• Interstellar clouds of gas and dust contract, flatten and spin up while they do so. A star is finally born in the centre; planets may form from the disc of leftover material. Image credit: Bill Saxton/NRAO/AUI/NSF

    Shift to ultraviolet-driven chemistry in planet-forming disks marks beginning of late-stage planet formation

    The chemistry of planet formation has fascinated researchers for decades because the chemical reservoir in protoplanetary discs—the dust and gas from which planets form—directly impacts planet composition and potential for life.

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  • Map of percentage change in transportation energy burden from current on-road vehicle stock to a new battery-electric vehicle. Negative percentages indicate energy cost savings for EVs compared to gasoline powered vehicles. Areas with the greatest savings, shown in green, include the West Coast states and parts of the East and South. Transportation energy burden is the percentage of household income spent on fueling with gasoline or charging with electricity. Adapted from Vega-Perkins et al. in Environmental Research Letters, January 2023.

    EV transition will benefit most US vehicle owners, but lowest-income Americans could get left behind

    More than 90% of vehicle-owning households in the United States would see a reduction in the percentage of income spent on transportation energy—the gasoline or electricity that powers their cars, SUVs and pickups—if they switched to electric vehicles.

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  • Military Police during a protest 2016 protest in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Image credit: iStock

    Brazil riots: U-M experts can discuss

    EXPERTS ADVISORY In the aftermath of Sunday’s riots, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promises to bring rioters to justice. This morning, he met with Rosa Weber, president of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil, and other leaders to work “in defense of democracy.” “The powers of the republic, defenders of democracy and the Read more

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  • Recovery continues for U.S. economy, adding 5 million jobs

    Healthy job market increasingly matches pre-pandemic employment patterns, U-M economists say

    Employers added 223,000 jobs in December 2022, capping a year marked by record low unemployment and high job growth. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% with a slight increase in the labor force participation rate and employment rate, according to new data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The private sector industries slowest Read more

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  • United States House of Representatives or Office of the Speaker of the House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    U-M political experts on chaotic US House speaker election and its implications for power, governing

    The chaotic election for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives likely will have implications on the power dynamic and governability of the Republican Party, the chamber and Congress itself. Offering their insights are two experts from the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy: Jonathan Hanson, a political scientist and lecturer in statistics, and Jenna Bednar, a professor of public policy and political science.

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  • A close-up of the panel with the semiconductor catalyst and water inside. Bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen travel up the slope to be separated in the canister (maybe). Photo: Brenda Ahearn/Michigan Engineering, Communications and MarketingA close-up of the panel with the semiconductor catalyst and water inside. Bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen travel up the slope to be separated in the canister (maybe). Image credit: Brenda Ahearn/Michigan Engineering, Communications and Marketing

    Cheap, sustainable hydrogen through solar power

    A new kind of solar panel, developed at the University of Michigan, has achieved 9% efficiency in converting water into hydrogen and oxygen—mimicking a crucial step in natural photosynthesis. Outdoors, it represents a major leap in the technology, nearly 10 times more efficient than solar water-splitting experiments of its kind. But the biggest benefit is Read more

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  • Reef fish must relearn ‘rules of engagement’ after coral bleaching

    Mass coral bleaching events are making it harder for some species of reef fish to identify competitors, new research reveals. Scientists studying reefs across five Indo-Pacific regions found that the ability of butterfly fish individuals to identify competitor species and respond appropriately was compromised after widespread loss of coral caused by bleaching. This change means Read more

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  • Experimental setup for U-M’s iRAI system (metal box on left) using a lard "phantom" (cylinder at center) that approximates the human body. Image credit: U-M Optical Imaging Laboratory

    Tracking radiation treatment in real time promises safer, more effective cancer therapy

    Radiation, used to treat half of all cancer patients, can be measured during treatment for the first time with precise 3D imaging developed at the University of Michigan. By capturing and amplifying tiny sound waves created when X-rays heat tissues in the body, medical professionals can map the radiation dose within the body, giving them Read more

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  • Blurry shadow silhouette of two boys confronting each other in school yard, Image credit: iStock

    Sizing up the competition based on sensitivity to pain

    Before any physical conflict, people assess their opponent’s features to determine if the ideal tactical response is to fight, flee or attempt to negotiate.  Throughout evolution, bigger, stronger animals have won fights with smaller, weaker animals. Because of this, when people think about the features that determine who will win a fight, they summarize those Read more

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  • A scatterplot shows viral shedding plotted against cognitive variability, with the size of the dot indicating symptoms. The unit TCID50 indicates tissue culture infectious dose 50, the quantity of virus that will infect 50% of the cell cultures that receive this dose. The cognitive performance variability score and symptoms score have no units. Data reported in Scientific Reports, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26081-6

    A brain game may predict your risk of infection

    When a person’s cognitive function is highly variable, they’re likely to be more infectious and have more symptoms after exposure to a respiratory virus If your alertness and reaction time is see-sawing more than usual, you may be more at risk of a viral illness.  That’s the key finding of an experiment led by University Read more

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  • A dolphin wearing a biologging tag. The tag is attached to the animal using suction cups, and can measure the sounds the animal hears, sound the animal uses to communicate and echolocate, as well as the motion of the animal. Image credit: Alex Shorter, University of Michigan

    New activity trackers for dolphin conservation

    Just like a smartwatch can tell its wearer how many calories they consume during exercise, data from dolphin wearables can now be used to estimate how much energy dolphins use when they swim. University of Michigan engineers, in collaboration with marine mammal specialists at Dolphin Quest Oahu, have led the development of wearable sensors for Read more

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  • Image credit: Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography

    Michigan maritime: Ports set to grow economy throughout the state

    A new law that gives the state’s 32 ports tools to expand and grow the maritime economy started out as a community project for a handful of University of Michigan students. U-M students first worked with the Port of Monroe in 2012 and over the next decade would make the case for investing in ports Read more

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  • Magnifier and paper document. Image credit: iStock

    Journal editors, reviewers don’t show bias against novelty

    Scientific journals are likely to accept papers that provide new findings compared with studies reporting conventional results, which is contrary to long-standing concerns about publication biases.

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