After years of use, mattresses and the materials that form them are eventually discarded into landfills creating methane gases while their chemicals and dyes seep into soil and groundwater. West Virginia University researchers are working on ways to recycle used mattress textiles to help create biodegradable products as replacements for single-use plastics.
With help from new Department of Energy grant funding, Xingbo Liu, a West Virginia University engineer, will work to develop new, cutting-edge coatings for the blades of turbines used in large-scale power generation. These protective layers will be able to withstand the extreme heat and corrosion of hydrogen combustion but work with the principles and technologies of existing natural gas turbines, primarily in power plants.
A chance decision in high school and the inspiring poster of a previous dual scholarship recipient has led a West Virginia University senior to the laboratory of one of the University’s notable researchers and her own Goldwater and Udall scholarships.
West Virginia University physicists are helping NASA measure light from distant stars and involving local high school science teachers in the process.
By interviewing researchers and physicians, Zachary Ramsey — a doctoral candidate in the School of Public Health — identified four pressing health issues that sexual and gender minorities face: discrimination, heteronormativity, health care system barriers and the interconnectedness of physical, mental and social health.
With a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the University is launching an immersive, interdisciplinary program that centers on WVU’s Inhalation Facility. The 40 doctoral students who participate will use the Facility, one of only a few like it in the country, to analyze the toxicity of air samples they’ve collected in the field and investigate how air pollution affects entire systems of the body, rather than just single cells.
With stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, youth spent more time at home with family and were more isolated from in-person interaction with peers. Largely due to this social isolation from peers, substance use among youth declined, according to researchers at the WVU School of Public Health.
Bryan Ho, originally from Martinsburg, and Zachary Ellis, a native of Renick, were named to WVU’s third and final cohort for the award which was initially granted to the University in 2020. Both students are biochemistry majors and members of the WVU Honors College.
New research from Ednilson Bernardes at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics shows pressure from manufacturers and suppliers of opioids, particularly national corporations, influenced how pharmacies bought and distributed those prescriptions.
Researchers at the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design are working to better understand how climate change may make an impact on a bioenergy crop that flourishes on reclaimed mining lands.