Science

Michigan State University is getting up to $122.5 million in funding over five years for the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. 

The East Lansing school on Thursday announced an agreement with the National Science Foundation that allows for continuing funding. The school says the agreement will support research in nuclear and accelerator science and continue operation of the cyclotron laboratory.

Scientists are retrieving data from an underwater robot for the first time since it was deployed to gather information about the Lake Michigan fish food supply.

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute launched the vehicle Aug. 1.

It is measuring volumes of algae and tiny animals called zooplankton, which form the base of aquatic food chains.

The public is being offered tours of a nuclear science facility that's being built at Michigan State University.

A free open house is scheduled 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 20.

The Lansing State Journal reports tours will be available of the 570-foot-long underground tunnel where beams of charged particles will travel at half the speed of light before colliding.

During the self-guided tours, the public also will be able to tour the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams' surface structure and the nearby National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory.

Michigan State University is getting a $900,000 National Science Foundation grant to help boost the study of plants.

The East Lansing school says a team will study plants' stomata, which are specialized pores on the surface of leaves, and look at how plants can avoid diseases.

Brad Day, associate professor of plant, soil and microbial science and the grant's co-lead investigator, says those involved want to find out how plants battle bacterial pathogens at the molecular level.

They'll explore how plants respond to environmental threats.