Do you want to know the percentage of white women who support Sarah Palin? What about college-educated versus high school-educated white women? Or those who also hunt? University of Utah computer scientists have written software they hope eventually will allow news reporters and citizens to easily, interactively and visually answer such questions when analyzing election results and opinion polls.
When a cell's chromosomes lose their ends, the cell usually kills itself to stem the genetic damage. But University of Utah biologists discovered how those cells can evade suicide and start down the path to cancer. The study of fruit flies is the first to show in animals that losing just one telomere "“ the end of a chromosome "“ can lead to many abnormalities in a cell's chromosomes.
It's time to turn attention to counting the votes, says University of Utah elections expert Thad Hall: in another close Presidential race, will the election process again make the headlines?
University of Utah engineers devised a new way to slice thin wafers of the chemical element germanium for use in the most efficient type of solar power cells. They say the new method should lower the cost of such cells by reducing the waste and breakage of the brittle semiconductor.
University of Utah physicists successfully controlled an electrical current using the "spin" within electrons "“ a step toward building an organic "spin transistor": a plastic semiconductor switch for future ultrafast computers. The study also suggests it will be more difficult than thought to make highly efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using organic materials.
Prof. Guiora, a counterterrorism expert, argues that today's military court decision convicting Salim Hamdan merits discussing alternative forums to try individuals suspected of terrorism.
A University of Utah study is shedding light on an important, unsolved physics problem: the relationship between chaos theory "“ which is based on 300-year-old Newtonian physics "“ and the modern theory of quantum mechanics. The study demonstrated a fundamental new property "“ what appears to be chaotic behavior in a quantum system "“ in the magnetic spins within the nuclei of frozen xenon atoms.
The age of your neighborhood may influence your risk of obesity, according to a new study from the University of Utah. The study, to be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that residents were at less risk of being obese or overweight if they lived in older, more walkable neighborhoods.
Certain songbirds can contract their vocal muscles 100 times faster than humans can blink an eye "“ placing the birds with a handful of animals that have evolved superfast muscles, University of Utah researchers found.
University of Utah law professor Amos Guiora to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Improving Detainee Policy: Handling Terrorism Detainees within the American Justice System." The hearing begins June 4 at 10:00 a.m. EDT in room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building in Washington, D.C.
New calculations show that Utah's deadly Crandall Canyon mine collapse "“ which registered as a magnitude-3.9 earthquake "“ began near where miners were excavating coal and quickly grew to a 50-acre cave-in, University of Utah seismologists say in a report. They estimated the size of the collapse is about four times larger than was thought shortly after the time of the Aug. 6, 2007, disaster.
Until 1992, when California's magnitude-7.3 Landers earthquake set off small jolts as far away as Yellowstone National Park, scientists did not believe large earthquakes sparked smaller tremors at distant locations. Now, a definitive study shows large earthquakes routinely trigger smaller jolts worldwide, including on the opposite side of the planet and in areas not prone to quakes.
Researchers have been unable to build an ideal "photonic crystal" to manipulate visible light, impeding the dream of ultrafast optical computers. But now, University of Utah chemists have discovered that nature already has designed photonic crystals with the ideal, diamond-like structure: They are found in the shimmering, iridescent green scales of a beetle from Brazil.
A new study from the University of Utah shows that women in academia have fewer children compared to other professional women -- primarily because it takes longer to achieve the job security of tenure -- and concludes that gender equality in the "ivory tower" has come at a cost. Female faculty are 41 percent less likely to have babies than female physicians.
University of Utah engineers took an early step toward building superfast computers that run on far-infrared light instead of electricity: They made waveguides -- the equivalent of wires -- that carried and bent this form of light, also known as terahertz radiation, which is the last unexploited portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Cancellations of flights on U.S. airlines due to safety checks mandated by the FAA has sparked debate over how to best solve the problems of aircraft wiring in aging jets. University of Utah engineering professor Cynthia Furse is available to provide commentary. She is nationally recognized for developing onboard automatic testing of aircraft wiring to prevent in-flight fires and loss of control signals.
