
Falling Walls winner heads to Berlin
Solomon Abiola believes it is well within our reach to predict the spread of infectious diseases like Zika and Ebola with the same accuracy we predict hurricanes. And this fall, he will have a chance to make his case on an international stage.

A digital ‘Rochester Cloak’ to fit all sizes
Using the same mathematical framework as the Rochester Cloak, researchers have been able to use flat screen displays to extend the range of angles that can be hidden from view. Their method lays out how cloaks of arbitrary shapes, that work from multiple viewpoints, may be practically realized in the near future using commercially available digital devices.

Tech helps teens battle asthma
A teenager with asthma could be coughing, wheezing, and feeling short of breath, but be too engrossed in texting with friends to even notice. Working with colleagues in computer science and engineering, School of Nursing professor Hyekyun Rhee uses this potential problem as a solution.

Researchers demonstrate record optical nonlinearity
A team led by Robert Boyd has demonstrated that the transparent, electrical conductor indium tin oxide can result in up to 100 times greater nonlinearity than other known materials, a potential ‘game changer’ for photonics applications.

The challenges of preserving historic structures
Researchers from the U.S., Singapore, Ghana and Italy will give talks at “Analysis and Conservation of Cultural Heritage Monuments: Challenges and Approaches Across Disciplines.”

Q&A: New ways to make molecules
Daniel Weix specializes in developing better ways of creating molecules with the goal of speeding up the discovery of useful compounds, including pharmaceuticals.

A new way to determine the age of stars?
Rochester researchers have developed a new conceptual framework for understanding how stars similar to our Sun evolve. Their framework helps explain how the rotation of stars, their emission of x-rays, and the intensity of their stellar winds vary with time. According to Eric Blackman, professor of physics and astronomy, the work could also “ultimately help to determine the age of stars more precisely than is currently possible.”

Q&A: Biologist earns raves for work with yeast
LISTEN: David Goldfarb, professor of biology, researches yeast as a model organism for understanding the aging process in humans. Why does this essential ingredient in bread and beer make a good research specimen?

Paying attention to words, not just images, leads to better captions
A team of University and Adobe researchers is outperforming other approaches to creating computer-generated image captions in an international competition. The key to their winning approach? Thinking about words – what they mean and how they fit in a sentence structure – just as much as thinking about the image itself.

Rochester scientist discovers new comet
David Cameron, a visiting scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has discovered a new comet – the first to be discovered by an astronomer associated with the University or with the Rochester area in over a century, his colleagues believe.