), today announced that Georgia sustained its momentum through economic development projects in key industries during the first half of Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1 through December 31, 2022). The 218 locations or expansions supported by GDEcD’s Global Commerce division are expected to create approximately 17,500 new jobs and more than $13 billion in investment for the state. Both the number of locations and total investment amount increased over the same period last year. Included in the roundup is Science Square. Georgia Tech hosted an August groundbreaking for the purpose-built district near campus on North Avenue, designed as a hub for biosciences/life sciences research and development.

Ants are social insects and the Solenopsis invicta species —known as the fire ant— is no exception. The social interactions of this invasive insect, which comes from South America, are framed within the context of the theory of Active Matter, which would explain the ants’ group behaviour as a reaction to the intrinsic mechanisms in the system. This is one of the conclusions of an article published in the journal Science Advances by two University of Barcelona researchers along with Guillermo Goldsztein, professor in the School of Mathematics. 

Peatlands store a significant amount of the Earth’s carbon and have functioned as an important moderator of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for thousands of years. But as peatlands are lost to overextraction and affected by a warmer climate, the impact on these natural carbon scrubbers remains unclear. A team of researchers from Florida State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Oak Ridge National Lab and the University of Arizona received a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate the status of carbon stored in peatlands, environments that are at risk of carbon release due to climate change. The Georgia Tech researchers include Joel Kostka, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences; Kostas Konstantinidis, Richard C. Tucker Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Ocean Science and Engineering interdisciplinary graduate program; and Caitlin Petro, research scientist, and Katherine Duchesneau, doctoral student, both with the School of Biological Sciences. (Here's how the College of Sciences covered this story in October 2022.)

The updated COVID-19 booster shot that targets two omicron subvariants as well as the original coronavirus strain has been available to most Americans for more than four months, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says just 18% of adults have gotten it. Despite COVID deaths in the U.S. once again being on the rise, the months-long booster campaign appears to have an education problem, according to a report published Thursday by the CDC. The most common reason given for not getting the booster shot was a lack of knowledge about eligibility for it, followed by a lack of knowledge about vaccine availability, and a perceived belief that they were already protected against infection. Two School of Biological Sciences,researchers were involved in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR):  Joshua Weitz, professor, Tom and Marie Patton Chair, Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences, and Blaise Pascal International Chair of Excellence at the Ecole Normale Superieure; and Stephen Beckett, research scientist. (The CDC report is also mentioned in this story by the Los Angeles Times.)

Four early-career chemists, including a School of Chemistry and Biochemistry alumna, have been awarded funding to kickstart their research, ranging from biochemistry to polymers, thanks to a fund created to advance women in the chemical sciences. Marion Milligan Mason Award winners also receive leadership development, mentoring opportunities, and a network of women in the chemical sciences. One of the four Mason Award winners is Denise Okafor, MS CHEM 2010, Ph.D BIOCHEM 2015. Okafor is now an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State Eberly College of Sciences. 

Pushing a shovel through snow, planting an umbrella on the beach, wading through a ball pit, and driving over gravel all have one thing in common: They all are exercises in intrusion, with an intruding object exerting some force to move through a soft and granular material. Predicting what it takes to push through sand, gravel, or other soft media can help engineers drive a rover over Martian soil, anchor a ship in rough seas, and walk a robot through sand and mud. But modeling the forces involved in such processes is a huge computational challenge that often takes days to weeks to solve. Now, engineers at the Massachusette Institute of Technology and Georgia Tech have found a faster and simpler way to model intrusion through any soft, flowable material. Daniel Goldman, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics, joined MIT researchers for this project.