science wire

Professor cited in brief to U.S. Supreme Court on new public health law
In March, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in an historic legal challenge to the new health law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Public lectures explore the brain and behavior
Register for the lectures online or call 206-616-5274. See previous years' lectures on UWTV. How do fish hear and communicate with each other?

NorthStar Initiative launches corporate sustainability webinar series
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/03/2012) —The NorthStar Initiative for Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment is launching a free quarterly webina

New device removes stroke-causing blood clots better than standard treatment
An experimental device for removing blood clots in stroke patients dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment, according to research presented by UCLA Stroke Center director Jeffrey

Aphasia: A Stanford music professor’s work about obsessive attention to ridiculous things
Aphasia: A Stanford music professor's work, with hand gestures and odd sounds, about obsessive attention to ridiculous things Mangled vocal samples, random icons and precise hand gestures come together in a mesmerizing performance by Stanford music scholar Mark Applebaum.

Researchers to receive high-performance computing grants
Projects will advance both basic science and applications, and accelerate development of exascale computing systems Seven Harvard-affiliated researchers will receive grants to support collaborative projects in high-performance computing.

Neurons from stem cells could replace mice in botulinum test
Using lab-grown human neurons, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised an effective assay for detecting botulinum neurotoxin, the agent widely used to cosmetically smooth the wrinkles of age and, increasingly, for an array of medical disorders ranging from muscle spasticity to loss of bladder control.

Gene related to fat preferences in humans found
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A preference for fatty foods has a genetic basis, according to researchers, who discovered that people with certain forms of the CD36 gene may like high-fat foods more than those who have other forms of this gene. The results help explain why some people struggle when placed on a low-fat diet and may one day assist people in selecting diets that are easier for them to follow.

Exhibit documents Washtenaw County’s history of substance abuse
DATE: Opening reception noon-4 p.m. Feb. 4; exhibit on display Feb. 4 to April 29. Hours are noon-4 p.m. Saturdays/Sundays; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.

Scientists coax shy microorganisms to stand out in a crowd
“Untangling Genomes from Metagenomes: Revealing an Uncultured Class of Marine Euryarchaeota” Science, Feb. 3, 2012 The communities of marine microorganisms that make up half the biomass in the oceans and are responsible for half the photosynthesis the world over, mostly remain enigmatic.

Q&A: Stanford’s Philip Taubman on an unlikely alliance to rid the world of nuclear weapons
In a new book, former New York Times reporter Philip Taubman, a consulting professor at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, tells the story of five famous men who have joined efforts to eliminate the ultimate weapon.

New generation explores cultural changes through Asian music at Stanford festival

For cutting-edge biomedical materials, try corn
Winter mini-course explores plant-derived materials for wound closures, drug delivery, and tissue engineering By Mureji Fatunde '12 Students in the undergraduate teaching labs at SEAS are investigating plant-based materials that may help regrow damaged neurons.

Firms’ own social networks better for business than Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Using Facebook and Twitter may be good for a company's bottom line, but firms can rake in even bigger profits if they have their own virtual brand community, says a University of Michigan marketing professor.

Expanding entrepreneurship at Michigan Engineering and beyond

Penn State team's QR code wins REACH challenge
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

Wireless power could revolutionize highway transportation, Stanford researchers say
Stanford researchers have designed a new technology that could lead to wireless charging of electric vehicles while they cruise down the highway.

Iconic photos of the Great Depression among the highlights in Cantor’s Walker Evans exhibit
In public programs, Stanford scholars share their views on the groundbreaking artistic endeavors of photographer Walker Evans.

Roundabouts emerging as the ideal intersection between driver safety and efficiency
They've become the subject of myriad YouTube "how-to" videos. Entire department of transportation websites explain how to navigate them.

Here is what real commitment to your marriage means
What does being committed to your marriage really mean? UCLA psychologists answer this question in a new study based on their analysis of 172 married couples over the first 11 years of marriage.

Quarter of Tweets Not Worth Reading, Twitter Users Tell Researchers
Study at CMU, MIT, Georgia Tech Finds Nine Ways To Improve Tweets : Byron Spice / 412-268-9068 / bspice [a] cs.cmu (p) edu PITTSBURGH—Twitter users choose the microblogs they follow, but that doesn't mean they always like what they get. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology found that users say only a little more than a third of the tweets they receive are worthwhile.

