science wire

Penn's 2013 Home Football Game Times Announced
Exactly 100 days from now, the University of Pennsylvania football team will begin another Ivy title defense.

U.S. economy: Steady as she goes
ANN ARBOR-America's economy will hum along its path of moderate growth, adding 4.7 million jobs through the end of next year, say University of Michigan economists.

Timely treatment after stroke is crucial, UCLA researchers report
For years, the mantra of neurologists treating stroke victims has been "time equals brain." That's because getting a patient to the emergency room quickly to receive a drug that dissolves the stroke-causing blood clot can make a significant difference in how much brain tissue is saved or lost.

FACULTY HONOR: Bassler elected associate member of European Molecular Biology Organization
Bonnie Bassler , Princeton University's Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, was among 52 life-sciences researchers elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).

Scripps Alumna Selected as a NASA Astronaut Candidate
Jessica Meir, who earned a doctorate in marine physiology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in 2009, has been selected in the newest group of space explorers by NASA.

Devonian Botanic Garden wins environmental award

Dawn Bonnell Appointed Vice Provost for Research at Penn
Dawn A. Bonnell has been named vice provost for research at the University of Pennsylvania , effective July 1.

U-M researcher and colleagues predict possible record-setting Gulf of Mexico ’dead zone’
Jim Erickson, University of Michigan, (734) 647-1842, ericksn [a] umich (p) edu or Ben Sherman, NOAA, (202) 253-5256 (cell), ben.sherman [a] noaa (p) gov or Jon Campbell, USGS, (703) 648-4180, jon

School of Nursing clinic fights spread of TB on L.A.’s skid row
Each morning as the gate to fenced-in Gladys Park is unlocked, homeless men and women move in from wherever they have spent the night on downtown L.A.'s skid row.

UC San Diego Researchers Get Access to Open Science Grid
Partnership to Provide Expanded Resources for High-Throughput Computing Workloads The University of California, San Diego, and the Open Science Grid (OSG), a multi-disciplinary consortium funded b

The verdict on tiger-parenting? Studies point to poor mental health
Long before Amy Chua's provocative 2011 memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, raised the bar for tough-love parenting, psychologists at UC Berkeley were studying the effects of three kinds of child-rearing: authoritarian (too hard), permissive (too soft) and authoritative (combo).

Poor maternal and child health linked with premature high blood pressure, kidney disease
UAlberta professor leads international research review showing how early development can put people at lifelong risk.

Future looks bright for carbon nanotube solar cells
In an approach that could challenge silicon as the predominant photovoltaic cell material, University of Wisconsin-Madison materials engineers have developed an inexpensive solar cell that exploits carbon nanotubes to absorb and convert energy from the sun. The advance could lead to solar panels just as efficient, but much less expensive to manufacture, than current panels.

Thrill of victory: Success among many feels better
ANN ARBOR-Success feels good, but it is better when people win in big groups-even if the chance of success is the same, a new University of Michigan report indicates.

Book: Risk, Chance, and Causation
YaleNews features works recently or soon to be published by members of the University community. Descriptions are based on material provided by the publishers.

Safety review of bone growth product ushers in new era of data sharing
A Yale project involving the independent review of a bone growth product's safety has yielded results * , which are published in the June 18 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings are part of the Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project 's novel partnership with Medtronic, Inc., to study and release all of the company's clinical trial research data on recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2).

Bernard Sahlins, AB’43, co-founder of Second City, 1922-2013
Comedy pioneer Bernard Sahlins, who co-founded Chicago's famed Second City theater, died Sunday at age 90, according to news reports.

The rhythm of everything
Dawn triggers basic biological changes in the waking human body. As the sun rises, so does heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. The liver, the kidneys and many natural processes also begin shifting from idle into high gear. Then as daylight wanes and darkness descends, these processes likewise begin to subside, returning to their lowest levels again as we sleep.

Changing how society thinks about senior citizens
UAlberta researchers team up with seniors' association to challenge unfair assumptions about older adults.

Building Performance Database Helps Building Owners, Investors Evaluate Energy Efficient Buildings
A new database of building features and energy use data helps building managers, owners, real estate investors, and lenders evaluate the financial results of energy efficiency investment projects and identify high and low-performing buildings.

High-frequency trading tactic lowers investor profits
ANN ARBOR-High-frequency trading strategies that exploit today's fragmented equity markets reduce investor profits overall, according to new findings by University of Michigan engineering researchers. The study is believed to be the first to examine how a common and lucrative trading practice known as latency arbitrage can exploit both market rules and the recent growth in the number of venues where stocks can change hands.

