K-Staters in the news — December 2016
The top stories mentioning Kansas State University are posted below. Download an Excel file (xls) with all of this month's news stories.
Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016
Kansas State Polytechnic's UAS Program Provides Tips on Safe Operations for Drone Hobbyists
12/21/16 Aviation Pros
With unmanned aircraft, or drones, a popular gift item this holiday season and beyond, the unmanned aircraft systems program on Kansas State University's Polytechnic Campus has five essential tips to help hobbyists fly safely.
Researchers in Scotland develop E. coli vaccine for cattle
12/21/16 Food Safety News
Beef producers in the United States have been slow to adopt vaccines because they have not proven to be as cost-effective as other interventions that have been deployed in the industry’s largely successful war on E. coli O157. In 2015, Kansas State University researchers found one of the vaccines was highly effective, but not likely to be adopted by producers because of costs.
NIFA grant will boost KSU efforts to edit wheat’s genetic code
12/21/16 KNEB
Kansas State University has received $300,000 from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to conduct a gene-editing project on wheat varieties.
Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016
*Molecular selfie reveals how a chemical bond breaks: proton seen escaping the molecule
12/19/16 Before It's News
The fantastic cooperation between experimentalists and theorists, atomic physicists and quantum chemists from ICFO, Kansas State University, Max-‐Planck-‐ Institut für Kernphysik, Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Center for Free Electron Laser Science/DESY/CUI, Aarhus University, Friedrich-‐Schiller University Jena, Leiden University, and Universitat Kassel made it possible to achieve such a feat.
*Partners Kansas State Polytechnic, Westar Energy advance electric utility inspection and maintenance methods with drone technology
12/19/16 Aviation Pros
Kansas State University's Polytechnic Campus and Kansas-based power company Westar Energy are propelling the electric utility industry forward by innovating inspection and maintenance methodologies with drone technology.
*Podcast: Nanotherapeutics ribbon cutting, testing for babesia in the blood supply
12/19/16 Outbreak News Today
On the Dec. 18 airing of the Outbreak News This Week Radio Show, I looked a new study by researchers from Kansas State University that looked at the food safety habits of TV celebrity chefs. “I think that celebrity chefs have a responsibility for entertaining us, but they also have a responsibility to give us good food,” KSU food safety expert Edgar Chambers IV said. “We want celebrity chefs to teach us how to make food that not only tastes good but is good for us — and part of that is good food safety.”
Monday, Dec. 19, 2016
USDA awards $3.4 million for research to increase wheat yields
12/16/16 Phys.org
Among the projects announced today, scientists from Kansas State University will use the advancing technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) outfitted with cutting-edge imaging tools to rapidly assess field trials in wheat breeding programs and use aerial images to gather precise measurements of plant traits relating to yield and health. A consortium of 19 institutions led by the University of California, Davis will train a new generation of 15 plant breeders as well as identify, characterize and deploy wheat genes to increase grain yield. This project builds on prior international, multi-institutional NIFA investments that have had direct positive impacts on wheat breeding.
Man donates land to 2 Kansas universities for scholarships
12/16/16 Houston Chronicle
A Jefferson County man has donated more than 1,300 acres of land to the University of Kansas and Kansas State University with the stipulation that income from the land's sale go toward engineering scholarships.
*From firefights to fighting fires, re-purposed fire trucks have seen it all
12/16/16 WIBW-TV
The Kansas Forest Service at Kansas State University receives used trucks and equipment from Fort Riley and other military installations through the Federal Excess Personal Property and the FireFighter Property Programs.
Friday, Dec. 16, 2016
Most Celebrity Chefs Have Bad Kitchen Hygiene, Study Says
12/15/16 The Daily Meal
Who doesn’t love getting cooking tips from Ina, or barbecue secrets from Bobby? But viewer beware: You may emulate their sautéing skills, but don’t copy their food hygiene practices (or lack thereof). A recent study from Kansas State University which analyzed 100 random episodes of cooking shows aired on Food Network, The Cooking Channel, Amazon, Hulu, and more, found that the major of celebrity chefs don’t practice proper food safety on-screen.
Researchers Take Snapshots of Molecular Dynamics
12/16/16 AZO Materials
This feat was achieved through the remarkable collaboration between theorists and experimentalists, quantum chemists and atomic physicists from Kansas State University, ICFO, the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, the Center for Free Electron Laser Science/DESY/CUI, the Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Friedrich‐Schiller University Jena, Aarhus University, Universität Kassel, and Leiden University.