Improving women’s participation in the public discourse
Research shows that female academic experts are seriously under-represented in the media, and this means that readers often lack a broader perspective on an issue, says a former journalist who monitors and studies female representation in the media.

Bond Chapel to become new home for Reneker Organ
Late this fall, Bond Chapel will echo with the sounds of a remarkable musical instrument. The Reneker Memorial Organ, a baroque-style organ built in 1983, will be moved this summer from 5757 S. University Ave., the current home of the Chicago Theological Seminary, to Bond Chapel.

Canadian police agencies suppressing data on race, says criminology study
While only 20 per cent of Canada's police forces have an explicit policy against reporting the race of victims and accused persons, criminologists from the University of Toronto and Nipissing show that the majority of police departments do not report race in practice.

Researchers awarded funds to develop promising technologies
Five Princeton faculty teams are the new recipients of support from a University fund designed to help propel promising discoveries out of the laboratory into products and technologies that can benefit society. The funding will support the following projects: a cheaper and more efficient solar cell for converting sunlight to electricity; a novel water-treatment technology; a microscope that uses sound waves to focus the lens; a graphene-based boost for battery-like devices; and a new class of antiviral drugs.

Self-Assembling Nanorods
A relatively fast, easy and inexpensive technique for inducing nanorods – rod-shaped semiconductor nanocrystals – to self-assemble into one-, two- and even three-dimensional macroscopic s

Straight from the gut: Microbes can cause obesity
Obesity and chronic liver disease can be triggered by a family of proteins that alter populations of microbes in the stomach, a discovery that suggests the condition may be infectious, Yale scientists report. The study, in the advance online publication of Nature , expands on earlier Yale research that showed how similar microbial imbalances caused by the same family of proteins increases the risk of intestinal diseases such as colitis.

How does the compassionate brain, measured in the lab, predict what occurs in real life?
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are launching a new series of studies to understand how laboratory measures of virtuous qualities such as compassion relate to their behavior in the real world. Richard J. Davidson , founder of the UW's Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) , at the Waisman Center, has received a three-year, $1.7 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to develop laboratory and real-world measures of virtuous qualities such as altruism and compassion.

New U of M video game teaches consequences of distracted driving
Innovative Distraction Dodger game battles leading cause of vehicle crashes MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/01/2012) —Being in a life-threatening vehicle crash due to distracted driving tea

Penn State scientists elected to American Geophysical Union
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Michael Mann and David Pollard, both scientists in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, have been elected as Fellows of the American Geophysical Union for exceptional contributions in original research in climate change.

Nano-Sized Protein Clusters Address Major Challenge of Drug Delivery
AUSTIN, TX — A new form of proteins discovered by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin could drastically improve treatments for cancer and other diseases, as well as overcome some of the largest challenges in therapeutics: delivering drugs to patients safely, easily and more effectively.

Geisel Library Exhibits, Events to Celebrate Black History Month
A series of exhibits and events in celebration of Black History month will be held during winter and into spring quarter at UC San Diego's Geisel Library.

Driving the green
New study suggests that electric-powered trucks will save money for businesses.

MIT faculty speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos
Talks explore the mind/machine interface and the science of predicting the economy, among other topics.

Poet Elizabeth Alexander to appear at the University of Minnesota
Who : Poet Elizabeth Alexander What: Eighth Annual NOMMO African American Authors Series When : Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Where : Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey

Want to understand the fluid dynamics of the oceans and atmosphere? UCLA’s got the video
Oceans and clouds, even the atmosphere itself, are in constant motion and can undergo dramatic fluctuations, like hurricanes, that lead to severe consequences.

A Study on the Impact of Good Teachers Sparks National Attention
Teachers who succeed in raising standardized test scores have a lasting influence on their students' lives, helping them avoid teenage pregnancy, go to college and earn more money as adults, accordin

SIPA Expert Says Leaner Pentagon Better Targets 21st Century Threats
President Barack Obama's new national defense strategy represents “a move in the right direction and a chance to do more of what we should have done after the Cold War and before the second war

Scientists decode brain waves to eavesdrop on what we hear
Neuroscientists may one day be able to hear the imagined speech of a patient unable to speak due to stroke or paralysis, according to University of California, Berkeley, researchers. Frequency spectrograms of the actual spoken words (top) and the sounds as reconstructed by two separate models based solely on recorded temporal lobe activity in a volunteer subject.