GOP Voters Favor Ted Cruz in 2016 Presidential Primary, UT/Texas Tribune Poll Shows
AUSTIN, Texas — If the 2016 Republican primary election for president were held today, Republican voters in Texas would strongly favor U.S. Sen.

SDSC’s Gordon Supercomputer: Parsing Genes, Proteins, and Big Bio Data
Gordon , the newest high-performance supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of San Diego, California, has proven to be a boon to biologists interested in rapidly sifting through an ever-expanding amount of data.

Study Identifies Protein Essential for Normal Heart Function
Protein being studied to fight cancer; may cause toxicity in cardiac cells A study by researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, shows that a protein called MCL-1, which promotes cell survival, is essential for normal heart function.

University of Michigan law experts available to discuss U.S. Supreme Court cases
ANN ARBOR-University of Michigan law experts are available to discuss several U.S. Supreme Court cases.

Christian Stohler Named Dean of the College of Dental Medicine
NEW YORK-Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger and Lee Goldman, dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, announced today that Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent,

Printing artificial bone
Researchers develop method to design synthetic materials and quickly turn the design into reality using computer optimization and 3-D printing. Researchers working to design new materials that are durable, lightweight and environmentally sustainable are increasingly looking to natural composites, such as bone, for inspiration: Bone is strong and tough because its two constituent materials, soft collagen protein and stiff hydroxyapatite mineral, are arranged in complex hierarchical patterns that change at every scale of the composite, from the micro up to the macro.

Fiber-optic pen helps see inside brains of children with learning disabilities
For less than $100, University of Washington researchers have designed a computer-interfaced drawing pad that helps scientists see inside the brains of children with learning disabilities while they read and write. The device and research using it to study the brain patterns of children will be presented June 18 at the Organization for Human Brain Mapping meeting in Seattle.

$4.4M investment in energy and environmental engineering research at UAlberta
New NSERC research chair will assess energy and environmental options for industry and government.

Finding fluency a father’s final wish
Haley Wolgien gives her late dad Carl a Father's Day gift, facing her stutter with help from UAlberta's Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research.

Stanford Professor Sahami to Class of ’13: Use your ’superpower’ to improve the world
As he often does in his popular computer science classes, Stanford Associate Professor Mehran Sahami uses a light saber in lieu of a laser pointer during the Class Day Lecture.

Stanford’s Baccalaureate speaker tells Class of 2013 to enter the whirlwind of life with their whole heart
Valarie Kaur, an alumna who is an award-winning filmmaker, civil rights advocate and interfaith organizer, gives the Baccalaureate address in the Main Quad.

Honouring the next generation of Aboriginal health leaders

Documents that Changed the World: Alfred Binet’s IQ test, 1905
With students huddled over spring quarter finals campuswide, the latest podcast in the Documents that Changed the World series seems particularly timely: It's about intelligence testing.

University of Minnesota Board of Regents approves tuition freeze and research investments
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (06/14/2013) —The University of Minnesota Board of Regents today approved a fiscal year 2014 operating budget that freezes resident undergraduate tuition, invests in continued excellence in teaching, research and outreach, and reduces administrative expenses.

Stanford Faculty Senate hears progress report on curriculum changes, sends off chair

A year of high notes for Stanford’s Chocolate Heads
Chocolate Heads dancers Madeline Hawes and Katrina Wisdom perform in 'Xocolatl: Food of the Gods' at Bing Concert Hall on March 8, 2013.

Industry helps create new potato breeding professorship
Advances in biotechnology such as DNA sequencing have helped speed the pace of plant breeding in many food crops, but applying these tools to the potato, which has an extra set of chromosomes, has been a bit more difficult.

Grandparents gather for support at Waisman Center
Angie and Bob Tramburg (pictured, with their grandson, who is on the autism spectrum) help lead a group of grandparents that support each other in coping with the effects of autism and developmental disabilities.

UCLA climate study predicts dramatic loss in local snowfall
By midcentury, snowfall on Los Angeles–area mountains will be 30 to 40 percent less than it was at the end of the 20th century, according to a UCLA study released today and led by UCLA climate expert Alex Hall.

Can you feel me now?
New array measures vibrations across the skin, may help engineers design optimal, wearable tactile displays.