Land donation could provide millions for scholarships at KU, K-State
12/15/16 Lawrence Journal-World
A Jefferson County man left more than 1,300 acres of land to the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, with the stipulation that income from the land’s sale go toward scholarships.
Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016
*Keep Food Poisoning Off the Menu
12/14/16 Consumer Reports
Separate poultry and meat from other food. Fewer than one in five shoppers use plastic bags (provided by many supermarket meat departments) to keep meat juices from contaminating other items in their cart, according to a recent Kansas State University study. The researchers recommend using the bags while shopping and when storing the products in the fridge.
*Celebrity chefs have poor food safety practices
12/14/16 ScienceDaily
Kansas State University food safety experts Edgar Chambers IV and Curtis Maughan, along with Tennessee State University's Sandria Godwin, recently published "Food safety behaviors observed in celebrity chefs across a variety of programs" in the Journal of Public Health. The researchers viewed 100 cooking shows with 24 popular celebrity chefs and found several unclean food preparation behaviors.
*K-State researchers find celebrity chefs have poor food safety habits
12/13/16 Fox Channel 4 in Kansas City
You may never watch those celebrity chef shows in the same way again after you hear what Kansas State University researchers found. The chefs' habits were a recipe for food safety nightmares.
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016
The SAVE Farm, provides transitioning servicemembers with purpose and vocation through farming
12/13/16 WIBW
Associate Professor of Interior Architecture and Product Design at Kansas State University Vibhavari Jani, joined the project after meeting Gary LaGrange on Ft. Riley.
Alfalfa Hay As A Protein Supplement
12/13/16 Farms.com
Research conducted at Kansas State University in the early 1990s demonstrated that good quality alfalfa hay was equally effective compared to a traditional protein cake based on soybean meal and milo grain.
Better food safety — there's a recipe for that
12/13/16 Food Processing
These results were observed by Edgar Chambers IV, co-director of the Kansas State University Sensory Analysis Center and his team, including researchers at Tennessee State University and RTI International and have been published in the Journal of Food Protection.
Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016
*Morgan County students earn scholarships at Kansas State University
12/12/16 Fort Morgan Times
Overall, Kansas State University students have earned more than $33.28 million in scholarships for the current academic year. Nearly 6,500 in-state students received $24.45 million, 1,456 out-of-state students received $8.29 million and 227 international students received more than $548,000 in scholarship funding.
Highlighting dry pet food's role in Mexican market
12/12/16 Pet Food Industry
Participants in the Mexico Workshop benefited from sessions on best practices for various phases of processing dry pet food, presented by leading industry experts and suppliers. Held at the Autonomous University of Baja California's lab, those sessions covered:
• A methodology for testing the performance of the mixer, a key component of the pre-extrusion process, presented by Greg Aldrich, PhD, head of Kansas State University's Pet Food Program, and Isabella Alvarenga, one of his PhD students.
In other agribusiness news...
12/12/16 High Plains Journal
DJI, Shenzen, China, a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles, has released "Feeding the World," a video about the company's partnership with Kansas State University to use drone technologies in precision agriculture, providing more sustainable practices and helping to increase farm yields. K-State and DJI are pursuing agriculture research collaborations that include crop-stress monitoring, aerial imaging and precision spraying as well as development and evaluation of next-generation unmanned aerial systems for agricultural use.
Monday, Dec. 12, 2016
US eyes off China beef market
12/11/16 North Queensland Register (Australia)
The director of the Centre for Risk Management Education and Research at Kansas State University, Prof Schroeder’s work focuses on improving commodity market efficiency.
*Myers confident about today's youth
12/10/16 Salina Journal
Richard Myers, new Kansas State University president, dismisses any negative talk about today’s young people. “I’m so impressed with today’s youth,” Myers told the 41 graduates at Friday evening’s fall commencement at Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus at Stiefel Gymnasium.
*‘Railroad Empire’: Rephotography highlights environmental changes since 1867
12/10/16 Topeka Capital Journal
“His photography was amazing when you consider the conditions under which he did it,” said Jim Sherow, an environmental historian who teaches at Kansas State University.
Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016
'Never forget' takes on urgency as Pearl Harbor survivors dwindle
12/6/16 The Kansas City Star
In his office at Kansas State University, history professor Jim Sherow has a framed front page of the Dec. 8, 1941, edition of The Eagle.
