Crucial details were overlooked in the 40-year-old Florida murder case involving a man sentenced to death row for killing four people found in a furniture store, according to a new Medill Justice Project investigation.
Those who rage with frustration during a marital spat have an increased risk of cardiovascular problems such as chest pain or high blood pressure later in life, according to new research from Northwestern University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Exposure to bright light alters your metabolism, reports a new study. Scientists found bright light exposure increased insulin resistance compared to dim light exposure in both the morning and the evening. In the evening, bright light also caused higher peak glucose (blood sugar) levels. Over time, excess blood glucose can result in increased body fat, weight gain and a higher risk for diabetes.
A class of drug that inhibits estrogen production and is used to treat breast cancer has been found to quickly and effectively suppress dangerous brain seizures, according to a new Northwestern University study. The effect was profound, say the neuroscientists, who conducted the study in an animal model of status epilepticus, a condition characterized by a prolonged episode of seizure activity. The results show that clinically available drugs could be effective therapies for suppressing seizures in humans.
What should caregivers do when their loved one is checking in on social media at the bank, essentially announcing their whereabouts? What if they are posting too often or don’t remember making online purchases?
Most insects have dedicated sensory systems to detect water vapor in the air, but little has been known about how they work. Now, Northwestern University and Lund University (Sweden) researchers are the first to discover a sensory system that directly detects humidity. The scientists have identified key genes involved in the fruit fly’s ability to detect changes in external humidity, and they also discovered the sensory neurons -- the fly’s humidity receptors -- in a strange, small sac in the insect’s antennae.
Northwestern University professor James Spillane is available to talk about the ongoing debate over Common Core, including the decision by some states to drop the standards altogether.
Shakespearean-era recipes offer much more than the history of puddings and pies. They also capture a surprisingly creative and intellectually-rich world of the early modern English housewife, according to a new book by Northwestern University’s Wendy Wall.
Low-income families of children with food allergies spend 2.5 times more on emergency department and hospitalization costs nationally, according to new research. The dependence on emergency care means children with food allergies from low-income families may not be able to afford foods free of their food allergen, obtain epinephrine or see an allergist who would counsel them on prevention and management of their food allergies.
Finding the vulnerable points where HIV enters the female reproductive tract is like searching for needles in a haystack. But using the light of a firefly gene, scientists have solved that challenge by creating a glowing map of the very first cells to be infected with a HIV-like virus. In an animal model, scientists showed for the first time that HIV enters cells throughout the entire female reproductive tract, not just the cervix as previously thought. Now scientists know where to attack it.
In 1848, Louis Pasteur showed that molecules that are mirror images of each other had exactly opposite rotations of light. When mixed in solution, they cancel the effects of the other, and no rotation of light is observed. Now, a research team from Northwestern University and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France is the first to demonstrate that a mixture of mirror-image molecules crystallized in the solid state can be optically active.
A stunning explosion of zinc fireworks occurs when a human egg is activated by a sperm enzyme, and the size of these “sparks” is a direct measure of the quality of the egg and its ability to develop into an embryo. The discovery has potential to help doctors choose the best eggs to transfer during in vitro fertilization.
Coral reefs are early casualties of climate change, but not every coral reacts the same way to the stress of ocean warming. Northwestern University researchers have developed the first-ever quantitative “global index” detailing which of the world’s coral species are most susceptible to coral bleaching and most likely to die. Based on historical data, the index can be used to compare the bleaching responses of the world’s corals and to predict which corals may be most affected by future bleaching events.
Nate Silver’s improbably entertaining book on statistics and forecasting, “The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail -- but Some Don’t,” is Northwestern University’s One Book One Northwestern all-campus read for the 2016-17 academic year
Students in the inaugural class of Northwestern University’s innovative college prep program for Chicago students will tour top-tier universities over spring break, a significant milestone in their journey to higher education.
Sir Richard Blundell, the David Ricardo Professor of Political Economy at University College London, and János Kollár, the Donner Professor of Science and Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University, are the recipients of the prestigious 2016 Nemmers prizes in economics and mathematics, respectively. Northwestern University announced the recipients of the 2016 Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics and the 2016 Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize in Mathematics today. The prizes are awarded every other year in recognition of major contributions to new knowledge or the development of significant new modes of analysis.
The infant daughters of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) show a higher level of an enzyme that activates testosterone and may be an early sign of developing the complex genetic disease, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
Genes are not destiny in determining whether a person will suffer from depression, reports a new study. Nurture can override nature. When rats genetically bred for depression received the equivalent of rat “psychotherapy,” their depressed behavior was alleviated. And, after the depressed rats had the therapy, some of their blood biomarkers for depression changed to non-depressed levels.
Northwestern University professor of screenwriting David E. Tolchinsky is available to comment on the emotional and physical power of ISIS recruiting videos.
Higher oxytocin levels in the third trimester of pregnancy predicts the severity of postpartum depression symptoms in women who previously suffered from depression, reports a new study. The finding indicates the potential for finding biomarkers to predict depressive symptoms postpartum and begin preventive treatment. Depression biomarkers should be screened in pregnancy, just like gestational diabetes, scientists said.
A new study provides a major link between low levels of vitamin D and aggressive prostate cancer. Northwestern Medicine research showed deficient vitamin D blood levels in men can predict aggressive prostate cancer identified at the time of surgery.