Fast-acting virus targets melanoma in mice
Yale researchers eradicated most melanoma tumors by exposing them to a fast-acting virus, they report in the June 15 edition of the Journal of Virology.

Automated ’coach’ could help with social interactions
New software system from MIT could help people improve their conversational and skills. Social phobias affect about 15 million adults in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and surveys show that public speaking is high on the list of such phobias.

’Politics is fun’ but don’t lose your way: former MP

From death to new life at -60 C
For Russ Sheppard, a law degree is a new milestone in a remarkable career path that has improved young lives in Canada's North.

Music grad ready for her next stage
Gianna Read spent more time on the convocation stage than most grads-and there was no place she'd rather have been.

Researchers help protect New York from climate change
Four Princeton University researchers took part in the June 11 report, "A Stronger, More Resilient New York," a comprehensive analysis of New York City's climate risks and proposed steps for preparing for future climate events.

Researchers Design Variant of Main Painkiller Receptor
Opioids, such as morphine, are still the most effective class of painkillers, but they come with unwanted side effects and can also be addictive and deadly at high doses. Designing new pain-killing drugs of this type involves testing them on their corresponding receptors, but access to meaningful quantities of these receptors that can work in experimental conditions has always been a limiting factor.

Michigan I-Corps showcase: Launching more tech startups in the state
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT DATE: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., June 19, 2013 EVENT: Twenty tech startups from around the state of Michigan will share their business concepts and lessons learned during the first ever Michigan I-Corps program finale.

U-Michigan experts available to discuss Supreme Court ruling on human gene patents
ANN ARBOR- The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that human genes may not be patented. The University of Michigan has several experts available to comment on the implications of the ruling.

Protests have changed Turkey, says Stanford expert
Ayça Alemdaroglu, a lecturer at Stanford, explains how demonstrations over plans to bulldoze an Istanbul park turned into a broader indictment of the government's ruling party.

Book: The Everyday Parenting Toolkit
YaleNews features works recently or soon to be published by members of the University community. Descriptions are based on material provided by the publishers.

U of’T professors track drug-resistant tuberculosis
It's the second leading cause of death by an infectious agent worldwide. Now, University of Toronto Professor Frances Jamieson is tackling drug-resistant tuberculosis with a new, lab-based surveillance system that can track the spread of the disease in real-time.

UW research: World population could be nearly 11 billion by 2100
A new statistical analysis shows the world population could reach nearly 11 billion by the end of the century, according to a United Nations report issued June 13. That's about 800 million, or about 8 percent, more than the previous projection of 10.1 billion, issued in 2011. The projected rise is mostly due to fertility in Africa, where the U.N. had expected birth rates to decline more quickly than they have.

Philip Howard’s new book explores digital media role in Arab Spring
Philip Howard is an associate professor of communication and co-author, with UW doctoral student Muzammil Hussain, of the book “ Democracy's Fourth Wave: Digital Media and the Arab Spring ,” published in March by Oxford University Press.

Two Yale medical researchers win Pew Awards

Ties to culture may protect Latino teens from violence
ANN ARBOR-Latino kids who spend unstructured leisure time with friends, participate in certain nonschool activities and have part-time jobs may encounter high levels of violence in their communities.

UC San Diego Leads Discussion on Research Universities and the Future of America
Representatives from the National Research Council (NRC), UC San Diego leaders and key stakeholders from the San Diego region met Thursday to discuss the health and competitiveness of U.S. research universities.

Use of Drones Raises Questions
Drones - UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicles - are not exactly ubiquitous yet. But that future may not be far away.

University of Chicago responds to racial incident involving mail delivery at fraternity
This letter to the editor was submitted to the Chicago Sun-Times on June 13 by Eleanor Daugherty, Assistant Vice President for Student Life and Associate Dean of the College at the University of Chicago.

Author and Alumnus Rex Pickett Brings "Sideways" to La Jolla Playhouse
"If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving." That line of dialogue is familiar to thousands of fans of "Sideways," a novel that spawned an Oscar-winning movie, gaining a cult following since the iconic road trip story hit bookstores and theaters in 2004.

Lewis Judd to Step Down After 36 Years as Chair of Department of Psychiatry
In a career that has spanned almost half a century, most of it at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Dr.

Two Young UC San Diego Faculty Members Named Pew Scholars
Two early-career scientists at UC San Diego are among 22 of the nation's most enterprising researchers named Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

UC San Diego Icon Walter Munk to Receive Roger Revelle Medal
Medal revived by Chancellor Khosla to honor impact of UC San Diego faculty World-renowned oceanographer Walter Munk is already an icon at the University of California, San Diego.

