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Monkey communication expert Robert Seyfarth kicked off the University of Delaware's Year of Darwin celebration, with a true story, documented in 1961, about a female baboon that herded goats in an African village. In 15 years of research on baboons in Botswana, Seyfarth and Dorothy Cheney, his research partner and spouse, determined that baboons are able to put together the discrete elements of identity, kinship, and rank. Moreover, when under stress, their social networks become even more important.

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Is it a backpack or a cocoon? A worm or a cyborg's arm? The biggest compliment you could give to Jennifer Dillner's sculptural fabric art would be to spend an extended period of time looking at it, questioning it and pondering the possibilities, the master of fine arts degree candidate at the University of Delaware says. Dillner's work definitely is attracting attention, selected for two international juried competitions and also showing regionally.

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Daniel Oristian, a recent master's graduate of the University of Delaware in biological sciences, has won the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools' Master's Thesis Award for his research which identified a potential new pathway involved in bone and connective tissue regrowth.

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Robert Seyfarth, a noted expert on monkey communication, will present "Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind" from 5-6:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 5, in Room 130 Sharp Hall at the University of Delaware. The lecture will kick off the University of Delaware's Year of Darwin Celebration.

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Arctic explorers of Earth -- and Mars -- were presented national medals on April 15 at the University of Delaware during the awards ceremony of the American Geographical Society (AGS), the oldest nationwide geographical organization in the United States, founded in 1851. Researchers who played a significant role in saving the society's library, one of the largest geographical collections in the world, also were recognized.

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Within 10 years, we'll find life outside Earth -- that's the prediction of Peter Smith, the University of Arizona professor who led NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission. Smith held the audience spellbound in his lecture, "Journey of the Phoenix," on April 16 at the University of Delaware, as he shared images taken by the Phoenix Mars Lander, which touched down in the Martian arctic on May 25, 2008.

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The U.S. State Department recently selected the University of Delaware for a record sixth time to serve as a host institution for the Summer Institute on American Studies and Leadership, sponsored through the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and supported by a $454,843 grant. Since the first program at UD in 2004, more than 100 undergraduate students from the Middle East and North Africa have been welcomed to UD for six weeks of "life-changing" academic and community service activities.

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Peter Smith, senior research scientist at the University of Arizona and principal investigator of NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission, will highlight the novel spacecraft's discoveries in the "The Journey of the Phoenix," a public lecture on Thursday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Delaware's Roselle Center for the Arts.

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The American Geographical Society's awards ceremony on Wednesday, April 15, at the University of Delaware will honor past and present polar explorers - of this planet and of Mars. Also recognized will be the researchers who oversaw the gargantuan task of relocating the society's library, described as "the largest privately owned geographical research collection in the western hemisphere," from New York to Wisconsin in the 1970s.

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The Delaware Health Sciences Alliance -- a new partnership of Christiana Care Health System, Nemours, Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Delaware -- will provide leadership in the improvement of health and health services to all Delawareans, while also nurturing research and advanced technology development.

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At museums across the United States and in Canada, University of Delaware graduate students are helping to preserve important artifacts for future generations, from ancient Egyptian mummies to Neil Armstrong's spacesuit.

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Through a new Summer Institute scheduled from June 7-July 3, ten undergraduate students from underrepresented populations will have the opportunity to explore the wealth of graduate programs offered by the University of Delaware's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UD's main campus in Newark. Students selected for the program will work side-by-side with researchers on projects ranging from avian flu to food safety, biofuels, rice genomics, stormwater ecology, landscaping to reduce our carbon footprint, declining black duck populations and other topics. They also will go on field trips and participate in workshops, seminars, and social activities with other UD undergraduate students, including trips to nearby cities and other locations of interest.

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On Friday, March 20, at 3:30 p.m. in Room 127 Memorial Hall on the University of Delaware's Newark campus, Chie Sakakibara will present the lecture "Kiavallakkikput Agviq--Cultural Responses to Climate Change among the Iñupiaq People of Arctic Alaska."

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University of Delaware researchers have won the American Physical Therapy Association's award for the best clinical paper in orthopedics published in 2008.

