Featured Stories
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Flint bookstore
Oct 25, 2021After falling in love with reading at UM-Flint, alum Egypt Otis decided to open the Comma Bookstore & Social Hub in downtown Flint. It is one of the only 6 percent of Black-owned independent bookstores in the country. She features the works of writers and artists of color throughout her store to empower and inspire the community while also contributing to the local economy.
Learn more about the Comma Bookstore -
Energy from waste
Oct 18, 2021Cattle are supremely efficient at digesting tough materials, and a proposed energy-production system based, in part, on cow stomachs could generate 40% more power from municipal waste streams, at a 20% reduced cost—and provide a viable alternative to sending waste to landfills. Led by U-M, the project includes partnerships with Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University and others
Learn more about this research -
Using art in social work education
Oct 11, 2021“Realm of the Dead” is an autobiographical project that uses self-referential theater as a vehicle for self-healing and advocacy. Based on pedagogy and theater of the oppressed, it intends to advance social work research and practice, as tools of critical reflection, personal growth and advocacy.
Learn more about this performance -
Cass Coasters
Oct 4, 2021Through U-M’s Integrated Product Development course, students from business, engineering and art and design worked with Cass Community Social Services in Detroit to develop a new product that recycles old building materials into glass coasters.
Learn more about Cass Coasters -
Love & Data
Sep 27, 2021Algorithms are everywhere. They use personal information to offer up suggestions for our entertainment experiences; they filter our social media content; and they’re also used for purposes we’re not always aware of—like predicting the likelihood of repeat offenders in the criminal justice system. Stephanie Dinkins’ new U-M exhibition explores bias and inequality within AI systems.
Learn more about this exhibition -
Small changes in diet could help you live healthier
Sep 20, 2021Eating a hot dog could cost you 36 minutes of healthy life, while choosing to eat a serving of nuts instead could help you gain 26 minutes of extra healthy life, according to a U‑M study. The study, published in the journal Nature Food, evaluated more than 5,800 foods, ranking them by their nutritional disease burden to humans and their impact on the environment.
Learn more about this study -
Illuminated 9/11 halftime tribute
Sep 12, 2021In a dazzling presentation from start to finish, the Michigan Marching Band’s Sept. 11 halftime show on Saturday commemorated the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The stadium erupted in applause as the marching band’s members spelled out the word “heroes” to start the show while launching into John Williams’ “Summon The Heroes.”
View images and video from the show -
Michigan Clovis Site Discovered
Sep 5, 2021An independent researcher along with University of Michigan researchers have identified a 13,000-year-old Clovis camp site, now thought to be the earliest archaeological site in Michigan. Clovis groups are identified by their unique spear points.
Learn more about this discovery -
Welcome Back
Aug 27, 2021The excitement in the air in Ann Arbor is palpable. U-M students are back in town and ready to start the new school year. There are a variety of Welcome Week events happening across campus to help students get back into the swing of things. Go Blue! #WelcomeHome
View the 2021 Welcome to Michigan events -
PrivacyMic
Aug 23, 2021Microphones are perhaps the most common electronic sensor in the world, with an estimated 320 million listening for our commands in smart speakers. The trouble is that they’re capable of hearing everything else, too. A team of U-M researchers has developed a system that can inform a smart home—or listen for the signal that would turn on a smart speaker—without eavesdropping on audible sound.
Learn more about this prototype technology -
Bird-like wings
Aug 16, 2021“3D morphing” wings could help small aircraft safely navigate windy urban streets and land with shorter approaches. Because birds can outmaneuver even our most advanced similar-sized drones, engineers are interested in the possibilities of bird-like wings. Birds make morphing wings look effortless, bending in a wide range of planes and arcs.
Learn more about this research -
Lake Huron sinkhole surprise
Aug 9, 2021An international research team, including researchers from the U-M, is proposing that increasing day length on the early Earth may have boosted the amount of oxygen released by photosynthetic cyanobacteria, thereby shaping the timing of Earth’s oxygenation. The rise of oxygen levels early in Earth’s history paved the way for life as we know it.
