Futurity.org » University of Michigan

Can water change the way we eat?

Jim Barlow-Oregon — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:08:37 +0000

U. OREGON (US) — Serving water with meals could be a simple but effective way to fight the nation’s growing obesity problem, particularly with kids, say researchers.

For a new paper published in the journal Appetite researchers surveyed 60 young U.S. adults (ages 19-23) about the role of food-and-drink pairings.

Cell as target for tough-to-treat asthma

Kara Gavin-U. Michigan — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:06:37 +0000

U. MICHIGAN (US) — A type of newly discovered cell in mice appears to be crucial to causing asthma symptoms—even in the presence of inhaler steroid medications.

The research, published in Nature Medicine, also shows that people with asthma have a very similar cell type in their blood at higher levels than people without the condition.

Hungry sea urchins force prey to adapt

Jim Erickson-Michigan — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:26:40 +0000

U. MICHIGAN (US) — In one unusual predator-prey showdown, sea urchins have forced evolutionary adaptations upon crinoids, which include the sea lily.

Over a nearly 200-million-year span, sea urchins have been in control, even driving the formerly stationary, or sessile, sea lilies to develop the ability to escape by creeping along the ocean floor.

South Pole Telescope hunts down dark energy

Steve Koppes-Chicago — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:56:34 +0000

U. CHICAGO (US) — Astronomers are beginning to unravel the modern mystery of dark energy based on data from the South Pole Telescope.

Recent analysis offers new support for the widely accepted explanation of dark energy, the source of the mysterious force that is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe.

To nab wasted heat, solid mimics liquid

Marcus Woo-Caltech — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:27:17 +0000

CALTECH / U. MICHIGAN (US) — A new, liquid-like compound has the potential to be even more efficient than traditional thermoelectrics.

Thermoelectric materials have been used to power spacecraft ranging from Apollo to the Curiosity rover now headed for Mars. Recently, however, scientists and engineers have been turning to these materials to use wasted heat—released from automobiles or industrial machinery, for instance—as an efficient energy source. They have also proposed using these materials to create more efficient heating systems in electric cars or even as new ways to exploit solar power.

In identifying this new type of thermoelectric material, the researchers studied a material made from copper and selenium. Although it is physically a solid, it exhibits liquid-like behaviors due to the way its copper atoms flow through the selenium’s crystal lattice.

Test strip colors indicate nerve gas threat

Nicole Casal Moore-Michigan — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:18:45 +0000

U. MICHIGAN (US) — A new litmus-like test can protect soldiers by turning from blue to pink within 30 seconds of exposure to trace amounts of nerve gas.

Nerve gases are colorless, odorless, tasteless, and deadly. While today’s soldiers carry masks and other protective gear, they don’t have reliable ways of knowing when they need them in time. That could change, thanks to the new litmus-like paper sensor made at the University of Michigan.

Pacemaker powered by heart’s vibration

Nicole Casal Moore-Michigan — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:06:10 +0000

U. MICHIGAN (US) — Engineers have designed a cardiac pacemaker that is powered by vibrations from the patient’s heartbeat.

Engineering researchers at the University of Michigan designed a device that harvests energy from the reverberation of heartbeats through the chest and converts it to electricity to run a pacemaker or an implanted defibrillator. These mini-medical machines send electrical signals to the heart to keep it beating in a healthy rhythm.

Latina moms put doctors’ kindness first

Dennis O'Shea-JHU — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:11:39 +0000

JOHNS HOPKINS U. (US) — Latina moms value a pediatrician’s empathy and warmth far more than the doctor’s ability to speak Spanish.

Reducing health care disparities for children from Spanish-speaking homes may have less to do with bridging the language gap and more to do with the fundamentals of physician-patient interaction such as concern, compassion and a thorough physical exam, the investigators say.

As climate warmed, early horses shrank

Danielle Torrent-Florida — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:46:01 +0000

U. FLORIDA (US) — Past climate warming resulted in tiny horses, a finding that suggests mammals shrink when temperatures rise.

In a study appearing in the journal Science, researchers led by scientists from the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska found a correlation between temperature and body size in mammals by following the evolution of the earliest horses about 56 million years ago: As temperatures increased, their body size decreased.

Older flies with sexy smell turn on males

Mary Masson-Michigan — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:01:47 +0000

U. MICHIGAN (US) — Changes in pheromone production that occur with age can reduce sexual attractiveness, according to a recent study with fruit flies.

Pheromones are chemicals produced by an organism to communicate or attract another. The new study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, examined how pheromones play a role in the sexual attractiveness and aging process of the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, says Scott D. Pletcher, senior author of the study, associate professor in the department of molecular and integrative physiology at the University of Michigan.