Doug Swank Awarded Prestigious Award for Work on Muscle Physiology

RPI Biology Professor Doug Swank, Ph.D., was recently awarded the prestigious Marion J. Siegman Lectureship Award from the American Physiological Society. The award recognizes researchers who have made outstanding contributions to the understanding of muscle contraction and motility. 

CBIS Secures $1 Million Federal Grant to Advance Biotechnology Research and Translation

The Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) was recently awarded $1 million in federal funds as part of the Congressionally Directed Spending program to advance RPI research and translational efforts related to pharmaceuticals, biopolymers, and food production. 

Scientists Use String Theory to Crack the Code of Natural Networks

For more than a century, scientists have wondered why physical structures like blood vessels, neurons, tree branches, and other biological networks look the way they do. The prevailing theory held that nature simply builds these systems as efficiently as possible, minimizing the amount of material needed. But in the past, when researchers tested these networks against traditional mathematical optimization theories, the predictions consistently fell short. 

RPI Scientists Crack Ancient Salt Crystals to Unlock Secrets of 1.4 Billion-Year-Old Air

More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin across what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake much like modern-day Death Valley evaporated under the sun’s gentle heat, leaving behind crystals of halite — rock salt.It was a very different world than the one we know today. Bacteria were the dominant form of life. Red algae had only just appeared on the evolutionary scene. Complex multicellular life like animals and plants wouldn’t show up for another 800 million years. 

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