Latest news with #MississippiStateUniversity
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mississippi State unveils 78th annual Lyceum Series events
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WJTV) – Mississippi State University (MSU) will host the 78th annual Lyceum Series. Season ticket renewals opened on June 9. New season and mini-series ticket sales for the season's six-part series go on sale July 1, while individual tickets are available starting August 20. MSU Riley Center's 2025-26 season features six concerts The season opens September 26 with Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book.' This Theatre MSU play adaption takes place at 7:00 p.m. in McComas Theatre. Additional Lyceum events all are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium: Disco Strangers: An Eagles Tribute, October 17 Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram, December 3 Ailey II, February 11 Sonic Escape, February 26 Canadian Brass, March 18 General public season tickets are $150 per person and $135 for MSU employees and senior citizens; mini-series tickets are $75 per person and $65 for employees and senior citizens; and individual tickets are $30 per person, $25 for MSU employees and senior citizens, and $10 for children. Individual tickets are free for MSU students and available for pickup at the Center for Student Activities, located on the third floor of Colvard Student Union, at any point in the year or reserved online at least one week prior to each show. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Researchers track expansion of Asian needle ant in Mississippi
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WJTV) – Mississippi State University (MSU) researchers said they are tracking the spread of the Asian needle ant, which is a non-native species expanding across the Southeastern U.S. The needle ant, which is native to Asia, was recorded in the U.S. in the 1930s but has expanded significantly since the 2000s. Mississippi's seafood labeling law takes effect July 1 'We first documented them in Mississippi in 2013, and they're continuing to move,' said JoVonn Hill, director of the Mississippi Entomological Museum and assistant professor in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES). 'They're now abundant across the East Coast, with isolated populations into Louisiana and Arkansas.' Researchers said the ants are about the size of a fire ant and nest in shaded areas under logs, mulch or leaf litter. Though capable of stinging, they are not aggressive. Field observations show that Asian needle ants can quickly dominate shaded, damp habitats, displacing native ants and other insects. MAFES researchers said they're monitoring infested sites to document changes in native species and community composition. Current efforts are focused on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Oxford, with expectations of continued expansion into northern Mississippi due to favorable climate conditions and human activity. The public is encouraged to report suspected sightings of Asian needle ants by emailing clear photos to Joe MacGown, museum ant curator, at jmacgown@ Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Marco Arop's coach hails world champion runner as 'once-in-a-lifetime athlete,' marvels at fast recovery time
Years before Marco Arop ran 800 metres to a 2023 world championship gold medal and Olympic silver the next year, he was a 400-metre sprinter and could be spotted red-lining, or pushing his body to its maximum effort, during high school workouts in Edmonton. But he had zero sense of pace. "If coach gave me three 400m [intervals] I would go all-out in the first one and struggle through the next two," Arop recalled during a break in training while preparing to race the 800 and 1,500 at Grand Slam Track this Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia. Arop would eventually understand his limits that enabled him to push through pain. Most successful track and field athletes don't shy away from the pain of training, but Arop understands the pain pushes him a step closer to his ultimate goals, according to his coach. "It means he's determined and committed to the craft, and he is not going to let anything get in his way," said Chris Woods, who has worked with Arop since becoming head track and field coach at Mississippi State University in 2019. The 26-year-old Arop can buffer lactic acid, or hurt longer and more, than anyone Woods has seen in 12 years at who began coaching at the U.S. collegiate level in 2009, has guided several track standouts, including four-time Canadian 800m champion Brandon McBride, but none like Arop. "He's a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. The way Marco can recover between fast, long and hard intervals, I've never seen anything like it," Woods told CBC Sports. "My best educated guess is it's genetics and his upbringing." To illustrate his point, Woods cited one of Arop's recent workouts at MSU. It consisted of broken runs of 700m (500/200), 600m (400/200) and 500m (300/200) that included a 48-second run in the 400. "For me, that's just another day at the track," Arop told Toronto sprinter Aaron Brown and two-time Canadian Olympic hurdler Perdita Felicien for CBC Sports' Trackside show. "This [was] the first race pace workout [I've] done this year. I'm used to seeing those times in training, but it's cool to see the reactions [from others]. "To run [one minute 41 seconds over 800 metres], and potentially faster, [I] have to be able to run fast paces on short recovery." "In the middle of that workout," Woods told CBC Sports, "he was running paces that would add up to a 1:36 800m run. In no way am I suggesting he would cover 800 in that time. It just shows how long he can hold paces such as that with minimal rest." Talk of David Rudisha's seemingly untouchable 1:40.91 world record only grew louder when Arop ran a 1:41.20 personal best in the Olympic final last Aug. 10 to finish 1-100th of a second behind Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi in Paris. "It's been a goal of mine since I started running. That was the first race I watched before I did my first high school 800," Arop told Brown and Felicien. "Watching David Rudisha run that world record inspired me to get to that level. Now that I'm knocking on the door, it's really cool and a testament to all the work that's been put in. I got to give a lot of credit to my coaches because without their belief, I don't think I would be near where I am now. "To get to 1:39," continued Arop, "that's going to be another level, so that's the next step."In Philadelphia, Arop will aim for his first Slam title in three attempts after his combined point totals from the 800 and 1,500 placed him second in the short distance group in Jamaica last month and Miami on May 3. After racing the 1,500 first at those events, the 800 will be contested first on Saturday at 4:57 p.m. ET, followed by the 1,500 Sunday at 5:01 p.m. "That will be a new experience," said Arop, who has raced on back-to-back days in his career but not in different distances. "I'm confident in my ability to race the 800 with fatigue in my legs. I'm not sure what the 1,500 is going to feel like [fatigue-wise]." Arop, who is using the Slam competitions as training for various aspects of his races, believes racing the 1,500 helps him stay consistent and deliver better finishes in the 800. "I'm probably the strongest I've been [in my career]. My early [season] fitness is the best I've seen and [I'm] touching on the speed work now [in training] so I'm excited where it's going to take me," he said. Added Woods: "Running the 1,500, in theory, will make him a more well-rounded middle-distance athlete. By the end of the season, I believe fans will see a middle-distance athlete that's in the lower 1:40s in the 800m and the lower 3:30s, if not 3:20s, in the 1,500. "He'll be a very dangerous runner when that happens." The final stop of the Grand Slam Track season is June 27-29 in Los Angeles. Arop will race there before joining the Diamond League professional track and field circuit. He is scheduled to race in Monaco (July 11) London (July 19) and possibly Lausanne, Switzerland (Aug. 20).
