Science & Technology

University of Utah student awarded prestigious Hertz Fellowship

Ethan Lake, an undergraduate student in physics and math at the University of Utah, has received the prestigious and highly competitive Hertz Fellowship, a $250,000 grant for up to five years of graduate study in the STEM fields. Lake is one of only 12 students nationally to receive this award and the second Hertz Fellow […]


Combating wear and tear

By the time someone realizes they damaged a ligament, tendon or cartilage from too much exercise or other types of physical activity, it’s too late. The tissue is stretched and torn and the person is writhing in pain. But a team of researchers led by University of Utah bioengineering professors Jeffrey Weiss and Michael Yu […]


Piece of mind

With just an inexpensive micro-thin surgical needle and laser light, University of Utah engineers have discovered a minimally invasive, inexpensive way to take high-resolution pictures of an animal brain, a process that also could lead to a much less invasive method for humans. A team led by University of Utah electrical and computer engineering associate […]


Lust for power

Thanks to the discovery of a new material by University of Utah engineers, jewelry such as a ring and your body heat could generate enough electricity to power a body sensor, or a cooking pan could charge a cellphone in just a few hours. The team, led by University of Utah materials science and engineering […]


Pain in the neck

For millions of sufferers, there is nothing more debilitating than chronic back or joint pain. It can feel like a lifetime of misery. But researchers led by University of Utah bioengineering assistant professor Robby Bowles have discovered a way to curb chronic pain by modulating genes that reduce tissue- and cell-damaging inflammation. “This has applications […]


Full steam ahead

Robots built by 48 high school teams will be steaming mad when they compete in this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition, which is themed after the Steampunk stylings of authors like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. School teams mostly from Utah but from as far away as California and Alberta, Canada, will be at the Maverik […]


What global climate change may mean for leaf litter in streams and rivers

Carbon emissions to the atmosphere from streams and rivers are expected to increase as warmer water temperatures stimulate faster rates of organic matter breakdown. But a new study led by University of Utah researcher Jennifer J. Follstad Shah, in collaboration with a team of 15 scientists in the U.S. and Europe, suggests these decay rates […]


How seawater strengthens ancient Roman concrete

Around A.D. 79, Roman author Pliny the Elder wrote in his Naturalis Historia that concrete structures in harbors, exposed to the constant assault of the saltwater waves, become “a single stone mass, impregnable to the waves and every day stronger.” He wasn’t exaggerating. While modern marine concrete structures crumble within decades, 2,000-year-old Roman piers and […]


Playing favorites: Brain cells prefer one parent’s gene over the other’s

SALT LAKE CITY – Most kids say they love their mom and dad equally, but there are times when even the best prefers one parent over the other. The same can be said for how the body’s cells treat our DNA instructions. It has long been thought that each copy – one inherited from mom […]


Stabilizing energy storage

Because the sun doesn’t always shine, solar utilities need a way to store extra charge for a rainy day. The same goes for wind power facilities, since the wind doesn’t always blow. To take full advantage of renewable energy, electrical grids need large batteries that can store the power coming from wind and solar installations […]