Cows In Space!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Blog entry by Danielle Chard, The Leonardo's marketing specialist.

Last night we took Leonardo After Hours on the road to Utah State University in Logan. The event -- "Cows In Space!"-- focused on how Utah's ag school has become a hotbed of innovation. We were able to tour USU's Innovation campus and learn from top researchers about the groundbreaking work going on in USU's USTAR program.

Forrest Fackrell telling guests about STORM in the Space Dynamics Laboratory.

First, we looked at the Applied Nutrition lab, where they're studying and learning about the bacteria in our colons. (You can imagine the jokes! Insert your joke here.) They're studying the impact of these 'gut microflora' and how they affect our health and well-being and how we can affect them with our diet.

Dr. Michael Lefevre led this session and taught some pretty fascinating stuff about the interplay between our innards and these bacteria. For instance, did you know there are more bacteria in your body than there are cells? (You might want to come up with a name for this icky alter-ego and blame him whenever anything goes wrong.) And did you know that the balance/misbalance of these bacteria can affect things like diabetes, obesity, and autism? Pretty cool.

Algae ponds at the Solar BioInnovations facility.

Next, we headed over to the Solar BioInnovations facility where they're testing and developing techniques for commercial-scale algae biofuel production. Greg Townsley, Byard Wood, Kevin Shurtleff, and Ron Simms walked us through the entire process of growing algae, drying and processing it, and extracting the oil. They're exploring and testing prototypes for growing affordable algae, which means they can create it on a massive scale.

Finally, we hit the Space Dynamics Laboratory, where Forrest Fackrell taught us about STORM, a new project they're working on that is improving tornado warning systems. This new project utilizes satellite and weather data to help predict tornados up to six hours in advance. And it creates a more pinpointed estimate of where the twister will touch down! Current methods can predict an area of about 250 miles that need evacuation, but every mile that's evacuated costs the federal government about $1 million dollars. STORM has been able to identify a more accurate range of about 100 miles, allowing a safe evacuation that is much faster and cheaper. Did you add that up? Because that's a potential savings of $150 million dollars!

All in all, this interactive tour was a great night, so great that someone even came straight from the airport after a trip back from Maryland. (So glad you made it!) A huge shout out to everyone at USTAR for hosting a fantastic event and sharing what your doing with legislators, college students and recent travelers. And, of course, a big thank you to everyone involved. And remember, if you missed this event, stay alert and stay tuned so you can put the next one on your calendar.



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Labels: events, innovation, Leo After Hours, science, technology, university, USTAR

Posted by The Leonardo at 6/08/2011 05:34:00 PM 0 comments