Penn Professor Timothy Corrigan’s ’The Essay Film’ Wins 2012 SCMS Kovács Book Award

’Shadow Education’ Affects Academic Success of East Asian Americans
A new study co-authored by University of Pennsylvania sociologist Hyunjoon Park chalks up East Asian American students' high SAT scores in part to their high level of participation in "shadow education" activities outside formal schools.

’Dinner with Interesting People’ Premieres ’First Generation’ Documentary

U-M experts can discuss Super Bowl ads, football-related topics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - University of Michigan experts are available to discuss Super Bowl commercials and other football topics, such as concussions and economic issues.

Designing in the human context

Qi wins prestigious American Diabetes Association award

Tapping into maple success through sanitation
The secret to success for maple syrup producers may lie in the science of sanitation. Simply changing taps and tubing or using special spouts could double the amount of sap seeping from New York's maple trees, according to Cornell experts who have spent six years researching the topic.

Penn Director of Rare Book and Manuscript Library to Speak at Advanced Networks and the Arts & Humanities Symposium
MAGPI, the University of Pennsylvania's Internet2 hub, will host the Advanced Networks and the Arts & Humanities Symposium on Thursday Feb.

How Do You Fight Fire in Space? Experiments Provide Some Answers
Improving fire-fighting techniques in space and getting a better understanding of fuel combustion here on Earth are the focus of a series of experiments on the International Space Station, led by a professor at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. A first round of experiments ran from March 2009 to December 2011.

Institute for Advanced Study to host panel discussion on why universities should offer more interdisciplinary education opportunities
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (01/31/2012) —The Institute for Advanced Study will host a forum Monday, February 13 to discuss "Questions Without Borders: Why Future Research and Teaching Will Be Interdisciplinary" from 3:30 to 5 pm in Coffman Union, 300 Washington Avenue S.E., Minneapolis.

Bell Museum Hosts 2nd Annual Sustainability Film Series: Stories From a Changing Planet
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (01/31/2012) —Beginning February 2, the University's Bell Museum of Natural History and Institute on the Environment are inviting visitors to explore sustainability issues through the medium of film.

Risk-based passenger screening could make air travel safer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Anyone who has flown on a commercial airline since 2001 is well aware of increasingly strict measures at airport security checkpoints.

Online news portals get credibility boost from trusted sources
University Park, Pa. - People who read news on the Web tend to trust the gate even if there is no gatekeeper, according to Penn State researchers.

Probing Question: What is the sandwich generation?
By Melissa Beattie-Moss Research/Penn State If you didn't know better, you might think the Sandwich Generation was the name of a new show on the Food Network.

U of M Physics Circus brings large-scale stunts and physics lessons to the public Feb. 9
Media Note: Members of the media may attend a daytime school group show at the Minneapolis Convention Center to get photos or video, but please Rhonda Zurn at rzurn [a] umn (p) edu to make arrangements. MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (01/31/2012) —If you've never seen a physicist drop 20 feet through thin air while a friend shoots a ball at him from a cannon, or grown men and women shooting streams of toilet paper over an audience with a leaf blower, the University of Minnesota Physics Force has a show for you.

Penn Receives NSF Grant to Research Geological Record of Chilean Earthquakes
Geological evidence of earthquakes and tsunamis aids in anticipating the timing and magnitude of future events.

Twenty Straight Wins for Top-Ranked Women’s Basketball Team
Chelsea Carlisle and the Tritons equaled their win total from last season with their triumph over the Gators on Saturday.

Carnegie Mellon University Computer Scientist Wins International Prize for Computational Biology
: Carnegie Mellon University Computer Scientist Wins International Prize for Computational Biology-Carnegie Mellon News - Carnegie Mellon University Ziv Bar-Joseph To Receive Overton Prize, Pr

Got creative block? Get out of your office and go for a walk
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The next time you're in need of creative inspiration, try thinking outside the box - or cubicle. New research by Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks and Suntae Kim of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business shows that engaging in physical acts and experiences enhances creative problem-solving.

Portable device will quickly detect pathogens in developing countries
Two Cornell professors will combine their inventions to develop a handheld pathogen detector that will give health care workers in the developing world speedy results to identify in the field such pathogens as tuberculosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV. Using synthetic DNA, Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering, has devised a method of "amplifying" very small samples of pathogen DNA, RNA or proteins.