Recent mass flight cancellations due to aircraft safety checks have sparked debate over how to solve problems with wiring in aging jets. Electrical engineer Cynthia Furse, of the University of Utah College of Engineering, developed a method of testing aircraft wiring and is available to comment on the current situation.
The accuracy of computer models that predict climate change has been the subject of debate. A new University of Utah study shows that current climate models are quite accurate and can be valuable tools for those seeking solutions on reversing global warming trends. Most of these models project a global warming trend that amounts to about 7 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years.
Final results from the University of Utah's High Resolution Fly's Eye cosmic ray observatory show that the most energetic particles in the universe rarely reach Earth at full strength because they come from great distances, so most of them collide with radiation left over from the birth of the universe. The findings confirm a 42-year-old prediction known as the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) "cutoff."
Scientists know that air pollution particles from mid-latitude cities migrate to the Arctic and form an ugly haze, but a new University of Utah study finds surprising evidence that polar explorers saw the same phenomenon as early as 1870.
Without a ripple in the water, alligators dive, surface or roll sideways, even though they lack flippers or fins. University of Utah biologists discovered gators maneuver silently by using their diaphragm, pelvic, abdominal and rib muscles to shift their lungs like internal floatation devices: toward the tail when they dive, toward the head when they surface and sideways when they roll.
The University of Utah was ranked second in the nation at starting technology companies based on its research. Ranking is based on the latest survey of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). The University started 20 new companies in 2006 from its diverse and varied research.
University of Utah scientists developed a new crime-fighting tool by showing that human hair reveals the general location where a person drank water, helping police track past movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.
A new species of dinosaur unearthed in Mexico is giving scientists fresh insights into the ancient history of western North America, according to an international research team led by scientists from the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah.
From the vast universe to subatomic particles, scale influences what we see, know and dream in science, art, poetry, architecture, economics, music and philosophy. The influence of scale on how we experience the world will be the focus Feb. 21-23 during the Utah Symposium in Science and Literature at the University of Utah. The theme is "Measuring Scale: A World in a Grain of Sand."
The University of Utah has been given software valued at $21.2 million from Landmark, a product service line of Halliburton's Drilling and Evaluation Division. The donation provides students and researchers with advanced software used to help find oil and gas resources more efficiently.
Muscles usually contract when a neurotransmitter molecule is released from nerve cells onto muscle cells. But University of Utah scientists discovered that bare subatomic protons can act like larger, more complex neurotransmitters, making gut muscles contract in tiny round worms so the worms can poop.
Motorists who talk on cell phones drive slower on the freeway, pass sluggish vehicles less often and take longer to complete their trips, according to a University of Utah study that suggests drivers on cell phones congest traffic. "At the end of the day, the average person's commute is longer because of that person who is on the cell phone right in front of them," says psychologist Dave Strayer.
Scientists long have focused on how climate and vegetation allowed human ancestors to evolve in Africa. Now, University of Utah geologists are calling renewed attention to the idea that ground movements formed mountains and valleys, creating environments that favored the emergence of humanity.
About 20 faculty members from the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law will participate in a program to train Afghan prosecutors, helping the Afghan people develop fair, equitable and effective legal institutions and processes.
Researchers discovered genetic evidence that human evolution is speeding up "“ and has not halted or proceeded at a constant rate, as had been thought "“ indicating that humans on different continents are becoming increasingly different.
Perhaps the first stars in the newborn universe did not shine, but instead were invisible "dark stars" 400 to 200,000 times wider than the sun and powered by the annihilation of mysterious dark matter, a University of Utah study concludes.
Society's attitudes toward different drugs and its ways of regulating them are often "inconsistent," "incoherent" and ultimately unjust, says "Drugs and Justice," a new book by a team of University of Utah scholars.
The S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah announced today that Professors Amos Guiora, who served for 19 years in the Israel Defense Forces, and Chibli Mallat, a longtime peace activist and candidate for the presidency of Lebanon, are available to provide informed commentary and analysis on the Israeli-Palestinian summit, which begins Tuesday, Nov. 27 in Annapolis, Maryland.
