Science
UNT Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program and Director Ricardo Rozzi earn top honors for work in Chile
The University of North Texas Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program in Chile was recently awarded a 2019 Ocean Award by Boat International, a publisher of materials for boating enthusiasts.
UNT was recognized for the creation of the ...
UNT researcher rediscovers decades old solution to a modern problem
University of North Texas BioDiscovery Institute Research Associate Jaime Barros recently authored a paper published in the journal Nature Communications that utilizes state-of-the-art techniques to confirm 40-year-old research explaining how plants produce lignin, a compound that provides structural rigidity in plants and allows them to grow upright.
“Understanding how lignin is produced in plants also means that it can be manipulated...
UNT statistician develops risk prediction model for childhood cancer survivors to avoid anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy
University of North Texas associate professor Xuexia “Helen” Wang first noticed a correlation between anthracycline, a class of chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer patients, and cardiomyopathy, a type of heart disease, in childhood cancer survivors when she worked as a researcher for City of Hope in 2010.
Since then, she has dedicated her career to better understanding cancer, cancer-treatments and the side effects.
“Childhood cancer survivors are at a five- to 15-fold increased risk of anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy,...
Hanchen Huang named Fellow of ASM International
Hanchen Huang, new dean of the University of North Texas College of Engineering, recently was elected Fellow of the ASM International for his distinguished contributions to the fields of materials science and engineering.
Elected by his peers, Huang received the ASM International Fellow for his scientific contributions in developing a theoretical framework of nanorod growth, technological contributions in inventing metallic...
Two UNT science students enter the annals of chemistry
University of North Texas chemistry students Kortney Melancon and Brooke Otten have been credited with the discovery of a new chemical bond, which will forever carry their names.
The Otten-Melancon bond is a fundamental find that shows two supposedly inert metals, gold and copper, interacting at the subatomic level.
“Gold and copper are closed-shell metals. Unlike many metal atoms, they don’t adopt or give up electrons. They have “shells” of electrons that stay in place. This...
Severe storms rip roofs off of UNT’s Rafes Observatory buildings
DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas Rafes Urban Astronomy Center in Denton suffered serious damage from storms that moved through the area Wednesday night. As a result, all scheduled activities at the center have been canceled.
“This is quite a hit for us. We were planning on a large crowd for this Saturday’s open house and star watching party– our first in almost two months of rainy Saturdays,” said Ron “Starman” Diiulio, astronomy laboratory...
UNT students create augmented reality program for space helmets
University of North Texas juniors David Woodward, Tim Stern and Juan Ruiz are reaching for the stars with an augmented reality program that could change the way astronauts communicate in space.
Their work is part of the NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies (SUITS) Design Challenge, which tasked students to develop a system to provide real-time visual communication via an astronaut’s helmet visor.
“Currently during a spacewalk, astronauts communicate with mission control via radio transmission. Voice communication is...
UNT astronomy research collaboration unveils its largest telescope
As part of an informal collaboration, the University of North Texas has completed the successful restoration, update and installation of a half- meter CDK (Corrected Dall-Kirkhand) telescope to be used for student photometric and astrometric research.
“A CDK telescope utilizes two mirrors, special lenses and a charge-coupled device (like those found in digital cameras) to produce extremely high-quality images,” said Ron Diiulio, astronomy lab director at UNT’s College of Science. “This telescope...
Connected autonomous cars might be in your future
DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas College of Engineering has received a $359,993 Research Experience for Undergraduates grant from the National Science Foundation to host camps on vehicular edge computing and security for the next three summers.
The 10-week camps will be open to 10 students who come from populations underrepresented in the computer...
Making computers understand negation
Eduardo Blanco, an assistant professor with the University of North Texas College of Engineering, intends to use a $500,000 NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant to teach computers the intricacies of negation.
“To a computer trying to understand human language, the word never can be perplexing. What computers don’t seem to...