Nanoparticle opens the door to clean-energy alternatives
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Cheaper clean-energy technologies could be made possible thanks to a new discovery. Research team members led by Raymond Schaak , a professor of chemistry at Penn State, have found that an important chemical reaction that generates hydrogen from water is effectively triggered - or catalyzed - by a nanoparticle made of nickel and phosphorus, two inexpensive elements that are abundant on Earth.

‘Tailing’ Spiny Lobster
New tools track planktonic larvae, offer possible solutions to safeguard this $1 billion industry June 13, 2013 MIAMI - June 13, 2013 -The commercial value of spiny lobster ( Panulirus argus ) in the Caribbean reaches $1 billion annually, thus making it one of the most valuable fisheries in the region.

’Make the world a more survivable place’
Receiving honorary degree, acclaimed photographer James Balog calls on grads to take action on climate change.

Professor helps ‘Sesame Street’ reach children of imprisoned parents
Psychologist Julie Poehlmann worked as an advisor for “Sesame Street” on developing materials that will help children who have a parent who is incarcerated.

Silicon-based nanoparticles could make LEDs cheaper, greener to produce
Posted under: Engineering , Research , Science , Technology , UW and the Community Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are the most efficient and environmentally friendly light bulbs on the market.

Researchers develop easy and effective therapy to restore sight
To evolve the virus best suited for gene therapy, Berkeley researchers created more than 100 million engineered adeno-associated viruses (left) and injected them into the gel-like center of the eye.

Morris Arboretum Executive Director Wins Award from American Public Garden Association

Poster girl for the Jurassic Park generation
How do you nurture a childhood passion for ancient creatures into a career? Like so many children, Shannon Kraichy discovered her love for dinosaurs at an early age.

Gordon Scholars Learn from Experience
Integrity. Honesty. Teamwork. And smartphones.

Anita L. Allen Appointed Vice Provost for Faculty at Penn
Anita L. Allen has been named vice provost for faculty at the University of Pennsylvania , effective July 1.

Helping older adults choose the life they want
Inspired by the older adults in her life, human ecology grad Sarah Lucas is devoting her career to quality of life for seniors.

Cocoa may help fight obesity-related inflammation
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A few cups of hot cocoa may not only fight off the chill of a winter's day, but they could also help obese people better control inflammation-related diseases, such as diabetes, according to Penn State researchers. Mice that were fed cocoa with a high-fat diet experienced less obesity-related inflammation than mice fed the same high-fat diet without the supplement, said Joshua Lambert , associate professor of food science.

Smeal professor to serve as editor-in-chief of new marketing journal
Min Ding, Smeal Professor of Marketing and Innovation in the Penn State Smeal College of Business, is the editor-in-chief of Customer Needs and Solutions , a new journal for scholarly research in the field of marketing.

University of Chicago and Marine Biological Laboratory agree to form affiliation
Initiative will build new collaborative programs and reinforce existing work at world-renowned biology institution The University of Chicago and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.

Arctic champion receives honorary degree

Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA rated among nation’s top pediatric hospitals by U.S. News
Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA has been recognized as one of the nation's best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report and is among a select group of hospitals to be ranked in all 10 o

Alternative-fuel cars are no carbon cure-all
ANN ARBOR-Making cars more fuel-efficient is great for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but rather than promoting sales of electric and other alternative-fuel vehicles, policymakers should turn thei

Three Generations of UC San Diego Physicists Plumb the Microvasculature of the Mammalian Brain
Blood vessels within a sensory area of the mammalian brain loop and connect in unexpected ways, a new map created by a team that includes three generations of UC San Diego physicists has revealed.

Book: Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience
YaleNews features works recently or soon to be published by members of the University community. Descriptions are based on material provided by the publishers.

Indoor tanning is driving an increase in skin cancer
Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of cancer. While unlikely to metastasize and therefore associated with low mortality, it can be disfiguring and costly to treat.

Champion of women in science urges grads to keep flame of curiosity alive
One of Canada's most accomplished chemists, educators and mentors got an unusual reaction during her convocation address June 11.

Bugher to retire after guiding University Research Park growth, success
University Research Park is pictured in an aerial view looking west along Science Drive toward South Whitney Way in 2011.

