ANN ARBOR — Like salmon in reverse, long-snouted Bandringa sharks migrated downstream from freshwater swamps to a tropical coastline to spawn 310 million years ago, leaving behind fossil evidence of one of the earliest known shark nurseries.
That’s the surprising conclusion of University of Michigan paleontologist Lauren Sallan and a University of Chicago colleague, who reanalyzed all known specimens of Bandringa, a bottom-feeding predator that lived in an ancient river delta system that spanned what is today the Upper Midwest. (more…)
U faculty and leaders reflect on the historic day and its aftermath
Fifty years ago, on August 28, 1963, a young preacher delivered a speech that would go down as one of the most important and powerful in all of American history. “I Have a Dream” became the cornerstone of the March on Washington, a march which galvanized a people and energized the civil rights movement. One year later, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.
Seven months earlier to the day, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech to a crowd of about 2,000 on the U of M campus in Northrop Auditorium. The cover of January 29, 1963 Minnesota Daily read, “Much Remains in Path to Freedom—Dr. King.”(more…)
Bullying because of perceived sexual orientation is prevalent among school-aged youths, according to a study led by Donald Patrick, professor of health services at the UW School of Public Health. The study was published online May 16 in the American Journal of Public Health.
The research team analyzed responses collected in a 2010 Washington state survey of more than 24,000 public school students in grades eight through 12. The study found that 14 percent, 11 percent and 9 percent of male students in grades 8, 10, and 12 respectively reported being bullied because of perceived sexual orientation. For female students in those grades, the numbers were 11 percent, 10 percent and 6 percent respectively. (more…)
New Appliance, Software and Services Extend the IBM MobileFirst Strategy
LAS VEGAS – 29 Apr 2013: IBM’s Smarter Planet strategy took a major technological step forward today with the introduction of IBM MessageSight, a new appliance designed to help organizations manage and communicate with the billions of mobile devices and sensors found in systems such as automobiles, traffic management systems, smart buildings and household appliances.
Over the next 15 years, the number of machines and sensors connected to the Internet will explode. According to IMS Research, there will be more than 22 billion web-connected devices by 2020[i].These new devices will generate more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of new data every day[ii], while every hour enough information is consumed by Internet traffic to fill seven million DVDs.[iii](more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Though scientists have long believed that complex organic molecules couldn’t survive fossilization, some 350-million-year-old remains of aquatic sea creatures uncovered in Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa have challenged that assumption.
The spindly animals with feathery arms—called crinoids, but better known today by the plant-like name “sea lily”—appear to have been buried alive in storms during the Carboniferous Period, when North America was covered with vast inland seas. Buried quickly and isolated from the water above by layers of fine-grained sediment, their porous skeletons gradually filled with minerals, but some of the pores containing organic molecules were sealed intact. (more…)
New Center to Foster Economic Competitiveness in the U.S., Create 500 Jobs Aligned to New Markets for Watson, Smarter Commerce and Social Business Client
COLUMBUS, OHIO – 29 Nov 2012: IBM today announced it will establish a new analytics center in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to advancing research, development, client services and skills training in the areas of analytics, big data and cognitive computing. The move aims to create 500 new analytics jobs and nurture economic development in the region over the next three years.
Ohio is home to 27 Fortune 500, and 57 Fortune 1,000 companies, as well as a burgeoning technology sector and leading academic institutions. The IBM Client Center for Advanced Analytics will offer a strong foundation for a broad public and private sector collaboration that will include The Ohio State University (Ohio State), JobsOhio, Columbus 2020, ICC, an IBM Premier Partner, and other Columbus-based businesses. (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — As Michigan State University’s Recruiting Trends report shows, college students are experiencing a mixed bag of outcomes when it comes to finding a job.
For some MSU students, like MBA candidate Megan Brody, the job search was short and rewarding. For others, like journalism senior Alex Mitchell, the hunt hasn’t led to any full-time positions.
Mitchell, who graduates in December with a degree in journalism, has sent out about 15 resumes to communications employers in Michigan and Ohio hoping to stay close to his hometown of Blissfield in southeastern Michigan. He said he will continue the process until he gets a job he sees fit. (more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A South American butterfly flapped its wings, and caused a flurry of nanotechnology research to happen in Ohio.
Researchers here have taken a new look at butterfly wings and rice leaves, and learned things about their microscopic texture that could improve a variety of products.
For example, the researchers were able to clean up to 85 percent of dust off a coated plastic surface that mimicked the texture of a butterfly wing, compared to only 70 percent off a flat surface. (more…)
