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UCF Satellite Launches Successfully into Space from Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne Rocket
University of Central Florida planetary science continues its ascent as a leader in space research with another high-profile flight, this time aboard Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne, which was blasted into orbit Sunday from the company’s 747 carrier aircraft, Cosmic Girl. The launch took place at 10:50 a.m. at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. […]
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UCF Faculty Collaborate to Provide Students Free Course Materials
Textbooks and other required course materials can add significantly to the cost of a college degree, and UCF faculty are doing what they can to help. During the Fall 2020 semester, at least 31 faculty members provided their required course materials at no cost to students through the use of open educational resources (OER). These […]
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UCF Engineering and Biology Researchers Collaborate to Aid Coral Reef Restoration
Florida’s threatened coral reefs have a more than $4 billion annual economic impact on the state’s economy, and University of Central Florida researchers are zeroing in on one factor that could be limiting their survival – coral skeleton strength. In a new study published in the journal Coral Reefs, UCF engineering researchers tested how well […]
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DNA Analysis From Chemistry Lab Provides Water Insights for Orange County, Orlando
Chemistry Assistant Professor Melanie Beazley, Ph.D., and her team have developed a groundbreaking biochemical analysis to identify excess contaminants and nutrients in Orlando’s local lakes caused by native Florida birds. The research, done in collaboration with Orange County and the City of Orlando, uses the DNA of contaminant-inducing agents against specific biomarkers to identify and […]
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Online Class Revamp Earns Psychology Lecturer Top Marks from UCF
UCF prides itself on the quality of its online learning, but the competition was extra steep in 2020 when digital instruction became the widespread norm. So it’s all the more impressive when the Department of Psychology’s Martha Hubertz, Ph.D., landed the annual award for exemplary leadership in online teaching. Hubertz received the Chuck Dzubian Award […]
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UCF Student Elected to Help Protect Local Natural Resources
There are the average demands of a final semester in college, and then there’s Raquel Lozano’s life. She’s juggling two majors — political science and public administration — a minor in urban and regional planning and a certificate in human resources. The 24-year-old has the power of attorney and is the healthcare surrogate for her […]
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UCF Developed Sensor Passes First Test, On Track for Future Moon Missions
A prototype sensor that detects Moon dust by shooting lasers through the sky has successfully completed its first hurdle. That means UCF is one step closer to building the real instrument that could fly to the moon on a future mission. UCF researchers designed the Ejecta STORM instrument to scan the area around a lunar […]
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Rare Bethlehem Star, Geminids and More Delight Stargazers this Month
Stargazers are in for a very rare treat on Monday. If the clouds cooperate, they’ll be able to see the “Bethlehem Star” — an event that hasn’t been seen in about 800 years. The moniker applies to the Christian description of the “Bethlehem” or “Christmas Star” that was said to have appeared in the night […]
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UCF Researchers Earn Top Spots in Their Fields in New Ranking of Scientific Impact
Three University of Central Florida researchers are among the world’s top 25 scholars in their field, and 100 are in the top 2%, according to a new study ranking career-long scientific impact of researchers from around the globe. The study, which appeared recently in the journal PLOS Biology, used a composite indicator based on six […]
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UCF-based Limbitless Solutions and Video Game Cyberpunk 2077 Team Up
If you are a fan of the video game Cyberpunk 2077 and a member of the UCF family, this is for you. Limbitless Solutions, the UCF-based nonprofit that creates bionic arms for children, worked with the game company to turn the metallic arm of the game character Johnny Silverhand from the screen to real life. […]
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Founder of UCF Nanoscience Center Inducted Into National Academy of Inventors
Founding Director and Professor of the UCF Nanoscience Technology Center, James J. Hickman, Ph.D., has been honored as an inductee of the National Academy of Inventors for his outstanding contributions in the fields of both biological and non-biological nanoscience. UCF recruited Hickman in 2004 to establish the NanoScience Technology Center following recognition for his work […]
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The Nature Conservancy, UCF Coastal Join Forces To Study Protected Lands
Tens of thousands of acres of protected Florida habitats will receive deeper scientific scrutiny thanks to a new agreement between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and UCF Coastal. TNC has been on a mission since 1961 to guard prime Florida landscapes from development and conduct scientific research through a team that includes 50 scientists and land […]
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New Book Provides Lifeline for Students Learning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL Students interested in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) now have another good reference book to help them get started: the Fundamentals of Recoupling and Decoupling Techniques in Solid-State NMR. The book by Physics Associate Professor Physics faculty Bo Chen, Ph.D., was just published by the American Institute of Physics, LLC (AIP). The book […]
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UCF Researcher Part of New NASA Mission to Map Water on Moon
NASA today gave a team of researchers the green light to begin building instruments that will be launched on a satellite to scan and create high-resolution maps of water on the moon. In June 2019, NASA selected the Lunar Trailblazer mission, along with three other proposed missions, for further study under its Small Innovative Missions […]
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Arecibo Observatory’s Telescope Collapses
The instrument platform of the 305-meter telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico fell at approximately 7:55 a.m. Puerto Rico time today, Dec. 1. No injuries were reported as a result of the collapse, but it caused damage to the observatory dish and surrounding facilities. Extent of the damage is being assessed. “Safety of personnel […]
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Research Takes Early Steps Toward Handheld Cancer-Scanning Device
