The Kansas Science Communication Initiative invites you to the save the date for Science Communication Week, November 6-11, 2017. Events include:

Ryszard Jankowiak, university distinguished professor of chemistry and ancillary distinguished professor of physics, will deliver a keynote address at the 10 ^th Annual Chemistry Congress in Osaka, Japan, in October.

Jankowiak’s talk, “Excitonic structure and dynamics in various photosynthetic antenna protein complexes: hole-burning and modeling studies,” will offer insight into electronic structure and excitation energy/electron transfer dynamics in various photosynthetic complexes. For example, in their excited state, electrons in light harvesting antennas of plants and photosynthetic bacteria transfer energy, and Jankowiak’s group works to understand and model these processes, which one day could help researchers imitate the energy transfer and design better artificial systems. Read more about Jankowiak's work .

Travel Ban 3.0

Higher education groups on Monday began to grapple with what new restrictions on travel to the U.S. from eight countries imposed Sunday night by the Trump administration will mean for international students and scholarly exchange.

What Germany's Election Results Mean for Science

As Germany reels from an unexpected surge for the far right in the 24 September elections, researchers don’t expect much effect on the country’s  generous support for science . But with smaller parties standing to gain political influence, battles over issues such as the regulation of gene-edited organisms and how to cut greenhouse-gas emissions could grow fiercer.

The Post-Antibiotic Era is Here. Now What?

In 2013, then-director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tom Frieden  told reporters, “If we’re not careful, we will soon be in a post-antibiotic era.” Today, just four years later, the agency says we’ve arrived. “We say that because pan-resistant bacteria are now here” says Jean Patel, who leads the CDC's Antibiotic Strategy & Coordination Unit. “Folks are dying simply because there is no antibiotic available to treat their infection, infections that not too long ago were easily treatable.”

Few Authors Choose Anonymous Peer Review, Massive Study of Nature Journals Shows

Surveys have suggested that many researchers would prefer anonymity because they think it would result in a more impartial assessment of their manuscript. But a new study by the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) in London shows that only one in eight authors actually chose to have their reviewers blinded when given the option. 

Archaeologists Don't Always Need to Dig — They've Got Drones

Doug Gann, the archaeologist leading the trip, had brought us to the location of an ancient village—and he was going to fly a GoPro mounted on a drone over it. The desert sun still seemed as blinding as ever, but not to his drone. ... “You can see a little more detail in areas of shadow,” he explained later, after maneuvering the craft to take hundreds of overlapping aerial photographs. But he wasn’t just trying to get pretty pictures. Later, in his office, Gann would process nearly 700 photos with software to produce a three-dimensional virtual model of the village where people known as the Hohokam once lived.

Does $200 Million Quack?

A $200 million gift is turning into a $200 million headache for the University of California, Irvine, as critics argue it is indulging the wishes of wealthy donors who advocate for junk science.

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