The Independent
28-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Scientists may have solved 2,000-year-old mystery death of Roman baby twins
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Lead poisoning may have played a role in the death of fraternal twin babies from 2,000 years ago found buried facing each other in Croatia, according to a new study. Though it's unclear exactly how the infants died, researchers, including Anna Osterholtz from Mississippi State University, suspect lead poisoning may have played a role. The rare double burial was discovered in the Dragulin cemetery in the Croatian city of Trogir, which was part of the Roman province of Illyricum around 47BC. Archaeologists first excavated the cemetery in 2016 when construction for a new parking lot uncovered ancient stone urns. A DNA analysis revealed the infants were fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, buried together in the first or second century AD. 'They were buried in a single event, suggesting that they died at the same time, possibly as stillbirths,' the study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science concluded. Artist's drawing of the double burial ( M Daniel Watkins ) Analysis of the skeletons indicated 'significant metabolic disease' in the infant twins and a 'typical Roman diet with marine foods'. The twins likely suffered from nutritional deficiencies, like scurvy or rickets, with their bodies unable to utilise some nutrients. Researchers suspect their mother was malnourished or suffered from a metabolic disease herself which contributed to the poor health of the babies. Alternatively, the study suggests, the infants may have died from metabolic complications caused by lead poisoning. 'Lead poisoning has been linked to increased rates of miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant mortality as well,' the study noted. 'This is due to the fact that lead exposure on the part of the mother is transmitted through placenta to the fetus and later through breast milk to the infant which may start to display pathological changes.' Previous studies have documented the key role played by lead poisoning in the fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman world widely used the toxic metal in its pipes and cookware as well as a food preservative and a sweetener in wine. Researchers found conditions in the skeletons of the twins consistent with the effects of lead poisoning such as increased bone porosity. A recent study of 150 people from ancient sites in Croatia also showed a 'tremendous increase in lead levels during the Roman period', the study said. 'The fact that a similar trend was noticed in several Roman period sites in the immediate vicinity of Tragurium may be additional confirmation for this hypothesis.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
When quarks misbehave, symmetry breaks down and changes the rules of physics
For decades, physicists have relied on the principle of symmetry to simplify and understand the complex behaviors of subatomic particles. Symmetry in physics basically means that some rules of nature stay the same even if you change things around. This idea has served as one of the foundations of nuclear physics, helping scientists build models of how matter behaves at the smallest scales. However, a team of researchers led by Mississippi State University (MSU) professor Dipangkar Dutta has found cracks in this foundation. Results from the new study suggest that symmetry, once thought to be a constant, can break down under certain conditions. This finding can reshape our understanding of the strong nuclear force, a force that governs everything from the behavior of particles inside atomic nuclei to the formation of matter across the universe. To test whether certain symmetries in physics really hold up, the researchers conducted an interesting experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. They used a high-energy beam of electrons and fired it at protons and deuterons (a hydrogen isotope). This allowed them to observe how quarks, the tiny building blocks inside protons and neutrons (inside the deuteron), behave when struck. The technique the scientists used is called semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering (or SIDIS). In simple terms, it's a way to knock loose a quark and then study what kind of particle it turns into afterward. The researchers focused on how often quarks turned into positively or negatively charged pions (a type of subatomic particle), depending on whether they came from protons or deuterons. This process, called fragmentation, gives physicists clues about how quarks behave when they're released from the tight grip of the strong nuclear force. Now here's where the symmetry jumps in. According to a principle called charge symmetry, an up quark in a proton should behave the same way as a down quark in a neutron, once you flip the charge. That's been a helpful assumption for decades because it simplifies calculations. However, until now, this idea hadn't been tested carefully in the context of fragmentation. When the researchers compared the behavior of these quarks, they found small but clear deviations, especially at lower energy levels. These deviations caused the symmetry between the behaviors of up and down quarks to break down, suggesting that charge symmetry doesn't always hold, at least not during fragmentation. The possibility of symmetry failing under certain conditions can lead to many changes in nuclear physics. For instance, by understanding where and why symmetries break down, scientists can reevaluate theoretical models and more accurately explain particle behavior and interactions. "The assumptions we make based on symmetries greatly simplify our analyses. But they haven't been tested quantitatively with precision until now. Our new results show when the symmetries are valid and when they need certain corrections," said Dutta, in a statement released by MSU. Hopefully, future studies will also shed light on other scenarios where symmetries break and lead to an improved understanding of nuclear physics. The study is published in the journal Physics Letters B.