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL A handheld device that could allow individuals to screen themselves for cancer is one potential outcome of ongoing research into the power of terahertz lasers. The work comes from the lab of Richard Klemm, Ph.D.,in collaboration with the Kadowaki-Kashiwagi-Tsujimoto and Minami groups at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. They recently published […]
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Serving Native American Communities
Growing up with family members who held leadership positions with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians — the only federally recognized tribal nation in Alabama — Rebecca Naragon ’07 knew she wanted to pursue a career in public service. Now the political science grad is an economic development director for the United South and Eastern […]
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UCF RESTORES Starts New Mental Health Services in Orange County for COVID-19
In response to the psychological toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Central Florida’s psychological trauma clinic, UCF RESTORES, is working with Orange County on two new projects to provide treatment services in the area. The work will focus on residents of Azalea Park on the east side of Orlando and essential workers who […]
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Arecibo Observatory Telescope to be Decommissioned After Second Cable Break
Following a review of engineering assessments, the U.S. National Science Foundation today announced it will begin planning the controlled decommissioning of the 1,000-foot-wide telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The observatory, which UCF manages for NSF under a cooperative agreement, has for 57 years served as a world-class resource for radio astronomy and […]
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Alumna Quantifies Emotions and Feelings Using Power of Mathematics
Satisfaction and happiness are intangible, subjective emotions, but Statistics grad Donna Lockhart ’03 knows how to quantify those feelings into useful, actionable data. Lockhart currently leads the team that takes the pulse of guest satisfaction at Disney, and uses that data to make recommendations to senior leadership. While behind-the-scenes as the senior management consultant […]
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Political Opposites Unite to Teach Students Value of Common Vision
Today’s students are engaging in a world of politics that’s less meaningful conversation and more “angry team sports,” observes longtime Central Florida pundit Tico Perez ’83. Perez, an attorney and staunch Republican, recently did his part to reverse that trend by joining up with former Florida Representative and Democratic champion Dick Batchelor ‘71 to talk […]
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New Book Explores Breast Milk Sharing Among Central Florida Women
An in-depth, years-long study into the practice of Central Florida mothers sharing their breast milk to nourish babies other than their own recently culminated in a co-authored book. The authors trace their interest in peer-to-peer breast milk sharing to Associate Professor of Sociology Shannon Carter, Ph.D., who first observed human milk sharing at breastfeeding support […]
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Critical Seagrass Mapping Project Continues Uninterrupted Thanks to Remote Instruction
Critical work mapping seagrass beds on the Pacific West Coast continues uninterrupted this fall thanks to innovative thinking from the Citizen Science GIS team. The seagrass (also known as eelgrass) project is funded by a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation and helps researchers to measure seagrass meadow dynamics over time. This data […]
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A Second Cable Fails at NSF’s Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico
A main cable that supports the Arecibo Observatory broke Friday at 7:39 p.m. Puerto Rico time. Unlike the auxiliary cable that failed at the same facility on Aug. 10, this main cable did not slip out of its socket. It broke and fell onto the reflector dish below, causing additional damage to the dish and […]
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Journalism Students Gain Valuable Election Coverage Experience
Presidential election night is considered the Super Bowl of journalism. Journalists are expected to deliver at the highest-level while under intense pressure in a rapidly changing environment. Sixteen journalism students and 20 radio-television students recently experienced the election rite of passage through a partnership with the Orlando Sentinel on Nov. 3. Orlando’s flagship newspaper has […]
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Faculty Film Shot in India Makes its World Premiere at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
A documentary film about efforts to enhance education for the children of India’s sweeper communities will make its world premiere this month at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Lisa Mills, Ph.D., associate professor of Film in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, wrote and directed Son of a Sweeper. The 30 minute film […]
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First-Gen Student Perseveres Through Family Struggles, Hopes to Provide Financially
The day after Oneisha Eugene’s seventh birthday, her father, a St. Lucian native, was in a car accident that deprived his brain of oxygen long enough that he temporarily lost the ability to walk, move or talk. The accident altered his well-being for the rest of his life. “[Since] then, we basically had a very […]
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You Voted, Now What?
While some argue voting in the presidential election is one of the most important civic duties, ensuring that a democracy serves the best interests of its citizens requires active participation all year, every year. “America is built on hope for the next opportunity. What happens in the next midterm election two years from now, and […]
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Oyster Reef Restoration Efforts Get Help from Potato Chip Byproduct
Longtime work to restore oyster reefs in the Indian River Lagoon has found a new, unusual ally: potato chips. The Coastal and Estuarine Ecology Lab at UCF has been experimenting with various products looking for an effective, biodegradable material for restoration that’s inexpensive. For the past 14 months the group has been testing a mesh […]
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New Research Identifies Motivation for Prescription Stimulant Misuse by Age Group
By JAYME BLASCHKE New research shows that abuse of prescription stimulant medication by adolescents and young adults is driven by different motivations closely linked to age. The study was conducted by Ty Schepis, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Texas State University; Jason Ford, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida; Timothy Wilens, Massachusetts General […]