News

December 2022 Maintenance
On Wednesday, December 7, 2022, MSI staff will perform scheduled maintenance and upgrades to various MSI systems. During this month's scheduled maintenance period, primary storage may be unavailable or in a read-only state throughout much of the day. Mesabi and Mangi front-end nodes will be unavailable some portion of the day. A global system reservation will start at 5:00 a.m. on December 7. Jobs that cannot be completed before 5:00 a.m. on December 7 will be held until after maintenance and then started once the system returns to production status.
Investigating a Supernova
A team led by researchers at the University of Minnesota, including MSI PI Patrick Kelly (associate professor, Physics and Astronomy), has published a paper in Nature that describes a red supergiant star, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and Large Binocular Telescope. The star is much farther away than supernovae that have been previously studied.
Study of Vagus Nerve Stimulation Receives $21M Grant
Two MSI PIs are among the interdisciplinary research group that have received a $21M grant from the National Institutes of Health to study vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). VNS is used to treat epilepsy and depression; the three-year study will investigate functional effects of VNS across the human body.
Improving Care for Dementia Patients
MSI PI Nidhi Kohli (professor, Educational Psychology) and colleagues in the School of Public Health have received a $2.5 million grant for their project, “Training the Long-Term Services and Supports Dementia Care Workforce in Provision of Care to Sexual and Gender Minority Residents.” Professor Simon Rosser (Epidemiology and Community Health) is the project PI and Associate Professor Tetyana Shippee (Health Policy and Manager is co-PI. Professor Kohli will lead the quantitative methodology for the project.
Constructing a Superfast Telescope
Several MSI PIs from the School of Physics and Astronomy and their colleagues and students are constructing two sets of extremely fast telescopes that will allow researchers to get astronomical data much more quickly than current telescopes allow. The group has received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation for this three-year project, called Total-Coverage Ultra-Fast Response to Binary-Mergers Observatory (TURBO).
MSI PI Santelli Receives Outstanding Geobiologist Award
MSI PI Cara Santelli (associate professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences) has received the 2022 “Post Tenure” Outstanding Geobiologist Award from the Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division of the Geological Society of America. Professor Santelli’s work is featured on the EES website: Get to Know: The Santelli Environmental and Applied Biogeochemistry Lab.
U of M Researchers Receive Grant for Further Studies of Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disease affecting deer in Minnesota and elsewhere. It is highly contagious, and the prions causing the disease can be shed by sick and dead deer into the soil, where they remain infectious for years. MSI PI Tiffany Wolf (assistant professor; Veterinary Population Medicine) will lead a team that will optimize soil testing for CWD prions.
Cultivating Sustainable Grapes
An interdisciplinary team led by MSI PI Matthew Clark (associate professor, Horticultural Science) has been awarded a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue research that seeks to cultivate disease-resistant grapes. The researchers are using state-of-the-art technologies to develop grape varieties that can be grown with less pesticide and fossil-fuel use.
November 2022 Maintenance
On Wednesday, November 2, 2022, MSI staff will perform scheduled maintenance and upgrades to various MSI systems. During this month's scheduled maintenance period, primary storage may be unavailable or in a read-only state throughout much of the day. Mesabi and Mangi front-end nodes will be unavailable some portion of the day. A global system reservation will start at 5:00 a.m. on November 2. Jobs that cannot be completed before 5:00 a.m. on November 2 will be held until after maintenance and then started once the system returns to production status.
Creating Soft Robots That Can Grow
In a recent paper appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, MSI PIs Chris Ellison (professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Sciences) and Timothy Kowalewski (associate professor, Mechanical Engineering) and their colleagues describe a new extrusion process that will allow soft robots to “grow” as they move.
Midwest Research Computing with Data Consortium
MSI is part of a new regional consortium for research computing and data infrastructure professionals in the Midwest. The Midwest Research Computing with Data Consortium (MW-RCD) will be led by Indiana University, who has received a $1 million grant from NSF. Information about the consortium can be found in a news release from Indiana University: IU leads new Midwest Research Computing with Data Consortium.
Nitrous Oxide Emissions From Soil
Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas. In a new study published in the journal Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, researchers at the University of Minnesota and an international group of universities and laboratories have investigated nitrous oxide emissions from the soil during non-growing seasons. They found that soil freezing and thawing create these emissions, which are greater during non-growing seasons than growing seasons. They have developed a model that accurately estimates the emissions down to the county scale in the U.S. Corn Belt.
Studying Octopus Hunting Behavior
Octopuses are excellent hunters, using their eight arms to capture prey. A recent study by MSI PI Trevor Wardill (assistant professor, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior) investigated this hunting procedure in order to find out if they prefer to use certain arms, instead of using all their arms equally. The study revealed a definite preference for certain arms, as well as different techniques based on what prey they are hunting.
Studying the Lake Superior Basin
An interdisciplinary collaboration between University of Minnesota researchers and other universities has recently been awarded a $2.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study the formation and evolution of the Lake Superior basin. The project is being led by MSI PI Andrew Wickert (associate professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences; St. Anthony Falls Laboratory).
MSI PI Steve Ruggles Named 2022 MacArthur Fellow
MSI PI Steven Ruggles (Regents Professor; Director, Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation (ISRDI)) has been named a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. The MacArthur Fellowship, commonly called a “Genius Grant,” is a highly prestigious award given to people who show great originality and dedication to their work.
Apples From the U of M
The University of Minnesota has a long-standing breeding program for apples that can be grown in Minnesota’s cold climate. The U’s first highly successful apple, Haralson, turns 100 years old this year. A new variety, Triumph, will be released to nurseries next year.
Warming Climate May be Disastrous for Fish in Minnesota
Using data about fish kills in Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes, plus water and lake-water temperatures, MSI PI Nick Phelps (associate professor, Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology; director, Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center) and colleagues have determined that, if temperatures continue to rise, so will the incidence of fish kills in northern lakes.
October 2022 Maintenance
On Wednesday, October 5, 2022, MSI staff will perform scheduled maintenance and upgrades to various MSI systems. During this month's scheduled maintenance period, primary storage may be unavailable or in a read-only state throughout much of the day. Mesabi and Mangi front-end nodes will be unavailable some portion of the day. A global system reservation will start at 5:00 a.m. on October 5. Jobs that cannot be completed before 5:00 a.m. on October 5 will be held until after maintenance and then started once the system returns to production status.
Developing a More Sustainable Process for Programmable Catalysis
MSI PI Paul Dauenhauer (professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CEMS)) will lead the Center for Programmable Energy Catalysis, a new Energy Frontier Research Center that has received $10.6 million over the next four years from the U.S. Department of Energy. The center, which will include engineers and scientists from seven U.S. universities, will develop a reaction technology to transform how catalysts convert energy-rich molecules into chemical reactions.
A New Tool for DNA Editing
MSI PIs Casim Sarkar (associate professor, Biomedical Engineering) and Samira Azarin (associate professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science) have developed a method to program the rate of a form of DNA editing called “site-specific recombination.” The new method will allow researchers to control the rate at which DNA is edited, which means they can control the speed at which a therapeutic cell produces a drug or therapeutic protein.

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