New recreation center and pool to open this fall at Stanford
At the new center on Santa Teresa Street, faculty, students and staff will find basketball, volleyball and badminton courts, rooms for yoga, dance and weight training, and the 50-meter, outdoor Avery Recreation Pool.

New tasks become as simple as waving a hand with brain-computer interfaces
Posted under: Engineering , Health and Medicine , News Releases , Research , Science Small electrodes placed on or inside the brain allow patients to interact with computers or control robotic limbs simply by thinking about how to execute those actions. This technology could improve communication and daily life for a person who is paralyzed or has lost the ability to speak from a stroke or neurodegenerative disease.

Moving Select Computer Services to the Cloud Promises Significant Energy Savings
BERKELEY, Calif.-A six-month study led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) with funding from Google has found that moving common software applications used by 86 million U.S. workers to the cloud could save enough electricity annually to power Los Angeles  for a year.

Robert Fogel, won Nobel Prize in Economics, 1926-2013
Robert W. Fogel, an economic historian at the University of Chicago who won the Nobel Prize in 1993 for his studies of slavery in the United States and the role railroads played in the development of the economy, died Tuesday, June 11.

You’re so vain: U-M study links social media and narcissism
ANN ARBOR-Facebook is a mirror and Twitter is a megaphone, according to a new University of Michigan study exploring how social media reflect and amplify the culture's growing levels of narcissism. The study, published online in Computers in Human Behavior, was conducted by U-M researchers Elliot Panek, Yioryos Nardis and Sara Konrath.

Spin-Resolved ARPES Envisaged for the Advanced Light Source
One of the world's brightest sources of soft x-rays, Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source (ALS) is a premier facility for studying the properties of materials.

Daniel J. Mindiola Appointed Presidential Term Professor at Penn

From economics to the Fourth Estate
Philippe de Montigny dreams of being a national news anchor. If his track record is any indication, it won't take him long.

Anonymous gift of $3.5 million to support Leo Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics
The University of Chicago has received a $3.5 million gift from anonymous donors to support a new intellectual enterprise that will be named the Leo Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics.

Former premier urges grads to pass along benefits of higher education

Stanford Faculty Senate to hear updates on undergraduate education

UC San Diego Launches New Research Computing Program
Triton Shared Computing Cluster to Serve UC System, Industry Partners The University of California, San Diego has deployed a new high-performance research computing system called the Triton Shared

$2M gift to UCLA Cotsen Inst. establishes program in Armenian archaeology, ethnography
The UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology has received a $2 million gift from UCLA alumna Zaruhy Sara Chitjian to establish the first permanent research program in Armenian archaeology and ethnography at a major American university.

Stanford course explores social networking in the 18th century – and in nature
An interdisciplinary freshman course shows students how networking predates Facebook by hundreds, even millions of years.

SLAC X-rays resurrect 200-year-old lost aria
Thanks to scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, audiences can hear a 200-year-old opera by composer Luigi Cherubini in full for the first time in centuries.

A Creature From an Alkaline Spring Could Improve Biofuel Processing
The only truly practical biofuels will be those made from abundant feedstocks like switchgrass, wheat straw, and other woody plants, whose cell walls consist of lignocellulose.

U of’T celebrates its digital media pioneers
William Reeves holds a leading technical role at Pixar Animation; William Buxton is a principal scientist at Microsoft Research.

’Gingrich Senators’ Behind Washington’s Legislative Gridlock, Research Shows
AUSTIN, Texas — A University of Texas at Austin government professor argues in his new book that rising polarization in the U.S. Senate has been caused almost entirely by a particular breed of Republican lawmakers known as the "Gingrich senators." In his new book "The Gingrich Senators: The Roots of Partisan Warfare in Congress," Sean Theriault , associate professor of political science and Distinguished Teaching Professor, detail

U-M and city of Jackson collaborate to connect citizens
Nicole Casal Moore, (734) 647-7087, ncmoore [a] umich (p) edu; Heather Newman, (734) 764-7717, newmanh [a] umich (p) edu; Patrick Burtch, Jackson city manager, (517) 788-4035.

Science citizen aims to create real-world change
For Taylor Robertson, solving scientific problems from water conservation to space exploration is only the first challenge.

Testing Artificial Photosynthesis
With the daily mean concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide having reached 400 parts-per-million for the first time in human history, the need for carbon-neutral alternatives to fossil fuel energy has never been more compelling. With enough energy in one hour's worth of global sunlight to meet all human needs for a year, solar technologies are an ideal solution.

