For a fruit fly, what its grandparents ate may affect how much it weighs. But the passing down of a body type based on diet is not a simple cause and effect, a researcher has found.
A University of Alabama-led study surveyed participants in the Deep South and West Coast on the opportunity to view novel data on three topics - two of which were political - but weren't told of the results or who commissioned the studies. Researchers found conservatives were less interested in the data.
Poster for “Service to Man.” TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama theatre professor Seth Panitch recently completed a full, feature-length film that has been selected as one of 25 films to be showcased in the 20th American Black Film Festival, which begins next week. Festival judges have nominated Panitch’s film, “Service to Man,” for best screenplay, best direction and best film.
Using phylogenetic software to analyze algae from ocean depths of more than 100 meters, UA biologist Dr. Juan Lopez-Bautista discovered multi-cellular structures that diversified more than 540 millions years ago
Mosasaurs – an extinct group of aquatic reptiles that thrived during the Late Cretaceous period – possibly were “endotherms,” or warm-blooded creatures.
Dr. Michael Steinberg, a University of Alabama associate professor in New College and geography, is conducting a study of the coastal mangrove forests in Cuba’s Zapata Peninsula and the Jardines de la Reina Garden of the Queen Marine Reserve national parks. The study is using satellite maps of the park’s coastal mangrove forests from the past 20 years to examine the forests growth or decline during that time frame. The mangrove forests of Cuba are important because they provide natural habitat for many species of aquatic fish, crabs and shrimp. They also serve as homes for migratory birds and stabilize the coast from waves, tides and tsunamis. Without them, coastal erosion would occur. The study is the first cooperate conservation mapping project between Cuba and the U.S. since the Cuban embargo.
Researchers compared a 1984 study of Brazilians' mate preferences with one conducted in 2014 to see how an increased population and social shifts, like women holding leadership positions, have affected mating psychology and extant cultural values.
There’s no known cure for the common cold, but receiving multiple tattoos can strengthen your immunological responses, potentially making you heartier in fighting off common infections, according to research by a trio of University of Alabama scholars. However, receiving a single tattoo can, at least temporarily, lower your resistance.
Dr. Sherwood Burns-Nader, a UA professor in the department of human development and family studies, hopes to get a brief snapshot into the life of a family fighting pediatric cancer through a current study. Burns-Nader is recruiting participants for the study. The only criteria are that the child has been diagnosed within the past six months, the parents are 18 or older and they have access to Internet and an email address.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — More than 1,000 donors participated in a Florida business executive’s challenge to support University of Alabama business students, generating more than $3.6 million for young UA scholars within three months. Hugh Culverhouse Jr., of Coral Gables, Florida, committed during the last quarter of 2015 that he would match, up to $1 million, all donations made to UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce before the end of 2015.
There are gray areas when trying to classify daily sports fantasy contests as games of skill or luck, but the unique attributes of repetitions and permutations, despite the quick payouts, make fantasy sports games of skill.
Parents looking for holiday gifts that instill character should check out the Transformer toys and DVD. In a study to be printed in the spring of 2016, Dr. Peter Harms says the Transformers franchise provides key lessons about leadership, teams and the characteristics necessary to get ahead.
A method of cleaning drinking water with light is being tested and developed at The University of Alabama with the hope of creating a product available for homes and businesses.
Through a grant from the USDE, CrossingPoints will increase its annual enrollment from 18-20 students to as many as 30, with an increased focus on developing skills for independent living and accessing post-secondary education.
Researchers at The University of Alabama, in collaboration with colleagues in Germany, have developed a new way to use wood or other kinds of biomass to make chemical materials without relying on the usual non-renewable petrochemical starting materials.
Researchers at The University of Alabama designed and made a material that manipulates the speed of light in a new, more effective way than previous methods, according to findings recently published in Scientific Reports by the Nature Publishing Group.
Scientists designed a new, on-site method for studying potential impacts rising sea levels can have on vital wetlands, said a researcher who led a study publishing Aug. 17 describing the modifiable apparatuses.
In a collaborative effort with the Tennessee Valley Authority, The University of Alabama’s Office of Archaeological Research has begun a rehabilitation project on collections that were gathered 80 years ago with artifacts that span a 13,000-year time period.
Electronics giant TDK Corp. and The University of Alabama have signed a two-pronged research agreement to address challenges associated with the growing electric-energy movement and the miniaturization of electronic components.
Several academic units at UA have entered into collaboration with Court 13, a New Orleans-based film cooperative that produced the Academy Award-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
When football helmets collide, they produce an unmistakable sound. College student Brandon McChristian hopes his research of those sound waves produces a better understanding of the forces involved in those collisions and, perhaps one day, inexpensive sensing methods for a safer game.
For the 34th consecutive year, The University of Alabama’s Office of Media Relations offers predictions from faculty experts for the coming year. See our list of the Top 15 “Educated Guesses” for 2015.
Dr. Edward Sazonov, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at The University of Alabama, hopes to change that through development of a sensor worn around the ear that would automatically track diet, giving medical professionals and consumers accurate information that can be missed with self-reporting.
The Tuscaloosa Longitudinal Community Curriculum, or TLC2, is a program through The University of Alabama's College of Community Health Sciences that covers medical students’ third-year curriculum. Rather than the traditional rotation schedule, which consists of seven eight-week rotations through various the specialties, through TLC2 students spend most of their third-year working with a community physician and following patients throughout the diagnosis or disease.
By using liquid salts during formation instead of harsh chemicals, fibers that conduct electricity can be strengthened, according to a patent issued to a team of researchers at The University of Alabama.
A type of lipid that naturally declines in the aging brain impacts – within laboratory models used to study Parkinson’s disease – a protein associated with the disease, according to a study co-authored by researchers in Louisiana and Alabama.
College students are typically more sleep deprived than the rest of us and often ignore the health benefits of adequate slumber, said a researcher who studies the topic.
The U.S. Department of Energy selected a start-up company for an approximate $1.5 million award to refine an alternative material to potentially extract uranium from the ocean.
Less than a year after patenting a process that could improve stripping greenhouse gasses from industrial emissions, a University of Alabama professor was recently granted another patent with a different solvent to accomplish the same goal.
Dr. Jeff Gray, professor of computer science at The University of Alabama, will lead a free, online course this summer to train more than 700 high-school teachers in a new computer-science course and College Board AP exam.
The National Science Foundation selected a University of Alabama mechanical engineering professor for a CAREER Award for his research into a robotic prosthesis that could help amputees walk better.
Light-weight garage doors can be the weak link to allowing high winds and pressure changes from a tornado into a home that can lead to the removal of the roof and collapsed walls.
Dr. Edward O. Wilson, one of the most highly decorated scientists in the world and a University of Alabama alumnus, has made two major gifts to his alma mater with an approximate value totaling $500,000.
Overreliance on genetic-centered approaches in predicting, diagnosing and treating disease will lead to few future scientific breakthroughs, cautioned a researcher who co-authored an article advocating for a greater emphasis on the body’s metabolites in understanding illnesses.
A University of Alabama veteran anti-smoking strategist argues that efforts to reduce smoking have become more symbol than substance in a new documentary recently released online.