Representatives from the University of Tennessee (UT), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) and other East Tennessee organizations gathered in Washington, DC Tuesday for the “White House Forum on Connecting Regional Innovation Ecosystems to Federal and National Labs.”
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In the News
Oxygen oases found in 2.8 billion-year-old rocks
Dr. Robert Riding, research professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of Tennessee, received a write-up in New Scientist last week for a discovery he and his colleagues made while analyzing rock samples collected from Steep Rock Lake in Ontario, Canada.
Riding’s team found that the limestone from which the samples were taken had not changed in 2.8 billion years. For limestone to form, calcium carbonate must be stripped of all its dissolved iron — a process which can only happen if oxygen is present.
Why is this important? Because oxygen levels didn’t increase on a worldwide scale until 2.4 billion years ago. This is the first evidence of an “oxygen oasis,” which could have helped early life develop a tolerance to the poisonous gas.
Read more at New Scientist or read Dr. Riding’s research, “Identification of an Archean marine oxygen oasis.”
UT Research Helps Explain Post-World Cup Rioting
Whether you are a soccer fan or not, it has been difficult to miss news surrounding the 2014 World Cup in Brazil – especially when riot police are involved.
Sunday, Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time to take home the trophy. Shortly afterward, in the streets of Buenos Aires, fans took out their disappointment and aggression by rioting across the city.