ANN ARBOR—In the 1960s animated sitcom The Jetsons, George Jetson commutes to work in his family-size flying car, which miraculously transforms into a briefcase at the end of the trip.

ANN ARBOR—Human papillomavirus infection rates are increasing in women born after 1980 who did not receive the HPV vaccine—putting them at higher risk for HPV-related cancers, according to a University of Michigan study. While more than 90% of HPV-related cancers are preventable, HPV causes more than 40,000 cases of cancer in the United States each Read more

ANN ARBOR—Frying pans, pill bottles, yoga mats, coffee cups and countless other nonelectronic objects could be turned into a network of Internet of Things sensors with a new RFID-based technology from the University of Michigan. The system, called IDAct, bridges the gap between the estimated 14.2 billion “smart” electronic devices that are currently part of Read more

ANN ARBOR—Dangerous airborne viruses are rendered harmless on-the-fly when exposed to energetic, charged fragments of air molecules, University of Michigan researchers have shown. They hope to one day harness this capability to replace a century-old device: the surgical mask. The U-M engineers have measured the virus-killing speed and effectiveness of nonthermal plasmas—the ionized, or charged, Read more

ANN ARBOR—During the last ice age, which peaked around 21,500 years ago, glaciers covered large portions of North America, including the entire Great Lakes region. Once the ice retreated, the land was gradually repopulated by trees that eventually formed dense forests. But what was the source of the trees that carried out this vast postglacial Read more

ANN ARBOR—Highly localized and accurate Great Lakes ice cover forecasts have been demonstrated by researchers at the University of Michigan, and their predictive modeling tool can be adapted for any geographic region. The team developed the approach working closely with officials at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior in Wisconsin. The park is home Read more

ANN ARBOR—Movellus Inc., a University of Michigan startup, has secured $6 million in Series A venture funding for a total of $10 million so far. The company provides technology that helps accelerate and optimize semiconductor chip design. Its applications include cloud computing, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. The $6 million in funding was Read more

ANN ARBOR—It’s a new chapter for the Trotter Multicultural Center, which gains a brand new building and address in the heart of the University of Michigan campus. The $10-million facility—which serves students of all cultural identities—is now located on State Street and easily accessible to the academic community. Nearly a year-and-a-half after it broke ground, Read more