Top 10 Binghamton University Research Stories of 2024

1. 33 faculty among the top 2% of researchers in the world

A Stanford University study recognized nearly three dozen Binghamton researchers for their work in its annual ranking of the top-cited scientists around the world. The study found that 33 Binghamton faculty members stood in the top 2% of academics globally in their fields in 2023.

Faculty from nearly all of Binghamton’s colleges were represented on this list, including Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Management, College of Community and Public Affairs, and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Binghamton’s most influential scientist, according to the rankings, was M. Stanley Whittingham, distinguished professor of chemistry and Nobel laureate. Whittingham’s work has sparked multiple battery-related projects that have won millions of dollars in federal funding so far to establish upstate New York as the heart of American battery innovation.

2. Uncapping what’s really in tattoo ink

Tattoos tend to come under scrutiny for the potential hazards they pose to our skin, but now researchers from Binghamton are turning toward the actual ink used in them. Assistant Professor of Chemistry John Swierk and his team noticed the tattoo inks they were looking at contained additional substances that weren’t labeled as ingredients.

They analyzed 54 inks from nine manufacturers across the U.S., ranging from big names to smaller companies. Of those 54, 90% contained unlisted substances, some of which are potential allergens or can even cause organ damage through repeated exposure.

The study is the first to explicitly examine U.S.-sold inks, and the team hopes it might influence future decision-making around tattoo ink regulation, which is still relatively new.

“Our goal in a lot of this research is to empower artists and their clients,” Swierk said. “Tattoo artists are serious professionals who have dedicated their lives to this craft and they want the best possible outcomes for their clients.”

3. The types of men most likely to commit sexual assault

Researchers in Binghamton’s Psychology Department are shedding light on underlying factors that might make some men more likely to commit sexual assault. They surveyed emerging adults, an age group that tends to navigate more high-risk scenarios like casual hookups, on how they’d respond in different situations of sexual refusal. Through this, they identified some common traits that predispose men to sexually assaulting someone else, such as hyper-masculinity, impulsivity or belief in rape myths.

Considering sex education focusing on the need for consent isn’t an entirely foolproof method of preventing sexual assaults, another important action to take moving forward is increasing outreach to survivors, while training third parties such as hospital staff who are likely to interact with them.

“Stated plainly, our findings suggest that the use of sexual assault tactics appears to be more about who the man is characterologically rather than the particulars of the sexual situation in which he is found,” said Richard Mattson, psychology professor and study co-author.

4. Artificial plants that purify and power

Professor Seokheun “Sean” Choi and doctoral student Maryam Rezaie developed their first artificial leaf for fun, using five biological solar cells and photosynthetic bacteria. But they quickly realized the potential of their experiment.

Using their knowledge about biobatteries powered by tiny bacteria, Choi and Rezaie are pursuing this new idea of artificial plants, which could purify air indoors at a much more efficient rate than natural plants can — all on top of generating a little bit of bonus electrical power.

The pair’s first plant had five leaves, which used indoor light to power photosynthesis, feeding off carbon dioxide to generate oxygen. The research, outlined in the journal Advanced Sustainable Systems, opens the doors to many more potential upgrades and applications in plant design, including the ability to charge cell phones by storing the produced energy in batteries.

5. A technique to harvest ancient DNA could also ID burned bodies

At a certain heat level, bodies may be burnt so badly that scientists can no longer extract usable DNA from them using conventional methods. In these cases, it may be useful to turn toward the techniques of archaeology, according to new research led by Binghamton’s Matthew Emery, research assistant professor of anthropology.

Using a technique traditionally meant to extract genetic material from Ice Age fossils, the research team attempted to obtain DNA from the bones and teeth of 27 fire victims in Arizona’s Maricopa County. Since ancient bones similarly have highly degraded and fragmented DNA, this archaeological technique could help identify skeletal remains damaged in hotter fires.

