Through CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies, researchers and developers are poised to bring dozens – if not hundreds – of new products to grocery stores: mushrooms with longer shelf lives, drought-resistant corn and bananas impervious to a fungus threatening the global supply. A few, including a soybean variety that produces a healthier cooking oil, are…

James Vary has been waiting for nuclear physics experiments to confirm the reality of a “tetraneutron” that he and his colleagues theorized, predicted and first announced during a presentation in the summer of 2014, followed by a research paper in the fall of 2016. “Whenever we present a theory, we always have to say we’re…

A heat dome occurs when a persistent region of high pressure traps heat over an area. The heat dome can stretch over several states and linger for days to weeks, leaving the people, crops and animals below to suffer through stagnant, hot air that can feel like an oven. Heat domes normally persist for several…

Solar panels and wind turbines, now projected to produce 44% of America’s electricity by 2050, present cybersecurity challenges. They have sensors, controllers, actuators or inverters that are directly or indirectly connected to the internet. They’re distributed far and wide across the country and the countryside. Many have insecure connectivity to legacy electric grid systems. They have…

A new study led by Iowa State University researchers shows how artificial light has affected the natural seasonal processes of plants in urban regions of the United States. The study, published in the peer-reviewed academic journal PNAS Nexus, demonstrates how urbanization affects the natural world, resulting in noticeable changes for humans, said Yuyu Zhou, associate professor of…

When the power grid goes down, there’s a step-by-step recovery process – a “blackstart” that up to now has depended on power from gas or hydro turbines spinning away inside a power plant. It was all relatively easy to control. Start up the turbines, use them to spin generators and watch the electrons flow steadily…

Researchers at Iowa State University found significantly different state tax rates affect where new businesses set up shop near state lines. Their study published in the journal Small Business Economics shows the fourth greatest distortion in the U.S. is between Iowa and its northwest neighbor. “The probability of starting up on one side of the border versus…

From McDonalds to Marriott, 7-Eleven to Ace Hardware, we’re surrounded by franchises. They are the dominant retail model in the U.S., and underpinning their success are franchisors who grow a network of franchisees who use their own resources to open and run brick-and-mortar stores. But Stephen Kim, a marketing professor at Iowa State University, says…

For the majority of students in the U.S., residential addresses determine which public elementary, middle, or high school they attend. But with an influx of charter schools and state-funded voucher programs for private schools, as well as a growing number of cities that let students apply to public schools across the district (regardless of zip…

With the help of the world’s most powerful supercomputer and new artificial intelligence techniques, an international team of researchers has theorized how the extreme conditions in stars produce carbon-12, which they describe as “a critical gateway to the birth of life.” The researchers’ fundamental question: “How does the cosmos produce carbon-12?” said James Vary, a…