ColLABoration : Labs in Life @ COSI
Labs in Life @ COSI is the first set of Ohio State laboratories to be built as part of the OSU/COSI partnership. It is currently under construction with completion scheduled for early 2009. Labs in Life @COSI will feature working laboratories where real-time research is taking place on a daily basis in full public view. Set inside of COSI's Life exhibition area, the labs will showcase research in physical activity, nutrition, body composition and health with state-of-the-art equipment. The labs will be staffed by OSU researchers, graduate students and undergraduate students who will provide inspiring role models for COSI's visitors.
Visitors to the science center will be able to watch research in progress as OSU scientists study body composition, physical activity, and nutrition in the Labs in Life @ COSI. The labs will contain a treadmill and cycle ergometer, instruments that measure bone density and resting metabolic rate, body fat and muscle strength, and a metabolic analyzer to measure functional capacity at rest and in exercise. The Labs in Life @ COSI program will include a satellite room within COSI where community education programming on nutrition and physical activity will be held. The OSU researchers will conduct studies on topics such as determining the successful methods to empower young people to make decisions to help resolve the childhood obesity epidemic; metabolic syndrome and metabolism in athletes; nutrition and bone density in female athletes; physical activity and bone health; and the relationship between athletic performance, nutrition, functional capacity and body composition. COSI visitors can see research in action, learn about the science behind the research, and can also learn about themselves.
The researchers will benefit from the diverse pool of human subjects available in the COSI audiences, both for research in exercise and nutrition questions, but also in the methods of delivery of science learning and use of technology in aiding public education. In addition, the public nature of this lab will open new grant funding opportunities for the researchers.
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