Watching the Engine of Life, in Real Time, to Understand How Things Go Wrong
Ruben Gonzalez views ribosomes—the minute particles in cells that make proteins—as the “machines” of life. Naturally, the associate professor of chemistry is interested in watching these little protein-producing factories in real time, especially when they malfunction and cause disease.

Expert Insight on Kim Jong Un and North Korea’s Future
Fourteen years ago, North Korea's calendar was changed so that time officially began in 1912—the birth year of Kim Il Sung, who ruled the communist nation from its founding in 1948.

David and Helen Gurley Brown Gift to Create Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia and Stanford
J-School and Stanford Engineering announce joint gift from David and Helen Gurley Brown Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Stanford University's School of Engineering today

University of Minnesota School of Music presents Grammy-winning Parker Quartet Feb. 8

"Year of Proof" Is Penn Academic Theme for 2012-13
The University of Pennsylvania's academic theme for 2012-13 will be the "Year of Proof." Beginning in September at new student orientation and throughout the year, the University will hold events

Sundance and the Oscars: A big week for UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and TV

Tanner Lectures explore ancient philosophies as ways of life

The Waisman Center: Decades later, what would Harry think?
Last fall, the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison bid successfully for the same National Institutes of Health core grant that the late Harry Waisman first won 45 years ago. Harry Waisman, left, with colleagues C.S. Reiquam and Nathan J. Smith, examine pathology microscope slides in a research lab.

Penn Reviews Climate Action Plan Impact Two Years Out
As the threat of global climate change spurred the University of Pennsylvania to reduce its carbon footprint, Penn developed a Climate Action Plan that outlines specific goals and strategies for cons

Photos from disaster show Japan’s people ’don’t live for the past’
A collection of images currently displayed in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel tells two stories—a story of devastation and another about the resiliency of the people of Japan.

Two Penn GSE Researchers Help Department of Education With College Completion
Two professors at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education , Laura Perna and Marybeth Gasman , are in Washington today to participate in the Department of Education's Evidence-Action-Innovation: A College Completion Symposium.

National Labs Seek Closer Industry Ties
The network of national laboratories run by the Department of Energy (DOE) has spawned countless scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs in the last 80 years.

Multitasking Can Be Done Differently, Affect Perceptions of Work Practices
AUSTIN, Texas — In an age in which "multitasking" is often cited as a core competency for employees, organizational communication researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have begun to better understand the nuances of how different individuals accomplish multiple tasks. Such nuances can be important to organizations wanting to hire the right individual for a job and for employees seeking the best organizational and cultural fit.

Penn Concludes Annual MLK Symposium
The University of Pennsylvania's African-American Resource Center personnel coordinated with organizations all over campus to create a symposium of social justice-oriented events lasting nearly a month.

Penn Mathematicians Win 2012 Chauvenet Prize

Early intervention may curb dangerous college drinking
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The first few weeks of college are a critical time in shaping students' drinking habits. Now Penn State researchers have a tailored approach that may help prevent students from becoming heavy drinkers. "Research shows there is a spike in alcohol-related consequences that occur in the first few weeks of the semester, especially with college freshmen," said Michael J. Cleveland, research associate at the Prevention Research Center and the Methodology Center.

Durst Gift Helps Launch New Center on Urban Real Estate
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Carole Ann Fabian and Helena Durst talk about the Durst gift and the new Center for Urban Real Estate.

Pulitzer’s New York World Reborn as Online News Site
Last fall, a private bus company operating under a city contract permitted its passengers, primarily Orthodox Jews, to enforce a religious tradition—in order to prevent physical between the sexes, women were required to sit in the back of the bus.

Addicts’ cravings have different roots in men and women
When it comes to addiction, sex matters. A new brain imaging study by Yale School of Medicine researchers suggests stress robustly activates areas of the brain associated with craving in cocaine-dependent women, while drug cues activate similar brain regions in cocaine-dependent men. The study, expected to be published online Jan.

Stanford, Columbia get a joint $30 million gift for media innovation
The gift establishes a first-of-its-kind bi-coastal Institute for Media Innovation, bringing together the best in West Coast technology with East Coast content.

Astronomer Andrea Ghez to highlight ever-improving technology for studying space in annual Bunyan lecture

Yale lectures focus on music and human evolution
The 2012 Shulman Lectures in Science and the Humanities will explore the human capacity for music-making and music perception in light of new developments in evolutionary science and theory.

