contents | winter 2010
Unraveling the secrets of a pathogen’s evolutionary arms race
Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researchers have discovered how pathogen proteins enter the cells of plants, humans, and other animals.
Southern forests went from cutover and ugly to productive and beautiful
Today's forests provide wood, wildlife habitat, water yield, aesthetics, and scenic quality — thanks to university research.
African-American voices in Appalachia resonate with Spanish gospel choir
An oral history project of the tiny community of Wake Forest, Virginia, brought out the importance of religion and song to the community and inspired a Spanish gospel choir to visit.
Iran’s contested election: Populism and power
Iran's youth, one-third of the population, is educated but jobless. And the young people are impatient with traditional social rules and roles.
Minding our electricity use
Unlike oil, electricity can't be stockpiled. Consumers could help even demand if they knew when to shift their electric use.
Unearthing a prehistoric time capsule
The Cambrian era has long been identified as the age when life as we know it came into existence. Now scientists have uncovered evidence that animals actually existed earlier.
Technology developed for national security advances cancer detection
Virginia Tech and Sandia National Laboratory researchers developed technology to differentiate cells by their intrinsic electrical properties.
Regulatory uncertainty and industry investment: A new approach
A business researcher is using decades of power plant data, including plans for constructions of power plants, to reveal how plans change in reaction to regulations and uncertainty about regulation changes.
Innovation can help states revitalize job markets, economies
States' investment in research that solves pressing social problems, such as climate change, helps local economies.
