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Here are some researchy stories that we've been paying attention to in Rolla:

-- Researchers from Missouri S&T are investigating ways that rubber from the guayule shrub can be used to pave roads.

-- Dr. Lifeng Zhang is trying to figure out how to recycle silicon that gets wasted in the production of solar cells.

-- Dr. Stephen Gao has been getting a lot of media attention for leading efforts to select spots for earthquake monitoring stations that will soon be moving to Missouri.

Here are links to a few S&T research stories we've been working on.

New sensors capable of measuring damage to infrastructure

S&T receives EPA grants for solar research

P.S. One morning while we were on break for the holidays, a news lady from KY-3 kept reading from the solar research news release (linked above) during a.m. news segments.

P.P.S. The answer to 69 Down in last Sunday's New York Times Crossword Puzzle was Rolla. The clue was: University of Missouri campus site.

Geeks have serious tech appeal. It’s not something you hear about often, but it’s something I see on a daily basis. Disclaimer: I work in the communications office at Missouri S&T. So yes, I have a bias, but that also means I get first-hand access to some serious geekhood.

Twenty-first-century geeks loves gadgets. Discarded are the pocket protectors and thick-rimmed glasses. In their place are the ubiquitous white earbuds and Bluetooth headsets. Blackberries, iPods and tiny cell phones are just part of the updated “geek” dress code. And you know what? They look marvelous.

We temporarily interupt our coverage of the Guatemala trip to bring you a few breaking news items.

GE Aviation announced today that Missouri S&T has been selected as the home of a new University Development Center. At least 30 new engineering jobs are expected to be created as a result of this partnership.

Elsewhere, Missouri S&T grad and NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus is officially going to log some time at the International Space Station. Maybe we can get her to blog for us from space?

This is a photomosaic by artist Robert Silvers, who "uses thousands of tiny pictures to create a digital pointillist portrait." Silvers' work has appeared on the covers of Life and Newsweek, and now UMR Magazine.

This is a photo of Charles McField (see the post immediately below this one) by Gen Yamaguchi of the Kansas City Star. The KC Star was nice enough to provide the photo, which will be republished in the Spring 08 issue of Missouri S&T Magazine.

A little something extra on this Friday before Thanksgiving...

About 15 years ago, Kansas City Police dropped a freezing homeless man off at the Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Shelter. There, a volunteer rubbed his frostbitten feet. "Are you a minister?" the homeless man asked. "No," replied the volunteer. "I'm an engineer."

Teresa Williams recently told Charles McField's story in the Kansas City Star Magazine. The content has expired on the Star's website, but we'll give you some of the details...McField worked as an engineer with Allied Signal, now Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, for 13 years after earning his master's degree at UMR. Sure, he did some volunteer work. But it wasn't enough for McField. In 1996, he decided to go to the Harding Graduate School of Religion in Memphis.

"I spent much of my life pursuing goals set by society -- striving to achieve marketable accomplishments or American dream concepts," McField says in the magazine article. "I realized that after acquiring all my dreams, goals, plans, desires, then what?"

McField is no longer an engineer or even a volunteer. Now he really is a minister. To be more accurate, he's a full-time chaplain at City Union Mission Men's Center, 10th and Troost, back in Kansas City. One of his main jobs there is to help people feel better any way he can. In her article, Williams describes a poignant encounter McField had while on the job:

"A few months ago a young client grabbed McField's glasses in a burst of anger, snapped them in two and threw them to the ground. As McField reached down to pick up the pieces, the man punched him in the jaw. A client who saw the event says he actually saw the chaplain offer his other cheek to the aggressor and ask, 'Do you feel better now?"'

We took a little heat last week for sending out an email to everyone on campus about the space shuttle flying over Missouri. There were supposed to be some sonic booms or something like that, and nobody really heard them. But now we have solid photographic evidence (probably) that the shuttle really did zoom over the Ozarks last week on its way to a landing in Florida a few minutes later.

Thanks to Linda Fulps who provided this photo of the shuttle (we're pretty sure it's the shuttle). This is what it looked like flying over her house in Rolla.

<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mine23aug23,1,2943697.story?coll=la-headlines-nation"> Utah mine to close permanently
Los Angeles Times (Thursday, Aug. 23)
Jerry C. Tien, a professor of mining engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla, said he was not surprised by Murray's decision to close the mine -- both because of the apparent safety problems at the site and the questionable economics of the operation.

<a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/othersports/story/33117EDDE9F036208625733F001076E2?OpenDocument"> From haymaker to playmaker
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Wednesday, Aug. 22)
If you think the broiling Midwestern heat makes your job unbearable, imagine spending the summer months the way Ashton Gronewold spends them: bailing hay. ... The centerpiece of Missouri-Rolla's high-powered passing offense, he's a farm-grown All-American, a Say Hay Kid.

Records refute Crandall Canyon owner, show mining plan changed - possibly boosting cave-in risk
Salt Lake Tribune (Wednesday, Aug. 22)
"It's a significant change in terms of pillars or no pillars or robbing the pillars," said Jerry Tien, a mining engineering professor at the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Mine safety should concern everyone
KRCG (Tuesday, Aug. 21)
Missouri is not known for its coal mines, but there are experts here who have studied and trained in mines for years. KRCG's Mallory McGowin travelled to the University of Missouri-Rolla Tuesday to talk to a mining professor and a mining student to learn about the struggles miners face.

Local university trains for mining disaster
KY3 (Friday, Aug. 17)
After nearly two weeks, the rescue operation to find six trapped minors is suspended. Now, a mining company officially in Utah says it's likely their bodies may not be found. ... "There's just so many things that could be in the way," Adam Kresler says. Adam is a senior at the University of Missouri in Rolla.

Visions bloggers would like to echo our chancellor's condolences about yesterday's tragedy at Virginia Tech.

We were all saddened to hear of the tremendous loss. Our thoughts are with the students, alumni, faculty and staff as they work through this difficult period.