Learn more about this research -
Snails carrying the world’s smallest computer
Aug 2, 2021More than 50 species of tree snail in the South Pacific Society Islands were wiped out following the introduction of an alien predatory snail in the 1970s, but the white-shelled Partula hyalina survived. Now, thanks to a collaboration between U-M biologists and engineers with the world’s smallest computer, scientists understand why.
Learn more about this study -
Science for Tomorrow program
Jul 26, 2021During the pandemic the education staff at the Museum of Natural History decided to bring hands-on science into the homes of students. Staff assembled more than 1,200 science kits with materials to conduct two experiments each. The kits, which met state curriculum objectives included safety glasses, beakers, thermometers, rulers, rubber gloves, and other elements needed for the experiments.
Learn more about this program -
Researchers trace path of light in photosynthesis
Jul 19, 2021Heliobacteria, a type of bacteria that uses photosynthesis to generate energy, has reaction centers thought to be similar to those of the common ancestors for all photosynthetic organisms. Now, a U-M team has determined the first steps in converting light into energy for this bacterium.
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Art Fair returns
Jul 12, 2021Like most annual events in the area, 2020 marked the first time in 61 years that the beloved Ann Arbor Art Fair was forced to cancel. Recently lifted restrictions, however, will allow for art lovers to once again fill the streets of Ann Arbor for the AAAF, which runs July 15–17.
See which museums and galleries have reopened -
Bee movement and flower pollination
Jul 5, 2021Roads can be barriers to wildlife of all sorts, and scientists have studied road impacts on animals ranging from Florida panthers and grizzly bears to box turtles, mice, rattlesnakes and salamanders. But much less is known about the impact of roads on pollinating insects such as bees and to what extent these structures disrupt insect pollination.
Learn more about this research -
Scrap to sustainable sheet metal
Jun 28, 2021As we move toward a cleaner transportation sector, a new $2 million project at the University of Michigan aims to develop easier and more cost-effective ways to make recyclable lightweight automotive sheet metals.
Learn more about the Clean Sheet Project -
3D motion tracking system
Jun 21, 2021A new real-time, 3D motion tracking system developed at the University of Michigan combines transparent light detectors with advanced neural network methods to create a system that could one day replace LiDAR and cameras in autonomous technologies.
Learn more about this technology -
U-M extends Go Blue Guarantee
Jun 17, 2021U-M will extend the Go Blue Guarantee — its landmark promise of up to four years of free tuition for qualifying Michigan residents — to the Dearborn and Flint campuses. The Board of Regents voted June 17 to broaden the commitment to the two regional campuses during its meeting to determine the 2021-2022 fiscal year budget.
Learn more about the Go Blue Guarantee -
U-M peony garden
Jun 14, 2021Following a pandemic year in which visitors were asked to stay away, the nearly century-old peony garden in the University of Michigan's Nichols Arboretum welcomed them back with a banner bloom year.
See photos from this year's peak bloom -
Safer play
Jun 7, 2021A collaboration between the Michigan State Youth Soccer Association (MSYSA) and the U-M School of Public Health helped get teams back on the field with pandemic precautions. U-M experts created a Return to Play Phased Activity Chart for MSYSA which outlines important details and protocols for teams, coaches and parents.
Learn more about this collaboration -
Longtime U-M entomologist greets 17-year cicadas
May 31, 2021U-M entomologist Thomas Moore has spent nearly seven decades studying periodical cicadas, which emerge every 13 or 17 years and are only found in the eastern half of North America. He logged thousands of miles during his career, crisscrossing the country by car, and studied 55 periodical cicada emergences.
Learn more about this emergence -
Water scarcity footprint
May 24, 2021In a study published online April 15 in the journal Nature Food, researchers from the University of Michigan and Tulane University present a water scarcity footprint that measures the water-use impacts of U.S. diets, taking into account regional variations in water scarcity.
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STEM doctors
May 17, 2021A new generation of diverse math scholars is being inspired to take their careers to the next level by the Marjorie Lee Browne Scholars Program at U-M. The program has reimagined the Department of Mathematics’ master’s degree program as a space where underrepresented students can hone their abilities while engaging with faculty and a network of peers.
Learn more about this program