These findings have wider implications for how forensic scientists can best approach DNA identification, even in cases that have gone unsolved for years. “The same techniques that are used in the field to get DNA from woolly mammoths, we’re now using to get DNA from victims in cold cases,” Emery said.

6. Piecing together the script of 'Happy Together' — by ear

A pair of Binghamton researchers published and translated the first complete script of director Wong Kar-wai’s renowned movie, Happy Together, a film famous for its lack of an officially written script. Happy Together, regarded as one of the best queer films of the New Queer Cinema movement, also made history as the first film by a Chinese-speaking director to win the Best Director award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. As such, this first-of-its-kind project came with hefty significance.

But for senior Sabrina Yu, who worked with Associate Professor and Director of Chinese Studies Nick Kaldis on the project, this was also personal. It gave her the opportunity to use her mother tongue, Cantonese, in the process of painstakingly transcribing the film’s dialogue by ear — often involving looping the same 10 seconds of a scene endlessly, dictating the words by voice into her phone and checking with her mother if she’d gotten something right.

Now, the film script has a permanent home online at The Modern Chinese Literature and Culture Resource Center, one of the preeminent scholarly resources for Chinese culture in the world.

7. Why foam containing PFAS is forming on some of the country’s cleanest lakes

Less than decade ago, a new problem began surfacing on New York’s Finger Lakes: algal blooms, which can result in white, soapy-looking foam floating atop the water, sometimes for miles on end. What’s more, this foam is enriched with pollutants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals” since they don’t degrade in nature.

Two Binghamton-affiliated faculty in the Earth Sciences Department, Richard Smith and Stella Woodard, were hired to investigate this foam. By sampling from Canandaigua Lake and Skaneateles Lake, they found that algae in the water create a sugar-rich substance on the top millimeter of the surface, a microlayer that can interact with other pollutants in the water. When air enters the equation, it creates just the right environment to form foam.

8. Try de-stressing with a Mediterranean diet

There’s been a lot of buzz around the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, and making the switch to those healthy fats and plant-based meals may also reduce your stress levels, according to a new study led by Associate Professor of Health and Wellness Studies Lina Begdache.

Specifically, following a Mediterranean diet was linked with lower levels of perceived stress and mental distress, which is the idea of how much stress someone’s under at any given time. Begdache and her students came to this conclusion by surveying more than 1,500 people on what they ate and their stress perception, before using machine learning to identify correlations between the two.

The research, published in the journal Nutrition and Health, offers a new perspective on the relationship between diet and stress — in an area where most studies focus on stress’ impact on dietary choices, not vice versa.

9. ‘Study drugs’ like Adderall can lead to future substance use

College students who use ADHD medications to boost their own focus could be putting themselves at risk of continued substance use and mental health decline in the future. A study by Associate Professor of Health and Wellness Studies Lina Begdache found that using even one substance, such as Adderall, can prime the brain for further drug use, even dependence. On top of that, substance use compounds with declining mental health and lowered resilience to adversity like stress.

Students without ADHD who use “study drugs” like Adderall in hopes of improving their academic performance might be unaware of the risks involved. Begdache’s study shines a light on the importance of preventive measures in alleviating drug use and declining mental health on college campuses.

10. Mass layoffs may also lead to mass data breaches

As mass layoffs grow more common, that may come with an increased risk of data breaches, according to an international research team that included faculty from Binghamton’s School of Management.

Cyber attacks can rack up expenses quickly while also exposing sensitive personal information, which makes it a top concern among company executives. Layoffs present a ripe environmental trigger that might lead disgruntled or struggling employees with insider company knowledge to hack and leak confidential data in retaliation.

“In the old days, industries were more manual-oriented, and you could not replace people with the click of a button, but in the current information technology world, you hire people by the thousands, and you can lay off people much the same way,” said Sumantra Sarkar, an associate professor in the School of Management who aided the research. “This opens the door for our research because humans are statistically the weakest link of the IT security chain.”

​Want to learn more about the latest Binghamton research? Sign up for the newsletter here!