Bridge species drive tropical engine of biodiversity
Although scientists have known since the middle of the 19th century that the tropics are teeming with species while the poles harbor relatively few, the origin of the most dramatic and pervasive biodiversity on Earth has never been clear. New research sheds light on how that pattern came about. Furthermore, it confirms that the tropics have been and continue to be the Earth's engine of biodiversity.

More than 240 nonprofit organizations to receive monetary donations from Los Alamos National Security, LLC
The genuine care and commitment Laboratory employees and retirees have for their communities are clearly demonstrated by the number of hours volunteered to these nonprofit organizations.

’Never say never’: spinal cord injury advocate

Securing the cloud
A new algorithm solves a major problem with homomorphic encryption, which would let Web servers process data without decrypting it.

Global health advocate urges grads to practise with passion
Honorary degree recipient Lincoln Chen tells medical and dental grads to travel in, learn from and engage with the global village.

Convocation 2013: Law grads launch their careers
After years of bleary nights, lectures and seminars, study groups and grueling exams, more than 200 students from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law celebrated Convocation with family and friends June 7.

University of Minnesota Board of Regents to vote on President Kaler's recommended FY14 operating budget and review benchmarking analysis
What: University of Minnesota Board of Regents meetings When: Thursday, June 13 and Friday, June 14, 2013 Where: 600 McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis For media only

UCLA earns elite ranking on survey of state physician groups’ patient-care capabilities
The UCLA Medical Group has earned a four-star ranking, the highest achievement possible, in the California Association of Physician Groups' (CAPG) seventh annual Standards of Excellence survey .

Researchers Investigating the Mystery of a Tiny 'Sin'
When a strain of bacteria invades a human body, the immune system responds by generating antibodies to neutralize the threat.

At Stanford, three winners honored with 2013 President’s Awards for Excellence Through Diversity

Convocation 2013: job prospects strong for iSchool graduates, survey finds
Students who pursue a graduate degree at the University of Toronto iSchool to upgrade or acquire skills to enhance their career are seeing results when they enter the job market, a new survey finds.

Granddaughter of the pioneer
Granddaughter of pacemaker co-creater J.C. Callaghan graduates as a physician in UAlberta medical school's centennial year.

Convocation 2013: five U of’T athletes to watch
Keeping up with the demands of university academics while participating in high performance sports may sound daunting—but for many student-athletes, it's an experience of a lifetime.

Med school graduate inspired by kid sister
When Shannon Sarro receives her medical degree, she'll be thinking of her sister Erin, whose lifelong health struggles inspired her.

Stanford Law’s Three Strikes Project works for fair implementation of new statute
Stanford Law School's Three Strikes Project, the only such program in the country, helped change the California statute on repeat offenders and is now working to ensure the policy is implemented fairly.

Los Alamos National Laboratory Safety Cinema website earns international recognition

How similar are the gestures of apes and human infants? More than you might suspect
Psychologists who analyzed video of a female chimpanzee, a female bonobo and a female human infant in a study to compare different types of gestures at comparable stages of communicative development found remarkable similarities among the three species. This is the first time such data have been used to compare the development of gestures across species.

Innovative solar cell structure stores and supplies energy simultaneously
Solar panels on the roof of a Madison home. A UW-Madison engineer has proposed a new design for solar panels that can simultaneously generate and store energy.

Livingston Awards announced for young journalists
ANN ARBOR-Stories about corporal abuses in unlicensed religious homes for children, the healing power of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and continuing slavery in Mauritania won the prestigious Livingston Awards today.

U-M part of new global alliance for sharing genomic, clinical data
ANN ARBOR-The University of Michigan joins 70 leading health care, research and disease advocacy organizations from more than 40 countries in an international alliance to enable secure sharing of genomic and clinical data used to learn more about disease.

Military vehicle seating: Keeping American soldiers safe
ANN ARBOR-Transportation crashes have accounted for two-thirds of U.S. noncombat military deaths since 2000-a trend University of Michigan researchers are hoping to help reverse.

Differences, similarities of early Los Alamos, Soviet scientists focus of 70th anniversary lecture

Grad sees engineering bringing sexy back
Tyler Heal's big-picture view of what's possible in engineering and student life helped him leave a legacy at UAlberta.

Living fossils? Actually, sturgeon are evolutionary speedsters
ANN ARBOR-Efforts to restore sturgeon in the Great Lakes region have received a lot of attention in recent years, and many of the news stories note that the prehistoric-looking fish are "living fossils" virtually unchanged for millions of years. But a new study by University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues reveals that in at least one measure of evolutionary change-changes in body size over time-sturgeon have been one of the fastest-evolving fish on the planet.