The Yellowstone "supervolcano" rose at a record rate since mid-2004, likely because a Los Angeles-sized, pancake-shaped blob of molten rock was injected 6 miles beneath the slumbering giant, University of Utah scientists report in the Nov. 9 issue of the journal Science.
The most energetic particles in the universe "“ ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays "“ likely come from supermassive black holes in the hearts of nearby active galaxies, says a study by scientists from nearly 90 research institutions worldwide, including the University of Utah.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's trade delegation to India will initiate a long-term international collaboration with that country and the University of Utah. An agreement between the university and Pregna International, will focus on the commercialization of cutting-edge anti-HIV and contraceptive delivery products for the Indian marketplace, possibly including a so-called "molecular condom."
University of Utah biologists genetically manipulated nematode worms so the animals were attracted to worms of the same sex "“ part of a study that shows sexual orientation is wired in the creatures' brains. "They look like girls, but act and think like boys," says Jamie White, first author of the new study. "The [same-sex attraction] behavior is part of the nervous system."
University of Utah scientists discovered a strange reproductive method in primitive cycad plants: The plants heat up and emit a toxic odor to drive pollen-covered insects out of male cycad cones, and then use a milder odor to draw the bugs into female cones so the plants are pollinated. This may represent an intermediate step in the evolution of plant pollination, the researchers report in the journal Science.
The newest dinosaur species to emerge from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument had some serious bite, according to researchers from the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah. "It was one of the most robust duck-billed dinosaurs ever," said museum paleontologist Terry Gates, who is also with the U.'s Department of Geology and Geophysics. "It was a monster."
Contrary to arguments by critics, a University of Utah-led study found that legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Oregon and the Netherlands did not result in a disproportionate number of deaths among the elderly, poor, women, minorities, uninsured, minors, chronically ill, less educated or psychiatric patients. Only AIDS patients used doctor-assisted suicide at elevated rates.
University of Utah mathematicians have arrived at a new understanding of how salt-saturated ocean water flows through sea ice "“ a discovery that promises to improve forecasts of how global warming will affect polar icepacks.
The University of Utah Seismograph Stations recorded a magnitude-1.6 seismic event at the time of a Thursday, Aug. 16 "bump" that killed and injured rescuers at a Utah coal mine where six miners were trapped by an Aug. 6 collapse.
Researchers at the University of Utah and elsewhere have developed a new way to predict when vegetation dries to the point it is most vulnerable to large-scale fires in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles. This year's forecast says the highest-risk fire period will begin July 13 "“ weeks earlier than usual.
A University of Utah study shows how various regions of North America are kept afloat by heat within Earth's rocky crust, and how much of the continent would sink beneath sea level if not for heat that makes rock buoyant. New York City would sit 1,427 feet underwater and Los Angeles would rest 3,756 feet beneath the Pacific.
Genes account for only 2.5 percent of DNA in the human genetic bueprint, yet diseases can result not only from mutant genes, but from mutations of other DNA that controls genes. University of Utah researchers report in the journal Nature Genetics that they have developed a faster, less expensive technique for mutating those large, non-gene stretches of DNA.
University of Utah physicists developed small devices that turn heat into sound and then into electricity. The technology holds promise for changing waste heat into electricity, harnessing solar energy and cooling computers and radars. "We are converting waste heat to electricity in an efficient, simple way by using sound," says Orest Symko, a University of Utah physics professor who leads the effort.
American Indian voters are poised to begin playing a much bigger role in election politics, if past trends are any indication. That's just one of the conclusions in a new book titled "Native Vote," co-authored by Daniel McCool, Susan Olson and Jennifer Robinson of the University of Utah.
University of Utah geneticists have engineered mice that can develop synovial sarcoma "“ a significant early step toward developing new treatments for the aggressive, deadly cancer that most often kills teenagers and young adults. The mice were used to determine that synovial sarcoma develops in muscle cell precursors known as myoblasts, the researchers report in the journal Cancer Cell.
Soon after humans began domesticating dogs 12,000 to 15,000 years ago, they started breeding small canines. Now, scientists from the University of Utah and seven other institutions have identified a piece of doggy DNA that reduces the activity of a growth gene, ensuring that small breeds stay small.
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