Jesse McCurry named executive director of Kansas Grain Sorghum
12/6/16 Farm Progress
He holds a master’s. in speech communication and a bachelor’s in agricultural communications and journalism from Kansas State University.
Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016
Kansas State to help farmers weather ag economy downturn
12/5/16 Farm Journal
Kansas farmers who are facing some hard decisions due to another down year for farm income and a pessimistic outlook for 2017 are getting help from agricultural experts at Kansas State University. The school will hold a series of eight workshops across the state starting next week called the "Top 10 Considerations to Navigate a Struggling Farm Economy" as a way to help producers handle the downturn.
K-State robotics team pays a visit to local elementary school
12/5/16 WIBW
A group of elementary school students learned about the fun of robotics Monday. The K-State robotics team paid a visit to Silverlake Elementary School Monday morning. They taught students about designing a robot to fit a specific task and how communication between a human and robot works. The K-State students also talked about benefits of knowing a programming language.
K-State Polytechnic instructors formulate safety list for drone owners
12/5/16 Salina Journal
The growing popularity of unmanned aircraft has motivated two Kansas State Polytechnic instructors to come up with a safety checklist to help people who find a drone under the tree on Christmas morning.
Monday, Dec. 5, 2016
*Is Epogee the fat substitute we've been waiting for?
12/2/16 USA Today
Unilever, which acquired Best Foods, had a relationship with Kansas State University and donated all of its materials related to development of the fat substitute to that institution. At that time, the two companies had invested about $50 million in the project, said Kent Glasscock, president of the Kansas State University’s Institute for Commercialization.
*Feathered fathers and mothers have diverse parenting arrangements, according to research
12/4/16 Science Daily
Birds of a feather flock together but they schedule parenting duties differently. Researchers are part of an international team of ornithologists who have published a study about how mated pairs of wild shorebirds have established diverse schedules for parental care of the nest.
Kansas State to help farmers weather ag economy downturn
12/3/16 Houston Chronicle
Kansas farmers who are facing some hard decisions due to another down year for farm income and a pessimistic outlook for 2017 are getting help from agricultural experts at Kansas State University.
Friday, Dec. 2, 2016
Scientists have long feared this ‘feedback’ to the climate system. Now, they say it’s happening
12/01/16 MSN
“The authors correctly point out the lack of information from tropical ecosystems, in fact the southern hemisphere is not represented. Thus we need more data,” said Charles Rice, a soil microbiology professor at Kansas State University who pointed out several limitations in the paper. But Rice nonetheless concluded that “the high latitudes are particularly vulnerable and a large source of CO2 back to the atmosphere. This highlights the need to do early action.”
Agriculture Industry Comes Together to Address Climate Change
12/01/16 Yahoo! Finance
The USDA-supported project and the Carbon-Neutral Collaborative have been tasked with developing a scalable and verifiable carbon accounting framework that will provide a transparent system for measuring and reporting carbon reductions based on the adoption of specific agricultural practices and systems. In addition to Monsanto, inaugural members of the Collaborative include experts from: …
* Kansas State University
Fall commencement planned at K-State Polytechnic
12/01/16 Salina Journal
Richard Myers, new Kansas State University president, will be guest speaker at fall commencement at the Kansas State Polytechnic Campus in Salina at 7 p.m., Dec. 9, in the Student Life Center.
Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016
Scientists have long feared this ‘feedback’ to the climate system. Now they say it’s happening
11/30/16 The Washington Post
"The authors correctly point out the lack of information from tropical ecosystems, in fact the southern hemisphere is not represented. Thus we need more data,” said Charles Rice, a soil microbiology professor at Kansas State University who pointed out several limitations in the paper. But Rice nonetheless concluded that “the high latitudes are particularly vulnerable and a large source of CO2 back to the atmosphere. This highlights the need to do early action.”
*Researchers discover secret ingredient for improving kitchen food safety
11/30/16 News-Medical.net
Kansas State University researchers have discovered the secret ingredient to improving kitchen food safety: include hand-washing reminders and meat thermometer instructions in published recipes.
Temple Grandin holds Kansas State University lecture
11/30/16 Seattle PI
A noted professor with autism whose work to understand livestock was the subject of an HBO movie has spoken at a lecture at Kansas State University.
*Note: Asterisks indicate clips that resulted from recent news releases or pitches from Communications and Marketing.
See more K-State faculty, staff and students in the news in the clip archives.