Games on Syllabus for Popular Computer Science Class
Dust bunnies that want to eat your food. A tentacle monster that is holding you prisoner on a space ship.

Behind the Scenes: Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego
Barely 25 years old, the department of computer science and engineering is driven by young and forward-thinking faculty.

Filmmaker James Cameron Honored on Campus for Contributions to Understanding Deep Ocean
James Cameron and his inner child visited UC San Diego Friday. The acclaimed director of "Titanic," "Avatar," and the "Terminator" films was at Mandeville Auditorium to receive the 2013 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest.

Communication with a Mission
UC San Diego's department of communication, established in 1982, was the first department of its kind in the University of California system and is now one of the best-known communication departments in the world.

Women in Oceanography
Unlocking the mysteries of the Agulhas Current and its effects on global climate June 06, 2013 MIAMI - June 4, 2013 - Oceanography has a new face, and its female.

An honorary degree for an engineering legend

2013 BioBlitz Pairs Enthusiastic Public with Scientists to Explore Mississippi River Restoration Site: Coldwater Spring
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (06/06/2013) —The Bell Museum of Natural History and the Mississippi River Fund invite outdoor enthusiasts of all ages to join scientists and researchers in a nearl

Dan Siewiorek Named Director Of Quality of Life Technology Center
NSF-Sponsored Center Creates Intelligent Systems To Improve Daily Living : Byron Spice / 412-268-9068 / bspice [a] cs.cmu (p) edu Kristen Sabol / 412-268-3795 / ksabol [a] andrew.cmu (p) edu

Renowned filmmaker urges graduands to spurn racism

Artwork inspired by MRI brain scans at Stanford imaging center
Laura Jacobson's artworks based on MRIs of the human brain are on display at the Department of Psychology.

A walking revolution helps older adults get and stay active
Posted under: Environment , Health and Medicine , News Releases , Research , Social Science , UW and the Community It sounds simple: get outside and take a walk.

History professor documents GI conduct in WWII France
On June 6, 1944, a massive military force arrived on the beaches of Normandy in a surprise invasion intended to overthrow Nazi Germany.

Engineering research: Collaboration and creativity unleash tomorrow's discovery
The state-of-the-art Millennium Science Complex on Penn State's University Park campus embodies a new style of interdisciplinary and collaborative research.

Targeting an aspect of Down syndrome
ANN ARBOR-University of Michigan researchers have determined how a gene that is known to be defective in Down syndrome is regulated and how its dysregulation may lead to neurological defects, providing insights into potential therapeutic approaches to an aspect of the syndrome.

Cat’s Paw Nebula "Littered" with Baby Stars
Indianapolis, IN - Most skygazers recognize the Orion Nebula, one of the closest stellar nurseries to Earth.

Young Star Suggests our Sun Was a Feisty Toddler
Indianapolis, IN - If you had a time machine that could take you anywhere in the past, what time would you choose? Most people would probably pick the era of the dinosaurs in hopes of spotting a T. rex. But many astronomers would choose the period, four and a half billion years ago, that our solar system formed.

Nobel laureate to discuss temperature and fate of universe

Research Indentifies Bone Tumor in 120,000-Year-Old Neandertal Rib
The first-known definitive case of a benign bone tumor has been discovered in the rib of a young Neandertal who lived about 120,000 years ago in what is now present-day Croatia. The bone fragment, which comes from the famous archaeological cave site of Krapina, contains by far the earliest bone tumor ever identified in the archaeological record.

Honours grad fords stream between water science and policy
For Alan Shapiro, studying the science of water at UAlberta led to a thirst for broader knowledge he can put to use for society.

Researchers Increase NMR/MRI Sensitivity through Hyperpolarization of Nuclei in Diamond
Today's nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technologies, like quantum information processing and nuclear spintronic technologies, are based on an intrinsic quantum property of electrons and atomic nuclei called "spin." Electrons and nuclei can act like tiny bar magnets with a spin that is assigned a directional state of either "up" or "down." NMR/MRI signals depend upon a majority of nuclear spins being polarized to point in one direction.

Rescuing Honey Bee Hives
Entomologists are exploring the causes of a massive die-off of the honey bee population, from viruses and mites to the role of pesticides on bee health and behavior.

