Exploring microstructures for high-performance materials
In just the first few months of 2024, the journal Nature has published two scientific papers co-authored by Kun Luo, an Iowa State University postdoctoral research associate in materials science and engineering.
"My research aims to unravel the fundamental mechanisms governing the behavior of diverse materials," Ken Luo wrote in a brief biography, "paving the way for developing innovative and high-performance materials across various industries."
Luo has a background in experimental science, studying superhard materials using techniques in high-pressure physics. He also has expertise in theoretical simulations using machine learning tools to discover the microstructures within materials.
"Throughout my career, I recognized the importance of theoretical simulation in explaining the atomic mechanisms behind the macroscopic behaviors of materials," he said.
before I went to ISU, I took a campus tour, which you'd think would be unnecessary since I grew up so close to there, but it did lead me to an amazing discovery.
One of the main east/west streets through town is "Lincoln Way" - part of the Lincoln Highway / US 30, one of the first highways to run coast to coast. Now there's what guys like my dad call "New 30," and what most people call "Highway 30," that stays south of town, but the original version went right through the city and out to Campustown of Iowa State College (as it was known at the time).
While on the university tour, I heard the guide give the location of some building as being on "Lincoln Way" with a noticeable pause between the words, just as you would say "Madison Avenue" or "42nd Street." It made me realize that my whole life I'd heard people say the street name as "Lincolnway," all one word, completely glossing over the space. It hit me that might be a way to tell if someone was or was not from the area. I suppose it stuck out because it was someone representing the university, and here they were saying the name of a major street like a stranger!
I had honestly never thought about it until hearing someone not from the area say the street name in a more standard way, as two words. There was a long-running radio ad that referred to some business as being "Way out west on Lincolnway" and it never seemed unprofessional or anything. It was just how everyone said it. And it would also have been weird if someone just called it "Lincoln," like we did for avenues like Grand or Duff and streets like Ontario or 13th.
One thing I never found out is if out-of-state students grew to embrace the locals' pronunciation or if they kept calling it as two words. Next time I get a fundraiser call from ISU I'll have to ask.
(In a modern AU) Audrey’s Somewhere That’s Green is specifically Ames, Iowa, since she came across Iowa State University’s website when she was young and naive enough to believe that she would one day be able to afford to go to college, and the “Choose Your Adventure” theme struck a chord with her. Before they got together, she told Seymour about this, thinking that they could laugh about how she was being a stupid kid, and he instead reassured her that she wasn’t being stupid. They ended up moving there after getting together, and she sometimes takes one or two classes at the university for fun (This headcanon is totally not based on something that happened to me in real life.)
Iowa State College's Home Economics Division presents "The Home Economics Story". The short film boasts about all of the wonderful things women can learn in the Home Economics courses. It's quite the watch…
This short is in the public domain, so you can find it on YouTube or the Internet Archive.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2
One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.
Helen Keller, The Story of My Life
To add some joy to the holiday season, I have some good things from 2023 to share with you.
Good Stuff Happening in the Parkinson’s World!
The Fox Foundation has been at the forefront of Advocacy for Parkinson’s in 2023. Their efforts have paid off big with the passage of the National Plan to…
New zirconia-based catalyst can make plastics upcycling more sustainable
A new type of catalyst breaks down polyolefin plastics into new, useful products. This project is part of a new strategy to reduce the amount of plastic waste and its impact on our environment, as well as recover value that is lost when plastics are thrown away. The catalyst was developed by a team from the Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastic (iCOUP), a U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Frontier Research Center. The effort was led by Aaron Sadow, the director of iCOUP, scientist at Ames National Laboratory, and professor at Iowa State University; Andreas Heyden, professor at the University of South Carolina; and Wenyu Huang, scientist at Ames Lab and professor at Iowa State. The new catalyst is made only of earth-abundant materials, which they demonstrated can break carbon-carbon (CC) bonds in aliphatic hydrocarbons.
Aliphatic hydrocarbons are organic compounds made up of only hydrogen and carbon. Polyolefin plastics are aliphatic hydrocarbon materials composed of long chains of carbon atoms linked together to form strong materials. These materials are a big part of the plastic waste crisis. Wenyu Huang said, "More than half of produced plastics so far are polyolefin based."
This weekend I’ll be headlining Joystick Comedy Bar & Arcade in Iowa City! I performed at Joystick earlier this year at the 2023 Floodwater Comedy Festival so it’s a thrill to be back! 9:30 p.m. show. Travis Coltrain hosts.
Artwork: Nordacious aka James Hillier Photo: Based on the original photo by Brent Kosadnar
Guest sets: 9/22 - Don't Tell Comedy Iowa City 8 p.m. 9/23 - Willow Creek Theatre Company 8:30 p.m.
Evaluate fish movements, behaviors, population dynamics, and management options in the Missouri and Mississippi river basins using a vast acoustic telemetry array. Tremendous opportunity to blend basic and applied research and work collaboratively with a wide diversity of state and federal partners. Dissertation topics can be developed based on students interests.