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If you want to do business with clothing manufacturers in China, you need to know much more than how to properly greet your prospective business partner (that's with a bow versus a handshake). The latest issue of FIBER, the online journal for the global fashion and apparel industry produced by the University of Delaware, focuses on China, its maturing apparel industry, the outlook for the U.S.-China textile and apparel trade, and how to do business the Chinese way.

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The University of Delaware will host its first FIBERcast -- a 45-minute audio program broadcast live over the Internet -- on Monday, Feb. 23, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. The free program will focus on social responsibility in the apparel industry.

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Contrary to the TV sitcom where the wife experiencing strong labor pains screams at her husband to stay away from her, women rarely give birth alone. Assisted birth has likely been around for millennia, possibly dating as far back as 5 million years ago when our ancestors first began walking upright, according to University of Delaware paleoanthropologist Karen Rosenberg.

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The University of Delaware announced today that it has reached a commercial agreement with DuPont regarding their multi-year, corn disease resistance research collaboration. DuPont seed business, Pioneer Hi-Bred, now is marketing Pioneer® brand hybrid 34F26, the first corn hybrid in North America to carry the trait, which provides enhanced resistance to anthracnose stalk rot. Additional hybrids carrying the trait are being evaluated for 2010.

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Genetic adaptations made by bacterium living in one of the world's most extreme environments could help us understand how life evolved.

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Dr. 13 talks about a rare year for the superstitious, and the myths, fears and coincidences surrounding the number 13.

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Children with mobility issues, like cerebral palsy and spina bifida, can't explore the world like other infants and that could affect their cognitive development. So, University of Delaware researchers have created robot-enhanced mini wheelchairs to give those infants greater mobility. An infant will drive the robot next week in Las Vegas to display the work.

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Exercising to strengthen your quadriceps after knee replacement surgery can boost the function of your new knee to nearly that of a healthy adult your age. It's a simple thing, but such rehab isn't common practice.

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Super Bowl ads are a good buy at $3 million for 30 seconds, says marketing professor John Antil. General Motors and FedEx have chosen not to advertise this year, and that could cost them.

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A new research study at the University of Delaware seeks to determine why Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a microorganism that lives in seawater and is related to the bacterium that causes cholera, is expanding its range and virulence. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a leading cause of seafood-borne illness worldwide, most frequently associated with the consumption of raw or undercooked seafood, particularly oysters and other mollusks, and crabs. Victims typically suffer from diarrhea, vomiting, fever and chills for a few days, although the infection can be fatal in those with weakened immune systems.

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The photographic treasures of the Middle East span the archaeological expeditions of the 1800s, whose images of great pyramids and sphinxes opened the world's eyes to the region, to the wedding parties, refugee camps, and other scenes of daily life that show both the beauty and tumult of today.

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Americans' bad energy consumption habits are an epidemic. Founder of University of Delaware's Energy Institute suggests best way to curb the habits is taxation.

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A nationwide human rights crisis lurks behind prison walls. Patients chained to beds shared Limestone Prison's Dorm 16 with insects and vermin. In the filthy, drafty rooms, contagious diseases spread like wildfire through the HIV+ population.

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It's 40 degrees F below zero (with the wind chill) at the South Pole today. Yet a research team from the University of Delaware is taking it all in stride. The physicists, engineers and technicians from the University of Delaware's Bartol Research Institute are part of an international team working to build the world's largest neutrino telescope in the Antarctic ice, far beneath the continent's snow-covered surface.

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The new treasury secretary should expect a difficult year no matter what is done. The incoming secretary of energy has to cut through a lot of ignorance and wrong-thinking to get to solutions. And, the transportation secretary faces a country full of infrastructure issues. That's all according to professors at the University of Delaware.

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Terrorism Expert Muqtedar Khan grew up in India. He directs the University of Delaware's Islamic Studies Program. He specializes in the politics of South Asia and the Middle East.

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Forests that evolved without native earthworms now face the invasion of European earthworms from agriculture and fishing. Ripple effects could include carbon sequestration & climate change.

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College students notoriously shun early morning, evening and Friday classes, but what if a change in schedules reduced a university's carbon footprint?