Department of Surgery among nation’s best in research funding

Liberal-democratic ideas don't have universal support in Middle East
Liberal-democratic attitudes in the Middle East and North Africa aren't universal, say two University of Toronto sociologists.

Four decades - and counting - of feminist journalism
At a Stanford panel discussion, editors, activists and bloggers come together to salute Ms. magazine and consider the future.

U of’T professors perform Ontario's first cardiac stem cell transplant
University of Toronto faculty members performed the first cardiac stem cell transplant in Ontario recently, using stem cells derived from the patient's own bone marrow, isolated completely within the operating room, and implanted into the heart at the time of coronary bypass surgery.

Half of L.A. human-services nonprofits are struggling, new UCLA report shows
Roughly half of Los Angeles County's 6,300 human-services nonprofits — which provide such services as emergency shelter, food, hospice care, and support for foster children, at-risk youth and t

Physics at 2,500 feet
Sharing his lifelong passion for flight, CNS manager T. Fettah Kosar teaches aerodynamics from the cockpit Ismail Türsan, at right, stands in front of the Kleopatra, a glider he built with his friends and flew in 1934, in Turkey.

Give undergraduates the ’gift’ of adaptive learning, committee tells senate
The first senate meeting of winter quarter focused on The Study of Undergraduate Education at Stanford.

The feminist struggle continues, Gloria Steinem says, encouraging a Stanford audience toward ’one new subversive thing’
The co-founder of Ms. magazine celebrates the 40th anniversary of the pioneering publication. She also said there needs to be more cooperation among various rights movements.

Adolescents from Unstable Families Lose Ground in Rigorous High Schools
AUSTIN, Texas — The type of school a child attends may exacerbate the negative effect that family instability has on academic performance, according to a new study in the January issue of Sociology of Education .

New center developing computational bioresearch tool
The HIV virion is the virus particle that spreads the deadly AIDS infection from cell to cell. “On the molecular scale it's a huge object that probably involves a billion total atoms.

From Cancer Research to Energy Storage, Berkeley Lab Scientist Takes on Big Challenges
On a typical day, Rizia Bardhan walks through the doors of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Molecular Foundry and immerses herself in the tricky business of tweaking optical spectroscopy equipment to study phase transitions in metal hydrides. It's fair to say that what she does is difficult to grasp.

Consumer confidence improves in January due to job gains
ANN ARBOR, Mich - Consumer confidence continued to improve in January due to positive news about potential job gains, according to University of Michigan economist Richard Curtin, director of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.

Grant to UC San Diego Shiley Eye Center Supports Research in Blinding Eye Diseases
Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has awarded a grant of $100,000 to the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine to support research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of blinding eye diseases.

UChicago brings Akira clothing store to former Borders building on 53rd Street
The University of Chicago is bringing Akira , the apparel and shoes retailer, to Hyde Park, to occupy the majority of the first-floor space in the former Borders building at 1539 E. 53rd St&poi

’Father of green chemistry’ plans return to Yale
Paul Anastas, the Yale chemist who has been on leave while serving as head of research for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plans to return to the University full time later this winter.

Human trafficking a dangerous reality
In the movie The Whistleblower , an American police officer turned peacekeeper uncovers a sex trafficking operation in post-war Bosnia.

Breakthrough treatment successful for patients with blocked arteries
The world's first clinical trial of a new treatment for patients with blocked coronary arteries has shown the novel approach to be safe and to yield promising success rates. The University of Toronto -Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre study involved 20 patients, each with a coronary artery completely blocked by plaque - a condition called chronic total occlusion (CTO).

Scientists Link Evolved, Mutated Gene Module to Syndromic Autism
A team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports that newly discovered mutations in an evolved assembly of genes cause Joubert syndrome, a form of syndromic autism. The findings are published in the January 26 online issue of Science Express . Joubert syndrome is a rare, recessive brain condition characterized by malformation or underdevelopment of the cerebellum and brainstem.

McGill University’s Life Sciences Complex earns LEED Gold certification
First university-owned laboratory in Quebec to garner top marks for sustainable construction Life Sciences video: http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=gV2MFmckUXw McGill University's Life Scienc

Commentary in Nature: Can economy bear what oil prices have in store?
Stop wrangling over global warming and instead reduce fossil-fuel use for the sake of the global economy.

