Behind slammed doors, most teenagers fervently wish at least once that they could belong to another family. One that was hipper, permissive, richer—somehow more in line with their needs. Turns out a group of fungi—23 genes to be exact—successfully pulled off this swap, switching families millions of years ago. The discovery of this leap by [...]

As a speaker of English, French, Danish and German (and who reads Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish and Italian), Virginia Scott might be forgiven for thinking it’s easy to become multilingual. On the contrary:  she is dedicated to increasing awareness of how people can learn other languages. Scott, professor of French and academic director of the new [...]

No Tea For GOP Gary Gerstle’s essay, “Minorities, Multiculturalism and the Presidency of George W. Bush,” has attracted international media attention, including the Washington Post and Financial Times. Gerstle, James G. Stahlman Professor of American History, examines Bush-style conservatism and how it might have offered minorities “reason to rethink their traditional hostility to the GOP.” [...]

Your New TV is So Yesterday Think it can’t get any better than that 52-inch flat screen plasma television on your wall? Sorry—it may be passé before long, thanks to Associate Professor of Chemistry Piotr Kaszynski and graduate student Bryan Ringstrand. The two have created a new class of liquid display crystals that could make [...]

You probably know someone who just can’t resist a good deal. Chances are they’re on a first-name basis with their UPS delivery person, have a closet full of unworn clothes, and every gadget under the sun stuffed in their kitchen drawers. Two College of Arts and Science researchers, David Zald, associate professor of psychology, and [...]

Every human body is, even at conservative estimates, made up of trillions upon trillions of cells. Inside those cells is DNA, which serves as the body’s basic operating system—it keeps our hearts pumping, our lungs breathing, cells reproducing and even our hair growing. But DNA can also be damaged—by environmental toxins, radiation and medical treatments [...]

Rescuing History Crumbling with age, attacked by insects and at risk from climate and other damage, historic records of Africans in the Americas were at risk of being lost entirely. Professor of History Jane Landers and a team of international scholars set out to digitally preserve the oldest black and Indian records in the hemisphere. [...]

Watch the next time you are in Target and a child throws a tantrum nearby. The way the parents respond could tell you if they are conservative or liberal. Research by Professor of Political Science Marc Hetherington indicates some people signal their political preferences through their actions, whether or not they mean to—from spanking a [...]

If you haven’t looked at a periodic table of the elements since high school chemistry class, you might be surprised to learn that it has changed quite a bit. The discovery of new superheavy elements in the last few years means there are additions to the chart. One of those new elements, no. 117, was [...]

Biblical Epic Eight Years In The Making Daniel M. Patte isn’t directing a remake of The Ten Commandments, but his new book, The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity, is an equally huge undertaking. Patte, professor of religious studies, has spent eight years soliciting and compiling 3,500 entries documenting the beliefs and practices of Christians throughout history. [...]