STORIES
Stories
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Sheline in his lab
ONE BRAND-NEW THEORY AND 54 NEW SCIENTISTS
For most of his 76 years, Raymond Sheline has been astounding others. As a nuclear chemist and physicist at Florida State, Sheline has spent 47 years exploring worlds too minute to be seen, and making discoveries that could solve the mysteries of matter.
As a teacher, he has trained an amazing number of doctoral students.
And, along the way, in lockstep with his wife, Yvonne, Sheline has produced a closely knit and highly accomplished family of seven children.
ALZHEIMER'S VICTIMS GET HELP REMEMBERING
It begins with an inability to remember the names of people and objects important in your life. A lost word here, a forgotten fragment of information there.
As conversations become more and more difficult, the disease takes its victims first through embarrassment and frustration, then agitation, fearfulness and sometimes even aggression, until they finally give up trying to communicate entirely.
Alzheimer's disease strikes more than 10 percent of people over age 65 and more than 25 percent of those over age 85. About 4 million Americans now have the disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association and the National Institute on Aging. That figure is expected to be 10 million by the year 2020.
NEED A TON OF DATA? ZIP YOU GOT IT
This spring Florida State joined a cadre of research institutions - which calls itself the "very high performance Backbone Network Service (vBNS)"- forging the infrastructure for the world's next Internet.
As part of the vBNS, FSU students, faculty and staff will cruise the Internet almost 100,000 times faster than today's typical Internet speeds.
Portrait by Gros
'NAPOLEON FANATICS' AT FSU
On any Saturday night, four or five students are usually clustered at some restaurant in Tallahassee, exchanging theories on Napoleon's life, dissecting French Revolutionary War strategies and discussing their own discoveries on the subjects.
They are Donald Horward's students. One could say they live in the 18th century, and they wouldn't mind.
A 3500-pound cannon is recovered by FSU and Institute of Maritime History archaologists.
DIVERS TRY TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF THE VESSEL
Underwater archaeologist Chuck Meide watched thick chunks of colorful coral being chipped off a cannon that hadn't been exposed to air in two centuries.
He hoped marks on it would tell him if the sunken ship he and others were diving on had been manned by slave traders, English sailors or Caribbean pirates.
The vessel had sunk to the bottom of Kingstown Harbour in the capital of the island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines 200 years ago.
COMPETITIVE RESEARCH PAYS OFF
When Eric Clore and Jason Wallace were called down to the principal's office in March, they thought, "Oh no - what did we do?"
What they "did" was make it to the finals of the first FSU/LEXIS®-NEXIS® Great Online Research Challenge - a national competition for high school students who can do Internet research, fast.
THE GIFTS, WHAT ARE THEY FOR?
The gifts help Florida State with scholarships, teaching math, science and business, guiding troubled youth and preparing students for a 'glorious' life.