UCLA Law report urges California to take action to protect public from toxic consumer products
More than 2,000 chemicals are used in consumer or commercial products such as toys, clothing and electronics; many are now also in the bodies of men, women and children.

Faculty Senate to hear report on reimagining undergraduate education

Volunteers sought for simulated Mars mission and study of ’menu fatigue’
Astronauts on a mission to Mars will need much more than freeze-dried ice cream to sustain them, and researchers at Cornell are working to determine the best way to keep them well nourished during their three-year journeys and four-month stays on the Red Planet.

U-M, Sierra Club to study links between outdoor experience, veterans’ mental health
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - For six years, the Sierra Club has organized outdoor trips for U.S. military service members, veterans and their families. Now, the national environmental group is working with the University of Michigan on a research project to measure how those trips affect veterans' mental health.

Berkeley Lab to Develop Novel Materials for Hydrogen Storage
The biggest challenge with hydrogen-powered fuel cells lies in the storage of hydrogen: how to store enough of it, in a safe and cost-effective manner, to power a vehicle for 300 miles?  Lawrence Ber

Deputy Secretary of Energy Poneman and Sen. Franken to tour U of M wind energy research station at UMore Park Friday, Jan. 27
Who : Sen. Al Franken, Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman and University of Minnesota Professor Fotis Sotiropoulos What : Tour of University of Minnesota wind energy research station and press availability When : 11 am., Friday, Jan.

Penn Anthropologists Clarify Link Between Asians and Early Native Americans
A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists. Lying at the intersection of what is today Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, the region known as the Altai "is a key area because it's a place that people have been coming and going for thousands and thousands of years," said Theodore Schurr , an associate professor in Penn's Department of Anthropology.

LED lights point shoppers in the right direction
SAN FRANCISCO - Looking for an item in a large department store or mall can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, but that could change thanks to a hybrid location-identification system that

Exploring how a parent’s education can affect the mental health of their offspring
New research sheds light on cycle of low socioeconomic status and depression Could depression in adulthood be tied to a parent's level of education? A new study led by Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, a medical sociologist from McGill University, suggests this is the case.

Rotational Motion of Cells that Plays a Critical Role in Their Normal Development
Berkeley Lab researchers have discovered a rotational motion in human breast cells that continues through mitosis and enables the cells and their progeny to form sphere-shaped acini. In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research as well as basic cell biology, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in the mammary gland known as acini.

Penn Launches Center for the Study of Contemporary China
University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann , Provost Vincent Price and Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Rebecca Bushnell are pleased to announce the launch of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China.

Four Breast Cancer-Related Studies Seeking Participants
UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center researchers examine role of diet and exercise An active lifestyle and a healthy diet can help you feel more energetic, control your weight, help you sleep better, and reduce your risk of many diseases.

Stanford scholars reflect on Arab Spring
A year after the Egyptian uprising, five scholars talk about democracy in the Middle East, how lives have changed in the Arab world, and what the United States has learned from the Arab Spring.

Suomi remembered for problem-solving ability, drive
Verner Suomi's career — even his life — may not have been as long and illustrious had he not been an inveterate problem solver.

UCLA historian’s book looks at Arab uprisings, their common origins and different paths
Having closely watched the Arab uprisings that began just over a year ago, UCLA historian James Gelvin shudders whenever he hears the term "Arab Spring." "'Spring' implies renewal and joy, and we'

USDOT awards $3.5 million for UW-based regional transportation center
The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a grant of $3.5 million to a multi-university, regional transportation center led by the University of Washington.

Rare Posters, Drawings From the Spanish Civil War on View at Geisel Library Through May 11, 2012
All images from the Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection in the UC San Diego Mandeville Special Collections Library "So There Will Be No Forgetting: Images from the Spanish Civil War," an exhib

How suppressing the immune system may prevent type 1 diabetes
A new study at Yale School of Medicine has uncovered the mechanism by which a targeted suppression of the immune system may prevent type 1 diabetes or induce sustained remission. The study appears in Science Translational Medicine. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease - the immune system goes into overdrive and attacks the body's normal cells instead of foreign invaders.

New Fluorescent Dyes Highlight Neuronal Activity
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have created a new generation of fast-acting fluorescent dyes that optically highlight electrical activity in neuronal membranes. The work is published in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

Satellite renamed to honor UW-Madison space pioneer
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have renamed their newest Earth-observing satellite after Verner Suomi, a longtime UW-Madison professor who often is called the father of satellite meteorology.