Northwestern University senior Jessie Moravek has been named a Luce Scholar to live and work in Asia, where she will investigate how people and cultures are impacted by environmental change.
California’s prison downsizing experiment is the nation's largest. But Republican states are the ones leading the way, according to Northwestern University professor Heather Schoenfeld, who is investigating why states are seeking reform and how these efforts might help the U.S. reverse mass incarceration.
Northwestern University research scientists Anne Marie Piper and Brenna Argall have received the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation.
Out-of-towners using marijuana in Colorado -- which has legally allowed sales of the drug in retail dispensaries since 2014 -- are ending up in the emergency room for marijuana-related symptoms at an increasing rate, reports a new study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Colorado.
By the time she's in first grade, Ozge Samanci is learning harsh lessons about the Turkish educational system and her country, which was undergoing intense political and social upheaval during the 1980s and '90s.
Northwestern University tied with Yale University as the nation’s third top producer of Fulbright U.S. Student Program winners among research institutions in 2015-16
Northwestern University alumnus Seth Meyers, the host of NBC’s “Late Night” talk show and one of the nation’s best-known comedians, is among the five distinguished individuals who will be recognized with honorary degrees at the University’s 158th commencement ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Friday, June 17. Meyers will deliver the commencement address to the Class of 2016.
Epigenetic age is a new way to measure your biological age. When your biological (epigenetic) age is older than your chronological age, you are at increased risk for getting and dying of cancer, reports a new study. And the bigger the difference between the two ages, the higher your risk of dying of cancer. The research could be used to develop an early detection blood test for cancer.
What makes the electrified hum of a lightsaber?Academy Award-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom, who worked on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” explains the mysterious sound behind a Jedi’s trusty weapon in the new Northwestern University SoundTank podcast series.
In one of the first reproductive studies to focus on young men and fatherhood, researchers at Northwestern Medicine found that an adolescent male’s attitude toward risky sex, pregnancy and birth control can predict whether or not he will end up living with his future offspring.
Northwestern University researchers have taken CSI to a new level: employing science to investigate details of the materials and methods used by Roman-Egyptian artists to paint mummy portraits more than 2,000 years ago. Clues about the paintings’ underlying surface shapes and colors provide very strong evidence as to how many of the portraits and panel paintings were made. The researchers concluded that three of the paintings likely came from the same workshop and may have been painted by the same hand.
Modern men increasingly value brains over beauty when choosing long-term mates.
The first study to examine the severity of LGBT bullying and its impact on mental health over time found that the majority of LGBT teens are seeing a decline in bullying but about a third are still being severely victimized. This harassment and assault is leading to lasting mental health problems including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Playing off the emotions of music, scientists will help deepen understanding about climate change at Northwestern University. The program features a group of musician-scientists who will perform in a string quartet followed by a panel discussion on how music can help explain climate change.
A new landmark national study showed allowing surgical residents the flexibility to work longer hours in order to stay with their patients through the end of an operation or stabilize them during a critical event did not pose a greater risk to patients. The study also found surgical residents reported no worsening in their overall well-being and personal safety when working longer hours.
Imagine a polymer with removable parts that can deliver something to the environment and then be chemically regenerated to function again. Or a polymer that can contract and expand the way muscles do. These functions require polymers with both rigid and soft nano-sized compartments with extremely different properties. Northwestern University researchers have developed a hybrid polymer of this type that might one day be used in artificial muscles; for delivery of drugs or biomolecules; in self-repairing materials; and for replaceable energy sources.
Using observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, an international research team, including astronomers from the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Northwestern University, has for the first time found young populations of stars within globular clusters that have apparently developed courtesy of star-forming gas flowing in from outside of the clusters themselves. This method stands in contrast to the conventional idea of the clusters’ initial stars shedding gas as they age in order to spark future rounds of star birth.
Scientists found HIV is still replicating in lymphoid tissue, even when it is undetectable in the blood of patients on antiretroviral drugs. The findings provide a critical new perspective on how HIV persists in the body despite potent antiretroviral therapy. They also offer a path to a cure and show the importance delivering drugs at effective concentrations where the virus continues to replicate in the patients.
Cancer cells are normal cells that go awry by making bad developmental decisions. In a study involving the fruit fly equivalent of an oncogene implicated in many human leukemias, a Northwestern University research team has gained insight into how developing cells normally switch to a restricted, or specialized, state and how that process might go wrong in cancer. The researchers were surprised to discover that levels of an important protein start fluctuating wildly in cells during this transition period. If the levels don’t or can’t fluctuate, the cell doesn’t switch and move forward.
When a child has a food allergy, it’s critical for pediatricians and allergists to show parents when and how to use an epinephrine auto-injector and to provide a written emergency food allergy action plan for home and school. But many parents say doctors don’t give them this potentially lifesaving information about their children’s emergency care, a new study reports. This communication gap needs to be fixed, researchers said.
No more faking out your smartphone or bracelet activity tracker. Scientists have designed a way to train activity trackers to spot the difference between fake and real activity. The new method detects, for example, when a cheater shakes the phone while lounging on the couch, so the tracker will think he's on a brisk walk. Health care providers and insurance companies are increasingly relying on smartphone and wearable activity trackers to reward active individuals for healthy behavior or to monitor patients.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) visited Northwestern University's Chicago campus on Jan. 4 to announce the $32.08 billion in federal funding for the National Institutes of Health in fiscal year 2016 -- a 6.64 percent year-over-year increase.
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