Using Anchor to Create Podcasts for Youth Audiences

The Anchor podcasting tool provides an innovative way for Extension professionals to deliver information to youth, as well as promote further engagement. This article describes the process our team followed to create a series of career podcasts for middle school students using Anchor. We discuss benefits and considerations to keep in mind if you are considering launching a podcast of your own

Constraining Nuclear Symmetry Energy with Multi-messenger Resonant Shattering Flares

Much effort is devoted to measuring the nuclear symmetry energy through neutron star (NS) and nuclear observables. Since matter in the NS core may be non-hadronic, observables like radii and tidal deformability may not provide reliable constraints on properties of nucleonic matter. We demonstrate that coincident timing of a resonant shattering flare (RSF) and gravitational wave signal during binary NS inspiral probes the crust-core transition region and provides constraints on the symmetry energy comparable to terrestrial nuclear experiments. We show that nuclear masses, RSFs and measurements of NS radii and tidal deformabilities constrain different density ranges of the EOS, providing complementary probes.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures submitted to PR

Paralogous SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) genes differentially regulate leaf initiation and reproductive phase change in petunia

Duplicated petunia clade-VISPLgenes differentially promote the timing of inflorescence and flower development, and leaf initiation rate. The timing of plant reproduction relative to favorable environmental conditions is a critical component of plant fitness, and is often associated with variation in plant architecture and habit. Recent studies have shown that overexpression of the microRNA miR156 in distantly related annual species results in plants with perennial characteristics, including late flowering, weak apical dominance, and abundant leaf production. These phenotypes are largely mediated through the negative regulation of a subset of genes belonging to the SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) family of transcription factors. In order to determine how and to what extent paralogous SPL genes have partitioned their roles in plant growth and development, we functionally characterized petunia clade-VI SPL genes under different environmental conditions. Our results demonstrate that PhSBP1and PhSBP2 differentially promote discrete stages of the reproductive transition, and that PhSBP1, and possibly PhCNR, accelerates leaf initiation rate. In contrast to the closest homologs in annual Arabidopsis thaliana and Mimulus guttatus, PhSBP1 and PhSBP2 transcription is not mediated by the gibberellic acid pathway, but is positively correlated with photoperiod and developmental age. The developmental functions of clade-VI SPL genes have, thus, evolved following both gene duplication and speciation within the core eudicots, likely through differential regulation and incomplete sub-functionalization

Technology and Teaching: A Conversation among Faculty Regarding the Pros and Cons of Technology

Technology is often touted as the savior of education (Collins & Haverson, 2009). However, is technology the panacea that it is made out to be? This paper is an extended conversation among a group of faculty members at three different universities and their attitudes and beliefs about technology and education. Three professors shared their pro-technology stance and three took a less favorable view. The contents of the conversation were then analyzed by a neutral party to extract the various themes that emerged. What was discovered was that were three major threads to the conversation: technology and educational access, online education, and technology and instructional strategies. While there was little agreement, throughout the evolution of the conversation, both sides began to understand each other a little more