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Utah’s red rock metronome

At about the same rate that your heart beats, a Utah rock formation called Castleton Tower gently vibrates, keeping time and keeping watch over the sandstone desert. Swaying like a skyscraper, the red rock tower taps into the deep vibrations in the earth—wind, waves and far-off earthquakes. New research from University of Utah geologists details […]


U establishes philosophy of science major

The University of Utah’s Department of Philosophy has established a new interdisciplinary philosophy of science major, which launched Fall Semester 2019. The undergraduate major provides students with a technical grounding in a scientific discipline of their choice, core knowledge in ethical, analytical and logical reasoning and highly developed verbal and writing skills. The major is […]


U studies safe gun storage practices in military homes

Homes are the front lines of military suicide prevention as nearly two-thirds of suicides occur at home using a firearm—nearly always a personal firearm. Because suicide risk decreases if a firearm is safely stored locked and unloaded researchers, led by Craig Bryan of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah, surveyed military personnel […]


NexEos licenses novel University of Utah imaging tech for diagnosing eosinophil-related inflammation

Diagnosing and monitoring an inflammatory gastrointestinal disease may soon become less invasive and more accurate, thanks to the pioneering research and commitment to patient health of three University of Utah physicians. Gerald Gleich, Kristin Leiferman and Kathryn Peterson have developed away to identify inflammation that occurs in eosinophil-related disorders such as eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a […]


Genetic Testing Motivates Behavior Changes in At-Risk Melanoma Patients

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, and melanoma is the most severe type of skin cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates more than 96,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year, and the disease will cause more than 7,000 deaths. Utah has a particularly high melanoma rate. A new […]


These Gut Bacteria Prevent Mice from Becoming Obese. What Could That Mean for Us?

Researchers at University of Utah Health have identified a specific class of bacteria from the gut that prevents mice from becoming obese, suggesting these same microbes may similarly control weight in people. The beneficial bacteria, called Clostridia, are part of the microbiome — collectively trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that inhabit the intestine. Published […]


Prosthetic arm can move and feel

Keven Walgamott had a good “feeling” about picking up the egg without crushing it. What seems simple for nearly everyone else can be more of a Herculean task for Walgamott, who lost his left hand and part of his arm in an electrical accident 17 years ago. But he was testing out the prototype of […]


Power to the parents

A new policy memo released this week involving University of Utah and other researchers contends that educational systems need new strategies to meaningfully engage families and communities. In the memo, “Recasting Families and Communities as Co-Designers of Education in Tumultuous Times,” the authors describe how justice-based approaches to family engagement enable parents and families, particularly […]


Improving the odds of synthetic chemistry success

Chemistry is more than just mixing compound A with compound B to make compound C. There are catalysts that affect the reaction rate, as well as the physical conditions of the reaction and any intermediate steps that lead to the final product. If you’re trying to make a new chemical process for, say, pharmaceutical or […]


Some crocs of the past were plant eaters

Based on careful study of fossilized teeth, scientists Keegan Melstrom and Randall Irmis at the Natural History Museum of Utah at the University of Utah have found that multiple ancient groups of crocodyliforms—the group including living and extinct relatives of crocodiles and alligators—were not the carnivores we know today, as reported in the journal Current […]