News

The Global Adaptation Index (GAIN) — the world’s leading Index showing which countries are best prepared to deal with the droughts, super-storms and other natural disasters that climate change can cause — is moving to the University of Notre Dame. GAIN, which ranks countries annually based on how vulnerable they are to climate change and how prepared they are to adapt, was formerly housed in the Global Adaptation Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

This week’s editions of the journal Science include a perspective piece by University of Notre Dame researcher Rob Nerenberg on the microbial reduction of perchlorate. The piece offers comments on a new paper in the journal that changes several paradigms about perchlorate-reducing microorganisms.

On April 14 (Sunday), the University of Notre Dame is hosting its second annual community-wide event celebrating National Robotics Week. The event is free and open to the public, and local students, parents and teachers are especially encouraged to attend. It will take place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the Stepan Center at Notre Dame. Visitors will be able to see and interact with robots built for fun, learning and cutting-edge research.

From Junior Seau, former San Diego Chargers linebacker, to Dave Duerson, former Chicago Bears safety — who both committed suicide as a result of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) have been making disturbing headlines at an alarming rate. In the United States alone, TBIs account for an estimated 1.6 million to 3.8 million sports injuries every year, with approximately 300,000 of those being diagnosed among young, nonprofessional athletes. But TBIs are not confined to sports; they are also considered a signature wound among soldiers of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The potential impact on the health and well-being of individuals with brain injuries are numerous. These individuals might display a range of symptoms — such as headaches, depression, loss of memory and loss of brain function — that may persist for weeks or months. The effects of brain injuries are most devastating when they remain unrecognized for long periods of time. This is where Christian Poellabauer, associate professor of computer science and engineering; Patrick Flynn, professor of computer science and engineering; Nikhil Yadav, graduate student of computer science and engineering; and a team of students and faculty are making their own impact.

After 143 days in space, University of Notre Dame alumnus and NASA astronaut Kevin Ford is returning to earth from the International Space Station (ISS) tonight (March 14).