Science & Technology

Reimagining Evolution Education: Free, Multimedia High School Curriculum Brings New Life to Old Concepts

Gone are the days of heavy science textbooks with over-used examples and hard-to-grasp lessons. The Genetic Science Learning Center (GSLC) at the University of Utah is bringing science education into the 21st century with an online, interactive and multimedia curriculum that teaches up-to-date concepts in evolution and genetics to high school students. The newly released and […]


What you can’t see can hurt you

What if you could see nasty microscopic air pollutants in your home? Engineers from the University of Utah’s School of Computing conducted a study to determine if homeowners change the way they live if they could visualize the air quality in their house. It turns out, their behavior changes a lot. Their study was published […]


Mountain-top observatory sees gamma rays from exotic Milky Way object

The night sky seems serene, but telescopes tell us that the universe is filled with collisions and explosions. Distant, violent events signal their presence by spewing light and particles in all directions. When these messengers reach Earth, scientists can use them to map out the action-packed sky, helping to better understand the volatile processes happening […]


Clear the air

Air conditioning and heating systems are not only great for keeping a home cool or warm, but they also help clean the air of harmful pollutants. While home thermostats control HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems based on temperature, engineers from the University of Utah have studied the effects of controlling them based on […]


A mission to solve medical mysteries

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has designated University of Utah Health as one of a dozen medical centers in the national Undiagnosed Disease Network (UDN), dedicated to finding answers for patients with undiagnosed diseases. U of U Health will receive $3 million over four years to develop new technologies and clinical strategies for solving […]


Simulations enable “choose-your-own-adventure” stereochemistry

Stereochemistry is a science of reflection. Two chemical molecules with the same composition and structure, but with one as the mirror image of the other, can produce wildly varying effects. Controlling which molecule emerges from a given reaction is a critical, but sometimes poorly understood, process. But University of Utah chemist Matt Sigman has been […]


Diverse forests are stronger against drought

Diversity is strength, even among forests. In a paper published in Nature, researchers led by University of Utah biologist William Anderegg report that forests with trees that employ a high diversity of traits related to water use suffer less of an impact from drought. The results, which expand on previous work that looked at individual […]


When to Evacuate Residents During a Wildfire

When a wildfire breaks out and approaches a community, how do emergency managers decide when residents should evacuate? “Wildfire evacuation decision-making is challenging because the incident commanders need to take into account fire progression, population distribution and evacuation traffic,” explained Dapeng Li, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at South Dakota State University. […]


Following Twitter Conversations Around Hacked Diabetes Tools to Manage Blood Sugar

The diabetes online community is leading grassroots efforts focused on accelerating the development, access and adoption of diabetes-related tools to manage the disease. Researchers at University of Utah Health examined the community’s online Twitter conversation to understand their thoughts concerning open source artificial pancreas (OpenAPS) technology. The results of this study are available online in […]


Finding That Links ALS/Ataxia to Cellular Stress Opens New Approaches for Treatment

Few treatments exist for neurodegenerative diseases that progressively rob a person’s ability to move and think, yet the results of a new study are opening additional approaches for exploration. S­­cientists at University of Utah Health report for the first time that a protein, called Staufen1, accumulates in cells of patients suffering from degenerative ataxia or […]