Jazz Age magazine ’The Chicagoan’ reborn online
The Chicagoan —a Jazz Age magazine fashioned after The New Yorker —entered a new era this week, after the University of Chicago Library launched a website that makes digitized copies of nearly every issue available online for the first time.

Gray Center project hosts June 7 symposium on archives of socially engaged art
Rebecca Zorach and Daniel Tucker gained more than historical insight when they began ing artists three years ago as co-directors of “Never the Same,” an experimental archiving project su

SDSC’s Gordon: A Non-Conventional Supercomputer Fosters Non-Traditional Research Projects
When the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of San Diego, California, debuted Gordon early last year, the system's architects envisioned that its innovative features - such as

Researchers control flying robot with only the mind
First-of-its-kind noninvasive system has potential to help people with disabilities MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (06/05/2013) —Researchers in the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering have developed a new noninvasive system that allows people to control a flying robot using only their mind.

Vehicle fuel economy in May ties record high
ANN ARBOR-For the third month in a row, revised figures show that fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. is at an all-time high, say researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Firefighting Robot Paints 3D Thermal Imaging Picture for Rescuers
Engineers in the Coordinated Robotics Lab at the University of California, San Diego, have developed new image processing techniques for rapid exploration and characterization of structural fires by small Segway-like robotic vehicles.

Anderson Forecast: U.S. economy falls short of true recovery; California job growth steady
In its second quarterly report of 2013, the UCLA Anderson Forecast says that despite the United States' "improvement in both GDP and key economic sectors, the overall growth falls short of the rates

With global warming, will iguanas grow as big as Komodo dragons?
Why don't plant-eating lizards like iguanas grow as large as meat-eating lizards, such as the humongous 10-foot-long, 150-pound Komodo dragons? A recent discovery at the University of California, Berkeley, shows that at least some herbivorous lizards did grow that large during a warmer era 40 million years ago.

Congolese rape survivors helped by cognitive processing therapy
Posted under: Health and Medicine , Research , Social Science , UW and the Community Survivors of sexual violence have long gone without treatment and suffered debilitating symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. But a randomized controlled study of 405 rape survivors in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo proves that short-term therapy delivered by paraprofessionals is effective at reducing mental health symptoms, according to a study released June 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine .

Make room for creativity, award-winning writer tells grads

Build it and they will come
UAlberta researchers are the big winners in $47.7-million federal investment in cutting-edge equipment, labs and tools.

Neuronal regeneration and the two-part design of nerves
ANN ARBOR-Researchers at the University of Michigan have evidence that a single gene controls both halves of nerve cells, and their research demonstrates the need to consider that design in the development of new treatments for regeneration of nerve cells. A paper published online in PLOS Biology by U-M Life Sciences Institute faculty member Bing Ye and colleagues shows that manipulating genes of the fruit fly Drosophila to promote the growth of one part of the neuron simultaneously stunts the growth of the other part.

Convocation 2013: five U of’T health leaders to watch
As the class of 2013 graduates this June, U of'T News looks at some of the students who will be changing health care and advancing innovative medical technology in Canada and around the world.

Spintronics approach enables new quantum technologies
A team of researchers, including members of the University of Chicago's Institute for Molecular Engineerin g , highlight the power of emerging quantum technologies in two recent papers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . These technologies exploit quantum mechanics, the physics that dominates the atomic world, to perform disparate tasks such as nanoscale temperature measurement and processing quantum information with lasers.

New Way Fish Camouflage Themselves in the Ocean
AUSTIN, Texas — Fish can hide in the open ocean by manipulating how light reflects off their skin, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. The discovery could someday lead to the development of new camouflage materials for use in the ocean, and it overturns 40 years of conventional wisdom about fish camouflage.

Stanford poetry competition aims to revive a performance tradition
At the second annual Poetry Out Loud competition, students practice the timeless art of performing poetry, for cash prizes.

Scientists develop efficient zinc-air battery
Stanford scientists have created a zinc-air battery that could become a low-cost alternative to lithium-ion technology. Stanford University scientists have created an advanced zinc-air battery with higher catalytic activity and durability than similar batteries made with platinum and other costly catalysts.

Stable bedtime helps sleep apnea sufferers adhere to treatment
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A consistent bedtime routine is likely key to helping people with obstructive sleep apnea adhere to their prescribed treatment, according to Penn State researchers. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the upper airway collapses during sleep. It is the most common type of sleep-disordered breathing, and chances of it occurring are greater in obese people.