Author: WeWorldMedia-admin

Conserving the White Oak Tree: Critical for timber and distilling industries

Published: 3 April 2025
Categories: National Science Foundation

RSS feed source: National Science Foundation

A group of researchers from the University of Kentucky, The University of Tennessee and Indiana University, including those supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, have collaborated with scientists from the U.S. Forest Service and others to produce the first complete genome for the white oak (Quercus alba), a tree that provides large amounts of timber and is the primary species used in barrels for aging spirits.

Credit: Matthew Barton, University of Kentucky

The white oak at Makers Mark Star Hill Farm that provided the sample for recent NSF-funded work to develop a haploid genome for the species, which can be used in conserving this economically important tree.

Data to complete the genome came from a range of academic sources, the Forest Service, state forest services and industry. By combining those data into an unbiased annotation of the white oak’s genes, the researchers have created a resource to understand genetic diversity and population differentiation within the species, assess disease resistance and the evolution of genes that enhance it, and compare with other oak genomes to determine evolutionary relationships between species and how the genomes have evolved.

“Plants, including trees, help meet society’s needs for food, fuel, fiber and, in this case, other key economic services. Having genomic data like this helps us address

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Carbon capture could become practical with scalable, affordable materials

Published: 3 April 2025
Categories: Engineering News

RSS feed source: National Science Foundation

Researchers have expanded the potential of carbon capture technology that plucks CO2 directly from the air by demonstrating that there are multiple suitable and abundant materials that can facilitate direct air capture. Researchers present new, lower-cost materials to facilitate moisture-swing to catch and then release CO2 depending on the local air’s moisture content, calling it ‘one of the most promising approaches for CO2 capture.’

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Tenured Faculty in Advanced Manufacturing

Published: 3 April 2025
Categories: Eng Jobs Academic Keys

RSS feed source: National Science Foundation

The Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE) at Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) invites applications for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position in advanced manufacturing. We seek candidates with expertise in areas including, but not limited to: advanced manufacturing processes, additive manufacturing, digital manufacturing, material properties, process-property relationships and optimization, microstructure characterization, phase-field modeling, and/or machine learning for manufacturing. Candidates with experimental and/or computational backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Those with a strong record of sustained success in research, teaching, and service will be considered for an endowed chair. The expected start date is Spring 2026, but this is negotiable.

Illinois Tech is a private, Ph.D.-granting research university with nationally ranked programs in aerospace, mechanical and other engineering programs, and in computing, architecture, science, design, psychology, business, law, and the humanities. It is ranked #1 in Illinois and #23 nationally in

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