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Researchers at the University of Delaware have provided what is believed to be the first experimental evidence that plants can take up nanoparticles and accumulate them in their tissues. The laboratory study, which involved pumpkin plants, indicates a possible pathway for nanoparticles to enter the food chain. The research also reveals a new experimental approach for studying nanoparticles and their potential impacts.

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A University of Delaware-led research team embarks on an extreme adventure plunging deep into the sea to study hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. 20,000+ schoolchildren will interact with the scientists -- on a virtual field trip.

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The University of Delaware congratulates alumnus Joseph R. Biden Jr., vice president-elect of the United States. Archived photos of Biden, as a student and university supporter, are available on a website for use by media outlets.

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America could see record numbers of African-Americans voting this week. What factors influence turnout among black voters? Research shows churchgoing does.

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University of Delaware scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Arizona and South Dakota State University, have identified unusual differences in the natural mechanisms that turn off, or "silence," genes in corn. The discovery, which was made by comparing the impact of inactivating a gene that occurs in both corn and in the much-studied laboratory plant Arabidopsis, provides new insight into how one of the world's most important crops protects itself from mutation-causing mobile DNA elements and viruses.

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University of Delaware professor explains the psychology of late-night comedy's effects on the public.

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New research shows each postseason win brings anywhere from $1 million to $3.3 million, and it affects not just this year, but next year too.

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Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered that when the leaf of a plant is under attack by a pathogen, it can send out an S.O.S. to the roots for help, and the roots will respond by secreting an acid that brings beneficial bacteria to the rescue.

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Svilen Bobev, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Delaware, has been selected to receive the 2009 Margaret C. Etter Early Career Award from the American Crystallographic Association (ACA). The nonprofit scientific association has more than 2,200 members in over 60 countries.

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he University of Delaware will host "Environmental Nanoparticles: Science, Ethics & Policy" on Nov. 10-11 at the John M. Clayton Hall Conference Center in Newark, Del. The registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 20. The workshop, which is co-sponsored by UD's Center for Critical Zone Research and the Science, Ethics and Public Policy program, will include presentations by nationally and internationally recognized scientists, engineers, ethicists and science policy experts on the fate, transport and human and environmental health effects of nanoparticles.

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University of Delaware researchers will lead an international team to explore deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean next month, and middle- and high-school classrooms worldwide are invited to "dive in" with them to learn more about some of the most mysterious life at the vents: marine viruses.

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Scientific evidence shows negative campaign ads actually cause a physical repulsion in viewers.

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Delaware is small in size, but its contributions to the 2008 Presidential Election are enormous. The campaign managers for both candidates attended the University of Delaware, as did Senator Joe Biden. For Thursday's Vice Presidential debate, Delaware has even more homegrown talent to offer. The following experts are available for print, radio and television interviews for your preview and reaction pieces.

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The history of glass dates back 5,000 years, yet its nature still perplexes scientists. How do glassy materials make the transition from a molten state to a solid? Richard Wool, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, thinks he has the answer -- Twinkling Fractal Theory.

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A person's trash can reveal valuable information, as detectives, historians and identity thieves well know. Likewise, a cell's "trash" may yield certain treasures, University of Delaware researchers have found. Using a new technique they developed, scientists at UD's Delaware Biotechnology Institute analyzed the cellular waste of one of the world's most-studied plants and discovered formerly hidden relationships between genes and the small molecules that can turn them off.

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A new Partnership in Health Education between the University of Delaware and Thomas Jefferson University builds on a long, successful history of collaboration in healthcare education and marks the first of what may be several partnerships between the two institutions.

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Kelvin Lee, the University of Delaware's Gore Professor of Chemical Engineering, has been appointed the new director of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute.

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When human cells are attacked by free radicals, the antioxidant vitamins and minerals in the food we've eaten come to our defense. However, when brown kelp (Laminaria), a kind of seaweed, is stressed, the plant flushes large quantities of iodide as a powerful antioxidant out of its cells, which combines with highly reactive oxygen in the water and air to produce molecular iodine, which commonly is used in hospital surgeries as an antiseptic.