Power Grid Eyed for Upgrade in Pitt Study

With a $600,000 grant from Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering can begin imagining a power network that utilizes Direct Current technology, a step above the Alternating Current our power grid uses now.

Modern power is generated, transported and delivered by AC across a huge power grid that requires massive infrastructure and actually results in energy loss because it flows on the surface of a power line.

“So we’ll create greater efficiencies, be able to integrate certain forms of renewable resources such as solar energy and battery storage technology much more efficiently than we do today, and this will also be a much better match for what we use in terms of our consumer electronics,” says lead researcher and Pitt engineering professor Greg Reed.

Today’s electrical devices like high-def televisions and computers use DC input, requiring the common AC/DC converter many electronics need. With this grant, the University can begin working on how to transform a mainly AC-dominated grid into one that will utilize DC technology, which can also help our nation tap into renewable resources like solar and wind power.

The University will make use of the latest in simulator programs to recreate the reconstruction of an actual power grid.

Seismograph at Pitt Records Earthquake in Japan

University of Pittsburgh Professor of Geophysics Bill Harbert says he has been watching the Honsho region of Japan in recent days. He says there has been a great deal of small earthquakes in the area and he thought a big one might be coming. When he got a text message early this morning that there had been some seismic activity he quickly checked his equipment. What he saw was shockwaves from an 8.9 magnitude earthquake. The shaking continued for about three hours. “When we see these earthquake waves arrive its very difficult to tell whether this is a small earthquake which occurred close to our instruments or a large earthquake that occurred farther away, and when we recorded for three hours we knew in fact this was a very large earthquake,” says Harbert.

Harbert estimates the energy released was equal to that of 336 million tons of TNT. That is 708 times the energy released in the Haiti quake last year. He says it could be the 5th largest quake ever recorded.

As of Friday afternoon Harbert was still seeing after shocks. “I know it is almost impossible to believe but there are aftershocks every three to ten minutes,” says Harbert. Most of them range from five to six on the Richter scale. “They represent no hazard in terms of tsunami or structural damage but I must say, for the people living in this area this would be an extremely difficult time.”

Each line of the above graph is one hour. The lines are labeled in GMT. The minutes appear on the bottom. Harbert estimates the energy released was equal to that of 336 million tons of TNT. That is 708 times the energy released in the Haiti quake last year. He says it could be the 5th largest quake ever recorded. The waves seen on line 17 most likely represent a very small earthquake not far from Pittsburgh. Click the picture to expand.

Pitt Decorates Nationality Rooms for Holidays

The Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning will be festooned for the holidays starting this weekend.

The decorations give a unique twist to the holiday each of the Nationality Rooms celebrates, whether that’s Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, or the Chinese New Year. Nationality Rooms Director Maxine Bruhns says for example, the French Room features a large Nativity scene with authentic figurines from Provence, and the English Room has a Yule log.

Bruhns says people can attend a free open house on December 5.

“At noontime, we start with a whole bunch of Taiko drumming, and then the whole first floor is full of good food and drink, and every 15 minutes there is a new set of performers,” says Bruhns. “We’re going to have Greek dancers, Irish dancers, and I think Serbs this year, and Filipinos, so come on over.”

For a small fee, visitors can listen to taped tours of the rooms every weekend until Christmas. Guided tours are available only for large groups until Christmas; after that they’re available from the 27th to the 31st.

Pitt: Aspirin Can Kill Precancerous Colon Cells

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have discovered how drugs like aspirin and pain-killers can reduce the risk of colon cancer.

Lead researcher Lin Zhang says doctors have known for a while that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, can help in preventing tumors of the colon. But Zhang says until now, scientists didn’t know how they did it.

“Some of these anti-inflammatory drugs prevent colon cancer by killing so-called stem cells that accumulate genetic changes that predispose one to cancer,” says Zhang. “So, [this is a] major finding.”

Zhang says this information will be especially useful to people with a hereditary genetic defect called FAP. The defect causes patients to develop cysts on their colons, which can easily become cancerous.

While NSAIDs can reduce one’s risk of colon cancer by as much as 80%, they are not risk-free. Zhang says they’re also known for risks involving the heart. Zhang also notes at this point, NSAIDs can be used for prevention of cancer, but not treatment of tumors.

Pitt RB Lewis to Start Against Notre Dame

Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt says Dion Lewis will start at tailback against Notre Dame tomorrow, despite 277 yards and three touchdowns from tailback Ray Graham last Saturday.

Wannstedt says Graham's performance against Florida International University earned him equal time with Lewis, though.