Young breast cancer survivors face serious quality-of-life challenges
Quality of life in younger patients treated for breast cancer is seriously compromised, and these women face more physical and mental health issues than women their age who haven't had cancer and women over 50 who have, according to a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Janet Rowley to receive Japan Prize for role in development of targeted cancer therapy
Janet Davison Rowley, the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago, will receive the 2012 Japan Prize for Healthcare and Medical Technology.

Robots go head to head, 250 miles above Earth
Third annual Zero Robotics competition pits robots against each other on the International Space Station.

Attack or retreat? Circuit links hunger and pursuit in sea slug brain
CHAMPAIGN, lll. - If you were a blind, cannibalistic sea slug, living among others just like you, nearly every encounter with another creature would require a simple cost/benefit calculation: Should I eat that, do nothing or flee? In a new study, researchers report that these responses are linked to a simple circuit in the brain of the sea slug Pleurobranchaea .

Poll: Incentives working, but local officials in Michigan lukewarm about state funding reforms
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Only a small minority of local officials in Michigan believe that major reforms in the way they receive state funding that require adoption of "dashboard" reports will be very effective in improving the overall performance of their governments.

Death Valley Crater May Be Younger and More Active Than Previously Thought
Death Valley's half-mile-wide Ubehebe Crater turns out to have been created 800 years ago—far more recently than generally thought.

Fels Institute at Penn Kicks Off 75th Year Anniversary by Examining Intersection of Transportation and Fiscal Crisis

Envelope for an Artificial Cell
Neal Davaraj watches as undergraduate student Weilong Li works on a next step in their quest to create an entirely artificial cell.

Under the Electron Microscope - A 3-D Image of an Individual Protein
When Gang Ren whirls the controls of his cryo-electron microscope, he compares it to fine-tuning the gearshift and brakes of a racing bicycle. But this machine at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is a bit more complex. It costs nearly $1.5 million, operates at the frigid temperature of liquid nitrogen, and it is allowing scientists to see what no one has seen before.

New model shows how often to review material for flashcard programs
A challenge for students and teachers - and today, for designers of educational software: How often should material be reviewed for best learning? Wait too long to review and it fades away; review too soon and the effort is wasted.

Multitasking may harm the social and emotional development of tweenage girls, Stanford researchers say
Multitasking may harm the social and emotional development of tweenage girls, but face-to-face talks could save the day, say Stanford researchers Too much screen time can be detrimental to girls

Making Sense of Sensory Connections
A key feature of human and animal brains is that they are adaptive; they are able to change their structure and function based on input from the environment and on the potential associations, or consequences, of that input. For example, if a person puts his hand in a fire and gets burned, he learns to avoid flames; the simple sight of a flame has acquired a predictive value, which in this case, is repulsive.

Restored wetlands rarely equal condition of original wetlands
Restored wetlands like this pond converted from agricultural use in Aragon, Spain, may look natural, but a new study shows that it can take hundreds of years for restored wetlands to accumulate the plant assemblages and carbon resources of a natural, undamaged wetland. Credit: David Moreno-Mateos/UC Berkeley Wetland restoration is a billion-dollar-a-year industry in the United States that aims to create ecosystems similar to those that disappeared over the past century.

U-M experts available to comment on the State of the Union address
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - University of Michigan faculty are available to discuss tonight's State of the Union address, in which President Barack Obama will talk about the economy, taxes and other issues.

University of Chicago Medicine looks ahead to new brand, new hospital
The University of Chicago Medical Center, one of the leading academic medical institutions in the country, is introducing a new brand as it prepares to open a modern 10-story hospital on its South Side campus next January.

New chair in Indian studies to commemorate Hindu spiritual leader
The University of Chicago will establish a new visiting professorship in Indian studies, supported by a $1.5 million gift from India's Ministry of Culture.

The Thinker, one of the world’s most famous works of art, comes home to Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center
Auguste Rodin's The Thinker returns to the Stanford campus after a two-year loan to the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Experiences are better when we know they’re about to end
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - People often view the "last" moments of an event positively simply because they signal the end of an experience, say University of Michigan researchers.

Supporting innovation: from green chemistry to pain research
The CFI awards more than $1 million to seven McGill researchers The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced it has awarded $1,072,471 to McGill University under its Leaders of Opportunity Fund (LOF).

