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A Smarter Way to Make Ultraviolet Light Beams

By Guest PostNovember 30, 2011Scienceharmonic distortions, information storage, infrared signal, jeremy moore, lasers, matthew tomes, microscopy, mona jarrahi, optical resonator, optics express, original wavelength, tal carmon, ultraviolet light, university of michigan, wavelength tunable ultraviolet sources

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Existing coherent ultraviolet light sources are power hungry, bulky and expensive. University of Michigan researchers have found a better way to build compact ultraviolet sources with low power consumption that could improve information storage, microscopy and chemical analysis.

A paper on the research is newly published in Optics Express. The research was led by Mona Jarrahi and Tal Carmon, assistant professors in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The experiment was performed by Jeremy Moore and Matthew Tomes, both graduate students in the same department. (more…)

‘The History of Angels’

By Guest PostNovember 17, 2011Cultureangels, angels are everywhere, archangels, authorities, Bible, celestial hierarchy, cherubim, christ as an angel, christian ascetic monks, christians, companion angels, diane swanbrow, dominions, early years of christianity, egyptian monks, ellen muehlberger, guardian angel, keepsake ornaments, lapel pins, magnetic dashboard figures, near eastern studies, north american christianity, principalities, pulitzer prize winning play, seraphim, song of the angels, syria, thrones, united states, university of michigan, virtues, virtuous behaviour, widespread modern notions about angels, william adolphe bouguereau, worldly activities

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Angels are everywhere today—on lapel pins, magnetic dashboard figures, keepsake ornaments and in a Pulitzer Prize-winning play. But interest in angels is more than a contemporary fad. According to a University of Michigan historian, angels stirred intense interest in the early years of Christianity as well.

“Just as many people today think of pets as part of their families, many people in the first 500 years of Christianity were convinced that angels were part of their lives,” said Ellen Muehlberger, assistant professor of Near Eastern studies and history at the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. (more…)

Workers more Satisfied, Productive with Flexible Hours

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2011Culture, Generalalford young, american academy of political, college of literature, demands of personal and family life, flexible hours, handle crises, higher worker satisfaction, lawrence root, production if the company, school of social work, Science, short-term family commitments, short-term flexibility, social science, university of michigan, worker satisfaction and production

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Employers can expect higher worker satisfaction and production if the company offers flexible hours that allow employees to handle crises and short-term family commitments, a new University of Michigan study indicates.

When the demands of personal and family life come up against rigid company policies, workers often feel compelled to maneuver around these formal rules.

Lawrence Root, a professor at the School of Social Work, and the Alford Young, Jr. chair of the Department of Sociology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, examined how Midwest factory workers created opportunities for short-term flexibility at their jobs. (more…)

Newly Found Dwarf Galaxies Could Help Reveal the Nature of Dark Matter

By Guest PostNovember 12, 2011Scienceandromeda, andromeda xxviii and xxix, astronomers, colin slater, dwarf galaxies, dwarf galaxies around andromeda, dwarf spheroidal galaxy 200 kpc from andromeda, earth, eric bell, gemini north telescope, gravitational effects, gravity, hawaii, how matter relates to dark matter, hypothesis, invisible substance, light years, night sky, predictions, satellites of andromeda, sloan digital sky survey, spiral galaxy, star counting technique, telescopes, understanding of dark matter, universe mass, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— In work that could help advance astronomers’ understanding of dark matter, University of Michigan researchers have discovered two additional dwarf galaxies that appear to be satellites of Andromeda, the closest spiral galaxy to Earth.

Eric Bell, an associate professor in astronomy, and Colin Slater, an astronomy Ph.D. student, found Andromeda XXVIII and XXIX—that’s 28 and 29. They did it by using a tested star-counting technique on the newest data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has mapped more than a third of the night sky. They also used follow-up data from the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii. (more…)

Preschoolers Understand Threats in Households with Violence

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2011Healthchildren's comprehension, kathryn howell, mother harmed by violent conflicts, physical or sexual, preschool-aged children, preschoolersers, sandra graham-bermann, sexual violence, university of michigan, violence in the homes

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Preschoolersers are aware and understand threats when they see their mother harmed by violent conflicts at home, a new University of Michigan study finds.

The study explored what factors influence children’s comprehension and response when violence occurs.

Researchers evaluated intimate partner violence—conflicts that can be physical or sexual—in the past year for 116 mother-child groups with known violence in the homes. The children were 4 to 6 years old.

Few studies have looked at children’s observations of violence as young as age 5, and the new U-M findings are one of the first to assess outcomes for kids as young as age 4, said Laura Miller, a psychology graduate student and study’s lead author. (more…)

U-M ecologist: Future Forests May Soak up More Carbon Dioxide than Previously Believed, Helping to Buffer Climate Change

By Guest PostOctober 16, 2011Environmentandrew burton, aspects of biological diversity, atmospheric carbon dioxide, biodiversity, carbon dioxide, climate change, co2 soaked trees, components of an ecosystem, donald zak, ecosystem, ecosystem modelers, experimental forest, experimental forest in rhinelander, fertilizing effect on trees, forage, genetic diversity, ground-level ozone, heat trapping carbon dioxide gas, human caused climate warming, kurt pregitzer, mark kubiske, nitrogen, north american forests, northeastern wisconsin, paper birch, photosynthesis, projected climate warming, rhinelander, simulate atmospheric conditions, smog, soil, sugar maple, trembling aspen, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— North American forests appear to have a greater capacity to soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas than researchers had previously anticipated.

As a result, they could help slow the pace of human-caused climate warming more than most scientists had thought, a U-M ecologist and his colleagues have concluded. (more…)

Great Speeches: How to Know One If We Hear One

By Guest PostOctober 13, 2011Culture, Politicsangell hall, Barack Obama, chiasmos in greek, great speeches ancient and modern, greek philosopher aristotle, inborn charisma, john f kennedy, long-established techniques, martin luther king, on rhetoric, political oratory, rhetoric of this year's crop, sara forsdyke, science & the arts (lsa), university of michigan, winston churchill

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With the season for political oratory hard upon us, how does the rhetoric of this year’s crop of presidential contenders measure up?

“So far none of the Republicans stands out as a great orator,” said Sara Forsdyke, an associate professor of classical studies and history at the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science & the Arts (LSA).

“And while President Obama has delivered some great speeches in the past, his oratory has gone downhill recently. I was quite disappointed in his jobs speech to the joint session of Congress.” (more…)

Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels at End of Last Ice Age Not Tied to Pacific Ocean, As Had Been Suspected

By Guest PostOctober 9, 2011Environmentalan mix, carbon dioxide, co2 levels, coast of southwestern oregon, continental ice sheets, david lund, deep ocean, glacial times, heat trapping greenhouse gas, irvine, john southon, last ice age, levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, microscopic shells, oregon state university, paleoclimatologist, plankton, radiocarbon dating, reservoir of carbon during glacial times, sediment core, university of california, university of michigan, ventilation rate

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— After the last ice age peaked about 18,000 years ago, levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide rose about 30 percent. Scientists believe that the additional carbon dioxide—a heat-trapping greenhouse gas—played a key role in warming the planet and melting the continental ice sheets. They have long hypothesized that the source of the gas was the deep ocean.

But a new study by a University of Michigan paleoclimatologist and two colleagues suggests that the deep ocean was not an important source of carbon during glacial times. The finding will force researchers to reassess their ideas about the fundamental mechanisms that regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide over long time scales. (more…)

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