"The way we want to run the ball, I've gone through four tailbacks in a season," says Wannstedt. "We were so fortunate last year that Dion stayed healthy all year with the number of carries he had, so we're going to need them both."

Wannstedt says the team needs to clean up its play when facing teams like Notre Dame. Last year, Pitt was the least penalized team in the Big East. The Panthers committed 10 penalties for 64 yards against FIU last week, dropping them to 119th out of 120 Division I teams in terms of penalties (9.5 per game).

Green Building Process Scrutinized

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University have received a $2 million federal grant to investigate the actual environmental effects of “green” buildings.

Led by Pitt engineering professors Melissa Bilec and Amy Landis, the study aims to make sure green buildings are performing as well as they can.

Bilec says every new structure, including any green building, has an environmental footprint from the materials used to build it to the last day of its existence. That total environmental effect constitutes a building’s life-cycle assessment, or LCA.

Bilec says one of the goals is to expand the scope of LCAs to include the building’s effect on the people who live or work in it.

“[We’re] really trying to connect people with their buildings. Right now, 90% of our time is spent inside, but we really know very little about the environment that we occupy, from the air quality to the energy usage or the water usage. So that’s what we’re trying to do, is connect people with the indoor environment.”

Another component of the study is a survey of architects, contractors, and other people in the construction process to determine the weaknesses of the LCA.

Bilec says the team will ultimately submit new recommendations to the United States Green Building Council.

Seminar to Explore Health Risks of Shale Drilling

The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) is holding a seminar on the public health impact of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.

CHEC Director Dan Volz says while there will be time for Pitt’s panel of three experts to take questions, most of the time will be dedicated to an academic presentation highlighting important public health issues.

Volz says one expert will also tell the audience about fractracker.org, CHEC’s website that records reams of data on Marcellus Shale activity. Another will speak on the social impacts of drilling.

The Pitt assistant professor says in addition to water supply concerns, Marcellus Shale drilling could also bring air quality issues as well.

The seminar is scheduled for 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. on Friday, at Parran Hall in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health (130 DeSoto Street).

Research May Lead to Quantum Computers

A Harvard-based research team has created a basic connection that may open the door for communication over an extremely fast quantum computer network.

Pitt physics professor Gurudev Dutt says his team has found a way to put information from a device called a quantum bit, or qubit, onto a photon. Dutt says the goal is to develop this technology so that the photon can carry data from one qubit to the next.

“It requires a bunch of finely-tuned pulses, microwaves, lasers, controlled electronics, all of this just to have one qubit entangled with one photon. And now we’re talking about doubling it up, which brings not only the challenges of just doubling all of the previous setup, but also fundamental challenges, such as the two cubits may or may not be exactly identical,” says Dutt.

Dutt says a quantum computer network would be exponentially faster than current computers, which run on transistors. He says quantum computers would be able to solve complex algorithms that transistor computers find hard to handle.

For example, when a pharmaceutical company tries to make a new drug, they try thousands of formulas before finding the one they want. Dutt says with a quantum computer, the drug-maker could check the efficacy of these experiments much quicker.

Pitt Tuition Up 5.5%

The Board of the University of Pittsburgh has set an operating budget for the 2011 fiscal year of $1.89 billion dollars and increased tuition rates for nearly all students to cover the spending plan. Tuition increases will range from 2.5 percent for students at the University’s four regional campuses, to 3 percent for out-of-state students at the Pittsburgh campus, and to 5.5 percent for in-state students at the Pittsburgh campus. Tuition for an in-state main campus student in the school of arts and sciences will come in at $14,076. In a press release the university says the increase is needed to, “further advance the University’s position as an international center of pioneering research, and to sustain its long-standing tradition of public service initiatives.” At the same time, the budget includes $6 million in additional funding for financial aid, enhanced support for library acquisitions and new student life initiatives. Faculty and staff will see pay increases from a 3 percent salary increase pool. The salaries of University faculty and staff were frozen last year. University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg says, “Our annual benchmarking of peer institutions confirms that we have been losing ground on the salary front. To recruit and retain the caliber of employees whose work is essential to our continued success in attracting both the best possible students and the highest possible levels of research support required that we make a commitment to end our salary freeze and provide for at least modest salary increases this year.” Nordenberg says the university has been facing “intense budgetary challenges” and notes that several revenue streams have either fallen or have held steady at a time when costs continue to rise. He says, “Our three top priorities in structuring this budget were to maintain the high quality of our programs, to provide relief from the current salary freeze for the committed Pitt employees whose efforts have been central to our progress, and to keep tuition increases as moderate as possible.”