Intelligent Buildings Project receives gift from Wells Fargo Foundation
Yale's Intelligent Buildings Project has received $200,000 from the Wells Fargo Foundation to support groundbreaking research on energy consumption in buildings.

Intelligent Buildings Project receives gift from Wells Far
Yale's Intelligent Buildings Project has received $200,000 from the Wells Fargo Foundation to support groundbreaking research on energy consumption in buildings.

Ancient dinosaur nursery oldest nesting site yet found
An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus-revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behaviour in early dinosaurs. The newly unearthed dinosaur nesting ground predates previously known nesting sites by 100 million years, according to study authors.

Among disadvantaged, college reduces odds for marriage
For those with few social advantages, college is a prime pathway to financial stability, but it also unexpectedly lowers their odds of ever marrying, according to an analysis by Cornell sociologist Kelly Musick in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family (74:1).

Composer Steve Reich Storms Campus with ‘Music for 18 Musicians/
In a rare San Diego appearance, renowned composer Steve Reich was honored at a sold-out Jan. 18 concert at UC San Diego's Conrad Prebys Concert Hall.

Top-ranked Women’s Basketball Team Extends Winning Streak to 18 Games
Daisy Feder scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as the No. 1 UC San Diego women's basketball team blew by California Collegiate Athletic Association rival Humboldt State, 74-49, on Saturday evening at RIMAC Arena.

Vision improves modestly in patients after human embryonic stem cells transplants
Researchers at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute and colleagues who successfully transplanted specialized retinal cells derived from human embryonic stem cells into the eyes of two legally blind patients report that the transplants appear safe and that both patients have experienced modest improvement in their vision.

Spirited election panel previews new Institute of Politics
On an afternoon when the University of Chicago announced the creation of the new Institute of Politics, a panel of prominent political figures also marked the occasion with informed analysis, humor, and spirited disagreements over the 2012 presidential election.

Penn-based Report Reflects Rise of Think Tanks in Underrepresented Regions of the World
Launched in 2006, the University of Pennsylvania's "Global Go-To Think Tank Rankings" annual report has become an authoritative source for the top public policy research institutes in the world.

U of M survey: Minnesotans predict higher leisure travel spending in 2012
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (01/23/2012) —A majority of the state's residents spend their leisure time in Minnesota, and 78 percent said they plan to spend as much or more money on leisure travel in 2012 compared to 2011, a new survey by the University of Minnesota Tourism Center reveals.

Insomnia is a major health problem
Insomnia is a serious medical condition that should be treated with evidence-based medicine because it is linked to depression, diabetes, hypertension, drug abuse and even death, according to a review of recent research co-authored by a leading University of Wisconsin-Madison sleep researcher. "This review underscores the fact that insomnia needs to be taken seriously, and that health care providers should routinely ask their patients how they are sleeping," says Ruth Benca , director of the Wisconsin Sleep laboratory and clinic.

Gene Therapy Research team from Penn Vet and Scheie Eye Institute Cures Retinitis Pigmentosa in Dogs
Members of a University of Pennsylvania research team have shown that they can prevent, or even reverse, a blinding retinal disease, X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa, or XLRP, in dogs. The disease in humans and dogs is caused by defects in the RPGR gene and results in early, severe and progressive vision loss.

Executive Doctorate in Higher Ed Management Celebrates 10th Year

UC San Diego Health System Expands, Acquires Nevada Cancer Institute
UC San Diego Health System has received approval to acquire the Nevada Cancer Institute (NVCI), the official cancer institute of the state of Nevada, as an affiliate health care provider.

SDSC’s East Building Receives LEED Gold Certification
The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego, has been awarded a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Gold certification for its SDSC East building expansion.

Urban Education Institute partnership to create model for early childhood, K-12 education
The University of Chicago Urban Education Institute and the Ounce of Prevention Fund have been awarded a total of $2.45 million to support a multi-year effort to develop a model of public education f

University of Minnesota unveiled 'Driven to Discover' video contest winners
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (01/23/2012) —The University of Minnesota today unveiled the winners of its “Driven to Discover” student video contest.

Elliott Levinthal, Stanford professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, dead at 89
In a career that ranged from radar to medicine to outer space, Elliott Levinthal played an instrumental role in the schools of Engineering and Medicine, and in the rise of Silicon Valley.